Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Acacia Sgt]

26 minutes ago, Benice said:

They really do grow up so fast XD

1 minute ago, Dayni said:

You need them working ASAP /s

I mean, the game does a time skip anyway. Still, before that...

[Armagon]

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

Yeah...no. That's not what it does. To quote the opinion of the Court, delivered by Chief Justice Roberts:

 

 

"We conclude that under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power requires that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office. At least with respect to the President’s exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute. As for his remaining official actions, he is also entitled to immunity. At the current stage of proceedings in this case, however, we need not and do not decide whether that immunity must be absolute, or instead whether a presumptive immunity is sufficient...

...Congress cannot act on, and courts cannot examine, the President’s actions on subjects within his “conclusive and preclusive” constitutional authority. It follows that an Act of Congress—either a specific one targeted at the President or a generally applicable one—may not criminalize the President’s actions within his exclusive constitutional power.

But of course not all of the President’s official acts fall within his “conclusive and preclusive” authority. As Justice Robert Jackson recognized in Youngstown, the President sometimes “acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress,” or in a “zone of twilight” where “he and Congress may have concurrent authority.” 343 U. S., at 635, 637 (concurring opinion). The reasons that justify the President’s absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts within the scope of his exclusive authority therefore do not extend to conduct in areas where his authority is shared with Congress.We recognize that only a limited number of our prior decisions guide determination of the President’s immunity in this context."

But here's the key part

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

...Congress cannot act on, and courts cannot examine, the President’s actions on subjects within his “conclusive and preclusive” constitutional authority. It follows that an Act of Congress—either a specific one targeted at the President or a generally applicable one—may not criminalize the President’s actions within his exclusive constitutional power.

The Supreme Court never actually said what is an "official act". That's up to the courts, except the courts are in a limited capacity to even figure out what those even are. 

The entire ruling hinges on the fact that if a President considers even the very thought that he or she may one day face repercussions over their actions, that they wouldn't be able to get the job done. Nobody is above the law, except for a select few people who are above the law.

Trump's already taking advantage of this btw. Spent three years claiming he never tried to influence the count in Georgia, but all of a sudden, he did do those things but it was an "official act" so he can't be held accountable for it. Never mind the fact that these trials won't happen before election day.

Additionally, just because a law or decision is passed, doesn't make it the right one.

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

And I doubt Justice Roberts, an old school 20th century Republican, just loves Trump and wants to be his boyfriend so much that he'd gut his own career.

There are so many Republicans who have abandoned all morals to kiss the ring of the king. You'd be genuinely surprised. Famous example

Look at the dates.

Now

Pretty interesting shift there Graham.

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

That's your opinion.

Ehhhhhhhhh let's dissect this

from the Holocaust Memorial mind you. Anyways

1. Yeah that one by default checks out.

2. Disdain for human rights huh? Well considering the constant attacks on women and minorities, i'd say it checks out.

• Here's Republican governor Ron DeSantis advocating for deadly force against migrants. He claims it's to stop the cartels but how law enforcement will be able to identify a cartel member from a migrant isn't really said. In another instance, he was like "yeah obviously if it's a woman and child they aren't drug dealer" but not only are the two things not mutually exclusive but not every migrant is a woman with child. And unless shots have already been fired, in which case it'd be more understandable, simply executing a guy because he may have had drugs on him is a gross violation of human rights.
• Here's Texas laying razor wire on and across the river border. It's "to stop illegal immigration" but not only is the river federally protected, but the buoys and wire is an artificial added danger that exists solely to cause harm. The river is dangerous in the first place sure, but people escaping awful conditions will fight tooth and nail to leave, no matter the danger. Look at Cuban refugees just sailing away on a raft. Also, in one of the few instances of this Supreme Court actually doing the right thing, they ordered Texas to remove the wire in a 5-4 decision, to which Abbot responded by telling them to fuck off essentially and after which several Republican states sent their state guards to "assist" Texas.
• Here's a compilation of many anti-LGBT laws being proposed in the country right now. Not all of them passed but many of them did, and they include things like forcing schools to out students' sexual orientation to their parents, which can then result in child abuse at home.
• Several Republicans want to get rid of no-fault divorce. No-fault divorce, btw, has substantially lowered the death rate of women in abusive marriages.
• Child marriage is legal in most states because Republicans keep fighting to keep it for some reason. I'm gonna need those hard drives checked.

3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause: A lot of this can be tied back to point 2 really. The talk of the left "coming for your children" and whatnot. Now granted, things are very polarized in this country and both sides have an "us vs them" mentality. The difference is that only one side is trying to make things miserable for everyone.

4. Supremacy of the Military. Ehhhh the Right really loves the military but i don't think it goes the other way around. It's also a fact that America has the strongest military in the world so you can't really go higher than that.

5. Rampant Sexism: this goes back to point 2. 

6. Controlled Mass Media: Not yet, at least not in that sense.

7. Obsession with National Security: loops back to point 2. You can see how interconnected a lot of these are.

8. Religion and government intertwined:

• Here's an overview of that.
• Here's Oklahoma mandating the Bible in public school (and also Louisiana mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed)
• This is stuff that's in the Project 2025 playbook btw.

9. Corporate power protected: Chevron Deference being overturned after 40 years, severely weakening the federal agencies that keep us safe also Citizens United.

10. Labor power suppressed: 

• Republicans are anti-union in general.
• Many states are rolling back child labor laws. Most are red states but admittedly there are like two blue states in there.

11. Disdain for intellectuals and the arts

• See: Republicans denouncing climate change
• Republican denouncing Covid
• DeSantis really hates education
• Republicans want to abolish the department of education. This shit goes back to the days of Reagan. Will it happen? Probably not. They keep trying for some reason.
• Consider that the average conservative is someone who did not go to college.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment: Supreme Court gave the go ahead to criminalize homeless people because God forbid they suffer less.

13. Rampant Corruption: yeah.

14. Fraudulent Elections:

• Nevada district already refusing to certify
• Small town in Alabama straight up having hand-me down mayoral positions until the first black guy who actually ran for mayor won (they tried to lock him out)
• And of course, Trump trying to illegally sway the election his way.

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

In any case, the brilliance of our political system is that it works even when people and parties aren't good. It's just too hard for anyone to gain complete unchecked power. There's layer cake Federalism (see the states unilaterally blocking Federal marijuana policy, for example), the minority party's exercise of the filibuster in Congress, the Presidential veto, the power of some random Federal court to throw a wrench in a President's border wall plans, and so on. In Trump's first term he was a weak President who hardly managed to get any of his agenda passed, and definitely not for lack of trying. I don't expect his second term, if he gets it, to be much different.

You're right, there is a checks and balance system. But that only works if people are willing to follow it. Trump wasn't weak the first time, he was just surrounded by people who kept him in check. He won't make that mistake again. Consider that many of his former cabinet members and even his vice president don't endorse him.

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

It wouldn't keep Texans from voting blue in a Presidential election, or electing Democrats to Congress.

No but this did or at least tried to: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/01/harris-county-elections-texas-oversight-law/

It exclusively targets a deep blue county in deep red Texas. 

As for the other thing, the fact that it was even proposed in the first place should set off alarms. Republicans are so obsessed with minority rule that they continue to do shit like this. Why else do you think so many claim that if Election Day were made a federal holiday, "Republicans would never win again'? They do shit like that, they advocated for raising the voting age, because the less people vote, the more chances Republicans have to win. Consider Donald Trump the first time lost the popular vote but the overall low turnout contributed to his electoral win.

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

But he was shot and killed, and now he's remembered as among the GOATs of American political history.

Tbf a lot of it is the "what could've been" appeal.

3 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

Americans, as a rule of thumb, do not take kindly to their elections being unilaterally decided by one man with a sniper rifle. They didn't back then and they still don't today.

Famously two term president Gerald Ford.

Famously three term president Teddy THE GOAT Roosevelt. Granted he ran third party but he was still that popular.

Also Bobby Kennedy being assassinated didn't stop a Nixon win. So uh. Yeah.

3 hours ago, Dayni said:

Is there a precedent for a dead presidential candidate this close to election time?

Well not that many Presidents had attempts on their life.

The issue today is the polarization.

 

[Codename Shrimp]

Also, more people need to read on Project 2025

Scary shit

[Armagon]

Is Trump aware that Vance got obliterated in 2022? VP picks actually do matter to an extent, a big part of the reason why McCain in 2008 lost is because he picked Sarah Pailin as his VP.

[Acacia Sgt]

Now I've felt I reached another milestone, I wonder. Being halfway through Rune Prana 6, I feel I can't just abandon the playthrough again. When I beat Act II back in 2022 I pretty much stopped playing and only resumed this year. Not gonna do that again. On the other hand, my ability to reliably progress is becoming more and more reliant on item drops that just aren't happening in a common enough occurrence. No luck in Raven or Arthur's shops either for the items to show up. So it's certainly going to slow down my progress if I do continue. Hmm...

Well, will decide come next weekend. I do have tomorrow off still, but I've already decided I won't play RF4 tomorrow at the least.

[Armagon]

>England's domestic abuse rate rises by 32% whenever England loses a soccer match

This soccer shit serious dawg.

[Codename Shrimp]

America...you not ready for world cup lmao

9 minutes ago, Armagon said:

This soccer shit serious dawg.

Football is serious business.

As John Oliver said

"When Beckham got a tattoo of Jesus, most people thought "Wow, that's big for Jesus" " XD

Edited July 15 by Codename Shrimp

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Dayni said:

I mean, the afterlife wasn't tied to where you got buried anyways, right?

Aren't the offerings aimed at the Pharaoh? Wouldn't that make the pickings for the staff slim?

Doesn't that make their chances less of making it less likely?

The important things for the pharaoh were that their body be preserved and their name endure forever. The consequences of either thing failing, IDK.

Egyptian religion, though a cultural monolith that endured for thousands of years, was not immune to change (Amun for instance didn't become important until the New Kingdom, prior to that Amun-Ra was just Ra). As time went on, mummification and things like the Book of the Dead became available for more and more of society, I think. The Pyramids of Giza were Fourth Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, very early, when things were more pharaoh-centric. This earlier era may have been bigger on "pharaoh's afterlife provides for his subjects' eternal survival".

As for offerings, a pharaonic mortuary temple (where priests would venerate the deceased pharaoh) alongside a splendid tomb was common, going all the way from the Old to the New Kingdoms. When pyramid construction declined later in the Old Kingdom, more impressive temples were a kind of monumental compensation.

Also, I believe that concerns about subjects not being willing to work in the afterlife were addressed through small clay(?) dolls placed in the tombs. In the afterlife, they would come alive and do their owner's bidding. As for the questions of subjects surviving the dangers of the night and the weighing of the heart, well I just assumed every pharaoh would've been optimistic about enough of their subjects getting through.😅

 

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

... okay, I know the event is meant to be heartwarming and all, but... they really couldn't afford making an actual baby model?

I was reminded that RF2's birth event is extraordinarily dull, I think? You walk away, you come back, baby is there in your wife's arms, no special music, no cutscene, nothing. I don't recall if the doctor is even present for it. -Which is really weird when you consider this is the character you'll be playing as for the majority of the game very shortly!

Now, I know future games are going to have the s/s issue when it comes to showcasing the protag & spouse getting a newborn child. But RF2 had no such excuse.

[Acacia Sgt]

Scenario 13

Kurama manages to escape punishment, but now he has a new mission. Straight from Doakdar himself, it seems, as he has too much of an interest in the Otherworlders. This makes Kurama wonder if he may not have been the one summoning them after all...

With the heroes, Nadia has just about reached her breaking point. And maybe not so coincidentally, Kurama seems to implant her the idea of... leaving. Which she does. She tries to return to the last village they passed by, but instead finds some ruins... which her Blue Water react to. And unsurprisingly, this were Kurama's orders to follow. To bring Nadia here... and then kidnap her. So he deploys his mech... but then Neo Atlantis mooks show up, forcing Kurama to fight them. At this the OG and the Gratan crew show up, having tracked her with a Dogma, apparently. Kurama uses this chance to flee. You know, considering his mech is bird-shaped, I'm surprise no one seems to suspect anything. Anyway, time to fight!

6 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I was reminded that RF2's birth event is extraordinarily dull, I think? You walk away, you come back, baby is there in your wife's arms, no special music, no cutscene, nothing. I don't recall if the doctor is even present for it. -Which is really weird when you consider this is the character you'll be playing as for the majority of the game very shortly!

Now, I know future games are going to have the s/s issue when it comes to showcasing the protag & spouse getting a newborn child. But RF2 had no such excuse.

To be fair, child birth events have already been on the plain side, even from the HM days. Though that sounds even plainer. RF4 at least has you fade to black to the clinic. On the other hand, RF2 at least does show them as a baby? Since RF4 ends up looking a bit absurd making the newborn already look like a toddler/youngchild.

[Armagon]

12 minutes ago, Codename Shrimp said:

America...you not ready for world cup lmao

The post-match brawls between the Germans and the French will happen on the Walmart parking lot as God intended.

Also my condolences to the 18-20 year olds who come to the bars to watch the game only to find out they legally can't drink here.

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems I routed too soon, since the characters have dialogue about waiting for the rest of X-Cross, and indeed, the objective changes to wait for Turn 3 to arrive, pft. Well, it is the TacP Bonus condition. And indeed, on Turn 3 the rest of the party arrives. More Neo Atlanteans show up... with Zogilians in tow. Except these are from the Adminburo, not the Defense Force. So they're more Elite, apparently. The leader of Neo Atlantis, Gargoyle, has come himself as well. He asks for Nadia to come with them, but she does not reply. Still, the party are willing to defend her, which is making her go deep in thought.

Edited July 15 by Acacia Sgt

[Codename Shrimp]

13 minutes ago, Armagon said:

The post-match brawls between the Germans and the French will happen on the Walmart parking lot as God intended.

Balkan Brawl with guns incoming

game's back

[Acacia Sgt]

"Gwardia"? That's the name of the Zogilian mechs? Do you even Spanish!?

*looks up*

Oh, it's グバルディア, so it is meant to be... wonky spelled. Still, that's Ba, not Wa....

[Hrothgar777]

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

The Supreme Court never actually said what is an "official act". That's up to the courts, except the courts are in a limited capacity to even figure out what those even are. 

If the Court worded this vaguely, it's because they have no idea what future tests the doctrine of Presidential immunity will face. This is to be decided on a case-by-case basis, which is how judiciaries work. You're asserting, without a shred of proof, that were the doctrine tested by Trump doing something dictatorial, SCOTUS would side with him. Until the day it happens I don't believe it.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Nobody is above the law, except for a select few people who are above the law.

It's pretty normal for public officials to enjoy some kind of immunity, such as qualified immunity. Otherwise Obama would've been arrested for murder 10 minutes after approving the raid that killed Bin Laden. To say "this must be balanced against the need for accountability" is not the same as "they should enjoy no immunity at all".

 

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

There are so many Republicans who have abandoned all morals to kiss the ring of the king.

Kamala Harris excoriated Biden on the debate floor, and then became his VP and started talking about how he's the most awesome leader ever. That's just politics as usual. But few politicians willingly and knowingly trash their own careers just to serve as a stepping stool for another politician. Such a thing goes against basic self interest.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Ehhhhhhhhh let's dissect this

I reject bad faith postwar "Umbarto Eco" style definitions of fascism. Certain pseudo-intellectuals found it convenient to look at the right-leaning parties in their own countries and draft a tailor-made definition that fit them to a T for propaganda points, without regard for what actually defined the early 20th century fascist regimes.

Fascism entails an authoritarian regime that mobilizes every part of society and the economy toward common national goals, such as economic development or wars of aggression. The fact that they tend to favor reactionary social values, in contrast to communists who tend to favor progressive social values, does not make reactionary social values the same as fascism, nor does it somehow prove that reactionary social values "lead to" fascism. The world was reactionary for 99.9999% of human history but the fascist state as we know it only emerged in the 20th century.

By this logic, if I would so abuse the word, a socially progressive party must lead to communism. Pol Pot killed 25% of Cambodia's population so if Biden gets reelected it'll automatically spell the end of democracy and trigger the deaths of 80+ million people. See? Isn't this silly?

 

Quote

US-specific social issues

I'll briefly spell out how American politics work. We've had a two party system since the 18th century, and that lends itself to coalition building. Interest groups will tend to align with one party or the other. This is because the benefits they seek often come into conflict with the interests of another group. Sometimes there is a principled reason for some policy that happens to adversely impact one or several groups. For obvious reasons, this principled policy will only find a large number of proponents in the camp where said affected groups aren't concentrated, but that doesn't change what it is.

I say this about Democrats and Republicans. Democrat policies have some adverse impacts on Republican-aligned groups, or Republicans oppose them because they're perceived to do harm to the country at large. And the opposite is true, which is what you're fixated on. At no point is the core motivator for either side "hate" or "bigotry", though there are some hateful and bigoted people on both sides. To mistake politics as usual as some sort of evil conspiracy to commit genocide against people like you is to buy into an extremist narrative.

 

I will add that, anecdotally, as long as I've been on the internet I have been verbally abused and treated worse than a dog by members of the other side. I've come across web content time and time again that rhetorically defecates on some group to which I belong. I do not believe for one microsecond, and you cannot convince me for one microsecond, that my side is uniquely hateful and yours is fighting "against hate". Not after everything I've experienced.

Edited July 15 by Hrothgar777

[Codename Shrimp]

So that's why they call the euros boring lmao

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems Gargoyle's ship has a barrier of sorts (have not had the chance to attack him to see for myself), which he uses to gloat how it's futile to resist. Still, the party is not one to give up, and the OG attempts a Dogma that successfully interferes with the barrier. As the party readies to attack, there's a sudden attack from out of map, and a ship appears. It's the N-Nautilus! Seems they weren't dead as previously thought. And yeah, I can see how they used Captain Gloval's design from Macross to design Captain Nemo. Meanwhile Electra is totally Ritsuko, pft.

Anyway, alright, a third battleship. And X's answer to Yamato, at least in the "battleship entry" that VTX uses. Another battleship with one sub-pilot, but also comes with EN Regen (S), its strongest weapon is post-weapon like Cygnus', and... has a non-friendly-fire MAP. Nice!

Objective is now to defeat Gargoyle and his Airship, or Turn 7 arrives. Well, not gonna wait it out...

I like how in the mech menus, it lists the mech's official name as well as the one it's commonly named as. For most, it's the same name, with some tweaks like Billbine with the Night Camo being listed as "Billbine (Night Colors)". Meanwhile, the N-Nautlius?

“Fourth generation faster-than-light interstellar cruising super dreadnought all-purpose space battleship Exelion”.

Try putting that on a business card. XD

Exelion, huh...

Alright, Gargoyle has been sent packing. After exchanging introductions, Nemo doesn't intend to stick around, but it seems Nadia has decided to remain with X-Cross. And so the scenario ends...

Edited July 15 by Acacia Sgt

[Armagon]

20 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

If the Court worded this vaguely, it's because they have no idea what future tests the doctrine of Presidential immunity will face.

There was no reason to even have the hearing in the first place. It only ever happened because Trump kept claiming he had immunity and now it's affecting the one case that dealt with things before he was president. 

It's one thing to have immunity as a sitting president. But to maintain that immunity after you've left and become a citizen again is quite frankly disgusting.

23 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

It's pretty normal for public officials to enjoy some kind of immunity, such as qualified immunity.

Considering how much qualified immunity is constantly abused by cops here, i'd say it needs to go.

24 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

Otherwise Obama would've been arrested for murder 10 minutes after approving the raid that killed Bin Laden.

Why yes every President would be arrested for various things they did while in office.

Idk who said it but someone said that if every president was tried under the same rules as Nuremberg, all of them would be hanged.

27 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

The world was reactionary for 99.9999% of human history but the fascist state as we know it only emerged in the 20th century.

Idk Gehngis Kahn was pretty fascist.

28 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

By this logic, if I would so abuse the word, a socially progressive party must lead to communism. Pol Pot killed 25% of Cambodia's population so if Biden gets reelected it'll automatically spell the end of democracy and trigger the deaths of 80+ million people. See? Isn't this silly?

Communism has famously been applied as intended.

29 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

At no point is the core motivator for either side "hate" or "bigotry", though there are some hateful and bigoted people on both sides. To mistake politics as usual as some sort of evil conspiracy to commit genocide against people like you is to buy into an extremist narrative.

Dawg imma need you to explain to me how anti-LGBT laws in any way isn't hateful and bigoted. Imma need you to explain to me why abolishing no-fault divorces won't automatically contribute to a higher death rate for married women.

People can disagree on economic policy, the problem is when the deciding factors become about rights. And, most importantly, those "some hateful people" are never denounced. Personally, if i was a well respected leader of a party and i saw that actual Nazis were rallying in my name, i would condemn them as much as possible and distance myself.

35 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

To mistake politics as usual as some sort of evil conspiracy to commit genocide against people like you is to buy into an extremist narrative.

The formation of the Confederacy was a political movement. There's a specific reason why the Confederacy was formed. And to this day, many in the states that once made up the Confederacy keep idolizing it, including prominent politicians at this point.

There is a specific reason why these people look up to the Confederacy so much.

[Acacia Sgt]

Two more DLC stages have opened up. Alright, let's do this.

First one. Captain Donyell has a task for Cecily. He wants her to tutor Aida in... acting like a princess. Oh boy, I can see where this is going... yeah, Ange has offered herself to help out. It is going where I think this is going, pft. Also here are Marvel, Chum (acting as Marvel's sub-pilot for this and... ah, come to think of it, unlike previous SRW games, I don't think I saw an option to switch Chum around; usually SRW lets you do that with the Dunbine fair... er, feralio), and Nadia (Gratan is also deployed). Ange has Aida spar with her... and yeah, the peanut gallery are putting it quite eloquent here about what's going on. lol

Of course, there's bound to be party crashers, and a couple Neo Atlanteans ought to do the trick here. Let's go!

Downing a couple enemies, Capital Army grunts come up next, as well as Aura Battlers.

With the enemy routed, the final verdict is: Aida certainly learned about duty and leadership. What Donyell actually hoped she would learn? Kinda? He's satisfied either way and hopeful of the future... but surviving to see said future is another matter entirely, heh. So the map ends...

Edited July 15 by Acacia Sgt

[Acacia Sgt]

Wait, did they really started a halftime show for the Copa America finals!?

---

Second DLC map. Aoba and Dio still don't seem to get along, and the Cygnus crew thinks if perhaps they see how the others in X-Cross can be friendly with each other and work together may inspire them to do the same.

Seems they picked up the following: Wataru&Shibaraku, Simon&Viral, Bellri&Aida, and Show&Marvel. A varied sort of relationships, it seems. Naturally, it does not go off to a good start. Which means, of course, enemies show up next. A Zogilian squadron. Let's go!

[Eltosian Kadath]

10 hours ago, Hrothgar777 said:

I don't know who needs to read this, but take a chill pill dude. If 45 gets elected again, he's not going to kill or imprison you. Or anyone you know. Or strip away your human rights, or those of any US citizen. Sheesh. If he had the power to do that he'd still be President today.

I generally subscribe to the idea that "those that don't know history are doomed to repeat it", and the failed coup attempt on Jan 6 is giving a lot of Beer Hall Putsch vibes to it, and I think you need to review history if you think he will not try again with greater success. You might not have lost any of your human rights as a result of his presidency, but he took those away from some people in spite of resistance, and his seeding of unreasonably many members of the Supreme Court has let him continue to do so even after he left office. Why wouldn't he expand his policies of stripping human rights from those it is easiest to do so, of moving those least able to protect themselves into concentration camps like he did with immigrant children. I used to have more faith in our balance of powers in being able to prevent this, but the failure of congress to respond to Jan 6, the criminal courts moving slowly enough that he is running again, his guilty verdict in the one criminal case simple enough to be tried so soon still allowing him to run, and the continued terrible decisions by the supreme court have really degraded my faith in that system and the idea that the rights granted us in the constitution will be protected. I don't think we have quite hit the point where the only option left is violence, but it isn't by very much.

 

6 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Me as a Latino watching people shrug off Trump's presidency like it was nothing when meanwhile my family is still trying to piece itself back together after several family members were deported back to El Salvador.

Its easy for a lot of Americans to forget some of the worst things Trump did in his presidency because it didn't negatively effect them. They should remember this iconic poem

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller

Sure he could have done worse, and could do worse if we give him the opportunity to.

 

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

 

Trump-supporting Latinos are the biggest group of hypocrites in a group filled with hypocrites.

Some of the most embarrassing "fuck you I got mine" energy there

 

6 hours ago, Lightcosmo said:

So... If you dont like someone, its acceptable to just kill them? That cant be right.

Really trying to equate all this talk on here with murderous bullets? You really lost the plot with this one.

 

6 hours ago, Lightcosmo said:

Thats not what I read.

That is because that is what you wrote...

 

2 hours ago, Lightcosmo said:

 

If someone insulted my intelligence, my first thought isnt going to be to off them.

...Are you really trying to equate insulting your intelligence to putting children in concentration camps? I get that you are trying to generalize things down to a point where you do relate, but sometimes specifics matter.

 

16 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

You're asserting, without a shred of proof, that were the doctrine tested by Trump doing something dictatorial, SCOTUS would side with him. Until the day it happens I don't believe it.

Why, that seems entirely in line with how they have been ruling so far?

 

51 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

At no point is the core motivator for either side "hate" or "bigotry", though there are some hateful and bigoted people on both sides. To mistake politics as usual as some sort of evil conspiracy to commit genocide against people like you is to buy into an extremist narrative.

What makes Trump popular is that he isn't politics as usual. He has made it a part of his platform to spew as many hate filled and bigotous lies and make them motivating factors in his policies. Hell I even agree that not all conservatives are hate mongering bigots trying to bring about fascist rule in America, but Trump is one of those that is.

I still remember him talking about how some of the people in the Charlottesville riot were good people, after watching "some good people" in a live stream chanting "gas the kikes, race war now". That rally was all about uniting the right with neonazis, and Trumps was making it clear that he supported this notion. His support of the utter lunacy that was the Qanon movement further showing his desire to bring in extremists into the core of his movement. Its hard not to see the assassination attempt against him as a moment of Trump reaping what he sowed; he brought violent extremist groups into the heart of his party, to further a fascist agenda, and one young member of that group responded with violence against him.

[Hrothgar777]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Dawg imma need you to explain to me how anti-LGBT laws in any way isn't hateful and bigoted.

The 20th century culture war was driven by a mix of religious people who feared the normalizing of LGBT would create a difficult and unaccommodating society for themselves and their children to live in (I'd argue recent history has proven them right, and it goes back to the whole "conflicting interests" bit), and the likes of suburban moms who instinctively feared that which the prevailing culture deemed abnormal. The latter group would've been as opposed to, say, a nudist rights movement. The likes of suburban moms are a stabilizing force in our society, because in elections they help vote down the guy who comes across as more unhinged than his counterpart. They crave normalcy and moderation and we need that. But this fear of the abnormal isn't always necessarily helpful, I'll admit.

Present day anti-LGBT laws are basically of two kinds: keeping queer literature out of children's spaces and keeping trans women out of cis women's restrooms. Neither approaches the level of fascist targeting of minority groups, and it's merely a lesser continuation of the aforementioned culture war.

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Imma need you to explain to me why abolishing no-fault divorces won't automatically contribute to a higher death rate for married women.

The reasoning behind this proposal, which overall isn't that popular even among Republican voters (many of whom are divorcees), is that no-fault divorce made it "too easy" for couples to give up on their marriage, which created a generation of kids who grew up being shuffled between one parent's residence and the other, and didn't get to take a conventional household for granted.

Since you have domestic violence in mind, proponents would counter that one could easily carve out a "battered women" exception in the laws making divorce harder. All of this is, again, rooted in traditionalist social values and not sexism.

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

People can disagree on economic policy, the problem is when the deciding factors become about rights.

What is a right? Is there a right to keep and bear arms? Are property rights inalienable? "We can disagree on everything except human rights" only works until you consider that everyone considers some policy issue a matter of human rights. For this to hold we need a standard definition of human rights that a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican can agree on.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

And, most importantly, those "some hateful people" are never denounced. Personally, if i was a well respected leader of a party and i saw that actual Nazis were rallying in my name, i would condemn them as much as possible and distance myself.

You're talking about that one rally? The "fine people on both sides" referred to those protesting the city's removal of the General Lee statue, which had stood for decades if not a century, and those peacefully counterprotesting. He was not talking about the tiki torch wielders or the street brawlers. And in fact, he did condemn the neo-Nazis at the event two days afterward.

 

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/trump-has-condemned-white-supremacists/

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

The formation of the Confederacy was a political movement.

Off-topic but okay.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

There is a specific reason why these people look up to the Confederacy so much.

For many people, it's because the Confederate soldiers were literally their ancestors, and because holding off the Feds for 4 years is still a source of immense regional pride to many Southerners to this day, who similarly distrust the Federal government of our time and idealize those Americans who won military battles against it. Admittedly those who aren't from the South who fly the flag may be actual racists.

Edited July 15 by Hrothgar777

[Benice]

Not that I'm trying to belittle the serious conversation (which I would normally participate in but the world is tiring rn), but

I swear half the Copa finals game so far has been spent on people flopping on the ground XD

[Acacia Sgt]

The Zogilians keep sending more mooks, and eventually Margaret herself shows up. Seems they already figured out about the Coupling system, and were intending to force them to use their allotted time, before swooping in. Still, in their own way, Dio and Aoba are able to work it out and make it last a little longer, forcing Margaret to withdraw.

With the enemy routed, Aoba and Dio have indeed come out of this stronger from this, even if they still are up to their usual antics. Or perhaps that is a sign they've made progress. And oh, Mayuka seems to have a crush on Aoba. Hmm... wonder how that will go once Hina is back in the picture... if that has any relevance to begin with. Anyway, that's it for the DLC maps.

So, coming up next, the game's first route split! Unlike V or T, X has no three-way split. Also, the way the secrets are structured in this game, it's actually possible to get them all in the same playthrough. That said, there is one specific secret that is strictly route dependent, and for that reason, affects which routes I'll take now and in my second playthrough. X actually seems to stick to the same group splits for every route split, so thankfully it makes it easier to keep some narrative consistency.

In any case, before that happens, Electra finds Nemo thinking about things. She brings up if perhaps he should reveal he's Nadia's father, but Nemo seems to think there will never be a right time for that. He then says he has changed his mind. If Gargoyle is allying with Otherworlders (wait, he does not see himself as one?), then he'll do the same. He also brings up about a pact obligating them to work with the Savior and dragon god? Hmm? Alright, who brought FEH into this!? Meanwhile, the Yatter... I mean, Gratan trio are trying to eavesdrop on them. Haaa, seems there's something of a love triangle between Electra, Nemo, and Grandis? Probably two one-sided crushes that may not be requited. I don't know what happens in the Nadia anime regarding that, to be honest. Or maybe I just don't remember, since I think I did looked it up once.

Anyway, the group has reunited and exchanged info. Haa, now Shibaraku crushes on Electra too? Hilarious. Anyway, now things turn serious. Seems the Amerian Army in Al-Warth may be in trouble now if Gargoyle is now aiding Misurugi too. Klim has once again ordered Donyell to head to the Land of Mana to gather intel. However, since Doakdar is still an issue (and others like Ange don't want to return to the LoM), that's what necessitates splitting the party up. As such, it goes as following:

Doakdar Assault Squad: Aura Battler Dunbine, Mashin Hero Wataru, Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, & Cross Ange
Mana Recon Squad: Mobile Suit Gundam F91, Gundam Reconguista in G, & Buddy Complex

Simply put, Route Splits will be basically: "Gundam+BuddyComplex and Everyone Else". OG protagonist, as always, gets to choose. I chose Doakdar Assault. That means missing out on the secret I mentioned since it requires heading to one of the G+BC routes, but it's fine. Always can get it on the second playthrough, and technically speaking, I wouldn't be missing on filling out the Library. I think. If not for that, I'd put the "Everyone Else" routes for second, since it would feel wrong not following Wataru's story without interruption in this game, being so central. Anyway...

[Eltosian Kadath]

17 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

The 20th century culture war was driven by a mix of religious people who feared the normalizing of LGBT would create a difficult and unaccommodating society for themselves and their children to live in (I'd argue recent history has proven them right, and it goes back to the whole "conflicting interests" bit), and the likes of suburban moms who instinctively feared that which the prevailing culture deemed abnormal. The latter group would've been as opposed to, say, a nudist rights movement. The likes of suburban moms are a stabilizing force in our society, because in elections they help vote down the guy who comes across as more unhinged than his counterpart. They crave normalcy and moderation and we need that. But this fear of the abnormal isn't always necessarily helpful, I'll admit.

So let me get this straight, the way anti-LGBT laws are not based on bigotry is because a bunch of religious people are unreasonably afraid of gay and trans people. Are you literally trying to argue that homophobia and transphobia aren't bigotry. I know that comes across as a little flippant, but there is a reason we use the -phobia at the end of those words and the two are not synonymous, its because bigotry is often the result of unreasonable fears, and I don't think this argument really escapes claims of it being based on bigotry.

 

21 minutes ago, Hrothgar777 said:

 

Present day anti-LGBT laws are basically of two kinds: keeping queer literature out of children's spaces and keeping trans women out of cis women's restrooms. Neither approaches the level of fascist targeting of minority groups, and it's merely a lesser continuation of the aforementioned culture war.

Skipped over a lot of less defensible laws being passed there, like those making it illegal to crossdress in public (which have been used to arrest trans people for simply being in public already), or those restricting medical access to transgendered people for instance. Alas many are new enough that these are still working their way through the courts, so we will see how many of these awful things stick...

 

9 minutes ago, Benice said:

Not that I'm trying to belittle the serious conversation (which I would normally participate in but the world is tiring rn), but

I swear half the Copa finals game so far has been spent on people flopping on the ground XD

I used to joke that anytime someone was playing up being injured for a foul were "playing Soccer", and its nice to see that tradition continues to this day 😛 

I do want to emphasize here that I mean men's Soccer here, women's Soccer is a whole different ball game, and I swear some of those ladies would downplay a broken leg for the sake of the game

 

[Acacia Sgt]

Scenario 14

Nemo orders a course for the N-Nautilus. Not the most safest of courses, apparently, but related to Gargoyle it seems. It will be over dangerous waters, and something I forgot to mention. The N-Nautilus can submerge, as its namesake would suggest. Sorry Tuatha, but you're not the only space-faring submarine in SRW anymore! Anyway, it seems the area is also a sight for Dragons... which means, as Ange realizes to her horror, they're actually heading to where Arzenal is. As luck would have it, here be Dragons!

Edited July 15 by Acacia Sgt