Darth Fluffy

Don't get me wrong; I don't think it's the result of a cabal meeting in a cloistered setting and conspiring to dumb down education, but in effect, that's what happens. I beg to differ; I've never been a farmer, I'm guessing neither have you. I've been around plants and livestock enough to know that being successful at either is knowledge intensive. Not to mention that especially pre-industrial, many of those folks were jack-of-all-trades around their homes. Many built their own homes. Sounds really nice. The rental cabins are similar. You wouldn't want to live in one year round, full time. Sadly, I had a hunch roughly where this was headed. I wouldn't wish that even on him. I'd be tempted, I'd think of it as a comeuppance, but I wouldn't wish it on him. If they had cash on them, it would be of value to a collector. They wouldn't be aware of that, though. I remember a National Lampoon bit where someone woke from the WW II era, and saw stuff happening in the early seventies under Nixon. The punchline was, "Wait, who won the war?" And I find today's headline surreal.

He's the competition.

Also the War on other Drug forces the more law abiding folks towards a somewhat less illegal solution. It seems like the Industrial Revolution has been a factor in foisting a mediocre standard of education on our collective cultures. There is a need for educated individuals, but industry doesn't want to pay for them, so they substitute lower standards like specific product certifications, reducing everything to a two year degree level. Look at railroads; the jobs have become very specific over the two centuries of operation. Or auto assembly, you no longer have to be much of a mechanic at all to participate. I don't think she'd care. She knows enough to be in demand and get paid. Leans toward customer service. OK, I can see that sounds romantic. I've gone camping in places like that, rented a cabin. You are also not picturing it next door; it would not be as picturesque if it affected your property value. My history is as long as yours, just wasn't here. Oh, God, no kidding. I watch the news with dread; "What has the toddler in chief tweeted today?" I saw an Anderson Cooper clip yesterday, interviewing a right wing apologist talking head, "He could take a dump on the desk in the Oval Office, and you would defend it." Actually got the talking head to pause his diatribe for a bit in shock; I think there was a glimmer of understanding that it was essentially true. You know what Thomas Jefferson would say if he were alive today? "Let me out of this damn box!" But he'd probably say stuff about our current state of affairs afterward.

Yarrgh!

It came up in conversation recently, so I was probably more aware of it. Not being a user myself, it's not on the forefront of the issues I think about. There are more options where marijuana is legal. In Colorado, you can buy marijuana vape products. The health effects of vaping are still TBD, but questionable, it still gets in your lungs, but it's likely healthier than tar. You can also buy edibles over the counter there and pills. This part of overindulging in alcohol and pharmaceuticals I get, wanting to forget the jackasses in charge. I believe a lot of indulgence is a reaction to feeling powerless to make things better. Not my route, but I get it. Here, you can tell how important education is to a region by how much they are willing to pay for education; teachers salaries in particular. While never lavish, in the more developed regions, it is higher, ballpark double what it is in the US Southeast. There are poor countries that spend little on education. Same problem the poor neighborhoods have on a bigger scale. There are countries that have a weird religious slant on education. They'll focus on education, but it will have holes in it. Evolution didn't happen. That's a common one here, actually. We have states that want to push "Teach the controversy". Also, of course, many places the rules for girls are different; that was the whole reason Malala Yousafzai was attacked. I have an offspring that did that. "Rich" would be an exaggeration, but "making a good living without formal training" would fit. Works in the video game industry. There is significant motivation to avoid higher education, at least here. It has become overly commercialized, and many of the government programs allegedly designed to help secure loans saddle the student with lifelong debt. Also, it has become quite easy to educate yourself, albeit in a somewhat myopic and incoherent way. There is still value to formal education that lays out a long term plan, but it is not necessarily obvious to the struggling student. And of course, the value of the certificate that says you are educated, that employers will want to see. In a sense this is no different than how it's always been, but the ease and availability are enhanced; the bar is lowered. The flip side is that you are always responsible for your own education, a fact that is lost on many young people. Our youth expect to be spoon fed. Shack means a small building of substandard construction, poor finish, perhaps lacking major features. What you seem to be referring to sounds derivative of "to shack up". I don't know the specific connection, Google probably does. We do that here as well. There's usually breaks, like tax breaks, for the owner of a historic building, but requirements how to maintain it. I think "you can't leave the home" is a consequence of "I don't want you talking to people". "Dad, I need money for my education club." "Oh? Who's running it? Where is it being held?" "It's not that kind of a club, dad." From the Wiki article: "Dean Lindsay made claims for all extraterrestrial objects on June 15, 1936." Already happened some decades before we were born. Why should a fantasy claim be enforceable? If you have some inside knowledge here, maybe we can make some fast cash. I claim the sun. If you're using my power, send me my royalties. "You wait, in five billion years, we'll be after you for damages." "Where are you going to sue? Your venue will be gone." Tesla is spinning in his grave with how his name is being used, but the good news is that he's hooked up a generator and is providing power.

You should read the Wiki. It has even dumber earth bound precedents. But the few people that are doing it are making some money at it, in spite of not having a legitimate claim. And real estate is weird like that. What is true today can become gray areas in the future. Look at land seized by governments after the government is overturned.

I recall some dude selling miniscule plots of land on the moon mail order. I recall a displayable deed was the main deliverable. Also, he filed some claim to real estate on the moon in some jurisdiction, one that had no say in it, but didn't notice the audacity of the claim or didn't care. I suppose a verified original deed from this scam would have value as a novelty item. Here's the wiki, and here's the various sales pitches; it's still ongoing. It's also much older that I realized.

Test called off due to insufficient hail.

That's a good point. You can research them any time you need or want to. The exact post you are referring to is this: I agree that alcohol abuse is more immediately destructive than marijuana. As one comedian pointed out, alcoholics run red lights, pot heads wait for the stop sign to turn green. I am of a mind that marijuana has legitimate uses, but can be abused. I've known pot heads who seem to become out of touch with life. One was very talented and creative, but could not commit to applying effort and was continually depressed, eventually taking his own life. I'm not sure about cause and effect, though. The excessive pot smoking might be a symptom, rather than the cause. My guess is it is a factor, but not just on its own. I'm really not convinced that smoking marijuana doesn't have similar problems to smoking cigarettes. Or pretty much any plant substance. But we're not at a place where we can even address those questions like adults, are we? You will notes that smoking is in italics, to distinguish it as a specific ingestion method. So "later" as in "the next paragraph"? It's worth noting that of the marijuana users I know, most of them seem to ingest mostly or exclusively by smoking; the ones that talk about occasionally using other means are primarily female. I asked one about what she thought about the hazards of the smoke as smoke, and she acknowledged that it was not a healthy habit, but it was an expedient way to consume weed. "We" didn't specifically refer to you and me, or even this forum. As a topic of public discourse, whether marijuana smoke is carcinogenic is overshadowed by the debate about it's overall acceptability. Please understand that in the US, the federal DEA has violently busted up state licensed growers and distributors of medical marijuana and thrown the associated folks into prison. It's pathetic, really. Yes; I had them in mind when I posted that. The lunar treaties make me chuckle. Might be meaningful someday; "Yeah, what are you going to do with it?" when it was new. I guess there was fear that the few powers that could reach it would grab the whole thing. I suppose in any meaningful sense that's what's going to happen anyway, but there should at least be more players. With global warming, Antarctica might become valuable land. Not invalid points; some are being or have been addressed. We have an extensive (if you read that as expensive, you're also not far off) busing program to ship kids to schools in other neighborhoods. It is not popular, it is hard on the kids; they spend much time being shipped around, and of course the parents for the privileged kids don't want Johnny and Sally being shipped to the 'hood. But it is a factor in re-balancing the kids' early education. Somewhat. Some of our initiatives, like "No child left behind" are far less effective. Then there's the homeschooling and private school and charter school backlash. I work with many IT coworkers of color, and they are as smart and as dedicated as anyone. I don't know the circumstances of their childhood, mostly, but at a guess, in the aggregate, they were not privileged. So I have to assume the obstacles can be overcome in the long run. Military service helps, at least in the US; it offers training in what will later become job skills for many. Our big problem for white folks is not so much poor white families as much as entire states that downplay education. We do have a system of low cost community schools that offer core courses that can transfer to a name school. One unfortunate thing I've seen in my lifetime is that the first college year has become a catch up year for stuff you should have already learned. You would not like where I live. Not so much in the newer neighborhoods, which look planned, the older parts of towns have a hodge podge of nice places next to shacks. It was culture shock for me. I've lived in various parts of the US, and this is the first time I've seen this. I'm in the US, North Carolina, near Raleigh and Durham. I have not been secretive about that, but I suspect you're referring to a profile that I've probably ignored. I'll look for it. I'm not overly knowledgeable about Islam either, but I do know that just like Christians, there are many different flavors. In the job role she had, running a cash register and taking orders, she had to talk to customers. Many Muslims would have prohibited her being out of her home and having a job. There is a Muslim owned Subway near that Wendys, and they have about 50% female personnel; and yes, they also talk to customers. (Muslim owned Subways seems to be a thing here.) The folks that attack random people wearing a turban in response to events such as 9/11 are, as you might expect, generally not looking to be educated. They pretty much know everything already, or so they think.

Hmm. Interesting question. While ice is not known for its structural resiliency, hail is probably on the high side of that, as it's built up in layers. It is a low density material, which says that when you to take a whack at it, it should offer little resistance. So I'm going to guess that a proper golf ball sized hailstone, hit with a drive, will have some spalling and goflying in a wobbly-assed manner, as opposed to explosively fragmenting or fracturing into major pieces. mlooney, care to test?

Chronos is correct; they have blacksmiths and horse powered harvest machinery, and such. It varies; some leave, so they obviously get the full experience. How do you know you would not like to be Amish? Have you ever tried it? I'm guessing they know more about your world than you know about theirs. Don't forget, they get gawked at constantly by tourists, so they have some contact. Interesting. Who would enforce this? Would you apply the same to alcohol? Cigarettes? From what I've seen, yes, which makes the early years of experimenting with LSD by giving it to people unwittingly even more frightening. Which is why I singled out smoking. Not as far as I can tell. You think we are? No, read the Ehrlichman quote, perhaps Google the context; or the history of US drug laws. The basis of the laws was to target certain races and ethnicities. Oh. Then you should probably not read current events in the Middle East for the last several decades.You would be disappointed. Ooo, there's a nice slippery slope; "You aren't occupying your land densely enough, therefore we should take it." George Burns in the movie, Oh, God!, "So help me, Me." The Nazis didn't like them, and killed many. Then again, the Nazis didn't like a lot of people, and killed many. We have a Carnie (carival worker) subculture, which is not ethnic, but I think may share some of the values and lifestyle. I advised one young lady to become one, once, for her it was a step up from doing nothing. She likes the life. It's definitely not for everyone, and yes, there is a bit of discrimination, even though there's no ethnicity involved. It's viewed as nascent vagrancy. I can relate to the positive discrimination part. As a late teen, applying for schools, I viewed Affirmative Action as unfair. Affirmative Action tries to place minorities in colleges and universities; at the time there were quotas, and a minority could get into a school with lower grades and test scores than a white kid like me. Many years later I realized that my youthful view was shallow, the playing field wasn't level in the first place, and that a kid from a poor neighborhood was likely to get an inferior education early on. Not sure if the US inspired anyone in this regard. Concern for others seems to be about as universal as callousness is, no? I live in a part of America where trash in the yard, of sorts, is not abnormal. Vehicles that haven't worked for years, that are going to get fixed "some day". Where I grew up (so to speak) in Pennsylvania, this would have been unheard of. Nicer communities here are, well, nicer, but in even slightly rural areas, all bets are off. I'm curious where you live, if you are willing to share that detail. Eh, just like anyone else, some Muslims are nice people and some are @$$#01e$. I've had Muslim coworkers who could not be spoken to, then I had a lady in a Wendy's who was Arabic, I expressed some interest in her background, and we chatted briefly as I ordered a chicken sandwich and coffee. For my next several visits, while she worked there, I was handed a free coffee. I think while religion can dominate a person's life, it is in another sense skin deep, and the real person will shine through, for better or worse. Well, I can say that I find it somewhat understandable, although at the same time stupid. Until recent decades, we didn't see a whole lot of any of the three, Muslims, Hindus, nor Sikhs. And even now, you still mostly won't unless you are in an urban area. Where I live right now has a bunch, we have a fair pharmaceutical segment, and they like the cheaper technical labor.

Chronos is correct; they have blacksmiths and horse powered harvest machinery, and such. It varies; some leave, so they obviously get the full experience. How do you know you would not like to be Amish? Have you ever tried it? I'm guessing they know more about your world than you know about theirs. Don't forget, they get gawked at constantly by tourists, so they have some contact. Interesting. Who would enforce this? Would you apply the same to alcohol? Cigarettes? From what I've seen, yes, which makes the early years of experimenting with LSD by giving it to people unwittingly even more frightening. Which is why I singled out smoking. Not as far as I can tell. You think we are? No, read the Ehrlichman quote, perhaps Google the context; or the history of US drug laws. The basis of the laws was to target certain races and ethnicities. Oh. Then you should probably not read current events in the Middle East for the last several decades.You would be disappointed. Ooo, there's a nice slippery slope; "You aren't occupying your land densely enough, therefore we should take it." George Burns in the movie, Oh, God!, "So help me, Me." The Nazis didn't like them, and killed many. Then again, the Nazis didn't like a lot of people, and killed many. We have a Carnie (carival worker) subculture, which is not ethnic, but I think may share some of the values and lifestyle. I advised one young lady to become one, once, for her it was a step up from doing nothing. She likes the life. It's definitely not for everyone, and yes, there is a bit of discrimination, even though there's no ethnicity involved. It's viewed as nascent vagrancy. I can relate to the positive discrimination part. As a late teen, applying for schools, I viewed Affirmative Action as unfair. Affirmative Action tries to place minorities in colleges and universities; at the time there were quotas, and a minority could get into a school with lower grades and test scores than a white kid like me. Many years later I realized that my youthful view was shallow, the playing field wasn't level in the first place, and that a kid from a poor neighborhood was likely to get an inferior education early on. Not sure if the US inspired anyone in this regard. Concern for others seems to be about as universal as callousness is, no? I live in a part of America where trash in the yard, of sorts, is not abnormal. Vehicles that haven't worked for years, that are going to get fixed "some day". Where I grew up (so to speak) in Pennsylvania, this would have been unheard of. Nicer communities here are, well, nicer, but in even slightly rural areas, all bets are off. I'm curious where you live, if you are willing to share that detail. Eh, just like anyone else, some Muslims are nice people and some are @$$#01e$. I've had Muslim coworkers who could not be spoken to, then I had a lady in a Wendy's who was Arabic, I expressed some interest in her background, and we chatted briefly as I ordered a chicken sandwich and coffee. For my next several visits, while she worked there, I was handed a free coffee. I think while religion can dominate a person's life, it is in another sense skin deep, and the real person will shine through, for better or worse. Well, I can say that I find it somewhat understandable, although at the same time stupid. Until recent decades, we didn't see a whole lot of any of the three, Muslims, Hindus, nor Sikhs. And even now, you still mostly won't unless you are in an urban area. Where I live right now has a bunch, we have a fair pharmaceutical segment, and they like the cheaper technical labor.

You're really sure that's what you meant, right? Maybe you were hoping to get in a few rounds of golf, and "Hey, free ice golf balls!"

I was with a real bitch yesterday. She was demanding to be petted, licking my hand, wagging her tail, staring at me with her big eyes. If I took a break, she got up and rested her front paws on my legs and gave me a "You know you're not done." look.

That's a first. I've never before heard the complain, "My hail is too small."

In RPG, Cat posts pictures of You!

Yes, of course. You are uncivilized for embracing technology. They are also not ignorant of the culture around them. They have a practice, called Rumspringa, where young people of age experience our culture and decide if they want to continue to be Amish. I agree that alcohol abuse is more immediately destructive than marijuana. As one comedian pointed out, alcoholics run red lights, pot heads wait for the stop sign to turn green. I am of a mind that marijuana has legitimate uses, but can be abused. I've known pot heads who seem to become out of touch with life. One was very talented and creative, but could not commit to applying effort and was continually depressed, eventually taking his own life. I'm not sure about cause and effect, though. The excessive pot smoking might be a symptom, rather than the cause. My guess is it is a factor, but not just on its own. I'm really not convinced that smoking marijuana doesn't have similar problems to smoking cigarettes. Or pretty much any plant substance. But we're not at a place where we can even address those questions like adults, are we? Yeah, on the surface, the laws don't seem racist, if you are white. I had to see the explanation, and much later the Ehrlichman quote confirming it. But when you connect the dots, it's the picture you see. How so? I think you're right; a homeland in Palestine was D'Israel's goal long before WW II. Re: unoccupied land, the increase has gone into expansion of urban areas, rather than incorporating new uninhabited land, no? If there is a forerunner of what you are saying, two com to mind; Israel irrigating desert to become farmland, and Brazil deforesting the Amazon basin for farm land. The latter is not universally acclaimed, especially by the indigenous tribes that are displaced or slaughtered. The constitution of the US prohibits laws favoring a religious point of view over a different one (including none). "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." It is amazing in how little regard we hold that clause when it goes against our beliefs. I think "My way is right, damn you all for thinking differently" is the norm for the human experience. I've known a couple of Romani, there are some in the US. They didn't seem all that different from anyone else; insular culture, suspicious, not open to outsiders. Jeeze, who couldn't you apply that to? They blend in well enough here that they aren't a target. (Instead, we target Sikhs and Hindus after 9/11 for wearing turbans. Not that targeting Arabs would be a whole lot better, but there is a certain quintessential ignorance there.) (The turbans don't even look the same. It's like being told your target is wearing a Fedora, and bringing in a dude who's wearing a Stetson. Or would that be paying too much attention to details?) (You know, the specific Arabs who perpetrated this died doing it, right? All you're accomplishing is proving them right by living down to their level of ignorance.) I'm guessing your Romani protective laws are selectively enforced or ignored. It's a given that they are in place because the need was there, the status quo was already broken. Living too close to each other is the modern way. Thirty years ago, you and I would not be having this chat, would we?

He's all three, duh. In terms of food, it's less direct; he's the source and the feeder, and "Why am I not being fed?!!!!" It's a good thing he doesn't feel like carp, then it might be more direct.

I guar-damn-tee that those native tribes name for themselves equates to "The People", and their name for outsiders equates to "The Others", who obviously "Don't know our ways", and so "Aren't People". The question about the Amish, you answered your own question in your next comment. The Amish are amazing in their own way, making money farming when everyone else is going broke farming. They do it by a lot of hard work, eschewing expensive modern methods and relying on old but effective technology (their tractors make fertilizer), living frugally, and supporting each other. That's not why they do it. They live their lifestyle because they are benign religious fanatics. It did not make sense to target Johnny Hoodrat either. First, let me make it clear that I am not a fan of recreational drug use. I've seen the end result, and it is not pretty. But criminalizing it is just stupid; it's not even a deterrent. Why isn't drug use treated like what it is, a medical issue? (I think that's part of the crazy we're exporting. We didn't invent drug laws, but we were an early adopter and we push them on others.) Existing drug laws in the US are primarily based on racism and political maneuvering. Nixon more than doubled down on the laws of his time as a means to suppress his opponents. From an interview of John Ehrlichman done late in his life, I mean, really, when Rash Lame-Bag can rant to the effect of "Every one knows <ethnicity> is a bunch of drug abusers", then get off Scott free and garner sympathy for abusing oxycontim, how do you conclude the drug laws are anything but racist bullshit? Hmm. I think those that don't know there's a problem are choosing to not see it; clear but wishy-washy would have less value. Take for example, Blue Lives Matter (police lives matter), a reactionary movement to Black Lives Matter. The thing is, no one disputes that police lives matter; it is generally appreciated that police lay their lives on the line on a daily basis and the occupation commands a degree of respect for that. It is evident in the numbers that the flip side is not true. "The Others", who obviously "Don't know our ways", and so "Aren't People" - and it is two sided. I scratch my head and wonder, "Did you not learn anything from the Holocaust?" when I see how the Palestinians are treated. In the entire world, colonial powers treated indigenous people similarly. Actually mostly still do. Then there's the Romani. Or the Kurds. Or the Armenian genocide that 'never happened'. Oo? It's ALL already occupied, the whole damn rock. Yes there are vast tracts of barely habitable land available; even those support about as many people as they can handle. We are exhausting it; much of the ecosphere is disappearing. The Levant is not exactly user friendly, either; it took a lot of dedication to make it blossom. That would not set well with several cultures.

Well, everyone's talking about the nerd; Nerd, nerd, nerd is the word. ....

I'm pretty sure almost every last blessed person on the planet thinks of themselves as civilized. Even terrorists think you're the one that's wrong. You don't have to dig very deep under the surface to find that for the most part, we're all crazy. The US has plenty of problems, and is blissfully unaware of it, but it ain't just us. We have no monopoly on ignorance. (We do seem to be a high producer of religious crazy, which we package and export.) It is not that simple. While there is truth in what you say, it is an incomplete picture. Police will deal more harshly with folks of color for the same crime as white folks. Take minor drug possession. A white person is likely to get off with minor consequences. The numbers say that a person of color is going to see jail time, maybe prison ("War on Drug, y'know), and have a permanent record that makes them less employable and exacerbates the problem. High level crimes are considered to be "White collar crimes" (Office crimes, as opposed to Blue collar crimes, working class crimes, like actually taking an object), and are punished on a lighter scale for being inherently nonviolent, even though they affect a far larger number of people and ruin lives. An Air Force base I was stationed at hosted a white collar prison. The inmates worked on the base, some doing odd jobs like picking up trash, some in their primary skill; the legal office had a big name lawyer who was an inmate. They were not restrained, they could easily walk off. The deterrent was, "When we catch you, you'll go to a real prison." Nobody ever left. To be fair, these were legitimately nonviolent people; I did not feel threatened by their presence. Also, they were almost exclusively white (I say almost, because I don't really know, only saw a sample, possibly actually exclusively white). In the mean time, Johnny Hoodrat spends years in actual prison for possession of a fairly small amount of weed. This also happens to be a nonviolent crime. He got caught because the police constantly surveil his neighborhood. His white peers that do the same thing are not busted, because they live in nice homes. No one suspects. Johnny's years in prison amount to a graduate level curriculum in criminal activity. He'll learn from the best, because, when you come right down to it, there's not that much else for him to do during those years. That's entirely fair, and I agree with you, sometime before Hitler was fully in control; but similar elements are present, including actual Neo-Nazis. It would be clearer. It's a weaker statement of an obvious fact, though.

I appreciate the confirmation of what the Steam reviews are saying. I also don't like the modern marketing model of selling you a partial base game and then selling what was essentially base content as DLCs. I avoid those games. Honest new content is fine. Granted, they seem to be putting a lot of effort into the animations and other fluff of VI, so the cost of development is some justification. The failure of the MOO franchise should be instructive that prettier is not necessarily a better game.

So you've played it? Did you like it?

Heh. All lives matter is part of the backlash, and I'm not pointing a finger at you, you don't live here and probably don't know the situation, not all lives are equally at risk. White people in the US are not generally afraid of the police, because they are not likely to be arbitrarily shot or otherwise killed for no good reason. Black folks have good reason to fear, black folks are killed without cause on a regular basis, and the cops usually get off Scott free. Or, as Larry Wilmore put it, "If you really believe that all lives matter, then you should be taking a stand that black lives matter." Think Jews in WW II Europe. Or, Black Lives Matter, Too.

Trevor is Trevor Noah, the current host of The Daily show, He does very well, but of course, John Stewart's shoes are big ones to fill. He's from South Africa, and was literally illegal at birth. (Yes, literally, he wrote a book to that effect.) He, like John, is a standup comedian, and you can see him as such on You Tube. Larry Wilmore was one of The Daily Show's correspondents. He got his own show for a while, but it didn't last. He is quite insightful and knows how to present information. His show focused on black issues, and often Black Lives Matter; important topics, but the narrower focus probably cost him viewership.