Categories
Game Group

Next Game: Friday, August 3rd

the infiltration continues; a new boss is on scene and the hoeing goes on. Elsewhere, a rising young pirate journalist keeps interviewing the homeless and a dedicated street doc makes some money tending to the ills of the SINless.

Hey, why is that dark music swelling in the background?

Categories
Misc Roleplaying

If you’re in a writing mood

If you’re in a writing mood, plotstorming.com does a lot to help you out. The daily writing prompt is pretty neat– just enough to spark a short story or two, if you’re in the mood. (I found this site via a post on the Treasure Tables forums, and found that it’s a nice little place.)

They also have an area where you can work on a world– for a book, RPG, or whatever you need.

A similar site with more of an RPG focus is The Campaign Builder’s Guild. Their Homebrew Campaign Settings page has an impressive list of worlds you can borrow.

Categories
Game Group

This week on Shadow Runners…

A complex plan came together last week, as the Shadowrunners managed to drive the manufacturing scoundrels from the junkyard. Just as life was looking up, Nathan got a sinister video (of our two car assaults) and a demand to meet.

Will anyone have a problem making this Friday night (7/27/07) session?

Categories
Politics

Perfect logic

A means not A. No, really.

I’m mocking this commentary from today’s paper: BONNIE ERBE: Illegal immigration causes hidden inflation. Here’s why. In the middle of the article, he approvingly quotes a January 2005 Bear Stearns article that says (his direct quote):

The growing extralegal system in the United States has distorted economic statistics and government budget projections. The stealth labor force has enhanced many of the economic releases that investors follow closely. Payroll numbers understate true job growth and inflation has been artificially dampened by this seemingly endless supply of low-wage workers.

He then concludes his article, “Now we have another, this time financial, equation to contemplate.

Unfettered illegal immigration boosts inflation while hiding the effects from the general public.”

Except his conclusion exactly contradicts the report he’s relying on. I wonder if he even read the article that he’s relying on to support his point? The rest of his article is free-form supply and demand via personal experience; he supposes that more workers means more resource demand… which would mean higher inflation. His whole point depends on that correlation… which is undercut by the only article he bothered to cite.

Better pundits please.

Categories
Roleplaying

Testing long RSS

TT, forums

Shadowrunning wiki

Seven Sentence Character Generation (via TT, from forums, from an old Dragon Magazine):
Seven-Point Character Summary, extracted and paraphrased from Ed Greenwood’s “Seven Sentence NPC” article for Dragon Magazine.

Occupation and/or history.

Physical description.

Unusual skills or attributes. What is the character good at? Listing the obvious is okay, but try to take it a step further.

Values and motivations.
What drives the character to act? What types of things does he or she consider important?

Interactions with others. What attitude does the character have towards other people? What face does he or she present to the rest of the world?

Useful knowledge. What types of things does this character know? Look beyond what’s on the character sheet.

Distinguishing features. There is something unusual or unique about everyone. What stands out the most about this character? This can be a major, dramatic feature, or a minor one.

Categories
Game Group

Next Game: Friday July 20th

We’re currently lined up to game on Friday night. Jennifer may have to go cover the Harry Potter midnight book sale stuff, but that’s still up in the air.

Do we want to get together even if she’s busy? If so, what do we want to play? Walk along nostalgia lane with some BattleTech, or does something else appeal more?

Categories
Politics

California Legislature: First thoughts on a solution

Here is a roughly sketched beginning for a constitutional reform. It is a sequel to the post California: Time for a bugfix?

Goals:

  • Increase representation: By adding representatives and shrinking district sizes, we can bring California’s government closer to the people.
  • Increase viewpoint diversity: By pooling statewide votes to support multiple candidates/lists, we can ensure that more than the single most popular viewpoint is represented.
  • Decrease roadblocks: By eliminating the requirement for every bill to pass both chambers, each chamber can build their own coalitions and get legislation passed. By giving each chamber their own focus, each chamber can industriously work on their own tasks, coming together as necessary for specific purposes.

Below the fold is my first stab at a solution.

Categories
Politics

California Legislature: Time for a bugfix?

Article 4 of the California Constitution is where the legislative branch is established.

I have been musing about the structural shortcomings of our state constitution for a long time. Every year, there is the “missed budget deadline” series of articles, because structurally the constitution sets the state up for gridlock.