Gromnir

again, change facts so at uc davis it were a speaker promoting trans rights and equality, but proud boyz, klanzmen or other wackjobs showed up to protest. am having no idea what story you read, 'cause you didn't share, so am not knowing what you deem to be cops censoring, or what amounted to dispersing o' protest, or what were the explanation as to why the cops felt justified in doing so. in any event, if at some point the local police intervened and began dispersing the klansmen protesting a trans speaker invited to uc davis, would you have excused resulting klansmen violence? maybe you would. maybe you believe violence and mayhem is the proper universal response to censorship. it isn't, but maybe that is your belief. even so, am wondering if your indignation is same if is villains such as white supremacists committing violence, eh? btw, IF the local and university cops at the charlie kirk event had dispersed a peaceful protest on a state university campus w/o justification, then am personal able to think o' at least ten excellent lawyers who would take the protester's resulting first amendment case pro bono. however, IF the protesters resorted to violence... furthermore, police busting up a peaceful protest w/o any justification woulda' been even bigger news than the uc davis knuckleheads who got suckered by charlie kirk and his proud boys. "Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring." am able to imagine situations where we would reluctant choose to embrace violence as a form o' protest, but the uc davis situation, even as you describe, is unlikely to satisfy our personal threshold. HA! Good Fun!

am not sure what makes a game underrated in the fallout context. as noted in the video, the reviews for fo:nv were actual good save for a few dreadful outliers, only two metacritic points lower than fallout 2 for perspective. the commentator waxes rhapsodic 'bout the original games and the "critical praise" they garnered. again, there two metacritic points difference 'tween fo2 and fo:nv. ... am gonna suggest fo:t is the most underrated game and not 'cause o' bad reviews but 'cause o' the vicious response from the hardcore fanbase. fo:t was, as it were advertised, a squad-based tactical combat game. no mutants allowed folks went apesh!te over hairy death claws and the reaver dance encounter. yeah, hardcore fallout purists were no less indignant 'bout fo 3, but fo:t were meant to appeal to the nma and codex folks. fo:t were not getting love from a new and different generation o' fo fans such as fo3 enjoyed. fo:t were not a perfect game, but the first 2/3 or 3/4 were an excellent turn-based tactical combat game and did not deserve the savage response it suffered from the fallout faithful. HA! Good Fun!

knee jerk defense o' serial stoopid 'cause you agree with the viewpoint o' the protesters? ... "CBS Sacramento reported that some protesters reportedly used pepper spray in an attempt to keep would-be audience members out of the building. " the protesters had made threats during the week leading up to the charlie kirk event. as such, no police presence woulda' been idiotic. your feels that violence happened once the police attempted to quell protests is based 'pon? protesters were assaulting those who wished to view the event. protesters broke windows and vandalized property. am gonna suggest it is possible to argue that police did not intervene quick or forceful enough once violence occurred, but somehow you reverse and make the police actions the cause o' protester violence? serious? if the davis protesters had stood outside buildings, chanting their outrage at charlie kirk and the uc davis chancellor, there would have been no story making national news. 'course the proud boys and charlie kirk were much aware just how little it takes to provoke a violent response from young and stoopid in 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/28/us/pittsburgh-student-protest/index.html gen z protesters and a small number o' antifa idiots keep repeating the same mistake. if you are losing a battle o' wits with charlie kirk and the proud boyz, then you are clear doing something wrong. blame on cops, boomers or sunspots ain't helping. gen z woulda' so been triggered by william f buckley. ensuing violence woulda' been okie dokie if cops arrived? in 1963, while john lewis spoke to crowds in washington dc, would you have defended robed klansman heckling and assaulting people attempting to hear the future Congressman speak? doubtful. change facts and make so that at uc davis it were an invited speaker advocating for trans rights recognition and the protesters who eventual engaged in violence were the proud boys. @Chairchuckerwould be defending the proud boys in such a situation? be honest. from mr. lewis' final essay: Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring. defense of self and defense o' others against immediate violence is excuses for violence. the presence o' cops, charlie kirk or michael knowles is so not reasonable excuses for vandalism and violence. btw, am not making some kinda inane equivalency argument. violence from white supremacists in the US is many orders o' magnitude worse than the stick and pepper spray wielding antifa nincompoops or brainless university undergrads. the attack on Congress on january 6 were so not the same as rando george floyd protests in sheboygan. the problem is the young liberal minded folks who see themselves as standing up for Justice while ignoring free speech principles not only fail to recognize the hypocrisy o' their actions, but they is time and again being suckered into the performance art spectacles engineered by the proud boyz and charlie kirk. honest, how stoopid do you need be to keep falling for the same bait?the proud boys set up the situation at uc davis and stanford 'cause they knew how easily provoked is genz and antifa morons. these campus displays is repeated and is engineered purposeful to have substantial cop and camera presence so as to display the hypocrisy and stoopid o' young liberals 'cause then folks like bruce will have ammunition when they engage in false equivalency arguments. btw am applauding young protesters for vocal criticizing individuals such as charlie kirk. maybe ain't a legal duty, but as we observed with book burnings, remaining silent when you see a wrong being committed or ignored is wrong. young protesters should be vocal. would be nice if those same undergrad firebrands bothered to vote too, but baby steps are required. the thing is, once you cross over from peaceful protest to violence, you are trampling on the grave o' folks such as john lewis, and such should not be tolerated. make excuses that you were provoked by the proud boys or police presence is idiotic. gonna say it once more: if you are repeated losing a chess match with the freaking proud boys, you are doing something wrong. fall for the same obvious ruse again and again andagainanadagainanadagainanadagainandagainandagainandagainandagain? that kinda willful stoopid is not forgivable. HA! Good Fun!

so, a former President is on trial for rape but if you read/watch fox you might not be aware o' that fact. top story from fox news is five days ago: Billionaire Dem donor defends bankrolling Trump accuser's rape lawsuit as judge seals funding docs It's unclear why Judge Kaplan, who is not Carroll's lawyer, would keep the materials a secret from the public, given that Hoffman's role as financial backer is public knowledge. Earlier this month, Habba asked the judge to delay the trial and reopen the discovery process in the case, explaining that Carroll's legal team had disclosed that a nonprofit funded by Hoffman — American Future Republic — had given money to Kaplan's law firm. The funding was "particularly relevant in the instant matter given the political overtones of this case" and Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, Habba argued. wapo site from today: E. Jean Carroll says #MeToo inspired her to go public with accusation Carroll and Tacopina verbally sparred at times during his questioning, which lasted about three hours. She appeared to grow irritated at some moments, including when the attorney asked why Carroll did not scream when Trump allegedly assaulted her. “One of the reasons women don’t come forward is because they’re always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’” Carroll said. “Some women scream, some women don’t. It keeps women silent.” After more back-and-forth with Tacopina, Carroll responded with audible frustration: “He raped me whether I screamed or not!” ... am thinking @Hurlshotis gonna need wait before his desired media sea change manifests. 'course the top story at the wapo site is: Conservative dissenters block abortion limits in Nebraska, South Carolina While it was women who helped defeat the measure in South Carolina, in Nebraska it was an 80-year-old man who stalled it. Sen. Merv Riepe, a longtime Republican who would have been the decisive vote to advance the bill to a final round of voting, abstained over his concern that the six-week ban might not give women enough time to know they are pregnant. Riepe told the Flatwater Free Press that he was concerned the Nebraska bill would be viewed as a total ban. “At the end of the day, I need to look back and be able to say to myself, ‘Did you do the best?’” Riepe told the paper. “No group came to me, asking me to do this. This is of my own beliefs, my own commitments.” HA! Good Fun!

The Hunt for Mexico’s Heirloom Beans The Rancho Gordo Bean Club am still on the waitlist for the bean club. the domingo rojo is our goto option when we make our good red beans and rice recipe. our splurge replacement for black beans when am making soup is the ayocote morado. have never personal tried the mayacoba but we saw a spot from atk where the bean was described as tasting, "like candied bacon." serious? we also have a bean whisperer t-shirt from rancho gordo which gets more than a few stares. HA! Good Fun!

hard west 2 is on sale at steam. 50% off. am always waiting at least six months post release to purchase games for which we ain't done the crowd funding thing. gets us a more stable game which is likely encheapened. we intended to purchase hard west 2 earlier this year, but we forgot. now seems like a good time to pull trigger. HA! Good Fun!

went max on i-bonds before the april 30 deadline. is not as if we need the money, but not buying felt like throwing away cash. HA! Good Fun!

the texas rb is a curious selection because while expert consensus is he ranks as the best rb prospect since saquon barkley, rb is having such diminished value that it is difficult for many teams to invest any first round pick on an rb. few people would be surprised if bijan robinson dropped to the later half of the first round, 'cause is only a handful o' teams willing to draft him round 1. by the same token, he could go in the top ten. as for te, michael mayer is a guy much like the aforementioned suggs and thomas in that his athletic measurables are not elite, so it will be interesting to see just how far he drops. edit: jahmyr gibbs, the alabama rb, is rating as a top-ten overall prospect on many team draft boards. we would not be shocked if he were drafted round one. also, tyree wilson has been dropped complete from a few team draft boards as there is reported unresolved medical issues related to his foot. HA! Good Fun!

brown paper bag edition so, draft day is here... https://www.nfl.com/ https://walterfootball.com/index.php "* After parting ways with Zeke and with Pollard on the roster, muh Boys move up and draft Bijan." not seeing why this is funny. recent zeke production has been uninspired and the cowboys remain idiosyncratic a run-first team. bijan robinson is the only guy from this draft we feel confident predicting as a likely future hall of fame inductee... barring injuries 'course. trade up to get the best player in the draft makes sense. is hardly shocking both the patriots and cowboys appear interested in the texas rb. as usual, the most predictable funny is gonna be how teams way overreach for quarterbacks, although is not gonna be necessarily funny in 2023. the raiders jamarcus russell pick were funny, but on day 1 o' the 2007 draft, pundits were split on the wisdom o' choosing russell and few woulda' suggested the lsu qb did not deserve a first round grade. how far does he fall stories is funny... and sad. am not feeling sorry for jalen carter dropping 'cause he is carrying so much baggage. even so, would not surprise us if a team which talks 'bout character and the importance o' team leadership nevertheless selects the georgia star. converse, is gonna be a terrell suggs or zach thomas player who had world beater stats in college but cause o' less than impressive measurables he is predicted to slide. suggs ended up going tenth in the first round in spite o' a terrible forty time. zach thomas ended up in the hall of fame, but his terrible combine performance included a woeful vertical leap and bad forty time so he dropped to the fifth round. gonna take the safe bet and suggest the most immediate draft funny will be related to something improbable a draft expert says. mel kiper and booger mcfarland is obvious picks for a "what did he say," award. suzy kolber, who frequent interviews round 1 players immediate after they has been selected, has been known to ask asinine questions. in any event, the most amusing story is gonna be qb overreach, 'cause it happens almost every year. HA! Good Fun!

HA! Good Fun!

Dev Diary #6: Banished Court: Scions & Monsters harebrained is leaning heavy into h.p. lovecraft territory for their adversaries. edit: complete unrelated, but whenever am thinking o' lovecraft, we cannot help but consider the creepy physical similarity o' zuckerberg and lovecraft. am thinking the doppelgangers is more spooky than the banished court. HA! Good Fun!

fyi, the state efforts to prosecute trump, assuming such efforts by the respective state DAs proceed as anticipated, is not gonna result in trials starting soonish. if ms. willis indicts in july, then a trial is unlikely to happen until late first quarter o' 2024, or even a bit later. the ny thing, if it even goes to trial, will occur late 2023. however, the feds do different than states insofar as speedy trial is concerned. defendants have a right to speedy trial in state court proceedings as well as fed, but is likely trump don't want speedy. am assuming team trump will delay state prosecutions as long as possible and it sure looks as if the state prosecutors dragged their feet before indicting. the feds tend to be meticulous 'bout building their cases, and they rare charge unless they is certain they will win, so if charges are brought against trump by the feds, then am suspecting more than a few people will be surprised by just how quickly a fed trial happens. observation: if the feds get a first crack at trump and succeed in convicting trump for the mar-a-lago documents kerfuffle, then significant pressure on state prosecutors to bring trump to justice is removed. am not reading the minds o' the ny or ga prosecutors, but we cannot help but recognize how much easier the political lives o' willis and bragg become if trump is already convicted by the feds before state criminal trials begin. HA! Good Fun!

EXCLUSIVE: DA says indictment announcement coming this summer in Trump probe Willis revealed the timetable in a letter to local law enforcement in which she asked them to be ready for “heightened security and preparedness” because she predicted her announcement “may provoke a significant public reaction.” no doubt ms. willis is concerned 'bout the need for heightened security 'cause she is intending to indict relative nameless fake electors or perhaps lindsey graham, or... am not a fan o' idle speculation in the absence o' facts, but this story, assuming is true, makes the question o' whether or not trump will be indicted in georgia much less o' a question, eh? HA! Good Fun!

what are the chances the irony o' the situation is public recognized by all the fox taking heads who have screeched incessant regarding the insidious evils o' cancel culture? HA! Good Fun!

am not sure if media personalities being fired qualifies as dystopian unless they were fired for speaking truth to power. lemon and carlson, whatever is the reasons they got fired, is not gone 'cause they were fighting for the cause o' right and justice. desantis' war on wokeism is in the dystopian wheelhouse, but the fact he has a fit whenever a reporter challenges him on inconvenient facts or mentions his flagging poll numbers likely makes him less appealing to the moderate republicans who inexplicable see desantis as a saner and smarter alternative to trump. desantis failing with republicans nationally is surprising reasonable. converse, trump increased popularity 'mongst the gop is the kinda irrational but inevitable am thinking kp is shooting for. converse, and speaking o' shooting, the 2nd amendment purists (who all fail from a bad case o' misunderstanding history) reflexive opine that the solution to gun violence is more guns is so exact the kinda brain freeze stoopid we expect in 2023. rockets blowing up is kinda common in real life testing o' rocket science... go figure. however, am gonna need learn how much damage were done to the launchpad before seeing the recent unscheduled disassembly *eye roll* as a devestating loss. video shows debris being scattered at launch and at least one storage tank were deformed. odd, but a dented storage tank might be more meaningful than is the explosion o' the world's largest rocket. perhaps more significant, gop politicians, in spite o' the obvious handicap dobbs has created for them is nevertheless doubling down on abortion limits and most is lining up to support trump in 2024 regardless o' the fact trump is the republican candidate most likely to result in democrats once again showing up at the polls. is the kinda simultaneous insane and predictable behavior am having come to expect in 2023. similar, from the other side o' the aisle, Congressmen is refusing to question dianne feinestein fitness and nobody seems to wanna talk 'bout biden's age. aoc says the biden administration should ignore the Courts when abortion rulings go 'gainst women rights and sudden all the rule of law democrats turn mute. meanwhile, in a post volker universe, the fed seems incapable o' doing anything but making matters worse while elected politicians play a game o' chicken with the debt ceiling? alito... our opinion o' alito is not a secret. even so, we wouldn't have heretofore expected an alito dissent which knowing and willful mischaracterized the criticisms o' the shadow docket. to stop an execution when new evidence or a question o' law is raised in the 11th hour is not gonna shock the conscience o' any follower o' the Courts, save for the conservative majority who has used shadow docket far less than recent SCOTUS incarnations to interfere with executions. similar, use the shadow docket to preserve the status quo when the alternative would cause obvious and immediate harm to americans is what the shadow docket is meant to achieve. alito, in a display o' uncharacteristic churlishness for a Justice, misrepresented the criticisms o' SCOTUS for using the shadow docket to overturn precedent w/o a written explanation or even oral arguments, however 'cause only dissents o' shadow docket rulings is published, no Justice had a chance to respond to alito's obvious mischaracterization. particular as the Justices who has recent criticized the shadow docket includes Kagan and ACB, alito comes off as the worst kinda mansplainer and he did so with devious intent 'cause Kagan and Barett literal had no opportunity to correct alito. really wanna crank up the black dystopian hilarity, then there is russia's ukraine war or china's self inflicted population crisis or (name your daily stoopid from the UK). etc. unfortunate, look back at the past few years, am calling this a rather ordinary monday. HA! Good Fun!

Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News HA! Good Fun!

there is an option on ulbrig's ability menu titled wild shape (return). green color so it stands out. HA! Good Fun!

perhaps not as pivotal as the bowling green massacre, but april 23 is worth memorializing and reflecting 'pon as a moment o' import. HA! Good Fun!

bed, bath & beyond is filing for bankruptcy. many stores will be closed. in an effort to raise cash and possible exist post bankruptcy, we suspect rather dramatic fire sales in the not distant future, as early as wednesday perhaps. so if you have been considering buying towels, small kitchen appliances or new couch cushions... circle of life and all that rot. HA! Good Fun!

have finally played a new wotr game deep enough to do all o' act ii with the new companion as well as the act iii ulbrig specific content. quick observations: - the new content is owlcat ordinary which means if you enjoyed wotr, then you will possible grumble 'bout narrative shortcomings or bugs related to the dlc, but such is no worse than the bulk o' what has been previous released. however, a few o' the quests is kinda haphazard and ill-defined; you may feel the need to check your journal to be sure a couple quests is finished, or not. - the only act iii content other than crusade management we completed before exploring gundrun were greengates and the molten scar which had us reach level 11 by a handful o' xp. after completing the act iii ulbrig quests am ~3/4 to level 12; is a fair amount o' content available on decent sized maps. there is more happening in currantglen and gundrun than we expected. the dlc is not just 'bout the shifter class with a wotr companion tacked on for good measure. ulbrig and his relevant maps result in considerable more content than other wotr companions, for better or worse. - is a few munchkin bait l00t items considering the level o' the content. is multiple +6 enhancement gear pieces and those items have bonuses beyond the enhancement. -the crusade upgrades from ulbrig provide your army with new military units but have only accessed infantry and archers 'cause as am having stated, am early in act iii. even so our new default infantry unit is the ulbrig specific houndmasters. - am highly recommending upgrading the phylactery of stevanius (ring) with the convert to force damage option before tackling gundrun. - a merchant in gundrun sells multiple weapons and items which target lycanthropes. am not yet having encountered lycanthropes, so... regardless, am gonna repeat am pleasant surprised by the amount o' new content provided by the dlc. HA! Good Fun!!

the business model o' rush limbaugh and steve bannon were predicated on the stoopid and hate o' people. for years most o' us laughed at individuals who read national enquirer as serious news unaware that it weren't just a fringe element who saw the enquirer and similar fare as legit. marjorie taylor greene gets elected not in spite o' her wackadoodle conspiracy theories but because o' them. oh, and lest we forget, in late 2001 more than 50% o' democrats believed george bush were complicit in the 9/11 attacks. particular when people are afraid, they will become angry and stoopid. however, am gonna concede how in 2023 it is near impossible for reasonable people to predict which new stoopid will be embraced by people. why crt? why dylan mulvaney? is so many other inanities which were seized 'pon by the now mainstream alt-right, but most such conspiracy theories and stoopid die quietly and with little fanfare. predicting which new stoopid goes viral is difficult to divine. am s'posing the unpredictable threshold o' critical mass outrage is why the conservative radio and mtg go with a scattergun approach. stoopid and hate is not only predictable but is ordinary. even so, am agreeing am uncertain why the seeming trivial dylan mulvaney thing resonates while in spite o' efforts from the nypost, conservative radio and other members o' the 2023 legion of doom there were no widespread outrage over nhl pride. HA! Good Fun!

lamplighters dev diary #5. turn-based combat one aspect we found intriguing in part 'cause o' what is not detailed-- The Stress System Being attacked in combat is stressful. In The Lamplighters League you can use the stress of your enemies to your advantage! But you also have to pay attention to your own Agent’s stress levels as well. Let’s dive into the rules! What is Stress? Every time any unit is attacked, they will accrue a point of Stress. Note: Hits AND Misses both accrue the same amount of Stress. So even missed abilities have some effect! Stress is represented by the pips above the unit’s Health Bars. When a unit reaches maximum Stress, they will Stress Break. Stress Breaking When a unit Stress Breaks and hits max stress, something happens! For Enemies: Some enemies Flee and will cower for a turn. Some enemies go Berserk and attack a nearby target – friend or foe! For Player Agents: Stress Broken Agents will lose 1 AP their next turn. More effects to be revealed later… am getting how stress is a fatigue mechanic, and am curious, but we would like more info. HA! Good Fun!

to be fair, the old trope were closer to demogorgon. grendel were one o' the firstest bogeymen in literature and he were a vaguely anthropomorphized fear o' that which lurks just beyond the longhouse door-- something monstrous and indescribable. as a species we became more "civilized" and less afraid o' the unknown birthed by the darkness. we realized hic sunt dracones were less scary than our neighbors. whether is climate change, nuclear war, or handguns, chances are you see mankind as the origin o' the mostest likely nightmares you will need confront. not surprising, our monsters changed from unknowable and indescribable to something much more familiar... and human. the motivations and appearance o' our monsters became recognizable and describable. nevertheless, the old terrors were never genuine dispatched and they crouch in the midnight corners o' our collective unconscious. like it or not, we all got a monkey brain and on a fundamental level we know there is monsters waiting for us in the darkness. HA! Good Fun!

could be wishful thinking. is more than a few historical examples o' opiate of the masses or bread and circus and predictable the 21st century has its novel addition with the internet becoming a source o' monolithic mind numbing infotainment which woulda' made nietzsche reassess his observation that god is dead. unfortunate, the new god o' the 21st century is a chimeric beast offering none o' the benefits which made fredrich lament the passing o' the previous western Deity o' All. late 20th century prophets o' doom were afeared o' tv. fools. they didn't realize just how trivial were their nightmares when compared to the possibilities created by a 21st century internet. we listened to Congressmen discussing a tik tok ban in the US and sure enough a few legislators were comical ill informed or they were using their platform to promote tangential issues. even so, the collective angst from the multitudes at the thought o' the possibility o' a tik tok ban were amusing one one level but also kinda spooky. tik tok? am not seeing any real possibility o' some kinda mass rejection o' the internet. would be swell if we were wrong. to see the people rise up and decide their new god needs to end in flames wouldn't be the worst thing we could imagine, but am thinking is too late for most o' the west. HA! Good Fun!

deserves a second post, 'cause have mentioned previous how you misread ray bradbury's fahrenheit 451. repeat for emphasis: It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals. the wrong identified by bradbury were what led to books becoming illegal in his dystopian near future. book bans and burnings happened 'cause too many embraced wrong. happened 'cause just as many ignored or laughed off a wrong. they are all bad and is all propaganda anyways so it don't make a difference, right? obviously the solution is more guns, yes? is a tragedy so few read fahrenheit 451 nowadays. is no less terrible when people read bradbury and then fail to learn. HA! Good Fun! ps in gd's defense, am gonna admit F 451 is one o' the most misrepresented and poor taught books o' the 20th century. is ez to embrace a message that book burning is bad and censorship is wrong. to delve further rare happens with 451. as a nuanced critique o' populism, mass media and the costs o' trying to make people safe, 451 has too frequent failed to resonate even amongst those who have read the work.