Cataphract

Very true, any recommendations that you enjoy? For the most part as I stated it's useful for certain topics that come up when someone's discussing some woowoo, it's hard for them to sit down and go through a whole course when the context of what they're discussing doesn't come up. There's also the problem of being slightly educated in a topic but then falling down a rabbit hole thinking it's all legit (quantum subject matter seems to be particularly susceptible).

I've watched that channel in the past, been meaning to check out that latest "capitalism is good" video that's hit my feed and caused some controversy from what I've seen. I'm hoping there's just context that's being missed and the video is actually decent.

It might be anecdotal but this honestly just seems like a Republican Establishment thing. I peruse conservative talking spheres both online and off because of my location and extended family, for the most part everyone just agrees that if someone committed a crime they should be punished regardless of the side of the aisle.

That being said, it doesn't invalidate any statements made here about the possible motivations for this newest publicity stunt. I think the majority of people are just tired of hearing about "this side bad" and just want the government to get their shit together and actually legislate to help the working class.

Had to look it up for curiosity's sake.

In order to get fully set up, you will need to pay a $100.00 fee for each product you wish to distribute on Steam (the "Steam Direct Fee").... This fee is not refundable, but will be recoupable in the payment made after your product has at least $1,000.00 Adjusted Gross Revenue for Steam Store and in-app purchases. Steamworks Partner Program

While not free, seems to be no overhead for the length of stay on Steam that I can see. Another site includes some more description which might add to the cost though

The cost to put a game on Steam depends on the type of game, the development budget [1], and the business model. To get a game onto Steam, developers need to pay a one-time registration fee of $100. After that, they will need to pay a 30% royalty fee. Additionally, developers may need to pay for marketing and other costs associated with the release of their game. source

Regardless, it's just another unfortunate case of physical copies/backups>subscriptions or "licensing/rent" deals.

That's, an interesting website. The name was a red flag for me, the article format is excellent though and I wish more websites would adopt this style of presenting information. I've gone through about 10 articles from what seems to be the main active author (David Demos), very neutral and non-descriptive language being used throughout. The premise of the site is using fertility and population reproductive stats coupled with policies to distinguish social-economical standings and impactful progressive legislature. It's definitely a niche view and I believe leaves out nuances that are important for determining "quality" of a society, but I agree that better child/elder care services, paid leave, eliminating gender pay gap, reproductive assistance, etc can be good indicators of economical advancements.

I just keep wondering though if there is a dog whistle I'm missing out on. They're very careful with not defining "family unit" (from what I've seen), as some conservatives and religious organizations don't recognize all the various types. If I'm not mistaken, a lot of the policies they're advocating as positive includes all family types including non-child ones (such as prolonging lifespan, elder care like mentioned before, etc). It would be fascinating to see an exit poll style survey from different demographics and what they personally interpret from the articles though. I guess "bravo"? would be in order for the site, these types of subject matter can boil down to polarization in a heart beat but they're walking the tight rope well.

As for the article itself, it's refreshing to see Michigan using policies from a fellow state that has proven and verified net positives they can correctly point towards when bad actors try to claim "whataboutism". If you haven't checked out the article I would highly suggest it as it's basically already a TL;DR and anything else I can say about it is probably more condensed in the actual writing than what I could spell out here.

The 3 that stand out the most for me thinking back on it

Typer Shark and Mud's (typing skills)

Really helped me get down my typing skills which translates to a lot of pc based games (even just chat). Mud's were some of my favorite fast paced games (multi-user dungeons). Godwar's was my shtick and as a Drow character you had a lot of powers you had to get out before an opponent could notice and respond to your presence.

MechWarrior: Sega Genesis (team work skills)

This was a crazy one I would play with family. There was a co-op mode that allowed one person to control the bottom half while the other person controlled the top half of your mech. You really had to cooperate and work together so it didn't turn into an actual physical brawl because of the frustrations.

Call of Duty: Zombies (game mechanics)

This was probably my first game that I really got into game/enemy mechanics. To survive to higher rounds you had to adapt and know what the zombies were gonna do. Later iterations kinda destroyed that feature with zombies stumbling and etc but I get they were trying to stay innovative and fresh, still killed the genre for me though.

Honorable mentions are the great RTS's that were everywhere in the 90's. Starcraft for sure but even blizzards previous Warcraft's and then of course C&C and even Dune (another sega game but solid RTS for it's time). Really though the skills for RTS's don't translate as direct to other games anymore (just got me better at the RTS's that I love) as more and more they become hero focused like what they did with WC3.

edit: grammar

Is there something in particular you would like me to address to clear up the "straw man" part? It's kinda hard to reply if you're subjugating the entire comment without any clear indication of what you're talking about.

We both support climate change activism so there's no argument here about that and am glad we can at least both walk away from this with that in mind. I do not condone the use of vehicular assault by officers regardless of my opinion with the group's tactics. I don't agree with all of your statements you've replied with but that's a moot point and continuing just furthers the divide and the main subject matter is slowly being lost.

You do know that it's not the cops job to prosecute and punish for a crime, right?

It's also clear you didn't read my entire comment, because at the end of it you can see I mentioned the aerial view of which you can see the cars.... and the cops... and the emergency vehicles. Meaning the officers have been on the scene for a while, enough to have to call in other emergency vehicles to respond to the crime scene and injuries the cops just created.

From your post and responses on here it's obvious you don't really care about the traffic, it's just an excuse to revel in authoritarianism and violence on others. The cops didn't come in and restore order so the traffic could continue like I suggested in my original comment. They made it worse and delayed it even further, but that doesn't matter right?

It's funny because you're demeaning the protestors but also supporting them at the same time. They want a scene, they want attention, that's the whole purpose of a protest. If the cops had just directed traffic around and handled the situation with level headed - legal action, everyone would just be slowly cruising by shaking their head at these people while they were being arrested. We wouldn't be having this discussion, it wouldn't have been all over the news, and would just be a random footnote a few people at burning man would've been discussing. The protestors got what they wanted, lifetime vindication that only strengthens their movement in their head making them the righteous party.

I'm sorry you're not getting the responses you had hoped for. Hopefully one day all police vehicles will be snow plows to make you happier. Scene of an accident? Plow it right through so traffic can continue because it's more important for traffic to proceed. Flock of animals blocking the highway? Plowed. Old lady with dementia lost walking on the highway? Plow'er. It's insane you're commenting on their crime but feels it's legal to use a vehicle driving through a group of pedestrians.

Oh man, the irony in this video is just crazy. Love the dude in the american flag hat who is press but also highway patrol. "You're making a 10 mile back up", shows less than 50 cars in line. "You guys are making an unsafe environment for people... people are stuck in this heat", while on there way to the desert to stay for days. It's literally a desert, this is like the scene from obi wan where a single barricade is blocking him from going forward. The only smart people are the ones that drove around and continued on with their day.

Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance

Proceeds to watch cops plow through pedestrians, pull guns on unarmed protestors, and a guy at the 11:00 mark literally on the side of the road drawing the scene while the cops manhandle everyone. All the comments from extremists congratulating police escalation and brutality is truly the chef kiss on top. At the end it shows an aerial view where there's a dirt road running along the power lines 20ft off to the side. Literally just had to direct traffic around, talk to the protestors and arrest/remove the people from the scene if a crime is being committed. Done and done with no harm or escalation.

Top comment atm, "When that ranger plowed through, that brought me unexplainable levels of happiness." - yikes

Could you provide me with some sources for context on the statements you have made?

the red wave didn’t happen because a bunch of Republicans died from COVID and youth voters mobilized in big numbers

Biden has made some moves to help progressive causes, and there has been a lot of success on local and state levels

the old guard is shuffling off slowly but surely

I am not disputing your claims, I purely wish to be able to absorb the information you have presented with fact checked sources to confirm the viewpoint so that I can better my stance on the current state of politics.

1. those of us paying attention, and have a basic grasp on history, know
2. incredibly ignorant and short-sighted
3. isn’t a fucking game, and it’s not a joke
4. throwing away votes on Cornell fucking West
5. get with reality
6. take responsibility for ushering in the end of our Republic

These are the types of conversations that are non-productive and show you have nothing meaningful to add without belittling or insulting others with opposing opinions (which I will not engage with for my own sanity if the same rhetoric is used in a reply). If you wish to converse about actual policies or facts with references/sources, then I'm here for that. I will address the only two points you made in your 150+ word reply from this point on.

What about Florida means I should remove my free will of choice to protect my free will of choice? Because a southern conservative state is passing conservative policies? What is the next presidential run of Biden going to do about the Florida microcosm in which you have evoked as reasoning? Here are some references in which I see the battle inside of Florida to continue at the state and local level,

• DeSantis Crony SHREDDED By FED UP Florida College Parent

• Ron DeSantis booed at memorial for victims of Florida mass shooting
• At New College of Florida, a ‘ridiculously high’ number of faculty are gone(quiting)
• Ron DeSantis' Approval Rating Has Collapsed
• DeSantis fatigue grows among Florida Republicans as 2024 campaign falters
• Opponents hold 'day without immigrants' in Florida to protest new restrictions
• Florida Insurance Crisis Explained: Why Multiple Insurers Are Leaving State
• Disney Files Another Suit Against DeSantis’ Board Seeking Damages From Feud While Gov. Tries To ‘Move On’

I think we view the microcosm of Florida differently, one of fear and one of hopefulness.

"Republicans surpass Democrats in terms of their voter registration numbers recently for the first time in state history...Democrats sort of gave up on Florida this cycle and chose to spend their money elsewhere. And, you know, you can argue whether or not that was a correct strategy, but they did obviously have victories elsewhere. But their margins in Florida were just - the losses are so gigantic, in part because the Democratic candidates there received very little support from national donors and really faced a massive fundraising disadvantage. So they weren't really able to get their message out there." (npr-2022)

So a state that the democratic party purposefully didn't fight to support is now our fear to continue supporting the democratic party?

“Republicans focused on the ultimate goal,” said Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based Democratic pollster who helped former President Barack Obama win the state in 2008 and 2012. “They thought things out in 10-year cycles. They built a permanent campaign apparatus. They started recruiting candidates to run for local office and springboarding them into higher office. They registered voters and managed the margins.” (the hill)

Please explain to me how I'm suppose to "get" Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Do you know of it's history and/or any legislation brought forth by the one party we are allowed to vote for? We're coming up on near 200 years after the civil war, how many states have RCV currently in main elections and how was that achieved? 2, only 2 states both with ballot initiatives from other sources and not introduced by the Democratic party. One from Alaska which was heavily funded by outside the state (source) and another in Maine which the Democratic Governor refused to sign,

On September 6, 2019, Governor Janet Mills allowed the bill to become law without her signature, which delayed it from taking effect until after the 2020 presidential primaries in March (source). A "people's veto" in 2018, approved by voters, rejected parts of the new law that sought to delay RCV's implementation until 2022. (source).

RCV has been pushed in spite of the democratic parties antics, but their the only way to achieve this option? Have you noticed that all of this discourse has nothing to do with Cornel West in which you've already used profanity with his name as a means to disenfranchise with no true reasoning? You're being strangled and are asking them to please continue while begging them to save you.

Sanders said he agrees it “certainly is not” the best economy the U.S. could create, he called on progressives to coalesce around Biden..... I think we’ve got to bring the entire progressive community to defeat Trump or whoever the Republican nominee will be, [and] support Biden

(bold by me)

This is just kinda sad and heart breaking. I just don't get it, with this rhetoric there is never an end and it's for a candidate who's not even that great of a choice for the people. Now it's not even "Trump" that's the reasoning, just....anyone who's the republican nominee?

“Where I disagree with my good friend, Cornel West, is I think in these really very difficult times, where there is a real question whether democracy is going to remain in the United States of America.

This is a guy who fought in the civil rights era, he above anyone else should know Democracy will always be threatened.

Democracy is a system of government and form of liberalism in which state power is vested in the people, or the general population of a state based on principles of liberty and free will. source

How is true Democracy being upheld if you're voting under duress with fear mongering threatening to take the very thing that's being stolen when told this is the only path forward? The republican party is a shit show right now. The red wave scare that never happened in 2022, the front-runner nominee indicted under multiple charges, the completely abysmal performance of the republican debate, in-fighting between their zealous factions, on and on we must not look at the reality of what's happening before us. We must simply check-mark the D box without looking into anything and all will be saved.