Presidential Conflicts of Interest: How Preventive Safeguards Failed in Trump’s Second Term

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Presidential Conflicts of Interest: How Preventive Safeguards Failed in Trump’s Second Term Oversight systems intended to prevent presidential conflicts of interest now act only after transactions close, rather than beforehand. In President Donald Trump’s second term, this shift created a recurring pattern: regulatory pressure decreased, private actors gained access or advantage, and oversight arrived too … Read more

Survival TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It)

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Survival TTRPGs: You Think Survival Is Scarcity. It Isn’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see my previous: Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: The Real Test (And So Many Games Fail It) Updated August 2026: Coriolis: The Great Dark, covered below, has since received two ENNIE Award nominations. The setting is … Read more

Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: The Real Test (And So Many Games Fail It)

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Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: You Think It’s About Dragons. It Isn’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Grimdark TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It) You think you know what heroic fantasy means: dragons, epic quests, characters who rise to save the world. This post … Read more

Trump Venezuela Intervention: When Executive Action Exceeds Constitutional Authority

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Trump Venezuela Intervention: When Executive Action Exceeds Constitutional Authority President Trump has said the United States will “run the country” in Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition,” and that Venezuela’s oil sector will be opened to American companies, with U.S. firms prioritized in future production. The administration describes this not as war, but … Read more

Grimdark TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It)

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Grimdark TTRPGs: You Think You Know What Grimdark Means (But You Don’t) You think you know what grimdark means: dark atmosphere, high lethality, and morally grey characters in a brutal world. By that logic, Shadow of the Demon Lord is grimdark, right? Shadowdark? Call of Cthulhu? Nope. The setting is the world you’re playing in. … Read more