Hurlshort

... Uh... Do you pay taxes? That stimulus money wasn't some magical gift from the money printer. It was a percentage of money I already gave to them. A rather small percentage.

Yep, that was the other issue. I still got some good hours out of it playing through the beginning, but it was hard to stay interested in the empty version of the world. It's a shame, I was hoping more for Ultima 7 than UO.

I wanted to get into Shrouds of Avatar so badly, but the weird sprawl of player stuff in every town just turned me off.

Wait, some of these people that stormed the Capitol building are just protest junkies that are desperate for attention? *Le Gasp!*

I should probably sit down and finish Burn Notice someday too. I lost track somewhere around season 3 or 4.

Soooooo much bigger. When did ANTIFA occupy anything near this scale?

Carter has some pretty good quotes on the idea that China is going to go to war with the US: https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/713495558/president-trump-called-former-president-jimmy-carter-to-talk-about-china

The fact they covered Home Alone and Die Hard means they've already covered the best Xmas movies.

In November, I didn't really think there was much of a chance of the democrats winning both seats in Georgia. But I'm getting the impression that Trump's behavior over the past month has done more to hurt the Republicans running than I thought possible. Crazy times. Doesn't help that Mitch basically looked like the hatchet man for the $2k payments.

I don't get the appeal of Mr. Robot at all. I watched the first season and found the main character completely unreliable and unlikeable.

Heh, I think I am with Shady. I've basically become a terrorist in a desperate attempt to win Keanu's approval.

Man, I don't get it. The game is huge and has a ton of content. The world is pretty dang busy. It's buggy, for sure. But I don't wander around thinking I'd really like to get more phone calls from people bugging me to do stuff. This is a big game with massive questlines to follow.

Of course, Trump's base will claim the Dems are overthrowing our democracy.

Hah, I did figure out that under 20 was the wrong button to push. I have no idea of those are good. Honestly I don't think she drinks the good stuff anyways, it is all fruity and too sweet for me.

I bought some cranberry lime mixer and sone vodka in the hopes of taking advantage of my wife with some ****tails tonight. It worked out somewhat, but she does seem to be somewhat immune to vodka. You see, she spent a year dancing in Japan in her 20's, and now she has move onto something called Shochu: Anyways, I am drunk, and she is fine.

Subnautica: Below Zero is really fantastic. They are increasing the price soon, it is only $20 now, so pick it up if you were a fan of the original. They've improved a few things and give you an excellent new world to explore.

I really enjoyed Empyrion. I have grown impatient and have started playing Subnautica: Below Zero. I know it isn't totally done yet, but it is still super polished and there is a lot of story to explore. I just made my first base and I've been exploring some crazy biomes. This planet isn't quite as desolate as the last one, I already encountered a real human being.

That's the thing, Cyberpunk is way more interactive when it comes to conversations. The NPC's seem more diverse. You can wander around the stores and apartments and they are more detailed and fleshed out than in GTA. It's not a perfect game, but neither is GTA. They have very different focus points.

Heh, I think we talked about that one earlier. GTA V is excellent. It is amazing what Rockstar has done with these open world action games. The growth from GTA3 to 5 is also remarkable. But having great driving and physics is what defines the GTA series. That and the crime boss storyline. The two games don't really benefit from any type of comparison. Cyberpunk was designed with some similar goals, but it is still an RPG first. It is focused on character development and conversation trees. It does that really well. It also has some pretty amazing attention to detail when it comes to atmospheric storytelling. Those are the strengths of the developers, and the game plays to them. Just like Rockstar plays to their strengths in GTA. So yeah, I'm happy to live in a world where both of these types of games exist. Tearing one down for not being the other seems like a dumb idea if you like good games.

Such is the beauty and the tragedy of the school system. Every school site, district, county, and state has their own way of doing things. Standardization is impractical and unwieldy, and at the end of the day, you have to have a decent teacher to drive any of the content anyways. I taught The Giver and Animal Farm when I taught ELA. Those were my main novels. Honestly that was all I had time for, too, and it helped that I was able to tie both into my Social Science curriculum. It is probably good I only teach SS now.

They still make them memorize the times tables. I remember when my first kid was born, I had these grand ideals about teaching them all of the world religions and helping them becomes a spiritually flexible and transcendent individual. Needless to say, imparting my vast wisdom was easier said than done. Early on it's just about keeping the self destructive buggers alive, and now I'm just trying to keep my daughter from getting regretful tattoos behind my back.

That is a terrible idea. You want your child to be exposed to a wide range of ideas, but you want them to be completely sheltered? How does that work, exactly? I teach Machiavelli in depth in 7th grade. It is a part of the curriculum, and it plays well with the transition from feudal kingdoms to city-states in Italy during the Renaissance. When I discuss the concept of the end justifying the means, only about 5 percent of students really get it. I can talk until I am blue in the face about it, but it is a complex concept. Some aren't interested, but most just lack the context about how society works. Homeschooling your kid isn't going to help them develop that context. I have no idea where and why Orwell would be banned. I doubt it is in my school district, but it isn't tied closely to my curriculum. Machiavelli, Dante, Cervantes, and Chaucer are all part of my classroom library. Edit: Now that I think on it, I taught Animal Farm years ago when I still had ELA classes.

But I am allergic to peanuts!

It is laughable that you can only expose and examine inequity in a social science classroom. ELA teachers are pretty smart, too.