I mean good for Gretchen. She’s right, and I’m glad she’s standing by her convictions. But there were other people working on that title. DC fucked a lot of people here, and really, so did Gretchen.

Its tough. On the one hand, facing the consequences of doing the right thing is inherently noble. On the other hand, making that decision for a bunch of other people is not.

I’m late to this party but I always like to chip in on Luigi threads:

1. That other people were inspired to kill CEOs by this killing is irrelevant. I mean, it’s debatable that it’s true at all. But even if it were, that feels relevant only insofar as this is a jury trial - and thats not a bug of a jury trial, it’s a feature. Public sentiment doesn’t really get a say outside the 12 folks in the box.

2. There is a serious chain of evidence issue with the supposed murder weapon. Body cams are turned off, (improper) when Luigis bag is taken from him, and according to filings, that bag wasn’t searched until back at a local station over 30 minutes later. That strikes people as suspect as it’s outside normal procedure for cops, who would normally search a bag right away during the arrest. The cops were alone with that bag for 30 minutes prior to “finding” the gun. Most unbelievable, they expect us to believe that someone capable of this killing, and producing an inherently disposable 3D printed “ghost gun”, then failed to ditch it and carried it across state lines? He couldn’t find a garbage can to pitch it in over 24 hours later?

3. People say Luigi couldn’t be the adjuster because of the height/build difference between him and the security footage of Brian Thompsons shooting. I find this less convincing as the footage is extremely unclear. But I will say at the very least, nothing in that footage has been brought to my attention that supports Luigi being the shooter. No shill pundit or sweaty former prosecutor desperate for their 15 minutes has got on TV and said “See, here’s what the prosecution is going to point to to build their case.”

It would seem to me, that Luigi is a troubled young rich kid who wrote some critical, if meandering, things about his frustrations with US Healthcare, got accused by a McDonalds employee who was financially incentivized to see a suspect, had evidence planted by some cops hoping to catch this rising folk hero before anyone else got any ideas, and then got railroaded by the most corrupt DOJ since the Gilded Age.

First, I’m going to heavily qualify this statement. Like, a lot. I have never served in any military capacity and I’m repeating something a member of the Canadian military told me, which could easily be wrong for 20 reasons.

National Guardsman are similar to our “reservists” and are not paid when inactive. If additional troops who were already trained but not active, we’re then activated, that would account for additional costs.

So yeah, massive grain of salt but you asked and someone gave me a reasonable answer that seemed to fit. I have done no fact checking, though.

I forget the title but there was a Superman game on original Xbox that gave Metropolis a health bar, Not Superman.

Beating up bad guys, stopping disasters and completing missions helped the city survive. Getting hit meant a few seconds where you were inactive and the city might take more damage.

It was a pretty inspired idea honestly. I don’t think the game was excellent but good design choice.

I mean you’re right, but it makes sense in context in both cases because the plot, or maybe better to say the driving motivation for action by the characters, isn’t the real story.

TLOU isn’t the story of two survivors trying to reach a goal- thats set dressing. It’s the story of a man who lost his daughter being given a chance to confront his grief and grow close with another young woman who would be the same age. The relationship growing, their mutual guilt and relief and joy in finding that familial connection in a dying world IS the story. And the climax isn’t Joel shooting 50 more people, it’s when he chooses her over the whole world. Even when thats obviously the wrong choice.

From a plot view, nothing has changed. What actually “happened” was entirely between Ellie and Joel. But lots of stories are like that. If you released a movie where a grieving man connected with his adopted, formerly abused or neglected, daughter- that could be a good movie and you wouldn’t say “nothing happened” because it would be honest and upfront with its stakes. But fewer people would play that as a game so they have to obfuscate their actual story with apocalypse and zombie trappings.

He self-identifies as Conservative, when talking to me, which is 99% of the time he spends discussing politics.

I dunno. Feels like we lost the thread here. If it makes you guys happy, sure. By “leans Conservative” I actually meant “center-right Liberal”. Everyone cool with that?

That’s bullshit. My friend is a wonderful person who hasn’t actually voted for a Conservative government in over a decade. “Sheer was a joke. Pollievre is a clown.” Are his exact words. He wants more military spending for the Canadian forces where he served for years, and he’s highly skeptical of higher taxes, convinced that rich people will always find a way to weasel out. He’s against minimum wage hikes because “the corporations will just raise prices”. Because of these reasons, he identifies as Conservative, albeit one who votes Liberal because the CPC is a joke. He’s right of me but thats where most people are.

This is a man who, is bi himself and strongly supports LGBTQ rights, and went no contact with his own brother because his coke-addled brother wouldn’t stop spouting racist shit.

Stop with bullshit “everyone to my right is Nazi” stuff. You don’t know anything and it helps no one.

Hi! Nothing in your short post was offensive or stupid so I apologize for the wall of text I’m going to dump on you. And I’ll caveat what I’m about to say with “People find ways to be clever in all kinds of situations, so you’re even kind of right.” But…

I’m going to take a stand, on a very subjective topic, and say loudly; No, Trolling is not an art form. I hate this fucking take. Trolling takes all kinds of forms but its unifying element is to make other people ‘upset’. Sometimes mad. Sometimes sad. Sometimes confused. Sometimes depressed. You know what else does that? Existing at all in this fucking ghastly, unjust, terrible world. People start pissed off, and Trolls dog pile on and take credit. Trolling is art in the same way painting a freshly painted white wall in more white is fucking art- you accomplished fuck all.

Being kind is fucking art. More than art it’s fucking design, and craft and construction. Making someone happy. Hopeful. Joyous. Inspired. That takes fucking art. It takes hard work, sometimes sacrifice, and always intellect. And you have to do it in direct defiance of the whole fucking world.

I had a good friend who isn’t usually very politically engaged (we’re Canadian and he leans Conservative) text me this story. Along with the following:

“Wow. I know Trump gets away with a lot of shit, you told me ICE is arresting innocent people every day, but this shit is atrocious. No way conservatives let this slide…”

Oh sweet summer child…

This is an untrue statistic often trotted out by the Conservative Frasier Institute. Canadians think we’re taxed far more than we are, because public opinion has been manipulated to believe so. Average Canadian pays about one third of income to taxes - creeping up as you move up taxes brackets

The article specifically says she came here legally and was in the process of obtaining permanent residency - a lengthy process.

Canadian immigration policy in the wake of Covid was reactionary and a mistake, as has been acknowledged by the people who put it in place. Relaxing temporary worker and student visa requirements allowed companies and universities to exploit the government’s panic over Covid reconstruction.

But this video is gross for a bunch of unrelated reasons. It’s racially charged. It’s dishonest. It’s propaganda from foreign money.

I understand the impulse to try and pull the conversation back to a substantial policy discussion- that conversation is harder and therefore feels more important- but that’s not actually the topic of this post. I think there’s value in everyone recognizing and taking time to denounce that gross racists are trying to manipulate Canadians with the one-two punch of racism and AI Slop.

Despite what I believe to be good intentions on your part, I would say that bringing up that more substantial and honest issue in reference to this video actually unintentionally lends them credibility they have absolutely not earned. Don’t let your impulse to discuss more important issues inadvertently let someone claim this video is actually “about” anything real. Your seriousness, admirable as it is, shouldn’t provide cover to these buffoons.

A BBQ with friends, after sleeping in late - the good life. Happy Canada Day.

Patriotism is a tricky thing in the modern world. Swirling nationalism and co-opted symbols abound. Always remember that loving your country is about knowing she can be more than she is, more than she was, but also appreciating her today.

There’s all kinds of bad news, and worse people, out there. Tough times for a lot of our neighbours. But we’re free. To worship as we choose, be who we are, love who we choose, go where we want and say what we like. It’s a rarer and rarer thing today. So let’s celebrate. Raise a glass, a fist or your voice and cheer on this great nation. Go Canada!

It’s amazing how well these guys map onto regular old narcissistic behaviour.

My mother always always said calling me “shithead” growing up was a “term of endearment”. It was her favourite “joke”.

This is a woman who calls me “cruel” “mean” and “selfish” whenever I call her on her bullshit. Who can’t see her grandson any more because she said horrible shit to my brother about his wife including calling her an “unfit mother”. She never, to my knowledge, used the word “nasty” but it would fit.

Fuck off Trump, fuck off Trump’s lackeys. You aren’t important, we’re not paying attention by choice. You’re just loud and exhausting. Eventually people cut you loose.

So here’s a dumb Puzzle Fighter story. When I was 18, many years ago now, my girlfriend at the time, my best friend and his girlfriend at the time went camping near a little lakeside resort town.

It was the last day of our trip, we’d been extremely frugal and so we all still had some spending money left. The girls wanted to go clothes shopping, my buddy and I weren’t as interested in that but we’re trying to be cool so we tagged along. Except, on a covered section of boardwalk we passed a 2-player Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo machine. The girls just left us behind, laughing that the boardwalk was a straight line and we could catch up.

3 hours later, we were both broke and my buddy had to borrow gas money from his girlfriend to get us home. The girls had ducked into a little café and also lost track of time. That was a 50 cent machine and we must have put over 50 bucks a piece into it. We just stood there, getting better and better in perfect lockstep, trading wins and getting more competitive for an entire afternoon, oblivious to the whole world.

That was a great trip. God, nostalgia like that makes me feel old.

The thing is, actual capitalist theory suggests it wouldn’t “cut out” bloodsuckers at all. It would force them to compete but they would survive, presumably just fine.

A public option is definitely a socialist platform, but unless the government stores are allowed to operate at a loss indefinitely, supplemented by tax dollars, they pose NO real threat to those businesses, only to greedy gouging.

I keep seeing headlines and links to substacks regarding this particular theory and while there’s some smoke - I remain unconvinced.

The timing of Leo’s purchase of that company is suspect. Pushing an uncertified update is suspect. The oddities in the numbers are suspect.

But no one has connected the dots in a satisfying way and that no one had pointed to what steps could be taken to verify suspicions. It feels half-baked. I would love to try and believe that more Americans voted for Kamala, but only for a “faith in humanity” kind of way. Proving widespread fraud feels a long way off.

The truth doesn’t really matter. Israel will get their war, and the US will lumber into it behind them.

What’s crazy to me is apparently the US has become so polarized, so used to division that pointing out Israel is acting like bloodthirsty psychos is somehow supporting Iran, or Hamas before that. It’s like their whole culture has evaporated any nuance at all. Only diametrically opposed good and evil battling forever. Professional wrestling stories with Heels and Faces divided by clear black lines.

I believe the old adage is that a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich. It’ll be interesting to see what steps are taken to either turn the inevitable trial into either a political stage show, or a black box tribunal. If they think they can spin it hard enough that their propaganda machine can make this woman look like she did something wrong, we’ll get that option. And I think that’s most likely, since it’s black woman and attacking her will be easy to get the base onboard for. But if they claim its all “national security” issues and refuse to have any press attention, we’ll know they have less than nothing.

Either way, anyone paying attention saw the original footage last month knows these people did nothing wrong.

I’m going to get darker than is probably warranted for a moment, and just ask, how are none of these authoritarian shitbags not dead already? I know stochastic terrorism is primarily a right-winger trait, but no type of human ugliness is universal to just one side of the aisle. You’d think more people would be taking a crack at Stephen Miller, Russ Vought, Pam Bondi and the other ghouls.

If you’ll forgive the cliche “Adulthood is realizing that Cheese is expensive and SO many people are on cocaine”.