213374U

Where did I say "life sucks"? In this thread or elsewhere? Or posted anything that can be construed as such? Yeah. Seeing how it's just you who got that impression, and after explaining it to you using short words in simple sentences, I'm finally convinced that it's pointless to keep on trying to get anything through your thick skull. Good luck in elementary. Maybe in a year or two you'll stop trying to get the square peg in the the round hole. Final piece of advice: the thread isn't your property. People aren't going to talk about what you tell them to the way you want them to. Better get used to this...

Hit a nerve? You? That's rich. You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a bulldozer, bud. Don't pat yourself in the back so hard, you'll hurt yourself. Looks like you are desperate to show everyone how happy you are despite... whatever. And especially despite the fact that overarching societal problems and personal satisfaction aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. The thread had already been derailed before I started posting here, I simply replied to what other folks were saying. You don't like topics evolving beyond whatever you had in mind? Toughen up and deal.

I remember a biochemist friend of mine used to rant about how his cultures would keep getting contaminated by bacteria, thus ruining his experiments, when he was trying to work on his Ph.D. So I guess he'd disagree about no results being bad, heh. Joking aside, I read an article that explored an epigenetic model as an explanation for sexual orientation, fascinating stuff. It was very hypothetical and there were some criticisms even in the same article, but what surprised me most was that one of the scientists involved suggested abandoning the research for being a sensitive subject. She figured the effort would be better spent researching "the epigenetics of cancer".

>Hiro asks questions about how issues are affecting other people >Someone answers those questions giving specific examples explaining how vague societal problems cause real problems >Hiro ignores the answers and goes full spastic But I needed a financial advisor earlier, and now I need a therapist. Tell you what, let's make a deal. I'll get both if you go back and finish elementary school, so you get some basic reading comprehension and reasoning skills. Deal? http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-014-9219-y That was posted a while ago in these boards. I'll let you guess by whom.

Should I only care about the curbing of civil liberties once they have directly effected me? I still remember those government paid posters being everywhere, railroad stations, bus stops etc. encouraging people to watch each other carefully and report any unusual behavior. Yes, that was in Australia. Wait, what?

Oh, wow. I estimate that the odds of something like that happening over here range between "lol, that's a good one" and "a celluloid dog would sooner chase an asbestos cat through hell". Remember, we have made the religious fervor-triggered assault of churches to parade icons around into a national holiday. STOP TRYING TO TAKE AWAY MY DREAMS

Seriously though, I'm not talking about abolishing spirituality. I'm talking about the institution. One does not need to participate in centrally organized, directed group activities to have a religious life, right? Not that there's anything wrong with religious group activities, my beef is more with the "centrally organized, directed" part.

It's pretty uncanny how accurate Orwell's predictions were. You have newspeak, telescreens, and perpetual war. "Truth is stranger than fiction" indeed.

You mean... return it to what it was before the Catholic Church officially hijacked what had been essentially a private contract between citizens for property transfer purposes? *GASP* I like your suggestion to abolish marriage. I'd just like to take it one step further: **** (abolish) the Church. And **** the state too. :D

Ah, I see what you're trying to say. If it doesn't happen to Barothmuk, it's not happening, right? I'm sure it has nothing to do with someone giving you precise answers to the questions you were asking for. How are you enjoying your cognitive dissonance? And forget about fish prices, that's just a footnote. Focus on everything else I said, like increased cancer risk, legal discrimination on a gender basis and fines and prison sentences for protesting illegally. Oh, but I haven't caught cancer yet (that I know of) and I'm obviously not posting from jail so everything's really OK and I'm just moping right?

I'd rather examine your claims in detail before accepting them, thank you. Oh, wait. We don't really need to. Eating healthy would increase food costs for one person by $550 per year. This increase alone is higher than your $45/mo figure. So, chances are, you aren't really eating healthy. The other possibility is that you are growing a large part of your food, but you aren't computing the (opportunity) cost. Either way, it's not $45. No, I'm not confusing anything. Official figures show that, in 2013, the poverty rate (defined by people living under the poverty line as calculated by the US Census) was 14.5%. In the same year, 14.3% of all households in the US were in a situation of food insecurity, with 5.6% being in a situation of very low food security, i.e. they couldn't afford as much food as they needed at some point. So, no, "nearly all poor people" cannot afford to eat well, let alone less immediate needs.

So, you told someone with a clear addiction problem to knock it off. I know you are a sensible guy so I suspect you weren't surprised when she didn't listen to your well-meaning advice. Don't hold it against her, though. People who frequently engage in self-destructive behavior are simply unable to break off the vicious circle by themselves in most cases. I agree, the first step is to stop digging, but even that may be beyond what that lady's capacity. Let's say I can bench 265 and you can bench 300. No matter how hard I try, I'm not benching 300. Does that make me weak? With proper guidance, training I may get there and beyond, but the starting point is different for everyone owing to a myriad different biological and environmental factors. Willpower, much like physical strength, isn't unlimited. Same for reasoning ability, etc. You literally have no idea how hard she may have been struggling because you are not her and you only caught a glimpse of her life. Why do people do stuff that is bad for them? Why do they make evidently bad decisions? Why can't they cease certain behaviors despite being aware of the evident negative consequences of their actions? Because people aren't rational. Intelligence is much like an iceberg; a large part is hidden under the surface and we are oblivious to its influence. Research has shown emotions to be key in the decision-making process but emotions reside in the limbic system, an ancient brain we share with reptiles, more primitive mammals and birds. They are beyond our control and identifying them doesn't come naturally. Ultimately it's a debate about free will, and the jury's still out on that one. BTW I liked your stance on "going where the work is". Does this also apply to foreign workers entering another country illegally to find work if none is to be had at home?

That's great. Where do you get your proteins from, though. Photosynthesis? And there's a reason (well, several) why large food retail chains can offer prices that low. But even if I posted and discussed it, you wouldn't read it anyway, since you already know everything you need to, because you're smart and everyone else is dumb. So enjoy while it lasts. So... unemployed or unsuccessful people with marketable skills do not exist or if they do, it's because they lack the will to apply said skills, right? Okay, so where does that will or lack thereof come from? And what about people who can't learn marketable skills for whatever reasons? The whole "marketable" paradigm is bunk, btw. What's marketable today can be worthless tomorrow. As established by the market, that empyreal force of nature that is the end-all be-all of human societies. Eh, no. You have decided not to earn as much money as you possibly could given your skills. That's a choice poor people don't get to make because they by definition aren't making as much money as they need. To put things in perspective, you need to eat ~1 gram of protein per bodyweight pound per day. You do not need a 24'' flat screen TV. So, no. You aren't poor. I'll ask again: Have you met many people that freely, consciously made the choice to be poor, unhappy, unsuccessful or otherwise miserable? YOU asked HOW Barothmuk was being affected by sexism and racism, the erosion of civil liberties and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Granted, I'm still not Barothmuk, but I provided exactly what you were asking for. How vague, society-wide problems were affecting day-to-day life. If your rebuttal is that since I don't protest every day, anti-protest legislation isn't really affecting my day-to-day life, well, yeah dude, you're right. And your solution to price increases in fish due to unsustainable practices is... not to eat fish. I believe congratulations are in order. Your logic is both bulletproof and completely irrelevant. Are you perchance a trial lawyer? Don't mistake moping with reckoning that not everything is rainbows and sunshines and that things are getting worse rather than better. Your solution to societal problems amounts to "420 BLAZE IT ****", only with a hardcore achiever spin. Go go internet übermensch power fantasies.

I hear you. I doubt they'll be able to make it as fast as the originals though (someone calculated that Doomguy could run @ ~60mph), but they have supposedly been taking cues from Brutal Doom so maybe we'll get something substantially faster than Doom 3 or your average MMS at least. edit: nevermind, it's going to be released on consoles too, so it'll be constrained by controller limitations. Forget about Quake-level speed.

In no particular order. Peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwiches Dem gainz Breakfast Learning new **** Getting **** done Kicking back after no more **** needs doing Strong coffee

Good food (and I don't mean that avant-garde haute cuisine bull****), not so much. Look at the labels and macro breakdown, read up on additives, manufacturing processes, etc. Some of that **** is just gross, not to mention unethical to produce due to the conditions animals are kept in and forced relocations to make room for farming land. The GMO debate is a whole 'nother can of worms. Who wants to spend upwards of 50% of their income on quality, fair trade food, though? Y'think? And what is needed to change one's situation from unsuccessful to successful? Have you met many people that freely, consciously made the choice to be poor, unhappy, unsuccessful or otherwise miserable? Is this a strength of character thing or it depends on acquired or innate insights? And are those inheritable or environmentally influenced traits?

I'm not Barothmuk, but I think I can answer some of those. For instance, despite the fact that I'm a male, I'm being discriminated against by the justice system since the passing of a law in 2004 to protect against "gender-based violence". It's hilarious really, because the then-incumbent minister that is responsible for the law, has been himself a victim of a bogus complaint. Just a single complaint, mind, could mean that I would lose the right to see my kids, if I had any, without the need for the complaint to result in a conviction. Yes, that is sexism. Regarding civil liberties, a new "public safety" bill has been passed that, for instance, makes it illegal to record police interventions under certain circumstances*, and to protest in front of public institutions and buildings, which has resulted in such absurd occurrences as a "virtual protest". I can also be fined or even imprisoned for burning the flag or otherwise "offending Spain". Thankfully, our Interior minister clarifies: "offense is that which offends". Well I'm so ****ing relieved. Yes, this is in the mother****ing 21st century. Other countries' flags are fine, though. As for unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, it affects me directly, for instance with fish prices. Just three weeks ago our local fishing grounds were functionally exhausted for the season due to, among other things, bottom trawling, which is cheap, indiscriminate, but not illegal despite the fact that it destroys the ability of the ecosystem to recover from fishing. This leads to our fishing fleets having to travel deeper into sea or into other countries' fishing grounds, which raises prices for me. This is without going into how contaminated** food is in general (and fish in particular) due to industrial activity, which raises the risk of cancer, food poisoning, allergies, etc for me. Want me to go on? Look, I get it, the sun's shining, you're in love, everything's great for you and it could be for me too if I just smiled more. I just can't stop thinking that no matter how hard I smile like a moron, things aren't getting better for future generations. Sorry to rain on your parade. *to be determined... by the police. Funny how the sarcasm in your post went over people's heads. **edit: I accidentally the whole verb! Is this dangerous?

I'm terrible in general. But you are absolutely right, let me try again: I've almost finished my second consecutive 28-hour weekend shift. That alone makes me plenty happy. Until the next shift comes around, anyway. What? No? Damn.

Relevant: Heh. Kinda funny that they needed ADVANCED MATHEMATICAL MODELS to reach the conclusion that no amount of know-how will ever be able to outstrip plain old greed. But who cares because shutup. Unicorns, rainbows and ****. Seriously, if it doesn't involve what's between your legs, what's between his/her/xyr legs or whatever some random nobody on Twitter is saying about what somebody else is doing with what's between his/her/xyr legs, it's not interesting and will immediately get buried and forgotten under a metric ****ton of irrelevant anti-intellectual pop trash. Good luck.

Well, most of those are simple press releases and some are even behind paywalls. I was hoping more for a piece going a bit more in-depth explaining the overarching situation and how the raid fits in the larger scheme of things. Have you seen anything like that in the Finnish press? Over here is like total blackout (as usual). Thanks, at any rate.

This is weird. They've added Metro Last Light, but not 2033? What about the Metro Redux package?

I was waiting for someone here to post some links for context, but I guess there are no such links in English-speaking media. I went to try and find a summary and mostly failed (my Google-Fu is weak ). WARNING: strong anti-United Statian slant. Viewer discretion is advised. http://thesaker.is/special-report-on-the-escalating-situation-in-macedonia/ I'm... quite confused after reading that. Apparently the author thinks ultimately it's the US doing... something, for... reasons. This mirrors Sarex' tone in the OP, so I guess it's a common view in the Balkans? I'm literally clueless as to what's going on. Some clarification, please?

Two words: car crashes. Cars are dangerous toys. You obviously cannot seem to stop killing yourselves (and others) with these deadly contraptions, so the state has a moral mandate to protect you from yourselves by taking your cars away. This will also solve the obesity epidemic, so it's a win-win situation. #watertightlogic

Cato the Younger would be proud.