This is a hyper-specific desire, but I want a Zorro RPG along the lines of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. You would have a 'de la Vega' and 'Zorro' identity (using both to uncover villains' plots). There'd be swordfighting, riding, exploring California, finding treasure, perhaps estate management, etc.

New podcast! Episode 94: Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel uscivilwar.substack.com

I've been planning to start a discussion of this. Because I criticized @mcmegan.bsky.social recently, and absolutely intend to do so again, I feel it's important to agree with her on this: Many of Trump's policies were also bad under previous Presidents, but this was rarely acknowledged.

I feel like a Great Gatsby party while trying to kill basic food assistance for the poor is a little too on-the-nose for historians. Who is going to believe that such a creature really existed?

[comedy post] I wanna know who, just WHO!, is responsible for the absolutely state of Gaelic spelling. There is no rational world - NONE! - in which "Samhain" is pronounced "Soween". dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciatio...

To expand upon my comments here, Douthat's statement is indicative of complete vacancy of the heart. It's a non-argument that applies to anything you want, and hence has no value. It applies to every thuggish fool ever born, and every scum in power imagines themselves as the same Very Special Boy.

Lead: "Americans should pepper-spray themselves: It's unfair to put all this work on ICE." By Ross Douthat.

“It’s just, if we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army, not current control, but a strong influence? [...] I don’t feel comfortable wielding that robot army if I don’t have at least a strong influence.” finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-mu...

Mike Johnson is something of the Lord North of our time, except more pathetic in every sense. Let me explain. 1/9

I went out to protest today myself. I will upload footage later. The key is that I went to what I assume would be a very small, low-key protest: Suburbs, well distant from even a smaller town center, Red county. Sidewalk was packed a block in every direction, shoulder to shoulder or even more.

It's late, and I am tired, but that is sometimes the best time to work. or maybe the best time to answer this question is always "right now".

So, I apologizer for linking to reddit, but in a very, uh, "interesting" decision CNN evidently edited-out this rather "interesting" exchange with Stephen Miller. Miller claimed Trump has "plenary powers," which is tantamount to claiming the dictatorship. www.reddit.com/r/instant_re...

I would further add that these WW2 stories, even had they hadn't been un-researched nonsense, were not necessary to the point. You can reasonably argue that our military procurement is too slow or inflexible. But that would require work to understand complex issues.

New Podcast! Episode 93: In the Valley, Part 4 The Great Reversal: Front Royal to First Winchester uscivilwar.substack.com

To begin with, I can't specifically comment on the validity of the arrest. Maybe the arrestee was some horrible monster. I find that singularly unlikely because real criminals are not usually thrown into minivans. I am commenting on the absurd "policing" demonstrated here.

We can explain Confederate Theory of Victory, because they 100% had one. In 1861, it was: "We will mass-mobilize a militia all all White men, slaves will obediently labor as the social order dictates, and Britain (maybe France too) will side with us for cotton. This was proven wrong by 1862.

The most satisfying feeling in the world: Carefully analyzing a question, double-checking your math, testing the outcome and deliver the perfect answer. Most agonizing feeling in the world: ...immediately noticing you were looking for a Min instead of Max.

Not many know this, but I became an insane Yakuza/Like A Dragon fan with Yakuza 0. This? This is exactly the thing I want, in exactly the way I want it. store.steampowered.com/app/3937550/...

I this was an interesting comment, though I would need to digest it. Certainly the orcs are pitiable. My interpretation of Tolkien is that they would be far better if not regularly crushed under by Morgoth or Sauron. No creature able to sing goofy little songs can be altogether wicked.

Love to see great communications that really get at what the audience is looking for. www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/bl... #Bloodlines2

I hate to copy @bretdevereaux.bsky.social twice in one day. Seems rude. However, I noticed something which seemed slightly off. Is it just me, or does this sound a little *too* similar to his Cadorna article? youtu.be/Vryh8h_1JaQ?...

I noticed many responders have successfully erased the nonsense of that era. Some professors were severely attacked for trying to teaching difficult topics. The protestors also deserve free speech, but that does not make their actions inherently wise. www.thefire.org/research-lea...

James McPherson's Battle Pout of Freedom.

One of the key, uh, "challenges" of the Trump 2 administration is that basically every position is being lent out to the exact worst possible human being who could hold it. Can you imagine a worse choice for Secretary of Defence than Hegseth? A worse HealthSec than RFK Jr.?

I'm pretty sure the answer is "Practice."

Also, this is an excellent video to understanding how slavery dominated Southern thinking. There are a handful of points I could quibble with, but still among the best ways to communicate what slavery meant to people.

New podcast: Bonus Episode 11: Did Slavery Help America Develop? *Free Markets vs. Slavery in the Clash of Economies* uscivilwar.substack.com

With respect to Mr. Yglesias, the first, second and third reason to listen to non-experts is not that the experts are stupid, or short-sighted, or insular. It's because they're quite frequently wrong. Even well-meaning professionals with years of experience and strong incentives fail horribly.

I hear this from Star Wars fans, and not totally unreasonably. But if an institution stays intact for a "thousand generations" it probably has some merit. The problem of TLJ, and fan opposition to the Jedi, is that getting rid of Jedi does not solve the problem of Sith.

Classics $200,000 History $150,000 English $800K STEM $3,600,000,000 Languages $150,000 Someone who is good at the economy plase halp my university is dying

New podcast! Episode 92: In the Valley, Part 3 The Battle of McDowell, May 8th, 1862 uscivilwar.substack.com

I agree with both, but it's also emblematic of the un-seriousing of the Oval Office. By that I mean the admin is a clown show of incompetence, and visibly stupid incompetence at that. It's government, not by Fox News so much as Fox Entertainment, of people who cannot even pretend to be serious.

I am in favor of Puerto Rico becoming a state. However, they don't require more referendums. There is the known process of sending a delegation to Congress. PR already meets the other requirements and just needs to decide if they want it, and they can do so themselves.

What a fantastic business! After we removed all the costs, our revenues look great!

Several episodes around this topic recently. McClellan had amazing opportunities to inflict catastrophic defeat upon the Confederacy. Centreville, Yorktown, Williamsburg, the pursuit to Richmond, at Richmond for several weeks, at Seven Pines, Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Antietam, after Antietam.

New podcast! Bonus Episode 10: Torpedoes! uscivilwar.substack.com

I know this is not the point, but I had a stroke of genius (or stupidity), and immediately discovered there is indeed a Goblin Machining. And they make DICE BOXES! www.goblinmachining.com

Wasn't this literally the setup for an Incredible Hulk story?

New Podcast! Episode 81: Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel On March 4th, 1862, the Confederates abandoned the Yorktown line and began retreat up the Virginia Peninsula towards the Richmond defences. uscivilwar.substack.com

While I respect your work even when I don't agree, this is just wrong and there are basic, boring, everyday business reasons. The problem with GP is that (likely) never was profitable. And while always fashionable to disdain profit, in reality the support for all the studios & etc must be there.

I don't personally like or dislike Mamdani (never met the man), I don't live in New York, and I think his proposals are very dubious. But wow all the worst people all line up against him. Hard to cheer against a guy who trounced Cuomo and inspires this much unhinged rage by merely existing.

The podcast is behind due to coursework. It should complete in about a week and i can get back on it. I apologize for the delay.

Wonder if the ultimate endpoint is that we go back to paper resumes delivered in person, with a firm handshake.

I am definitely not "happy" about this. I am not jeering or mocking. I knew Civ7 would face a tough launch. I tend not to buy Civs until they get an expansion. But this is not just bad performance, it's disastrous. Game need a massive turnaround, effectively a relaunch.

It's a good thing that we have such a strong Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense in such trying times. Yes, sir, glad to say I have full confidence in these two.

To lose one rocket, Mr. Musk, may be treated as a misfortune. To lose nine or ten (because it's gotten hard to count them all) smacks of carelessness. arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

I don't understand what sense this makes even in the Trump admin's racist, crackpot worldview. Can anyone explain to me?

Somehow the SpaceBalls returned.

So obviously I disagree - there were, I think, 11 US Army colonels from Virginia in 1861 and only one of them betrayed his oath to the United States - but I wonder if Matt Walsh would be willing to extend his logic to someone in LA who shoots ICE agents to 'stand beside' his community in battle?

The fascinating thing about Disney's Star Wars is their inability decide anything. The Force Awakens wasn't inherently "bad" as a film. But it was entirely about trying to rush through and key story beats without really earning it. Rumors suggest that Abrams had no direction on what Disney wanted.