I do co-ed martial arts and it’s not weird.

2 hops this time!

I’m not sure I’m getting the full picture though. The cudgel was like “we can’t run popular ideas, they’re not electable like kinda-republican purple candidates are!”

But then theoretically El-Sayd wins, right? People love Mamdani, they’d love El-Sayd.

Then someone else comes along and campaigns on the idea of trying to make tomorrow better than today instead of the opposite, right?

What’s the Dems’ radical response? “We can’t elect them because they’ll be soft on Islam”? I feel like a Republican is an existential threat. You can’t explain the ratcheting mechanism of a two party system because it’s all nerd shit. But what is Islamaohobia compared to healthcare and gas prices? “We know it’s electable and we know it’ll make life better, but it’s not racist enough”? Seems like a really unraveled response.

But then again, they can’t do something new because politics is nerd shit, people aren’t educating themselves, and dema need to be understood anyway. But what ridiculous spin you’d have to have when people care about treats

I remember being in college, stoned, and believing that black belts radiated a special aura around them. A couple months before my promotion I remember distinctly feeling like I was creating the same sort of dilemma that I used to feel when I went against one.

It turns out that you can simply walk through the door, listen to people explain an esoteric art for long enough, and they’ll give you a symbol of mastery eventually.

If el sayed gets that W then I’m so deeply curious what they’ll say without electability being so easy to flaunt around. They’ve reneged in LGBT, abortion, healthcare, climate change, everything. If it’s popular they don’t like it. If it’s good they don’t like it. Zorhan does stuff like make sure water fountains work and all they can ask is if he likes Israel.

Is there a single thing in the country that Dems are going to do a counteroffensive on that isn’t going to sound completely detached?

+2

But even the companion cube got characterized. The cube futhers the theme of human experimentation. Black Mesa has this central theme in Portal 1 of hosting a sterile science factory. You’re testing the portal gun, after all. It’s actually hilarious that they think a cube is an adequate substitute for connection.

You’d likely have less fun if the companion cube was replaced by Steve who you used to solve puzzles, having clashing perspectives with Glados who talks you through the game. Why is Steve in my puzzles? How does he justify his page screen time? What does he add to this experience?

Being a BJJ black belt is really cool. After over a decade, reaching that goal is a deeply satisfying feeling. I would do things like

Wearing the belt to the restaurant we went to celebrate afterwards

Washing it immediately after use so I could keep it by me

Sleeping next to it

Keeping it at my work station

Holding it when I get anxious

Comparing things in difficulty to getting a black belt

Thinking of things in relative difficulty if 1% of people get it

It’s funny the way I feel accomplished in the sense that I have the thing itself, HAVING a belt, while the people around me celebrate that I HAVE BECOME a black belt.

I feel a sense of liberation and I think that’s how I metabolize being enduringly happy about it. I can go do other sports that I left up on the shelf because there’s an air of completeness. I did that thing that was supposed to be the equivalent of Naruto becoming the hokage. Only thing that’s crazy to think about is that when I first stepped on the mat Luffy wasnt just on his journey too, he was IN THE NEW WORLD ALREADY. The series is unfathomably long

Tried writing that for years. It’s actually much more difficult to write than you’d think. Why are we following the hero? What do they have to do with anything? Everybody is special in some kind of way somewhere. I’ve actually come around and started writing a YA shonen and it’s refreshing.

I recognize those points. You’re arguing against the news. The person is little more than a proxy at that point. I don’t know what to do about it because I struggle to do sales at that level, but I know it has to be some form of pathos. To change hearts and minds you’re not going to win via conversation about the point. There’s some kind of meta-point. There are people for whom this is quite natural, but I’m not them. I’ll debate that point with dogged determination, look up, and see that everyone else has moved on.

It has to be like “Do you feel safe when the police are around?” And then if they offer up their gooey core (which is a massive if) then undoubtedly, because of their good nature, it’s going to be something like “I don’t feel comfortable gambling with the safety of these minorities who spoke out on the news in support of the police.” At which point you’d actually have a ball game to be played. That’s the arena where you could use your theory and change someone’s mind.

I remember talking to my dad about defund the police. His first objection was “well, what would we do instead for emergencies?” And I talked about the other types of responses you could have for emergencies. All well and good right?

His second objection, naturally, was “well, what would we do instead for emergencies.” Weird, but I talked about how they don’t need all the military equipment and its maintenance.

His third objection… “I just don’t see anyone offering any alternatives.”

??? Don’t pmo

But that’s also on me because I can’t go 3 words into anything related to business, politics, or fantasy without people frothing at the mouth about how complex it is to listen to me. I haven’t been asked a follow up question in years and I hear “that’s above my head” dozens of times. I spend a great deal of effort trying to simplify myself everyday but I think it’s exceedingly rare to find anyone open to listen about anything.

And I say that to assert that your experience may not just be liberals listening to a leftist the same way being a loser isn’t just men <-> women, it may just be people in general. They absolutely loathe listening. They’d much rather you appear on their favorite TV show in a suit, bowtie, and thick glasses to make the same point so that they know, through proxy, that you’re a Smart Person Worth Listening To ™️ as you make the point “you know how you don’t like this thing? But you don’t want to replace it with a different thing that sucks? there is an alternative to this thing that sucks. It has been functional elsewhere. That’s why it would be… le good!”

Life is a Highway

He seems like he’d have a much happier life doing real estate, selling coaching on the side, being the biggest AI supporter you know, and using peptides from Mexico. What the fuck is he doing in the FBI?

I think there’s something “cannoli region of Italy” about the cannoli that makes the texture a little different for the shell and harder to stick cinnamon to.

Like soon or eventually?

The rich probably stand to gain a bunch of money from right wing policies if I had to wager a guess as to why it’s clear on a left wing site. “But what about the trend?” I don’t really know

It’s disconcerting the way that being a scientist is villified.

Also the way I have never seen an educated person upset about religion or the debate thereof. It’s like if I proposed a business idea that sucked to my most temperamental and argumentative friend. they’d just kinda shake their head and go “nuh uh. No. That won’t work because…”

And then personally I’m disgusted and upset with society writ large the way that someone could give you something wrong on its face, you can’t just deboooonk it and it’s actually a complicated relationship between people who are intensely sensitive to criticism and will only do worse if you point it out without wearing the right outfit and speaking with simple enough words. 1% of snowflakes collect 80% of the grace

And then also how the whole dynamic breaks down if you go “why are you proving the bible to me?” And they’re actually thrilled to confirm to you the stupid part of the argument.

And then when I write all that context out I’ve hurt my own feelings and don’t even want to talk about how hilarious what he said is.

Nooooo! Stop! Your positivity is too tuff. Your light is too bright. They’ll enjoy you(r presence)

Can I talk about myself to try and relate to you? I don’t have anything insightful to say but I’d like to talk to you about the subject.