I think part of growing up in western media and feeling the decline of it, part of it is certainly seeing ongoing erosion of norms and positive institutions, but a good amount of it is also from disillusionment and learning more about how things have always been, just less apparent. The perceived reality of the western world is much more compromised and complex than when you’re a kid, doesn’t mean the truly good parts aren’t good.

Note how the response is no longer along the lines of “your record is much worse than the USA’s”

The how does matter. You can appreciate the removal of a despot and still oppose unilateral regime change by force–especially one so explicitly motivated by resource exploitation. This is very different from the UN-sanctioned and NATO-led intervention that deposed Gaddafi.

Would you describe China attacking North Korea or Cambodia or another SE Asian dictatorship to depose their leadership as “accidentally doing something right”?

It’s a common mistake to assume that gun buybacks are being proposed as a solution. The solutions being proposed are a set of laws/policies to tighten gun controls, like who’s allowed to buy guns, what guns are allowed to be owned and how many, improving checks and mitigating newer loopholes.

Tighter gun controls are shown to reduce mass shootings. In Australia, the laws have loosened a lot since the big wave of gun laws in 1996. The buyback program is a consequence of bringing people in line with the new laws.

The realistic goal is not to make it absolutely impossible for a motivated extremist with lots of resources to plan and commit a mass shooting, it’s to make it much harder to prepare to do and to create more opportunities to notice their preparation.

Like I said, I agree it sucks. I’ve had the exact same thought many times.

I agree lots of things about word sucks. But FYI single page landscape is achieved by using two section breaks. It’s not ideal, but its somewhat understandable given how styles are prioritized. I’ve tried others that work well, but they also suffer on things that word does well that we take for granted.

Some people who face reasonable trade-offs in doing so have a choice. Others who face unreasonable trade-offs have less of a choice. It’s usually quite difficult to tell when it’s a stranger you’re overhearing without making assumptions.

What do you mean when you say “political”?

If you want quality for classic Nintendo, you’re probably better off with midi files, which are like sheet music for a synthesizer your computer can play. This way it’s original full quality sound without any recording/large files.

VLC/Windows Media Player can play them. You can search up a few good archives like https://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/nes/

Lol with multiple gaming PCs, you are far far removed from the target consumer. Im pretty sure it will be cheap. Unlike PC hardware manufacturers they can do what the console companies do and price at/below cost and make it up in game sales.

The reason why Valve has a chance whereas Asus and Lenovo do not is that the latter two have to make a profit off of the hardware, whereas Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony can sell at a loss/cost because they earn it back and more through game sales. Valve is in the same position so can price competitively against the big 3.

That’s a historical text interpretation of the Bible, which is legit to me. However I’d say only a minority of practicing Christians regard it that way. With the rest, you have more fundamentalist views of the Bible as the literal word of God and the flexible view of it as metaogorical teachings inspired by God. Therefore these views treat the Bible specifically as authoritative, timeless, and divine, elevating it above a mere human document and transcendent of historical context. Timothy 3:17 seems to reflect the common idea that “the Bible is the only book you need”.

I do agree that one can make a historical argument for an interpretation of scripture, and maybe even do so in a way that reifies one’s personal relationship with God. However it doesn’t engage with the Bible the way most Christians do and therefore is not likely to be all that persuasive.

Exactly. People need to take in the full context. Here is the full chapter, with the quote in the final paragraph, which… Makes the quote even worse?

Instructions on Worship

2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

11 A woman[a] should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[b] she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women[c] will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Are trying to say Timothy 2:12 is old testament?

Yes, people keep finding ways to put others down in order to feel superior. It’s called being a bully. When everything was “blame and shame millenials for this”, there was a section of us millenials that swore we’d break the cycle of generational blaming. Now it’s all about blaming and shaming Gen-Z, because that shit gets clicks. Apparently being a bully never really goes out of style.

I don’t know, I think adopting sanitary practices tops it easily.

I suspect survivability bias plays into it, as I imagine an empathetic and self-reflective anti-war film in the is more likely than a straight “US are the villains” film to be funded and see financial, and therefore popular, success in the US. It makes sense why domestic industries will tend to tell domestic-facing stories. I’d say the size of the US film industry means you actually get more diversity in war films compared to ones you see in places like Japan or Germany.

To clarify, they are talking about foreign direct investment, like Canadian billionaires buying stocks in US companies, which the fed does not directly control, but can incentivize through trade agreements. The US can change their taxes on foreign investment on their side. From the other side, FDI is a reflection of how many shares of US companies are being bought up by non-US investors. The Canadian government does not own foreign stock afaik.

Part of the mind boggling numbers is due to massive inflation of certain US stock valuations in the last few years and related reinvestment of capital gains. For example, if I had $1000 invested in Intel last year after it crashed, it would be worth $2000 now. If I sold that and bought $2000 worth of Nvidia stock, that would count as $1000 net increase in my foreign direct investment, even though I haven’t moved any “new” money into the US. Did Intel suddenly double in its assets or revenue? Hell no, it’s a lot of speculation. People are gambling in the US market or seeking to influence US companies for economic advantage.

That’s funny, in my bubble I’ve only heard references to gamergate recently from game developers in podcasts. I wouldn’t imagine non-gamers know what it is these days.

Huh, I did a quick search and interestingly, there are a couple mainstream news articles referencing gamergate re: recent anti-DEI in games. Lol I guess games really are part of mainstream culture now.