site banner
PaperclipPerfector  20d ago (text post)   1561 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 2, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

The tax man always gets his due:

In 1987, the Kansas Legislature passed laws imposing an excise tax on the illegal possession and/or distribution of marijuana and controlled substances. The laws state that any person who illegally possesses and/or distributes these substances in quantities exceeding a threshold amount is a “drug dealer.” The threshold amount is designed to avoid taxing the casual user of these substances. The tax must be paid by the “dealer” by purchasing the proper amount of drug tax stamps from the Kansas Department of Revenue and then affixing them to the packaging of the illegal drugs as proof of payment of the tax as soon as the “dealer” comes into possession of the illegal substance(s). The stamps may be purchased anonymously at the Department’s Taxpayer Assistance Center in Topeka. The stamps are valid for three months after purchase. A “dealer” is not required to give his/her name or address when purchasing stamps and the Department is prohibited from sharing any information about the stamp purchased with law enforcement or anyone else. Purchasing the drug tax stamps does not make possession of marijuana or controlled substances legal.

https://www.ksrevenue.gov/abcdrugtaxinfo.html

What's the amount of drug dealers who are paying these taxes? I'm betting it's lower than the lizardman constant.

I can only assume it's to make it easier to charge suspects when there isn't enough evidence for anything else.

Happy May the Fourth! Here’s a scene Grok wrote for me from Galen Erso, architect of the Death Star, in the style of (and with the morals of) Ayn Rand. I made a few tweaks here and there for accuracy and to emphasize certain points. May the Force be with you.

My mind is my own, and no force in the galaxy can claim it. The Empire, with its blasters and its threats, its bureaucrats and its banners, believes it can chain a man’s reason to its will. They took my body, dragged me from Lah’mu’s quiet fields, murdered Lyra, and held Jyn’s shadow over me like a blade. They thought they could seize my intellect, bend it to their machine of death. Fools. They do not understand the nature of a mind that creates. They cannot fathom the fire that burns in a man who knows his own worth. I am Galen Erso, and my mind is not theirs to command—it is mine, inviolate, eternal.

In the sterile halls of Eadu, surrounded by the timid and the compromised, I labored under their gaze. They demanded a weapon, a Death Star, a monument to their collectivist nightmare—a machine to crush the individual beneath the weight of fear. They could have built it without me eventually, with blood-thirsty sycophants managing the output of scientific minds cowed by fear. They thought my equations, my crystals, my genius would serve their purpose more quickly, and they were right.

But purpose is not theirs to dictate. Purpose is the province of the creator, the man who thinks, who dares to see beyond the violent herd’s clamor. They gave me kyber, the heart of the stars, and expected me to forge a club for their brutality. Instead, I wove a trap. In the reactor’s core, I hid my truth: a single exhaust port, unshielded, able to cause reactor overpressure; a whisper of defiance that could bring their monstrosity crashing down. This was not sabotage—it was justice. It was the assertion of my right to create, to define the terms of my work, to refuse their perversion of my mind’s fire.

Let them parade their TIE fighters and their Moffs. Let Krennic strut with his cape and his lies. They are nothing—parasites who produce no value, who exist only to steal the creations of better men. I saw their world, a galaxy of gray submission, where the individual is ground to dust for the sake of their “order.”

I will not kneel. I will not let my work, my reason, my life’s essence, be twisted into their instrument of enslavement. The flaw I built is my signature, my declaration that no man’s mind can be forced to betray itself. If the Rebellion finds it, if Jyn carries my spark, they will strike the blow I could not. And when the Death Star burns, it will be my mind—free, unbowed, triumphant—that lights the flame.

They thought they could break me with threats, with loss. But a man who knows his own value cannot be broken. My love for Lyra, for Jyn, is not their weapon—it is my strength, my reason to fight. I am no martyr, no sacrificial lamb for their altar. I am a creator, and I have chosen my stand. The Empire may take my life, but they will never take my soul. In that reactor flaw, I have carved my freedom, my truth, my self. Let them build their empires on the ashes of others. I have built my own monument, and it will outlast them all.

Its' been a while since I've read Atlas Shrugged, but I don't think this mimics Rand's writing style particularly well.

It’s more along the general theme of Galt’s pirate radio speech in Atlas Shrugged.

People keep complaining that people are worried about AI causing human extinction are not carrying out terrorism. But maybe they already have. There is a conspiracy theory that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed because a government wanted to kill Freescale Semiconductor staff. But maybe the Butlerian Jihad wanted to kill Freescale Semiconductor staff.

Has freescale semiconductor done anything of note in the past 20 years?

Four years ago I bought a bounce house. A proper commercial grade bounce house. It's shaped like a pirate ship, 35 ft long, 15 ft wide, has a poop deck, a slide, a mast that can be climbed up, and a bunch of fake cannons.

I paid $1000 to get it used off craigslist, and it's the best investment I've ever made.

I've got 4 young kids: 7, 4, 3, and 2 years old. Right now, they're all jumping around and getting their energy out and happy to play together without daddy. It gives me a chance to cook dinner and write this real quick note. And they'll actually sleep tonight :)

I'm not gonna lie. I'm a 40 year old adult and that sounds awesome. It sounds like it was well worth the cost!

It's a blast for the adults too! We occasionally play a game called "hurricane" where I jump cannonballs onto the roof/walls and shake the ship from the outside. 30 minutes of that is a full body workout better than anything I've ever done at the gym... I'll be sore for days after...

When we need to clean it, I'll throw a gallon of bubble juice in. There's air leaking out through seams all over (this is intentionally how they are designed), and this leads to instant bubbles everywhere. Like 3 foot high foam pits covering the floor.

I feel like buying it for your 4 young kids is a bit different from buying it for yourself as a 40-yr-old though...

Agreed, buying it for yourself as a 40-year-old adult is infinitely more based.

XD

How do you handle it logistically? Do you leave it inflated all season? Seems like it would need to be rolled and stored somewhere dry if not inflated, but running the pump 24/7 seems inefficient and noisy. But something that large has to be heavy as hell to move back and forth frequently.

The thing weighs ~500 pounds. (The box it came in says 900lbs, but that includes a trolley and blower.) I can move it by myself, but only barely, and it takes about an hour to pack/unpack. So it mostly stays in the backyard and I use a tarp to cover it when its deflated and not in use. During the hottest months of the summer I usually put it in the garage to make a bit more space in the backyard to play.

We once had a rat eat a giant hole in the bounce house (1 square foot, plus a lot of smaller punctures). Surprisingly, it still stays pretty well inflated with the hole, but it was an easy patch job.

I also have the blower setup about 50 feet away from the bounce house and use ducting to move the air from the blower to the bounce house. It makes the operation essentially silent.

Furries annoying everyone as usual: https://www.loweringthebar.net/2025/04/dragon-lawyer-files-complaint-with-cartoon-dragon.html

Maybe he was confused about what the "scales of justice" were.

..wait, you sure this is furries? I thought dragons were still a fairly generic sort of fantasy animal.

I believe dragons technically are scalies, not furries.

Playstation 2 emulators have become brutal. I have been playing the 2005 God Of War - the game is even better. Played on massive resolution, with quick save and load. Splendid.

God of war and God of war 2 are quintessential Playstation 2 games. Heretical and blasphemous but I enjoyed both as a child.

Some other titles I remember from Playstation 2:

  • Smack down vs Raw 2009, 2010, 2011

  • Midnightclub 3 sub edition

  • gta san andreas

  • fifa 07, 08, 09

  • Tekken 5

  • bully

  • Mafia

We'd play a lot of pro wrestling games because they had a good multi-player co-op thing. Shooters don't work well with joysticks. Playstation 2 was peak gaming. I think it's still the highest selling console ever. May have forgotten quite a few titles.

How can you both be heretical and blasphemous? Kratos didn't touch any Hindu gods yet.

I respect people who worship their ancestors, Zeus isn't in the Hindu pantheon but I still feel a little icky seeing religious things in games. Had he been agaisnt Jesus or Moses, I'd have written the same.

I really did enjoy the games though, imo god of war games were quite fun till the third. Dmc was never popular here so gow was the most popular melee combat game.

David Jaffe, who is from my hometown, overdid the edginess on the twisted metal games, which I treated as absolutely rental tier ~25 years when that was a way to encounter new games. Original God of War didn't impress me quickly enough, I figured people were into it for tits that snuck past the ratings.

Even the ancient greeks acknowledged that Zeus was something of a cunt, what with constantly cheating on his wife by raping women and all the other petty stuff greek gods got up to.

Ancient Greeks had a different ethical system, what seems immoral to us may not to them etc.

You're confusing how Greeks (or any polytheistic people) related to their gods in public and private worship with their tolerance of and actual belief in particular mythological story. The people who would disparage Zeus and emphasize the particular myths about him turning into an animal and raping this or that woman or boy were the atheists of their time. This was useful for others- Christians, semi- or flat out proselytizing Jews, and various mystery cultists. Guaranteed to be preserved, in the same way that if every computer is fried, and most libraries burn, 1000 years from now there might be a classic book by Obadiah the Amish Guy talking shit and owning the Atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens with cheap shots.

The actual practice of worship in much of the antique pagan west would focus on the particular city gods, heroes if Greek, lares and penates (household spirits and ancestors) if Roman, schedule and luck or misfortune based on who was worshipped how by whom last year.

I, as a Christian, have a particular stake in Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the Virgin Mary and raised by her and her husband Joseph, being crucified and dying for my sins and resurrecting Himself 3 days later, roughly 1993 years ago in the vicinity of Jerusalem. I take, and as a matter of church council all Christians take, a particular level of literalism in interpreting that the events in the New Testament happened as a matter of history.

He does not have particular obligations in belief as a generic Hindu beyond some system of karma and dharma, but might have more specific beliefs on personal particulars, but he isn't bound to believe every stupid myth some asshole made up last year about his own gods and those of his ancestors. Nor is he necessarily bound to particular interpretations or literalism. For many Hindus it's a buffet of belief choices, not hard and fixed catechisms.

As a Christian American I take the Resurrection on Easter as more factually reliable and real and important than whether the Continental Congress actually did anything on July 4, 1776.

Not trying to put words in his mouth, he could say the entire Mahabharata and associated composition traditions are historical fact and he certainly wouldn't be alone.

Not exactly how religiosity here works, but I do appreciate the effort you took to lay this out. My current religious beliefs, on a personal level, are based on the spiritual path I walk, Kashmir Shaivism famously disavows many Hindu Scriptures.

Still, I do agree largely with what you wrote as to how many think of religious concepts, which is why I do not like media that eggs on religious beliefs.

Hinduism is based on cannons and your guru is your cannon, so there is no emphasis on a singular book, the advait vedantins are different from Shaivs who are different from Smartas and various subsects of Vaishnavs.

He does not have particular obligations in belief as a generic Hindu beyond some system of karma and dharma, but might have more specific beliefs on personal particulars, but he isn't bound to believe every stupid myth some asshole made up last year about his own gods and those of his ancestors. Nor is he necessarily bound to particular interpretations or literalism. For many Hindus it's a buffet of belief choices, not hard and fixed catechisms.

Yep

Not trying to put words in his mouth, he could say the entire Mahabharata and associated composition traditions are historical fact and he certainly wouldn't be alone.

Oh yeah. Kashmir Shaivism clicked with me because its the most esoteric practice-based spiritual path that does not care much about evolution, history or any kind of science as religious experiences; therefore, it is nearly dead as every religion needs schelling points. Christians should and do defend their religious beliefs, which is the way. I may not believe them, but I don't want games to desecrate holy things. I enjoyed the games, but I cannot in good faith ever say that without mentioning that it has pointless edginess.

A petty correction re: "media that eggs on religious beliefs"

To "egg on" is to encourage a person to do something to their detriment. If I said "I think you could beat up that silverback gorilla, jump into the pit, thump your chest and smile to let him know you mean business" that would be me egging you on.

I think you've conflated this with the modern phenomenon of "egging", similar to "TPing"- in which obnoxious adolescents throw locally cheap (to them) material at a house or onto a tree as low effort vandalism.

Brain fade there, thanks for the correction.

Weren't they "always" pretty good? I remember playing Persona 3 and 4 on emulators 15 years ago. Good times.

In looking at your real property that was originally laid out over a century ago, have you ever noticed that it appears to be composed of a zillion super-narrow lots? (For example, my mother's house sits on a 100×112.5 rectangle of land that is composed of four 25×112.5 strips.) Well, here's a fun fact: If multiple lots that are not compliant with the current zoning code fall under common ownership, and merging them would create a compliant lot, then under the "doctrine of merger" those lots immediately merge with each other! (Under my mother's local zoning code, the minimum lot width is 40 feet, so her property presumably has merged into two 50×112.5 lots… is what I was going to say, but apparently the zoning code was thoroughly amended since the last time I checked it, and the minimum lot width has been reduced from 40 feet back down to 25 feet. Can lots merge and then de-merge? I don't know.)

Court opinion:

  • Gary owns adjacent lots 9 (125 feet wide) and 16 (50 feet wide). Lot 9 bears a house, while lot 16 bears some accessory buildings. The minimum lot width in this zone is 100 feet.

  • Gary dies, and his estate sells lot 16 to Jerome, who wants to build a house on it. The purchase contract is conditional on Jerome's obtaining a building permit, but Jerome waives the condition. Jerome is warned by the title company before purchase, and by the zoning officer after purchase, that the lots may have merged, but he ignores the warnings.

  • Jerome applies for a building permit, but the application is denied because lot 16 has merged into lot 9. He applies for a variance allowing him to build on a 50-foot-wide lot, but the application is denied because lot 16 no longer exists, so there's no 50-foot-wide lot to which the variance would apply. He sues the municipal government, but the trial judge rejects his arguments, and the appeals panel affirms.

Court opinion:

  • Richard owns two lots that are positioned back-to-back, facing different streets. Lot 2 is 50×125 with a house, while lot 6 is 50×95 with a garage. Under the local zoning code, minimum dimensions are 75×100, but there's also a grandfather clause for existing 50×75 lots.

  • Richard wants to replace the garage on lot 6 with a new house. But he is dismayed to learn that the municipal government considers the two lots to have merged. After the govt. rejects his applications for subdivision and variances, he sues.

  • The trial judge reverses the municipal govt.'s determination that the lots have merged, and the appeals panel affirms. The existing lots are compliant with the zoning code's grandfather clause, so the doctrine of merger is not applicable. And, if there were no grandfather clause, a 50×220 merged lot would be just as nonconforming as the existing lots, so the doctrine of merger still would not apply.

I was once strongly tempted to go into title insurance because I Fucking Love Maps and History and I'm kinda interested in Laws but I'm not lawyer material. This is one of those moments where I wonder if I could have saved a lot of grief or would have been ignored.

I used to practice title law, and while I mostly did oil and gas, I did an odd residential title here and there. Most policies, at least in Pennsylvania, specifically exclude any issues relating to zoning. There's already enough courthouse work relying on state law. Doing zoning would require us to know and understand the zoning codes for every municipality we dealt with and do in-person inspections to ensure compliance as well as an investigation into whether any nonconformities have been excused. I'm surprised the carrier caught this in the first place.

Jerome applies for a building permit, but the application is denied because lot 16 has merged into lot 9. He applies for a variance allowing him to build on a 50-foot-wide lot, but the application is denied because lot 16 no longer exists, so there's no 50-foot-wide lot to which the variance would apply. He sues the municipal government, but the trial judge rejects his arguments, and the appeals panel affirms.

So... What did he buy if the lot no longer exists? Is this a "no refunds" type of situation?

So... What did he buy if the lot no longer exists?

The municipal govt. could have sued to cancel the sale of lot 16 and enforce the merger within two years after the sale, but it did not do so. Therefore, I think the illegal subdivision stands: Jerome now owns a not-properly-subdivided portion of lot 9, and neither he nor the owner of the other portion can get permits to build anything until the two portions of lot 9 are reunited. (But I'm not a lawyer, so I may be wrong.)

Is this a "no refunds" type of situation?

Jerome did also sue his closing attorney for failing to notify him of the merger issue. That lawsuit was settled out of court.

Oblivion Remastered:

Still playing this, a bit every day. Haven't played any Cyberpunk or anything else. It's a bit shallow and generic, but even so it always feels like a decent way to spend some time.

I'm almost level 15, and I've reached 75 in Destruction. I can sling some pretty sick spells now. I'm in the process of joining the Mages Guild. Got a few recommendations done, still a few to go. Mostly trivial quests, but they need doing. I've been fighting in the Arena and slaying a dozen fools or so. Most of those fights have been too easy. I turned the difficulty down from 4/5 to 3/5 a while ago though, so that's partly why. And I'm using the mod Ascension Remastered which tones down some of the "world revolves around player character" factors. And a Reshade preset to bring some vividness back into this game, after some color-grader was let loose on this release of the game. And the Ultra Plus mod to enable Ray Reconstruction and some other things. Recommended!

The people of Cyrodil no longer greet me with vaguely racist ash related comments (Dunmer), instead sometimes being positive or complimenting my Intelligence attribute. :)

Exploring the south today. Bravil and Leyyawin areas. Walked down there from the Imperial City. Found Hircine's Shrine, a grove with a white unicorn guarded by four minotaurs (I left them alone for now), Sheogorath's shrine, and some other things. It's beautiful down there: https://i.ibb.co/sp6PzkPQ/oblivion-south.jpg

It's a bit ironic that they managed at the same time significantly improve the graphics but also not fix the biggest problem with the landscape which is that the ground sharply alternates between being completely smooth dirt and patches of grass.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1903340/

A French JRPG with French themes made by French Frenchmen from France. I find the premise strangely appealing, ridiculous as it seems when spelled out. I saw the prologue (in French, obivously) and thought "damn, I want to know how it continues". Notably though, the setting and plot are pretty much all I'm interested in. I can't stand JRPGs for the gameplay. Not sure if I want to get into those weeds. Weebs. Weebweeds. That said, this would be just the thing for reactivating my French in anticipation of a visitor I'll host later this Month. But at 30-45€ (depending on where I might get it from), the price is pretty steep. Believe it or not, but I pretty much learned fluent French by playing fully voice-acted text-heavy games in French, many years ago.

The premise, by the way, is that the world has ended 67 years ago, all that's left is a slice of Paris stuck in an ocean, and since then the maximum age for humans has been lowered by one year every year, it's now the year 33, everyone's and the end of their rope one way or another, expeditions have been sent out yearly to try and remedy the situation but so far none have achieved anything. Hence Expedition 33, staffed primarily with 33-year-olds who donate the last year of their lives to giving humanity (or Parisians, anyways) a fighting chance at survival.

It's moving stuff. The game starts of with the festival of erasure, where everyone says goodbye to the 34-year-olds, last gifts are exhanged, some drink, some fuck, some hide, and then all gather to observe as the maximum age gets lowered and their friends, mothers, ex-girlfriends, fathers, brothers, and possibly themselves die on the spot. Newly-made orphans are escorted to orphanages, life continues, at least for the time being.

Above all, it's French. And since I can't stand French filmmaking, French gaming is pretty much the only media I sometimes enjoy in which I can hear French people talk. I'm still debating whether or not that's worth playing a JRPG for, though.

I'll second this. I'm enjoying the game. It offers up the feeling of the Final Fantasy 7 through 10 era of JRPGs without feeling derivative. I've always enjoyed Super Mario RPG style "quick time event" turn battles and am happy to see the mechanic again. The music is great, the visuals are great, the writing is great. I don't totally love the level design but it's not bad, just not my preferred style.

Culture war angle?

I am also enjoying everyone's attempts at naming the putative subgenre. My favorites so far are "Je RPG" and "Final Francetasy."

Believe it or not, but I pretty much learned fluent French by playing fully voice-acted text-heavy games in French, many years ago.

Strongly believe that, and I think back on reddit CWR there was some discussion of individual substantially higher written English fluency as a direct result from getting into 90s unvoiced pokemon (translated into English) with no alternate translation, so just diving into text, sometimes translation dictionary, but lots of grinding, as opposed to classroom or tv/film osmosis

I'm enjoying it quite a lot. The writing has been really good, the graphics are well done (and the art style is beautiful), the music is good... the game really just fires on all cylinders. The only complaint I've had thus far is that the enemies can sometimes be overly damaging if you don't pull off the dodge/parry, but for the most part that has been reasonable. You spend more time healing up if you miss dodges and the like, but it's doable. Thanks @Silverdawn for the strong recommendation to play despite my misgivings!

The only complaint I've had thus far is that the enemies can sometimes be overly damaging if you don't pull off the dodge/parry, but for the most part that has been reasonable.

Dodging has a more generous window than parrying, for what it's worth. It's helpful when studying enemy attack patterns.

It's true. But I would say the primary difficulty (for me) isn't hitting the parry correctly, it's when the attack makes you think it's about to fall but then hangs in the air for another 2s and hits you when you're recovering from the animation. I find dodges equally susceptible to that problem.

Also to be honest my gripe is that the very damaging attacks exist in the first place. I don't like Dark Souls and don't want it in my JRPG. The places where it creeps in have been few thus far, but every time it's been a bummer for that reason.

The only complaint I've had thus far is that the enemies can sometimes be overly damaging if you don't pull off the dodge/parry

Later you can make builds that rely less on this, but I found it helpful to know that one of the main developers is a Sekiro speed runner - the game is 100% designed around the realtime inputs. Once you give up and embrace that (and get gud) it becomes more enjoyable.

At least, that's the process I went through.

There are several passives that guaranties shields and a few abilities. Some characters can be specced with as much DEF as possible and shrug most damage, looking at you, Maelle. I don't think you can outheal any fight, but if you select enemies at appropriate level (and not try to kill Sprong at level 33) you can just play more or less like normal JRPG after some point in act1.

Hey, we just got that too! Absolutely gorgeous game, and I really want to see where the plot goes, especially with the hints about how maybe this isn't what the Paintress and her minions want to be doing but they don't know how to change course. But oh man, JRPG gameplay is a slog, even on the lowest difficulty setting.

Ironically, it might be more fun on the highest difficulty setting. I haven't compared how quickly the enemies die, but defenses-wise you're gonna have to dodge/parry a whole lot more, so that's something to do at least instead of just mindlessly sending attacks.

I can't stand French filmmaking

Have you ever seen Le Samouraï?

I have not. Will take a note to do so.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats