Thia Halmades

Schrodinger's President.

Why stop there? Why not stage an entire photo-op? https://mashable.com/article/donald-trump-working-walter-reed-photos/

Don’t you mean Masque of the Red Death?

I have so many questions. 
 
Why did Trump risk a covid test if there was any chance he might have gotten a positive result?
 
How much bleach will he be injecting, and how often?
 
Why is he suddenly pushing a Democrat hoax?
 
Is he considered an essential worker?
 
What if the economy takes a hit from his isolation? Shouldn’t he get back to work?  Aren’t the nation’s elderly supposed to be willing to die for the economy?
 
Does the state of Minnesota have any orders in effect regarding large gatherings or mask wearing?
 
At what point does Trump become incapacitated enough for Pence to take over? Hospitalization? Oxygen? Ventilator? 
 
Would it have spread to him if he hadn’t downplayed the threat in February?  Would it have spread to him if he hadn’t politicized the wearing of masks?

And I want to go back to the office without risk of getting a life threatening illness; I want my daughter to grow up in a world that doesn’t involve fascism. I want a leader who isn’t bull horning for racism, and who at least at the basic level, can get through 5 sentences without lying. 
 
I want a pony.
 
The options are what they are. I get it. But. This is the system. These are the current rules. We have to play by those rules and we have to play to win. The only way to achieve that, currently, again, from a non-Trump point of view, is to vote Biden/Harris or, preferably a straight blue ticket. Again. Hope I did that without triggering anyone.
 
If you want to change the system, then elect people who will fight for ranked voting, so we can get away from the first past the post/wasted vote mechanic (no offense meant to the intent of your vote, as much as the way votes are tallied). So in a ranked system, you could put Libertarian first, then Democrat, and when the LIbertarian is mathematically eliminated, your vote moves to the next viable candidate. However, that won’t happen in a Trump/GOP administration. Shoot, it might not happen in a Biden/Harris administration, but Maine did it. Which means your State can do it and enough States do it, then Federal law will change.
 
Separate thought, but I thought a valid point, considering.

It’s why I outlawed wish. Just didn’t exist in my games. 
 
I get where you’re coming from @Scott Ruggels, however I actively side with Mallet and Hugh on this issue; to me your argument says “we are all equal and must all be playing by the same rules which I should have complete and total insight to.” That may not be what you’re saying, but that’s what I keep pulling out as the underpinning “core” of your objection. I can’t have infinite summoned MOBs, neither can they.
 
This next bit is said without snark, and I want to say that because a) I’m easy to misinterpret and b) people get sensitive and I’m trying to be mindful of that. There are a ton of completely legal ways to get “Summon a Lich-Load of Skeletons,” in addition to the various mentions people gave. Some general things:
 
NCM applies to players, not monsters, meaning, a monster has as many CP as it needs to satisfy its special effect(s). So my troll needs 50 STR because it’s a troll? Cool. That’s already outside of what a player can have (by my own post) because I can account for game balance as a GM for what I build, but I cannot anticipate every permutation of what a PC will come up with. 
 
Summon Skeletons, Trigger; when this tomb is disturbed, and the password is not uttered (PS: there’s no need to ever tell anyone there’s a password, it could just as easily be “and it ain’t me, guys” THEN, Summon Skeletal Horde and Attack. Is it wonky? Sure it is, but it’s also legal and reasonable, it’s why you’re standing there for a hot minute before t3h h0rd3 descends upon you. What this all comes down to, for me, is those two classic words, “Common and dramatic sense.” I respect the kinds of games you want to play, I just think it’s very limiting to want all games forced into that block. Doctor Doom has way more toys and resources than most heroes, including the Fantastic Four. Shoot, Darkseid has a whole planet, sub dimensions and New Gods vs... the Justice League. Like. Those odds are BAD. Having your foes have more points just means you have to utilize better team work.
 
Maybe I’m off topic at this point? It’s possible. I’m not eating today. And my stomach is slowly licking my medulla oblongata for how much salt may be required before consuming it.

I have something to add here.
 
That answer was freakin’ epic. *slow clap* @mallet Bloody good show.
 
Get it? Vampire? Bloody? Because they drink blood? Amirite? Guys?
 
Where are you going?
 
Hey wait up!!
 
Moving on!
 
If I’m understanding the rule right, upon summon you get assignable tasks based on EGO, your Necromancer can purchase EGO, Only to Assign Tasks to Summoned Creatures, (-1). Why -1? Because he’s going to use it freaking constantly. As an aside to that aside, I generally don’t allow purchasing of stats over and above beyond 2x the base; so in a world of NCM, where they bought to 20, I’m going to keep the total possible at 40. One thing I learned early in HERO — you must set limits. Because players be like ‘wooooo!’ And you have to be all ‘noooooooo. Seriously, Chris, no, you cannot do that. Because it’ll break the game, that’s why. No, we’re not going to test it. Dude, seriously...”
 
(actual conversation, actually held multiple times).
(with the same freakin’ guy).

Something something history, something something repeat it:
 
 

I disagree, your math is off; it’s not whether they voted 3rd party, it’s the system. In other words, if all the people who voted 3rd party instead voted democrat, then the State could potentially flip. This bears out my assertion, that in this environment, because it is first past the post, step one is breaking through that. Step two is changing the mechanics of voting. Because the State was split, it voted red. We can agree to disagree but I’m not convinced by your argument, I see it as reinforcement of my point.

No apology needed. You didn’t do this. That was my point. I’m just tired of living a nightmare and not sleeping because I’m raising my daughter in the United States. We need better and we should be doing better, and yet “things” keep holding us back. All the posts I’m writing are heavily edited, partially to prove to myself I can do it, and largely because I know screaming about it won’t get me anywhere. SO.
 
I appreciate the thought, and for the record, I accept your apology in the way it was intended, but no need. 

No apology needed. You didn’t do this. That was my point. I’m just tired of living a nightmare and not sleeping because I’m raising my daughter in the United States. We need better and we should be doing better, and yet “things” keep holding us back. All the posts I’m writing are heavily edited, partially to prove to myself I can do it, and largely because I know screaming about it won’t get me anywhere. SO.
 
I appreciate the thought, and for the record, I accept your apology in the way it was intended, but no need. 

I disagree, your math is off; it’s not whether they voted 3rd party, it’s the system. In other words, if all the people who voted 3rd party instead voted democrat, then the State could potentially flip. This bears out my assertion, that in this environment, because it is first past the post, step one is breaking through that. Step two is changing the mechanics of voting. Because the State was split, it voted red. We can agree to disagree but I’m not convinced by your argument, I see it as reinforcement of my point.

New Biden ad plays the presidential dog card after Trump’s rabid debate

No apology needed. You didn’t do this. That was my point. I’m just tired of living a nightmare and not sleeping because I’m raising my daughter in the United States. We need better and we should be doing better, and yet “things” keep holding us back. All the posts I’m writing are heavily edited, partially to prove to myself I can do it, and largely because I know screaming about it won’t get me anywhere. SO.
 
I appreciate the thought, and for the record, I accept your apology in the way it was intended, but no need. 

That's not disillusion.  This is disillusion: What if he doesn't actually have covid, but needs an excuse to get out of the next two debates without looking like a coward?  There's almost no way he makes the 10/15 debate now, and an extra safe three week quarantine would get him past the 10/22 debate.  Then he magically reemerges on 10/23, hale and hearty (ischemic tremor notwithstanding), inspiring his fans just in time to go to the polls.
 
Anyway, tinfoil hat off.  Get that man some hydroxychloroquine, stat!

That’s a fair point, there has been so much noise and it’s deafening, drowning out most positivity and hope. It really does a disservice to the whole process and pollutes the discourse. To be honest, there may not be a reconciliation between the “sides” but I also don’t believe that there needs to be one. Based on the actions and the ideas that I’m seeing there’s a group of people who believe that the function of government is primarily the protection of property, and another group who believe that the goal should be the common interest. Simply put, we need both to function as a society and refusing to recognize the merits of either defeats the whole point of the exercise. 
 
But that’s all beside the point. I believe that people matter, and I believe that all citizens deserve to be represented by people who believe that they matter. No matter where on the divide you fall, each and every one of us deserve to be treated with respect by our government. We deserve to be told the truth by people we have elected to be our agents. We deserve to have the services we pay for operate at a functional level. We deserve to be able to trust that our representatives are working in our best interests, no matter where they fall ideologically. And for me personally, even if I get nauseated, I’m going to vote for the person who can uphold that basic agreement. The only way to guarantee this new status quo continues — i.e., the venomous horror we’re all witnessing —  is to refuse to believe that an alternative can exist.
 
And an alternative can exist, but it only comes to fruition if we all vote in the people who we believe are going to balance what can be competing interests, but who, above all else, see the needs and inherent value of the people first. I have no issue with “conservatism,” i.e., the value of institutions, but what seems to be happening is that rather than act as agents for the people, but for themselves. As an example, defunding the Post Office is not in the public interest. It only serves a very small group under very unique circumstances.

And I want to go back to the office without risk of getting a life threatening illness; I want my daughter to grow up in a world that doesn’t involve fascism. I want a leader who isn’t bull horning for racism, and who at least at the basic level, can get through 5 sentences without lying. 
 
I want a pony.
 
The options are what they are. I get it. But. This is the system. These are the current rules. We have to play by those rules and we have to play to win. The only way to achieve that, currently, again, from a non-Trump point of view, is to vote Biden/Harris or, preferably a straight blue ticket. Again. Hope I did that without triggering anyone.
 
If you want to change the system, then elect people who will fight for ranked voting, so we can get away from the first past the post/wasted vote mechanic (no offense meant to the intent of your vote, as much as the way votes are tallied). So in a ranked system, you could put Libertarian first, then Democrat, and when the LIbertarian is mathematically eliminated, your vote moves to the next viable candidate. However, that won’t happen in a Trump/GOP administration. Shoot, it might not happen in a Biden/Harris administration, but Maine did it. Which means your State can do it and enough States do it, then Federal law will change.
 
Separate thought, but I thought a valid point, considering.

Here’s where I potentially veer into trouble, but I’ll make it plain: Any vote that is not for Biden, is a vote for Trump, mathematically speaking. It’s not enough to want to vote Trump out, nor is it sufficient to vote for an alternative, non major party (i.e., Democrat). Your vote is part of the group vote that determines how your State votes and pushes the electoral college. 
 
I am not telling you how to vote; I am telling you how you should vote if you want Trump out of office. Because we are in a democratic republic, and not a democracy, your best tactical option, regardless of personal opinion, is to vote Biden. Everyone who identifies as a member of  the current Republican Party is going to vote a straight red ticket, so bear that in mind. This is a “first past the post” system. If you vote an alternative party, you’re only weakening the Democratic position, not the Republican. This is the battle for the margins I was speaking of earlier; if that display pushes you to not vote for either of them, then it counts as a win for Trump. It’s kind of like a pass in football; there’s three options, and only one of them counts as a success; the other two — incomplete and interception — are both bad. Relative to a democratic, or at least, non-Trump point of view.
 
...I think I said that without triggering anyone. 

And I want to go back to the office without risk of getting a life threatening illness; I want my daughter to grow up in a world that doesn’t involve fascism. I want a leader who isn’t bull horning for racism, and who at least at the basic level, can get through 5 sentences without lying. 
 
I want a pony.
 
The options are what they are. I get it. But. This is the system. These are the current rules. We have to play by those rules and we have to play to win. The only way to achieve that, currently, again, from a non-Trump point of view, is to vote Biden/Harris or, preferably a straight blue ticket. Again. Hope I did that without triggering anyone.
 
If you want to change the system, then elect people who will fight for ranked voting, so we can get away from the first past the post/wasted vote mechanic (no offense meant to the intent of your vote, as much as the way votes are tallied). So in a ranked system, you could put Libertarian first, then Democrat, and when the LIbertarian is mathematically eliminated, your vote moves to the next viable candidate. However, that won’t happen in a Trump/GOP administration. Shoot, it might not happen in a Biden/Harris administration, but Maine did it. Which means your State can do it and enough States do it, then Federal law will change.
 
Separate thought, but I thought a valid point, considering.

When people say “run America like a business,” — and I saw another post on this but was too tired to reply — they do not mean ‘yell at people because they didn’t do their job.’ That’s not how you run a business. A business is about the people in it. Those of us who want to see America run like a business mean things more like this:
 
* Quarterly & Annual targets, with the appropriate accountability
* SMART goals
* Reasonable transparency for our taxes
* The construction of a new, uniquely American culture; Amazon holds people accountable, we should as well
 
And so on. If there’s yelling, that’s because the manager is a [redacted], because if that [redacted] happened in my work place? Pfft. It would be a call to HR and a bunch of meetings and suddenly I’d have a new manager.  Running America like a business means proper accounting of resources, resource management, goals, stretch goals, etc. Stop wasteful spending, cut budgets to force people to find new solutions, etc. 
 
I recognize that this is not a broad opinion, it could just be mine and that of a few people, but I did want to debunk the difference between “managing a store,” which has its own challenges, and the actual requirements of running and growing a full business.

Here’s where I potentially veer into trouble, but I’ll make it plain: Any vote that is not for Biden, is a vote for Trump, mathematically speaking. It’s not enough to want to vote Trump out, nor is it sufficient to vote for an alternative, non major party (i.e., Democrat). Your vote is part of the group vote that determines how your State votes and pushes the electoral college. 
 
I am not telling you how to vote; I am telling you how you should vote if you want Trump out of office. Because we are in a democratic republic, and not a democracy, your best tactical option, regardless of personal opinion, is to vote Biden. Everyone who identifies as a member of  the current Republican Party is going to vote a straight red ticket, so bear that in mind. This is a “first past the post” system. If you vote an alternative party, you’re only weakening the Democratic position, not the Republican. This is the battle for the margins I was speaking of earlier; if that display pushes you to not vote for either of them, then it counts as a win for Trump. It’s kind of like a pass in football; there’s three options, and only one of them counts as a success; the other two — incomplete and interception — are both bad. Relative to a democratic, or at least, non-Trump point of view.
 
...I think I said that without triggering anyone. 

Here’s where I potentially veer into trouble, but I’ll make it plain: Any vote that is not for Biden, is a vote for Trump, mathematically speaking. It’s not enough to want to vote Trump out, nor is it sufficient to vote for an alternative, non major party (i.e., Democrat). Your vote is part of the group vote that determines how your State votes and pushes the electoral college. 
 
I am not telling you how to vote; I am telling you how you should vote if you want Trump out of office. Because we are in a democratic republic, and not a democracy, your best tactical option, regardless of personal opinion, is to vote Biden. Everyone who identifies as a member of  the current Republican Party is going to vote a straight red ticket, so bear that in mind. This is a “first past the post” system. If you vote an alternative party, you’re only weakening the Democratic position, not the Republican. This is the battle for the margins I was speaking of earlier; if that display pushes you to not vote for either of them, then it counts as a win for Trump. It’s kind of like a pass in football; there’s three options, and only one of them counts as a success; the other two — incomplete and interception — are both bad. Relative to a democratic, or at least, non-Trump point of view.
 
...I think I said that without triggering anyone. 

And I want to go back to the office without risk of getting a life threatening illness; I want my daughter to grow up in a world that doesn’t involve fascism. I want a leader who isn’t bull horning for racism, and who at least at the basic level, can get through 5 sentences without lying. 
 
I want a pony.
 
The options are what they are. I get it. But. This is the system. These are the current rules. We have to play by those rules and we have to play to win. The only way to achieve that, currently, again, from a non-Trump point of view, is to vote Biden/Harris or, preferably a straight blue ticket. Again. Hope I did that without triggering anyone.
 
If you want to change the system, then elect people who will fight for ranked voting, so we can get away from the first past the post/wasted vote mechanic (no offense meant to the intent of your vote, as much as the way votes are tallied). So in a ranked system, you could put Libertarian first, then Democrat, and when the LIbertarian is mathematically eliminated, your vote moves to the next viable candidate. However, that won’t happen in a Trump/GOP administration. Shoot, it might not happen in a Biden/Harris administration, but Maine did it. Which means your State can do it and enough States do it, then Federal law will change.
 
Separate thought, but I thought a valid point, considering.

Here’s where I potentially veer into trouble, but I’ll make it plain: Any vote that is not for Biden, is a vote for Trump, mathematically speaking. It’s not enough to want to vote Trump out, nor is it sufficient to vote for an alternative, non major party (i.e., Democrat). Your vote is part of the group vote that determines how your State votes and pushes the electoral college. 
 
I am not telling you how to vote; I am telling you how you should vote if you want Trump out of office. Because we are in a democratic republic, and not a democracy, your best tactical option, regardless of personal opinion, is to vote Biden. Everyone who identifies as a member of  the current Republican Party is going to vote a straight red ticket, so bear that in mind. This is a “first past the post” system. If you vote an alternative party, you’re only weakening the Democratic position, not the Republican. This is the battle for the margins I was speaking of earlier; if that display pushes you to not vote for either of them, then it counts as a win for Trump. It’s kind of like a pass in football; there’s three options, and only one of them counts as a success; the other two — incomplete and interception — are both bad. Relative to a democratic, or at least, non-Trump point of view.
 
...I think I said that without triggering anyone. 

That’s a fair point, there has been so much noise and it’s deafening, drowning out most positivity and hope. It really does a disservice to the whole process and pollutes the discourse. To be honest, there may not be a reconciliation between the “sides” but I also don’t believe that there needs to be one. Based on the actions and the ideas that I’m seeing there’s a group of people who believe that the function of government is primarily the protection of property, and another group who believe that the goal should be the common interest. Simply put, we need both to function as a society and refusing to recognize the merits of either defeats the whole point of the exercise. 
 
But that’s all beside the point. I believe that people matter, and I believe that all citizens deserve to be represented by people who believe that they matter. No matter where on the divide you fall, each and every one of us deserve to be treated with respect by our government. We deserve to be told the truth by people we have elected to be our agents. We deserve to have the services we pay for operate at a functional level. We deserve to be able to trust that our representatives are working in our best interests, no matter where they fall ideologically. And for me personally, even if I get nauseated, I’m going to vote for the person who can uphold that basic agreement. The only way to guarantee this new status quo continues — i.e., the venomous horror we’re all witnessing —  is to refuse to believe that an alternative can exist.
 
And an alternative can exist, but it only comes to fruition if we all vote in the people who we believe are going to balance what can be competing interests, but who, above all else, see the needs and inherent value of the people first. I have no issue with “conservatism,” i.e., the value of institutions, but what seems to be happening is that rather than act as agents for the people, but for themselves. As an example, defunding the Post Office is not in the public interest. It only serves a very small group under very unique circumstances.