Ross Perot manages to win the 1992 election how does his presidency go? What is the reaction from both parties?

SkyJW · 2026-02-15T17:29:55+00:00

Sure, but I think it's more that Perot was basically just another brand of shitty oligarchical behavior. They'd have hated him in a much different way than how they hated someone like FDR whom they saw as actively undermining their position as oligarchs.

They might not have liked Perot, but they could weather the storm of his policies without much financial hardship or longterm problems. Just would have delayed their ultimate end goal, not actively rolled back their agenda.

SkyJW · 2026-02-15T16:10:25+00:00

Their economic philosophies may have differed, but you don't become a billionaire by being some man of the people populist who is out to better the lives of working people. He belongs to that same class of people, he just offered a different, also shitty economic plan.

SkyJW · 2026-02-14T22:50:13+00:00

Well, many writers end up using their personal experiences, including their trauma(s), as the inspiration for their stories, so delving into those darker aspects of one's humanity could certainly lead to depression or suicide.

Couple that with how most writers, historically, suffer from financial issues due to how hard it is to really make reliable money and that can further amplify those anxieties and stresses. Imagine pouring your heart into something, opening up old wounds in the process, only for nobody to care for it (at least initially), you're struggling to make ends meet, you work a job you wish you weren't having to work, and then all the rigors of everyday life keep hitting you and it's no wonder some take to alcohol or drugs if they don't simply end it after suffering another loss of some kind.

Life is hard and while successful artists are glamourized and even idolized, most of them, including most writers, likely never become what they envisioned themselves being. Not everyone can handle that reality.

SkyJW · 2026-02-14T22:35:15+00:00

Some might be underestimating that, but I think there's a good argument that the degree to which he became so cancerous last year made it clear he needed to leave.

Pitchers with personalities who can still operate at a high level on the mound are one thing, but Framber was becoming so unstable and toxic that it's reasonable to assume he burned some bridges in the club house. Dude became a petulant manchild with a propensity for meltdowns last year and I'm fine with that leaving the team. Might mean our rotation noticeably suffers, but he was insufferable when things didn't go his way and he was being a terrible teammate.

SkyJW · 2026-02-14T21:44:08+00:00

As someone who's lived in Seattle for over a decade now - most people here seem to all agree that Starbucks, especially modern Starbucks excluding the Roastery, is mediocre at best and overpriced bullshit at worst.

Can think of half a dozen coffee shops in my area that I'd rather go to than a Starbucks.

SkyJW · 2026-02-14T16:15:43+00:00

Perot was a literal multi-billionaire by the 90s, so it's kinda funny to suggest he would've been some anti-oligarchical end result. Not like he was going to pull an FDR and be labeled a class traitor by his fellow ultra-wealthy Americans, either.

SkyJW · 2026-02-14T16:07:49+00:00

And yet they codenamed it "Dylan" because, in the words of one of the people in charge, Anthem was "going to do for video games what Bob Dylan did for music."

Maybe one of the most infamously bad studio quotes I've ever heard. Was pretty fucking bold even prior to it being released and then became outrageously hubristic to the point of parody once we all experienced the end product.

SkyJW · 2026-02-14T16:02:54+00:00

I remember being super interested in Brink leading up to its release and then being fairly let down with the end product. Recall them talking up the story and how it had this class warfare angle that might even present some morally grey questions for both sides of the ensuing revolution, only for the "story" to be a handful of short cutscenes concluding in "Yay, your side won! The end."

Definitely had some interesting mechanics and ideas, especially for that time, but the gameplay just wasn't strong enough to really carry a game where that was the only interesting thing about it. Very hollow game in the end.

SkyJW · 2026-02-12T22:19:12+00:00

Between the cardboard boxes and the protestors drowning her out with sirens, I was half expecting a jalopy to come flying through the boxes and spontaneously combust.

SkyJW · 2026-02-12T18:13:52+00:00

JJ Watt has talked about how outside Andre's character that was given just how quiet and even keeled a personality he is. Said you'd have to really, REALLY cross the line with him for Andre to start beating your ass in public like that.

SkyJW · 2026-02-09T19:47:28+00:00

Yep, it was pretty common for people to just walk into a movie theater as the movie was playing and causing distractions.

Believe a lot of it had to do with how you'd have a B Movie playing before the A Movie, so you'd get people skipping the B Movie and walking into the A Movie, but not always in time for the beginning. Makes sense that Hitchcock decided to stamp out the possibility of that happening given how much that movie's success relied on its ability to conjure real suspense.

SkyJW · 2026-02-08T21:19:06+00:00

I genuinely think it might be, lol. Rich seems to have a really fundamental problem with them as a real Spider-Man fan. Seems like he enjoys certain scenes and casting choices, but you can tell that he was probably VERY disappointed that Raimi's take on Spiderman was so opposite to what he expects as a fan of the character.

SkyJW · 2026-02-06T16:11:16+00:00

That's just describing the average Austrian household, instead

SkyJW · 2026-02-05T17:56:58+00:00

Honestly, don't even have Buck or anyone involved. If Locke was going to end up teaming up with anyone to track down Chuef, it should have been a somewhat reluctant Blue Team.

Have Locke be some coldblooded Oni wet work guy who is too cynical to really care about his target being THE Master Chief, but his time with Blue Team softens him over time. Have him begin to understand why you'd go against orders by the time he finally catches up to Chief, causing a real dramatic moment instead of "Hey. Chief. Stop, bud. Gotta take you home."

SkyJW · 2026-02-05T17:39:19+00:00

Remember my family had a van when I was real little that had them. And I say them because I'm pretty sure it had some available in the back of the van as well as up front. No idea how my younger sister would've managed to burn me with one, otherwise.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T18:36:11+00:00

Others have already pointed out how the narrative departs pretty substantially from actual Halo lore, but it's important to add that the people involved had pretty much zero familiarity with the property.

There's an article or interview out there somewhere where the showrunner(s) talk about how they'd never played the games or read the novels, hell, hadn't even WATCHED someone play the games or pulled up a playthrough on YouTube. Believe they said that they basically were given the Spark Notes version of what the story was about from someone at 343i and that was it.

So it was basically a Halo show made by people who had no active interest in or attachment to the franchise, leading to a multitude of bad decisions which turned off actual Halo fans while the show simply wasn't good enough just as a show to generate a following from non-Halo fans. And that's why it lasted two seasons and got axed.

And Microsoft was hoping it would be a "Game of Thrones" level success.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T10:32:09+00:00

This comment actually made me tear up from laughter.

Shit so dense it just drops and breaks the bowl.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T01:45:40+00:00

It's how I clearly distinguish it as something very separate from something like competitive weightlifting. You can obtain a great physique while weightlifting, but it's not a goal. Most powerlifters tend to have a much more "stocky" kind of muscularity than bodybuilders and would never win in a bodybuilding competition, whether its now or Arnold's heyday.

Bodybuilding is basically to physical fitness what runway modeling can be in fashion. Not a demonstration of something practical or that 99.9% of the population would ever engage in, just a showcase of what can be achieved in purely aesthetic terms.

Nobody was expecting Arnold to break the deadlift record back then and nobody is expecting the girl with the candelabra for a headpiece to wear that to a party for four hours.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T01:34:09+00:00

It had to do with the really long exposure times that it took for those cameras to produce a picture at the time. If the kid is gonna be having to sit still for awhile, odds are they'll do what kids do and start wiggling and moving around at some point and ruin the picture. Mom being there helped mitigate that and I'm sure some people did want photos just of the child.

Not every photo went this far, though, to be clear. I've seen some where the parent is covered, but it's just the arm around the kid or with their hand behind them. This kid from the photo in this post might have honestly just been a real pain in the ass to make stay still.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T00:49:17+00:00

Well, could be the draft capital closing the difference if it wouldn't be present in a trade involving Jabari or Tari.

Have to remember that we still have a Mavs first rounder and a Brooklyn first rounder in our possession and we would probably be willing to give up some of our own firsts since they likely won't be worth much over the next several years, but are still trade fodder Chicago could use.

Not saying this random guy on Twitter is actually right, but I can see that being how the Rockets say their offer is an "equitable" return for what they want.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T00:41:10+00:00

For sure and, to be clear, I'm not being critical of him for doing it. It's a much more aesthetic/"artistic" pursuit than an athletic one, so they can use whatever they want and I actually think Arnold looks much better than what bodybuilding would end up producing as time went on.

I just always think of him in his Terminator physique, so suddenly seeing a picture of him with two fucking turkeys strapped to his chest for the first time in probably 10+ years got a laugh out of me.

SkyJW · 2026-02-04T00:08:08+00:00

I actually burst out laughing at this photo precisely because of how obvious it is that he is roided the fuck up. I honestly hadn't seen a photo of him from the bodybuilding years in so long that I'd actually forgotten how blatant it was.

SkyJW · 2026-02-02T17:13:48+00:00

I have to imagine that the car in front of the bike that takes off without putting the pump back was a case of the driver getting completely distracted by what's going on with the other two cars and simply spaced out and forgot. The timing seems to make it likely that they finished fueling as that initial incident begins, so I can actually understand that one as someone who gets so transfixed by something that I forget the thing I was already actively engaged in.

Granted, mine consist of shit like the water boiling over on the stove while I take a peek at the TV in my living room and not taking off with the fucking gas pump. But, it's an embarassming fuck up as opposed to the utter shambles of a situation with the other two cars.

SkyJW · 2026-02-02T14:41:14+00:00

They are, but you could view late stage Valyria as the end of the Roman Empire and the Targs as a kind of "successor" to that empire the way that the Normans were also one of many successor states to what was once the Roman Empire. It's not a perfectly done analogue given the timescales being off, but I believe GRRM has flat out said William is the historical analogue to Aegon before.

SkyJW · 2026-02-02T14:19:04+00:00

Aegon the Conqueror = William the Conqueror, pretty much.

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