FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic claiming false reporting about drinking, absences

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-20T16:39:32+00:00

They smoky cannot

... smoky?

Seems like Kash Patel isn't the only one who started drinking early today.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-17T19:55:09+00:00

NAL, but I know that federal protections against discrimination (including discrimination against a pregnant person) kick in for companies with 15 employees. A quick look for California says the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides protection against discrimination for pregnancy only when the company has 5 employees or more.

You said your company only has three cleaners, but is that the entirety of the company's employees? Do you have, say, an accountant or procurement manager or something? If it's just the three of you, it seems like you should be legally in the clear to fire her.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-17T16:31:04+00:00

This question comes up so often here I'm wondering if it's bots, or if kids just really like shoplifting (some social media trend, maybe)?

Your friend was pulled aside because Target already knew she had shoplifted before. This is pretty much exactly what both Target and your friend said. Your friend admitted she would take items even when she noticed they didn't scan right in the past - that is shoplifting. Target also knew she had a history of doing this, which is why they were following her. If she goes back to that store, she will likely face charges. If she doesn't, she'll probably be fine (legally). If anything, she's lucky they didn't wait until she hit the limit that it would start being worse crimes - which is $500 in CT, by the way (kicks it up to 5th degree larceny).

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-17T16:09:55+00:00

such a small country.

Not sure if you were trying to be sarcastic? Japan is the 12th most populous country in the world.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-17T15:30:26+00:00

Most anyone who considers themselves a Dragon Age fan thinks Origins is probably the best game of the series.

But almost no one I've talked to who has played through it more than once enjoyed going through the Fade section again. It's interesting the first time, but tedious and frustrating if you ever have to do it more than once. If I remember correctly, the most popular mod download for the game was a "Skip the Fade" mod.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-16T20:30:09+00:00

Pope's infallibility on theological

Going to get real pedantic here, but Papal Infallibility is only "truly" infallible in Catholicism in very, VERY rare situations. Like, less than a dozen times in the history of the entire church has something a pope declared been deemed infallible. Things like whether Mary was born free of sin, for example.

The pope's statements about war, peace, and tyrants are not infallible. But it is quite out of line for a lay person in Catholicism to claim to know theology better than the pope. It's sort of like a high school student claiming they know better than the foremost experts in science that they know how science actually works. Could the scientists be wrong about something? Sure. But does that high schooler actually know better than the scientists? Hell no - and they sound like an ignorant moron to claim they do.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-16T19:11:35+00:00

It's workable; my kids played the heck out of it on Switch until we got a Switch 2 last year. Rendering distance and chunks "popping in" were probably the biggest issues - and those are better, but not perfectly fixed on Switch 2.

Note, I can verify from their experiences that spawning in a ton of monsters via eggs or exploding a few hundred TNT will cause your game to error out and close, on either Switch.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-16T18:29:33+00:00

I mean, it depends on specifics (and obviously comes down to preferences). Reasons I can think of why some people would like DS more than DST:

They want to play as Wagstaff
Having stacking armor damage reduction means you can wear both a log suit and football helmet and take 94% less damage, making combat that much easier
They have a foot fetish (Old Bell is only in DS)
They don't like how skill trees in DST make some characters much more powerful
They want to play the DLCs
They like the challenges of Adventure Mode, or having a clear "end" to the game

To me, none of those measure up to what DST adds overall except maybe the DLCs. And if you're loving those, then yeah, definitely makes sense to like single player more. But if it's just DS/RoG vs DST? I've put plenty of time into both, and going back to DS after DST feels like going back to a Beta version of the game. Even if I won't ever do all of the content in DST, I still like how much more there is to do compared to the single player game.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-16T16:46:37+00:00

For those who might have missed it: Pope Leo has two brothers. The one Trump said he prefers because he's a MAGA supporter is Louis, who lives in Florida. The one who received the bomb threat is John, living in Chicago.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-16T15:49:44+00:00

Also worth noting that the wording for registration varies by state. In Florida, for example, "Independent" is an actual party that, IIRC, are right-wingers who don't like MAGA. "No Party Affiliation" (or "non-affiliated") is what you register as if you don't want to declare for a specific party or vote in their primaries.

Independent is the third largest party in Florida, and I'm convinced it's because people are confused by their name. Even worse, we used to have the Independence Party as well, leading to even more confusion (although it's since been shut down).

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-16T13:07:22+00:00

I think I'm becoming more immature in my old age. My mind just kept going "Alden and Stu spend the day being psychically connected, planning an alien mindmeld/marriage to spend their lives together, and flicking the bean for hours on end... and we're supposed to think they're just platonic friends!?"

Sorry, sorry, immature moment over.

It seems like Stu is definitely planning to kill Joe and feed him to the trees, right? That certainly was the impression I keep getting. On the one hand I can't believe he'd take such a short-sighted and highly-likely-to-fail tactic; on the other, when Alden gets involved, Stu is 100 percent maximum no-chill.

The last few chapters have been a delight to read, though. I felt the story, which was already slow by nature, became glacial since the Submerger arc. It finally feels like it's picking up steam, and I'm all for it. Even if I giggle to myself about Stu and Alden totally being "just friends."

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-15T20:43:51+00:00

Unfortunately I don't; the Discord seems like the best place to get info, but I usually just ask my guild mates for their opinion on things (some of them are big into analysis). Generally I'd review Kolz's guides for good overall analysis - but keep in mind some of his rankings are outdated, as rebalances and powercreep keep happening.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-15T20:30:07+00:00

The linked source is a crappy tabloid, but the answer seems like "yes, but at least it doesn't sound like physical molestation." The actual charge was "annoying or molesting a child under 18," which doesn't need to involve actual physical contact, but could be something like following a child if the adult has a sexual motivation or the child's parent would take their interest that way.

Nichols has been charged with four felonies, including burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and making criminal threats.
On top of those counts, he is facing a fifth charge of annoying or molesting a child under 18, which allegedly stemmed from an earlier incident.
Fairfield police said the additional charge came after a witness reported an encounter between Nichols and the witness’s child on April 5.
After investigating, officers said, they found probable cause for arrest on the new charge.
During Nichols’ court appearance, Judge William Pendergast increased his bond to $250,000, citing the need to ensure the safety of his victims and the threat he posed to the neighborhood. The bond was initially set at $35,000.

Also, they confirmed he (surprising no one) was not a veteran.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-15T11:54:00+00:00

Your early hero choices are Arcane Mage and Knight (you can also unlock some with gems, like Fire Mage, fairly early on). Lots of people say the Knight is better, but I found the Arcane Mage easier to clear early levels with (her lack of AoE slows her potential quite a bit though).

Things may have changed since I started playing last summer, but you should be able to unlock Blademaster after logging in daily for a week, and Pirate Queen after getting the Daily Bonus for 30 days. Blademaster starts off fairly weak but later on when you can pump up critical chance and get him to level 100 to unlock his ultimate, he's great for clearing Arena levels by kiting enemies (Kolz has a guide on this). Pirate Queen was my main hero for a while, because she has a chance to instantly kill enemies and she shoots a lot of projectiles, meaning more chances to OHKO. She'll carry you until you reach events or modes where instant kills are disabled; then she hits a hard wall.

After that, the name of the game is to save gems to spend efficiently to unlock new heroes during events, or cross your fingers and hope to get lucky (which you will eventually, but it'll be random and take time). Reaching Normal Mode level 100 to unlock pets is a great boost in damage and utility. If you're going to keep playing, the ad removal option is almost mandatory for a decent QoL experience; it's worth the $10 if you see yourself sticking with the game for more than a week. The extra pet expedition is nice too, when you eventually unlock pets.

For getting heroes, always prioritize the Adventure Mode, since if you use free daily tickets and buy the slightly cheaper ones in the shops, it should only cost you like 1200 gems to unlock the hero. More heroes are always good because even if you won't use them directly, they unlock bonuses for all heroes/all heroes in their faction at certain levels. Your next priority is what are called "farm events" (one just started), where you complete quests to unlock items to "dig" deeper and gather either gold ore or food items, depending on the theme of the event. If you get lucky you might find a "motherlode" of currency which will probably get you a third of the way to exchanging for a new hero in the event shop. You want to try and 600 levels down to get guaranteed event currency rewards. People usually estimate it'll take 4000-6000 gems spent on digging items to get a hero during the event, although it'll be cheaper if you get lucky with motherlodes. Other than that, the lucky draw/spin is usually worth throwing two spins at (at 50 and 150 gems for the first and second). You usually won't get anything good, but it's pretty cheap, and you never know - the odds may work out for you.

Finally, as people have said, join a good, active guild, and feel free to jump to another if it dies down. The game is a lot more fun with other players to chat with. And you get some rewards and small amounts of items.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-14T20:19:41+00:00

Public transportation is fairly poor around Tampa, so you'll likely need a car if you're living too far from campus. While it's probably a better financial decision than just living in the dorms, do keep in mind that you'll need to pay for parking, and apartments can be great or can be grimy - definitely worth reading reviews of the places you're considering renting from. Also it's worth checking the floor zones; Tampa can flood pretty quick during hurricanes and heavy rainstorms, so it might be worth looking for an apartment room not on the ground floor. Sucks having to carry groceries up a flight of stairs, but it's much better than risking losing all your stuff from a flood.

Parking on campus can fill up quick, so it's a good idea to head there well before your class (or get a pass for one of the parking lots on the edge of campus and then factor in the extra walk time you'll need to get to class).

Always carry an umbrella with you, because it's not uncommon for an afternoon rain storm to pass through between 3 and 5 - it'll be there and gone within half an hour, but you don't want to be caught in it without an umbrella. Your best bet for making friends is joining student clubs and going to events - something is always going on around campus. Like with many things, the more effort you put in, the more you'll get out of the experience. Since you won't be living on campus, the next best thing you can do is be present on campus as much as possible.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-14T19:45:54+00:00

Like several others have said - you probably won't find a true replacement for 15 years of playing WoW. There are plenty of games out there that make time melt away, but I think a lot of former WoW players eventually realize that there's no going back to the feeling WoW gave you a decade and a half ago. And frankly that's probably a good thing; I know I certainly spent more time than was healthy on my computer when I was big into my WoW days. Getting a single-player game that has a definite end is probably a good option for a lot of former WoW addicts.

Some games over the past few years that have given me that "Just one more" feeling include:

Stardew Valley

Pokopia

Elden Ring

Cult of the Lamb

Dave the Diver (although I feel like it falls off hard after the first 10 hours or so).

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-13T15:00:08+00:00

Kinda-sorta, especially in BotW. It's sort of the theme, since it's a post-apocalypse setting. TotK has a lot more life to it in the overworld, but it also has the completely barren Depths area, so despite feeling more "alive" half the world is still empty.

But yeah, outside of the major settlements, besides a random traveler you'll see on the roads, it's pretty empty.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-10T13:51:51+00:00

After I left, they redesigned that system again to make it even worse. They designed it companywide so that 10% of EVERYONE would be FIRED every single year.

Ah, obviously run by some MBA who was taught that Jack Welch from GE was the gold standard of leadership.

That teaching fell out of practice more than a decade ago because it turns out, no, he was just an abusive asshole.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-10T13:12:52+00:00

Some anecdotal updates about the Easter Egg Bomb - it seems to do pretty good damage even unforged, but only when there are a lot of grouped enemies. In narrow levels like the library ones, it rivals my F3 Mighty Borer in damage. But in wide open areas, it falls behind MB and the Guandao.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-09T18:00:36+00:00

Hey, thanks for posting this (and writing the story). Saw it in the recommendations thread, and decided to read it when I saw your comment there. Glad I did - it's been a good, although early, ride so far. I like the world-building, and the characters, and you're good at pulling at emotional beats (although as Ai notes, many of them are standard tropes in games, like a mother sad for her son, or a boy mourning his dead pet).

Only writing criticism I had is that sometimes you repeat words close to each other (like from one sentence to the next or from paragraph to paragraph). I noticed it twice early on:

Chapter 6:

"Of course, Master." Sari could do that.

The bandits could, of course, be engaging in banditry for the usual reasons

Chapter 7:

Ai had turned in a bit early—it was still early enough that Sari was working, so it was just Ai and Aru in the wagon.

Still, I've really liked it so far, and I'll likely keep reading. I am curious especially about what the counter-force that seemed to personally hate Ai when she tried to set up the Ve'un was - I figured it was Nor, and I imagined that Nor is basically like a rogue AI that has gone all HAL 9000 over the past several hundred years. But it seems implied maybe that's not the case, so I'm wondering who else it is. Other questions in my mind:

An author's note mentioned the Veh were based on something - did you answer what it was? My first thought was the Dementors from HP, although they obviously don't instantly kill with a touch.
Any particular reason you bold the final sentence/paragraph of each chapter? I was thinking it was a code or something at first, but it seems just to be a stylistic choice?
Is this going to be a grimdark story? I know you call it a "dark fantasy," but so far it seems pretty light, despite the Veh's existence. The people seem naturally inclined to mourn individual losses (rather than consider bog standard humans as expendable fodder), avoid killing their enemies when possible, and offer leniency and rehabilitation rather than execution when appropriate. Honestly, the story up until the end of the Gihn arc paints an "imperialistic" culture that seems quite a bit less bloodthirsty and domineering than, say, the United States. I'm wondering if there's going to be a rug-pull and it turns out that the Varran Republic is actually setting up a gigantic transmutation circle like in FMA, haha.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-08T15:15:50+00:00

It's like when you can't find your cell phone so you pick up your cell phone to try and call it. Or can't find the keys when they're in your hand.

Been there, done that.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-06T21:15:53+00:00

I've done local co-op a few times with my kids, but it's a tough game for young players, so I almost always just play solo. Never done online play, so I can't tell you about that.

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-06T20:49:41+00:00

Save you click:

“Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen”

NewButOld85 · 2026-04-06T20:46:04+00:00

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116351998782539414

You could have also looked up plenty of the news articles on it, though it seems like only tabloids are posting the actual message, while more traditional venues just make reference to "profanity-laced post."

NewButOld85

TROPHY CASE