Thanks! My search was too cursory, it seems.

Is that a LAW? Never heard it called an M-80. Or is this some other ordnance I’m unfamiliar with?

I wouldn’t say that. But I do think 90% of society probably isn’t worth interacting with through the medium of current social media.

I agree that it’s only really the low-information undecided voters who will be swayed by a bad debate performance. Happily, we still have 5 months until the election, and I doubt that many people will be thinking about this by the time they get to the ballot box.

I used to live in GA, and there was a one-way street that google maps was constantly telling me to turn the wrong direction onto. It really bugs me that I switched to Waze because it was better than google maps, then google just bought them. Long past time to bring antitrust suits against big tech. At least we have an FTC chair at the moment who’s trying to make some progress.

I’m pretty sure it’s a big truck, that you can just dump things on.

Maybe not directly, but if those who are running for office are held to a higher standard of truth, it’s going to reduce the sphere of influence of Farage and others like him, who deal almost exclusively in falsehoods. He won’t be able to get these people to come on his podcast, or whatever platform he has, and agree with his lies if they’re afraid of being held liable for it. He’d be pushed out of the mainstream political sphere.

I picked up “Yakuza 0” on sale not too long ago, and I’m enjoying it so much that I picked up the rest of the remastered series while it was on sale. Based on how long I’m spending mucking around in the first one, It may take me the rest of my life to get through them all. I don’t know how “Like a Dragon” compares to the earlier games, but I really enjoy the narrative, combat, sub-stories, and mini-games in “0”.

As an aside, I really enjoy a well-done pool mini-game. I probably spent more time playing pool in the various space stations in “Rebel Galaxy Outlaw” than doing anything else. Likewise, Kiryu spends a lot of time in the pool hall, as well as hanging around the batting cages, and fine-tuning his pocket racers.

Sorry to take so long to respond! It’s a novel set in a plausible near-future in which existing power structures have been fragmented by the effects of climate change. It follows a handful of disparate characters in the western US, and talks a lot about the water politics of the Colorado river. It’s very well-written (claims random internet guy, but hey—you asked!). Can also recommend The Windup Girl by the same author. Same eco-dystopian timeline, set in Thailand. Delves more into issues surrounding AI and genetic engineering.

That sounds interesting. It looks like you’re right, though; I couldn’t find an English translation, at any rate. Luckily, the search reminded me how much I loved The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, and now I’m planning to hit the bookstore when it opens.

That’s funny. The only thing I ever remember feeling that way about was this insect protein bar I tried maybe 10 years ago. Ok up front, but the aftertaste was just… Well, evil was how I described it. Have yet to try another such product, but that’s mostly because I never see them at my local grocery stores these days.

I definitely knew some NCO’s like that. Luckily never had any contact with the military prison system, outside of pulling a three month rotation doing perimeter security at Abu Ghraib (post-torture scandal). I enlisted mainly to pay for college, but also because I felt guilty about poor grades in high school, and thought I needed discipline and structure (untreated ADHD ftw). 9/11 happened when I was in basic, and things obviously went to shit. Got out after my 4 years as an 11B, 2 of which were spent in Iraq. Went to college, but couldn’t hack it, due to aforementioned ADHD (now with new, improved PTSD!). Came to the conclusion that I wasn’t good for anything else and re-enlisted. Institutionalization is a bitch.

I think that the therapist(s) in this case would have to be AI. The person could be in their own little simulation, experiencing a reality tailored to addressing whatever psychological problems they might have. It’s all science fiction, anyhow. There’s no theoretical, let alone practical basis for this technology afaik.

I mean, setting aside the danger inherent in creating demi-god wizards, there’s no reason they couldn’t do both.

Theoretically, if you had such technology, maybe you could use it to rehabilitate instead of punish. Being able to undergo months or years of therapy in a matter of hours could be extremely beneficial.

You wouldn’t download a baby?!

To supplement the other answer here, Lemmy is home to a (relatively) large community of people who LARP as leftists. They claim exclusive access to the moral high ground, while uncritically parrotting state propaganda from Russia, China, the DPRK, and anyone else who appears to stand against western hegemony. Their sole creed is that the USA is the Great Satan, and obviously anyone who opposes Satan should be heeded. Tribal dipshits that rarely argue in good faith; in behavior, not dissimilar to former residents of r/the_donald.

Hinged seems like a great candidate for a slang term. Like, that guy’s totally hinged. Logically, I would use it for people that seem to have their head on straight, or things that make sense.

No point mentioning these ponies, I thought—the poor bastard’ll see them soon enough.

Good luck in France! I’m still hoping we can turn things around, but I certainly won’t judge you for leaving.