Gromnir

but not crooked enough to be President? for too many, expel were a transactional consideration. virtual every gop representative from NY voted to expel santos. why? 'cause they know democrats is gonna be using santos as an example o' what is wrong with the gop from now 'til the 2024 election. gop fighting in biden districts in particular needed to get ahead o' the santos problem. any o' those same gop Congressmen voiced their outrage at the lies from trump? the current ny civil case against trump and his family has already determined trump is liable for fraud-- trump lies is already legal fact. only thing being determined is extent o' damages trump is gonna need pay. the now forgotten mueller report accused trump o' lying. is so weird how that always gets overlooked. trump testimony were disbelieved by a jury o' his peers in a civil rape case. trump's own attorney has testified before a grand jury stating that the ex-president was fully aware that keeping the government documents requested by the doj in their subpoena were illegal, and yet he did not turn over those documents. don't even get us started on the trump lies about election integrity. oh, and the trump foundation, before the state o' ny finally shut it down, screwed over veterans, orphans and old people for chrissakes. santos ripped off possible dozens o' people and lied to thousands o' voters. trump ripped off thousands and lied to millions. HA! Good Fun!

Expansion adds hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians to Medicaid HA! Good Fun!

ok, am having said more than once am not a fan o' puns, but we did chuckle at ms. carter's pithy offering. HA! Good Fun!

was planning on waiting for one more patch, but we might give the new dlc a shot this weekend. am likely gonna start a new through the ashes party as the bard companion for lord of nothing doesn't mesh ideal with our previous group: sacred huntsmaster, wildlands shaman, sohei/martyr, and skald. much o' the martyr benefits become kinda redundant with a bard companion, but am not wanting to sacrifice the sohei/martyr animal companion and bab progression. ... we end spending almost as much time and effort trying to choose right party or characters as 'posed to actual playing the game. sickness. HA! Good Fun!

am in agreement, but... perhaps owlcat took a practical approach and assumed that as soon as the game were released, a few persons would start digging into code and even if nobody did, somebody would discover and then want credit for discovering. the reality is, the secret ending requirements were discovered extreme soon after the release o' the game. maybe you recall the ring of wizardry at the friendly arms inn from bg1? if you don't, many others hereabouts will. the only way to discover the ring is complete accident or individual pixel hunting... which is what a few folks did to find other curiously rando loot in bg. yeah, no doubt multiple somebodies would try to puzzle out the heavy breathing in the ineluctable prison, 'cause is improbable something like that is an accident, right? so am not doubting somebody figures out eventual, but is also inevitable other somebodies would dig into code and unlock all the secret ending requirements. am suspecting owlcat were perfect ok with either resolution and that they assumed that once the secret ending were known as 'posed to rumor, people would do find solutions via the online community. am agreeing some o' the secret ending clues weren't so much clues as just rando requirements, but here we are two years following the game release and near everybody who wanted to complete the secret ending probably did so. owlcat russian developers is perhaps predictable practical. owlcat knew it didn't matter if their trail o' breadcrumbs leading to completion o' the secret ending requirements were rational and reasonable, so why sweat such nuance? HA! Good Fun!

@Agiel is a blessing to know what you like. shouldn't be complicated. is. rip

1) am thinking it were a mistake to expel santos-- sets a new precedent and one which may be manipulated in the future santos should have quit, but he didn't. the thing is now you got expulsion for a non-traitor who has not committed a crime or been found guilty while in office. 2) kissinger. well... keep in mind anthony bourdain would probably not have been able to visit china if not for kissinger, and every person reading this board is living in a far safer world 'cause o' kissinger's undeniably instrumental efforts to normalize relations with china. am doubting anybody here is old enough to remembers (Gromnir ain't even old enough) and few people today has been taught or learned just what normalization meant. on a list o' post ww2 diplomatic achievements, kissinger's role in china has gotta rank near the top, 'cause china was a far greater threat than is north korea today. for centuries, china had two things in abundance: people and famine. china also had nukes. golly, what could possible go wrong? @Gorth and Gromnir has both mentioned how the fear o' nuclear apocalypse were omnipresent during our youth. we always knew we were one misunderstanding or mistake away from armageddon but Gromnir didn't particular fear china. (can't speak for Gorth) why? normalized relations changed everything. is literal impossible to convey what it were like to be living during the cold war. is similar impossible to imagine what china sans kissinger's interventions woulda' meant to world stability and safety. the power politics model of the cold war era remains the manner in which great nations interact--don't kid yourself. kissinger were an amoral and uncompromising advocate o' power politics. kissinger were a bad man, living in a bad time and he deserves your scorn. the recent deceased american diplomat made no effort to find a better way than a soulless and uncompromising application o' power politics stratagems. the thing is, he also made the world safer for billions. is ok to hate kissinger, but am thinking nowadays he doesn't get near the credit he is entitled to insofar as china normalization alone. many people today see the world in frustratingly simple terms: black and white; oppressors and oppressed; good guys and bad guys; right and wrong. am not sure where the certainty comes from. it should not be impossible to be disgusted by kissinger while simultaneous being impressed by a few o' his achievements. and heck, we took sh!te for pointing out days after kobe bryant's death that there were ample evidence he committed rape and got away with it. we were told, too soon. respect for the recent deceased. etc. HA! Good Fun! ps am not sure why anthony bourdain's opinion 'bout kissinger is more significant than that o' any obsidian boardie or the rando unintelligible ny cabbie. the deceased chef's opinion is no less worthy than __________, but am always perplexed people see value in celebrity. no special insights from wanting to punch kissinger, so why should we care? we don't get it. also, before the edit we had written, "cause china was a far greater threat than is south korea today." am thinking most k-pop is a crime against humanity, but we wouldn't ever suggest such amounted to a global threat similar to pre-normalization china.

Pence told Jan. 6 special counsel harrowing details about 2020 aftermath, warnings to Trump: Sources But, the sources said, with the pressure on Pence mounting, he concluded on Christmas Eve -- just for a moment -- that he would follow Trump's suggestion and let someone else preside over the proceedings on Jan. 6, writing in his notes that doing otherwise would be "too hurtful to my friend." "Not feeling like I should attend electoral count," Pence wrote in his notes in late December. "Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful to my friend. Therefore I'm not going to participate in certification of election." Then, sitting across the table from his son, a Marine, while on vacation in Colorado, his son said to him, "Dad, you took the same oath I took" -- it was "an oath to support and defend the Constitution," Pence recalled to Smith's investigators, sources said. That's when Pence decided he would be at the Capitol on Jan. 6 after all, according to the sources. and so once again we see america relying on the marines to save democracy. HA! Good Fun!

maybe a little hyperbolic. if you have all the enchantment boosting gear on ember (and there is a great deal o' it,) plus the rest bonuses and various mythic bonuses which either boost your party ability scores, spell dc or lower foe saves, as well as silly op stuff such as the madness domain save reduction power, in addition to hexes and what not, then chances are w/o an extra couple stacks o' expanded arsenal deskari gets a 25% chance to save v. the current 5%. play with a court poet in the party and deskari save chances get even worse. the numbers remain so much in your favour as an enchanter, particular if you are speaking o' a main character demon or azata enchanter, that am personal not sweating the changes even for unfair battles. and for most battles beyond the bosses, a mid-level and beyond ember is gonna be more than adequate to insta-wipe the field even w/o a few buffs. from our pov, wotr unfair is 'bout silly and stoopid exploitation o' numbers and loopholes, and enchanters remain a win option given all the possibilities for exploitation. edit: have mentioned previous, but am thinking it is worth restating, we see core and perhaps even normal difficulty o' wotr as problematic for players unaware o' the exploits in pathfinder and owlcat's quirky take on pathfinder. is not so much that wotr is some kinda hardcore crpg, but the stat bloat utilized to make the game challenging for a party o' six in a setting with reload were implemented such that players who just wanna role-play and pick nifty classes, feats and weapons is likely gonna face frustrations. if you avoid any and all exploitive options, the numerous wotr difficulty spikes for both boss and a few rando encounters will make the game feel mighty unfair even on core difficulty. wotr isn't hardcore in the traditional sense but rather in the age of decadence spin-- in a game with innumerable character generation and leveling options, there is a mere handful o' right choices. if you are unaware o' the spells, class combos and feats which are disproportionate effective, you will suffer. converse, for the player who does know all the exploits and uses such to create an uber party o' unkillable demigods, even unfair difficulty isn't all that challenging even if it does become a soul numbing slog. am thinking the owlcat design philosophy is kinda obtuse for a cRPG, but fans defend it and demand more, so... HA! Good Fun!

well, it is possible to make casters op in wotr, but blasters is less an issue than is enchanters or illusionists. owlcat did address one o' the more obvious caster exploits with the counter-intuitive stacking o' expanded arsenal bonuses. even so, blasters got nerfed a fair bit more than casters who rely on dc to generate insta-kills. the thing is, merged spellbook angel and lich actual received a serious boost 'cause mythic spells post dlc benefit from spell specialization. owlcat is weird cats. if after two years you are looking to balance the game, merged spellbook lich and angels is the most obvious options, followed perhaps by trickster mythic... although am admitting crpg wotr animal companion mechanics may be more beyond the pale than any other curious owlcat implementation. regardless, the developer have taken the nerf bat to blasters in a big way with the changes to dragon bloodlines, chain lightning and other fixes, while buffing merged spellbook casters? is not that the blaster nerfs is wrong, 'cause the aforementioned sh!te, along with sneak attack damage from multiple sources, is just so not how blasters is envisioned to play in pnp. even so, it does make you wonder what is the rationale for owlcat fixes. if we had to guess, am thinking balance is clear not an owlcat concern, but they did wish for features to work as the developer intended 'em to function. regardless o' how busted is merged spellbook angels, they are now working more as owlcat envisioned. converse, blasters may have taken a particular big power hit with the recent patch, but owlcat never intended for players to be able to apply multiple different draconic bloodlines. and to be fair, is still a heck o' a lot o' cheese in wotr for those gamers with a fromage fetish. as @majesticpoints out, unfair difficulty just became a bit more challenging with owlcat's removing obvious exploits, but am having no doubt players still interested in overcoming the highest difficulty will adapt extreme quick. HA! Good Fun!

@Gorth the remoulade looks intriguing and we might give it a go ourself. the lack o' garlic might be a deal breaker, but is worth a shot anyways. jic you wanna make your own mayo, 'cause is ez. aside, we left out 1tsp o' dijon mustard from o' our personal recipe for mayo in the linked post. am actual most intrigued by the effective mirepoix o' onion, carrot and cabbage in your remoulade recipe. celery is... aggressive. we like celery. unfortunate, traditional mirepoix often results in too much celery flavour. reduce celery is always an option, but am curious if cabbage would work in lieu o' celery for dishes which have a mild flavour profile. 'course the sulfides in cabbage is also a potential hurdle. regardless, am likely to experiment with cabbage as a celery substitute in mirepoix thanks to your remoulade queries. so, thanks. HA! Good Fun!

am not a huge spaghetti western fan, but we like a few o' the sergio leone offerings... and we can't help but think the wild bunch is less likely to be made and released without a few early sergio leone movies being successful. HA! Good Fun!

people like simple. people like brevity. in 2023, too many people get their news and info single-serving sized and then think they is educated on issues. we like honest government ad, but it is single-serving fare and relying on it is gonna lead to misunderstandings in a few cases. extrapolating to apply to other situations and nations is even more dangerous. example: in the land o' the free and the home o' the brave, we fixed (HA!) honest ad "sum up" problems two and three way back in 2009. heck, the US mostly addressed honest ad spending concerns back in 1976 with another case, buckley v. valeo. while citizens united deserved gets much attention, buckley is where our campaign finance issues exploded. yeah, 'cause there weren't much money involved in being an elected official pre 1976, only wealthy old guys ran for political office and they all too frequent turned to graft to make dough while in office. opening up the political spending spigot didn't reduce corruption and we still got an old man issue... but those is tangential issues, right? *chuckle* regardless, does it look as if more money flowing into the electoral process resulted in more equitable voting outcomes for the US? take as a warning: (paraphrase) those the gods choose to destroy, to them they grant wishes. in other words, is so not the same situation for the US even if at first glance it might look and feel same. honest ad is funny and we enjoy, but they tend to oversimplify and they frequent promote questionable conclusions based on suspect evidence, which is ok 'cause they is doing for laughs and hopeful trying to get people to further educate selves. unfortunate, all too often am suspecting honest ad, daily show, fox news and other comedy news sources is ends rather than starting points for those wishing to be educated on the important issues o' the day. and yeah, we get the irony o' trying to explain the honest ad extrapolation problem with a single-serving video, but trying to combat endemic ignorance o' the electorate via a game message board is sisyphean. HA! Good Fun!

the reason am reluctant to full recommend the great jones gear is 'cause our chef friend, who we mentioned earlier, is most definite enamored with the aesthetics o' the cookware. am not 100% certain she is being objective 'bout the performance o' the cast iron, stoneware and sheet pans given how much she enjoys their appearance. if the stuff were complete garbage, she would tell us, but am thinking our friend might overlook minor quibbles. maybe. aside, our favorite value chef knife, the mercer genesis 8" short bolster, is on sale at amazon for $40. is a smidge heavy for an 8" chef knife, but we like a bit o' heft. for cheap you get top quality steel in a knife designed for real kitchen use and the short bolster makes sharpening easy. easier. you can get a better knife, but am not certain you can score a better knife for less money. in fact, it might be tough to find better chef knife for less than ~$180 even with all the current sales. our mac damascus knives is show ponies, but the real work we do in the kitchen is accomplished with two mercers (genesis 8" chef & millennia bread,) a victorinox paring and a masutani nakiri. our kitchen shears also get loads o' use and they is on sale at amazon for ~$18--henckels 10.25". am s'posing we also get a fair amount o' value from our flexible boning knife, which is a mercer 6" millennia we bought for ~$12. the victorinox paring cost us ~$8 and came with a lifetime guarantee. suckers. and am on number 3 for the victorinox 'cause we use hard. that said, is not as if we spent a whole lotta money on the knives we use on a daily basis. including the shears, the above six "knives" cost us about ~$160, and the $60 we spent on the nakiri were kinda an indulgence, but we do get considerable use from it, so... HA! Good Fun!

am kinda ambivalent 'bout italian filmmakers. bicycle thieves and umberto d is two vittorio de sica films which has both, at one time or another, graced our list o' top fifteen films all-time. am having a bias against films about film, but am gonna be honest and admit we teared up the first time we saw cinema paradiso. am not a huge fan o' fellini, but am able to see how his influenced many filmmakers we do like. etc. on the other hand, korean film is a tough slog for us. we don't like b-horror but am admitting koreans has done such well. we finally saw parasite after all the hoopla died down-- meh. the premise required insurmountable suspension o' disbelief. in fact, is a few lauded korean films which require excessive voluntary density. example: viewing snowpiercer has us shedding neurons by the minute. is a bunch o' ok korean martial arts films which coverup flaws with more than a little "ultra-violence." just not a fan thus far. different strokes. HA! Good Fun!

am having no personal experience with great jones cookware. however, we got a friend (a legit pro chef) who swears by the sheet pans, cast iron cookware (specific the 6.75 oval dutch oven), and the 9"x13" casserole dish. she is less enthused with the non-stick pots and pans from great jones. gets a mention 'cause o' the black friday pricing on the aforementioned items... but again, am not able to vouch for the gear. even so, am admitting the great jones cookware is... cute? am not averse to cute. we would buy a "the dutchess" in spite o' the fact we ordinarily hate puns. probable choose mustard for color. the big handles on the dutch oven and casserole dish should be industry norms but ain't. 'course we already own way too many dutch ovens. we also got an armory worth o' chef knives. is an illness. regardless, we might buy the casserole dish after we read a few reviews from sources we trust. HA! Good Fun!

today, being reasonable works against republican aspirants to the presidential nomination. also, this moment... is what convinced christie that trump were unfit. ... if you didn't see a trump problem until november 4, 2020, then am questioning your reasonableness, but am s'posing a whole lotta republicans decided it were better to be complicit than to put clinton in office or to make a biden win possible. 'cause at least with trump in office, conservatives were getting textualist Justices for SCOTUS as well as aileen canon and matthew j. kacsmaryk for the fed bench. even so, keep in mind that nov 4 were after trump asked christie to lie about his covid scare. anybody who ever unironic complained 'bout libs and the media indulging in trump derangement syndrome needs to reassess life choices. tangential relevant: peter meijer HA! Good Fun!

observation unrelated to previous post: the post dlc limit o' a single draconic bloodline means most of our blaster-caster builds has been nerfed. chain lightning is capped at 20d. expanded arsenal now works as described, so no stacking multi school bonuses. numerous mythic extra attack abilities no longer stack with haste. archmage armour needs be cast-- potions or items won't trigger. chant no longer extends protective luck. still works with fortune. while we never personal exploited, the nature's whisper and scaled fist ac bonuses no longer stack. back to the drawing board for blasters. HA! Good Fun! ps(edit): ill omen looks to be a busted effective level one witch spell. the dual-cursed oracle archetype also gains access to the ill omen spell.

HA! Good Fun!

the silver lining o' global warming? am glad to see @Gorthis an optimist. personal, am getting fatigued by climate change. https://weatherspark.com/y/1157/Average-Weather-in-Sacramento-California-United-States-Year-Round says average summer highs is 34C. not the last few years. even when temps ain't terrible, chances are you gotta deal with legit deadly levels o' wildfire smoke. technical Gromnir is foothills just east o' sacramento, but that means we get half a degree less hot but more wildfire smoke. converse, https://weatherspark.com/y/310/Average-Weather-in-Arcata-California-United-States-Year-Round am personal needing only concern our self with the next three decades o' climate change, so... https://www.zillow.com/homes/95521_rb/ the lot for $800k is giving us the bali ha'i treatment. edit: Eric Swalwell Fact-Checks 3 Republicans Over Bridge Crash Misinformation and whether it's a "terrorist attack" at the rainbow bridge, hospital airstrikes in gaza or police shootings in sheboygan, it behooves you to wait for reliable info before proselytizing. HA! Good Fun!

honest, we would say animal companions make the biggest difference for casters, especial early. casters being relative weak at low levels is one o' the awful legacies o' d&d which people just kinda accept. an animal companion for a sylvan sorcerer provides not only a meat shield, but a potential trip-bot while the sorcerer herself is limited to pew-pew and a couple casts o' grease 'tween rests. the recent released dlc and its predecessor (i.e. through the ashes) is particular useful in illustrating our point about the impact o' animal companions at low level. our default through-the-ashes party config is three characters with animal companions and a skald... and if we could figure a good way to add an animal companion to a skald we would do so. doesn't so much matter what is the classes o' the three, but am wanting leopards and horses in part 'cause leopards make the best early game tanks and both leopards and horses get their upgrade at level four. early is better. through the ashes is challenging in large part 'cause it is low level d&d/pathfinder, which most crpg rush you through with a tutorial or purposeful ez content. a goblin with a pointy stick can kill you on a crit at low levels. a goblin with a pointy stick will kill you. rng makes such an outcome a near certainty after a handful o' encounters. sucks to be you at low levels in d&d or pathfinder. as an aside, aivu has been nerfed considerable. in her original release form, she were a world beater at high levels. original she had a fear aura similar to the vavakia vanguards and her dispel magic were an effective auto success in every encounter including demon lords 'cause her caster level were her dragon level. is startling to recognize how few people used her dispel supremacy, and a few boardies mentioned they never even realized she were a spell caster, but her fear aura at high levels (which admitted could be annoying) as well as the dispel-win made high level aivu utter broken. regardless, animal companions, depending how utilized, may be effective during any portion o' the game, but am personal seeing 'em as most dispositive at low levels. in fact, since you mentioned unfair difficulty, there is a couple low level unfair encounters for which our strategy relies on 1) animal companions or 2) luck and a whole lotta reloads. examples: the shield maze water elemental and the ambush at martyr zacharius's cemetery. is possible to successful overcome the cemetery and water elemental sans animal companion support, but is not something we would wanna try again... evar. am actual waiting to play the new dlc as am certain a few patches will be required to get it fully cooked rather than half-baked as is most owlcat releases. won't hurt us to wait a week or so. HA! Good Fun!

thousand yard stare always reminds us o' dorothea lange subjects, or red badge of courage soldiers and refugees. what we saw in the pic were a guy who when his agent called and said he had been picked to be the face o' a national advert campaign for an industry leading brand, he told everyone-- friends, family, enemies, etc. the picture captures the realization he will never escape the photo. HA! Good Fun!

Daryl Hall obtains restraining order against John Oates amid confidential lawsuit The suit by Hall against Oates as an individual and Oates’s trust is listed as a “contract/debt” dispute, but the details of the case are sealed, court records show. HA! Good Fun!

beware the internet... especial wikipedia. "Louisiana-style remoulades fall generally into one of two categories—those with a mayonnaise base and those with an oil base, but sometimes both mayonnaise and oil are used." am s'posing this is true. kinda. am recalling a nytimes recipe for remoulade (sorry, "rémoulade") we saw five or so years past. the recipe opined that traditional remoulade calls for mayo, but their offering were oil-- directions called for creating an emulsion with egg yolk, vinegar, a neutral oil, mustard, paprika, garlic, parsley horseradish and a few other minor additions. dude. an emulsion o' oil, egg yolk and vinegar is pretty much the definition o' mayonnaise. even the food pros at nyt says silly stuff at times and wikipedia has a tendency o' magnifying silly and wrong. am admitted mild curious 'bout the denmark version... and am dubious 'bout wiki. given color described, and fact it is a remoulade (eye roll,) am doubting olive oil (save for maybe a very light olive oil) is gonna be a major contributing ingredient for danish, but we could be wrong. olive oil is not an ideal choice for most mayo, particular for a home chef. in fact, sounds as if danish and lousiana versions is close cousins 'cause in spite o' wikipedia pronunciations, am personal using capers and lemon juice in our louisianaish remoulade... as well as parsley and horseradish. no lousiana spice blend or paprika for danish version, relying on tumeric and/or curry powder staples instead? danish version adds a bit o' cabbage, onion and carrot? regardless, if the danish version is in fact a mayo remoulade, then it should be kinda ez for @Gorthto replicate 'cause all you need do is chop and measure a few herbs/veggies and then add a handful o' spices as well as an acid and a mustard to a bowl with a fair amount o' mayonnaise and then mix. maybe add a bit o' sugar, salt and pepper, although perhaps the carrot in the danish version works to counter the acids a bit, so am not sure 'bout sugar. but again, am not trusting wiki. HA! Good Fun! ps the food am usual making remoulade to compliment is our catfish po boy. so thanks to @Gorth, we now have a hankering for catfish... which as luck would have it is present in our freezer.

has been mentioned more than once in this thread that a merged spellbook angel effective moves the difficulty slider one or even two places to the left. 'course you don't need play angel as merged spellbook and the game were released september o' 2021, so am thinking any sorta professed surprise regarding the powha o' merged spell book angel is gonna be met with at least some suspicion if not outright disbelief. additional wotr revelations which will come as a shock to nobody: merged spellbook lich is strongk animal companions is potent particular in the early portions of the game camellia has... issues HA! Good Fun!