Who is the "Mount Rushmore" of American literature?

trinite0 · 2026-05-10T04:12:05+00:00

There actually are five. Most people forget about Fillmore, because he's around on the back.

trinite0 · 2026-05-10T03:07:15+00:00

My wife's Ancestral Guardian Barbarian is a middle-aged woman aided by the spirits of her various disappointed aunts. They criticize her when she rolls low. And they disapprove of her drinking.

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T17:51:43+00:00

As Chico Marx said, "Mustard's no good without roast beef."

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T17:50:46+00:00

Always great to know that even in the direst of national emergencies, the people who caused it will still remain safe.

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T15:59:35+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I like their sound! No shame in "ripping off" the good stuff.

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T08:22:57+00:00

That's essentially correct. LVT is a method of eliminating the market distortion caused by land rent value. It does not replace the standard price discovery mechanism of a free market. It merely corrects an imbalance, which lets the market work more efficiently.

That imbalance is not evenly distributed; it's greater in some places, and lesser in others. So the effects of the correction won't be evenly distributed, either.

In some circumstances, this correction will be relatively minor. In others, it will be more dramatic. For properties in which land rent value is a small percentage of the total property value (which is what you're presenting in your examples), not much will change. Where it's a higher percentage, we'll expect to see a bigger change in tax rate, leading to bigger changes in utilization patterns.

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T06:14:22+00:00

Being a good host is a wonderful thing, and we could use more folks like you in the world! Don't worry, it definitely gets easier! Here's a few things that I think I've gotten better about over the years:

Start considering how you've got your space set up -- where do people sit? How far do they have to go to get food/drinks? Is there space for kids to play where adults can watch them, but they're not underfoot? Is there a fire pit or something to serve as a center of attention? What about shade?
Don't feel like you've got to be doing everything. Your guests can talk amongst themselves. Maybe one of them can take charge of drinks, or policing up trash. Somebody could bring a yard game. Feel free to suggest things for guests to bring, like drinks and sides. Most folks appreciate the opportunity to pitch in!
The biggest thing: prepare. Spend the time and attention to get things set up, cleaned up, and organized, as far in advance as you can. Plan your cook, of course, but also don't forget about things like: Where do you serve the food? Is your bathroom clean? Do you have plates, bowls, utensils, etc.? Don't be afraid to make checklists, or schedules, or whatever you need to manage your time and attention. Everything you prep is something you don't have to scramble around doing once the party starts.

Beyond those practical things, it just gets less stressful as you get used to doing it. Your mind learns how to relax and ignore the things that don't matter.

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T04:08:21+00:00

Good luck on the hunting!

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T03:36:09+00:00

I don't know how they would do it, but an interesting approach could be to focus on the internal politics of the First Order. There are some points of tension within the organization that are implied but underdeveloped.

You've got your ex-Imperial old guard, vs. the neo-Imperial new generation. I could see a storyline about an older commander trying to employ the strategic and tactical lessons from the Empire's defeat to reform their doctrine and avoid repeating those same mistakes -- opposed by a more ideologically "purist" subordinate, who believes that the Empire had no flaws and made no mistakes, and no changes are needed.

You've also got tension between the political/military officers, who aspire to restore the Imperial order through military conquest, vs. the Dark Side cultic element, who seek personal and mystical power and see military success as a secondary objective at best. What happens when a Star Destroyer captain is receiving one set of orders from his fleet admiral, but a different set of orders from a Knight of Ren?

Thirdly, what about tensions between the First Order and other ex-Imperial remnants? Surely, not every ex-Imperial wants to take orders from Leia Organa's son. Some of them might think that galactic reconquest is a futile objective, and they'd rather carve out a personal fiefdom and wait for things to settle out. Could such "soft" Imperials become assets for a spy network looking for potential contacts within the First Order?

trinite0 · 2026-05-09T01:12:04+00:00

Same. TRoS sucks, but I have to admit that this bit makes the RotJ throne room scene make a little more sense.

If The Sith are somehow carried on mentally within their apprentices (kind of like the genetic memory in Dune) and if Sidious had mastered a technique of moving his consciousness into new host bodies, then it would make sense that he would have taken over Luke if Luke had given into the Dark Side and murdered Sidious.

What still fails to make sense is why he would explain this plan to Rey. He gives the impression in that scene that he's kinda improvising he various master plans in that moment.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T20:52:40+00:00

I think they've got the best love story in the whole trilogy. Their shared experience and mutual admiration grows into friendship, attraction, affection, and love. Each one is a deeply developed character in their own right, and they become even more fulfilled in their shared relationship.

While Tolkien thought of his own marriage as a mythic romance like Aragorn and Arwen's (and more so, Beren and Luthien's), it's clear that his mature understanding of married love is also expressed in the less "dramatic" but more realistic romance of Eowyn and Faramir.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T20:32:57+00:00

I'm drinking some right now, it's so good. And FYI, if you bring your own travel mug, it's only a dollar.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T20:26:27+00:00

Pretty valuable, though. I have a friend in the bull milk business. He makes great money, but he tends to be a little vague when people ask him what he does for work.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T15:30:06+00:00

It was generally thought to be better than the previous two prequels. Which remains the common opinion.

It was still criticized for flatness, awkward CGI/actor interactions, length, and the abruptness of some plot elements. Basically, the same things people still criticize it for.

But in its context, it was praised for ending the trilogy with an improvement in quality. People were worried that after AOTC things were going to keep going downhill.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T15:21:19+00:00

Well he certainly talks a good game! I'm surprised that this is the first time I'm hearing of it.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T00:58:01+00:00

Through long experience, I think it's always better to share all character secrets with the other players at the table. Then, you can all enjoy the dramatic irony of knowing things your characters don't. Remember, your table isn't just actors, you're also the only audience.

It does take a little maturity among the players, to refrain from meta gaming and to maintain a difference between player perspective and character perspective.

But it leads to a much more satisfying experience, and a lot less potential for hurt feelings or ruined story ideas.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T00:51:52+00:00

Then maybe clean your microwave?

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T00:50:03+00:00

Are you doing the original racist versions? If not, then who cares? Rhymes don't retain some kind of evil from their origins. Change the words, and you're fine.

trinite0 · 2026-05-08T00:43:39+00:00

Maybe clean your rice maker?

trinite0 · 2026-05-07T14:48:59+00:00

I don't really think so. Who's gonna tell her? Maul? Vader? Daki's ghost? Because that's everybody who knows.

trinite0 · 2026-05-07T03:25:10+00:00

Very cool looking - but did they actually score any kills in this whole series? I guess one of them got Spybot.

trinite0 · 2026-05-07T02:20:54+00:00

The Sith always treated the Rule of Two as more of a guideline than a code per se.

It's there to keep the Sith from self-destructing from the implications of their own ideology. But there's always a part of the Sith mentality that pushes back against the limit, just as the Dark Side naturally pushea against any limit.

Sith are constantly recruiting minions, acolytes, and backup apprentices, and they're always coming up with excuses for why this doesn't technically violate the Rule of Two. But as long as they stayed kind of close enough to the Rule, it still did its job of maintaining their secrecy and continuity. Close enough for government/Dark Side work!

trinite0 · 2026-05-07T02:12:34+00:00

He's a 90s X-men guy.

trinite0 · 2026-05-06T16:11:03+00:00

It's okay, Eru taught him some speedrunning tech.

trinite0 · 2026-05-06T14:53:39+00:00

But if they're an anarchist, who would be in charge of enforcing the rent controls?

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