Commissar SFLUFAN

My brother in Vishnu, it's only just begun. Theoretically, this was supposed to be the "easy" vote to win.

There will be no vote on the rules tonight. Speech, swearing-in, and then everyone takes off for the weekend.

Let's check-in with Katie Porter:

Biggs voted "present" so if Bobo and Gaetz also vote "present", then McCarthy wins on a technicality.

All of this is indicative of a truly healthy and functional democratic republic. Truly healthy and functional.

My take is that Matt has assured Kevin that he will vote for him in this round. Whatever.

You got it!

McCarthy and Gaetz genuinely appeared to be on the verge of throwing hands.

Gaetz is going to vote for him just to be able to hold that over him for all eternity.

Nevermind, he just walked in.

Gaetz doesn't appear to even be present in the House chamber.

Bobo just voted "present" so that's a wrap for this bit of "entertainment".

He said he'd resign if Democrats and "moderate" Republicans were somehow -- in a universe that simply does not exist -- able to unite to elect a "consensus" candidate.

PDF: https://t.co/jyMucLihs0

That provision will be part of the Rules Package that will be voted on after he wins the Speakership and the House members are sworn in. In fact, that could very well happen in the wee hours of tomorrow morning: Per Sarah Ferris:

Hmmmm...this may take a while. I've played plenty of "mediocre/forgettable" but not too many that I'd consider to be outright awful.

If we are to believe the reporting of the "deal" with the loonies: One.

Might as well!

At this point, let's just get this over and done with so we can finally get a sense of the "real" unmitigated disaster that this lunatic fringe-controlled House will surely portend. I stopped being even moderately amused by this about eight votes ago and now just find it annoyingly boring/boringly annoying. Just tip the bandage off and get on with it.

Practically all of it from what I gather. He'll be Speaker in name only and the worst part for him is that everyone will know that.

ISW analysis for 05 January 2023: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 5, 2023 | Institute for the Study of War WWW.UNDERSTANDINGWAR.ORG Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russian forces will conduct a 36-hour ceasefire between January 6 and January 7 in observance of Russian Orthodox Christmas is likely an information operation intended to damage Ukraine’s reputation. Pu

As part of its upcoming "One D&D" initiative (which is effectively the 6th edition), WotC has previously stated that it intended to update its Open Gaming License (OGL) in order to reflect the transition to the new "edition". Yesterday, very reputable sources within the D&D/tabletop gaming community began leaking the draft version of the OGL 1.1 to well-regarded YouTube channels and HOLY HELL HAS BROKEN LOOSE because this version of the OGL -- at least in its draft stage -- is poised to FUNDAMENTALLY shake the foundations of third-party content creators who have relied upon the OGL to develop/publish products that have spurred the TTRPG Renaissance we've seen over the last few years, especially for those smaller developers/publishers who have used Kickstarter so very effectively. This Gizmodo article contains the best presentation of the information we have so far: Dungeons & Dragons’ New License Tightens Its Grip on Competition GIZMODO.COM An exclusive look at Wizards of the Coast's new open gaming license shows efforts to curtail competitors and and tighten control on creators of all sizes. Now, let's get to the $$$ part because this is where the rubber meets the road as WotC executives well and truly believe that D&D is severely "under-monetized". Sure, that doesn't sound too bad at all, but here's the kicker that would get my alarm bells sounding if I was a third-party D&D content creator of any size: This means that WotC will effectively "co-own" any content created by a third-party creator, won't be required to pay that third-party creator a single penny in royalties, and will be able to monetize that content until the heat death of the universe, even if they terminate the license of that third-party creator which they can do for any reason, provided 30 days' notice is given. Needless to say this has created nothing short of storm within the third-party D&D creator community within the last 24 hours since the initial leak of the draft 1.1 license which occurred during this livestream with Stephen Glicker & Mark Seifter who from the Roll for Combat live play channel (the actual leak and discussion occur at 39:30). As a follow-up, the hosts brought on a NY-based contract lawyer to discuss the terms and conditions of the draft 1.1 OGL (note: I haven't watched this particular video yet): Those who will be most significantly impacted by this new version of the OGL will be the relatively small content creators (i.e. not Critical Role or Paizo) like The Griffon's Saddlebag, a well-known magic item creator, who posted this truly despondent video earlier this week after reviewing the draft OGL 1.1 license: If this OGL 1.1 license releases in its final form more or less substantively unchanged from the draft version, it could very well be the catalyst for the most potentially significant fundamental change in the relationship between Hasbro/WotC and the TTRPG content creator community in decades. I can thoroughly appreciate the sentiment of Hasbro/WotC that they've left "money on the table" regarding D&D for years and watched as Paizo and the other third-party content creators have managed to carve out their own relatively successful niches using the system that D&D pioneered. I don't blame them for wanting to capture at least some of that value. What I certainly can and will blame them for is apparently going about it in one of the most draconian, ham-fisted, and shortsighted ways possible where there is a not-insignificant potential for it to backfire so very spectacularly that it could effectively bring the TTRPG Renaissance to a sudden, screeching halt.

ISW analysis for 04 January 2023 (apologies for the late posting but I've been in the SCIF all day long): Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 4, 2023 | Institute for the Study of War WWW.UNDERSTANDINGWAR.ORG The Russian milblogger information space continues to seize on official responses to the Ukrainian HIMARS strike on a Russian base in Makiivka to criticize endemic issues in the Russian military apparatus. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) released

Just informing everyone of this event. That will be the full extent of this acknowledgement.