Jace, Extat

I actually -was- thinking Chief of Staff, but then I thought you were promising to pardon me

So I'm penciling you in for VEEP?

Yeah I whimed that out in like fifteen minutes. Don't make more of it than it is. I mean it's true or whatever. But I ain't a fucking poet. I'm a writer. Total difference.

And I think I missed you most of all, Scarecrow When I'm running for President in five years I'll cite this comment for why, when I go on the MSNBCs and FOX and CNN, I'll only appear from behind a Scooby Doo shower curtain. I'm gonna be the "Do It for the Vine" candidate, you'll all see

They Screen For That: Since I was six and sick I knew; they screen for that No trips to space, no Moonscapes faced, no zero gee that's not for me Be what you want whatever you'll be but oh not me; they screen for that No F-16's, I have bad dreams and so it seems I should not fly And when asked why I like to high it's just because it's that or cry; they screen for that Nowhere goes your little prose it's just a bunch of words in rows But best you use the ones we want in our right way or you'll never even hear us say; they screen for that Did you know it's fun to learn but only when you get a turn, to ask your learner right from wrong It's not wanted, not a quibble, put your head back down and scribble too much asking takes nowhere, lesson plans are better square; they screen for that Here come child take a pill, let it sap away your will You're a bad one you might kill, good boys sit so fucking still; they screen for that Raise your hand and ask for help, it's okay but just don't yelp Don't raise your voice don't make a sound, they'll put you in the goddamn ground; they screen for that Prove your worth it's all for love, love of fellows- every one Oops wait these aren't your friends, they're passing shadows making fun- they'll take away your empty gun; they screen for that What's it like to be so glad that you don't live angry-mad, I just don't know I couldn't say But let me tell you anyway They Screen For That

Now that's fuckin cooool! Forget an Alienware! Put some ads on this forum so we can get Ty one of THOSE

HoI IV and Crusader Kings II are my most played games on steam. No RPGs worth the name were made from basically Mass Effect 3 until this Hogwarts game, as far as I'm concerned. (ROLE playing games) I like to play strategy games while I listen to podcasts/YouTube lectures/audiobooks. Compulsive multitasker, and the 15/30 second back buttons exist for a reason. I don't like what Bezos has done to shopping or the environment but I like his audiobook app

Hearts of Iron IV Sadly Eee ta lee went and made a goddamn Balkans alliance while I was Pivoting to the Past instead of getting bogged down in conflicts with the imperialists. They fucking mauled me before I could get my military rebuilt. SAD!

Reading about this odyssey of a computer repair effort is making me sadder than a goddamn greek tragedy Meanwhile: Nobody said restoring the Sultan would be easy, but speaking of the Greeks. They joined the civil war on the side of the perfidious Kemalist loyalties. But the Romanians had my back and gave lend-lease aid without actually contributing to the war effort. So I ate all the IS LLANDS, Makedon, and Epirus just for the steel and chromium of it. I left Athens and the Peloponnese because I'm a nice God Empress like that. Puppeted, of course. I mean they joined the civil war. Sixty thousand dead Turks from the Hellenes alone. Romania gets my eternal gratitude and we can race to blitz Bulgaria. But that's in the distant future of '39. For the rest of '38 we're celebrating baby! The Sultan's back in towwwwn!!! France went all communist. Hitler was deposed for the Kaiser (Always depose Hitler, c'mon). And the U.S.S.R. devours itself (long live Ukraine, eh!). Japan went off-course and chose rapprochement with U.S.A. and Briton, which is fucking weird. But whatever. That fascist civil war should be popping off in one of them any day now... And I know which one I think it'll be.

@Maithanet I hate to dogpile (but I also love to hate, so... ) Some kind of sub-nato alliance for the countries of eastern Europe is a good idea. And they should be working on that yesterday. But yo, that shit's hard. It's hard to have a multinational alliance that can stand up quickly against something like Russia while working together. Like, I don't just mean in the prewar phase. I mean operationally. In the field. You're talking about multiple multi-ethnic and multi-language nations that have to coordinate in real time against a much much more standardized enemy. And on that bisects them already! Don't forget Konigsberg. Lithuania gets pincered to piss in this scenario. It's fucking grim if all of NATO doesn't actually do what it takes to keep Russian aggression in hand. At the end of the day how much of the Polish army is its commanders going to be willing to put in that natural salient? To help defend the borders of Estonia and Latvia? Lithuania? Maaaybe. But I wouldn't order my troops off Polish soil to get slaughtered against the sea by Russians. I couldn't do it. I'd resign. The absolute best I could do - THE BEST I COULD DO is to promise a sort of Baltic Schlieffen action to sweep Konigsberg while holding against Belarus. And frankly I don't love that either, because the Russians would be doing the exact same thing coming the other way. "Bloodbath" doesn't do that inevitability justice in any language.

Just to follow up on this real quick (before I go get kite-wise for the first time in almost a month): I'd point out that it's very very fortunate for the Communist part(y) of the People's Republic of China equation that employment of advanced automation and "AI" systems means that they'll have no trouble transmuting themselves from a labor market to a welfare state. If that's what they want to do. Y'know, to maintain power. And keep the people content? What's the Chinese version of Disney+ ??? I don't know, but I'll bet it's in the works if not in use already. All that sweet sweet western debt should help cushion the landing too. Especially when a cool-T of it is owed by a war weary, government insecure, and politically shattered country that is 15-20 months away from just letting Hitler's aborted clone take power. Again!

I saw his children's book at my niece's book fair. She wanted a diary though and the boychild had already picked something out earlier.

And? What would you call our system, if you wanna get right down to it? My Y'alls tax dollars pay for the security and solvency of your business elites. The only relevant difference is that China's state controls its corporations - effective fascism America's corporations control its state - larceners fascism

Oh, how did I know you were gonna say that? Scotty, scotty, scotty. My dear sweet scotty. Communism isn't some sterile university checklist. It's not even an economic system or values vehicle. It's a power structure. An ideological excuse to gain and retain authority. The fact that is pretends to promote socialism is just a black hole of superficiality that -not to be mean- procedurally minded folks just can't quite seem to wrap their minds around when they're looking from outside the system... Which I find ironic, because if you were born in the system I think you'd do quite well! China is what communism looks like. So is North Korea. The fact that China allowed ALLOWED for limited private ownership of property and supposedly free markets (when they couldn't afford to keep them out) isn't the great evidence against the efficacy of their communist system that you think it is- It's proof that their version of communism is better than any version we've seen before. I mean goddamn, look what they've accomplished in the last seventy years! It's amazing! They beat us at war in Korea before even catching their breath from the civil war. They beat us. US! U.S.A.! And that's after a hundred years of rape and poisoning -literal poisoning for profit- by the West. To say nothing of Japan. They turned that corner and are now 1 of 2. I know you can't be sexually attracted to a state (unless you're Josephine Boneparte, I suppose ) but goddamn if I don't think of China any time I'm feeling flaccid. Perks me right up in no time. Hey, when was China's last war? Y'know, that they actually did stuff in? What does their military look like? What is its capacities? What do you really know about the way their system works, besides the fact that it's remarkably stable? Especially compared to ours? How many school shooters has U.S.A. had this year? How many has China had? We'll never know the latter, but I'd still bet that it's probably fucking none The party has one objective: maintain power in order to project strength. It's really, really, fun to watch: in a fuck-you-robber-barons-maybe-I'll-see-you-burn-after-all: kinda way. 'Murica is all puffed up with pride at stopping a third-rate despotate from blitzkrieging their former province. It's fucking adorable, the military hards on (syntax). Meanwhile, our economy is a shambles. Our reputation in tatters, and diplomacy a forgotten word in the American language. MOAR SANCTIONS!!! MOAR MOAR, FOR IRAN AND RUSSIA BOTH! Because -clearly- the American hegemony is just too valuable a system for anyone to oppose eh? Yeah, that's what happened for sure. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, right? The end of history? We won! Behold all your victory, my fellow Americans.

If a team signs him to an offer sheet after the draft they give up their 2024 and 2025 picks instead of this years' pick. Patience is a virtue.

I think it'd work best as a ten episode series. You could use it as a transition point from doing Children of Dune as a movie and continuing the rest of the story in 1 hour installments. You open and close each episode with the God Emperor lecturing Moneo or Siona about the attrocities we just spent the middle-parts witnessing. Hear the God Emperor's justifications of his actions, Moneo's capitulating complicity, Duncan's disgust, and Siona's rebellion If I were writing it I'd always start the episode with Moneo being the recipient of the God Emperor's lies, then he puts them into motion over the course of the episode. End each episode with alternating between Duncan and Siona getting the post-facto justifications for what has happened and rejecting them. Duncan internally, Siona outright. It could be done.

Folks are in town for the weekend- sister showed up with my nephew First words out of the boy's mouth, no lie... "I wanna watch Duuune!" He's 43 months old, if I'm not mistaken about his birthdate Yes, he knows which one is "Duuune" and immediately pointed to the box art which was actually laying half-covered underneath a book. Pulled the disc out of my hand (creating smudge prints that I then had to clean off ) in his haste to put it in the PS4. I couldn't love this kid more if Muad'dib ordered me to. Fuck those witches and their breeding programs, my sister and her dweeby husband already produced a Kwisatz Haderach Seriously, this kid is 3.5 years old and can use Ridiculous, Awesome, and a host of other pretty complex words accurately. Literally just today, actually while I stepped into the bathroom to clean the Duuune disc I was speaking anecdotally to my mother in the living room the boy followed me and -after waiting politely for a break in the conversation- said "Jalen you use a lot of big words when you talk." And in a way that made it clear he was following the conversation, and comprehended through context what the words I was using mean. Nothing crazy, I'm not walking around like Sheldon Cooper when talking to my mother or nothing. But this kid And that's not to short-change his sister, who is sharp as a whip and gonna be a helluvan athelete in addition- this is just the Duuune thread And I know I'm not just talking up my own relations, because that sister had a school thing we went to this evening. Six and seven and eight year olds. And the 3.5 year old, my nephew, had more to say about what was going on than a single one of those kids. Had observations about what was going on and demanded a book from the fare. Not everything is salt

"Problematic" is my FAVORITE NewSpeak word As in: "I don't know how to argue an actual point so I'm gonna Mad Libs a bunch of nouns and conjunctions (perhaps a verb-or-two) around the word problematic and accept hero-status amongst similarly idiot-brained individuals who confuse compassion with an inability to compromise. Because I live on Twitter."

I'm trans. I played sports in Highschool, with the boys. I get embarrassed and ashamed at my fellow Ts for accepting trophies against competitors that they have a biophysiological advantage against. Full stop. That's not fair. No, people DO NOT transition just to compete in a field with an advantage... That's a sick and hateful argument and everyone knows it. But transitioning doesn't erase biological facts about male musculoskeletal development vs female musculoskeletal development. And no amount of memes or whining will change that- it's called real life I understand that that sucks. Being trans sucks sometimes and I -myself- would never want to accept a trophy against a sister of the world if I had an advantage that she could never possibly match. Being born male -especially having gone through male puberty- IS AN ADVANTAGE in physical contests. This is why we have sex-segregated sports fields. Sex- being a biological description of reproductive (overwhelmingly binary) capacities of animals Please, tell me I'm a self-hating creature who doesn't see myself as a woman (if not sexually female) after I "presented" on this forum for a decade explicitly as a woman. I love getting lectured about inconformity to NewSpeak and RightThink. It gives my art an extra bite for days afterwards.

At some point in the last few months I was discussing makeup techniques with my shrink. I expressed that I've gotten good at it, but I don't actually have a foundation that matches my skin tone. At which point she said "Yeah, they don't really make one that's Casper-toned." So I've been looking forward to that sun too.

No

2 months later, update? Check all boxes that apply: [ ] - I made the best decision of my life! [ ] - Oh god, what was I thinking? [ ] - Writing is hard. [ ] - Actually, writing is really easy. Writing really well is hard. [ ] - Need help (no strings attached, just trying to be nice) from weirdo writing savant who can literally give away ideas/plots/theme-insights without creating a dynamic where the recipient feels like they're being impressed upon to do something other than their own root inclinations? [ ] - Fuck that weirdo, I got this through sheer spite alone if needs be! [ ] - When did I start drinking so much? ( If you don't check the last box you're not a real writer no matter how good your efforts turn out )

I would like to draw attention to the disparity in response to the -preventable- derailment of a train spewing toxins (actually threatening lives/livelihoods/homes) and some Accounting Pirates tasting nature for the first time in their cushy fucking lives And I'm so over hearing about how "this isn't a bailout" already Last time I looked the FDIC insured up to a quarter-million... but I guess that's only for the non-millionaires right? Great to know

Watched episodes 7 and 8 just now. One left. Show is aces. - Says a joker ( ) Regarding Messieurs Benioff and Weiss' (let's just say it) complete chuckle-fucking of their jobs-then-careers while in custody of Mr. Martin's work... (Bella Ramsey's)

Reduce enough and the only thing that could possibly be real is whatever happens next. - 21st century solipsism Your youth are all regressed to input dependents. Even your outputs are just cries for reciprocation I may not like capitalism, but goddamn if I can't help but admire what it's done to us. Y'know, in an "it ain't MY children who're gonna burn" kinda way. Hidden advantages of being sterilized - too bad for my niece and nephew, but what kinda future were they lookin' at anyway?