Dr. MID-Nite

I plan to vote. My main gripe is that voting just doesn't seem to matter anymore. We're hand fed candidates that the 1% deem acceptable and then expected to be happy that we've gotten the "honor" to be part of the process. If it isn't plain by now how our current political system isn't working...I don't know what else to tell you.

In fairness, we're pretty young as a country. How many civil wars occurred in England, France and others over the years?

But the alternatives do nothing. And if the country is so screwed up that the thought of gun regulations threatens civil war....then maybe we ought to reexamine ourselves as a country. I've always said that America is the king of ignoring social problems. We sweep them under a rug and pretend that we've "taken care of them". America likes band aids that make them feel like they've accomplished something while in reality they've just hidden the problem. America has a knife wound and has had it for a very long time. We don't treat it or stitch it up or use antibiotics. If it starts to seep blood or otherwise be noticeably irritating, America slaps another band aid on it so that...once again...the problem is hidden. We've done that virtually our entire history. We haven't even solved the lingering problems from the Civil War for pity's sake. The point of my rant is that at some point we have to start treating these wounds...however painful and/or rancid they've become or we'll never heal. We've gotten to a point where any real positive social change will require some degree of sacrifice/pain. A consequence of us ignoring EVERYTHING for so long. I tire of our excuse to not fix anything being "it could be worse". That honestly is "appeasement" thinking and it didn't work back in the day either. Yes...it could be worse, but it could also be better....a LOT better. Let's go for that.

Why...because "Merica? I just mentioned Japan's gun laws...so regulation works. We just have to commit to it...and there lies the problem. We need to start making choices as to what kind of society we want to be.

The point is that firearms are too ready available for any uneducated scrub with low impulse control to acquire. It really doesn't matter if guns are an "inefficient" way to kill people. If some loon shoots me a half a dozen times for some perceived slight, I'm probably going to die. I'm not asking for an instant solution. I'm asking for some kind of damn progress. We should honestly use the same gun laws Japan does. You have to go through a lot of training to be allowed to own one along with having to physically show how and where it will be kept and provide a suitable reason why you need to own one. And they check up on you even after you've gotten the gun. And of course assault weapons are out of the question...as well they should be.

Not my intention...so apologies. I guess I just don't see the point of arguing severity of punishment when my contention is that as a country we don't punish at all. ""shrugs" Don't mind me though...I've gotten disgusted enough with the current state of affairs that most of my 'live and let live" vibes are gone.

Tolerating the intolerant doesn't make them more tolerant. It only lets intolerance spread faster. They're counting on the opinion above. It lets them thrive worry free as the rest of us won't "reduce ourselves to their level" until their numbers increase to the point where they're the majority. We have to start taking some kind of stand against all these extremist groups. Our passivity (which has really been going on since the end of the Civil War) has stunted our societal progress.

Both Baldur's Gate and the Icewind Dale games are superb....along with Planescape: Torment. Yes...they are dated, but they are still amazing games. Baldur's Gate 2 is a top 10 PC game of all time in my book.

I'm truly disgusted that Trump continues to basically be immune all political factors. He literally does and says anything and gets away with it. The fact that he is close to another 4 years in the White House is beyond mind boggling to me. He's had enough gaffes to destroy the careers of a hundred politicians and.....nothing happens. And white supremacy is in again....great. They've done such a great job of revisionist history that we now have debates over confederate flags. I am literally at my last straw. There is no good news on the horizon…..and never has it felt more powerless to be an average citizen in America. Sigh...….

Well...in theory...it does all of that.

I'm trying to simulate a character who can psychokinetically increase the mass of others. I thought about TK, but it seems clumsy and I'd need a very high STR on it to make it effective. I'm also thinking maybe Transform...if that's a legal use for that power. Thoughts here?

Akira Takarada, male lead of the original 1954 Godzilla (among many other films) born on this date in 1934.

Yes. My choice of words is perhaps a little too arbitrary. I'll be more thoughtful going forward. You do bring up the cause of my frustration though. I've been pushing for some progressive ideas my entire life and have seen instead mostly the opposite happen….which just enrages me.

True, but that's just one example. Americans in general are extraordinarily resistant to change, especially if it involves altering their belief systems...even if it's only a little bit.

That's way too much long term thinking form today's society. Moving to renewable energy would be immensely beneficial to our economy for example, but we're dragging our feet on it...because in the short term there will be some economic areas that struggle. With respect, we need to tune into the fact that we need to constantly adapt as a society.