Gromnir

am reassured by josh comments 'bout casters. we personal lost patience with the segment o' beta folks who keep demanding faster casting times, as if casting times were the problem which needed fixing. oh sure, a significant change to casting speeds would largely nullify the new interrupt scheme implemented in deadfire. oh, and offensive casters has been doing consistent good damage in the beta, with the exception o' pure caster ciphers. make a party o' non-optimized, single class characters and the poe beta is challenging but hardly overwhelming. the casters is hardly lagging. sure, there is individual spells which need adjustments, but is not a problem with casters en masse. where casters clear fail is when compared to optimized multi-classes. as the vanilla casters ain't actual ineffective, obvious solution is to make 'em more powerful? how does that make any sense? there is already a problem with more than a few weapon focused multi-class combos being overpowered. so let's turbo charge the casters and multiply the existing multi-class balance issues? again, casters, as is, is not only viable but effective. is no good reason to apply a general improvement to casters. more than a few beta folks is complete bass ackwards on this issue. am glad to see obsidian is being more reasonable regarding caster changes. HA! Good Fun!

initial observation: am not gonna waste your time by suggesting other templar combos is superior. if you wanted to play a priest o' berath/goldpact knight you woulda' mentioned such, no? point out advantages o' other templar combos is silly. as boeroer notes, the beta is hardly the final say on builds as there will be changes before final release to priests and paladins, and we only have 'bout 1/2 levels and powhaz and such. converse, if the class playstyle radically changes 'cause o' powers available late in game, then the developers made a mistake, and such mistakes is one o' the common poe errors the developers is trying to avoid repeating in poe 2. as such, we got a good notion o' the general strengths and weaknesses o' goodie two-shoes templar as you envision. sure, with beta feedback from 2/14/18 you won't know all the absolute bestest exploits and synergies at this point, but only a few hardcore build monkeys genuine play the game at the margins. however, am also gonna observe how most build suggestions and plans curious ignore party composition, as if such stuff were only a minor concern. weird. other than solo runs, your party composition could/should impact how you wanna build your templar. is only a five-man party for deadfire, so our first run is unlikely to benefit from any hirelings. a surfeit o' support or healing from companions means your templar is gonna need carry more o' the healing and support load, yes? sure, with benefit o' multiple plays o' deadfire you will know how to game the game and you can use companions to account for any o' your character shortcomings, but there is a good chance you ain't gonna be trying to work the angles with your first run o' deadfire, yes? we don't know a great deal 'bout the companions beyond basic class limits, so is kinda a schrödinger cat problem for the nonce. tekehu sounds kinda lame to Gromnir. a self important artist who is no doubt gonna face a personal crisis which... whatever. gonna need be extreme well written for us to get over initial disinterest. that said, having played the beta, am definite wanting a chanter in our party. tekehu is a chanter/druid. converse, for story reasons alone, xoti will also be in our initial run party as she is a priestess/monk follower o' gaun (an aspect o' eothas) and a refugee from readceras. so even if we don't take pallegina, we would have potential at least two support characters in our party in addition to the templar. party composition will impact how we would build a templar, particular an eothasian/kind wayfarer, and considering how little we know 'bout the companions at the moment, am suspecting we will change our mind 'bout party composition once we start playing the game. nevertheless, we got a few broadstroke observations 'bout the templar combo you envision. first, don't think you need be a tank. yeah, a templar tank is obvious, but don't feel limited. frontline dps can work as well as tank does for such a character. have personal played every combo o' templar, votary, and contemplative possible in the beta. eothas combos is rare the most effective, but they can be potent even so, and as you are aware, the dispositions for such a multiclass combo as you want align favorable. a striker templar is a potent deadfire damage dealer who will be almost as resilient as a tank while also contributing valuable party buffs and much needed heals. being able to do everything well can be fun. people get serious worked up 'bout starting ability scores 'cause o' how important such stuff is in other crpgs. attribute scores is important in the poe games, but less so than in d&d and most other games. attribute benefits is typical additive and largely linear. also, unlike in poe1, it appears attribute scores is less important when determining dialogue and those cut-scene encounter options... but we have only a small portion o' the game to judge such. in any event, most o' our dps templars has been built much the same as most o' our non dedicated casters: s13-15/c10/d15/p13-15/i15/r10. 'tween defense and armour boosting powhaz, you need not put much into resolve to be a highly resilient in combat. one aspect o' character development which gets relative little attention from beta folks is skillz. sure, you get a bit o' feedback 'bout which combat-related skills seem best, but little beyond. worse, obsidian doesn't make clear what are the class skill bonuses during character generation. priest skills: alchemy, arcana, diplomacy, history, religion. paladin skills: arcana, athletics, diplomacy, intimidate, religion. one point bonus for multi-class and two points for single. pretty much every Gromnir character is gonna get a minimum 1 point in athletics. is a nice insta heal, particular at low levels. am also gonna observe how, in our opinion, the current seeming most valuable combat related skill is alchemy. potions is powerful and may provide highly potent action speed buffs as well as heals and any number o' other effects. 'course ain't as if you need alchemy to use potions, whereas you do need athletics to get the freebie heal. even so, a priest/paladin gots noteworthy inherent arcana, diplomacy and religion benefits. am thinking white that wends mystic is the only background which has two skills in common with your highest inherent class skill bonuses: religion and arcana. even so, most simple and straightforward, ignoring role-play concerns, would be the colonist (multiple locales) background as it gains you both alchemy and athletics points. can't go wrong by focusing on athletics, alchemy and/or both. gonna start with at least 2 in diplomacy and religion no matter what background you choose, which ain't a bad start for two passives. for race, am kinda digging wild orlan. orlans got more dialogue options than other races in poe, and such seems to be the continuing trend in deadfire. is seeming widespread racism directed at orlans, so am suspecting you will see intriguing dialogue options when playing an orlan. we already know eder is bigoted towards orlans, so am believing an orlan protagonist with eder in the party will have unique dialogue opportunities. furthermore, the wild orlan receives resistance to resolve afflictions, which is a huge benefit in our estimation. the low-level priest resolve buff... sucks. is inexplicable only ten seconds long and considering the cast time and recovery time, is almost worthless... save for fact that resolve afflictions is so debilitating in deadfire. paralysis/stun kinda stuff were serious op in poe, but not so much in deadfire. the 50% increase in crit chance for paralysis will be a killer with a few builds, particular monks, but frightened and terrified appear far more significant to our way o' thinking. wild orlans is never gonna be terrified. good. choose talents is obvious the most significant part o' building a templar, but as noted earlier, your party composition is gonna play a big role in such choices. low-level paladin abilities is fantastic, and you will be tempted to choose 'em all. low level priest offerings is less clear good. priests need make hard choices when choosing talents. there is a few seeming essential buffs and no brainer spell choices at each level, but if you have xoti in the party or a druid, you might be able to skip a few seeming essentials in favor o' more personal combat related buffs/abilities. for example, 'tween your kind wayfarer fod healing and your priestly holy radiance ability, restore might be less o' a need choice, particular if you have another party support character who can heal. additional, the eothas priest bonus spells is, for the most part, classic healing/protection stuff. withdraw, watchful presence and circle of protection is automatic spells for your templar, so is no need to obsess 'bout whether to choose 'em. the stat attribute score spread we recommended does not have great resolve, so your spell damage will be sacrificed in favor o' weapon damage-- with a few exceptions, we would skip the pure damage spells. 1st tier? holy power lasts a good and long time. interdiction is, we feel, highly underrated... though not the op spell it were 'fore penetration were nerfed a bit. 2nd level spiritual weapon is still highly effective in the beta, but am not certain if such will continue at release. nevertheless, at the moment we would deem spiritual weapon to be essential for a striker paladin. might as well make flail one o' your weapon proficiency choices, eh? depending on what eventual happens with grazes, dire blessing could be essential or pointless. am suspecting higher level priest spells is where the templar is gonna genuine benefit the most. paladins is extreme powerful at the moment. obsidian should reintroduce the paladin malus to balance out a few o' the paladin orders, but such is fodder for another thread. point is virtual all paladin abilities is desirable for a frontline striker as am kinda/sorta describing. sworn enemy, upscaled to sworn rival is our first choice. lay on hands is worth considering, but 'tween your fod (automatic choice) and sworn enemy, you is gonna be able to guarantee easy kills per encounter. take deep faith AND retribution. doesn't matter if you tank or not 'cause deep faith is too darn good to ignore. also, assuming you are playing other than story mode, you will be getting hit often enough, regardless o' defense, such that retribution will stack quick. inspired defenses AND inspiring triumph is also de rigueur. am knowing it likely feels wrong, but we would personal likely skip the auras-- too many other good options. want auras? take pallegina along. alternative, a paladin support-tank works great in part 'cause it is one o' the builds which benefited most from the change from might to strength. you can build a human or orlan who starts poe with a 20 resolve. attributes o' 10/12/10/12/14/20 works well. again, attribute scores ain't the be all and end all o' poe character development, but there is little downside to building a tanky paladin in such a way. not only does resolve boost deflection, but it increases heal bonus and spell damage. a templar tank, perhaps ironic, will be doing some serious damage with the few powerful priestly offensive spells at his/her disposal, as well as being nigh invulnerable. priestly damage spells which your striker paladin ignored, such as iconic projection, divine mark and shining beacon, become viable choices... though be aware of penetration numbers for divine mark and pillar of faith. priests don't appear to have many high penetration options for offensive spells. if your party doesn't have a scheme for lowering armour, then you must needs pay close attention to penetration. is yet another example o' why party composition is so important. tanky templar don't need sworn enemy or retribution for paladin powhaz, and you can skip inspiring triumph too... at least until late game. take auras and lay on hands (hands of light). can target self with hands of light for an additional 5 points o' resolve and immunity to interruptions. tanky templar is gonna be difficult to fail. take defensive stuff for win. am knowing folks like a level-by-level rundown o' builds. is a mistake in our opinion to limit self to a build. am knowing with all the possible choices it seems obvious there is more opportunities to choose wrong. also, if you listen to beta folks you get the impression that any number o' weapons and abilities is horribly broken and sucky. don't be discouraged. takes horribly bad luck to make character choices which will cause a genuine fail, and there will be a respec option regardless. also, when beta folks claim stuff is broken or sucky, they is tending towards hyperbolic. there is better _____. spells, weapons, synergies all is having bests and worsts, but genuine bad and fail stuff is rare. HA! Good Fun!

am reminded o' another movie scene. sums up the thread in a bit over two minutes. particular appropriate last word. HA! Good Fun!

Whenever director or an actor you can’t go wrong with John Huston. mr. huston weren't the only voice talent in the hobbit who had elite directorial credits to his name. otto preminger voiced thranduil. as a matter o' fact, the only non-american accent we can recall from the hobbit (1977) were mr. preminger. that said, huston's gandalf were particular memorable. were hard to top his previous vo work for God in the bible, but his gandalf were nevertheless the bestest gandalf... still bestest. HA! Good Fun!

the hobbit did a fantastic job using accents. there will always be a singular gandalf, with others being mere pretenders to the role. the king o' the elves and smaug also most impressive in their hobbit incarnations. the orcs in return of the king were also punishing memorable. try and forget the orcs. dare you. HA! Good Fun!

read "cosmic doge" in the thread title and figured it were referencing some kinda wacky vailian republics aristocrat. kinda disappointed. not only did reality fail to meet expectations, but we learned that kids these days use doge and dog interchangeable... for as yet inexplicable reasons. the e makes it funny, or something. make us feel unfulfilled And old? aside: mag cover made us think (fondly) o' harryhausen's talos. HA! Good Fun!

didn't quite deserve to be in the funny thread. canned unicorn meat-- on sale is clear not a new thing, so is likely others will scoff at Gromnir's ignorance o' the product. HA! Good Fun!

first observation: people are far too concerned with optimizing attribute point distributions. am tilting at windmills again, but honestly, the attribute point spreads, while important, is not near as success determinative in poe or deadfire than most games. with no spell school prohibitions, it might be difficult to go wrong with a priest o' wael/(anything). wael priest + paladin is great, but due to dispositions, you are needing be choosing darcozzi or bleak. as kdubya mentioned, you can create ridiculous resilient tanks with such a combo, but the combo has impressive damage potential as well; with all the defense bonuses from a wael priest/paladin, you can easily skimp a bit on resolve and instead focus 'pon strength while still having frontliner quality defenses. wael priest + druid is also kinda keen. similar to paladin combos, the wael priest + druid can go tanky or the dps route with almost equal success. in spite o' combining two caster classes, you will again be focusing on weapon combat if you wanna squeeze the most juice outta this orange as the druid's shape changing is particular potent in combat. wael priest + monk can be dps dynamos. with the latest beta build, dual wield is not overwhelming superior to other options, but is still the best. dual wield stilettos is simple and straightforward. swift striking monk with dual wield does impressive damage. a 2h weapon is not a terrible option, but you are gonna get most from a dual wield build and 'tween monk abilities, priestly spells and racial choices, you should never suffer an affliction. monk/priest/druid also all have alchemy in common, which in our opinion is current the best combat skill. choose a background with alchemy and your priest/druid or priest/monk will be starting at level 1 with 3 points in alchemy. for a shaman, Gromnir would recommend a morningstar. the morningstar has decent penetration and a vast underrated modal. combine a mageslayer (or any barbarian) and priest o' wael for serious caster killing goodness. as kdubya mentioned, the barbarian has defensive shortcomings, but the priest o' wael should be able to negate such. between wild sprint and leap, your shaman should be able to get into enemy caster range with your morningstar, mess up their fort saves and generally wreak bloody havoc while being able to self-heal if necessary. etc. is genuine tough to go wrong with wael multiclass. HA! Good Fun!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-02/what-the-gop-probe-memo-claims-and-how-that-squares-with-reality worth a look. a couple noteworthy aspects as is kinda direct responses to Gromnir concerns. "The FISA warrant concerning Page remains classified, but warrant applications are lengthy documents that often run 60 to 80 pages where officials need to show “probable cause” that the target is a foreign power or an agent of one. Obtaining a FISA warrant to spy on a U.S. citizen requires multiple levels of review that on average involves 10 government officials, according to a former U.S. national security official. Democrats on the House Intelligence panel issued a statement Friday saying “the investigation would persist on the basis of wholly independent evidence had Christopher Steele never entered the picture.”" "Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said Friday that the Republicans “cherry-picked” information from McCabe’s testimony, leaving out what he said about the “genesis of the investigation that did not involve the dossier.” Page -- who denies wrongdoing and said he welcomes release of the memo -- was on the FBI’s radar long before the dossier: In 2013, Russian spies tried to recruit him, according to an FBI criminal complaint filed in 2015." "Democrats on House Intelligence said the GOP description of the warrant application contains “serious mischaracterizations” that are laid out in a still-classified Democratic memo. For one thing, the Page warrant was renewed three times, steps that the former U.S. official said would have required the Justice Department to show the FISA court that useful intelligence had been obtained and an extension was needed." edit: please note, Gromnir is not suggesting the memo is garbage 'cause o' linked bloomberg fact-check article. am clear not convinced by a largely hypothetical democrat rebuttal any more than by the republican release. however, is reassuring to us that the dems and media sources is seeing the same issues as does Gromnir. frequent we observe media and politicians arguing over trivialities or tangential aspects. simple get folks to talk 'bout the relevant issues is often the biggest challenge. HA! Good Fun!

y'know, Gromnir were initial surprised by your comment, then we realized we couldn't name team members beyond peck, niven, quinn and darren... and the only reason we recalled darren were 'cause o' having recent watched ds9 episodes. am mortified we genuine blanked on quayle... forgot stanley baker too. so much for our elephantine memory for such stuff. we did recall irene papas, but forgot the other woman. not our best showing for movie trivia. HA! Good Fun!

Remember how everyone really liked Sarah Palin at first? Until she started.. you know... saying things. I'm not even sure about there being a period of like. She was not even well regarded by the few Alaskans I knew. But yeah, that was a bummer because I was a fan of McCain. most important quality for Gromnir, when voting for president, is character. am knowing such might not be the most important quality for a president, but it remains paramount to us. were too young to vote carter v. ford, but am suspecting such woulda' been the most difficult election choice in our lifetime. woulda' had us facing a genuine crisis when deciding. ford and carter were both solid human beings with unimpeachable character. mccain and obama weren't quite same situation as carter v. ford, but we were nevertheless confident both men were honest concerned with the wellbeing o' the American People. as much as we disliked obama's presidency, we wouldn't have felt dirty if we had voted for him in 2008. as to the nunes memo, is 'course most significant for what it does not include. nunes memo doesn't actual claim the steele dossier were the only evidence utilized for granting o' the initial warrant. if steele dossier is the only evidence, we would indeed have concerns, but can't tell from the memo. to not point out that the steele dossier were singular in granting the warrant seems like more than a simple oversight on the part o' the republicans who crafted the talking points memo. am suspecting the steele dossier were only one piece o' evidence utilized in granting the page warrant, but is impossible to tell from the memo, which strikes us as intentional rather than accidental. furthermore, even if the memo were granted based 'pon steele dossier, the talking points memo fails to address how the warrant were kept active. such warrants is anything but interminable. unless the warrant were producing credible evidence w/i a short period o' time, it would have died. would very much like a nunes explanation 'bout how such a fraudulent and skewed basis for the page warrant seeming resulted in enough credible intelligence to maintain the warrant. and yeah, the timing o' the partisan memo, released just ahead o' mueller attempts to interview trump, should be viewed as a bit suspicious. mueller is largely unimpeachable, so trump and his allies is resorting to deep-state silliness to undermine the investigation? regardless, am having no way to formulate any kinda meaningful opinion 'til we get a few important questions answered, especial those questions regarding basis for warrant beyond the steele dossier, and what were basis for maintaining the warrant. seems like essential questions needing answers. unlike others, the memo doesn't bother us much as am always the guy cautioning patience in such situations. don't rush to judgement. wait for more info before deciding right or wrong, win or lose. seeming black and white is likely to get muddied and grey 'fore we get any kinda real clarity, but there is a tendency, particular in the polarized world o' 2018, for people to make snap decisions and then defend 'em through fire and storm, regardless o' new info. wait for the dems response, and then wait a bit more. won't hurt to delay any kinda personal judgments for a week or so, eh? HA! Good Fun!

obvious answer: bhaal was dead. *shrug* sure, bhaal had a plan to reconstitute himself, but amelyssan subverted the scheme. bhaal weren't active directing the flow o' events cause, as already stated, he were dead. to answer the larger question as to which crpg stories we would wanna rewrite, the answer is simple: none. is any number o' crpg stories we believe fail or is harmed by poor writer choices, but would never choose to change 'em. is not our stories, and if they became our stories we would be disappointed 'cause then we would know exact what were gonna happen, and where is the fun in that? we will note how we believe folks is inordinate focused on plot shortcomings in this thread, in spite o' reality o' plot being the least important aspect o' most crpg stories. particular for fantasy, but also for most sci-fi, plot is tending to be o' marginal importance to the story. is quixotic difficult to explain to folks, but is more to story than plot. character development and setting is often more important than plot in the vast majority o' fantasy, which almost by definition has the reader embracing implausible plot. sure, plot is inextricable linked with other qualities, but could change minor and major aspects o' plot in most fantasy and sci-fi storytelling w/o much hurting or improving the actual story. make folks care 'bout characters, and the author can do whatever the hell they want to with plot. make the reader love protagonists and hate villains, or vice versa. readers will accept and even forgive most any plot shortcoming if setting creates sense o' wonder and the characters breathe. HA! Good Fun! ps that said, am not certain what it is 'bout bis/obsidian and their inability to finish games. have been almost universal disappointed with bis/obsidian conclusions, including the endings o' some o' our favorite games evar.

maybe am seeing a different twitter message, but as far as we can tell, there appears to be a return o' cross-class talents to poe. is not quite as folks in this thread seem to be imagining. the vast number o' such abilities will likely add little to deadfire save for level-up screen clutter. converse, a smallish handful o' the new abilities will become essential for particular roles... but to a lesser degree than in poe as multiclassing will negate value. am anticipating a deadfire tank build, regardless o' class, would (if is included) once again benefit from a fighter's watered-down constant recovery. no-brainer choice. the deadfire difference being a tank will be able to actual take fighter as a second class making such an ability unnecessary and unavailable. am maybe seeming unnecessarily cynical, but am genuine surprised by the outpouring o' glee from so many folks regarding this anticipated addition o' cross-class abilities. is less the balance issue many are imagining, which is good. is also offering less functional customization choices than imagined, in part 'cause o' the predictable essential nature o' a tiny fraction o' the possible cross-class talents. that said, for folks genuine less concerned with builds and relative powha, the cross-class deadfire abilities will offer flavor options. hardcore role-players who is less concerned with dps comparisons and is more interested in crafting unique characters will see the most benefit. for example, the number o' builds which we predict will benefit objective from the monastic unarmed training is relative small, but it would be kinda kewl to makes a streetfighter who relies on unarmed attacks to do damage. maybe am wrong and am looking at this all wrong, but we cannot help but wonder what we missed in the tweet. HA! Good Fun!

why use metacritic as benchmark? is a reasonable assumption, but perhaps versus evil relies on mr. bob jenkins rating o' games as their baseline. bob, an austin native and local pest control expert located near the v. evil headquarters, curiously also claims to be "the state's number one man for relocation o' bats and armadillo." doesn't appear to be any objective basis for bob's armadillo claims neither. HA! Good Fun!

please do, 'cause then you would see the antarctic gains, which topped out a few years ago and as has been noted numerous times by numerous folks in this thread (with sources) is 'bout as misleading as trump pointing to the harsh east coast winter this year as some kinda barometer o' non-climate change, were countered by arctic losses o' ice approximate 3x greater. would happily compare bigger. argue against man-driven climate change is requiring serious mental gymnastics, but isn't beyond the realm o' plausible. try and spin trump comments 'bout polar caps, on the other hand, is plain ludicrous... and yet, some folks still try. is alternative facts at its best. HA! Good Fun!

HA! Good Fun!

only football league for which we see potential personal trump involvement is: https://lflus.com/ doubt he would take an ownership role, but will no doubt be volunteering for largely ministerial, but no doubt hands-on, cup-check *wink* enforcement. HA! Good Fun!

it is lame, as is the administration's "proof" supplied regarding russian and russian actor scaling back of illegitimate behaviors seems to fly in the face o' recent intelligence testimony... and as far as we can tell, there were no proof provided other than some kinda generalized observation 'bout how the passage o' the legislation has already acted as a deterrent. is all lame. unfortunately, this is the kinda nonsense which happens when you got a chief executive who fancies himself as the next andrew jackson, sans the unnecessary clutter o' decades o' battlefield bravery and political arena experience. ... to be fair, Congress abandoning its role for the past couple decades is part o' what made a trump presidency possible. HA! Good Fun!

be careful what you wish for arguable the world's most populous nude beach with more than a hundred thousand participants during the peak season: nsfw all that naked flesh baking on the sand. enjoy. HA! Good Fun!

am not the tv guy amentep is, but our recollection is saturday night prime time were genuine prime in the 70s, but kinda dwindled ever since. maybe not friday night bad, but did the xfl actual displace shows which were given a real chance to survive? to keep 'bout football, am understanding why enoch, as a giants fan living in washington dc, might have negative feelings 'bout boston and philadelphia teams. even so, am gonna admit last year's game were having similar pregame appeal for us as is the current incarnation o' the SB, but am needing to recognize how the 2017 game ended up being one o' the more memorable and entertaining... evar. however, 2017 felt like an off year for SB commercials, and am knowing folks who genuine only watch the game for the commercials. HA! Good Fun!

no offense, but nonsense. cyberpunk is inextricable linked to the trappings, otherwise simple call it postmodernism and have done with it. delillo's white noise is not, by any stretch o' the definition, cyberpunk, even though it explores issues o' "the arbitrating over our society by technology" and is as cynical and dark as any cyberpunk novel could hope to be. as for exalting single authors... *shrug* as we noted already, bester borrowed heavily from dumas. bester's work were not some kinda sea change for scifi created in absolute isolation from all previous works. nevertheless, ignoring or marginalizing the impact o' individual contributions to artforms or science or whatnot is just so darn... postmodern. if one is describing gibson's cyberpunk contributions as "early genre work," then am thinking you is doing a serious disservice to bester, the granddaddy o' the genre, as well as the many who followed bester in the intervening decades 'fore gibson began contributing in anyway to the genre. HA! Good Fun!

not to get nitpicky, but noir is technical a style as 'posed to a genre. were representative o' dark and cynical tone which were common in early 1940s american crime films... even if the style name were coined by the french. the cyberpunk genre were born with alfred bester's, the stars my destination, and cyberpunk authors and filmmakers has been embracing cynicism regardless o' the medium, so is indeed gonna be parallels. 'course starting in early 2000s, bleak and dark almost postmodern cynicism in fantasy and sci-fi genres has become the norm as 'posed to the exception, so is all kinda twisted up and convoluted if you is looking for origins and trends n' such. curious enough, the original cyberpunk work by mr. bester were a futuristic retelling o' the count of monte cristo. the dark tone and cynicism o' the stars my destination were straight outta dumas' novel. is the other trappings o' cyberpunk, such as global multinationals running the world, which bester invented. so if one wants to give credit to "noir" in modern scifi, perhaps one need harken back to a frenchman who were most productive during the mid 1800s. perhaps more curious than alfred bester's creation o' the cyberpunk genre were his invention o' the green lantern oath. no kidding. HA! Good Fun!

the situation is not quite as clear as it is being reported in many places. there is a provision in the 2017 legislation which allows the president to postpone sanctions 'pon entities which is scaling back those activities which would otherwise be demanding sanctions for their dealings with russian intelligence and military. president needs effective repeat as he did today every 180 days and he can postpone sanctions indefinitely. will be interesting to see what is done with the so-called oligarchs report. putin has been providing $billions in amnesty for those anticipatory oligarchs who repatriate their monies. capital flight during the recent russian economic crisis were extreme and traumatic. unfortunate, fear o' possible additional US sanctions of those identified in the oligarch report has been enough to drive many russian nogoodniks back to putin, which is exact the opposite o' what the legislation intended. will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months. HA! Good Fun!

march 2016 for the david byrne reference. can't help but take as a compliment to see Enoch ascribe to Gromnir such perverse obliqueness. HA! Good Fun! ps to forestall any heroic forensics, this post carries no hidden meanings. we were tempted to throw in a complete random siddhartha quote, but decided to choose a path o' restraint.

val, as is typical, didn't actual read linked article, or notice the date o' his own link. antarctica seeming growth were addressed in the reuters article. oh, and, "Around Antarctica, a long-term expansion of sea ice may have abruptly ended. The ice is now at a record small extent for late January, according to NSIDC data dating back to 1979." HA! Good Fun!