unclevlad

Hydrogen peroxide

Epinephrine

Whereas to me, to a large extent that's splitting hairs. First: the definition of a millionaire is, I believe, simply having a net worth of $1M+. It is NOT someone making $1M+ per year. Realize: this includes your house. It's not that high a bar at this point. According to Credit Suisse, over 20 million US households technically qualify. Gore's statement is an exaggeration, by and large, but the probability that someone making $250K, particularly in 2000, *was* a millionaire would be VERY high. First, let's note that inflation calculators show $250K in 2000 would be about $380-390K today. That's in the top 2%. Then, unless you're pretty much signing your first pro contract after being picked in the first round in the NFL or NBA, you almost certainly didn't just suddenly start making this kind of money in a vacuum. Even major promotions rarely come with more than about 15% raises. So most of the time, the person taking home this kind of income has been doing so for multiple years. Not AS much, maybe, but a very good chunk of it. And unless they've been frittering it away...their net worth will comfortably pass the $1M mark. OTOH, simply looking at income has issues. $200K per year in New York City probably has MUCH less discretionary spending in it than $200K per year in Denver. In many cases, too, in the early years, student loan debts can siphon out LARGE chunks of that as well. So, yeah, Gore wasn't completely correct, but the caller was WAY off base.

the Colossus of Rhodes

Well, they specifically said vaccination. And while, yeah, in general an antibody assay doesn't seem like it'd be high priority...here? I think it would be a given. I wouldn't be surprised if she was monitored fairly closely in the period between the vaccination and the birth...in part because I wouldn't be surprised if she volunteered to take the short when she did.

So that's what I get for goofing off... Check email. Ohh, looky...state's got a vaccination event I can register for. Well... click.. click.. enter event code.. "sorry but all first-dose vaccination slots have been filled..." That's what I get for not checking my email often enough...it arrived 5 hours ago. No big deal; if they're down to my group, it shouldn't be long before the next one.

And just off the Southern Ocean...the waterway separating Australia and New Zealand is known as... the Tasman Sea.

They won't go after the state governments with violence. In fact, I'd say saying "go after" is misleading. They'll push for changes through the state governments to tilt the elections process as much as they can get away with. And that's probably quite a bit. The problem with the checks and balances put in place in the Constitution is, they can themselves be subverted. The Senate is extremely vulnerable to this, and the Republicans have been consistently better in managing it than the Democrats. That's meant the Supreme Court is...not entirely compromised, it's by no means a tyrant's rubber stamp, but their positions will generally align more with what the Republican leadership wants. We've reached a point of, effectively, civil schism, if not yet civil war. The Republican leadership has no interest in government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Their interests are power and money. They do realize they've got to be a *bit* careful about trampling TOO hard, but they also, I think, understand that they can continue to redefine what "too hard" is...in their favor. They've managed media, education, and culture FAR better, as well...which is why, IMO, there's so much grassroots support. The structure that we have, where both the Senate and Presidency have a fundamental bias in their favor, is why they can play the long game.

"How low is it, Ricky?" "Low enough for a centipede to jump over, Bobby...."

The major difference between Usable as Attack and Usable Simultaneously is, the latter requires willing subjects; the former doesn't. So with the teleporter, how do you build someone who can teleport himself and (let's say) 3 others who are willing, if not Usable Simultaneously? And with what options, as the most common interpretation is, everyone goes along for the ride, and everyone arrives at the same destination at the same time. Sure sounds like Grantor controls the power totally; the question of paying the END is up in the air. Usable as Attack is QUITE different. Note too that in 6E1, that changing the UOO modifiers on UAA requires explicit GM permission; this isn't the case with US. so US can clearly incorporate Grantor controls the power totally. Duke: I hear ya, and as of the last tweak, it's summon 8 of em. And you *can* summon them 1 at a time or all 8 at once, no issue there. But if he could summon all 8 at once for the one, single END cost, wow...is that cheap. For a comparison, consider Autofire. Lets you take multiple shots...but you're paying END for each one, whether you fire 1 or your max.

...and the US just passed 30 million.............. On the plus side, WorldOMeter's 7 day rolling average is dropping...from 70,000 about 2 weeks ago to about 57,000. That's a reduction of almost 20%.

Something that's never been clear to me... Let's assign a Summon 500 point critter (100 points), x2 critters. So it's 105 points, 10 END. My take is I can, with one action, summon 2 critters. Question is: what's the END cost to do so, 10 for the whole shebang, or 20...10 for each? Similarly with Duplication. Case 1: I buy x2 duplicates but NOT Rapid Duplication. I spend the full phase to create both of em. 10 END or 20 END? Case 2: I buy x2 duplicates and Rapid Duplication...so it's now up to 131 active, so technically it's 13 END. So if I want to summon them both as a half phase action, what's the END cost, 13 or 26? Now, with Usable Simultaneously. Let's take Teleport, with Usable Simultaneously (up to 8 people at once, Grantor controls the power totally, Grantor pays the END cost). For the sake of argument, say the END cost for the power is 4. So when activated, as I read it...the teleporter has to pay 4 END per person being teleported. So 8 people, 32 END. This seems correct simply because there *is* a specific "Grantor pays the END" option, and it lowers the overall value of the advantage. It only seems fair to say, yeah, the END cost for a Summon is per critter, but it's not clear.

Tennessee Volunteers

South Dakota State Jackrabbits

I do self-checkout most of the time, but I wouldn't want to see cashier checkout completely eliminated. The checkout machines' reliability is poor. Self-checkout can't be streamlined, with stages operating in parallel...unload the cart, scan, and bag steps are all by the same person. Handling such things as booze, or in-store discounts require employee intervention and verification. But...it wouldn't surprise me that Wal-Mart moves largely in this direction. Heck, their checkout policy seems to be, if there's less than 3 people in any line...close a line, there's too many checkout lines open. It's always felt like you pay for their low prices in part, by transferring some of the burden onto the shopper...like, checkout being more onerous.

One year ago this evening, the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Socially, the NBA suspended its season due to positive tests. This was IMO the galvanizing act; the NCAA followed the next day, and the Trump administration had their major press conference the day after. So for me, today is the anniversary; it's been 1 year of trying to cope with the pandemic. I think I'm going to try to find a candle or two to light tonight, for remembrance.

Drexel Dragons

Actually, isn't there a bad combo? You can't have Persistent with Costs END to Activate. Usually this gets caught...but not always. Time Limit can be weird, and HD doesn't always recognize things correctly. On a Persistent, Time Limit becomes a limitation; on a Constant, it's an advantage. My take is, it would keep going even when a Constant power would shut down; it ONLY ends at the time limit, so that's why it's an advantage...it's a limited Persistent. (Even then, in that context, it' shouldn't be as expensive as it is. But that's an issue in RAW, not HD. I believe HD is correctly applying RAW.) I've tried using Costs END to activate and 6 hour time limit on something normally persistent...probably Damage Negation. I *think* it went like this: 1. Create a new list "Defensive Spells". 2. Add a power to the list...let's say, Damage Negation. Add Time Limit (6 hours). It'll show as a limitation. 3. Add a common modifier to the list: Costs END to Activate. The Time Limit may not switch to an advantage at that point. And I might have the order backwards...but I definitely remember a list that went from "this is looking about right..." to "OMG HOW MANY POINTS am I over my nominal limit???" because the reload triggered that major shift. Unfortunately, I think it's been intermittent for me. I *think* it tends to happen somewhat more often when I have 6-8 characters open at the same time, but I give the virtual machine plenty of memory. It might be swapping between them if, for example, I copy lists between characters. I do this from time to time, because it's fast, but it *might* lead to some issues if list cloning isn't quite done right. And it might be something in power/skill lists. For example: say power A is in a List. Power B links to Power A. Take power A out of the list, and Linked in B goes to ???, IIRC. Or it might be that you define A outside a list, then add it to a list...the notion of the power that's linked is broken.

Zebra plant In honor of March Madness...college sports team nicknames

You're bringing back some very, very bad memories. I flew a small, regional airline because they flew out of the Las Cruces airport to Tucson, which was where I was going. The flight out...no problem. The flight back??? The airline had closed the facility in Tucson and stopped flying from there. A week-long trip and they shut down in that period. No notice to me, no warning...when they had to have this planned. It wasn't a bankruptcy, it was just a restructuring of the routes. To say I was incensed is an understatement. IIRC, I contested the charge to AMEX and they agreed....

So, she's had 2 Dreams shattered so far this year... Gosh, don't ya just feel terrible for her?

Matter Eater Lad

cloak of displacement

Wakizashi

Positive news: active cases in the US have dropped below 9 million; at the peak, it threatened 10 million. Also, daily new cases have started to decline again, albeit slowly.