Lurker > Darkman124

we throw around these terms so much it's meaningless

warren is significantly to the left of the average elected democrat

she's only moderately to the left of the average american, but the average elected democrat is to the right of the average american

because the average american isn't what selects their representatives nor are they accurately represented by them
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

vanguard nova in ME3 broke my old subwoofer
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

ultimately, i've concluded she's someone you want as your financial policy adviser, not someone you want as chief executive. there's some non-cerebral aspects of the chief executive that she just does not have.

granted, trump doesn't either, but it's less him beating her and more the next republican with charisma in 2024 that i'd be worried about. she'd do a poor job unifying the country, and it's a shame, because she's the 'first female president' that i really wanted in the last election cycle.

luckily, the dems have breadth in this area.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

zegna?
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

not a fan of reaction speed based PvP experiences

but i love games where a single action has a lot of weight, which is why i prefer board games
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

this is actually very big. stills by alan is probably the largest name in porn directing right now, he works for a LOT of companies/sites
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

RoboLaserGandhi posted...

That is not a proportionate butt.

You have an extreme phobia of any kind of fat being on a woman to the point you've convinced yourself pancake ass is hot.

why are you trolling

go to bed
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

TONG
J.C.... the net's going... the net's going black... J.C.... no more infolinks,
transmissions of any kind... we'll start again... live in villages... if you
receive this, if you survive, then find us... find us...

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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

what i got from this thread was "people like money"
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

if you go to china weigh your laptop before and after
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

Darkman124 posted...

"it will cause a recession" is very different from "it will collapse society"

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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

TroutPaste posted...

Are those keys donated by devs?

yes, part of the distribution you can select determines how much the devs get IIRC
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

The Popo posted...

He pretty much already did this. A lot of his views aligned with the democrats once upon a time.

his views never aligned with the democrats at any point in time ever, regardless of whether he called himself one or not

the views of the democrats are more detailed than "I am a democrat"
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

tennisdude818 posted...

I don't think people are conspiracy theorists for looking at nonstop deficits and massive unfunded liabilities across the West and saying "Gee that looks unsustainable, let me look at what has historically happened in cases like this. Oh s***." You can disagree with them if you think it's different this time, but there's no real conspiracy.

debt taken out at or below the inflation rate is fundamentally a free loan

an investment in your society made with money you can borrow for free is worth it if it produces any return at all

this is why current debt/gdp ratios of most western nations (aside from greece) are viewed as low risk despite "nonstop deficits"
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

DarkRoast posted...

Yeah but he still had that punchable smile

edwards and trump are in no way comparable and i think you have realized this
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

i am curious, actually, if they'd allow it just so the GOP would be willing to impeach
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

the reason actual investors buy GLD/SLV/etc is a belief that they are a hedge against economic downturns that hurt the value of stock equities they also hold. the fear of a downturn is logical and understandable, and even wise during periods of peak greed.

as peak greed gives way to peak fear, being able to liquidate those investments and shift back into riskier assets is a benefit.

physical gold makes zero sense for such an investor. it is highly inefficient, and illiquid. it only serves the interests of the kind of person who believes that the next problem will be a government collapse.

such people might have a point in venezuela, though if they have any real assets they would be better served spending them to move elsewhere and invest in local equity markets. in the united states, such people are known as "conspiracy theorists."

they are the primary target of gold sellers, who pander to their fears in order to rid themselves of gold assets at high prices that they themselves bought up at very low cost from a similar bunch during the last time those conspiracy theories proved untrue.

it is a cycle of shysters fucking gullable fools.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

DarkRoast posted...

I'd say I'm probably more left-wing than right-wing, but I don't consider myself a liberal. Not even sure what I consider myself anymore. It's really hard to identify with either party lately.

It's basically lesser-evilism vs semi-fascism. I guess one is better than the other, but I'd rather have an actual good choice.

I view you as a populist who only posts after 24-hour on-call days.

PowerfulSageIRL posted...

by "progression of society", are you referring to the accumulation of wealth in a few hands while everyone else becomes poorer until they starve?

by "slow the progression", do you mean "implement some nice but ultimately ineffectual socdem policies to placate the poor people so they don't stage a revolution"?

and by "disruption of order" do you mean said revolution?

because that's one possible interpretation of what you said.

The answer to all of your questions is no.

The advancement I refer to is the natural progress of a society towards a status in which all citizens have equal rights and opportunities, via broadly popular changes. In the US, that translates to the ending of gerrymandering and the electoral college, removal of voting barriers that prevent registered voters from participating in elections, equal treatment under the law, etc. And of course, welfare programs that enable citizens to prioritize advancement over basic survival.

The above are supported by well over 50% of the US population, yet are not in place largely because of the chaos their implementation would create (mostly for campaign donors).

Slowing the progression is what the US GOP did for most of its existence, until somewhat recently. Historically, they have favored more incremental changes to policies and programs, such as favoring what is now Obamacare when the Clintons proposed a single-payer healthcare system in the 90s.

But starting around the civil rights act and progressing more over time until its crescendo in 2010, the GOP has shifted to a reactionary position somewhere between "there will be absolutely no further progress in this area" and "we should actually rewind and remove some of what has been accomplished." Rather than presenting competing ideas and promoting amendments to democratic party bills to draw policy changes to the right, they ceased participation entirely. This was when we saw use of the procedural filibuster on 100% of bills, including justice appointments, and when the number of bills passed in a session of congress plummeted from 400-500 to 100 or so (and most of these were not consequential).

Such a status is not historically typical, nor is it long-term stable for a political party, except in a system like the US where gerrymandering enables a minority to control the house, and an even smaller minority to control the senate. The senate is more a consequence of an ill-conceived legislative design in our constitution that never considered states might have population variations as wide as today, which in turn is a result of the rapid urbanization of the last 30 years.

So we have to remember--the status quo here in the US is not representative of normal right/left distribution. We have a moderate conservative party and a reactionary party, rather than a traditional left and right.

By disruption of order, I mean riots, such as the LA riots of 1992, large-scale protests such as the nationwide reactions in the black community to recent police brutality, particularly in places like Baltimore, and yes, revolution.

Both the center left and right prefer not to have a revolution. The extreme right would create a police state or counter-revolution to prevent it; the extreme left would support the revolution if it advanced their goals.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

Slaya4 posted...

Some sources say that paper metals (ETFs) arent really backed by actual metals. Some sure, but not all. If I were to go that route, I would personally rather get physical gold/silver not an ETF. At least, I can look at it sparkling.

which sources say that

ETFs are legally required to have disclosures that identify all holdings that back their equity assets so any source claiming that is basically levying multi-billion dollar level fraud
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

PowerfulSageIRL posted...

the most fundamental question imo is more like "do you support the rights of private property owners to passively make money through the exploitation of basic human needs?"

if No, you are on the left. if Yes, you are on the right.

from there, if you're on the right, we can ask further questions, such as "which services, if any, should be provided free of charge by the state?" to ascertain how far on the right they are. questions about minimum wage and wealth redistribution are also relevant here.

i dont think that is accurate for the political divisions of any country anywhere

because basically everyone's answer is yes and the left-leaning answers tend to mix regulation of that passive income with state welfare programs

but i do get where you are going with this and i think youre on the right general track

i think the more fundamental question that divides right vs left is "how much should we slow the progression of society in order to minimize the disruption of order that progress causes as a side-effect"

there's not a clear delineation of where the center is, it's somewhat society-specific

but when trump gets on the national stage and says this you know exactly who he's speaking to



also fun reminder that this exchange happened. with the debate moderator.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

DarkRoast posted...

It's been longer than I realized.

first time i said that i realized i was old
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

tennisdude818 posted...

very possible

define this
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

also more broadly, index ETFs exist that hold physical gold in vaults with minimal expense ratios, so if you really want precious metal exposure there's no reason to buy physical gold and try to deal with storing + exchanging it yourself (at great transactional cost each step)

unless you are afraid of a total run on the bank. the ETFs have 2:1 leverage (assets outstanding:gold held in vaults to trade and cover sale costs) which is very reasonable. most banks have far higher leverage.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

DirkDiggles posted...

The only way for that to happen is if there is a discovery in a new massive source for the metal, making it not as rare or someone obtains the Philosopher's Stone and transmutates lead into gold.

that is absolutely not the only thing that can change confidence levels in whether a precious metal holds its value

speculation drove its price to insanely high levels throughout the post-2008 period and it is only now reaching parity with its 1972 value

it has done so by losing value

if you bought gold after 2009 and sold it today you would have less money after adjusting for inflation
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

DirkDiggles posted...

People, like my step-mother collect it just in case our currency takes a nosedive and becomes like the Zimbabwean Dollar since the US dollar is no longer backed by gold or silver in the reserve. Precious metals will never lose its value..

unless its current value is raised above its historical value

which it is

in which case it can
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

WhinyZach posted...

An oz of gold now has the same purchasing power as an oz of gold did 1000 years ago.

fwiw the effective price of gold in today's dollars in 1792 was $500, so its real price is about 2x higher than then

that was when we had a gold standard IIRC, and a $20 pegged value of 1 oz of gold.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

how is my assessment of the situation twisting your words? based on historical patterns, would you say that my observation is inaccurate? this may be human nature, but has this not been the status quo?

because it's not limited to the right

it includes moderates, and even a nontrivial segment of the left

i dont know if it is a uniquely american problem or a human problem but it is vastly more widespread than just the lunatics who chant "don't tread on me" while supporting police militarization

they're just the extreme case. we have to examine it in ourselves.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

Damn_Underscore posted...

Yes, clearly I am a lowly idiot and you are the enlightened one. Tell me more.

global interconnection means that causing a recession in china will also cause one in the united states, rather than gaining the economic activity that they lost

in broadest terms that is why we have to care about the interests of other countries

you did ask me to tell you more
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

Damn_Underscore posted...

What does the price of tea in China (quite literally) have to do with the issues we face in the US? Our country will benefit by being diplomatic with other countries... not by being antagonistic toward them or trying to impress them.

because in the modern world the price of tea in china impacts the price of milk in the US, now that the chinese have adopted the (gross) british tradition of putting cream in their tea

because the world is a smaller place than you think

because you don't know a thing about economics

because the people who spin propaganda to you do, but lie to benefit whoever is paying them

because part of diplomacy is recognition of other nations' priorities and identification of win-win solutions to disagreements

so many reasons
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

Malcrasternus posted...

Gold star for effort at least. Now how about we focus on where our gun violence is actually happening, and work on reducing crime there?

we are already doing that.

crime rates have been falling for 30 years

https://www.statista.com/statistics/191219/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-usa-since-1990/

what is rising is suicide and mass shootings by individuals with limited criminal history

this post has been edited for accuracy
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

sounds like the Right only respects force. but freak out when somebody suggest using it against them.

we are discussing moderates, don't twist my words. this goes beyond the right, it's about the flaws in our nature.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

ThyCorndog posted...

that's a grim view of it. I didn't consider that angle. I like it

it may be rooted in parts of our brain that have not had time to adjust to the changes of a modern world where a saber-toothed tiger isn't coming to kill you in the night

kind of like why the emotional response to panic-sell stock equities is also wrong but very natural

perhaps it's related to why mass shootings that target people unrelated to the attacker's personal problems happen at all.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

i just want you to train in safe operation and storage of a firearm before being legally allowed to operate it the same way you do a car. and i want your weapon registered by owner, same as a car. and i want transfer of that weapon to update the registered owner, same as a car.

if we did not require those of cars, our automobile fatality rates would be much higher; if we required those of firearms, I believe our firearm fatality rates would become lower and hence better.

the right to bear arms was established before semi-automatic weapons existed; the changes in technology demand a change in the way we view that technology.

and realistically, an automobile is much more central to american life than a firearm, so I do not believe such requirements are unduly strict. they have not held back our access to automobiles. they have not kept us from buying used automobiles. they have not made our automobiles worse, or our people less free to travel in automobiles.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

because in america, lashing out violently causes fear, but not disgust.

we respect the man who cries in public less than the man who shoots the public.

right-wing terrorism has killed far more americans in the last decade than left-wing terrorism.

those on the left tend to make spectacles of themselves in ways we do not respect.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

rocket propulsion
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

both kinds of threesomes

overrated and bad for previously monogamous relationships
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

he becomes whatever he needs to be
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

also, subnautica and wasteland 2
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

LordFarquad1312 posted...

Into the Breach.

this post got me to buy into the breach
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

DK9292 posted...

Crimson_Angel posted...

DK9292 posted...

Nothing.

You're wrong. If there is anything I have learned in my travels across the Planes, it is that many things may change the nature of a man. Whether regret, or love, or revenge or fear - whatever you believe can change the nature of a man, can.

That changes their actions. Not their nature.

If you hit me, and I hit you back harder, it'll stop you from hitting me. It won't stop you wanting to hit me.

Ive seen belief move cities, make men stave off death, and turn an evil hag's heart half-circle. This entire Fortress has been constructed from belief. Belief damned a woman, whose heart clung to the hope that another loved her when he did not. Once, it made a man seek immortality and achieve it. And it has made a posturing spirit think it is something more than a part of me.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

ChainedRedone posted...

I don't like how the chart assumes that analyses are inherently lower in quality than strict factual news agencies like AP and Reuters. That's ridiculous. Essentially saying if you're not AP or reuters, you're lower quality.

it's not really a scale of quality so much as priority

think of it as 'priority: reporting news (top) to serving agenda (bottom)'

i know they label it quality and that is a mistake on their part really.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

why do modern games not feature metal anymore

i forgot how wonderful the red alert soundtracks were
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

EternalDivide posted...

CNN is near neutral?
MSNBC is considered less left than FOX News is right?
The National Review is less to the right than OAN?
CNN, Huffing Paint and MSNBC are "Fair representation of the news."
The f***ing Young Turks aren't as far left on that chart as InfoWars is far right? Are you f***ing kidding me?!

Did anyone that made that chart bother to watch any of the sources on there?

I would ask you if you view any of these sources yourself, because my answer to each of those, aside from CNN (which is listed under 'skews left') and your misunderstanding about the yellow/orange border that i explained in post #24 indicated huffpo et al were not being shown as 'fair representations of the news', is 'yes'
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.

pretty reckless is basically the last hard rock band

momsen deserves a ton of respect for her work
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.