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ELIZA's output was grammatically correct.

A lot of us grew up with Star Trek Original Series and the Pertwee/Tom Baker Dr Who. Those who came later had Next Generation or DS9 Trek. I feel sorry for those who had Voyager or Enterprise.

Punisher Lite - Great Taste, Less Killing

One thing I really like about this SCOTUS decision is that it applies no modifiers based on who violated the treaties, whether the Native American parties had authority to consent, or if the American government ever actually intended to honor them. It simply asserts that these treaties were lawfully negotiated and signed by the American government, and therefore their terms have the force of law.

I'll be different here. The best episode is "Where No Man Has Gone Before". It's creepy space horror. The idea that exploring the galaxy is dangerous, not because of alien ships or fickle gods, but because of what we might become as we travel the stars, that's scary. When Gary Mitchell is sitting there in sickbay, eyes all silver, and he recites a poem... that scene just chilled me.

Spoiler for language.

City on the Edge of Forever. Any number of Sci-Fi greats wrote whole novels about time travel, but Harlan Ellison set the standards for the dangers of changing history for an entire generation. I personally think every time travel story after that point from Quantum Leap to the Terminator owe a little something to it.

Hello, HERO people! I have had some spine problems today, making it impossible to sit down or stand up more than just a few minutes, and the constant up-and-down of the humidity with the rain trying and failing to come together isn't helping. At any rate, I have gotten #13 done, though it took about four times as long as it should have. I'd like to say that it was "the last of the easy ones," but at one-hundred-plus pages, it wasn't particularly light-weight, either. At any rate, the magazine was reformatted after this one, and I can not lay a complete leaf upon my scanner (I really miss the Super Scanner.... ). That means the rest will go a bit slower, as even de-bound, I will only be able to scan one page at a time. I have no intention of cutting the leaves (I intend to put the books back together when this is all done), so there's going to be a minute or two of flipping, folding, and turning with each page. And of course, alignment will have to be one page at a time instead of two. Stil, things are looking pretty good. With one-through-thirteen done, _and_ #26 done, we _can_ say that one-half of the books are scanned! Yay! The rest will be slower, I'm afraid, but will be approached with the same level of tenacity that got this much done. Then-- onto a flash drive and on to Jason!

It's a people trap set by a mouse.

"These days?" Did you not travel much outside the US? I'm 62 and Canadian, and I can't remember when bashing the US wasn't fashionable.

Now for the pick everybody's been waiting for, The Pink Ranger!

I voted historic because of The Pulps. The first superheroes were the mystery men and women.

Well, no. Only Native Americans living on Native land get the tax break, and as of last count only about 9% of Oklahoma residents are Native American. Some of that 9% doubtlessly live in the western part of the state and thus would go on paying Oklahoma state income tax. Also, Native Americans as a group are economically disadvantaged and thus don't have all that much income to tax. So, I would be very surprised if Oklahoma lost even 5% of it's tax base.

But they apparently had the courtesy to have learned English by the time those Japanese movies played in North America.

Here's what I'd do. It sounds like you're just wanting to learn the combat system for yourself. Rather than worry about a bunch of optional rules, I'd just set up a few fights with you acting as both player and GM. Start slow, focusing on one aspect at a time. Fight #1 -- Take a Champions brick (somebody like Ogre) and let yourself fight a group of regular cops. I don't know what books you have, but if you don't have any stats for Ogre, use a generic super-strong guy. 60 Strength, 18 Dex, 30 Con, 30 PD and ED (all resistant), 4 Speed, 60 Stun, OCV 8, DCV 6, 10" of Running, 20" of Leaping. Now go rampaging through town. Every turn two cop cars pull up, with two cops getting out of each one. The cops shoot at Ogre with their guns (damage is inconsequential -- they're all too weak to hurt him, but it's good for you to practice rolling to-hit). Set out some figures on a game mat and just learn how the basics of the game work. Spend a phase or two grabbing cop cars and hurling them through the air. Use your high leaping movement to bound away off the map and leave the cops behind. Smash holes in walls and rip trees out of the ground. Just think of cool things you could do if you were a rampaging super-strong monster, then look up how to do it in the book. Don't worry about trying to be efficient or effective in combat. Don't track endurance, or calculate knockback, or even worry about damage if you don't want to (anything Ogre hits will shatter, nothing can hurt Ogre). Just learn the basics of rolling to hit, and how the Speed chart works. Fight #2 -- Now a local superhero shows up to fight Ogre. Make sure the guy is a little weaker than you (of course, you're playing both sides, so it doesn't matter who "wins"). Fire Lad has a 20 Dex, 25 Con, 25 PD and ED with his fiery force field, 5 Speed, 40 Stun, OCV 8 and DCV 7, 15" of Flight, and a 10D6 Energy Blast. He will have a very hard time whittling Ogre down. Try to play each guy to win. Look at how damage works now. Don't track endurance, but maybe look at Knockback, and maybe range penalties. Ogre should still win this fight -- Fire Lad will have to get close to Ogre to hit him, close enough that Ogre can jump through the air and smack him. And remember to be creative with how you fight. If Fire Lad stays too high in the air, Ogre can always smash through a wall and go inside a building. Or he can throw a manhole cover and then drop down into the sewers. Or he can climb inside some poor lady's minivan and hide ("No go out there lady, fire guy shoot at Ogre!"). Fight #3 -- It's time to add in some other powers besides raw damage. After Fire Lad's defeat, the Caped Avenger shows up. He's a dark and mysterious avenger of the night. 26 Dex, 25 Con, 20 PD and ED, 6 Speed, 40 Stun, OCV 10 and DCV 10, 10" of Running and 10" of Leaping. He's highly skilled in the martial arts (the character has 25 Str and +2 damage classes with martial arts). He has an Offensive Strike maneuver (a powerful spinning roundhouse kick) that does 5D6 for Str, +4D6 for the Offensive Strike maneuver, +2D6 for extra damage classes, for a total of 11D6. Doing it increases his DCV by 1, but decreases his OCV by 2 (OCV 8, DCV 11). It's hard to hit with. He's also got a Martial Dodge maneuver that increases his DCV by 5, but he can't attack the phase he uses it. And he has a Nerve Strike maneuver that does 3D6 damage and ignores defenses (it has the same OCV/DCV as the spinning roundhouse). Finally he has a Martial Strike maneuver, a basic punch that does 9D6 damage, but boosts his DCV and doesn't hurt his OCV (OCV 10, DCV 12). He'll have a hard time hurting Ogre with the basic punch, so that's why he carries a Utility Belt. His Utility Belt is a Multipower (don't worry about exactly how this works yet), which lets him use different tricks. He carries 4 blinding flares, which is an 8D6 Flash vs Sight (which will temporarily blind Ogre). Once he uses the 4 charges, they're gone. He has 2 gas pellets, which do 3D6 damage on each of Caped Avenger's phases for a full turn and ignore defenses, but they can be avoided if Ogre holds his breath (they are not Area of Effect -- to hurt Ogre the Caped Avenger has to throw them in his mouth). The Caped Avenger has enough options available that he should be able to beat Ogre, but it's not a sure thing. Fight #4 -- If the Caped Avenger falls, then Ultra Guy shows up. Use Ogre's stats, but he has a Dex of 26, a 6 Speed, an OCV and DCV of 9, and 20" of Flight, as well as a 12D6 Energy Blast and 10" of Knockback Resistance (i.e., he doesn't get knocked backward). In addition, he has N-Ray vision so he can see through walls. Ultra Guy should whoop Ogre's butt. But Ogre has a secret (that he doesn't know -- Ogre is dumb). This whole rampage was set up by Bald Scientist Man. Bald Scientist Man is hiding in a nearby dumpster (no game stats needed), and after one turn of combat, he peeks out and fires his Green Kelvarite Ray at Ogre (no game stats needed). Ogre becomes charged with Green Kelvarite Energy. Ultra Guy has a Vulnerability to Green Kelvarite, and takes x2 damage from it. If Ogre can last this long (remember, he doesn't know it's coming, so he shouldn't be dodging around waiting for it to happen), then he'll do double damage every time he punches Ultra Guy. Above all, have fun with it. That's why we play this game. And don't worry if you forget something (like skipping somebody's action or forgetting to see if the damage they take exceeds their Con score). Even very experienced groups forget things virtually every session. Each of these scenarios gives you a little something to fiddle with and figure out. You can make it as complex as you want (I always liked knocking people back through buildings), or as simple as you need. Welcome to the game.

Supreme Court Oklahoma Decision Explained

The Cherokee reporter who discussed the decision on ATC was simply gobsmacked that a US court had said, "The treaty says what it says, and that makes it the law, so follow it," instead of, "Meh, the treaty has become inconvenient, so ignore it." Dean Shomshak

For what it's worth, self-proclaimed SCOTUS experts I've heard say Roberts is motivated to protect the Supreme Court by keeping it out of fights between parties and branches of government. The Trump tax rulings are typical: Don't give presidents unlimited immunity from investigation, but punt the disputes back to lower levels where they won't be resolved before the election, thus seeking to avoid any perception the Court is affecting the election with its rulings. From this POV, I can imagine Roberts pulling Gorsuch and Kavanaugh aside and telling them they have got to side with the four liberals on some rulings that poke Trump in the eye, even if they don't really harm him. Because there's a chance that Dems take the House, Senate and Oval Office in November, and if the Court seems to be Trump's lackey there will be extremely strong pressure for Dems to pack the Court and abandon any pretense that it is anything but a political tool. For the moment, they must at least pretend to have judicial principles, which might operate in Dems' favor. Of course, I am no mind reader. It's just what Dinesh D'Souza calls "an ideological hypothesis" (fancy talk for "a story without evidence, but it explains things the way I want.") Dean Shomshak

This is so not true. We play it, and our women's team is the world's best. We just don't watch it.

I'd go with Balance of Terror or The Corbomite Maneuver, episodes that show Kirk using his substantial brainpower against ruthless foes very much like himself. The former is a classic submarine drama in space, with the Enterprise as the destroyer trying to fight an invisible enemy, and also one of many Trek episodes to examine racism in the person of the Vulcan-hating officer obsessed with the Romulan War. The latter pits Kirk against a mysterious, unfathomable foe of infinite bluster who, as he finds, is not what he seems. For sheer terror factor, I'd go with The Doomsday Machine.

I'm partial to The Trouble With Tribbles myself.

I would do vulnerability to magical effects(not damage) at 1.5x or 2x for 15/30 points. This would allow magical chains of binding spells to affect her closer to how a normal human might be affected. A psych lim that isn't mentioned which seems to happen a lot with super people, is the desire to fix whats wrong to the point it starts to become self destructive. Ex: "Why was I late Lois? Well, I was headed home with the chinese food, when I heard a little girl crying about a cat in a tree. I fixed that problem, when a 1 alarm house fire went off. I got that done, but a mugging on 5th and vine ..." Another issue that tends to come up are Hunteds that seek a name recognition. Take out Superman and you instantly become an A-Listed. In fact, Superman had Maxmia for a while who came to breed with Supes. Not really a harming hunted, but still keying off the fact that Supes is an extremely powerful entity. Another is the classic NPC of the issue meme. Basically, a flexible DNPC for the GM to use as a damsel in distress or a fan. Ex: The PCs meet Sister May who runs the orphanage. Without her, according to her patrons, the orphanage will fall to ruin. She works 16 hours a day, 365 days a year helping the orphans. Then a villain takes a hostage who is of course Sister May.

Well...it has to be done....Orange County California

Having a patron who turns out to be a "bad" guy can be a lot of fun. Long ago I had a fantasy hero game set in the Planescape universe. The party did several jobs for a shady NPC named Willum, who was actually a pit fiend in human form. He was charming and loved to manipulate the party. At one time, he asked the group members (individually) if they wished to work for him ... when they eventually said "yes," he said, "then let it be so." Turns out, he could grant wishes...

Trump's plan to get Mexico to pay for the wall is working!

Good for them! Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, longest-married presidential couple, celebrate 74th anniversary

But what have the Romans ever done for us, such that their candles should be venerated so many years later? Maybe you could also lob a few Roman candles into my neighborhood to break up the damn late night fireworks. I don't get up at 4 AM (a little after 5 instead), but damn, wish they'd have some consideration for people who have to sleep to live.

Some thematic ideas for your consideration: - Dependent NPC: One of her adoptive family members who she's close to, like a younger or older sibling or adoptive parent(s). - Professional Rivalry: Hope is young, powerful, and relatively new to her home city, and inadvertently rubs an existing hero (or heroine) who is less powerful than she is the wrong way to where he or she is now jealous of her. This creates problems where the rival now ignores his or her better judgment in an attempt to outdo Hope. An example would be the rival hero taking on a significantly more powerful villain alone when he or she would have normally worked with his or her teammates. - Social Complication: Unfamiliar with Earth culture. She may not understand Earth culture aspects like social media, paparazzi, etc. - Social Complication: Excessive popularity where fans swarm towards her when she's in action, distracting her since the fans are now targets or hostages to be used (or exploited) by the villain(s) she's fighting. The frequency of this happening would impact the number of points.

"I have depression. I will not apologize for it anymore."

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka Sigiriya was constructed on a rocky outcrop 650 feet (200m) above the jungle, initially as a 3rd century BC Buddhist monastery. Then 800 years later, King Kasyapa built an opulent palace there and covered it in frescoes. The palace was surrounded by gardens, pools and a mirrored wall that was polished so brightly the king could see his face in it. Sigiriya means lion and the city is fronted by a huge lion entrance – sadly missing its head.