Ten Tips For DMs To Run A Better Session

If you are a DM, here are ten tips to help you run a successful session.

 1. Prepare ahead of time: Make sure you have a clear idea of the story you want to tell and the challenges you want to present to the players.

2. Set the scene: Describe the environment and the characters in the game to help the players get into the story. Use ambient sound when possible, apps like Syrinscape or Pocket Bard work well. 

3. Be flexible: Be prepared to adjust the story and the challenges based on the players’ decisions.

4. Keep the players engaged: Ask questions, provide choices, and give the players opportunities to make decisions that will affect the story.

5. Make sure everyone has a chance to shine: Give each player a chance to take the lead and show off their character’s skills.

6. Keep the game moving: Don’t let the game get bogged down in too much detail or too much discussion.

7. Reward the players: Give the players rewards for completing challenges and making good decisions.

8. Make sure everyone is having fun: If someone isn’t enjoying the game, take a break and talk to them to see what can be done to make it more enjoyable.

9. Be creative: Don’t be afraid to try new things and come up with creative solutions to challenges.

10. Have fun: Enjoy the game and the story you’re creating with the players.

Ways To Heal The Political Divide in America

I asked ChatGPT how we can heal the political divide in America and this is what it said:

In recent years, the political divide in America has grown to a level that many find alarming. With the upcoming presidential election on the horizon, it is more important than ever to find a way to bridge this gap. Here are a few ways that we can work to heal the political divide in America: 1. Embrace Open-Mindedness: One of the main reasons for the political divide is the tendency for people to become entrenched in their own beliefs. We need to be open to the idea that the other side may have valid points and be willing to listen to what they have to say. It is important to remember that we can disagree without being disagreeable. 2. Focus on Common Ground: Instead of dwelling on areas of disagreement, focus on finding common ground. This can be anything from shared values to mutual interests. Focusing on the things that we can agree on will help to build understanding and respect. 3. Find Compromise: Compromise is essential to bridge the political divide. We must be willing to give and take in order to reach a consensus that works for everyone. It is important to remember that compromise is not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of strength and a willingness to work together. 4. Respect the Process: Elections are an essential part of our democracy and should be respected. We must remember that the outcome of the election is the will of the people, and we should respect the process and accept the results. 5. Have Conversations: We need to be willing to have meaningful conversations about our differences. We must be willing to have open dialogue and be respectful of one another’s views. The more we talk, the more we can understand each other and the closer we can come to bridging the divide.

These are just a few ways that we can work to heal the political divide in America. We must remember that we are all Americans and that we all have a responsibility to work together to make our country a better place.

King Pussygrabber the first King of America

Hello again people of the Internets.

So here is a #truthbomb for you.
Political Parties are the REASON American politics are so fucked up. 
We are not supposed to have political parties.

Political parties are nowhere in our founding documents. They are not only not part of the framers design, they completely break the system. Their existence undermines the entire system of checks and balances based upon three branches of government competing for power. 

For example, In America, if a sitting President's party controls the Senate, that President is above the law.

Fact.

If the Senate won't vote to convict a sitting President who is clearly guilty because of party affiliation, that person is above the law. There is nothing they cannot do except jeopardize the party or its hold on power.

Did you know? George Washington spent his retirement railing against political parties. He went on tour giving speeches railing against parties because he could see, even back then at the very beginning, that they were a fatal flaw.

Instead of the three branches of government competing against each other for power and thus checking each other, the three branches openly cooperate with and cover for each other, but only along party lines.

We all just watched a Republican Senate admit that the President is guilty but vote to allow him to get away with high crimes because he happens to belong to their party.

Because of the GOP's betrayal of the Constitution, we are now witnessing the functional destruction of democracy and the rise of the first functional King of America, King Pussygrabber of the bone spurs. Legend in his own mind. Hero in his own stories. Extortionist of political "favors". Useful idiot to dictators.

Political parties are like cults. Mandatory cults that you have to join to participate in politics in America. Some parties are more literally cults than others.

King Pussygrabber has already begun to flex his new powers and has started to retaliate against the witnesses who testified against his crimes. He even fired Ambassador Sondland, who bribed King Pussygrabber fair and square to get that posting with a million dollars of his own money.

So much for honor among thieves, eh? Did I mention that King Pussygrabber's cult followers believe he is a paragon of virtue?

Conservatives have always wanted a king. Hamilton offered the monarchy to General Washington, but he turned it down.

 It took them 243 years but conservatives finally found someone willing to try and take that position.

I will leave you with a disturbing question. If Trump decided to try and avoid prosecution by staying in office the rest of his life, who is going to stop him? If he declared a national emergency and canceled the elections, do you think the Republicans would turn down permanent power and control?

Reminder For Americans Who Don't Think Unions Are Necessary

I had a conversation yesterday where someone told me that unions are no longer necessary because "high tech jobs" make them unnecessary and that our benevolent corporate bosses no longer abuse their employees.
Then this morning, I saw an ironic combination of headlines in Linkedin that spoke to that topic. In China, which has no real labor unions, tech billionaires have been forcing their employees to work 12 hour days 6 days a week, which they refer to as the "996 schedule". One of those oligarchs, Jack Ma, says that the concept of work-life balance is "pie in the sky". This quote was, of course, probably given while be lounged on a yacht somewhere.
Next to it was a headline about how young workers are increasingly miserable. Gee, I wonder why that is?

Rick Snyder's job-killing agenda

Rick Snyder's senseless partisan attacks on the film industry have already cost Michigan thousands of jobs. The network officially announced they canceled the successful TV show Detroit 1-8-7 because of Rick Snyder. Marvel studios also announced they will no longer be filming the Avengers movie here in Michigan because Snyder removed the tax incentives. What is most frustrating is that tax incentives always used to be championed by Republicans but now that a Democrat successfully implemented them, Repblicans are suddenly against it. Its the worst, most harmful kind of partisan politics. The kind that does not care about the people at all. Thanks a lot Rick Snyder. May your term in office be very brief for all our sakes.

The rich don't create jobs, we do.

This is a great article over at truthout.

Actually, "the Rich" Don't "Create Jobs," We Do

Simply put, jobs are created to meet demand and demand is driven by how much money the average person has to spend, which is primarily driven by wages. Its not that complicated. Jobs are not gifts bestowed upon us by the rich. There are simple economic realities to how jobs are really created.

Trickle down economics has caused the economic crisis of today by keeping wages down so demand has plumetted, which is why there are no jobs being created. Think about it, the rich are doing great yet are creating no jobs. Why? Because the rich do not create jobs. Consumer demand does.

The rhetoric of violence - "Nothing better than a dead liberal"

After a political season marked by the rhetoric of violence, why is anyone surprised that we see violence?

I filmed this in 2009 at a local "tea party" protest in Michigan. At the time I found the casualness with which this woman started chanting "Nothing better than a dead liberal!" and the nonplussed reaction of the other protesters around her, chilling.



This was after we had already seen politically motivated assassination attempts against liberals, like Jim D Attkinson in 2008. In the killer's home they found books by right-wing provocateurs like Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly.

Tea Party darling Sarah Palin recently put a target on Rep. Gifford's head and told her followers to "reload".

The shooting yesterday took place in Arizona, right next door to Nevada, where just a few months ago Sharon Angle proposed "second amendment remedies" to her "Harry Reid problem".

Not to mention all the rhetoric of the Bush era where people like Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity called liberals "traitors" for not supporting the president, called for the death sentence for liberals and said that liberals should be "physically intimidated" and reminded that we can be killed.

Yes, obviously the shooter was insane. Isn't that a given? But does that excuse everyone in the public sphere from all responsibility for what influence they may have had on sick minds like that within the public?

That kind of rhetoric in the public sphere has real consequences.

As we are seeing for what seems like the millionth time.

And once again we see those who espouse the ideology of "personal responsibility" refusing to take ANY responsibility for their own use of violent rhetoric. For now, the Radical Right is feigning surprise and sympathy for the victims but they will be back out fomenting anti-liberal, anti-Democratic hate and violence again Monday morning.

The best way for the center/left to fight against this is to shine a huge spotlight on those doing it and expose the hate mongers for what they are. Shine a light the real effects their violent rhetoric has on society. Shine a light on the mindset that spawns these people who mistakenly think they have "second amendment remedies" to their electoral losses in a civil democratic society.