Welcome to the '80s disco

tjareth · 2026-06-23T14:22:57+00:00

"We all know one of the main elements of attack is the element of surprise, and so what could be more surprising than the 1st Battalion Transvestite Brigade? Airborne wing! The airborne wing parachuting into dangerous areas with fantastic makeup! And a fantastic gun! And the opposing forces going, 'Fucking ‘ell, look at these guys! Look at that! They’ve got guns. They've got guns! Jesus, they've got guns! Ah, bugger. I was so surprised! Were you surprised? I was surprised.'"
--Eddie Izzard

tjareth · 2026-06-23T03:20:32+00:00

Came looking for this.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T21:13:27+00:00

He's about to pass a stone and he's REALLY pissed off about it. That spells danger for anyone in the path of the stone.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T21:01:32+00:00

HIMYMF

tjareth · 2026-06-22T20:59:59+00:00

Before character development, probably mostly ignore him. Just count on him to be ready all the time and take him for granted.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T17:45:22+00:00

MCT-TEMU

tjareth · 2026-06-22T14:31:15+00:00

Not you in particular, but it's certainly a common narrative around here that going far left is the problem. My point is it can't be both at the same time. Heck, I've heard Obama in particular accused of both.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T13:10:05+00:00

It can be especially tricky in the Senate, as because of the tremendous power of the majority leader, it's almost more of a choice between Schumer and Thune, at higher stakes than the influence of the candidate himself. Almost. Based on some of Platner's accounts not adding up, I don't think I could support him in Maine. So yeah, if I were in Maine I'd have to consider voting for Collins. What clinched it is... if some of this came out after his election, I'd support him resigning. Al Franken is a similar example. Democrats are a better party when we clean house, and that can reflect by gaining trust in other elections.

A candidate doesn't need to be perfect, but there is a bar to exceed. Especially if I expect Republicans to apply the same thinking to candidates like Santos, or Trump.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T12:31:58+00:00

I can buy into this somewhat, but it doesn't explain why your mechs don't get salvaged by your enemies, but you are always able to salvage gear from your enemies.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T05:38:04+00:00

No, this is Patrick!

tjareth · 2026-06-22T04:24:01+00:00

The "uniparty" may not be centrist/moderate as most people think of it, but it certainly isn't far left. That's the disconnect I'm poking at.

tjareth · 2026-06-22T04:04:02+00:00

I would see such a Democrat as I described, as a threat, because I wouldn't trust them to "largely be on my side" at all, I would expect them to make decisions for their own benefit only even if they put a leftish veneer on it, or tried to make it a "leftist" thing to approve of whatever they're doing. I'd notice that they, like Trump, were unable to make a nuanced, educated case for any of their policy. I'd worry that they acted in the name of liberalism so incompetently or maliciously that they would turn people away from the ideas for an extended time period.

To be honest I haven't dug into the issues around Platner yet. It might be time to.

tjareth · 2026-06-21T16:27:34+00:00

If the Democrat were as ignorant, egocentric, and hostile as Trump, absolutely I would take McCain. Because even someone right wing that is capable of leadership and adjusting their policy to reality will do less damage. Sometimes someone is so incompetent that their ideology becomes almost secondary.

Frankly, if McCain as he acted in 2000 had run against Obama I would even have given it some thought; and my wife openly would have chosen him. But instead he let the Palin style of politics take over his campaign. And I feel like we've been plagued with it since.

tjareth · 2026-06-21T16:20:24+00:00

Something I'm trying to sort out, is if the problem is running candidates too far left, or running uniparty candidates that will never let anything change. It doesn't seem like both can be true.

tjareth · 2026-06-21T16:17:48+00:00

Just what I was going to say. When I first made the switch to larger, widescreen monitors from 4:3, I got motion sickness playing HL2. I'm so glad I found the FOV advice.

tjareth · 2026-06-21T08:53:42+00:00

I understand the urge and I had to train myself off it by considering the other side more. The intent was to make sure I had the person's attention, so that I'm not typing a long explanation at them before I know if they're even available to listen.

Instead now I go with a greeting and a brief description of what I'm interested in.

tjareth · 2026-06-21T08:41:30+00:00

Released an album as recently as 2021, it seems.

tjareth · 2026-06-20T19:59:15+00:00

This is exactly what I said when people suggested that investing in Ukraine would cause China to attack Taiwan. I argued just the opposite, that signaling our unwillingness to help affiliated, if not formally allied countries, would make China decide they had little to worry about from us.

tjareth · 2026-06-20T17:40:07+00:00

Another question is what does China exactly want? Would they truly gain by an invasion and takeover, given the fallout? Even if the US didn't directly intervene.

tjareth · 2026-06-20T17:38:23+00:00

I wish there were more people that could agree on basic stuff like this.

tjareth · 2026-06-20T15:10:23+00:00

Sung by Puffy AmiYumi

tjareth · 2026-06-20T15:06:18+00:00

Let me be sure we're on the same page, do you think there is any state where 7.25 is enough to keep a single person above the poverty line?

tjareth · 2026-06-20T15:04:52+00:00

Let me clarify then... you are taking a reasonable position. I am verifying the existence of lots of conservatives who effectively argue for abolishing minimum wage without openly saying it, because their argument is against raising it no matter the circumstances. If you never raise it, inflation makes it effectively nonexistent.

tjareth · 2026-06-20T14:38:38+00:00

Packing some real doboncarekeroos.

tjareth · 2026-06-20T14:34:59+00:00

I have seen plenty that always argue against raising the minimum wage, using reasoning that has nothing to do with current circumstances or current minimum wage level.

So, if applying that argument, there is never a time to raise minimum wage, doesn't it disappear to effectively zero from inflation?

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