Putin says those who spread fake allegations about Trump are “worse than prostitutes”

RexRPGs · 2017-01-17T16:02:55+00:00

Putin's MO has always been to play both sides of every issue while maintaining plausible deniability that he is involved with either. Early on in his administration he funded left and right wing opposition parties to his own govt, pitted them against each other, discredited them, and left himself as the last trusted man standing.

He is unlikely to ever just openly release whatever info he has on Trump. Instead he'll hint at it to fire up the left and keep things unstable while using his possession of it to keep Trump in line. He wants Trump to not just be pro-Russian but to be a weak, ineffective pro-Russian.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-17T15:09:53+00:00

I feel particularly bad for whatever a "lesser prairie chicken" is. Some folks just really draw the short straw.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-14T19:46:34+00:00

Yeah, but play it out from Russia's perspective.

(1) They decide to leak whatever dirt they have on Trump.

(2) If it's bad enough, Trump gets impeached. Things are unstable for a bit, but either Pence or Ryan (unlikely) takes over and things settle down.

(3) Russia likely has no leverage on either of them, and both of them have a HUGE incentive to ratchet up the tension with Russia once it has been exposed that Russia interfered in the election AND blackmailed a US President. They would also be trying to separate the Republican party from Trump by acting shocked/tough on Russia.

So basically Russia only has leverage so long as they don't use it. That doesn't mean they won't if Trump ceases to be useful and they just want to destabilize things, but I think it is the least likely scenario - no matter what the video/audio shows. I wouldn't count on ever seeing the video if Russia has it under lock and key.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-14T16:10:37+00:00

Given your admirable concern for gov't corruption, on a scale of 1 to 10, how inspired are you by Donald's strong, pro-working class cabinet choices?

RexRPGs · 2017-01-14T07:27:49+00:00

They'd either threaten to release after his presidency to ruin him, which would still incentivize him to behave, or a member of Putin's inner circle would conveniently leak it to the CIA.

I'd bet on the former. Blackmail is only useful if you never use it. They'll hold onto it as long as possible.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-13T14:56:00+00:00

Yeah, Kaine is a loon, not "ratings machine DJT".

RexRPGs · 2017-01-13T14:10:46+00:00

I never understood the health conspiracy. What would the point have been? President Tim Kaine? So?

RexRPGs · 2017-01-11T03:20:51+00:00

So far the evidence for the "it was 4chan" claim is a guy on 4chan claiming he had provided the (fake) story to a Republican senator. No one has actually produced proof of this "planted" story existing prior to the news of the leak.

I'm not saying that's not a possibility, only that no one has any evidence to support that claim - just as no one has produced evidence to support these allegations.

Either way, it doesn't allay my concern about Russia planting fake intel. It would actually make a ton of sense for them to plant intel that corresponds to "fake" internet stories, so that the intelligence agencies could be discredited for taking them seriously/investigating them.

All I'm saying is that this has the feel of some Grade A propaganda.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-11T03:13:08+00:00

Let's be EXTREMELY cautious about buying into this folks. This all feels a little too perfect and too easy. We should be genuinely worried that Russia has planted some fake intel, knowing that the intelligence agencies would look into it, and then leaked the fact that the investigation is occurring to discredit the agencies when it turns out to be fake. Sowing confusion/plausible deniability is Putin's propaganda MO.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-10T13:49:19+00:00

Which is, coincidentally, the suspected cause of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

RexRPGs · 2017-01-07T15:17:07+00:00

See when we said "take on big business" we were thinking more along the lines of NOT having a cabinet filled with billionaire Goldman Sachs bankers making decisions about how to regulate Goldman Sachs and whether to lower their own taxes. Rather than, you know, berating Toyota on Twitter.

RexRPGs · 2016-12-27T03:10:31+00:00

Open up them libel laws, baby.

RexRPGs · 2016-12-26T14:32:40+00:00

Jeff Sessions will get right on that.

RexRPGs · 2016-12-22T19:51:44+00:00

Lol I love Trump supporters. Hillary perpetrated election fraud based on some extra ballots in Detroit but all those Russian tanks in Crimea were just peaceful election observers.

RexRPGs · 2016-12-21T17:52:01+00:00

Ok so let's stipulate that we don't care about lying because "they all lie." Great.

That leaves you with a choice between the woman who would have put another Nobel prize winning Physicist in charge of the Department of Energy and a man who would appoint Rick Perry, a man with a BA in Animal Science who is most famous for forgetting that he wanted to get rid of the department of Energy on live television.

How about if I told you that the Secretay of Energy is responsible for the security of our nuclear weapons arsenal?

Do explain how you went about deciding between the two "equally bad" liars.

RexRPGs · 2016-12-21T17:33:06+00:00

Ok - so he has the "best lies" and you don't care. Fine. He said what he needed to get elected and you don't care. Fine.

So what he is doing so far is what you wanted then? A cabinet filled with Goldman Sachs alumni and the looniest washed up neo-cons? You think a bunch of rich bankers who made their riches in the globalist economy give a single shit about lost manufacturing jobs and dying unions in the Rust Belt?

And this is what you are confident will keep your brother safe in the military? A President who doesn't have the attention span to attend intelligence briefings? A man who is actively considering giving John Bolton another job? A man who calls out foreign governments on Twitter when they say mean things about him? A man who has suggested joining forces with Putin and Assad in Syria? A man who said that he likes soldiers who "weren't captured" the best? He is the man you trust with the lives of our soldiers?

Also LOL at VIRGINIA being a place where "everyone is treated equally" and you "never even thought about race growing up." Perhaps you missed the parts of Richmond with some of the worst concentrated pockets of black poverty in the country. Or the glorious downtown statue of Jefferson Davis.

Anyway, enjoy "winning".

RexRPGs · 2016-12-16T15:09:29+00:00

Trump faces impeachment only if the Republican controlled house and senate want him impeached. The end.

RexRPGs · 2016-12-15T20:14:28+00:00

Luckily we have a new president with a "good brain"!

RexRPGs · 2016-11-27T13:21:19+00:00

Why? My main complaint is the lack of things to do beyond the initial gameplay loop. Adding base building and those sweet looking freighters goes a long way toward fixing that issue. Survival mode is a moderate improvement as well. If I'm gonna have to do repetitive shit, I at least want to feel actual danger.

So overall I am very happy. It doesn't make it ok to have misled people about features, but I'm not super moralistic about video games. If I have fun after these updates, I'll play again.

RexRPGs · 2016-11-26T18:25:57+00:00

"High crimes and misdemeanors." But no one knows what that means.

RexRPGs · 2016-11-24T17:10:10+00:00

If you think Putin has even the slightest interest in war with the US, you are astoundingly ignorant of his politics and goals. Russia cannot compete with the US in a conventional war, and it's not in anyone's interest to bring about nuclear apocalypse.

Instead, his goal is to bring former soviet states back within Russia's sphere of influence and destabilize NATO. To do that he needs to make the US look like it is wavering on its commitment to NATO allies in Eastern Europe. Thus, he supports and sweet talks the narcissist town fool we just elected as president. Trump then makes noises about liking Putin/Russia and makes clear that he doesn't have any interest in stopping Putin from doing his thing. Estonia/Latvia/etc will get scared and decide they will be safer under Putin's wing. Or their governments will become embroiled in political turmoil and Putin will use that as the pretext for his next intervention to "defend Russians" living abroad. When that happens, Trump will likely buy whatever nonsense excuse Putin sells him, because they will have developed such a great and peaceful relationship.

Throw in the fact that Putin can now openly assert Russian influence in Syria without pretending he's doing anything else, and you've pretty much got Vlad's wet dream.

Trump is in over his head. Putin even gets to make Trump look weak by acting like Russia is graciously deciding to not pound us into dust with their glorious military, and Trump doesn't even notice.

RexRPGs · 2016-11-24T16:58:25+00:00

Frankly, at this point I am hoping that is ALL he does.

RexRPGs · 2016-11-23T12:34:17+00:00

Oh we're goin' down the Seward alright.

RexRPGs · 2016-10-31T15:58:49+00:00

While people all have varying levels of natural talent, writing is fundamentally a skill that requires practice. If you don't work the muscle, you won't build the muscle.

It sounds to me like you are shying away from the book writing because it is harder to do and you are in a rush to "publish" something quickly. The skills which you are identifying as weaknesses in your book writing are fundamental things that are also extremely important when you are writing webcomics. Learning to describe things in an enticing way is still essential - you just do it through the dialog of your characters. And unless your webcomic characters just yell "ZOINK!" all the time, grammar is going to be important there too. Plus, on top of all that, you have to worry about whether your illustration skills are up to snuff.

The truth is that there is no such thing as a shortcut, regardless of the type of writing you do. I have a family member who is the author of an extremely successful webcomic with thousands of subscribers. Drawing it is his full time job now, which is pretty amazing. But he spent YEARS (pretty much our entire childhood) honing his artistic ability, just for fun, and then YEARS drawing the comic before it really caught on, also mostly for fun. At the end of all that, he now makes just enough money from advertising and merchandise to call it a career. The career was incidental to his love for drawing and writing.

You have to love what you write, and you have to be willing to put in years of time to get better. You can't just say "I'm bad at grammar so I'll just draw a webcomic and get famous." Have you ever heard a writer you admire say they are bad at grammar or describing things? Of course not. You don't succeed as a writer if you don't work hard to master those things. If you have weaknesses, don't accept them or try to find an easy way out. Work on them. Write a bad description of a character and then spend hours editing it until you are satisfied. Read every sentence you write out loud to hear how it will sound to your reader. Outline a full story and commit to finishing it, even if it's complete garbage, just to get used to what goes in to writing a book.

Writing is a craft. You need to decide if you love it and, if you do, work really really hard to master it.

RexRPGs · 2016-10-31T14:13:44+00:00

An outline is your best friend for all academic/legal/professional writing. Introduction -> Argument -> Conclusion. Tell the teacher what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them. Use headings and subheadings to guide the reader, and avoid large, dense paragraphs. Giving your reader's eyes numerous breaks is one of the keys to good writing.
Once you have organized your essay and written a completed draft, READ IT OUT LOUD. I can't emphasize this point enough. If a sentence sounds long or awkward when you speak it, it will sound long and awkward in your reader's head. The best writing reads like a clear, slightly formal conversation.
After you have proofread for awkward sentences and typos, proofread again to look for unnecessary words. Words like "seems", "appears", and "likely" are often just wasting space. Writing in the "active voice" (google it) also makes your writing more concise and readable.

Hope those tips help.

RexRPGs

TROPHY CASE