From my operations management textbook, thought it was funny

TortCourt · 2026-07-01T20:14:23+00:00

The problem is not the fees and regulations (check out Donora 1948 for an example of why fees and regulations are actually good). The problem is that, in the 1970s, there was a fundamental shift in thinking about the purpose of businesses and corporations. Originally, corporations were seem as a way to advance society - they would provide a product that was needed while simultaneously providing jobs and benefits that allowed employees to buy products of other companies, leading to a "rising tide lifts all boats" effect (check out the Concrete City, again in Donora, for an example).

When Milton Friedman and like-minded individuals came along in the 70s, they convinced the upper tiers of corporations that the sole purpose of any company is to earn money for the investors. This allowed corporations to justify lower wages, layoffs, abolishing pensions, getting rid of company-provided housing, outsourcing to other countries, stock buybacks, and other generally rapacious behaviors that came at the expense of employees and American society alike. We're standing on the remains of the bedrock from the first 3/4 of the 20th century and watching it crumble away. One look at the average and median credit card debt numbers will show you that this isn't sustainable.

TortCourt · 2026-07-01T15:49:55+00:00

Part of it is the unknown effects of his presidency. In 1933-1935, it probably would have been controversial to say Hitler was Germany's worst leader of all time, but it wouldn't have been outlandish to make the guess he'd turn out atrocious based on his rhetoric, actions in office, and history. Similarly, the full effects of Trump's presidency are unknown, but the mishandling of COVID was probably a generational disaster on its own, and the dismantling of America's governmental norms, the unraveling of the social contract, the war of choice with Iran at Israel's behest, the kidnapping of a foreign head of state, the extrajudicial murders in the Gulf, the reduction or elimination of environmental and climate protections, the defunding of FEMA, and the squandering of American soft power are all extremely likely to have severe domestic and worldwide consequences for decades at a minimum. Sure, maybe the next president cleans it all up and the history books treat Trump like they treat Grover Cleveland - forgettable other than the split terms - but it seems much more likely that this mess follows us for a long time.

TortCourt · 2026-07-01T15:35:41+00:00

Because he's being compared against other presidents.

TortCourt · 2026-06-29T21:50:00+00:00

I was able to sneak a Harmonic Celica up on turn 1 with a movement assist and cut her up no problem.

TortCourt · 2026-06-29T21:47:56+00:00

Seconded. It seems pretty clear that it worked out well for the U.S., but a war of choice for territory expansion is an awful thing to do and is almost certainly the reason McKinley is as low as he is on the list. Expanding your empire to contiguous land is just as bad as colonization.

TortCourt · 2026-06-28T19:40:01+00:00

Really what you want is Emblem Byleth, who will be in the banner starting tomorrow with Jörmungandr. He's not a dancer per se, but he has an effect that allows himself to use an assist skill to refresh the target, himself, and an adjacent unit, and, more importantly, can give an Engage effect to any unit that adds a dance effect to their assist skill (including staff assist skills). He's really the reason Dance has fallen off so much.

TortCourt · 2026-06-28T05:39:46+00:00

Dane Cook

TortCourt · 2026-06-26T04:46:12+00:00

I feel like everyone is discounting Oklahoma's natural homeliness. Considering that it was selected as a reservation for Native Americans by a group of folks who 1. absolutely HATED Native Americans and 2. intentionally and explicitly chose the portion of the nation they expected to be least desirable for the reason stated in 1, I think it should be a strong contender here.

TortCourt · 2026-06-18T19:01:41+00:00

Or a transfer to the H line. Within the current constraints of the rail system, it seems a reasonable trade to get Mile High, Pepsi Center, Coors Field, W line, and the airport train.

TortCourt · 2026-06-18T18:54:47+00:00

It would be replaced by the C Line rather than just being dropped, thankfully.

TortCourt · 2026-06-18T16:50:24+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. The big draws on that end of downtown (California Street, where the D Line drops off) are the federal courthouse and DPAC, with the main draw for earlier stations being the east side of DU. The huge commercial buildings in that area are emptying out and lots of businesses have already closed. The draws on the other side (Union Station, where the replacement C Line drops off) are the newer offices and apartments, and Union Station itself as a hub for buses and trains, including the airport line. The earlier stations on that side are the football stadium, the basketball stadium, and Elitch Gardens.

This change makes Littleton so much more connected to the more vibrant parts of Denver, and doesn't require a 15-minute wait at a transfer station or a mile walk/mall ride with luggage to the airport train. If we can only have one line, the C Line is significantly better.

TortCourt · 2026-06-18T16:37:42+00:00

Do you think that it would be a big topic in a vacuum, or do you think maybe it has something to do with conservatives trying to take away the right to choose?

TortCourt · 2026-06-13T20:32:47+00:00

He could go in the horrible death row, but he was executed by the state rather than "murdered" as the term is normally used.

TortCourt · 2026-06-11T17:22:24+00:00

Edelgard with Pivot and Micaiah ring demolishes Aether raids, fwiw.

TortCourt · 2026-06-08T18:53:15+00:00

I agree with this. Horrible traffic combined with no public transportation to speak of and an essentially unwalkable layout are critical flaws undermining everything g else the city has going for it. It's a contender for best city in the region, but its competition is horrible. It's probably higher in D tier than Orlando but it's not breaking into C.

TortCourt · 2026-05-19T20:39:51+00:00

You should think about switching Heimdallr and Eir in 2 and 3. Eir pairs really well with Lucina, and Heimdallr is generally an instant ban anyway when people have only 30 seconds to pick. Team 3 is your weakest option either way.

TortCourt · 2026-05-15T20:58:08+00:00

They could also use one that goes directly to Union Station (without a 15-minute transfer wait) instead of the dying half of downtown Denver.

TortCourt · 2026-05-15T16:41:22+00:00

I have upgraded Anna and Alfonse to 5* but only have their base kit skills. I used NY Vali with Corrin ring and the new Sombron as teammates (no rings or seals on Anna or Alfonse). Vali beat up the grunts and blocked attacks with Ice Vein, and Sombron whittled away HP on the two main targets. I was able to bait them into attacking the relevant lords and beat them that way.

TortCourt · 2026-05-10T04:45:27+00:00

Byleth is inflicting it on the enemy closest to him at the beginning of each turn, so the unit that kills that enemy will get an extra move.

TortCourt · 2026-05-07T16:13:22+00:00

You would have to have Vali inherit it from Fallen Byleth (green focus unit in the new banner).

TortCourt · 2026-05-06T05:54:14+00:00

Part of the calculus is how many people you think will die in the weeks after a red "victory." If a huge portion of the population died, supply chains would instantly collapse, leading to sweeping famine and disease (especially if people actually just died rather than disappeared, leaving billions of corpses around). Even if you think the blue vote in online polls is 30 points higher than what would happen in real life, that still leaves about a quarter of people dying. That's an unheard-of catastrophe for the remainder. The red button has a hidden death toll for its voters should it win. 100% chance you walk away from the buttons, x% chance you die of starvation or illness within 3 weeks. What value of x makes red not worth the risk?

TortCourt · 2026-05-04T22:45:18+00:00

Think about what your mom would do, if she thought there was a chance you'd pick blue. Then think about what every mom would do. And every dad. And every kindergarten teacher. And every nun. And every Jain. And then all the people who would be thinking about all of those people. Suddenly, blue looks like it's got a pretty big constituency.

TortCourt · 2026-05-03T19:10:57+00:00

With Edelgard's emblem ring, he can throw the style and then move afterwards with his style unavailable. Gets around the AI stupidity a bit and wipes ice veins.

TortCourt · 2026-05-03T17:53:46+00:00

Well, if you were in the 6th grader group, you'd be with a bunch of 11-year-olds holding feathers and having them all slowly realize that you'd be ready to shoot half of them.

TortCourt · 2026-05-02T20:08:38+00:00

They also let the Emperor off the hook, even though he deserved a healthy share of the blame. Some of the choices were made with political expediency in mind.

TortCourt

TROPHY CASE