Gromnir

hobbes and Gromnir end at much different locations, but we start journey from a similar place. credit where credit is due. we also have been known to quote faulkner, but it don't make us a racist, and you know we don't love the south as he did. don't even get us started on nietzsche. if we were quoting hobbes as to proper role o' government, then you would have cause to question. converse, gd is actual indulging in the vices. is this your elmer gantry moment? after all, who but one o' the truly depraved may understand what it is to be a sinner? preach on brother dog. we kid. that said, vices such as vaccinations, nitrogen-based fertilizer and refrigeration is stuff we would need be a bit obtuse to turn our back 'pon 'cause o' some sorta luddite moment. heck, we had our appendix burst in our early 30s, so, we would be dead w/o a few o' those infernal modern vices. HA! Good Fun!

... waiting for gd to recognize the inherent irony in sharing such thoughts on a crpg developer's digital message board. "no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." even so, sounds like a swell trip. personal enjoyed the first day o' sub 100 F in a week. dog walking in the AM and, for a change, indoor cooking as 'posed to the grill. HA! Good Fun!

wish it were a second wave, but it is likely just a spike from stoopid. perhaps call it an American hump? am agreeing such were inevitable 'cause o' American decentralization and stoopid-in-the-guise-of-individualism. our first post in the original covid-19 thread had not only the frank drebin clip, but also mocked the inevitability o' resistance to sane mitigation guidelines. we claimed the predictable protesters would legitimize such resistance 'cause, "next thing you know, they will be coming after our guns." what surprised us, and is true inconceivable for us to have made such a mistake, but we assumed trump, as all previous Presidents in living memory, would make an attempt at unifying the country to deal with the crisis. there is a natural/unnatural and predictable rally-to-the-flag moment following every crisis in this nation. folks beyond our borders is disturbed by seeming ubiquitous displays o' patriotism by Americans, but such also has us tending to unify (sometimes to an admitted scary degree) when a perceived threat arises. didn't happen in 2020. covid-19 rally-to-the-flag were a stillbirth abomination which died almost instantaneous. yes, even with genuine leadership and unity, there woulda' nevertheless been far too many who rejected calls for sacrifice in the name o' a greater cause. is not a bad impulse. a few more such folks rejecting fear as a reason to suppress liberties and we wouldn't have been stuck with the Patriot act. the thing is, this time we had the President active encouraging those sons o' liberty to reject The State and its guidelines, and the threat weren't some kinda possible/maybe threat from afar, but rather a disease, immune to ideology, which were already entrenched and spreading in the US, killing hundreds and thousands every day. the terrible reality is those hardcore libertarians who refuse to wear masks and social distance in 2020, would be far more willing to sacrifice if the threat were once again some kinda possible threat from a source which could convenient and comfortable be labeled as islamic extremism. give trump credit for reading tea leaves correct. particular after his oval office speech and the first couple covid-19 task force briefings, trump recognized that his aspirations for a second term would not be successful if he sought to bring together a nation he had worked so hard to divide for three years. trump's only chance were to solidify his base and hope for a miracle. IF covid-19 evaporated in the summer like the flu typical does, trump could win. IF the economy were able to shake off the impact o' covid-19 by september/october, then trump could win. IF hydroxy were a miracle drug... trump knows he needs gamble to win, and he is willing to gamble with tens of thousands of american lives. trump will continue to divide the nation and solidify his base while simultaneous gaslighting x1000 and hoping for a miracle. yeah, we would see a spike regardless 'cause Americans is Americans-- better and worse. would be many who did not trust cdc or President or government puppets with advanced medical degrees. such distrust isn't a bad thing, but this time the distrust following the rally-to-the-flag moment were encouraged by the President and his reasons were transparent mercenary. spike wouda' been much smaller if almost any other 2016 major candidate had successful won the Presidency. HA! Good Fun!

odd. watching the task force briefing, we recalled our firstest obsidian board covid-19 thread post. believe pence and you would think the US south and southwest has a few hotspots which should be contained in short order. nothing to see. oh, and somehow, not following cdc advice is a first amendment issue. ... not need say this, or we would hope so, but the rights o' free speech and assembly does not preclude a person from choosing to follow guidelines which prevent the spread of infection and save lives. the wh has chosen to flaunt cdc guidelines which it simultaneous claims is important for preventing the spread o' the virus. 'cause maga is the new opiate o' the masses. HA! Good Fun!

is weird we ain't seen the text o' the executive order trump signed regarding monuments. well, is weird 'cause is unusual to not have text released to press and public before or contemporaneous with signing, but is less weird in this case. trump tweets 'bout an order which would punish retroactive those who vandalized monuments with up to 10 years prison woulda' violated multiple aspects o' the Constitution, not least which were the ex post facto prohibition. trump also claimed authority based on a 2003 law, which only applied to monuments o' veterans o' US military, which would obvious preclude confederate statues. oh, and federalism. *shrug* still weird... am assuming wh releases as late as possible so ast to avoid needing to respond before weekend. HA! Good Fun!

2e were arguable the worst d&d, with all the nonsensical organic crap which had accumulated from d&d's origins and were not purged, while adding kits and other such nonsense which grew utter outta control. 2e were an abomination perhaps best visualized by the gibbering mouther image. ... 2e did include planescape though, so not a complete loss. also, we got the original module in which the critter appeared, which were c-1, the hidden shrine of tamoachan. erol otus did artwork for the gibbering mouther. so... there is a 2e di terlizzi image we like best for the gibbering mouther, but it is more funny than scary. 3e, taken as a whole and previous to all the splat book extras, were better than previous editions o' d&d. were far more rational, but we did miss some o' the old skool d&d/ad&d artists. and am knowing is not what you mean, but nobody voted for bolton. Gromnir is a textualist after all. nsa is one o' the few senior wh positions not requiring senate approval. on positive side, with national security advisor, we don't get transparent unconstitutional "acting" exploit which no other President has ever manipulated to such a degree as trump, but is unlikely to ever change. need somebody with standing to bring a case to Courts. as to the book, am not gonna read bolton's tell-mostly/tell-selective until we may borrow a copy from the local public library as we ain't paying money for anybody remote involved with the book. also, is our understanding the book is hundreds o' pages which may be encapsulated in a single image good news for gd is mary trump's book is near ready for release, but am even less curious 'bout her book. am already convinced trump is a terrible president and a contemptible human being based on many trump actions and statements. discover the details o' fugly trump family trauma will do what? legitimize what we already believe? public sharing o' real family trauma makes us a bit uncomfortable. will read brothers karamazov or sound and the fury if we need scratch such an itch. that said, am agreeing for public persons running for office, such fodder is fair game, but even so am not some kinda lovecraftian monster who is gonna gleeful feed off o' tragedy and pay for the right to indulge such appetites. will wait for the movie. joke. we joke. HA! Good Fun! ps not kidding 'bout terribleness o' 2e .

we read the transcript from the interview and then imagine trump takes one o' those silly what d&d class would you be quizzes/surveys. impossible occurs and trump result is: btw, the gibbering mouther in chief had a few competent and qualified people in the administration, but he fired 'em or they resigned. bolton were hired 'cause h.r. mcmaster were no longer national security advisor. hardly a singular example. Richard Spencer: I was fired as Navy secretary. Here’s what I’ve learned because of it. who followed richard spencer? thomas modly others? HA! Good Fun!

as is typical, the failures is in your perception and comprehension as 'posed to any shortcoming on our part. no surprise. HA! Good Fun!

hillary clinton were a historic unpopular Presidential candidate, and she nevertheless managed to win the popular vote? so we end up with a "populist" such as trump? wait, that sounds wrong, no? trump is aberrational, or at least he was. no reputable composite popularity poll for trump has ever had him reach even 50% approval. the notion o' an unpopular populist successfully gaining and keeping power is kinda a political oxymoron possible only 'cause o' a strange confluence o' events and the uniqueness o' the US republic. control of senate may be achieved, theoretical, by ~20% o' the US population. the President may be elected w/o win o' popular vote. the 2020 Presidency itself is not at all what the framers envisioned, so we cannot even blame them for oversights. regardless, the Presidency were never meant to be voted in by popular consent o' the great unwashed masses. the Court is most decided not appointed democratic. is possible for a small percentage o' the US population to functional control the federal government. ... the dirty non secret o' american democracy is that a benevolent tyranny of the minority, sadly, is exact what the framers were building in 1787. white and propertied males were never the majority in the US. that said, the framers were wise to fear the tyranny o' the majority, which is why American democracy is largely a repudiation o' the athenian model. the Bill of Rights, which Gromnir champions frequent, were designed as limit on the predictable excesses and tyranny o' the majority. nevertheless, the educated and landed gentleman whom we are preparing to celebrate loudly this coming 4th o' july were a bunch o' bigots who were afraid o' the poor and immigrants... and don't let the upcoming hamilton release on disney fool you 'bout how enlightened and magnanimous were those folks. what the framers could not imagine, 'cause it weren't actual possible at the time, were that a largely uneducated and relative poor minority would be able to decide the fate o' the nation. a "populist" President able to appeal to an angry and fearful minority, even if possible, were not to be greatly feared. in spite o' fact the President is commander in chief, the US had no standing armies in 1787. also, the President had extreme limited powers mostly limited to foreign affairs. course things change a bit in a couple centuries and the executive branch is not at all what it were in 1787. the US improbable blundered its way into an unpopular populist such as trump in 2016. nevertheless, once an improbable mistake occurs, it becomes increasing easy to replicate the mistake by design. given the nature o' this board, am gonna observe how crpg fans is no doubt aware o' how wacky and bizarre is a few o' those xp and/or gold exploits which haunt many/most game releases. with just the right party composition, completing a quest and choosing specific dialogue options, will lead to an infinite replication exploit. call it a bug or a design flaw not make a difference. reality is that until game developers fix, many players will take advantage o' the exploit. the US Constitution don't have game developers-- we got the amendment process. imagine if removal o' every busted arse crpg exploit required 2/3 of game purchasers to agree to a change o' the exploit? we broke it, and now we are stuck with it. may god have mercy on our souls. HA! Good Fun!

particular apropos message for our times. then again, and at least somewhat to the point, history should teach us how our times is not as unique as it should be save for inevitably o' our fail to learn over and over and over again. HA! Good Fun!

am predicting a whole lotta artistic license which will incense many o' the few thousand o' us folks who actual read foundation. won't bother or suprise us personal as we understand the need for adapting to a different audience and medium, but there will be complaints. inevitable. asimov's "book" were one o' the original grand works o' science fiction. weren't a book, not original. foundation were serialized in a pulpy scif mag. the eventual book were a collection o' related short stories which, if followed religious by the apple folks, would confuse the heck outta many folks who just watched the trailer. is short stories and nevertheless the pacing were glacial, almost literal. a whole lotta non-action events progressed over the course o' a thousand years. don't misunderstand our observations as criticism. we enjoyed foundation, particularly as a somewhat pretentious teen reading a delrey version back in the early 80s. still recall the kewl michael whelan cover art which much as anything had us buy the series entire (lightly used) at a church flea market sale when we could ill afford to do so. ... am not gonna spoil, but the first book especial, is not akin to star wars or even dune. edward gibbons' series, the history of the decline of the roman empire were not suitable to be made into a movie save as a documentary, and foundation itself as a movie/series would most accurate work if embracing a documentary style. not gonna happen. if decline of the roman empire were in far future and could be replicated in five short stories 'stead o' six volume, you would have something similar to foundation. were so fantastic. 'course gibbons work were (kinda) made into a movie, so... HA! Good Fun!

two words which shoulda made a 2016 trump win impossible: muslim ban p#$$y grab john mccain etc. still saddens us beyond any capacity to communicate that we, as a people, elected a man advocating a f#$%ing muslim ban. wtf. the grab comments came later and likewise failed to dissuade. polarization. trump in wh is the result o' polarization, and it's polarization which is the big problem. won't be fixed even if trump is not winning a second term. exit polls in 2016 made clear most voters, even most voters who voted for trump, didn't like trump or believe he were competent, but they liked clinton even less. four years pass and polarization is so much worse. is now impossible for many trump voters to consider the possibility o' voting for one o' those filthy democrats who is responsible for hoaxes such as russian election interference and the failed trump response to covid-19 in early 2020. in spite o' concerns o' 'bout trump competence and character, it were a matter o' trump or _________. so many important issues and the typical trump voter were only casting their ballot for trump 'cause the threat o' President clinton were too much to bear. fast forward to 2020 and an extraordinary number o' 2016 trump voters has convinced selves trump is a savior o' sorts. in spite o' near four years o' historic incompetence and impotence, trump is their guy, no matter what. each new self-created wh crisis is only further proof that the only reason democrats hate trump so much is 'cause the chief executive threatens the scheme o' deep state power, or so the conspiracy goes. is not rational. is not reasonable. is polarization. now admitted, some folks were ahead o' the curve. had boardies hereabouts who raged 'gainst democrats back in 2026, or 'gainst democrats AND republicans. capacity to be reasonable had already disappeared for many previous to trump presidency, but am thinking most observers not need to be convinced overmuch to agree with general observation regarding the increased polarization o' the US electorate during the past few years. "ever seen a car accident just before it happens? as often as not, the first indication you got that a car accident happened is the sound o' car horns immediate followed by the loud crash as two or more cars slam into each other with bone shattering force. but sometimes you actual see the accident unfold. you see the guy pull his el camino into the bike lane and accelerate into an intersection in spite o' the fact that he gots a red light. is literal nothing you can do to stop the guy, but you know what is gonna happen. you cringe. your whole body tenses. you await the crash. trump is the guy in the el camino, but the accident is happening in slow motion and can easily be stopped. inexplicably, more than 1/3 o' the americans watching the developing accident is cheering trump forward." -- Gromnir, 8/16 in spite o' our being conservative, 'least from traditional national voting pov, the impending trump accident were obvious in 2016. the thing is, in spite o' us all standing 'mongst the wreckage o' the current administration, +/-40% o' Americans is now cheering trump forward. polarization. two-words which shoulda made a 2016 trump win impossible: p#$$y grab muslim ban john mccain etc. polarization. HA! Good Fun! ps "muslim ban" shoulda' been more than enough to get a few more people in battleground states to vote, but... is possible we are paying for our sins.

double-post, but... Politics Influenced Justice Department In Roger Stone Case, DOJ Lawyer Tells Hill aaron zelinsky opening statement am aware such stuff will have zero impact on trump supporters. nevertheless, read the opening statement and the facts o' the case which were resulting in a guilty verdict. forthcoming testimony should be a resulting p00p storm o' outrage from all corners, but am certain this is gonna once again break on party lines. is another situation where will be up to voters to decide in november, 'cause is no way barr is impeached by this senate. "It pains me to describe these events. But as Judge Jackson said in this case, the truth still matters. And so I am here today to tell you the truth."-- ausa aaron zelinsky sounds similar to another ignored witness. "this is America . . . here, right matters." -- lt. col. alexander vindman we now know that right don't in fact matter to at least a majority o' US senators. why should truth fare any better? HA! Good Fun!

seeing how the monopoly is foundational to modern concepts o' State, am thinking you likely get your anarchist membership card with little fuss. congrats? HA! Good Fun! ps ok, so that were mildly amusing. am gonna give youtube a temporary reprieve from our condemnation o' its near certain recommended for you fails.

paul harvey tells us gd spent the rest o' the day cleaning the damn thing. cleaning. cleaning. cleaning. *shudder* HA! Good Fun!

so... geoffrey berman, the US attorney whom general barr claimed had stepped down, has now s'posed been fired by trump... at least so says a letter from barr. barr curious also no longer is claiming to appoint a temporary replacement for berman 'cause, y'know, he didn't have authority to do that either. well, story is over, yes? as we noted earlier, barr may not have authority to fire berman, but trump does. thus the letter from barr explaining who were doing the firing. nope. nothing so ez. trump says, "Well, that's all up to the attorney general. Attorney General Barr is working on that," Trump said on the South Lawn ahead of his departure for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "That's his department, not my department. But we have a very capable attorney general so that's really up to him. I'm not involved."-cnn... but for all you fake news 100ns, you may find quote just 'bout anywhere. tempest in a tea cup though, right? sure, trump or barr is lying (both?) but end result changes little once these clowns get their act together and barr gets trump to realize he needs be the guy making the decision to fire. delay the inevitable. not so fast, 'cause lindsey graham apparent discovered his spine on a domestic issue after more than three years o' trump 'cause when questioned 'bout situation, mr. graham said he weren't informed by the wh o' the situation, but if there were to be a firing and replacement o' berman, senate traditions regarding such matters would be upheld, including the right o' the State senators from the relevant jurisdiction having veto power over US attorney appointments. lindsey graham heads the committee on US attorney appointments, which is why is relevant for mr. graham to have input. senators schumer and gillibrand has both announced they will veto trump/barr choice o' replacement, sec lawyer, jay clayton. mr. clayton has ZERO prosecutor experience btw. we could not make this nonsense up if we tried. HA! Good Fun!

well, fifth trumpet includes the locusts, after which is sixth trumpet and a third o' mankind being wiped out by fire, smoke, brimstone and plagues. 'course there is almost always a locust swarm somewhere in africa doing ungodly damage. search well that was ez. HA! Good Fun!

keep in mind any return message is gonna take just as long. message also need be aimed at where the recipient will be in 17,000 years, 'cause aim where they was and you miss target. is a message being sent in a vacuum, so is not omnidirectional like a radio tower. earth is also in a relative dead zone o' the galaxy, which decreases odds as stars is actual more sparse in our neck o' the woods, so-to-speak. if other galaxy civilizations is playing odds and random searching, the chances they look in our direction is gonna be low, or so we assume. we have attempted to explain the vastness o' the galaxy previous and we always fail. however, our fail is in part 'cause we recognize we is faking it. sure, we understand the numbers and science, but we cannot genuine comprehend how distant is a light year when it literal takes more than three minutes for light to reach freaking mars when mars is closest possible to earth. mars. hundreds o' light years as a distance is an abstraction we only comprehend relative to some other abstraction we cannot genuine comprehend. we look at stars and wonder. given the vastness o' the universe, much less galaxy, am recognizing how improbable it is we are alone as an "intelligent" civilization. then we we reflect and also realize einstein were probable correct as he were 'bout so much and ftl is impossible. heck even the stuff einstein were unconvinced he were right 'bout is stuff he were right 'bout. would not surprise us if thousands o' galactic civilizations exist in the milky way, civilizations we will never hear from much less interact. galaxy is just so utter vast it is beyond our capacity to fully grasp. ... still, it doesn't hurt to look and wonder, does it? HA! Good Fun!

you and your parade o' horribles. 'course we already addressed your concern. will repeat. even if we assume unlikely situation hillary were so stoopid and corrupt as to overt request election help from a foreign power, have situation play out exact same, albeit with different actors. change one small detail, which in light o' history is actual the likely situation: house o' representatives in 2019 is narrow republican control. with what woulda' been a narrow victory over an unpopular trump, trying to swing the House in midterms woulda' been a challenge for hillary. every national failure woulda' been blamed on hillary and as is typical with a relative unpopular President at midterms, the opposing party wins seats. so republican controlled house needs decide whether to impeach hillary for election interference and overt obstructionist behaviour? any chance such fails to get a majority when President hillary were so obvious 'bout it... plus her efforts to bury the IG report to Congress woulda' been enough to get her metaphorical keel-hauled by an unfriendly House. predict for us what happens in the Senate when articles o' impeachment from House arrive condemning hillary o' high crimes and misdemeanors? what is chances mitch and other republicans is convinced by procedural issues to ignore the threat o' a President open hostile to rule o' law with an upcoming election in 2020? imagine a President hillary and same mistakes as trump exposes the hypocrisy o' trump supporters if they is being at all honest. oh, and somehow assume all same mistakes and hillary never survives mueller. never. however, even with the fever dream silliness gd regular embraces, we don't see hillary or any other major candidate who were running in 2016 indulging in the buffoonery and criminality as has this chief executive. every other candidate, even the overt mercenary ones such as cruz, had some level o' respect for the office o' President and for the nation as a whole. there is a gravitas which comes with the office and while many Presidents fail to live up to standards set by predecessors, we has had extreme few Presidents who were narcissistic and ignorant. we have had fools as chief executive. we have had borderline tyrants. we has had men who we might even wanna label as evil, whatever that means. even so, if you do not see trump as different after three years o' constant lies and attacks on the Constitution, you never will... which is exact why we says people should be specific. "no matter who wins," is unconvincing and cheap. compare specifics and you cannot help but see how different is trump. did obama, for example, attack the media unfairly? sure as hell did and we called him out for doing so. go after fox guys you don't like specific 'cause you don't like? were wrong then as would be today. but compare obama's attacks on the media to trump is representing a difference in scope we never coulda' predicted in 2016. so no, we would not be in same situation with a democrat President. and no, the choice 'tween trump v. anybody is NOT pointless. yeah, Congress and local should be our bigger focus in this nation, but is not a pointless choice unless you ignore reality complete and instead rely on sweeping generalizations which you somehow validate with the unique and aberrational narcissism and ineptitude o' trump. HA! Good Fun!

that's fine. call 'em out if you see hypocrisy, though your vagueness fails. specific is good. for instance, point to actual instances where dems who during trump impeachment were excoriating trump for arguments schumer and others were making when bill were on trial and we would support you 100%. call out the wrong. however, doesn't make better 'cause more people is doing the wrong. cheap dodge. HA! Good Fun!

wasn't us, but any excuse for more tina weymouth bass is appreciated. HA! Good Fun!

we all know this ain't comrade master's first board incarnation, but how does board software intuit? kid. we kid. and to stay on-topic, good news for those who pre ordered the bolton book, a judge is not granting the government request for injunctive relief. also, while am supporting geoffrey berman, he can't remain as us attorney boss for sdny if Trump fires him. barr can't fire berman, and am disturbed (but unsurprised) that barr would lie 'bout berman "stepping down," but no statutory defense is gonna hold up for very long when we are talking 'bout specific article 2 powers. even so, berman may do as trump has done so frequent in past and use the legal system to delay what is otherwise inevitable. regardless, am utter baffled by the the trump supporters who defend the President and his cronies when is so clear the President flaunts rule o' law and any American notions o' justice. President fires the guy investigating the President, even if legal, should be a kick in the shorts o'... everybody. how is this not more troubling to trump supporters? if President hillary did same f'ing thing, firing a US attorney investigating her business/foundation/allies and then lied 'bout it, imagine the reaction from some o' our boardie trump supporters. is not 'bout trump. shouldn't be. HA! Good Fun!

kinda unrelated, but am reminded that james cromwell is a criminal underappreciated actor. if you only saw him in babe or nerds or some movie or show where he is playing the supportive grandpa/father figure, you probable think o' him much different than does Gromnir. few actors bring the menace as does cromwell. clear has range. is also worth noting cromwell is a big-time supporter o' peta and animal rights issues. he were arrested a few years ago 'cause some university lab were breeding canines with ms or md or some disease with an M in its acronym/abbreviation. cromwell shows up at regents meeting to protest. he also protests horse racing as blood sport and all kinda other animal stuff. so am guessing cromwell has a softer side in rl. oh, and for shady in particular, am recalling some bit o' trivia which claimed ~fiveish star trek credits for cromwell, plus his wife and daughter also have star trek credits. regardless, we see cromwell playing nerd dad and all we can think o' is, "hush, hush." HA! Good Fun!

on that point you get zero argument from us. HA! Good Fun!

not sure if we agree with hoon, but we do know billy taylor's song, penned in 1963, feels powerful and disturbing appropriate today. 1763? 1863? when does it finally change? am no longer sure what some folks mean by racist or racism. doesn't matter though. we want this song to be a joyful anachronism by 2063. too much to ask? HA! Good Fun! ps a couple days past we mentioned how little it took to make anything relevant, yes? just had a weird brain hiccup and recalled jeff goldblum did billy taylor's song on his jazz album. coincidental, jeff goldblum were once on sesame street, as bob's brother. minneapolis johnson. and thus ends yet another Gromnir autism moment.