Yeah: go back to the nineties and the man arguably most responsible for the hyper-partisanship in modern politics was also a rep in Georgia…Newt Filthypigfucker Gingrich

To try to answer, succinctly (which I’m bad at): looking backward is easier than looking forward. What I mean by that is since you didn’t get into the series until 3, it makes sense that you wouldn’t have a problem with 3 and 4, since it’s harder to see what the series could have been…as pretentious as that sounds.

Where much of the hate comes from (and I think a lot of it is overblown - I’m not trying to justify the behavior of the maniacs out there) is that the overarching progression of the series feels reset. Fallout 1 -> Fallout 2 showed a progression in a *post-*post-apocalyptic world, with society advancing again, to some degree. Shady Sands grew between 1 and 2, and was the foundation of the NCR.

So Fallout 3 at the time was IMHO a disappointment because the setting felt more generic, and like they were just playing the greatest hits from 1 and 2. I get the arguments that the setting in-universe was hit harder, but it still felt weird that it was post-apocalpytic instead of post-post-apocalyptic.

One reason (as always, IMHO) that New Vegas was so popular is that it continued to build on 1 and 2. We saw the NCR had continued to grow, other factions rise in importance, and generally felt less like the bombs had dropped the year prior. It’s what a lot of folks hoped Fallout 3 would be, in that sense. That’s my own biased view though, so take it with a grain of salt - there’s folks who want more humor, only isometric, more complex and branching storylines, etc.

Plenty of folks do worry about the possibility of being sued though, so getting rid of a chilling effect is good. Not everyone wants to even deal with the legal struggle or anxiety that would come with that, so it’s good. It gives workers more rights, which is good.

I think I’m confused though about your second paragraph: do you mean that companies only enforce these things on big names, who have money to defend themselves anyway? If so, seems like there’d definitely be a chilling effect for anyone making less, unless they’re willing to take a chance.

Agreed. They depressed me as a kid, and they depress me now. Absolutely exploiting the most impoverished among us. Vimes’ Boot Theory holds there IMHO: https://terrypratchett.com/explore-discworld/sam-vimes-boots-theory-of-socio-economic-unfairness/

You sure you aren’t a being a titanic jerk right now? Even your username might be evidence that you’re consumed by negativity, but that’s beside the point. Why would you assume they’re hallucinating that racism exists? Seriously: stop and ask yourself that question. Why side against this person who has done nothing but share their experiences?

I’m a white dude from the southeast and I have these stories: the only time I’ve gotten harassed by podunk shitheel cops is when I’m around Black and Latino friends, and when I had a truck with FIGHT RACISM written on the back. The only time I get followed around stores is with friends that just so happen to be darker than me - what a coincidence, eh? On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve had to put up with racist shit being shared with me out in the sticks from white folks who assumed I’m as racist as they are. Saying that folks are looking to be a victim makes you either complicit in or ignorant of racism that still exists in the here and now, and more than likely some of both.

TLDR: If you’re not a troll, then all I have to say is bless your heart. Look inward and try to improve yourself.

Not thought crimes. Marching in the streets with literal swastikas on flags. Their “set of certain beliefs” killed 17 million people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_victims) as part of their beliefs: and that’s without counting the deaths they caused by starting a war.

It’s not some clever gotcha to pretend this is a grey area. It’s not folks saying to go after GOP members, people in militias that are dogwhistling, or even the Proud Boys. It’s not folks that loudmouths on twitter are claiming are nazis. The issue here is literal fucking nazis. I actually have a PhD, and I consider it wise to chase literal goddamn nazis out of town with violence. Tolerating the most extreme intolerance is not a path toward a good future.

The solutions I’ve seen require a fundamental rethinking of the way housing works in the USA (and most places), where renting just turns into another way to build some amount of equity, and the property managers are under more democratic control. More of the process subsidized by the local government, in the same way that water treatment is.

Arguably it’s renting by another name, but the central point is to strip the profit motive out of it (some salaries are needed, but in a system with more regulatory oversight) and to allow the renter to get some financial benefit so they aren’t simply pissing money away.

Apologies in advance for that vague response: I’m not an economist or real estate expert, so I can’t back up that general idea with any kind of details or evidence it’s feasible.

True, but imagine if we gave everyone an automatic weapon and told people they need to be responsible for what they choose to shoot. True, but we probably shouldn’t have given out so many weapons.

It’s a terrible metaphor, but there’s an intersection between personal, collective, corporate, and technological responsibility that we need to consider, and it’s hard to articulate in a few sentences. IMHO we’re all in an ouroboros of thought and action, internally and externally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo&t=559s

There is a good visualization in this video (These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us by Not Just Bikes) at the timestamp I linked (roughly 9 minutes 19 seconds), cited from KidsAndCars.org

Can they murder people on their property? Or is there some limit to their ability to make rules?

When I say I’m dying to see the new Godzilla movie again (it was excellent, by the way), I’m not literally dying.

That said, I honestly don’t know what the Obamas are doing, and they certainly don’t need me defending them. I wouldn’t rely on what makes it to wikipedia as a source of how much they’re trying to improve the world, though. Given the backlash she received for trying to reduce childhood obesity, and the backlash Barack received just for existing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to donate/contribute with as little fanfare as possible to avoid further backlash. Just my opinion, though.

It’s difficult not to sound overly dramatic or hyperbolic about the situation but it really does feel like the US is uncomfortably close right now to a christofascist state.

To add to this: while it may sound hyperbolic to some folks, for plenty of us we’ve seen this brewing for decades. White evangelicals and right-wing politics unified in the 1980s in a way that was a clear danger to democracy, and they’ve only solidified their power since, given how mainstream their views are now.

IMHO Frank Zappa said it best in 1986: he got called out as being hyperbolic, but he clearly saw the writing on the wall. He’s of course not the most scholarly source, but damn it Jim I’m a biologist, not a historian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlePLLlfH4Q

Have you considered she may be empathetic to those who don’t have the money to easily move to any country on the planet? It’s a good thing to be concerned for the welfare of others IMHO.

I appreciate you taking the time to say that! Thank you. My favorite song by him is probably Desperados Under the Eaves, if you’d ever like to hear the best of his music.

Reminds me of what Warren Zevon had to say about rich people problems, off Preludes. It came out a few years after his death, and the back half of the album has snippets from some radio interview(s?) he did. Neat musings by a complex dude: he was creative genius in a lot of ways, and a titanic asshole in a lot of other ways (he asked his ex-wife to write his biography, and to not go easy on him - alcoholism, violence, absentee parenting…it’s all there).

Anyway, that’s a preface for the folks who don’t know about him: he probably could have been a bigger financial success had he not been a disaster of a human, but maybe his dirty life and times gave him enough material to feed his creativity…who knows.

WZ: I was real lucky, because I always had some kind of work that came along - at the last minute, anyway.

I was always able to make some kind of living as a musician

I also never really got rich, and that might have been lucky too, ya know?

Interviewer: in what way?

WZ: Well, because the less time you spend with the issues of being rich

they’re like the issues of being famous

they’re not real issues

so they’re not real life.

Interviewer: And it leaves more time to be creative?

WZ: There’s more of an exchange - a human exchange of ideas and feelings to be had on the bus stop than over the phone with your accountant, and if you’re rich you spend a lot of time on the phone with your accountant. it’s necessary, I believe.

I know I’m happy and that means I must be lucky. That I know.

EDIT: this is not to say I wouldn’t be grateful for more money, myself, but I chose the life of a biologist - in ecology and evolution, no less. I’m happy to make a living, and it’s always a little shocking to see folks make double/triple what I do and say it’s “not much these days”. Those of us scraping by have a wildly different perspective, and I’d love to give folks a tour of what it looks like long-term.

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Also, if you bailed after driving the hovercraft, maybe you didn’t get to Black Mesa East, or Ravenholm? IMHO that’s where things really ramp up: story-wise (you meet more allies), and you get a better glimpse at the endgame. You get a neat tool to use (which also was mind-blowing in 2004, less so almost twenty years later), too.

If you don’t dig it though, I wouldn’t force it. I’m a fan of science fiction more than fantasy, so I’ve never finished a Dishonored game, but I love Prey. Just doesn’t hook me the way I know it could…just not my particular vibe I guess, which I think is OK.

This could be the cover for a cyberpunk Far Cry 7

Is anyone here calling for it to be canceled outright? If it’s canceled because people don’t want to watch it because they think an actor sucks as a human, that’s just the free market, right? If it was a better show/actor, they’ll still do alright (look at Tom Cruise or any number of problematic actors).

You just don’t realize how good we have it here, even if it means we have to work hard sometimes and get up early and spend five days a work working for someone else. That’s an opportunity millions of other humans can only dream of having.

Do you ever reflect on the fact that “we” have it good “here” because other people are suffering?

We are incredibly fortunate, but it comes at a serious cost. The cheap electronics and clothing and tchotchkes we drown ourselves in is made on the backs of folks less fortunate (not to mention the biosphere as a whole). We didn’t sign up to be on the side of exploitation, and we don’t want to live in ignorance of what supports our way of life.