Ireland is a special case here. Not that the population wouldn’t be willing to vote in some extremists, but they may actually be unable. Ireland’s voting system, the single transferable vote, almost guarantees a regression to centrist parties. It would take a change in our Constitution to move allow extremist parties to gain any political power, and given our history and existing political culture, the easiest way to achieve that would indeed be a direct military intervention.
But of course it’s happening here, but at least where I’m sitting, there is an overwhelming rejection of this “bullshittery”. Here in Ireland we have small fringe nationalistic parties, which so far only faced outright ridicule, even though recently I heard about outright hostility (a group of such nutcases was beaten up and stripped to their underwear). We are facing political and financial pressures from the US, and so far we dispatched with them fairly easily. And even though our government’s incompetence invites the more radical groups, I’m fully convinced that it won’t happen here, unless we’re directly invaded.
The US used to export its culture, and people were eating it up. But I actually see an uptick in appreciation of local culture in Europe. As you said, there is lots of external financing to push American culture across the world, but I think that this is just a reaction to people not consuming as much of it as before. I see that here in Ireland as well. So far, we’ve rejected most of it (especially the American religious nutcases who tried to influence our abortion referendum), but it’s a constant struggle.
By “alien”, I didn’t mean any negative connotations. I meant that I don’t understand it. Ugandan or Japanese cultures, for example, are alien to me, because I don’t understand their nuances and can’t be bothered to learn them. The US, with its proud European “descendants” (so many people claim to be European even though they are the third generation to never set foot in Europe), used to be at least understandable, but it’s shifting towards something where I no longer understand how people think or what motives drive them.
Banned from r/worldnews for “racism” (said that the Russian elites have been committing social and moral degradation for centuries, by killing, imprisoning or exiling anyone with independent thoughts). Banned from numerous subreddits for “participating in a hate subreddit” (correcting someone once in r/KotakuInAction).
My silver lining about Kirk: before he got shot, I didn’t even know he existed. After he got shot, I read up on him and his statements. The amount of bullshit he spewed and the amount of people who believed or liked him helped me understand the US better. And to realise that culturally, the US is so diverging from Europe that we should no longer treat it as our offshoot, but an entirely different (and increasingly alien) culture.
Anything that doesn’t require hand-eye coordination. This is not due to age; I just always sucked at that. So, turn-based strategies (Civilization, Heroes of Might and Magic, Panzer General) and RPGs with turn-based combat (Might and Magic, Wizardry, SSI Gold and Silver Box games), or the combination of both genres (UFO: Enemy Unknown, Jagged Alliance). Come think of, none of those should require a lot of HDD space anyway.
I stopped buying new games when physical discs went the way of the Dodo. I have plenty of older games that would keep me entertained till I die (I think I won’t even get to finish most of them), so I don’t have a direct stake in this discussion.
Just wanted to say it amazes me when I read here how big games have gotten. I still sometimes get surprised at Word documents that wouldn’t fit on a floppy anymore. And I remember running Civ 2 from an external Zip disc because I didn’t have the space on my HDD ( the game came on a single CD). It was a bitch waiting for the advisors to load from what was essentially a 100MB floppy connected through a parallel port. But I digress. The point is, anything that wouldn’t fit on a DVD is absolutely unfathomable for me, and you people are talking about 100GB+ games here…
I don’t care about raw milk or blueberries, but that upvote counter confused the hell out of me. I spent way too much time trying to figure out when I upvoted the image.
Mint, and I’ll stay with mint. Perhaps I’m not a good Linux user material, but I just want something that works and doesn’t get into the way. You know: a reliable, unobtrusive operating system.
Smith is an awesome ensemble actor. He has great chemistry with his co-stars in buddy movies, be it MIB, Bad Boys, Hitch or even Independence Day. As Fresh Prince, he had a whole cast to play off. But he can’t carry a movie where he’s the only star. It becomes evident that he doesn’t have the range, and his attempts to act come across as forced. I think people already realised it and are avoiding such movies. The Bad Boys franchise proves that he’s still a bankable co-star, and hopefully he’ll accept that position in his future work, rather than soloing vanity movies.
I’m turning 50 soon, and almost all of this hits close to home. Almost all. My media consumption is as it’s always been: new books all the time. But also no TV, and I know all about a given movie from reading a few reviews, not actually watching it.
Only a nominated candidate can run for President, and nominations are given by a minimum of 20 sitting members of parliament (both chambers) or at least 4 city or county councils. Backing McGregor’s candidature would be a political suicide, so he won’t even get to run.
I have two alarm clocks set up. One on mu bedside table to wake up, and one in my home office to go to bed.
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I’ve driven cross-country in the US to visit various national and state parks numerous times, but always alone. So, this may not apply, but two things helped me tremendously:
Bonus: Little or no technology. I did my trips when all we had was a road atlas and music tapes. Still ended up listening to the lical talk radios along the way. Would do the same even now.
Lost my virginity when I was 38. I simply viewed (and still view) sex as the ultimate expression of love, and it took me 38 years to fall in love with someone. She was in the same situation, only a few years younger. We’ve been happily married for a long time, and we still view sex the same way.
From my personal experience, the 3rd spaces is a huge thing. I’ve met my wife in such a space, and pre-Covid I’ve run a large Meetup group that focused on safe socialization (dinners, cinemas, hiking, art events). I’ve seen countless of hookups and dozens of marriages within that group. Covid pretty much killed Meetup groups on our area, so when we want to socialize all that’s left are pubs and clubs, and there I only see single-gender groups with no overlap. I doubt anyone is getting laid, and even if they do, chances of a meaningful relationship before actually knowing each other’s likes and dislikes, and common interests, are minimal.
Encourage decentralisation and self-sufficiency. Produce and consume more locally. I think residential solar is a good start, as it may lead to reduction in overseas shipping for LNG, oil and coal. Small farms and workshops for daily necessities or repairs will further reduce need for commercial transportation. Work from home or encouraging local offices instead of corporate campuses will spread the population, make local businesses more viable, and reduce personal transportation.
All these encouragements should be done via tax credits or subsidies, so vote for parties who’d deliver those.
When I moved in my new build in my estate, the rules were 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling. That was 10 years ago. Then they built apartment houses, but even though the planning permission specified 1.5 spaces per dwelling, new DCC rules allowed the builders to lower it to 0.5 parking spaces per dwelling. Now, we have cars clogging the footpaths, and house owners started installing parking bollards in their spaces as others tend to park there.
I personally don’t care much for driving. I run commute to work, and it takes me less time than driving or taking the bus. But many people are not so fortunate, and taking away their ability to use a car, while ignoring cycle infrastructure and more efficient public transport will just create frustration and resentment.