vancleef

That's it in a nutshell. I think there are a bunch of politicians who shrewdly paid attention to this election and realized that the voters aren't as dumb or loyal to a fault to their party as believed. Therefore, they better start doing their jobs and getting shit down or they're going to find themselves kicked out of their seats next go-round. Fetterman is doing what our elected officials are supposed to be doing: working together to achieve a middle of the road solution. Every politician spouts, "if I'm elected, I'll reach across the aisle..." but this guy is actually doing it. And I guess he's really more of an Independent who just runs under the Blue ticket, as you pointed out. With any luck, we'll see more of that in the future. I'm not going to get too excited. I mean, we're not headed towards Utopia in my lifetime (or anyone else's lifetime, past present or future, for that matter!) but maybe, just maybe, the next administration or two will put on their Big Boy Pants and do the job.

Okay. so, in the past, I've lambasted our Pennsyltucky Man-Orc pretty hard but (and assuming this isn't just a stunt to get re-elected) Fetterman might be an example to the other Democrats about how shit gets done. He's not on his knees sucking Trump's dick but he's still supporting the policies that make sense. I love how he's more-or-less calling out his fellow Dems as sore losers who are going to keep losing power if they don't grow up. I'm not ready to support him just yet. But I will listen to what he has to say in the next four years. Fetterman was elected to challenge convention. Now, he's challenging his fellow Democrats

I remember thinking that COVID was a Godsend to the Democrats election hopes in 2020. Now, these fires are going to topple the Ultra Liberals that currently run CA. CA will still vote Blue, of course, but maybe they'll get some people in there that can run the state effectively and implement practical programs that work instead of just being contrary.

Finished the knights. On to the infantry and auxiliaries next. I'll quit spamming the feed for awhile!

I literally want to punch every single one of these guys.

First four Teutonic Knights. Was experimenting with painting white and managed to luck into the right combination of shades on the first try. Snow bases came out pretty good as well. The tufts of dead grass really add to the theme.

Ever since I watched Eisenstein's classic film, Alexander Nevsky, I've wanted to model and game the Baltic Crusade. Teutonic knights, Pagan and savage Baltic tribesmen and Russian Druzhina with Mongol influenced armor? what's not to like? I finally got a break in my customer schedule and managed to sneak in a couple sample figures to get started. My plan is to paint up the Teutonic Knights first since I can field them in an upcoming campaign game at my wargaming club. I'm going to paint up the force using a 1:3:5 ratio to keep the project manageable and not overwhelm me, thereby avoiding aggravating my ADHD. So 1 mounted knight, 3 sergeants/foot soldiers (2 infantry, 1 crossbowmen) and 5 Baltic tribal auxiliaries (3 infantry and 2 archers). This should give me a good ratio with which to build up my army on a regular schedule and have a balanced skirmish force on hand to game with before I finish the entire army. Another part of the project is creating Winter terrain for my wargaming board, especially the frozen Lake Peipus where they fought the famous "Battle on the Ice" in 1242. Still in the planning process but I think I'll figure out a way to use frosted plexiglass and then "shatter" it to create the broken ice. So here's a sample knight (I'm practicing with some new paints and I wanted to try and tweak the white color before I blast out of the gate) and I stumbled upon a painting of Bishop Hermann von Buxhoveden of Tartu and thought painting him would be pretty cool to get me excited about the project.

Ha! Had an experience I've never had before and never heard of even on "Secrets of Skyrim"-type videos! Started a new game and rolled into Riften. I was only there to sell stuff (since there are 7 merchants within easy reach of each other) and leave. After quickly skipping through Maul's conversation, I ran into the marketplace and kept avoiding Brynolf so I didn't get drawn into conversation with him since I had no interest in playing the Thieve's Guild questline with this character. Eventually he caught up to me and I was, like, "Aw, fuck, here we go!" Instead, he frowns and says, "I can take a hint, lad! Come see me when you want to make some coin!", turned and walked off to start hawking his Saber Cat Elixir! And as far as I know, he's still working the crowd! I'll never have to talk to him again even if I return to Riften!

I would argue that AI is going to be another tool in the toolbox. It will eliminate the drudgery of having to write every line but ultimately will still need a human to edit it. Of course, this comes with its own problems, for example, the human thinking it can "better" the writing or someone with more passion for a subject rejecting it or, for example, editing it to be more Woke, politically correct, Conservative, etc. But yes. I think AI can and will revolutionize a lot of industries, for good and for ill.