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ActuallyATleilaxuGhola

Axolotl Tank Class of '24

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joined 2022 September 08 09:59:22 UTC 

				
User ID: 1012


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Axolotl Tank Class of '24

				
				
				

				

					1 follower  

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					joined 2022 September 08 09:59:22 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 1012


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 24, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Faster Than Light.  Yes, I'm late to the party.


You're a lone spaceship trying to outrun a massive, constantly advancing enemy space fleet while you must fight random enemies and avoid running out of fuel and ammo.  It's a roguelike so sometimes you just get screwed by RNG.


The best part of the game is the tension during difficult moments.  You are low on fuel and only have a few missiles left, and the enemy fleet is only two jumps behind you.  Suddenly, as you try to jump past a star, a well-armed mercenary ship uncloaks and demands you give up your ship and your crew as slaves.  As you begin to engage, a warning blares across the screen -- the nearby star is unstable! Moments later your ship is hit with a massive solar flare, causing random fires to break on your ship.  Your crew scrambles to put these out, sustaining burns in the process.  Luckily, you've kept your best pilot and gunner away from the fires, but BANG! the merc ship has fired a hull-piercing missile into your ship's bridge which is now rapidly decompressing.  Your pilot attempts to repair the hull breach, but you're not sure he'll be able to fix it before asphyxiating.  You may need to sacrifice a different crew member to perform this repair to have any hope of escape.  You pause the game to consider your options...


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for August 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Started playing Project Highrise.  I was a big fan of SimTower as a kid, and this is the best spiritual successor I've played yet. The mechanics are more interesting and complicated than SimTower which is nice as an adult.  It's very sandboxy, by which I mean the difficulty levels are not scaled -- in easy mode, it feel like you just get infinite free money (even with "infinite money" turned off), where normal and hard actually require you to carefully build a flywheel before you can start building financial momentum.  The different types of tower you can focus on (residential, commerical, hotel, office, mixed use) makes things strategic and rewards multiple playthroughs.


Overall, good value for money if you like sim games.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 18, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Norms only matter insofar as they're supported by a belief in a level playing field.  Outside of boomers and some nothing-ever-happens centrists, both left and right seem to believe that the other side is an existential threat that cannot be stopped within the boundaries of our current norms, and so the shredding will continue at an increasing speed.  At this point, all democratic norms should be considered pre-shredded, they are in a stack next to the shredder waiting their turn. The only reason they have not yet all been shredded is that the shredder operator works with an urgency that is proportional to the amount of political unrest in the U.S., which is currently only at a moderate simmer.


There's no reversing this until either both sides believe the other is acting in good faith, or (IMO) more likely the losing side is shut out from power and the winning side splits into two factions with enough political common ground to trust one another to uphold a new set of norms.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Insurance companies are definitely always hiring tech, but I worry a little about their tech culture being very backwards (e.g. everything tech is "IT", tech is considered a cost center, etc).  But I suppose that's part of the price I might have to pay.  I think I do like teaching, but I haven't done it in years so I'd need to dip my toe back in to see if it's something I would enjoy doing when my livelihood depends on it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Between work and family, I have minimal free time.  It would be nice to have my work and local community closer together.  I am aware that some people want strict separation between work and private life, but I've never really had issues hanging out with colleagues outside of work.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What are some viable career paths in a small american city (~100,000)?


I have experience in tech (ops, presales) but I don't like the fact that I have to work a remote job.  I'd like to be more integrated into the local community.  I've thought of teaching (which I like) or doing some sort of IT work (big pay cut, probably pretty boring).  I'm open to nearly any kind of white-collar work where I can transfer my skills.  In my mid-30s I'm too old for an easy complete career reset.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Great Russian Short Stories.  The Overcoat was good.  After I finish it, I plan to read Always With Honor.  I guess I'm on a Russia kick.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 10, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I just want to put on my grumpy old man hat and say I really hate that the term "glazing" is becoming more common.  From what I understand it's supposed to refer to the shiny "glazed" appearance of something/someone after it has been ejaculated on.  Just a gross mental image, and truly a sign of our sad, porn-brained times.  I suppose this is how my parents felt hearing "this sucks/blows" and why they hated it.  Ah well, back to shaking my fist at the clouds.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 11, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Welcome!   China is often discussed here, but only "from afar," as there seem to be very few people who have visited, and even fewer who can speak the language or have a more than superficial understanding of the current culture. I hope to see you post here frequently to weigh in on these discussions!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 4, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Re. 4: Does public school teach that you should make sacrifices for the common good? Do public school kids have to take a stake in their school by cleaning the classrooms and serve each other lunch?  All I remember is stuff like "ANYONE can be president, even YOU" and "America is great because of freedom to do whatever you want and the right to the pursuit of happiness (cf. "don't yuck my yum," "different strokes," etc.)" I think many Americans underestimate how individualistic America is.  It is alive and well in America.


R. 6, if it was a higher priority there would be more time ensuring basic competency instead of pushing the barely literate out the door with a diploma.


Re 1 & 2, I'm not so sure.  If the daycare function were curtailed (say, only half days or something) I am quite sure that they wouldn't cut half the teaching staff.  Public school employees are heavily entrenched, and they can always trot out thought-terminating expressions like "investing in our future" and "funding education" and "helping people of any class achieve the American dream" or whatever that American voters are seemingly helpless against.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 4, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well, the purpose of a system is what it does.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 4, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I hadn't considered ranking the non-educational motives before.  My guess would be:


    

  1. Jobs program for leftists/women
    2. 

  2. State-funded daycare
    3. 

  3. Progressive indoctrination (racism/sexism/Xism bad)
    4. 

  4. Liberal indoctrination (individualism good)
    5. 

  5. Civnat indoctrination (America good --maybe less true these days)
    6. 

  6. Teaching the 3 Rs (readin', 'ritin', reckonin')
    7. 

  7. Teaching anything else they claim to teach (science, history, art, etc)
    8. 



				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 4, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


No, this is not a specific dig at self_made_human




lol, I made this association before getting halfway through your first paragraph


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
None, just mosey on down to the Leased Territories for some quick outpatient surgery.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


anyone remember them?




They're still a reasonably popular clothing brand in Japan, for some reason.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				An Audio-Book Review of “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis, from the C.S. Lewis Essential Audio Library
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I get something new out of The Abolition of Man and The Great Divorce each time I read them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				An Audio-Book Review of “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis, from the C.S. Lewis Essential Audio Library
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Relevant passage from The Great Divorce, spoken by Lewis's spiritual guide:




“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”




				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think it's a great source to quickly get up to speed on any given hobby or subculture's memes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There are two types of people you will never convince:


    

  • Those who believe they have a vested interest in this not being seen as a conspiracy
    • 

  • Hardcore "nothing ever happens" people
    • 



I really think that, if Epstein were not apparently connected to intelligence, powerful people in government, and were not Jewish, nearly zero people would argue that he killed himself.  There are simply too many "coincidences."  But there are people who like the political status quo (or at least despise the upstarts trying to disrupt the status quo), and there are other people who perceive the emphasis on Epstein's Jewishness/Mossad connections as dangerous to themselves (I have sympathy for this second group).


I don't know what to make of the "nothing ever happens" people.  I have a friend like this, and I gave up talking to them about anything a long time ago.  Any time I bring up some current event, I get some variation of


    

  • "Eh, it'll blow over and everyone will forget in a month."
    • 

  • "Actually it's always been like that."
    • 

  • "I don't think that will actually change much."
    • 

  • "I dunno, that sounds too far-fetched to be true."
    • 

  • "I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.  I can see both sides."
    • 



It's closely related to the "enlightened centrism" meme. These sorts of folks are not "arguing to understand."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Regarding fuddlore and similar, there's a certain type of person who loves to repeat these sorts of shibboleths regardless of whether they're true.  They're a cheap way to signal that you're part of the ingroup and get credibility.  Reddit seems to attract these sorts of people since all you have to do is mindlessly paste the fuddlore (bonus points if you add some passive aggression or irony) and you'll be showered in karma.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Wait until you get to the endgame: pickled sausages.  Pure lard, vinegar, and salt, absolutely nothing redeeming and absolutely delicious.  Bonus points if they come out firecracker red.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
    

  1. <1 km
    2. 

  2. 3km
    3. 

  3. 1km, apples
    4. 

  4. 5km (not Amtrak)
    5. 

  5. 4 km (local equivalent)
    6. 

  6. 220km
    7.