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I'm on vacation in Cartagena. Zapatos Viejos:

Trump was our great 'coming out of the closet' moment - for grievances, for retribution, for ignorance, fear, hate, and intolerance. That phenomenon isn't even strictly limited to him and his, as those on the opposite side of the aisle have obviously become more hardened themselves in response. But people don't easily give up on their icons and their heroes, those that made them who they are now, who finally represented them and who gave them a voice: we're in this for the long haul and it's bewildering that so many of these experts can't seem to realize that.

Más fotos de Cartagena: This is the little slice of paradise we're staying at. The 360⁰ panorama is a bit choppy in parts because I was getting smacked by waves as I took it.

majestic is saying that it's a roddy, cloddy, stupid idea. I can tell from some of the words and from seeing quite a few sarcastic posts in my time.

is arguments the US deserves to be considered as oligarchy, but you always gotta be wary o' sources. US as oligarchy is particular popular amongst the conspiracy minded-- the idea the illuminati, a cabal o' powerful corporations, billionaires and government entities is behind your troubles is appealing in its simplicity. The ‘black’ hole in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s housing conspiracy theory dude is nuttier than squirrel p00p, but you see once again his conspiracy driven outlook. for many conspiracy folks, covid were fake and driven by pharma and government self-interest. likewise, the housing shortage is similar caused by a shadowy corporate entity with an ominous name, and government interests is aware o' the problem but ignore 'cause they is complicit... and facts be damned, right? is the narrative and not facts which is important. it all fits, yes? am ok with considering the US for inclusion as an oligarch, but you gotta be suspicious when such claims come from conspiracy folks, 'cause is part o' their cracked mindset. most americans were raised in schools which taught that our republic with a representative democracy relying on checks and balances were the solution. we got a whole mythology built up around certain famous political figures and we construct great monuments in their honor. try and explain how liberty and democracy is creating opposing tensions does not compute no matter how much we explain. the laws created by the democratic process place limits on citizen actions. don't smoke in restaurants. don't drive your car w/o a seat belt. dumping toxic waste on your own land is verboten. etc. athenian democracy were a mess and not just 'cause women couldn't vote... and their reliance on slavery. every choice o' the athenian body politic became a popularity contest. demagogues and petty self interest had a way o' undermining best intentions. the US solution to the democracy problem were to make government inefficient and to limit its powers-- three separate branches, a divided legislature, a bill of rights which is a list o' stuff off limits to The People and the democratic process, etc. the founders baked gridlock into the US system purposeful and yet we all act surprised by how incompetent and inefficient it is at times. unfortunate, 'cause we is raised and taught the religion o' democracy from a young age... US representative democracy is a good thing, but it ain't deserving the myth, and explanations for why people is hungry, homeless, out of work and a hundred other misfortunes is not depending on the cabal o' powerful people, companies and government forces. US as oligarchy is a valid academic question, but beware conspiracy and whataboutism. @Bartimaeus am thinking trump is a problem for many folks, even sooper smart people. perhaps is smart folks who is most baffled by trump. when trump first became President, many were unconcerned 'cause the US system doesn't give the President the power to do everything trump claimed he were gonna do. lotta hot air. trump went ahead and did anyways. after four years, people kept using same arguments. january 6 happens and we got people on this board and elsewhere suggesting the real problem were tds, 'cause is no way trump coulda' remained in power even if he delayed the electoral count. foolishness. similar, smarty people seem incapable o' realizing that a violation o' law or morality does not exist which would move his base from their idolatry. trump has spent the last few years telling his people that the reason he is being prosecuted is 'cause they are coming after your freedoms and trump is standing in their way. to the trump base and most republicans, if 45 is convicted it will prove just how right trump were. facts don't matter. smarty people such as tribe can't seem to process the fact that a large % o' americans has been radicalized or simply divorced from reality for too long. tribe lives in a logical and rational world o' newtonian physics where effects follow causes. 2023 US is so not tribe's world. HA! Good Fun!

I dunno, it's not my claim. I just remembered hearing a lot about that a while back. Unrelated to the Princeton study, I think Jimmy Carter also said we'd become an oligarchy with unlimited bribery after the Citizens United ruling. Just looking up US oligarchy is going to give you many arguments both for an against. https://youtu.be/e4Mw1Bspb2M?feature=shared

I want to make a funny Romancing the Stone reference but I can't think of one offhand. 😄 Have a great time!

Can't beat a good pun

Eh, I don't know if it's worth that. You could get much of the same experience looking it up on YouTube. The Ironman mode thing sucks, I think one thing PoE definitely did right was separating that from its normal difficulty setting. Quite a few fights in BG3 could use some additional challenge and it'd be nice to get that without the one save thing. I wouldn't go as far as to say conquering all of the Hells, but the Hells do have a very large presence in the game and a big share of the unfinished business after the end. Not sure how that'd work with all of the (new) endings, but they could always change the endgame to be a transition to the hypothetical new adventure or something.

As soon as I heard about the Zapatos Viejos I had to see them. I love weird stuff like that.

I was going to ask Spain or Colombia but the shoes answered that question. It looks beautiful!

That was honestly a bummer. In my experience Legendary Actions are among the most unpopular boss mechanics in pnp. For the most part Larian-brew has been a marked improvement over 5e (and where it isn't is mostly stuff they didn't do, like giving Sorcerer's more spells based on subclass) so I'd assume that Larian cut them for that reason. I don't think the pnp Legendary stuff would be good, but a lot of bosses need something.

F-35C With Mirror-Like Coating Photographed Aboard Carrier (thedrive.com) ADM-160 Miniature Air Launched Decoy Wreck Appears In Ukraine (thedrive.com)

legal expert maybe, political expert perhaps not so much

today were arguable the single worst day trump has had in regards to his numerous court cases. first: https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1216541738/appeals-court-trump-immunity-jan-6-riot-lawsuits Former President Donald Trump is not immune from being sued over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, clearing the way for lawsuits filed against him in connection with the deadly riot. judge luttig thoughts on the matter: not only did the judge find the appeals court decision persuasive but he did not see any reason why SCOTUS would grant cert if trump appealed. judge luttig, btw, before he started to criticize trump, were arguable one o' the top three most respected living textualists (conservatives.) am gonna suggest the guy who were most instrumental in getting clarence thomas nominated by bush were luttig. nobody has ever confused luttig with liberals. also, for those not understanding how the arcane US judicial system operates, appeals court decisions create binding precedent for lower district courts, so were no surprise when... second: https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1216696071/donald-trump-election-interference-immunity-claims-rejected-tanya-chutkan Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution in his election interference case in Washington, a federal judge ruled Friday, knocking down the Republican's bid to derail the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan's decision amounts to a sharp rejection to challenges the Trump defense team had raised to the four-count indictment in advance of a trial expected to center on the Republican's multi-pronged efforts to undo the election won by Democrat Joe Biden. larry is the preeminent con law scholar-- he literally wrote the book on the subject. that said, mr. tribe clear don't like trump, trump policies and the maga credo in general, so he might be indulging a smidge o' wishful thinking. luttig and tribe? two elder statesman o' the law who on paper appear to be natural adversaries agree trump had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. take it for what it's worth. HA! Good Fun!

Whenever adaptions come up, I always think of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Threw out loads of stuff in his adaptions (Young and Innocent, for example, films the subplot of Josephine Tey's A Shilling for Candles not the actual plot of the novel), remade his own film, etc. Adaptions/Remakes aren't (IMO) the problem, inherently. I think King's problem with THE SHINING is that its a Kubrick film and not a King story. I seem to recall reading that he thought the film was good, but it missed what he thought was the point of the book, which is why he thought the TV miniseries was a better adaption of the book.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/11/30/henry-kissinger-anthony-bourdain-cambodia/ TL;DR: You can't travel the world like Bourdain did and avoid seeing the work of Henry Kissinger, which has a death toll in the millions.

Henry Kissinger

Larian's D&D Game Act 2 (ending sequence)

Its early days for my first POE experience, I am about 3 hours into the game and its fun so far Its taking time because the ruleset is different to what Im use to with D&D but Im learning it and enjoying the lore and how the narrative is presented. But of course I dont know anything about the lore so that will take time to understand the history of the game universe Its unusual but expected to play a game outside of the Forgotten Realms with all this new IP but I want to understand it so I'm reading and absorbing everything because it also makes sense for future games

The armour was supposed to be light blue with some gold. It is a bug (the textures hadn't loaded) but still funny. A nicer armour (clothing) set. My attempt to save a certain optional companion went poorly. The character is undressed, so I slightly edited the images in case anything is visible (though, shouldn't be with this camera distance).

Just noticed that the priestess had a humanoid skull (instead of a metal amulet) on her head. Everyone likes this mace, I suppose. The only somehow strong companion at that point. Well, the gremlin was successfully released to their colony. For some reason, the box kept breaking in Wyll's inventory (didn't in the gith playthough).

Colony Ship

Meet Dirty Snowball. ....I swear I do more in this game than collect ships. Really. ....actually started some semi-challenge games, like starter-planet only (can't ever leave that first planet, can't buy ships only find them, can't do this or that), stuff like that. Gives a reason to scour a planet vs. bounce in and bounce off. My nomadic tendencies kick in eventually tho.

shady' son synth pop and kool moe dee appreciation made us a bit nostalgic for the 80s, so am offering two more. am admitting we first heard this is the day via the empire records soundtrack which were released 95, so kinda a cheat. and what we like to imagine is a @ShadySands biographical, after leaving the marines, our protagonist did intelligence gathering for nsa/cia in eastern europe? am admitting some envy o' the red suit and bow/string tie wardrobe selection o' the singer in the 'bove vid, although unless we sudden start working for the devil contracting for souls am not sure when or where we might have occasion to wear such. am aware o' the falco original release, but we prefer song and video from after the fire, although the falco video is worth watching at least once. ... ok, am realizing is a 70s tune, but had to post if for no other reason than leland sklar (bass). HA! Good Fun!

I need to stop hunting for interceptors, I won't be able to decide what to get rid of. Still haven't found the "perfect" one tho.

Finally, last quest step and I could save-scum to get a Living Ship! So I did. Lots and lots of solar system spawns tried. They're largely egg-shaped with a fish/crustacean influence or something. Example of rejected ones: I asked around, and apparently there cannot be a "tiny" version. They're all sorta that size, not many possible "parts", but with some variation in front shape and appendages, maybe a few more unique colors, stuff like that. So I just picked the first one that didn't make me go "ugh." They have no large advantage, not my style, so not sure I'll keep it. 😛 Altho they do look kinda cool from side/behind if 3rd-person flying, but I never do that. Also I was wrong and there is a way to farm more but not worth the steps/cost/bother (unless one really really likes them, ofc).

Larian's D&D game

back to the grind

I like it when zombies somehow never managed to lose their hats off their head when they died, or in all the days/months they've been lurching around as a zombie. Or maybe zombies covet hats as reminders of better days and go around picking them up, moaning "braiiiinnnnsss, braiiiinsss ... haaaaaaaat!" It's even better if the game lets you loot/take their hat to wear yourself. Not that they typically allow that, but just saying.

Resident Evil: Ebola Village DEMO Because when Russians rip off create survival horror games, they do it based! I don't know about you, but I like scantly clad protagonists! Gruesome! This may, in fact, come in handy. Shoot, this door just flung open, what could be behind it?! Shocker! A zombie/Crimson Head/Ganado type beast. What's behind this door?? I found a knife, an herb, some shotgun shells, and more .45 ammo, lots useful stuff in one little entryway. Also there's some aggressive moaning behind this door and notice the bloody footprints. I shot him in the mouth and face and look what happens, gruesome! I took him down and found some clothes! She looks awfully familiar doesn't she? Also found this shotgun, and here is a save phone and an inventory box, very fitting. Now let's go back outside... I become surrounded and have to fight them all off! After taking damage I prevail. You should have seen what their faces looked like when I blasted them! I've never seen such graphic gore before. That's it, the demo ends here, short but promising.

The Talos Principle 2 I didn't get to explore New Jerusalem in the demo, so I took a couple of hours to explore the place; not every nook and cranny, mind you, but enough to get an idea of the layout. I have a feeling I'll be back here for some puzzles closer to the end. Oh, and there's an entire shrine dedicated to cats with a boatload of cat pictures. But, off to the island I go. The game has a photomode with all the usual sliders and filters and frames and a lot of poses.

Bruce got over Sarah and is now with Andreja

I describe my style as hobo chique.

I found this tiny creature pet. It was so cute/hilarious, not so much in looks but in the miniature keystone-cop running to keep up with me. I loved it. Then I forgot about it for a little while. Finally summoned/pulled it out again and...apparently it grew up. Which is cool, but it's not cute/funny anymore. The game itself tells you straight up. Still, hey, don't tell me what I can/can't do. Only about 18,446,744,073,709,551,423 to go! I got this! 😛 Bubble planets are cool to wander around in. It's such a "zen" game, if you want it to be.

I'm still playing my 2000+ mods Skyrim and pretend that it is Bloodborne. Damn, just imagine Elden Ring... but Bloodborne. I want it so hard.

Next demo, The Thaumaturge. This game is all over the place. It labels itself an isometric RPG and most of it is played isometric like in the picture above. Here it plays like a detective game and sort of like a point & click. You have powers that let you sense latent emotions left on things and I guess you can detective together events and motivations or something. It's weird. There's also combat, which kind of sort of takes place in old skool dungeon crawler view with me in the foreground and the enemies in the background. It's turn-based and the little bit in this demo was mostly me punching dudes in the stomach, but also you have this spirit dude who hangs out with you because reasons, y'all probably got a bond or pact or something. It's weird. There are also puzzles. Also, the game takes place in very early 20th century Poland, or, well, Poland didn't exist as a sovereign country at that time, it was still divvied up between Russia, Austria and... I think it was the German Empire at that point, but I imagine people would have still called it Prussia. Yes, it's THAT Rasputin. Anyway, this game has me intrigued, I don't know how to feel about it. I'm not sure if it works, but I'm not saying it doesn't work either. For example, the combat felt sort of barebones, but then I looked through the skill "tree" and there are potentially some interesting mechanics, but I didn't get to play with those, so who knows? Production value wise this looks to be quality AA. It looks good in a very good last gen game sort of way.

I was told if I did hire max frigates, all those msg's etc. would stop. So I did. Turns out max is 30. I now have a fleet. Plus once again I was delighted that I could "board" every single frigate, walk all over on the outsides, look inside. There isn't much point to it but virtual tourism (if they come back damaged from an expedition, there *is* a go-there and click stuff to repair them element) but it's impressive/fun and grand tourism. I've decided this game is an amusement park, with sandbox elements.

I may have a ship collecting addiction. I keep seeing ones that make me go "oh, I like visual." Dangit, it's not like I can seriously use/alternate more than maybe a couple. Going to have to confine myself to just screenshots of all of them soon. Trying to find a freighter I like. No luck so far. But it's cool they let you walk around on top of one. For a second I thought I was going to be able to tread the whole length of it, but no - the "you are about to die" health drop started at some point. I also like how you can jump/stand on all the player-vehicles, unlike some games where if you try you just bounce off. "Star Wars" theme. Yeah, I hear there's one that looks even more like a Destroyer. I want the Star Trek one, where do I get that. 😛

Also: There are "solar" ships. Using photomode - looks really cool, right? But this is what it's like trying to fly it in space. Just no. I scrapped it. TBF, those only come out/block view in space, planetside they stay closed.

Meet Chicken McNugget.

I'll see your "Average Betty" and raise you "Flying Fridges", the ship so ugly I absolutely had to make her my default:

Ok, time to try feeding/taming pets. ------------------------------------------------- "Nah....nah....nah...." "Too ticklish, made riding difficult." "Too delicate." "I want that one! ... what? I can't? Game sucks, 1/10" ...sadly, you can't control animal companions directly at all, even riding - they aren't true mounts. Mostly for fun and ingredient farming.

How NMS suddenly makes you want something you didn't originally want. Or: "I have got to get me one of these!" Or: "HEY, where'd you get yur pilots license?? I'm walkin' here!" Some planets defy gravity. I wonder if it would be "safe" to make a base on one of these floating rocks. They're like .... ant-squids? If you can tame one, do you need a giant aquarium? 🤔

I played Amalur and completed it after about 250 hours, But it was uninspirational and it was the easiest and most boring combat I have ever experienced. All I ended up doing was rolling and hitting. I also dont remember anything about the narrative which is never a good sign But the world was aesthetically pleasing and I clearly had some fun because I spent 250 hours on it