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My former elementary school changed Halloween to "Careerween" and only allowed costumes if it represented a career because scary stuff is to scary/demonic/whatever. I assume they still do it, haven't been involved in years since I changed where I worked.

Power went out and Jehovah's Witnesses came to our door. Not saying they're related but also can't rule it out. Not my death cult of choice anyways.

Finished Solasta: Palace of Ice It was fun with a few more enemies, some choices that matter, and a superfluous cold mechanic. The story was fun. I enjoyed it. Also, as Annie the rogue would put it: Because there are choices, the ending also changes a bit based on those (mainly who rules the Snow Alliance at the end). There are a couple obviously wrong choice (at least one anyway). But some choices I would have expected to show up in the ending slides but didn't.

100% reliable and definitely verified information. More on page 7!

I dunno, a lot of people are just...like...weird man. It was mostly doctors and nurses and firefighters, construction worker and other occupations easily identified by some outfit. Occasionally 6 year-olds in suits with a briefcase being a lawyer. Kind of harder to figure out an identifiable uniform for plumber, electrician, secretary, teacher and soul-numbed middle manager.

I dunno, I think being a white collar worker is a lot scarier to kids than a devil. Well or it should be.

Yes.

Official reaction to the Time article by the UA government… https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/10/31/7426576/ Although it showed a very interesting thing here. If US “anonymous” sources give “interview”, some people are all over the board, how untrustworthy they are. When UA “anonymous” sources gave “interview” for this article, no similar reaction around here for some reason

Spurs and Suns game last night was amazing. I got my wife into fantasy basketball and now she's like all about it. I've created a monster. PS, still can't watch the Nuggets play in Denver. Altitude made a deal with some streamer but they charge like 75 bucks a month on the cheapest tier.

We finished cleaning out our old house yesterday and gave the keys back to the landlord. There was an awkward moment where he asked us if we were going to clean the fridge. I told him he needs to have a cleaning crew come in. He acted put out. I just ignored it, but I was trying hard not to roll my eyes. We lived there for 5 years, we aren't going to scrub it down for you. He needs to paint it and clean it. We paid his mortgage and took good care of the property, but we are moving on. I'm excited not to have to worry about a landlord anymore. Now it's time to unpack the new place.

Is it that some adults forget they were ever kids, or is it that some adults never were kids?

New DLC for Underrail has just been released, and it is pretty cheap https://www.gog.com/game/underrail_heavy_duty

Welp https://www.ign.com/articles/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-reveals-its-main-character-phyre-the-elder-kindred They're going the Mass Effect route of a set but customizable PC with their own background and history. Also, 4 clans in the base game with a supposed day 1 DLC adding a fifth and plans for a future sixth. I'm already down on the game so this doesn't move the needle for me. Will probably wait to see if anyone here gets it and see how they feel about it. PS, how does a thinblood end up in the head of an elder?

Son was super excited to show up to preschool in his ninja turtle outfit but the teachers were making all the kids take off their costumes. I would have been okay with it if they had said no costumes but they didn't and their objection to them was that some of the teachers are kooky religious types and it offends them. I forgot how wacko some of the people there are. It's the only highly rated bilingual preschool in town or else I'd pull him out and put him in a different preschool. The owner assures us that they don't teach their beliefs to the children but she's got weird opinions on vaccines so not sure I trust her.

I have played for about 15 minutes so I pretty much know everything about the game. I remember everyone looking the same, and even though graphics aren't important, art style is, so I didn't get far. I believe the only thing I did was head to some outpost where I was killed very quickly. It seemed like one of those games that I was just too dumb (or lazy) to figure out.

The tension rises as never before, not only in Ukraine... Israel fights Hamas. The Myanmar junta collapses across northern Shan state. The RSF is attacking with the help of Wagnerites in Sudan. Eastern Syria is ready to explode. Tuareg rebels take more ground in northern Mali, the GNU & LNA are moving in Libya. Then there is conquest of Nagorno-Karabakh, one new separatist group in Ethiopia after another, and there is rumoured military buildup on the Venezuela-Guyana border. And of course Yemen... Have I forgotten something? When was the last time, when there were so many conflicts around the globe at the same time? This will not end well, if Europe will hesitate to prepare better for the possible war, which Russia started on our soil by spreading disinformation as a part of their Hybrid Warfare against the Europe more than a decade ago...

I didn't think you personally were arguing it was OK either. Plenty of people do think that way though, and there's a good reason why that thinking is shonky at best quite apart from the baseline ethics- ie you can easily reverse the 'logic' to use it to justify attacking Israel- which is what I was pointing out. When it comes right down to it it almost certainly is as primitive as "the side that is like me is the good guys, because I'm a good guy". Which is, of course, ironic given that both Palestinians and Israelis are semites and you wouldn't actually be able to tell them apart easily if you removed the context.

Launch trailer:

...I didn't think I was arguing about why it is OK to shoot up civilians because the answer is pretty obviously "It is never OK", even if they celebrate when their ruling terrorists do unspeakable things to neighboring countries civilians. I'm saying that different reaction to war crimes might be not as primitive and lazy as "Durr dem brown muslims and those other ones while christians", or not only, at least.

Only difference with Congo, Yemen, Burma, Tigray,... is that the rules-based order needs to bother to pretend to care.

I just realized this game is only a handful of days away from release: I played the demo 2 Next Fests ago and LOVED it. The only bummer is that the release is so close to The Talos Principle 2. Once TTP2 comes out all other games cease to exist until I 100% it. First world problems.

114 years from now they're still going at it.

https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2/news/welcome-to-the-chinese-room Somehow mixed messages. As a Nosferatu, I guess (played a Toreador), the experience was to hide in the sewers until no one is watching, because of the possible Masquerade violations.

With a name like that, I would not publicly admit ever coming across that development team. What would people think of me!

I'm more partial to Heaven's Gate. I mean, look at this guy: That looks like a dude that knew how to party.

Many academics in international security are beginning to wonder about this as well. A very recent article in Foreign Affairs asks if the world is now significantly more war and conflict-prone. Another one posits that Russia and China are moving the world towards being more militarized. I have been making these same arguments for some years now within my academic circles, and have been referring to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea collectively as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.