Lurker > Antifar

https://ign.com/articles/americas-army-shut-down

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/8/4/AAWHm8AAC5z8.jpg

They're in order; the top row is 1-10, and so on. 2015 is the cutoff because that's when I got back into gaming and started tracking this stuff. Discuss, judge me, ask questions, do what you will.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gve4/woman-who-allegedly-laundered-dollar1b-in-bitcoin-was-cringe-youtube-rapper

A woman accused of laundering $1 billion in stolen Bitcoin with her husband was very much online, blogging for Forbes, and posting cringe crypto-themed rap videos on YouTube.

On Tuesday, the U.S. government accused Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31 of laundering around $1 billion in cryptocurrency stolen in the 2016 Bitfinex hack. As it turns out, Morgan did not exactly keep the low profile you would expect of an alleged criminal.

As first pointed out by NBC reporter Kevin Collier in a tweet, Morgan has a YouTube channel filled with influencer fare such as a rap video with questionable lyrics, an unboxing video featuring 25 prosthetic eyeballs, and an anti-coronavirus juice recipe. This song is for the entrepreneurs and hackers, all the misfits and smart slackers, Morgan sings in the video, as her alter-ego Razzlekhan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DIuPPmY9mw

"The infamous Crocodile of Wall Street strikes again!" the Razzlekhan website reads. "More fearless and more shameless than ever before, she's taking on everyone from big software companies to healthcare to finance bros."

Razz shamelessly explores new frontiers of art, pushing the limit of what's possible. Whether that leads to something wonderful or terrible is unclear; the only thing that's certain is it won't be boring or mediocre, the site reads.

In a TikTok video, part of her fascinating account, Morgan explains how she built a multimillion dollar business at 22 with zero outside funding, without mentioning that she and her husband allegedly laundered one billion dollars worth of stolen bitcoins.
Automate, eliminate, delegate, OK? Repeat after me, she said in the video.

Because those cost money that indie publishers tend not to want to spend

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

A good question!

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Lotta wiggle room in "mainly"

It's a tricky game, but I haven't found it frustrating yet. Good times through the first world.

It's like if Skate had a baby with a 2D Platformer; all the jumps and tricks are performed via the analog sticks. Each level has a few optional challenges, and they're at just that right level to where "sure, I can do that" quickly becomes 20 tries.

The writing and style is all super charming, too. Basically every dialogue option boils down to "yes, I'm interested in what you have to say about this goofy story" vs. "just let me skate, man." And the character creator has a lot of fun options.

Evolician posted...

I hope for a Mario Movie trailer

Why

Thinking about all the games I want to play over the next couple months, and the prospect of more being added to that list: this is fine

This is just a means to give the loudest people at school board meetings more ammo to yell about.

I'd expect will see more info on games we mostly already know about: a release date for Advance Wars, some stuff on Kirby, that Triangle Strategy game, maybe Splatoon 3?

https://twitter.com/nintendoamerica/status/1491049195343650817?s=21

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/07/peter-thiel-meta-facebook-board-resign

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is stepping down from the board of Facebooks parent company, Meta, after 17 years.

Thiel, Facebooks longest-serving board member and a major donor to the Republican party, plans to focus on backing Donald Trumps allies in the November midterm elections, according to the New York Times. He recently donated $10m each to the Senate campaigns of Blake Masters, who is running for a seat in Arizona, and JD Vance, who is running in Ohio. Masters is the chief operating officer of Thiels family office and Vance used to work at one of Thiels venture funds.

Thiel has long been a controversial figure on Facebooks 10-person board, particularly as one of a few major tech figures who vocally supported Trump. Thiel, who donated millions of dollars to Trumps campaign and served on the ex-presidents transition team, was seen by critics as a part of the reason Facebook did not take down Trumps posts that violated its community standards. Thiel is a close confidant of Zuckerbergs. He accompanied him to a private dinner with Trump in 2019 and has successfully advocated he withstand pressure to take political speech and ads off the platform.

But recently he has publicly criticized Facebooks content moderation decisions, saying hed take QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theories any day over a Ministry of Truth.

Thiel joined Facebooks board in 2005, a year after the company was founded and seven years before its made its debut on Wall Street. The company said on Monday that he would stay on until Metas next shareholder meeting later this year, where he would not stand for re-election.

Peter has been a valuable member of our board and Im deeply grateful for everything hes done for our company, said Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, in a statement. Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions.

In a statement on Monday, Thiel called Zuckerberg one of the great entrepreneurs of our time and praised his intelligence, energy and conscientiousness.

Definitely played Xbox more than Switch the last couple years

I'd say my play is about 60/40 Xbox to Switch, but a lot of my Xbox play is streaming those games via my laptop at work. If I couldn't do that, it'd be more even.

I'm tempted, but can't throw down that cash on a temptation at this time.

Also, doesn't it have a dock?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/03/brad-pitt-post-katrina-housing-project-went-horribly-wrong

For Hurricane Katrina survivors in the Lower Ninth Ward, it had seemed like a prayer answered: in 2006, Brad Pitt announced an initiative to rebuild New Orleans storm-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward with sustainable, flood-proof, affordable homes, designed by a list of A-list architects. The 109 homes on offer would give many survivors a chance to become first-time homeowners, and bring back a community devastated by the hurricane. But not even a decade after thehomes were completed to great fanfare including a star-studded gala hosted by Ellen DeGeneres that dream has become a curse, as many of the residents homes have decayed to unlivable conditions.

The houses nowlist a frightening array of defects: water intrusion, black mold, porches rotted through, stair rails collapsing, fires caused by electrical problems, plumbing problems and poor ventilation, according to a class-action lawsuit filed against Pitt and his charity by some of the remaining residents. Other residents have reported termite infestations, and multiple residents have fallen sick.

Judith Keller, an urban studies academic who stayed in one of Pitts houses as part of her research on the failed development in 2018, returned recently to find things had gotten far worse: Although some of these structures are not yet a decade old, my data shows only six remain in reasonably good shape, she wrote in her research report. After one house was demolished in 2018 for severe mold problems, another was torn down last year for the same reason. Of the remaining homes, six have been boarded up and abandoned since the first residents moved in. I was just shocked at how that project had deteriorated over the past three years, Keller told the Guardian. The problems that existed in 2018 are all getting worse because theres no one there to fix stuff. And many of the homeowners dont have the resources to make the necessary repairs on their own.

It was supposed to turn out differently. The non-profit project, called Make It Right, was launched by Brad Pitt in the wake of Hurricane Katrinas devastation, to ample hype. Lavish fundraisers drew the support of luminaries from Snoop Dogg to Bill Clinton, raising millions of dollars including a claimed $5m from Pitt himself, who lived part-time in New Orleans with his then wife, Angelina Jolie.

The project seemed cutting-edge, if not utopian. Architects like Frank Gehry, David Adjaye and Shigeru Ban helped design the houses, which incorporated next-gen features like solar panel roofs, energy-efficient heating and cooling, and sustainable materials. And each house would be sold well below cost: $150,000. As Pitt boasted in 2010: Were cracking the code on affordable green homes. He called the rebuilt Lower Ninth a proof-of-concept for low-income green building nationally, maybe even worldwide.

Keller said residents were initially starstruck by Pitt, and excited to become homeowners. And at first, everything seemed fine. But almost as soon as the camera crews left and they began settling in, the issues became apparent. Some houses had flat roofs and lacked basic features like rain gutters, overhangs, covered beams, or waterproof paint to weather New Orleans torrential downpours. Within weeks, houses began to develop mold, leaks and rot. Pitts non-profit initially made some minor repairs, but then began pushing residents to sign non-disclosure agreements before it would tell them what was wrong with their homes. Thats when a lot of residents started to notice that things were very fishy.

By 2014, it became clear that the buildings were actively falling apart, with reports that the glass-infused wood was rotting from the inside out. But without correcting the issue, Pitt continued to call the project a success telling local media in August 2016: Ill tell you, every time I drive over the Claiborne bridge, no matter what frustration I might be dealing with at the moment, I get this well of pride when I see this little oasis of color and the solar panels. That was the last time he would publicly mention Make It Right. The next month, he and Angelina Jolie divorced, and soon the pair had sold their New Orleans mansion.

Then Make It Right vanished. Its website stopped updating and later was replaced by a blank page. The office stopped picking up the phone. Everyone from Make It Right has more or less disappeared, said Keller, who said she had tried every method to contact the organization, with no luck since she began her research. With no one to turn to, the residents have been stuck.

In 2018, as their houses continued to crumble, some residents filed a class-action lawsuit against Pitt and Make It Right, citing significant mental distress and financial loss, and noting in their petition that despite months and/or years of multiple requests, the defendants have failed to make it right.

This was, in most cases, a one-shot deal at home ownership for these people, said Ron Austin, an attorney representing the residents. He told the Guardian some residents had spent their life savings on their Make It Right home. Without some financial relief, these people will literally be left holding nothing.

The lawyer added that many of the residents are still fans of Brad Pitt. Its unbelievable. To this day, their homes are falling down around them, and they love the man. But they just cant believe the betrayal.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jonah-goldberg-join-cnn-contributor-185627935.html

Jonah Goldberg, the conservative columnist and editor in chief of The Dispatch, is joining CNN as a contributor.

Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, the CEO of The Dispatch, resigned from Fox News in November, specifically citing Tucker Carlsons three-part documentary Patriot Purge as incoherent conspiracy mongering and concluding that the voices of the responsible are being drowned out by the irresponsible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Fascism

In the book, Goldberg argues that fascist movements were and are left-wing, in contrast to the mainstream view among historians and political scientists that maintains fascism is a far-right ideology.

God damn this is good
https://youtu.be/5H7eT8ACI8k

MaxEffingBemis posted...

Shouldnt you have to go to the big empty park or something? Or down in to the sewer?

Those are the places they tell you to go, but after they come up empty (including the very funny bathroom scene) they just say "back to square one, find more info"

Oh huh, they just straight up do not tell you what to do to find the florist.

I've done a handful of substories just wandering around trying to figure out where to go.

https://twitter.com/MatchasmMatt/status/1490034421038305280

https://twitter.com/freedlander/status/1490712789874319362

You'd think he'd like them more if that were the case.

Depends on the social construct being used, but I would say that in most historical contexts they have not been treated that way.

I'm giving this topic more time than it deserves, but I'm procrastinating on the work I actually have to do, so:

Something that's important is that those on the left are not calling for "our existing society, but with more people giving to charity or doing volunteer work." All that stuff is fine, but it is a very poor substitute for the things that can only be achieved collectively or through the state's resources and power. Giving to the homeless is good! But it isn't going to keep rent prices in line with incomes. Not eating meat, or traveling by public transit are good ways to reduce one's carbon footprint, but it won't do much to address all of the infrustructure we've built that makes driving a car a de facto necessity for most Americans.

Addressing the roots of the problems we face requires state power, and that isn't doled out on the basis of how much charity work you've done, but ostensibly via democratic means. If you can't raise public attention to an issue, you stand little chance of getting much done about it.

Now, I say that having been an active member in a socialist organization for the past five years. We've done good work: raising money for abortion funds, doing bike repairs to reduce teens' interactions with cops, etc. But those are patchwork and temporary fixes for problems that don't need to exist.

It's my least favorite so far (having played 0-3, LAD, and now part of 4). The Majima stuff is a highlight, but the quality of writing just isn't there for either the main plot or the substories, imo.

https://twitter.com/C_Sommerfeldt/status/1490717662674137090

Is Nioh similar at all? How about Monster Hunter?

Huh, somehow I'd been under the impression Metal Gear Rising was like, a PS Vita game.

What's the worst that could happen?

It's not a genre I have a lot of familiarity with, the difficulty a lot of those games rely on generally just frustrates me. But I gave Bayonetta a shot and mostly had a good time with it. I've dabbled in hard mode, but I don't think I'm cut out for it.

What other games have I maybe missed out on? Obviously Bayonetta 2 is one I intend to get to at some point now.

Because none of them, nor any other country's legislature, thought it was a good idea to have a supermajority requirement for passing legislation, an impediment that can only serve to make the government less responsive to public will. The carveouts to the filibuster (for judges, for budget reconciliation) are an admission that it's an obstacle to basic governance: simply getting anything done that isn't a military budget. I think in the long run it is unsustainable for the federal government to be so incapable of addressing our non-military problems.

Sinema's argument that its existence promotes bipartisanship couldn't be further from the truth. Why would a minority party go along with their opposition's bill, or make alterations to make it more amenable to them, when they can stall it just as easily?

Solar_Crimson posted...

Yeah, sure buddy.

Please do not assume he knows anything.

atmasabr posted...

As for its current use not being that longstanding, the 60 vote cloture threshold dates to 1975, which is before I was born. Before then it had been 2/3 since 1917. I don't think that 7 vote difference is in any way significant for the purpose of this discussion.

But it was never used on its current scale - to de facto require all legislation meet a 60 vote threshold - until the past 20 years or so.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/6/8/AAWHm8AAC5cQ.png

I would argue that the bicameral legislature and a separately elected executive are more than enough chokepoints on the public will as constructed, without the imposition of a supermajority requirement for legislation. There isn't a single state government with an equivalent to that, and for good reason.

atmasabr posted...

the majority of the country that would be perfectly happy if Congress did nothing on election law

This majority?
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/new-polls-suggest-broad-support-democrats-voting-rights-bills-n1277837

atmasabr posted...

longstanding democratic institution

The filibuster is not a democratic institution, and its current use isn't all that longstanding.

I think it's wrong to suggest the censuring of members for speaking out against the Capitol Riot and the censuring of someone who is helping to stonewall legislation expanding voting rights are equivalent in any meaningful way.

assboobsgames posted...

You're the only person I've ever seen say that your main issue with Joe Rogan is how much he's being paid compared to other artists.

Is that what he said, though? Or was his point there about Spotify's role in that, and how it's not as simple as "don't like him, don't listen?"

It's not really about the money, except to the extent that it reflects that Spotify's relationship with Rogan is not comparable with their relationship to other artists on their platform. It was brought up in response to the disingenuous point about R Kelly.

--Zero- posted...

You never hear about attempts to cancel Fox News.

Mainly because those efforts have been going on so long as to no longer be news.

I'm reminded (increasingly often these days) of this quote from Kurt Vonnegut.
During the Vietnam War, every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.

The fact is that all the complaints in the world won't stop people spouting bullshit that benefits their bottom line.

I mean, part of living in a society is not doing everything that you're theoretically free to do, out of respect for others.

Global warming isn't an assertion that CO2 is harmful to humans, but that when concentrated in our atmosphere it leads to greater heat retention in ways that will be disastrous for the climate on a global scale.

gatorsPENSbucs posted...

I dont have the slightest clue about any of this

That's not new

assboobsgames posted...

Don't listen. Problem solved.

The issue is that people do listen and come away with bullshit ideas about the efficacy of vaccines. Me listening or not listening doesn't change Rogan having a massive audience (including my former boss!) and no small amount of influence on them.

Spotify, in giving Rogan large sums of money, contributes to that.

CRON posted...

This discourse is unnecessary. It's so goddamn unnecessary. Why can't we largely focus on actual matters like class equality, healthcare reform, or voters' rights?

Because Congress won't do anything about any of that shit, but Spotify might be modestly more responsive.

Also, this discourse starts primarily from Neil Young, whose leverage happened to be specifically over Spotify. He can't do much of anything to impact lawmakers on those issues.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Kind fucking strange people go after Joe Rogan when there are artists like R Kelly on Spotify. You'd think that would be slightly worse?

Spotify doesn't have a 9 figure deal with R Kelly; he makes a fraction of a cent per play. And it wasn't his music that was the problem, whereas with Rogan it's content that is (or was) on Spotify's platform.

It's been deleted, but here it is for posterity

https://twitter.com/TuxedoPlasmosis/status/1490509599371239424