Froghemoth

@Hebro_Steele Its been supreme court binding precedent since 1976, ie slightly over a decade since the 64 act was passed! McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co. (1976). Authored by Thurgood Marshall no less.

There are actually people out here who believe white folks aren’t covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I can't believe how many people have told me that this is not the case. Even heard it from a Cornell University professor two weeks ago. They’re wrong. Here’s the actual wording: “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer — (1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” “Any individual.” “Such individual's race.” That’s the law. It's race-neutral with no DEI carve-outs. Anyone who has been discriminated should sue.

@gov_fails TTRPGs

How do you middle aged men make friends with other men? I honestly find it easier to make friends with women, but that’s challenging for other obvious reasons.

@DyingBreedTT @EricDiaz_RPG It also provide a handy in-game explanation for why there are so many old tombs guarded by undead barrow-wights (based on Icelandic stories), and one of the reasons for the rise of the montheistic Church.

@DyingBreedTT @EricDiaz_RPG Essentially, when a player's primary character dies, they have a choice: (a) Give all of the primary character's wealth and gear to the character's follower(s); or (b) Give half of the primary character's xp to the character's followers...

I am once again tempted to use 1 XP per GP SPENT. Donate to church, drink it away, hire people, buy gear, I don't care (probably as long as it is within you alignment). I am just not a fan of PCs hoarding lots of money. What are the downsides again?

@EricDiaz_RPG Some points: * Wealth spent on training, gear, cost of living, etc. does not count towards xp * PCs can gain xp for activities that match goals, not just carousing/squandering * System allows followers to recoup xp for funerals for a a dead character, toolong to post about here

@EricDiaz_RPG ... such wealth can count towards experience only via elaborate funerals (see Funerals).

@Keir_Starmer Is this a parody account?

The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz is deeply damaging. Getting global shipping moving is vital to ease cost of living pressures. The UK has convened more than 40 nations who share our aim to restore freedom of navigation. This week the UK and France will co-host a summit to advance work on a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping when the conflict ends.

@Mad__Overlord @BlackDragonCan Wisdom never made much sense to me as a character attribute - it is a quintessential player attribute. In my home rules, I've replaced Wisdom with Heart, which something like bravery, willpower, empathy.

I have a question for all you gamers out there. When did wisdom not be synonymous with willpower? In old school, we'd always describe the difference between INT and WIS as... (cont)

@HazelAppleyard 1. There is no guarantee in the rules that the box will not move. 2. There is no guarantee that the box is on or near terrestrial earth. If that box is in orbit, you are screwed.

@Saul_Sadka Is this true, even adjusted for age? Given the aging population, it seems reasonable to expect that the per capita change is driven by a change in the population.

Per capita, this is the lowest homicide rate in U.S. history. The data for the 1800s is sparse, but it was apparently in the 5–10 range.

@SandyofCthulhu I love 'em because they are inevitably lurking near the ceiling in some dark corner where least expected. They'll try to grab a PC and carry it away, making the fight different than another boring fight to death.

@SandyofCthulhu Sorry Sandy. I love a good grell, both as a DM and a player.

It is my firm belief that no DM in the entire history of roleplaying used a grell ever. Fight me.

@monsterhunter45 Theres whole sub genre of fantasy set in Rural Appalachia, eg Orson Scott Card Tales of Alvin Maker, and Manly Wade Wellman Silver John.

Okay, I was flippant before but I've got to address this seriously for a moment because it's making my writer eye twitch. There's this weird internet behavior where people act like because they don't know about something, that something does not exist. "I never heard of you" isn't a dunk, it's an admission of ignorance. And that's not even a bad thing, because none of us know what we don't know. I like music, but there are artists who sell out stadiums who I've never heard of. It's a big world. What I'm saying is there is a TON of American inspired fantasy out there. And I'm only talking fantasy set in America, about American things, not fantasy set elsewhere written by Americans because there's thousands of those. Just me personally, as one dude, I've got three series that would be considered "Americana" fantasy. Monster Hunter International, which is a bunch of capitalist gun nuts, mostly from the south, killing monsters for fun and profit. The primary magic system is GUN. It doesn't get more American than that. (this series is up to like 15 things now, counting books, spin offs, and anthologies) Then I've got the Grimnoir Chronicles (first book is Hard Magic), which is 1930s alternate history where magic appeared in the 1800s. I've got a dust bowl Okie who teleports and a hard boiled detective who controls gravity. It's extremely American. And coming soon, American Paladin. Like, it's in the friggin' title. A modern vigilante roams the west, taking care of bad guys, human and other. It's cryptids, Missing 411, and Cowboys vs. Aztecs. And I'm just one guy. I mentioned @DavidJohnButler because he's got a series that's not just American fantasy, but American EPIC fantasy. 1700s, big sweeping events, brilliant stuff. The first book is Witchy Eye. Check it out. But he's got another that starts with the Cunning Man, and that's a dustbowl Mormon wizard in Utah. Hell, we've got entire sub genres of fantasy that are absolutely distinctly American. Urban Fantasy (which MHI and AmPal get lumped into, even though they're more rural) is primarily an American thing. The big dog of this genre is @longshotauthor with the Dresden Files being set mostly in Chicago. These books are a huge hit. But Jim Butcher wasn't the first urban fantasy author, just one of the major hits that caused the genre to blow up. Before him there were authors like Mercedes Lackey and Tim Powers (that man is a genius) writing fantasy set in America, which would get lumped into that genre now. Then there's the entire sub genre of Paranormal Romance, which is MONEY. The romance writers stomp the rest of us in sales and live in houses made of gold bars! However, that entire genre is still fantasy, and a giant chunk of it is set in the US and features Americans doing American things, written by Americans. @LKHamilton is a big deal mega seller in that genre, and her stuff is very American. She even wrote a story for one of my anthologies once that was about vampires in the Florida Keys, and the location was basically a character by itself. Another fantasy genre which has an American origin, is everything Lovecraftian (which I do dabble in!). This gets lumped in with horror, but it's Cosmic Horror, which is really just fantasy with extra doom. Sword & Sorcery is extremely American in tone, theme, and vibe. But those are usually set in fantasy lands. Then you've got all the stuff that gets lumped in with Horror, which is often just scary fantasy. And there are some brilliant works that would fall in there by greats like Joe Lansdale or Dan Simmons. Hell, as much as I personally don't care for Stephen King, he's written a bunch of stuff that would be considered American Fantasy. I don't know if people are getting hung up on certain fantasy tropes, and that's blinding them to everything else that's out there, but of course American fantasy is going to have different trappings than other culture's fantasy. We didn't have knights in shining armor here, but I created an organization of knights in trench coats and fedoras with Tommy guns which worked out great. (and I once stuck a dragon in Las Vegas, and he fit in surprisingly well). There's probably a couple dozen writers on my TL who will chime in with their books that fit too, and I encourage them to drop those links.

@SawyerMerritt @elonmusk Why this: "All counsel are welcome to attend. But each of the individuals who signed the motion for reassignment or the joinder in that motion must appear to witness what they requested." Is that usual?

BREAKING: Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick has officially announced that she will no longer preside over multiple lawsuits involving @elonmusk and his companies after Elon's lawyers alleged she had shown bias against him after ruling against him in high-profile cases. Last week, Elon's attorneys wrote to the court pointing to a LinkedIn screenshot that they said shows she supported a post on the network celebrating Elon's defeat in a California civil fraud trial. In the past, Judge McCormick ruled against Elon with his $56B Tesla pay package case and the Twitter lawsuit. Here is Judge Kathaleen McCormick's full letter that she released today: "Dear Counsel: This letter addresses the motions for my recusal and to randomly reassign two of the three above-referenced actions. The motion for recusal rests on a false premise—that I support a LinkedIn post about Mr. Musk, which I do not in fact support. I am not biased against the defendants in these actions. In fact, I dismissed a suit against Mr. Musk just last year. The motion for recusal is denied. But the motion for reassignment is granted—I will reassign each of the three above-referenced actions. As should be obvious, disproportionate media attention surrounding a judge’s handling of an action is detrimental to the administration of justice. Fortunately, the Court of Chancery is far greater than any one person. I have complete faith in the Vice Chancellors’ abilities to adjudicate these matters. And three of them will. Please contact my Chambers to obtain a time for the random reassignment. All counsel are welcome to attend. But each of the individuals who signed the motion for reassignment or the joinder in that motion must appear to witness what they requested."

@mnolangray Based on whats happened in California, I believe that Illinois will pass some legislation, and legislators will pat themselves on the back. But it won't meaningfully increase housing stock.

He's hitting all the high notes: liberalize zoning, streamline permitting, and modernize building codes. Good stuff!

@MatNuclear @j_fishback Contingency fees (i.e. pay only if you win) are common method of payments for lawyers.

@j_fishback What? Paying your lawyers is part of a contract, payment is not contingent on whether you lose or win the case. You should never enter public office.

Hire a lawyer who loses your case? Don’t pay him. Order chicken, get shrimp? Don’t pay them. As Florida Governor, I will only pay government contractors when the job is done fully, correctly, and on time.

@charliesmirkley Lawyers don't only work on a pay-per-hour model; contingency models are common. More generally, government contracting is clearly broken, and its not clear that pay-upon-success would not be a better model.

> get sued for $337 k in promissory notes you signed > lose on summary judgment bc no defense > tell court you’re broke > judge finds your undisclosed chase account with $37 k in spending at burberry > get your assets seized > hire lawyer on an hourly retainer > don’t pay lawyer > don’t show up to arbitration you filed > don't comply with discovery > don't respond to a single order > get dismissed with prejudice >your lawyer tells the court “he can't pay and won’t” > claim the lawyer lost the case so why would I pay him > win grifter of the century award?