I've been suspecting this is one of those "do 200% horrible damages but increases revenue (or at least make the company seem more profitable)" then have a "management change" that comes in as the savoir but they only roll back 10% of the changes to show they've fixed things.

Thanks for clearing that up, I value your input.

How do you feel about government subsidies being used to bolster a free press? From past examples like oil, they don't become a shell company of the governments whims and I feel journalism is just as important to an educated populace in comparison to oil for our commerce.

Really great dialogue and discourse going on in this post. Thank you everyone for your opinions and viewpoints. Definitely have a lot to think over on my current stance. Exactly what I was missing lately from the social media I've been consuming (actual discussions with merits both sides hold).

I typically don't downvote but here you are just factually wrong. "to get rid of student loan debt" would mean to abolish and pass legislation that actually ended all student loan debt in present and future. A feeble attempt at a 'one-time only' debt relief with no further policies or plans to eliminate all future educational costs is just a puppet show. I personally would've benefited from the debt relief, but would've preferred them addressing the rising costs and accessibility of higher education (the root of the problem).

Instead we got a repeal of AA and a move that would've benefited loan companies with a side effect that could possibly make getting future loans for under-privileged individuals that much harder (or more dangerous if loan companies decided to give out increasingly worse contracts if they believe the government will step in and pay the horrendous bills). There are better metrics to compare the parties with, "equal rights" is not one of them as they won't ever exist while class disparity is so rampant.

Equal rights isn't a new developing issue, here's a quote from over 60 years ago,

The assistant director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Hyman Bookbinder, in a frank statement on December 29, 1966, declared that the long-range costs of adequately implementing programs to fight poverty, ignorance and slums will reach one trillion dollars. He was not awed or dismayed by this prospect but instead pointed out that the growth of the gross national product during the same period makes this expenditure comfortably possible. It is, he said, as simple as this: “The poor can stop being poor if the rich are willing to become even richer at a slower rate.” Furthermore, he predicted that unless a “substantial sacrifice is made by the American people,” the nation can expect further deterioration of the cities, increased antagonisms between races and continued disorders in the streets. He asserted that people are not informed enough to give adequate support to anti-poverty programs, and he leveled a share of the blame at the government because it “must do more to get people to understand the size of the problem.” (source, bold by me)

Equal rights "advocates" love to posture and hand-wave historical figures like Dr. King, who rightly pointed out the next step to real equality in his book titled, "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?".

One of the central themes of the book's messages is that of hope. King reflects upon the Civil Rights Movement. He discusses the question of what African-Americans should do with their new freedoms found in laws such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He concludes that all Americans must unite in order to fight poverty and create an equality of opportunity. King emphasizes that he is neither a Marxist nor a doctrinaire socialist; he instead advocates for a united social movement that would act within both the Republican and Democratic parties. (synopsis from wiki)

It goes "on and on" like this because it's all a show, the steps and problems have been laid bare for decades in the U.S. with no meaningful impact for the causes and class disparity is only getting worse. If the democrats in charge actually passed legislation that addressed inequality, then they wouldn't have anything to dangle in front of the donkey.

edit: If you're gonna give a downvote (probably who I was replying to), don't be a coward and at least bring some conversation to the table with your viewpoints. I'm just gonna have to assume your feelings were hurt and that's the only recourse you have if not.

I guess the right people were paid/threatened

either that or this was the playbook from the beginning for more political theater. Probably got some nice votes and exposure to the people "fighting" it.

and yet every single online grocery shopping I've been on refuses to have a filter or sort by price per weight option. It's even more incredibly infuriating when you have to click into an item's description or calculate it yourself, extra bonus hell points to the sites that change the weight metric so it's an extra step to figure out what the actual comparison is (probably more a US problem with ounce/pound conversion).

Very true, any recommendations that you enjoy? For the most part as I stated it's useful for certain topics that come up when someone's discussing some woowoo, it's hard for them to sit down and go through a whole course when the context of what they're discussing doesn't come up. There's also the problem of being slightly educated in a topic but then falling down a rabbit hole thinking it's all legit (quantum subject matter seems to be particularly susceptible).

What do you think the majority of people are doing now?

I do agree with the previous comments though that UBI can't successfully exist by itself. Heavy regulations and consumer protections will have to be revamped but that needs done regardless of UBI or not. It's the same vein as the loan forgiveness program the Democrats tried to implement in the US, they never actually addressed or promoted any policy change that was needed in higher education costs.

The mental gymnastics are interesting though. The same people who scream to vote for the "lesser of two evils" will not use that premise for actual policy. Inflation will go up regardless of UBI (as we've seen from corporate greed), any type of shelter during record making climate dangers is better than homelessness.

Also, I take offense to the drinking pasta water comment (not really offended but it's funny you commented that). It's literally how ramen is suppose to be consumed.

The 3 that stand out the most for me thinking back on it

Typer Shark and Mud's (typing skills)

Really helped me get down my typing skills which translates to a lot of pc based games (even just chat). Mud's were some of my favorite fast paced games (multi-user dungeons). Godwar's was my shtick and as a Drow character you had a lot of powers you had to get out before an opponent could notice and respond to your presence.

MechWarrior: Sega Genesis (team work skills)

This was a crazy one I would play with family. There was a co-op mode that allowed one person to control the bottom half while the other person controlled the top half of your mech. You really had to cooperate and work together so it didn't turn into an actual physical brawl because of the frustrations.

Call of Duty: Zombies (game mechanics)

This was probably my first game that I really got into game/enemy mechanics. To survive to higher rounds you had to adapt and know what the zombies were gonna do. Later iterations kinda destroyed that feature with zombies stumbling and etc but I get they were trying to stay innovative and fresh, still killed the genre for me though.

Honorable mentions are the great RTS's that were everywhere in the 90's. Starcraft for sure but even blizzards previous Warcraft's and then of course C&C and even Dune (another sega game but solid RTS for it's time). Really though the skills for RTS's don't translate as direct to other games anymore (just got me better at the RTS's that I love) as more and more they become hero focused like what they did with WC3.

edit: grammar

While all of that is true, I don't feel like that's a stance I wish to take. How do you bridge that gap so that other's can come out of that space? Berating a child for their beliefs does little in the long run if they have an echo chamber they can retreat to. I completely understand if that's not your concern and you would rather not waste the time with science deniers, it can be dangerous and frustrating as you've stated.

Hail of a good pun line going on.

I must have an overactive imagination because I can think of plenty of problems that unregulated space industry could cause.

Industry requires infrastructure and support, when speaking space terms everything is way more expensive so cost cutting will be rampant on all systems. Centralized space communication hub? No, we're gonna be bombarded with signals since maintaining the equipment on ground is cheaper (astrology sciences would suffer). Way to many objects in an orbital plane? Not their problem till eventually it becomes a catastrophic event as our own planet can become (Kessler Syndrome). More mass requires more fuel? Dump all the junk at every opportunity clogging space lanes (micro meteors and radiation will no longer be the main safety concern for travel).

I could go on and on, think about the current state of shipping and logistics. We already have events where ships were forced to sit for weeks outside of docks waiting to be unloaded (source). The space faring ships will only increase in size. What do you do with the useless containers they ship the contents back to earth with? The cost would be too high for re-usability getting it back into space. What about the workers who are at an unregulated site and their conditions?

I agree it's a conundrum of how do we advance when advancement causes destruction. It's something I've wrestled with when considering the Fermi paradox. Either you live harmoniously with the planet and die when it's environment changes, or you use that sucker up and get out of dodge before the next mass extinction takes you and nearly all of the living creatures out. I'm hoping in the future we meet some neighbors that can show a middle ground works well to persuade out current trajectory.

Had to look it up for curiosity's sake.

In order to get fully set up, you will need to pay a $100.00 fee for each product you wish to distribute on Steam (the "Steam Direct Fee").... This fee is not refundable, but will be recoupable in the payment made after your product has at least $1,000.00 Adjusted Gross Revenue for Steam Store and in-app purchases. Steamworks Partner Program

While not free, seems to be no overhead for the length of stay on Steam that I can see. Another site includes some more description which might add to the cost though

The cost to put a game on Steam depends on the type of game, the development budget [1], and the business model. To get a game onto Steam, developers need to pay a one-time registration fee of $100. After that, they will need to pay a 30% royalty fee. Additionally, developers may need to pay for marketing and other costs associated with the release of their game. source

Regardless, it's just another unfortunate case of physical copies/backups>subscriptions or "licensing/rent" deals.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/news/nasas-chandra-webb-combine-for-arresting-views.html <-- Direct link to the nasa website for HD pics, sought it out wanting a better resolution for a background.

lmao, I didn't catch that so thank you. I was in a stupor when I wrote that and meant astronomy lol. I added the sciences in because there's a plethora of different fields that require clear observations and wasn't sure what the best terminology was to include all of the possibilities. Instead I completely missed the mark with the wrong base word.

I don't want to jump in on @[email protected] 's chance to reply but he stated basically what I would've replied with above. I believe that UBI wouldn't change how things work, it would reset it to a previous economic time but with more equity since everyone would get it (getting back to livable wages because it's supplemented by the UBI). The government's have shown a failure of holding capitalism responsible for distribution of wealth (stagnant Fed minimum wage, forcing unions to accept terms/not strike) so subsidizing wages seems more of a greener pasture than our current trajectory.

You would still be able to start your own business, I don't think anyone is calling for UBI mixed with communism (government owning all production). Rather, some breathing room to return to more prosperous times where you have more options.

• Working + UBI = more savings (possibly as a jumping point so you can start your own business)
• 1 working adult ( and 1 at home adult) + 2 UBI = a stay at home parent to help raise children without going into debt
• Education + UBI = less financial impact for higher education since the problems aren't being addressed
• Disability + UBI = able to afford medications, food, and rent at the same time (a current problem also not being addressed)

I agree the "freedom" some would experience would be hardships trying to live off of it. It's hard and mentally draining work to be more self sufficient as humble homesteaders will attest to(it's a rather well put together video from a contestant on the "Alone" series). But, atm most people can't afford to start their own business or even realistically consider leaving their current workplace. Dropping into higher education for a career change without incurring enormous interest is near impossible without support (as climate regulations are needed, some jobs will have to be lost and those people need reassurances they can find a new path). Hell, use your UBI supplement to help take a vacation more than once a decade if it helps with mental health, fix a car instead of purchasing a new one (lower climate impact), etc etc.

There's just a plethora of problems atm that constantly get politicized or fail to have common sense policies implemented to help the situation. UBI would be a catch-all for a lot of those programs. Instead of battling it out on each front constantly (lobbyists, activists, personal conflicting interests from those elected), this would be a nuclear option to end the war (feels insensitive with the current Oppenheimer/Japan stance, but was the best metaphor I could come up with atm).

Eventually they might be concerned with our mental well being and find simple tasks we can do to keep ourselves busy. To make it more efficient they could construct indoor spaces where we can be with other pet-humans doing tasks until they're ready for us to return to our cages.

I don't know about upholding time honored traditions, seems contradictory and subjective to me when your later stance includes an example of the Quran (another time honored tradition you don't agree with). I don't agree with making it illegal for anyone to attend school so it seems like a double edge sword that's based solely on a personal morality which is hard to codify for an entire population.

I also agree a private protest is no protest at all, but it becomes complicated when you're targeting a religious group's texts just because bad faith actors are using it for control. Even burning their flag seems weird when it's not the people of that country making the decisions but by the administration in charge (I'm not sure on what the target for the protest should be then in that case though).

Constitutionally you have to make a decision, I believe this has been debated and somewhat agreed upon though that access to a happy life (access to healthcare and freedom of religion) is more important than the right to "burn shit" as one has been documented and burning is not mentioned in most or any constitutions. Though freedom of expression is, which again becomes complicated when that expression is wished to be expressed through destruction of property (public/private). Again, I don't have a particular stance on this subject but just pointing out contradictions in the arguments to better understand the ideology behind everyone's thoughts.

It would explain my dentist. Definitely an expensive hobby with what I get charged.