Tom

Here's another scary thought: Assuming the Trump administration is in fact not sheathed in the armor of invincible ignorance (I did say 'resolve' wasn't my intuitive word choice), what exactly did Trump offer Xi if China sits on its hands while we try booting Kim3 off his throne?

*sigh* Now I'm wondering how he'd interact with Hannah -- or better yet, Gale...

I'll admit, I relaxed slightly when the news seemed to indicate that the North Koreans were likely to go for an underground nuke test rather than a missile launch. Then I saw this afternoon we decided to (very publically) use a MOAB in Afganistan. When it comes to saber rattling this administration is about as far from 'subtle' as you can get. Now, are we crazy/stupid enough to try and pre-empt a nuke test by dropping another MOAB? Or do we honestly think Kim will call off Grandpa's (presumed) nuclear b-day present just because Trump decided to act all threatening at him? Or are both sides just posturing at each other. I probably won't get out of needing to go to work Monday regardless unless things spiral out of control in a truly spectacular fashion. That's the big danger with saber rattling -- you might accidentally draw the blade and cut someone... I'm not sure 'resolve' is the word I'd use...

OK, that one got me. (You know my sense of humor is warped, at best) GOAT is probably a little too topical for my personal tastes, but I've played any number of characters who would be more than happy to try and knock some sense into their skulls (or just knock them senseless). I'm also missing writing with you as both a player and a GM.

You'll probably want to start with coming up with a logo which makes the 'i' really obvious or they'll think you're selling houses.

Which means nobody will be surprised when he starts blowing stuff up and we can believe he's following a plan.

Which is certainly a major reason any number of people didn't vote for him. Unfortunately, sufficient people either thought he'd become 'presidential' or that he'd surround himself with professionals who'd keep him from doing anything too damaging or whatever reason they had for preferring him to an alternative.

We've been trending towards increased conflict for a while now. I tend both toward hawkishness and globalism, but I like to believe in there being a plan or overarching strategy involved. A president who ran on isolationism and who is quoted as believing in the value of acting on his initial impulse du jour does not inspire me with confidence on the existence of either a plan or strategy.

That's one of the ways wars can be useful. It tends to kill off large numbers of people, in addition to stimulating the economy and spurring innovation. It's also generally considered a great way to distract from domestic politics... Oh, look, we're sending a carrier battle group to the Korean peninsula... http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/politics/navy-korean-peninsula/index.html

You're reminding me I need to try and write more often (and I kind of, sorta, had something half in mind regarding a certain Fish Guy who was Atlantean on his Mother's side)...

Hmmm, if you give the dragons more money they don't destroy your village, eat your livestock, and demand your maidens conveniently delivered in chains. However, they expect a continual stream of wealth which will force you to exploit ever more of your village's resources -- which results in an increased demand for labor. In the short term. Eventually you begin to deplete your exploitable resources, which in no way changes the dragons expectations, forcing you to find ways of cutting your costs (labor being a favored target) to continue meeting the dragons demands. The question becomes whether you run out of resources or your labor pool collapses. On the plus side, by this time you're too scrawny to bother eating -- unless the dragons insist on maximizing their resource utilization before moving on to fresher territory.

I'm not sure what the point of Facebook is, but I believe you can specifically block 'ad' type posts you don't want to receive.

I've seen/heard this one before -- only it was the president, not a congressman...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39123281 Top Republican says Trump's budget plan 'dead on arrival' Well, we've 'seen' it -- however it is the end result that matters.

Last I read it looked like he was agreeing with the idea that he was actually referencing a recent Fox News piece that was attempting to tie an increase in crime/violence to immigrants and misspoke. (The scarier idea here being that he's still apparently taking his 'real' security briefings from whatever he watches on cable tv rather than the Country's security/intelligence agencies.)

I left fairly late into the Taken King. To be honest, rather than Fantasy mixed with Sci-Fi, "Destiny" felt more like a Post-Apoc/Galactic Champions to me. The final battle against the Shining Darkness on the ruins of Earth. The Elder Worm/Thane would make a decent substitute for the Hive. Mechanon (3000?) would easily substitute for the Vex. The H'zeel could be the Fallen. Not sure who I'd use for the Cabal.

And the obligatory testing by North Korea... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38947451 (that didn't take long)

I tended to envision it as more a blend of Star Hero and Champions (given the abilities of Guardians) or a wilder version of the 3rd World setting -- but I haven't really thought much on it in a while. I lost interest in Destiny for a variety of reasons a while back, but the setting itself had much more potential (from a role playing perspective) than the game actually delivered.

My 'worst' case scenario with Trump used to be his starting a war with an errant tweet during one of his 3am rants. Now I'm considering the possibility of his actually starting a war with a direct military action. Probably due to an ill-considered or poorly thought-out order, but still... As a rule, my 'worst' case scenarios usually don't come to pass but I still strongly suspect I will be quite relieved when Trump's presidency is referred to in the past-tense. (How I feel about POTUS46 is yet to be determined). (Note: 'worst' is used to denote scenarios which do not indulge in letting my inner-GM loose to create situations which only the PCs are capable of thwarting in an epic session involving lots of dice.)

Actually, McCain was just re-elected, so he's got 6 years before he has to worry about another election and he's old enough he may not be planning on running again anyhow if Trump doesn't flame out during the course of his 4 years in the White House.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38787241 Trump puts Bannon on security council, dropping joint chiefs Trump is certainly entitled to appoint his advisors wherever he feels they will do him the most good, but I'm having a hard time seeing how the DNI or the Joint Chiefs aren't considered necessary high-level participants in National security discussions.

I don't judge on socks: My daughter, and at least one of my nieces, make wearing mismatched socks a point of principle.

I was thinking more superhero sidekick -- but I'm a Champions player at heart.

If Trump (and supporters) want us to step away from the international table, I'm sure there are at least two countries that would be more than happy to take our seat. That should work out well for us...

There are times when I think this is the reason we won't have to face a second Trump term: The White House is the biggest public fishbowl in the country. Everything the president does will be questioned and derided by somebody, and he will be blamed for every perceived ill in the world -- even if he wasn't even born when the incidents in question occurred. Trump is going to have to either develop a much thicker skin or his aides are going to find him under his desk sucking his thumb and whimpering about 'why's everybody always picking on me'.