Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Zuljaras Ahh, yeah, after the fact history would have been pretty complete! The infiltration of our schools, courts, government institutions, etc was very very directly affected by the Soviets, and unfortunately I fear we're, more than ever, living in the legacy of that still. Perhaps uniquely so, in the world. They called the early infiltrators into those institutions the "brick layers", I believe. They were to lay the foundations in education and legal policy that would eventually instill Soviet values into the mainstream when the children of the time (1960s) became adults. With the 60's radicals (hippies) they were partly successful. In their targeting of disenfranchised/minority groups at the time, being a huge catalyst in the 60's Civil Rights riots, they were more successful at the time, and the legacy of that indirectly continues today - the design to keep people fighting against each other in groups was a central part of their design. Lincoln's "A house divided can not stand" idea was taken to heart: Divide the house along every fault was the plan. The Communist legacy is more influential here than many people realize. But in the schools here....I suspect, if you're too young, your parents would be horrified by flashbacks of their own schools, were they to see it.

You're not wrong on the restrooms debate...that, unfortunately, isn't just media hyperbole. Not just that, but continued dividing of the house along every fault. Picking every disenfranchised group, inflating its presence, and inciting anger and division under the faux banner of 'equality' - focusing on that simply to divide every group from every group. Focusing on what's different even while bigger issues are common to all. Clearly someone's still using the old playbook. If the goal is no longer about having the US become a mirror of the USSR, than it begs the question as to what the goal actually is now. Or is it just division for the sake of division among the ambitious? Seems too organized for that.

@bimmy-lee I think it's directly connected to wealth. Generally I've found those that aren't wealthy to be quite intelligent and wise. The greater the amount of success and money one possesses seems to directly correlate to a complete lack of sense, intellect, or the ability to think at all beyond believing whatever you are presented. They may be very good at a particular skill. Engineering, finanace, law. But they're otherwise total drooling morons outside doing their one task. It's like a whole society of Rain Man clones.

@bimmy-lee I'd be interested in what fighters reps from each country would use.

...Someone better use Toon Link.

I just put in a couple leave requests... National Clean Off Your Desk Day on Monday 13 Jan, and International Mentoring Day on Friday 17 Jan.

They shouldn't play games with a gamer.

I felt really disappointed and a bit angry after i happily got The Sims 3 Pets PS3 from Amazon, but.... The game was really unplayable due to installation bug issue i have encountered !
I have wasted for 4 hours just for keep trying to install the game but still no result.
Because of this, i have to delist The Sims 3 PS3 from my PS3 shopping list. 😔

@Anti-Matter Is it second hand? If yes then probably you just need a new disc.

@Tyranexx

The "We disagree on X, so that means you're part of group Y and must also think Z" mentality is highly toxic.

That reminds me of a psychology joke, which is from so long ago, that I'll potentially butcher it, but I'll try to remember as best I can, so you can get the gist of it, and you'll understand why your comment reminded me of it.

So, this guy, let's call him Jeff, decides after a long break from his college years, and several years of menial temp jobs and what not, that he wants to start studying again, to become something more and get a better life and so on.

After some browsing of online catalogs and such, Jeff decides on an entry level study in psychology. He is accepted and as such enters the course with a group of other re-entries, and lo and behold, the lessons actually make sense to him, and he gets good grades. One of the teachers is a bit of a metaphoric person though, probably because he wants to make it easier on all these belated students.

Anyways, the teacher paints a picture of how to profile people by successive questions and ultimately filtering down to control questions with the following example:

"Let's say you're in a nice, casual conversation, and you want to find out a bit more about the other person, without alarming them, or coming across as the Spanish inquisition. A good, casual opening might then be "say, just out of curiosity, do you own a fish tank?" If the answer would be yes, then the conclusion would obviously be that they like animals/pets, so a good follow up would be to ask if they like other kinds of pets, such as cats or dogs".

"Now, if the answer to that is also yes, then the logical conclusion would be that we're talking to a really nice and gentle person, if that wasn't already clear yet from our initial impression, which was the reason we got into a conversation with them in the first place, but confirmation is always good".

"So, you're now talking to a nice, gentle person who likes/loves animals, so the next step might be to find out if he/she is only an animal lover or if they also like children. After all, being gentle, animal loving people, might very well mean that they're also quite positive towards children".

Well, the lecture goes on for quite a bit, and Jeff is enthusiastically making notes, trying to remember it all. At the end of the class, the teacher suggests to his students to try and practice what they've now learned in a real life conversation.

So, armed with this new knowledge, and confident in his own skills, Jeff decides to go out to the park, because it's nice weather, and he'd obviously stand a good chance of meeting a lot of people there.

At some point, he sees a pretty lady sitting on a bench, and he casually sits down next to her, politely greets her, she greets back, and a conversation ensues, so he decides to go for it. But, as one would expect in these slightly more tense situations, his nerves get the better of him and his mind suddenly draws a blank, so he's starting to feel slightly panicked, but somehow still manages to maintain his outward composure. His mind is racing, but he also understands that he can't continue to blankly stare at her without saying anything coherent, so he decides to continue on as if nothing is wrong.

He looks at her with a friendly smile, and says: "So, do you happen to own a fish tank?", upon which she says:
"No, I don't. Why'd you ask?" and then he blurts out: "Well, then you must surely hate children"...

@Anti-Matter The disc is probably scratched or otherwise disturbed. You could try and get the disc polished/resurfaced at a game shop, that will fix light scratching and/or blemishes, but if the disc is really bad, then you're basically screwed.

@ThanosReXXX
I saw a tiny scratch on the disc surface.
I think i need a cleaner to clean the disc first.
But if it still not helping.....
I will completely delist The Sims 3 from my PS3 since at the same time, on The Sims 3 console we couldn't make another neighbors and play with them as another Active family.
Oh, my The Sims 3 Pets PS3 was a used game.

It's been a long while but for lunch I had a poke bowl today. One of my favorite meals. There's a new place in town thats basically like chipotle where you customize your bowl with salmon tuna shrimp or chicken. Chose the spicy salmon (uncooked) with rice edamame ginger carrot pineapple seaweed and some house sauce. I can have another two or three for dinner if i had the chance to run back out for more.

@ThanosReXXX I like that joke.

@HobbitGamer have you gotten to the botchling or lumberkinn part on TW3?

@Anti-Matter Cleaning won't help, unless the scratch is not really a scratch but some dirt stripe that has somehow attached itself to the surface of the disc. If it's an actual scratch, the disc needs to be polished.

@HobbitGamer Thanks. I kinda feel like I made it too long, but of course, when you tell it to someone face to face, it always seems much shorter than actually putting it in writing.

@NEStalgia You say they aren't exactly hiding it? I take it you refer to their military buildup. But America has been building up their military basically nonstop for decades. It has a military budget that eclipses anyone else by a landslide! That doesn't mean America is seeking WW3 any more than China is. It just means that China is building up the strength to behave however it want, just like America. That could well lead to a conflict, but both countries have nuclear capability and the base understanding that a nuclear war is a war no one wins. I do not think WW3 is inevitable, but it does depend on a new balance of power being established. America has not seriously been challenged since the fall of the USSR and I think the rise of another super power to check American Imperialism would be a good thing if the two powers can find a balance.

But I concede that that is a big IF and honestly armed conflict is more likely. If that happens, I'd prefer they wait another 50 years. I selfishly want to live most of my life before the world burns in nuclear fire. Preferably I'd rather die dreaming of a future where that doesn't happen. If the bombs start falling, I'd prefer to be in the first blast, right in the epicenter, and never see it coming. Jesus is lord and I'll trust in him. Or if I'm wrong and the atheists are right? Well I've got nothing to lose then either! First bomb please.
But the longer we can wait, the better.

@NintendoByNature Nah, I only just met the Bloody Baron last night. I did manage to finish the show, can’t wait for another season!

@HobbitGamer nice!! Still only watched the 2 episodes thus far. Oh and bloody baron is one of the better characters in the game

@NintendoByNature Yeah finishing the season kind of fleshed out some more lore for me. Are you having trouble getting oils and such? I’ve still not met any black smiths or alchemists, so maybe I’m just a bit ahead of myself.

Somewhat related, any of y’all seen the new Dracula on Netflix? I just finished the first part, and it’s pretty cool.

@HobbitGamer I've only made 1 oil I think, Maybe 2. I've kinda given up on crafting stuff. I have so many Ingredients yet never enough to make anything. I don't even know where i found an alchemist( maybe regular merchants can make oils?) I've found plenty of black smiths but never have enough items or coin to do anything. So basically I just play thru the story, slash away at enemies, burn stuff, and buy foods and repair armor/weapons to survive.

I have Dracula que'd up, looks good

@NEStalgia - You may be on to something there. If that’s true, it’s a good thing our leaders and decision makers have humble roots. Wait...

@Tyranexx - Ah, I see I misunderstood your initial reply. You meant actually playing Smash as opposed to having my proposed fighting tournament take place on perilous, floating platforms in space live on pay per view. Your Smash proposal would also be very entertaining, with the added bonus that nobody has to die or even get hurt. I’m in. Smash for politics. Loser gives up the stick.

@HobbitGamer - I only saw a still ad for it, but it caught my attention for a second. Is it a comedy?

@ThanosReXXX Haha, I definitely get the connection! That's pretty good lol. Funnily enough I can relate to the "nervous with a stranger" bit. XD

@bimmy-lee Nah, I didn't mean that literally, but that's not a bad idea either. Super Smash Bros: Space Hunger Games style.