Gromnir

our world view is typical predicated on some personal reflection after reviewing academic sources and math. is why we laugh at folks who were hoarding toilet paper (and eggs o' all thigs) for a month or two last year and am similar dismissive o' the persons who shrug off the medical advice from fauci regarding covid. last year we saw some buffoonery when folks like the recent dead herman cain tweeted the 94% statistic, presumable 'cause the 94% observation meshed nicely with the covid-19 mitigation efforts are an overreaction world view. too many clowns felt validated by the number w/o understanding what it meant. didn't need fauci to explain the stoopid of 94%,shouldn't have needed. curious, nowadays fauci explaining why the 94% tweets were idiot bait makes 30% o' the country more likely to embrace the stoopid underlying the statistic. a funny video o' a guy narrating a real video o' the kinda stoopid which happens all too frequent on airplanes nowadays (duct taped guy were no doubt sharing the 94% statistic on social media last year) is worth a laugh even if the need to duct tape people to their airline seats 'cause they got common sense and know better is far less amusing. HA! Good Fun!

Trump Hawks Tacky Gold-Lettered ‘Trump Cards’ for MAGA Die-Hards sure, there is a spelling error and yeah, the whole notion o' selling trump cards is too silly to take serious, but... well, that is all we got. can't help but wonder if a graphic design person were having a bit o' a laugh and then were shocked when everybody said they loved the design. too late to tell folks they were being pranked? am thinking the eagle one would benefit from a nice SPQR. HA! Good Fun!

we are gonna need more duct tape and more of mr. rivera. HA! Good Fun!

in the twitter silliness the plymouth rock pilgrims, who were as amentep observes, separatists as 'posed to reformers, is being conflated with the blanket descriptor o' "puritan" which is inappropriate on multiple levels, but to be fair, the "puritans," who were indeed being persecuted in england were, as often as not, intolerant d-bags once they got to the americas. America’s True History of Religious Tolerance any kinda american religious tolerance weren't a thing until 1777 when thomas jefferson (whom we admitted criticize frequent on these boards) pushed back against an effort to make christianity the official state religion o' virginia as well as a proposed mandate to teach christianity in the "state." is first time we saw an effort at legislating state-wide religious tolerance in what eventual became the USA. previous to 1777, the norm were cold religious bigotry punctuated by all too frequent actual bloody conflict. 1786 sees adoption o' the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, and if that were the only positive thing jefferson ever accomplished, from our pov it would be enough to be deserving o' monuments in his memory. the term religious extremist is a bit loaded. different. the puritans (again a terrible overbroad descriptor) were indeed persecuted and faced draconian punishments for even minor slights against the anglican church in england. extreme 'cause they wouldn't conform. once those persecuted people reached the americas, they immediate began persecuting indians and each other. look to the experience o' the quakers who were persecuted in england, and new england, and you are gonna have a hard time accusing them o' the great evils the twitter excerpt seems to feel justified the treatment o' the puritans. the persecution in england and the colonies had little do with extremism. different alone deserved persecution. HA! Good Fun!

this were our first thought. HA! Good Fun!

not the onion, but https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/07/29/dr-priscilla-frase-intv-ozarks-healthcare-missouri-private-vaccine-backlash-sot-ac360-vpx.cnn the thing is, this behaviour is not new, surprising or limited to any particular identifiable group. the kinda stoopid people will embrace outta fear o' being excluded by their community or peer group is the norm and not the exception. before we found out 'bout some long-term health issues, we were engaged and brought our fiancé to meet the family. our immediate family is small and most were welcoming. however, more than a few o' our supposed friends and acquaintances were little more accepting o' us being engaged to a white woman than were the traditional, classic american bigots we expected to encounter on streets when we were in public together. think any o' us is more evolved than the chimpanzees in those brutal ostracism videos put together by anthropologists would be a mistake. what is new in 2021 is the fact that those who know better and is not ignorant is willing to sacrifice literal hundreds o' thousands o' lives to support a populist movement. wtf? HA! Good Fun!

Newt Gingrich: The left wants "to get rid of the rest of us because we believe in George Washington" "The anti-American left would love to drown traditional, classic Americans with as many people as they can who know nothing of American history, nothing of American tradition, nothing of the rule of law," he said. "If you go and look at the radical left, this is their ideal model. It's to get rid of the rest of us because we believe in George Washington, or we believe in the Constitution, and you see this behavior over and over again." *sigh* am knowing we mentioned the smallpox bit previous... How George Washington Used Vaccines to Help Win the Revolutionary War "By spring [of 1776] the condition of the American soldiers in Canada had deteriorated severely due to continuous outbreaks of smallpox... Approximately half of the soldiers were ill. The majority of the new recruits were not immune to the disease, and reinforcements sent to Canada sickened quickly." Becker recounted. "Contemporary evidence is overwhelming: smallpox destroyed the Northern Army and all hope of persuading the Canadians to join the Revolution." "Our misfortunes in Canada are enough to melt a heart of stone," John Adams wrote in June 1776. "The small-pox is ten times more terrible than Britons, Canadians, and Indians together." FULLY AWARE of the disaster in the north, George Washington realized that merely evading smallpox would no longer suffice; he wanted to prevent it altogether. Inoculation was already available, although the procedure -- called variolation -- was not without risks. The vaccines we're accustomed to today were not invented yet, so doctors would simply make a small incision in the patient's arm then introduce pus from the pustules of an infected victim into the wound. Variolation often resulted in a minor smallpox infection with a speedier recovery and vastly lower fatality rates, around two percent. Survivors were granted lifelong immunity. At first, Washington simply required new recruits to be inoculated. Then, in February 1777, he bit the bullet entirely. "Finding the smallpox to be spreading much and fearing that no precaution can prevent it from running thro' the whole of our Army, I have determined that the Troops shall be inoculated. This Expedient may be attended with some inconveniences and some disadvantages, but yet I trust, in its consequences will have the most happy effects." This was a bold move. At the time, variolation was technically outlawed by the Continental Congress, so Washington was openly flouting the law. Whole divisions were inoculated and quarantined en masse, a process that would continue for months. Strict secrecy was maintained to prevent the British from uncovering the program, lest they launch an attack upon the recovering troops. By year's end, 40,000 soldiers were immunized. The results were stunning. The smallpox infection rate in the Continental Army rapidly fell from 17 percent to one percent, prompting the Continental Congress to legalize variolation across the states. ... george washington might not be the founding father newt gingrich and desantis should invoke to defend their ignorance and stoopid. HA! Good Fun!

kamala harris is no doubt relived. when folks talk 'bout most dysfunctional and inept political campaigns o' the last decade, perhaps the vp will no longer be the first name which comes to mind. HA! Good Fun!

so, cover of tower of power w/o a horn section? that takes some cojones. kinda fun nonetheless. HA! Good Fun!

Who is to blame for rising COVID-19 cases, by vaccination status HA! Good Fun!

am thinking that when chapter four became available via the beta, more than a few diehard owlcat fans were surprised at the instability. we haven't even seen chapter five and six, but the most recent build, which added content, resulted in another step back in stability. the current state o' the beta, with the release date quick approaching, has managed to make even a few o' the more vocal message board defenders o' owlcat question whether a september release is wise. keep in mind, when the beta were first available, we were optimistic 'bout the game release and we were pleasant surprised by how stable the game played, and this from a crpg fan who were extreme critical o' kingmaker. however, much has changed since february, and owlcat's efforts to improve ain't as enjoyable as a springsteen tune. recognize how kingmaker is a buggy mess even today is also not encouraging. expectations should be tempered. we will be playing wotr in september 'cause for us is just a functional continuation o' the beta, but am recognizing many is gonna be less forgiving o' what is a work in progress with a whole lotta progress needing happen before the game is anything but a frustrating charlie fox experience for all but the most dedicated kingmaker fans. HA! Good Fun!

in recent interviews and pressers, desantis has attempted curious tack to defend his inaction regarding covid-19 and the delta variant in particular: questioning the rising hospitalizations and almost certain near future rise in deaths is countered with an accusation of "victim blaming." by criticizing desantis, you are questioning those individuals who got sick. would a mask mandate, greater/earlier emphasis on vaccinations or enforced social distancing have prevented harm? such a question presupposes the increase in hospitalizations were amongst those who failed to be vaccinated, social distance and/or mask. is victim blaming, 'ccording to desantis. would be funny if it weren't so horrible, and am expecting fox to be parroting this nonsense forthwith. HA! Good Fun!

this tax is a replacement for the other alternatives. regardless, this distinction makes no sense whatsoever. regressive is better, but only if is as a replacement for a previous existing tax? what? how on earth do you convince your self o' this silliness? and one o' your most frequent complaints 'bout democrats is taxation related. democrats is out to tax you and take your freedoms... including guns. never forget the guns. whatever. you believe what you believe, and in a few posts you will add an emote and then explain you were joking or just posing a philosophical conundrum to spark debate. tough to keep track. HA! Good Fun!

ps compare wotr with bg3 isn't something which has occupied our imagination, and am not gonna force our self to consider. however, am gonna recognize how after playing a few hours o' bg3 beta, we lost interest in the title. combat, story elements and larian 5e implementation in the beta all left us not wanting more. that said, am suspecting bg3 will sell well enough and fans o' d:os2 have been happy with bg3 from what little we has seen via the intraweb. is not shocking larian would make a game which appeals to the fans o' their successful previous title. smart. but for Gromnir... meh. bg3 beta were just meh. not a comparison o' the games themselves, but will observe we have already spent far more with the wotr beta than we could foresee us investing in the final release o' bg3. HA! Good Fun!

this is a concession to get republican support, and gd complaints is curious as he is the one who is in favour o' similar regressive flat tax silliness. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking wotr is solid in the running for best pathfinder crpg. is also possible wotr could be the least stable pathfinder crpg at release. the current beta may be worth playing up to chapter 3, beyond which crusade management is clear broken to an extreme degree. am not sure what is with nature and oracles as it were bugged but working previous. disallow the curious ac bonus stacking with scaled fist and am suspecting the bulk o' concerns is eliminated. from a technical pov, am not sure what the issue could be though. sure, is large numbers o' animal companion bugs, but nature is a verboten selection before the oracle has a chance to select an animal companion. while we had previous tested an admitted busted scaled fist/paladin/thug nature oracle, we were looking to experiment with a spontaneous divine caster benefiting from a level 1 animal companion build and not some kinda munchkin option. heck, we were even gonna go azata instead o' angel. positive: owlcat did address arueshalae's busted fe options. negative: their fix makes clear they is intending on keeping the curious magic/slaughter/strength split for the demon subset o' outsider favoured enemies. have not looked to see if the demonslayer ranger archetype, celestial bloodline powha and similar outsider based features remain busted in the new build, but am admitting we would be pleasant surprised if such stuff had been addressed. am hopeful wotr is mostly playable through chapter four by the time o' release. am fully cognizant o' the owlcat limitations in writing/storytelling and we got more than a few problems with pathfinder in general. wotr will not be fully baked at release-- nearing certainty. etc. our expectations is limited, so chances for disappointment, while nevertheless significant, is also limited. go out on a limb and suggest wotr is in the running for best pathfinder crpg. is as far as we go. HA! Good Fun!

https://forum.owlcatgames.com/t/pathfinder-wrath-of-the-righteous-beta-version-0-8-1/40395 nature mystery is still not available to oracles. HA! Good Fun!

on the downside, you lost the covid-19 schedule lottery--two games against the cardinals as well as meetings with the chargers, colts and washington. HA! Good Fun! ps the chargers game is pre season, so am thinking that one doesn't count towards any game check loss.

the problem with the nfl % rate is it ignores teams. is kinda like mccarthy pointing out +80% o' the house of representatives is vaccinated while ignoring the fact 100% o' democrats is vaccinated. there is a handful o' teams with slacker rates o' vaccination. ron rivera, coach for washington, a cancer survivor and a person who is likely not getting the full benefits o' the vaccine, lamented how his team is doing relative poor for vaccination rates. am all too aware o' the "me and mine" attitude which precludes any genuine concern for the health and well being o' others. still, is tough to visualize unvaccinated washington players explaining to ron rivera that they still have concerns 'bout the vaccine 'cause some l00n on the arse end o' the internet said something insane w/o the imagined scenario seeming surreal. nevertheless, it must be happening. similar, try and imagine the howls o' fury if a team with 100% vaccination rate loses a game check (or even two given division schedules) due to forfeit 'cause Indianapolis has an outbreak. HA! Good Fun!

the human animal is not hardwired to take remote dangers serious, which is why long-term implications o' debt or climate change do not create the necessary fear to inspire changes in behaviour. am suspecting this ain't yet real for more than a few players. the first game which results in a forfeit and lost pay for both teams will likely result in a sudden uptick in vaccinations, but until then, this situation just ain't real enough. particular for football players, give in now and get vaccinated would be seen as capitulation and weakness, and no doubt these guys fear looking weak more than they fear covid-19. fools. HA! Good Fun!

your recognition makes your continued embrace o' absurdism even more silly. you not only see as necessary but you concede you are a banal everyday participant in a scheme which evokes a need for exclamation points and multipost defenses where you make comparisons to slavery. serious. "taxation is theft!" some bit o' doggerel you read or heard someplace and mistook as pith. you not like taxation. you think is bad, but no so bad as to stop gorging yourself on the fruits o' the poisoned tree. fine. not particular convincing, but knock yourself out. factually is wrong. stop. HA! Good Fun!

again, no. you are mixing rationalizations for slavery with definition of slavery. is not same. if the jobs program in question includes involuntary servitude and the ability to forcible sell the worker as personal property, then is no longer a jobs program. stop. please. HA! Good Fun!

no, slavery was slavery and it was called slavery while it was being embraced by far too many. slavery were immoral and inhuman(e), and over those points there were argument, but nobody quibbled over what it was. you is reversing and doing for slavery what you do for taxation-- you are the one attempting to forcible use an inapplicable definition for that which is already clear defined. slavery is not a jobs program precise 'cause it involves involuntary servitude and the jobs programs preclude the ability o' the owner o' the employed to sell the employee. involuntary servitude and ability to sell the employed would make a jobs program not a jobs program but slavery. duh. taxation is not theft. perhaps you think is immoral, which is severe undercut by your admitted everyday hypocrisy. clear you don't think is equivalent to the wrong o' slavery which you tried to make analogous, otherwise such would make you complicit to equivalent immorality and inhumanity, which is improbable. by definition, theft is an illegal and/or felonious taking. stop. serious, just stop. HA! Good Fun! ps you wanna argue taxation is immoral and inhumane? fine. given your admitted hypocrisy am gonna laugh at you and your dramatic exclamation points. silliness. even so, is your opinion taxation is wrong. converse, claim taxation is theft is a question o' fact, and you are wrong, factually.

HA! Good Fun!

Definition of theft 1a: the act of stealing specifically : the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it b: an unlawful taking (as by embezzlement or burglary) of property so, no, is not theft. if the taking is legal and/or not felonious, then is it is inappropriate to describe as theft. forefathers were against taxation without representation but they most assured weren't against taxation. did gd join the military and use gi bill monies to pay for education? yes he did. so based on gd's own definition he took and used stolen goods. hypocrite. stop. just stop. HA! Good Fun!