Dude I don’t think even the democrats would float this sort of plan. It’s one of those weird moments between planning the three stooges reich where he just glomms onto some idea that is actually super progressive without knowing it. Ultimately trump is apolitical personally I think—he acts based on narcissistic self interest, which is why it’s possible for weird shit like this to happen. He also just takes notes from whatever whackos are around that day, so you can be sure that any actual good or progressive ideas will get removed from the platform by one of the far right grifters he has in perpetual orbit, but still amusing to see.

The democrats would say they wanted to do this, then complain they’re not allowed to, and then produce a plan that provides green cards to foreign grads if they agree to live in an underserved neighborhood for 5 years, have a specific blood type, and complete a post-secondary degree within 5 years with the intention of working in green energy development after. Like some caveated-to-hell means tested crap that lets them say they tried, while effectively making it near-impossible.

Given that half of them were enthusiastically taking horse de-wormer a few years back… this is not impossible

I can’t find the specific article, but it was basically arguing that prions are an unavoidable existential crisis that will eventually kill everything on the planet. The basis was the fact that they are virtually indestructible, can lie latent in our environment indefinitely and basically just always make more of themselves.

Mind you, the time frame for this particular apocalypse would be pretty big. It was still an eerie thought though, just like this inexorable accumulation of alien/bizarro world proteins that would eventually kill/convert everything. I guess it’s kinda like the grey goo planet theory.

Anyway, we’ll almost certainly kill ourselves via climate change or massive war first, so no need to worry too much about prions.

Well, it looks like my 3D fix voodoo cards from the 90’s… so seems ok

I remember that. Such a weird and excellent name for a loony military operation.

Basically exactly what I think also—it’s not an activity that just stops at some arbitrary point, it’s a power negotiation. They’ll push it as far as they can.

Look I agree—I doubt very much they have a real intention of seceding—it would be a shitshow—but they do do things to float the spectre of secession. But I agree it’s about extreme states rights, and leading by example, since among the red states, Texas has the largest GDP after California in country (or perhaps they’re more now, not sure depending on gas/oil stuff)

The gdp thing is the same reason that there is a marginal Californian secession movement.

I mean I’m sure plenty of Texans have no desire to succeed. But there are multiple real actions that suggest the state has it in mind: separate border enforcement forces, isolated power grid, the Texas rangers/trooper or whatever they’re called. It may all just be maneuvering/bluster, but when you see the state power structures trying to create Amon Bundy-standoffs it does make one wonder.

There also nascent secession movements elsewhere, California has a visible one.

Yeah I mean that’s fine, but you’d run the same risk there with bluff-calling and standoffs. Like clearly Texas is trying to bait the feds into either rolling over for a cheap win, or doing something that they might be able to use to spark something more significant. Not sure which is worse, but I know which one will look more weak/will incite further escalators acts on Texas’ part.

I mean, they are occupying a section of the border of the entire country, and denying, through threat of violence, the federal government/military access to said border. At some point, this simply has to be read as insurrection, and put down. A country only gets to exist and enforce laws by virtue of the implied violence (physical or otherwise) that it can leverage to back it up.

Of course there are complications to this, like the thought that steamrolling these troopers would then spark a greater revolt. But when you have a state doing things like this, particularly a state that has made it abundantly clear they desire to secede and have prepared for secession, I think you need to play hardball. This could be either by forcibly bringing them back in line through state violence, or giving them what they want, in such a way that it ends up being a pyrrhic victory; imagine aggressive border protocols and removal of free travel along the Texas border, intense tariffs and duties on Texan goods, etc… honestly a Texit could be quite beneficial for the country, shifting congress balances somewhat. Add in some statehood’s for PR, Guam and DC and now you’re really cooking with gas.

Who knows though, I’m still finding it hard to believe that the Jan 6 insurrectionists weren’t mowed down in machine gun fire when they penetrated the capitol, so clearly my expectations of government reaction and what actually happens have some daylight between them.

It’s probably just accidental, but when I see actual news headlines like this, I wonder if they were purposely meant to be wrong, so that it would confuse and catch your attention, driving engagement. I literally thought they had arrested a dead guy in a tub for my first two scans of the headline. And now I’ve commented on a link to it, etc. it’s just kinda hard to believe it’s accidental since they’re writing professionally, and have tools at their disposal that can prevent this like editors and software checkers.

That said I suppose the other explanation is that they’re using software to produce their stuff, and in such a quantity/so few employees that this kind of weirdness just slips through all the time.

I haven’t done them yet, but from some of the mods available to mitigate this, I think the timing is just exceptionally tight.

I’ve literally heard that they’re on record about this—they simply don’t have the resources to take on big fish and their extremely well-funded legal protection, so they default to low income and middle income audits. It’s a total joke.

I’m in a similar boat. The use case where I really would use it regularly, simming, is hamstrung by two things. One, it’s so damn fiddly and laborious doing settings non stop to make it playable, and two, even if I get the settings right—I start noticing weird crap with my eyes after a couple sessions. Like you end up basically crossing your eyes all the time inside the visor, and I’ll notice fatigue/trouble focusing after using it a lot, what I would imagine it feels like to have a bad prescription or something (don’t personally have glasses).

And as you say, it’s bloody uncomfortable. Something like big screen beyond with good AR/passthrough would go a long way to fixing that I guess.