rjshae

It's becoming a government at war with itself, 7x24. I have no idea what we'll do in a crisis -- perhaps foreign powers will gamble that the USA is to distracted to respond? Certainly DJT isn't the President you want to have if the bird flu develops into a pandemic.

The latter at least makes some sense (for once). Copper is an important commodity these days, and the value of a penny has dropped to nearworthless. Our state has a sales tax, and I would like to see them modify it to round to the nearest nickel (5 cents).

I wondered if this is a Musk-motivated effort, since his wealthy family is from Pretoria? Anyway, the whites were European immigrants so presumably they can relocate back to their originating nations.

I could swear that sometimes the game rigs the dice rolls. I've been through battles making dozens of attacks and never getting higher than an 11. It's weird and very improbable.

Today in dumb: Trump says he’s given advisers instructions for Iran to be ‘obliterated’ if it assassinates him Code name: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Just to put that in perspective, Iran has a population of 91 million. The total deaths in World War II were estimated at 70-85 million. So what happens if, say, Israel takes him out in the guise of an Iranian plot? I think there's a more tempered response available in the form of smart bombs. In the meantime, Iran has more motivation to build nuclear weapons.

Yep, today in dumb. I'm sure the Palestinians will have "reservations" about relocated

Yep, so after threatening a trade war, DJT negotiated what Biden already got in 2021. 🤪

Today in weird science... Surprising Link Between Menthol And Alzheimer's Discovered in Mice

Canada enjoys a trade surplus with the USA, but it's entirely because of oil exports.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/29/resolution-games-announces-battlemarked-an-upcoming-vr-dungeons-and-dragons-game/ Sounds like a co-op game with no DM (or role playing) required. I suppose then that the RPG elements will be in the character builds.

Is that the perception? No, I haven't heard that perspective. In reality, one would hope for a more international response. It's been around since Bush II, a Republican, but has since been mostly criticized by Republicans. The program is promoting abstinence before marriage, a Republican dogma. To me, shutting off the funding for all these programs suggests that this administration can't hit a moving target.

It's the 16th amendment to the constitution, so no, not easily. "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

The current targeting of medical and scientific work by the administration makes me wonder if we're in for a Soviet-style repression of politically unacceptible science. I.e. vaccines, public health, social science, clean energy, global warming, &c.

I binge watched the old Agents of Shield series. It was... decent enough with some enjoyable aspects. My favorite part was the space opera elements from season 6; I wouldn't mind seeing more of that. Powered inhumans explore the galaxy. It's somewhat similar to Guardians of the Galaxy in flavor, I suppose. They dropped hints of that at the final episode, but never followed it up.

One might suspect it is driven by a long history of US intervention in Latin America. For example, we did support the secession movement that led to the separation of Panama from Columbia in 1903 (in order to build the Panama Canal).

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." — Plato Seems like it's still true today. Politics never changes.

I've grown to enjoy medical drama series the past few years, and I'm enjoying Doc right now. Too bad it's not bingeable at the moment.

I don't see Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous on that list. But yes, I second the Solasta series suggestion. Also, I had a lot of fun with Rogue Trader. Even though it's not medieval fantasy, it's still plenty fantastical. Finally, have you tried Battle Brothers?

No, it may end up more like Putin's Russia with single party rule.

So... he's threatening Russia with actions that have thus far failed to end the hostilities? Heh, right.

It took Hitler a couple of months to subvert the German democracy.

The Blue Origin first stage was lost during re-entry, so at this stage it's still an expendable. Meanwhile, the Starship upper stage exploded, but they did successfully capture the main booster. The FAA has grounded the launcher pending an investigation.

Well the finale of Skeleton Crew almost made it a decent series, but it sounds like the ratings were so poor it may not have a second season. Hopefully we get the second season of Andor soon.