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There's a lot of factors that go into humor, and that can definitely be part of it. But I would say framing also matters a lot, and one of the ways in which framing strongly affects humor is precisely who is telling you the "funny" and in what context. I have a friend that likes to occasionally link me clips from the demon/televangelist known as Kenneth Copeland... ...and in the context of knowing that my friend also thinks he might be a demon, the clips are usually pretty funny. But if I saw the same clips linked by one of his cult members (i.e. charitably, probably a moron...though potentially someone much more insidious than that), it would be a whole different story: you might well be able to apply a similar train of thought to some of the things said/linked to here, though probably for different kinds of reasons in different situations. I also think Alex Jones can be the funniest guy on Earth...sometimes, but I'm certain that I don't find him funny in the same ways that his true believers can, and I would no doubt be an alien in their midst.

most non conservative satire are more sad than funny pretty difficult to laugh at the stupidity of conservative when most people are too busy suffering it

Babylon Bee does tend to try and bludgeon you to death with their satire. It lacks any of the self awareness and subtlety that you tend to see with The Onion.

Not according to our government which often still says what an important friend and ally the US is But there are people in the ANC that use a lot of anti-US ideological rhetoric around certain developments but its very selective and they flip-flop So for example when Russia invaded Ukraine the ICC and ICJ were "biased US\Western controlled institutions that should be ignored " But when SA takes Israel to the ICJ and ICC these institutions become " very important and authoritative UN bodies and all Democracies must adhere to what they rule on " But the ANC and our foreign affairs says we neutral and non-aligned when it comes to Russia and the US and they say we friends with everyone The truth is it depends on who is speaking from the ANC and do they have lived experience from the Cold War and the struggle to end Apartheid because these ANC members always see Russia\USSR in a more favorable way than the US\West

Isn't SA effectivelly a Russian ally against USA in world politics these days?

every political comedy is cringeworthy to some degree especially if you don't agree with that viewpoint, but man nothing is so embarrassing as some woke stuff out there

Definitely your bias, that link is funny

Is it my bias and/or political leaning that makes right-wing/conservative satire always seem so incredibly cringeworthy, or is it just really just cringeworthy?

Its used interchangeably for most of these Islamic extremist groups or protests about US involvement in the ME which is the point of the parody in the article There is almost always a " death to Zionists\Israel\USA " but its mostly from protesters outside the US In South Africa since 7 October its common for many anti-US activists on talk shows to refer to the US as a country controlled by a " crusader\Zionist " agenda which is about the destruction of the Islamic world by the US but you generally only hear this rhetoric during Israel vs Palestinian conflicts If that conflict is not ongoing then the US is normally referred to as a warmongering, Colonial and Imperialist power But this is anti-US activists, its not the majority of people in SA

First allow me to preface this . . . "rant" (btw, long rant warning) by saying i am not a gamer that enjoys challenge/difficulty. I do not get some euphoric rush when beating a tough boss or solving a difficult puzzle. The only reason I'm interested in New Game+ is because I'm a completionist and i love Grounded and Obsidian studios. I am not looking forward to New Game+. I'm nearing the end of my first main story playthourgh. I've collected every milk moral and sca.b theme, finished every BURG.L quest and beat every boss (even that f#$%ing demon spider). All i have left is to get the creature/resource trinkets which only drop on rng (thanks obsidian), the gold cards which also only drop on rng (thanks again obsidian) and to craft the blaster, moldy matriarch armor and her plague. And as if fighting the infected broodmother wasn't hard enough already even on mild difficulty (who created this demon monster?!), she only ever drops 4 chunks (I've beat her twice), each of her items requiring TEN! The main story playthrough already gets pretty grindy towards the end of the game and from what I've read about New Game+ (i know i know, i shouldn't be reading ahead before experiencing it naturally but i got worried, and rightfully so) The new content not only seems even more grindy but also the rewards you get don't seem any stronger than what you already have. Just the prospect alone of getting the remaining trinkets, gold cards and infected broodmother chunks is already threatening to kill my interest in this game and the idea of the game getting even harder with more grind and very lackluster rewards is seriously threatening to kill my desire to play this game altogether and that's if i even manage to get the rng stuff as there is a legitimate chance that i will never get all of it because that's how computer generated rng works. Honestly i can't imagine why developers keep putting rng in their games when we've made it abundantly clear that none of us like it or want it and the weird part is Obsidian has "fake rng" in their game but for whatever reason it just doesn't apply to trinkets and gold cards for some reason. I really want to see and enjoy the new content but everything added to the game seems to be Bad>Good>Bad. For example "We made the game harder">"we've added extra milk molars">"you can't upgrade your max mutations or any mega milk molar upgrades". It's like Obsidian is trying to give us things but without actually giving us anything. Also, the random placement of milk molars in New Game+ seems like an intentional attack on gamers who use interactive maps and guides. I really want to see and do everything this game has to offer but i feel as if the longer i play the more i get abused by it. It's just too grindy and too hard. I really hope this is not the note Grounded goes out on and the rng/difficulty issues get addressed at some point for casual gamers and completionists like myself. Obsidian, if your reading this, please don't take this as a hate letter. I really love the game and the reason i want to see and do everything in it is because it's really good. If it was just hard but cheap or it was just grindy but easy, i don't think as many people would mind but as it is, i don't think it works and i don't think people will find New Game+ to be worth it. A few suggestions: Add some cheats or op weapons/armor to take care of the difficulty problem. Give BURG.L's glasses the ability to see every milk molar on the map in New Game+ to solve the random problem. And add a reliable way to obtain trinkets and gold cards, I've heard there is an irish hat in the game, maybe it could guarantee drops? Or maybe there could be a resource you could obtain to acquire gold cards/trinkets? Also maybe a way to teleport our bases to the new dimension?

Guess they'll finally drop the bridge. The articles amazed that US weapons do indeed work will be a good read.

After switching out one of my large power strips, my PC (or the PS4) has not done any spontaneous reboots for a long time. This week, it's done it twice. Pffft. Not the PS4 (yet) tho. Is the 5090 (or whatever, just "next gen" mega gpu) out yet so I have an excuse to just build a new rig instead of troubleshooting one? Yes I'm that lazy. Edit: my next PC, considering my age/interest level changes etc. I am going to attempt to build a crazy level PC that may end up being the last one I ever build. Maybe it won't work, but I envision after age 65+ not caring anymore and just buying a SteamDeck or console or mini-pc (just for very old games) or something else that hasn't been invented yet, instead.

They're wishing death to America? Thought all the fainting was over them wishing it to Israel.

BTW, sorry for all this idle talk but i'm keeping myself occupied while i wait for this patch (hoping the "coming weeks" doesn't translate into months). Anyway, i'm thinking with a lower constitution (say around 8 or 7) i might trigger fighting spirit faster. I heard you can actually get one shot by some enemies with a constitution of 8, but if you are popping Sacred Immolation you gonna be below that threshold anyway meaning you are already playing your paladin like a rogue, getting into melee range but avoiding actual melee engagement if possible. In fact, given how deflection works it would even feel like playing a rogue of sort. Reguarding lowering resolve, there's that low level potion that gives you a good boost in concentration so i could afford to lower it a bit and use that if interrupt is an issue. I could lower constitution to say 7, resolve to 8, and put those 5 extra points for dexterity and perception. There's also three permanent stat bonuses in the game (one involves having a cruel disposition but that's a no brainer for a Bleak Walker) where i would end up with at least 14-15 in dexterity, perception and intellect to be boosted further with items, food and buffs depending on the situation.

Don't let the reviews or the fanbyos fool you, good choice. AM5 had some serious teething issues, or maybe still has, supposedly the AGESA updates to improve compatibility with DDR5 helped. Just, uhm, make sure that your mainboard settings in the BIOS don't allow your CPU to overdose iself on power. There seems to be a creeping stability issue because current mainboard settings allow the current Intel CPUs to chomp too much power for their own good. Basically all new CPUs can overclock themselves depending on certain conditions, and with the 13900K and the current 14th "gen" CPUs, these limits seem to vector off into unstable regions if your mainboard allows the CPU unlimited power draw. Asus is particularily insane, with it's default setting allowing the CPU to pull up to 511A (in words five hundred and eleven, just to make sure you don't think this is a typo) through the VCC rail, which is way beyond the "extreme overclocking" limit set by Intel, and as the name implies, exreme overclocking just might not be entirely stable or safe for your CPU. Not that Intel is actively doing anything to discourage that, because it makes for bigger numbers in reviews, and bigger numbers is better. Biggerbetter, so to say. In the not very distant past, AMD didn't either, until their CPUs started exploding.

FoD is a finite resource so you often end auto-attacking so DEX is never a bad choise. Low CON could be bad for Sacred immolation, but at last levels you have plenty of health so you can't bother with that. Low INT with last patch are no so effective, but INT is not so important for a Paladin a part of aura radius.

I guess this depends on just how bad auto attacks are on a paladin. Whether they are just underwhelming compared to DPS classes but still worth boosting if possible or whether they are just so outright useless as to make it not worth it to even bother with them at all (just dump dexterity altoghether and play tank after popping both FoD attacks). Looking at Blunderboss's build and i see he has some items that improve attack speed. Is Sacred Immolation affected by attack speed? If not, why bother? Why bother even take two weapon style, if it's all about maximing FoD (you want dual wielding because FoD hits twice but not two weapon style as such)? Since you get two Flames of Devotion per fight it's not like speed matters, you can just use it when you know it's gonna land at the right time you want it to land. Of course, since the priority is Sacred Immolation, and since you don't get many points left to spread between dexterity and perception (even if you dump constitution and resolve), this may be just an academic question. Blunderboss leaves all the stats at 10 but suggests to dump intellect and raise perception a bit before getting to level 13, which does suggest he doesn't think dexterity is that important for his build (or not as important as perception for early on). If i start with his stat distribution, take out 5 points by dumping both constitution and resolve a bit, and put in dexterity, would that be worth doing? Or are auto attacks on a paladin so worthless as to make even a small loss in constituon and resolve not worth the trade off?

DEX is an ability to raise at max levels if you want/can, between 20 DEX or 15 DEX and no recovery, you can choose 15 with not great disadvantage imho. Speed isn't only useful for DPS but i.e. you can interrupt enemy BEFORE it does, or you can debuff it before it. I like PGs with high DEX for these reasons. So I'd not go lower than 15 DEX, but 10 DEX is also a possible value (especially in a party). About PER, Paladin can buff accuracy well, so I'd prefer MIG against PER, and the game is balanced versus 10 PER value (also in PotD), so between MIG and PER I'd go for MIG 20 and PER 15 i.e. PER is more important early level anyway, but these are personal decision/thoughts imho, let PER high, respec... Early level can be achieved also with not many combats, thus keep in mind a strategy also when you think at attributes.

I was playing Grounded PS5 Single Player and I managed to craft a few higher tier weapons, like the Mosquito Needle, Insect Axe, and such. When I saved and logged back in the following day, I loaded where I saved at, but all of my weapons were converted into Pebblet weapons (axe, spear, etc.) I have no idea how this happened, but I have lost my desire to continue playing until this is resolved.

I think one need to understand that Paladin is not a good auto attacker, since it has no passive ability that boost it's attacking power. The only dps ability paladin has is FoD and Sacred Immolation. And both are not affected by DEX(you can argure that DEX makes FoD animation faster but that's really small impact imo). The best stats to boost FoD/SI is Might and PER, follow by INT. If you are playing in a team, INT is not that important since battle usually ends before your SI ends. Therefore you can priorty stats like this MIG/PER >> INT > CON/DEX/RES imho. So CON and RES are best bet to dump if you really wanna make them auto attack better.

Yeah, i saw that dexterity is still usefull even if you reach zero recovery but according to the math there it's not AS useful at that point meaning if there's an hard choice between dexterity and something like perception you can opt for the latter assuming you can reach zero recovery by other means: Since all stats seem to be useful for something, min/maxing appear to be possible only if putting points in a stat isn't as valuable as before based on some specific circumstance. On that dual wielding paladin, the fact i can make dexterity less valuable if i were to achieve zero recovery means i can focus on perception more to boost FoD or Sacred Immolation. If i were to make a two handed paladin, it might be worth it more to trade some perception to boost dexterity and so on. Then again, maybe it's possible to reach a point where accuracy starts to get diminishing returns as well meaning you are back to square one. Same concept if i were to make a dual wielding rogue, and i had to make a choice between dexterity or might, i might pick the latter to help me punch through DR IF i were to reach zero recovery meaning i'm not getting as much out of dexterity as before. This game is pretty hard to figure out from a min/max point of view btw, and i'm assuming that was by design.

If you wanna learn more about speed, there is also this topic:

So true this type of protest outrage

It seems ATACMs will be part of the US weapons package. That should be about the last entry from Ukrainian wish-list. It will also increase the pressure on Germany to send Taurus missiles.