We met with friends to do some DND over the weekend, in person. It was fantastic, after a year plus of zoom games. We have also done a lot of One Page Rules, including large games. We spend our hard-earned quid at the local game store. However, things are starting to click, at least to me. One of my local store managers has given me a clear vibe, OPR is verboten in his store.
Then there is another thing that bothered me, but the Reddit 40K groups I can see are not anywhere close to the size he claimed it…
Look, for the last twenty-plus years, the far-right has built up, and self-radicalized. After 911 the Federal Government worked hard to disrupt and stop Islamic terror, and they were successful in those efforts. For the most part, Islamic terror has been disrupted.
Over the same time period, people on the far-right continued to radicalize. This did not start in the 2000s, but rather in the 1990s, in the modern form. The reality is that the far-right has been a feature of the American political fringe for over 100 years. At times they become more mainstream. …
This was no surprise. Turns out, the Department of Justice under Bill Barr spied on the media and Congress. It came as no surprise since authoritarian regimes use the power of the state to go after enemies. Whether they are real or perceived is beside the point. These are enemies that need to be brought to heel because any authoritarian regime does not tolerate dissent.
Are we reaching the bottom of the barrel? No.
As Congressman Eric Swalwell put it very well on CNN, there is an ongoing effort to bring Donald Trump back to power. He is sure he…
The last decade saw the rise of populist movements in the United States. At the moment, the far right is of most concern, but populism is not limited to the right. It would be a mistake to think this, as this would assure a nasty surprise. Nor is populism unheard of in the United States. The two major flavors are on the left flank of American politics and the right. It was obvious with both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. Both were a reaction to two moments in time. The former was to the election of Barack Obama…
So we gave the rules the full attention they needed and played a few games. One Page Rules may seem simplified at first glance, but the ruleset is simple to learn, and it will take time to master. For some gamers, a simple-looking rule set seems childlike. However, here are two games that have very simple rules: Chess and Go. Care to tell me these two are simple games?
Just because a rule set seems simple, does not mean it lacks depth. It may not be to your taste, but this simplicity equals childlike is a false thing popular among…
The coup attempt is not over. Donald Trump is telling anybody who cares that he expects to be restored to power by August. Let’s be clear, so do the hard-core believers deep in the QAnon bubble. Some of these people, a higher number by the day, wish for a military coup to fix what they know was a stolen election. They are positive the military is white, cisgender, Protestant, and conservative. Ok, they may have a few others, but they must be with them. These people do not understand that the military is a microcosm of American society. Yes, some…
“What is wrong with us?” Governor Gavin Newsom asked after the latest mass shooting, this time in San Jose. Mass shootings are no longer something to be shocked about or surprised about. They are a daily occurrence in this country. The question was almost rhetorical, but we do have an answer to this question.
We have allowed the gun industry to become as powerful as big tobacco. In the process, we have a bona fide public health emergency that we are not doing much about. …
It took five days for Republican leadership to say a word. The insane statement that wearing a mask is the same as the Holocaust is firmly established in far-right spaces. It started fairly early in the pandemic in far-right spaces. When Marjorie Taylor Greene went there this was no surprise to those of us who monitor those spaces. Republican leadership first trying to ignore it, and finally speaking when this refused to go away is increasingly on the Republican brand
We should not be surprised though. They did not say a thing when the former president kept using anti-Asian language…
One of the fantastical news items FOX news reported, and then sort of retracted, was that the Biden administration was going to force Americans to eat one burger a month. This came from a scientific report a year before that suggested that climate change would force diet changes on Americans. It had nothing to do with the administration. Like everything else in life, conservatives are making everything part of the culture wars, between “woke” America and “real” America. This culture war is not just silly at times, but dangerous. This is why we cannot deal with the urgent crisis of…
I am sure you have heard this one in your travels. Big Pharma is hiding things and is very powerful. It is able to prevent things from happening, and through political donations, it controls the government. Do you know who you do not hear this from? Mind you, they are this powerful: The Food industry. To be very specific, the industrial food industry.
This is why they can do things like add net carbs to food labels. This means that you and I swallow the lie and think that something low in net carbs is good for us. No, this…
Nadin Brzezinski
Historian by training. Former day to day reporter. Sometimes a geek who enjoys a good miniatures game.
