taiyang

Look, if I've learned anything it's that we're still on the same side as them (Kamala is similar and her winning would have still been so much better) but when and where it's possible I'd like to see more progressive candidates. It might never be the presidency, but California certainly could do better in it's primaries if we could just get money out of politics.

Fairly neutral way of looking at it, and that's a nice thing to consider although I'm not sure if the U.S. is executing that correctly if you're correct. After all, making security guarantees is an even easier way to end the war, including appeasing Russia by at least allowing them to continue their occupation.

Hawks also have the possibility that Ukraine makes headway in the war itself, which was the hope of the Biden administration providing support in the first place since US-Russia relations aren't as valuable to most people as US-EU+others, even if China allies with Russia (which could still happen, as Russia hasn't proven to be trustworthy in the past, anyway).

In other words, hawks probably have it right that U.S. is better off with it's current allies, but if we give Trump the benefit it the doubt (a literal devil's advocate) then at least there's some rational, even if misguided. Plus, there is the truth that Ukraine is having difficulty taking back, although you could certainly say the US and EU haven't given them enough to push forward out if fear of nuclear retaliation.

The whole situation sucks, though, rationale or not.

Tbh, different motives, at least in regards to Gavin (who I naturally keep an eye on at he's my gov'ner). He's clearly hoping to run for President and I guess he would prefer there still to be elections to do so in four years. He's not too be lumped in with genuine progressives, though.

I forgot the name but I did know about it! Kinda excited, Star Control III didn't have the same vibe. Hope these posts also encourage someone to check out II, there is a fan remake you can download for free.

Product of the times isn't a great way to put it, but you can certainly make the argument that most people have shades of grey morality.

Science can back you up, too, as I teach social psychology and when you dig in, you find that normative human nature is pretty complex but generally very supportive for in-group and mildly empathetic even with strangers. It's only when you dehumanize a group do you get the worst behavior, and in all four cases you see that, be it slaves or indigenous people.

When you look at those times, it's people who recognized their humanity that ended up in the just side of history.

In California I don't think I even see these so called USA #1. Maybe "I love LA" but that's mostly cause it the fires. Pretty sure the consensus here is that Finland or Sweden or some other northern European country are #1 because they actually have socialist programs, like parental leave and real healthcare and education.

I mean, in so much as a single person representing a county goes. The first colonies were a mix of religious zealots, Virginian drug dealers (well, tobacco but that's almost worse), and a little Dutch (who were quite active in slave trading at the time). Quickly got a few more from French and Spanish, too.

However, the US also includes annexed Mexican territory (which has its own mixed history of subjegation and torture) and slews of different immigrant populations (with their own mixed intentions). A section of my own family is here cause they tried for Scottish independence, although there's a good chance they were sent here for being belligerent drunks.

That said, ain't a single country on this earth without their fair share of bullshit. America is just a lovely mix of those assholes, honestly.

It's a solid start, but it really should just be predicated on a peace deal itself as the disqualification logic used before isn't applicable at that point. Joining NATO should always be done in peace time, including before and not at the start of the inevitable subsequent war with Russia.

This is satire in a way we wish reality was. At some point though, sanctions on US oligarchs will probably happen, same way we did Russians. It doesn't seem effective, but it certainly pisses them off.

Hey, thanks for the 3DO shout-out, although I'm not sure it falls into the same category of failure. When my dad was getting his shit together (at least, somewhat together), he got to work with those guys before getting a more stable job. While it's certainly true about FMV gaming, their demise in particular is attributed more to business practices, like utilizing costly third parties for hardware- ironic since they all seem to do that now.

Many of their games hold up, though there aren't very many and the only solid IPs got cross platform releases or ports (e.g. Gex) especially after it was clear 3DO was tanking. I think playing Star Control II on 3DO might have defined who I am as a gamer, and I highly recommend playing subsequent rereleases (it was PC only without 3DO!)

Denyay, defwend, depwose.

0% in this economy? Interest rates are still up, it's been hard to find any 0%s after rate hikes, they really are desperate.