Maedhros
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Posts posted by Maedhros
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It's not really relevant that it's from the Guardian. They're just referring to the study from CSIS (centrist thinktank - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Strategic_and_International_Studies)
https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/200616_Jones_Methodology_v3_0.pdf
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Guardian piece on politically motivated violence in the US.
TLDR:
"0 Victims killed in anti-fascist attacks since 1994
21 Victims killed in left-wing violence since 2010
95 Victims killed in jihadist attacks since 2010
117 Victims killed in right-wing violence since 2010
329 Victims killed in right-wing violence since 1994"
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2 hours ago, Darkpriest said:
This sounds like a bias. Do you run statistics? Do you look at others with the same level of diligence, to make this claim and back it up?
Don't you think that you might have a certain perception due to the scrutinity and amount of coverage that the current POTUS is getting?
Etc.
Is it of your opinion that Trump lies less or the same as other politicians or are you just playing the devil's advocate?
I base it on having eyes and ears. That the various factcheckers confirm my belief isn't really important to me.
That being said. It depends on how you define a lie. Does Trump truly believe his father was born in Germany, or is that a lie he keeps repeating to save face? Like the guys above say, it's hard to know which of his untruths are intentional and which are not.
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Trump is a notorious liar who lies even when he doesn't have to. The amount of lies is unprecedented.
Yes, the media gets a ton of stuff wrong, and other politicians lie too. Doesn't mean Trump is not a special case.
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Christopher Tolkien was awesome, and sought to understand, preserve and present his father's work. Brian Herbert on the other hand exploits it. I wonder if he's involved with the film? Hope not.
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How one of Twin Peak's theme songs was written
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Has antifa even killed a single person?
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So Trump retweeted a video where someone yells "White power!" several times. Why wouldn't I be surprised if this was just to draw attention away from something even more ugly?
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Bill Gates saving the planet so there'll still be people around ready to get microchips implants.
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Re-reading the Dune series. Probably 15 years since I last read them. I enjoyed them just as much as I did the first time around. Most people seem to have only read the first one in the series, but I really enjoyed #4, God Emperor of Dune this time around. A guy turns himself into a giant worm, and rules the galaxy as a peace-enforcing tyrant for 3500 years to save humanity. What's not to like?
“For what do you hunger, Lord?” Moneo ventured. “For a humankind which can make truly long-term decisions. Do you know the key to that ability, Moneo?” “You have said it many times, Lord. It is the ability to change your mind.”
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Rapper Killer Mike says build, not burn.
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12 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:
No it wasn't. Not until after anyway. He was just being a contrarian **** at first. The reasons came after. Any one who talks about how awesome Che was does not get to complain about police brutality. US cops nation wide could not hold a candle to that monster.
"Just to be a contrarian ass"? I thought from the get-go that he said he did it to protest the oppression and police brutality against blacks in the US? Image seems relevant if so.
Edit: Haha, thought ass was the censored word. Need to learn to count letters.
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All this talk of Star Trek made me think of this.
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Started watching "What we do in the shadows" on HBO. Funniest thing I've watched so far this year. Apparently there's a film too, gotta check that out as well.
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I have a feeling most of you strongly dislike stuff like this, but I'm unashamedly in love with this new song by Aurora. Very different from her other stuff, which isn't nearly as "traditional" as this, but it worked for me.
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Haha well, maybe this lockdown actually means he'll get the time to write the damn book!
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The last season makes the couple of seasons before it even worse. I find myself not wanting to ever rewatch it due to how terrible its ending is.
That zombie episode with Sam/Brienne/Jaime constantly surrounded by zombies but not dying is the prime example of the showrunners giving up, and giving in to cheap tv tricks. There is no dialogue anymore, no organic development...just a cluster**** of major events happening without proper buildup, and character development as a result is a total mess.
I actually look forward to the remaining book (I think he'll only manage to release one more before he goes) to see what could have been.
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I've learned that only two things seem to stop me from sleeping: If I'm not socially active during the day (internet forums doesn't count, sadly), or if I eat too much chocolate in the evening. I used to really struggle before I started working as a kindergarten teacher.
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43 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:
It's a myth that they have "quotas" to meet. But a cop that is not arresting people or writing citations (which come with heavy fines) is thought to not be productive. So what happens when do one is doing anything wrong?
Always looking for good excuses to post clips from The Wire (made by a former cop). It makes a pretty strong suggestion that the police aren't really to blame, not even the top brass. They just do what they have to, to please the politicians in charge (more convoluted than that, but oversimplified). "It's the chain of command baby, the **** always rolls downhill."
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4 hours ago, Skarpen said:
I believe this article gives a fair summation of the nordic model:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100714/nordic-model-pros-and-cons.asp
Yeah that's pretty fair overall.
I think it's also fair to say that Progressives in the US are Scandinavian wannabees. Whenever I see AOC I think she must've been a Swede in a previous life.
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To be fair, it's probably better to use Denmark as the example. We've been very lucky with our oil findings (though smart enough to nationalise it).
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3 hours ago, Skarpen said:
The most socialistic? Out of what? World? Europe? Not in the slightest to both.
Maybe the indexes are flawed or the things they are measuring are not really important or the indexes are designed for certain types of countries to "shine".
What countries? I can think of some who are somewhat similar in social democratic principles, but not one that stands out as more socialistic (Edit: and just to clarify, I use "socialism" like its being used in the 21st century. Meaning high taxes, welfare state, etc). No one is advocating "real" socialism.
Are all the indexes that quantifies things differently but come to the same conclusions flawed? Yes they're designed to make certain countries shine...the countries where most people are happy. The methology varies, but the results are usually the same. Not a coincidence.
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1 minute ago, Guard Dog said:
Not really socialist though are they? Businesses are private, land ownership is private, natural resources belong to the land they sit on. You can own property, own a business, own a multi-billion dollar corporation and get rich selling cell handsets and base stations to the world. What the Scandinavian countries have is a really high tax rate that is used to fund a social welfare system that is very beneficial to a small and mostly homogeneous country and population that is mostly centered in one area. Nothing at all like Venezuela or the USSR or their ilk is it? In fact it's fair to say they are EXACTLY like the US except they pay a little more in tax and get better value for it am I right? Sort of like a mini-USA only no Wal-Mart. Hey, they are happy with it and I'm happy for them.
Of course that does not exactly work in a huge, heterogeneous, and exceeding complex country like the US where one part of the country is so different from another they might as well be different peoples. Or where the tax rate is already over 38% for the people who pay taxes and they are getting nothing like that because and enormous military, bloated bureaucracy, entitlements, and aging population, numerous population centers with a huge diversity of challenges, etc. I could go on. Americans look at other countries and wonder "why can't we do that?". The answer is "Because we are different, have different problems, a different culture, and are just different."
If things weren't the same they'd be different.
Thanks for replying. Yeah, no country is socialist really, but in the 21st century it feels like the useage of the word means "welfare state" more than anything else.
I don't agree that it couldn't be done over there, you have a long history of having huge top tax rates after all, but I see your point with all the challenges.
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17 minutes ago, Skarpen said:
Sure let's skip the violations of human rights, being rape capitol of Europe and other minor inconveniences. Scandinavia is a paradise to live
No country is perfect (or even close to perfect), but there's a reason the same ones continously top all indexes no matter the positive criteria (democracy, happiness, least corrupt, you name it).
Also, pretty sure Sweden isn't actually the "rape capitol" of Europe. They're superfeminist, so the term "rape" has a far wider definition there than elsewhere, and the women there are also far more likely to report them than in other countries (more faith in the justice system).
I can ask you the same question I asked GD - why do you think those countries always top happiness indexes (and alike) despite being the most socialistic ones?
rAND-ohm vIDeO game NEW$
in Computer and Console
Posted · Edited by Maedhros
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-03/blizzard-workers-share-salaries-in-revolt-over-wage-disparities?srnd=technology-vp
Based on the last decade of Blizzard greed in World of Warcraft, this doesn't surprise me at all. I guess it's similar to the top restaurants in the world where so many people will apply, and want to work there that they can justify paying such low wages. Still feels rotten though.
@Keyrock Crusader Kings 2 is probably my most played singleplayer game of all time. I keep finding new ways to challenge myself in it. I just hope CK3 won't require tons of patches and DLCs to be as good.