Introductions Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

[MrPotatoTed]

(Hoping my original thread accidentally posted in the Political Forum can be deleted)

Opportunity to introduce yourself, for those so inclined.

I am the Artist Formerly Known as A C T I N G U Y.  Haha.  That's a username I first created in high school, which was a million years ago (I am a very elderly 37 now).  I've mostly moved away from using it anymore, partially because acting isn't really a part of my life anymore now that my time is spent between career, marriage and fatherhood, but also because there's old cringy stuff tied to that name wandering around the internet somewhere that I no longer want to be associated with anymore. So -- I've rebranded!  ;c)

In addition to a deep interest in US politics (especially Presidential elections) and running the A More Perfect Union games here (designed by @vcczar), I work in public relations, do a lot of world travelling with my wife and daughter, and occasionally find time for a strategy game or two (current obsession: Stellaris).

[Magnus Rex]

On the Dakota Hale site I was posting under my real name but decided here to switch to the same name I use on Discord and elsewhere in social media.

My name is Mike, @MrPotatoTed formerly known as Actinguy and I are old high school pals and he introduced me to this site (and its predecessors) to play Founding Fathers. Looking forward to getting the next playthrough of that going in the not too distant future!

Politically I'm a Political Orphan with leanings somewhere in between a "small L" libertarian and a modern-day Whig.

Outside of politics, history, and strategy games I'm also a big fan of Star Trek and DC Comics. Looking forward to interacting with folks here on the forums!

Edited April 7, 2021 by Magnus Rex

[MrPotatoTed]

4 minutes ago, Magnus Rex said:

On the Dakota Hale site I was posting under my real name but decided here to switch to the same name I use on Discord and elsewhere in social media.

My name is Mike, @MrPotatoTed formerly known as Actinguy and I are old high school pals and he introduced me to this site (and its predecessors) to play Founding Fathers. Looking forward to getting the next playthrough of that going in the not too distant future!

Politically I'm a Political Orphan with leanings somewhere in between a "small L" libertarian and a modern-day Whig.

Outside of politics, history, and strategy games I'm also a big fan of Star Trek and DC Comics. Looking forward to interacting with folks here on the forums!

With your combined interest in strategy games and Star Trek, have you ever played Stellaris?  I was just reading this morning that it has an incredibly detailed Star Trek mod for it.  The effort would be mostly lost on me, but you might enjoy it.

[Magnus Rex]

I have not played Stellaris but I will definitely check it out!

[vcczar]

Hey everyone,

I am an adjunct professor by trade. However, I'm focusing my time on creating the greatest US political computer game in world history. What else? I've worked for the Huffington Post, taught at three universities/colleges, worked for the US Census in 2010, been a part-time personal assistant for a family in the Obama admin, was a manager of a video game store at age 18, and I've been jobless frequently. The latter is because I focus on getting flexible jobs that allow me to work on my own time-consuming, labor-intensive projects, so the stability is awful. 

In addition to my focus on US history and political history, I give a lot of my time to creative writing endeavors and game making projects.

Fun political facts about my family: My half-first cousin was Hillary Clinton's campaign manager in 2016. I've never met him. Our great-grandfather was secretary for the Ohio Progressive Republicans in 1911-1912. Our great-great grandfather was a famous naturalist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Johnson_Maynard. Our great-great-great grandfather was a rare Massachusetts Democrat who was part of the welcome committee when Franklin Pierce toured Massachusetts. He was the lighthouse keeper, which was then a political appointment. He got the Massachusetts humane society gold medal for saving most of a crew during a shipwreck in about 1838. Our earliest political ancestor post-Independence was a Richard Adams (no relation to John or Samuel) who was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention working on like 12 committees.  While I'm politically progressive, I come from a family that has generally been Republican in the post-FDR era. My dad's family was a rare Texas family that opposed FDR and voted Republican. However, my dad was pretty independent and inconsistent. LBJ was his favorite president, followed by Nixon. He hated Reagan the most, probably followed by Obama.  I think he voted Eisenhower, Nixon, LBJ, Nixon, Nixon, Carter, Carter, Mondale, Clinton, Perot, Bush, Bush, McCain, Romney in his life. After 9-11, he stayed Republican. He died soon after the 2012 election. I think he would have voted Trump. My own voting history is: Bush, Kerry (Kucinich in primaries), Obama (Kucinich in primaries), Obama, Clinton (Sanders in primaries), Biden (Sanders in primaries). 

[DakotaHale]

I’m Dakota Hale. I’m the founder and co-admin of this site along with @vcczar

My favorite subjects are finance, investing and economics. I run a variety of websites, including my in-progress personal financial education site (and former host of forum operations) DakotaHale.com

In addition to those sites I also run a few ecommerce sites and am in the process of working with a local small arms/ammunition/gear store in my area to take their operations online in exchange for equity in the business.

I’m currently in the process of drafting a business plan for a solar panel installation business with some buddies from high school to take advantage of the potential of green/renewable energy solutions. I’m also working on starting a non-profit group targeting men’s issues but the process is more complicated than I expected.

I’m 18 years old. I’m a Christian and Ohio-born. I work full-time at a medical research facility (that had a hand in developing two of the major COVID vaccines, though unfortunately I didn’t have anything to do with those studies). I enjoy pipes and cigars, old music, researching companies to invest in, and the occasional glass of whiskey/cognac and am probably the youngest boomer you’ll ever meet.  

[vcczar]

5 minutes ago, DakotaHale said:

I’m Dakota Hale. I’m the founder and co-admin of this site along with @vcczar

My favorite subjects are finance, investing and economics. I run a variety of websites, including my in-progress personal financial education site (and former host of forum operations) DakotaHale.com

In addition to those sites I also run a few ecommerce sites and am in the process of working with a local small arms/ammunition/gear store in my area to take their operations online in exchange for equity in the business.

I’m currently in the process of drafting a business plan for a solar panel installation business with some buddies from high school to take advantage of the potential of green/renewable energy solutions. I’m also working on starting a non-profit group targeting men’s issues but the process is more complicated than I expected.

I’m 18 years old. I’m a Christian and Ohio-born. I work full-time at a medical research facility (that had a hand in developing two of the major COVID vaccines, though unfortunately I didn’t have anything to do with those studies). I enjoy pipes and cigars, old music, researching companies to invest in, and the occasional glass of whiskey/cognac and am probably the youngest boomer you’ll ever meet.  

What is some of the "old music" you listen to? 

[DakotaHale]

8 minutes ago, vcczar said:

What is some of the "old music" you listen to? 

I’m a fan of old country mostly. Johnny Cash, Hank and Hank Jr., Waylon, Willie, Merle, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, David Allan Coe, Patsy... basically any name associated with old country I like lol. I think Bob Dylan is the best songwriter of all time and Johnny Cash is probably my favorite artist. I don’t listen to a lot of modern country but Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen are pretty good. 
 

Love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Billy Joel, and those genres of music as well. I like old rap and hip hop too but not as much I used to. He’s not old by rap standards but I liked Kanye’s earlier albums before he became crazy.

My favorite composer is Tchaikovsky.

[vcczar]

13 minutes ago, DakotaHale said:

I’m a fan of old country mostly. Johnny Cash, Hank and Hank Jr., Waylon, Willie, Merle, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, David Allan Coe, Patsy... basically any name associated with old country I like lol. I think Bob Dylan is the best songwriter of all time and Johnny Cash is probably my favorite artist. I don’t listen to a lot of modern country but Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen are pretty good. 
 

Love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Billy Joel, and those genres of music as well. I like old rap and hip hop too but not as much I used to. He’s not old by rap standards but I liked Kanye’s earlier albums before he became crazy.

My favorite composer is Tchaikovsky.

Old country is probably the only country music I can tolerate. Sinatra, Holly, Billy Joel, and Elvis are good. Can't think of any Dean Martin or Bobby Darin, although I've probably heard them. I like a lot of 1960s and 1970s music. I like some 1980s (mostly glam rock and Bowie). I like some 1990s music (mostly indie). Neutral Milk Hotel, the Decemberists, and Of Montreal are bands I like. However, overall, I barely listen to non-classical music, and I only list to that in the shower. 

My favorite classical music is Baroque music, but I also like Chopin. Tchaikovsky was my favorite when I was younger. 

[Beetlejuice]

Hi Everyone, 

I'm 21 years old. I'm a full time graduate student working on finishing up my MPA. I am currently a research assistant at my campus, focusing on researching public budgeting and finances. I'm hoping to intern on Capitol Hill in the fall, and potentially working in DC post graduation. 

Politically I'm all over the place, I'm really not passionate about any political beliefs. However, I'm strongly anti-establishment, and love populist candidates from all ideologies.

[WVProgressive]

Hello friends. I'm sure most of you already know me from either discord, or the old forum(s), but for those of you who don't, I'm, as you could guess, a Progressive from West Virginia. I'm a writer, and I've written a few short stories, and am currently working on my first novel. My favorite book is probably Moby Dick, if I had to pick on, and I consider it The Great American Novel. Other than writing I enjoy politics, grand strategy games, and building Lego sets.

[Pringles]

Hello, I am Pringles, commonly referred to as Prongle by my fellow Discord friends. I'm 18, from South Carolina, I've been involved in RPs since I was 11, I am a huge history nerd, always have been since I was 9 when I played my first Total War game. It eventually evolved into politics. I am currently in college going for an associates in Information Technology and eventually a Bachelors in Political Science. I hope to use my technological expertise to make some good money before hopefully interning on the hill and getting a job. I'm a moderate Republican. I'm very anti-populist, whether that be anti trump or anti *insert populist politician*. 

 

However, there have been good populists in history. Imo. William Jennings Bryan and Teddy Roosevelt fit this label. They were great. Nowadays, eh, most are pretty bad imo.

Politically I'd say I'd fit the definition of an Eisenhower Republican. I believe Richard Nixon is especially an underrated President, and I am a proud Nixonite. (I enjoy RPING as him so much).

@DakotaHale and I appear to have very similar taste in music. I enjoy Notorious Big and other original hip hop/rap. I also have more boomer tastes in music thanks to my boomer parents. I enjoy bands such as Supertramp, Rush, Yes... "New Wave" stuff like that. Even though it isnt new wave anymore 😛

I'm a proud Southern Baptist and like Dakota, I also do investing. @DakotaHale you are one of the most similar individuals to myself that I've ever met online. 😛

With that said, it's good to be back!

Edited April 8, 2021 by Pringles

[Rezi]

Hey All, Rezi here. I'm an almost-18 year old High School Senior from Upstate New York. planning to begin University in the fall to work at a degree in Computer Science, and proceeding to get the hell out of New York as quickly as possible. I enjoy a good sporting event, particularly Ice Hockey and American Football. I make sure to enjoy nature, as to make up for all the time I spend inside on the internet or gaming. In terms of music, there are no genres I dislike, as good music is good music, not matter the genre. Politically, I consider myself to be a center-left Libertarian, believing in a well-regulated capitalist system allowing for maximum competition and innovation while protecting the people, although I consider my views on the importance of civil liberties to be the most important to me.

[Cenzonico]

Never been good at introductions so bare with me.

I'm weird, quirky, and I really don't know what I'm doing. But besides that, the resident youngling (fourteen) is here to talk about politics and stuff. I'll mainly be hanging out at the RP's (though I'm taking a leave of absence from those due to school) but I'll pop in every blue moon and give my two cents about current events. Politically, I "identify" (I use the term loosely, but my current beliefs have mostly stayed the same so far) as a Libertarian (lean towards the anarchist side of things). I'm also a geography nerd, history nerd (geography came first), and computers. I'm more into hardware, but software is always cool. Oh and don't forget video games. 

 

My display name comes from my seventh grade English teacher. Wasn't a good class but I had a lot of fun messing around with the people around. After "retiring" he started a weed podcast and has been about his life since then. Searching up Cenzonico will pull up his Instagram page.

[ConservativeElector2]

Hello, my name is Chris. I'm 25, living in Vienna and I am complete politics and history nerd. Besides that I like movies, watching sports, learning languages and video games when I have the time for it. I am also a full-time college student working on two MA degrees and two more BAs at the moment. While I find nearly any subject interesting, I'd like to point out my interest for all things associated with East Asia, the Supreme Court and Shakespeare.

Politically I go with Mitt Romney and describe myself as severely conservative. My favorite politician is George W. Bush, while my favorite current US politician may be Tom Cotton. Internationally I am a fan of the UK tories and that's why my favorite non-US politician is Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Oh and I like trains, flags and animals.

If you want to know more, feel free to inbox me a message 🙂

[Hestia]

Hi, my name (discord and here) is Hestia! I'm 18, from southwest Iowa, and I've been involved in various RPs (not political) for quite a few years now. I joined the original forum back in 2018 and tried to steer away from the politics section until it became too hard 🙂 I hope to major in Political Science or Journalism next year when I attend the University of Iowa. I'm a pretty run of the mill Democrat, fitting well with the ilk of Elizabeth Warren and those near her in the political stream (not too much farther left, though). 

I enjoy writing quite a bit as well, and RP not only on the forum, but on discord and a few other websites as well. I enjoy Paradox games and play them with a friend irl quite frequently (don't claim to be any good though 😛 ). I'm very interested in European politics, as well as independence movements around the globe. 

I have different music tastes from the rest of y'all and enjoy many female country artists, late 2000s into early 2010s pop music, and the like. 

I'm a pretty mainstream Protestant (go to a UCC). I enjoy the forum and it's why I haven't left even after 3 years 😉 I can't wait to see what happens on our newest (and best) version!

If you ever need anything, my discord and PM box are open. I'm always happy to talk or help however I can. 

[jnewt]

Hey everybody, I'm jnewt! I'm 22 and an economics student and I'm likely to be starting an MA in urban planning program this summer. Like everybody else here, I'm really into politics, but I also love sports, especially baseball, basketball, football, and boxing, plus rap music. Politically, I consider myself a leftist. I'm glad to have this forum back!

[Dobs]

Allo!

Sorry for being late to the party but I am Dobs (or Reagan04 from back in the olden 270soft days). I am the proud papa to all my Doblets and tend to be the RP guru around these parts. Along with my dear pals Dakota, V, and Ted I am also a moderator. 

Politically, I'd consider myself a conservative Libertarian or Reaganite/Goldwater Republican. I consider Reagan, Goldwater, Neil Gorsuch, and Justin Amash to be big political influences.

I'm not a huge gamer considering I dedicate the lion share of my free time to this community and am otherwise doing real world work (yuck).

To hop on our music discussion, I have a very very wide musical taste. I posted a top 10 list in the old forum but my musical taste spans back to the Jazz of the 1920s and 30s up to modern pop and country with pretty much all pop, country, and blues of the interceding decades falling on the list. I also enjoy Rap from the 1970s - 1990s. My tolerance for Rock extends pretty much just to the poppier stuff like Springsteen.

[pilight]

I am no one of consequence 

[DakotaHale]

On 4/9/2021 at 2:48 PM, pilight said:

I am no one of consequence 

Everyone’s important!