Joe Walsh

Given that the Republicans will resist changes strenuously, and will invoke "FREE ENTERPRISE!!!!" loudly...and will fight in legislatures and the courts, and challenge new techniques through the approval process...getting anything done is all but impossible.
 
Note that it's not just diabetes.  Mylan and Pfizer settled EpiPen overcharge claims with sizeable settlements...probably pennies on the dollar, tho.  EpiPens were going for $600 a pop...when it should cost $10.  Oh, and parents whose kids needed em?  They needed to get one for use at school.  And their shelf life is...6 months.  So you're looking at 4 a year, even if you don't use them.  Heck, look at the mess in trying to get the oxycontin lawsuit settled.  Too many parties, too many interests, too much money, so it just drags on and on and on.
 
Our judicial system was built on trying to be fair, to avoid a tyranny of the majority and to assure both sides can be heard.  Problem is, smart lawyers have flipped that, so those mechanisms are used to be completely obstructive.

This story of the bloodsuckers who are consolidating the market for the products that keep people with diabetes alive is just infuriating:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/10/loopers/
 
That our political system allows this to continue no matter which party is in control of our government is doubly infuriating.
It seems we have no choice at all.
 

You could use a d12 instead, but then you get 1s as a result and nobody moves on that plus it involves non-Hero dice.  I still wouldn't do it though, because you'd end up with most phases clustered at the end and it ruins the rhythm and predictability of Speed which actually does simulate real combat rather well.  You can learn patterns and how people fight by watching or fighting with them long enough, patterns represented by when they move in a 12-segment turn.  Make that random and there's no way of doing so.

Wow, lots of careful folks seem to be getting it now. I hope you both get better soon.
 
(I have dental surgery scheduled for next Wednesday. It's either that or lose my two lower front teeth. But oh how I dread it...not so much for the considerable pain I'll be in afterward, but the chance I'll get COVID while I'm there with my mouth hanging open for a couple of hours.)

It's a consequence of things opening back up, combined with the exceptional mobility of the virus.  I've noted that multiple broadcasters have been out due to it, for example.  Travel's a big factor, I suspect.
 
Had to get a crown on a back tooth that was starting to crack.  This was in a window when it was possible, so I just got it done.  The dental office took more than normal precautions, plus, every dental visit I've had, the personnel were all wearing masks.  Covid is actually, I suspect, the *lesser* risk.  I had to have my upper right front tooth pulled a few years ago...and get a bone injection because the socket was in bad shape.  AND this was during a thoroughly MISERABLE, hard-core periodontal cleaning.  (Yeah, I screwed up for years, and this was the bill coming due.)  Antibiotics before.  Antibiotics for a few days after.  Periogard (prescription antibiotic mouth rinse) for a couple weeks.  Because everything there was basically one big, semi-open sore just *begging* to be infected.  So they're taking all precautions to prevent that.  Covid's just an add-on.
 
It might be prudent to wear a mask for a while, when you're out...that's if you're not doing it anyway.  

And it's still available, as a pretty reasonably priced PDF for anyone interested in this little bit of supers RPG history:
https://www.chaosium.com/superworld-roleplaying-pdf/
 
Also worth mentioning "Bad Medicine for Dr. Drugs" and "Trouble for HAVOC", both of which are available as inexpensive PDFs that are compatible with not only Superworld but also Champions 1e-3e!
 
I love how intertwined so many companies and authors were back then, especially Hero Games, Chaosium, and Steve Jackson Games.
 
 

The first episode was good, and the graphic stylings of her daydreams reminded me a bit of Into the Spider-Verse and Turning Red. 

Ms. Marvel (Disney+): One episode in, this seems pretty good. It's an interesting variation on some of the Spider-Man tropes. It's clearly intended for younger viewers, but it's enjoyable enough for adults as well.
 

So just for grins, what does it take in New Mexico?
 
https://golawenforcement.com/police-officer-requirements/new-mexico-police-officer-requirements/
 
The last:  complete a basic LEA course.  What's that?  Well, the state's only recently set up a Law Enforcement Academy.  
 
https://www.cnm.edu/programs-of-study/programs-a-z/cnm-law-enforcement-academy
 
Also note that this is a rather new program...the 8th class starts in a month or so.  So even this hasn't been in place for long.
 
By contrast, if you want a full paramedic certification...it's 72 academic credit hours.  

On the topic of policing, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-why-is-it-so-much-easier-to-become-a-cop-in-canada-than-an-electrician/ caught my eye.  Finland requires 5,400 hours of training to be a police officer.  Germany and the Netherlands, around 4,000.  UK, over 2,000.
 
Canada?  Just over 1,000.  Basic RCMP (national force) is cited at 820 hours.
 
US? An average of 650 hours.
 
How much training should be required before someone is issued a gun and a badge?

Heller vs. DC ruled that it is  indeed an individual right, but not unlimited. So, his points are moot.
 
On the bright side, since stare decisis is about to be tossed out the window with women's right to regulate their own wombs, Heller might one day be reversed.
 
The conservative court kind of shot themselves in the foot on that one. (Pun intended.)

While reading about something else altogether, I blundered upon a probably relevant historical episode for comparison to the current pandemic.  I had not previously heard of the pandemic of 1890, but it seems to have rather more in common with the as-yet-ongoing pandemic than the influenza pandemic of 1918 does.

When Champions came out we were in Building 50 Walker memorial just one floor below the SGS room. We moved to building 66 in ‘81. I left from 88 to 93 when TJack and his best friend started a new campaign every other Saturday night which lasted a couple years.

My last private message from TJack kind of says it all for me. A lot of times when I get those, they are, understandably, about a moderator question about what might or might not fly inthe forums, or can I please correct a title with a typo, or look into this particular situation I missed. That's fine and dandy and I even appreciate it. It helps me save time trouble shooting by alerting me. Sometimes it's complaints about moderation or what not. That's okay too. But Tjack's last Private Message to me was regarding a superdraft where I picked the Wildcard Virus as an option.
 
He had loads of ideas, and wanted to share them if I wanted them. He knew the lore and he didn't tell me WHAT to do, he rather spoke of the cool stuff I COULD do, because I think I had admitted in thread at having to think things over for more picks etc. That is Geekery at its most passionate and generous. No complaints, no requests, just a passion about a subject and knowledge to offer if it would help me in a  fun little game. I appreciated it. And again, I think it says alot about what kind of guy he was.

It's so great that one month later the Patreon is up to 46 members!

After almost 20 years of extended life TJack was dependent on an Oxygen feed but happily participating in FanFiction sites and online forums. His lung function has dropped to 30% at his last physical and he was not expecting more than another year of life.
 
He was recently in an online champions game but hadn’t found quite the right fit. He kept hoping I would get to running the SuperAgents of SHIELD campaign that he had brainstormed a few years ago but dndbeyond was taking my available time.
 
A bout of the flu landed TJack in the hospital and reduced his lung function to 5%. He was expecting to recover but just found out that the flu was out of his system and recovery was not expected.
 
Take a deep breath for TJack and congratulate him for having beaten the odds for so long.
 
As I told a friend today TJack IS a kind man. I wonder how many points his new write up is based on. I miss him.

So, USPS Informed Delivery showed a few things arriving.
 
One was the bill for the blood tests from my annual a few weeks ago.  Knew that was likely coming, didn't know when.
 
Another was a check from the state.  Huh...did I mess up the state return and miss a deduction?  That would be nice...
 
Of course, advance expectation is that the second will be smaller than the first, right?
 
Well...the check was a $250 tax rebate the state's sending to everyone due to the recent economic strains.  How nice!! I never knew.  Like I said, I suppose I should pay more attention to local news.
 
And even better?  The bill was much less.  Mad money!!!

Here's a good article on what the GOP midterm strategy of driving voters to the polls with the boogeymen of grooming and CRT looks like in Chattanooga TN, where concerned moms face off in an increasingly bitter battle for the future.
 
https://newrepublic.com/article/166373/moms-liberty-schools-nightmare-midterms
 

The last paragraph of that article is especially telling--
 
Moms for Liberty also seems to be concerned with a very specific subset of literature. “Nobody’s complained about the Stephen King books. They have just as much profanity. They have blood, guts, and gore in them,” Holly observed. “So I have to wonder, as a librarian: What are you really concerned about?”

Here's a good article on what the GOP midterm strategy of driving voters to the polls with the boogeymen of grooming and CRT looks like in Chattanooga TN, where concerned moms face off in an increasingly bitter battle for the future.
 
https://newrepublic.com/article/166373/moms-liberty-schools-nightmare-midterms
 

No cynicism needed. The Supreme Court has held that the police have no duty to protect us.
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html
 
It's taken me a long time to realize the truth. Police write up reports for insurance companies and (selectively) police our behavior.  Above all, they protect the wealthy and powerful (and their property) from the rest of us.
 
It's not an accident as far as I can tell; the system seems to be set up that way. Heck, when we peaceably assemble in front of a supreme court judge's home, look what happens. Or when we assemble to protest legitimate concerns such as elites shipping our jobs overseas (one-sided trade agreements) or police summarily executing citizens with impunity. But when a murderer enters a school to kill children, the police make room for him and start arresting the parents who ask them why they're not saving the children. And then they lie about it. They apparently lie constantly, seemingly reflexively, about every aspect of their jobs. And they get away with it, are given almost complete impunity for their behavior toward us.
 
It seems pretty clear to me what the police are there for, and unfortunately it's not what decades of copaganda TV shows had led me to believe.

You really should read some of the stories. Yes, you'll want to fact check the hell out of them. The shooting was going on while the cops stayed outside. They had to hear the shots. What did they think was going on in there? Balloon popping? You're right that a lot of information is still incoming, but apparently the UPD had active shooter training two months before this. If reports are true that some UPD went in to get JUST their own kids and left other folks kids to die, it's even worse. Police officials have been caught in blatant lies about the time line and events. And, of course there were 9-11 calls going on like this one, from within the school. For the record:
 
 
I understand that getting shot at must be terrifying. I will stay behind the safety of my fantasy games and the like. And, I won't be joining the police force. I'm also not a fire fighter, but if a building was on fire and the firefighters just stood around staring at it while there was still a chance to save children trapped inside, I'd be livid with them. I'd know they shouldn't have picked this career. If they then were caught bare face lying about what happened in order to make themselves look good?  Beyond livid with a high dose of disgust and disdain for them as human beings.
 
I don't think the Uvalde police deserve a good nights sleep, or their current jobs.  YMMV.
 

The problem with Tiananmen, and many other protests, is that they are nondisruptive and easy to ignore.  If a protest does not at least impede commerce or cause (illegal) property damage, it will have absolutely no effect.  Strikes, blockades, and sit-ins are far more effective. 

Touchdown in the UK! That’s pretty quick shipping and the books look wonderful.