Lurker > Count_Drachma

EatMan posted...

The actual return is mostly meaningless and is a dependent variable that you could make adjustments to redetermine. It just means you overpaid on your taxes i.e. you gave the government an interest free loan. You should shoot for the opposite. Owe the most you can without paying penalties so you can invest that money throughout the year.

In theory, sure. However, the underlying question here is how much more/less people are paying in taxes.

adjl posted...

This is probably a big part of it. And, as everyone who paid attention predicted when Trump first rolled out the cuts, Biden will end up taking the blame for the increase and Trump (or his replacement) will likely use that as a campaign platform that people will happily eat up.

They should've kept the cuts for working-class Americans.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Or you could just ignore/block him.

Considering how many accounts he burns through, it's going to be a lot of blocks. afaik, this is that Olsen guy. Yeah, you can -- and should -- ignore him whenever a new account pops up, but you'll see a lot of those topics... and then some posters on PotD eventually spoof his topics for a while because PotD

Because Gatomon (which should be Gatowomon?) is a champion for some reason, since she's rookie-sized, looks like a rookie, and is permanently digivolved (like a rookie is).

And her canon prevo looks like the design was phoned in.

HornedLion posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/6/5/AAckHXAAEMyl.jpg

done for tonight. Need to game.

Nice. The tail being a little squiggly on the lightning bolt, but it's still awesome for a quick sketch.

Raichu.

KingDavid posted...

I'm not saying they're gonna collapse at all.

I'm just saying their statuses as powers is about to come to an end. Their attempts at overthrowing America as top dog fizzled before it even began due to their own internal problems.

lolwut? Russia wasn't in the running to overtake America and China may still overcome America because, as much as China is tanking itself, the US is tanking itself harder.

Ogurisama posted...

https://i.imgur.com/ixDvHDl.jpeg

That combination made me giggle, tbh.

FrozenBananas posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/9/AAcYbGAAEMrJ.jpg

Epic.

I feel like they receive an appropriate level of appreciation.

I can't believe gamefaqs has a forum dedicated to posting hot girls now.

I can't believe it took so long.

blu posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/1291-hot-girls

I guess they want that stuff contained to one forum.

Unlikely.

MorbidEngel posted...

I look and I see two feet threads.

Nope, I'm good.

It's by the same alt-user who spams those kinds of topics here, too, before quickly getting banned. If you were trying to avoid that guy, you'd have to stop using Gamefaqs entirely.

I think I only ever played the first? Can't remember if I ever paid much attention to the franchise, although I liked the first game.

Miroku_of_Nite1 posted...

Sweet another "Two more weeks until Russia/China collapse" topic.

I know, right? It's been about two weeks since the last one.

Nade_Duck posted...

tbh i'm surprised there's even anything you're actually interested in at this point.

Boom.

Muscles posted...

Prohibition was a bad thing, zeus, did you not learn that?

No, it was an unpopular thing. But so are countless other laws. However, unlike many current laws, trying to taper down on alcohol actually has a social good if it was done properly, which the original attempt was not.

Right now, there are a lot of common-sense alcohol control measures that could curb most of the problems:

1) Limit consumption to point of sale in a controlled setting.

2) Track alcohol consumption to ID potential problems

3) Have all alcohol profits be used to pay for rehab and detox programs

If alcohol was properly managed, we could scale the consumption down to the point where the social harms might be negligible and an outright ban would be unnecessary.

lolwut?

KingDavid posted...

For those that are unaware as to what's happening. Russia is getting it's ass kicked by Ukraine and it looks like there days are numbered as a country. Their status as a "world power" is gone due to their inability to wage war against a nation that was believe to be a weaker military power compared to them.

Except Russia isn't "getting its ass kicked by Ukraine" right now, which is literally why Zelensky is still begging for tanks from the West. On top of that, Russia has been pulling its punches from the beginning so as to not to directly provoke Western nations to engage in direct military conflict.

And even with isolating Russia, it's still a threat. However, the real threat -- which you seem completely ignorant about -- is Russia linking up with China and other hostile nations to create a block that could compete with the West (which so far hasn't happened because of China's economic ties with the US, but that could change)

The idea that Ukraine has smooth sailing ahead is so wrong that it doesn't even qualify as propaganda, because even Ukraine is admitting that it needs more help -- and of course it does, Ukraine is against a world power and has never had the kind of military spending as any of the world's greatest powers. As Ukraine's PRESIDENT will be the first one to say, Ukraine is in dire need of Western weapons to push back Russia and will fall without that assistance.

And we've effectively been in a Cold War for a while now. The West is fighting proxy wars with Russia across multiple nations while trying to economically isolate them.

KingDavid posted...

China is on the brink of a massive population collapse, a real estate crisis on par with 2008-2009 financial crisis , and they just lost access to American and any other nation's microprocessors, which are important for super computers and AI. All the hogwash about China invading Taiwan is just posturing, an attempt to "look strong" in the face of defeat. But it's all a farce, they're even more fucked than Russia.

China could invade Taiwan anytime it wants and there isn't a lot anybody could do to stop them. However, China isn't likely to do that.

And although China has pretty significant issues, it's unlikely to remove them as a major player.

Honestly, though, MOST of China's problems probably aren't too worse than the problems faced in the rest of the world. Most developed and developing nations have some kind of a population crisis and a housing crisis.

KingDavid posted...

Iran is facing massive protest thanks to that woman that got killed for not wearing a hijab, but I wouldn't count Iran out just yet. But they can't overturn the the New World Order without China or Russia on their side. It's just not possible.

The US has faced massive protests over law enforcement killing people for years now -- including widescale anarchy and lawlessness in cities, on top of large sections of cities literally burning -- yet it's still okay. The fact that there are large-scale protests isn't particularly meaningful.

acesxhigh posted...

most countries seem to exist on the brink of collapse these days though

Pretty much. Undeveloped nations are always on the cusp, developing nations are near the cusp, and developed nations have had major issue after major issue.

And the problem with developed nations is that if one of the big ones goes offline, the entire world is impacted. Most global recessions start in the US, for example.

papercup posted...

Is there an industry that isn't evil?

Yes, considering there are socially-conscious organizations and, in theory, some industries that only advance a public good.

Plus some industries are more evil than others. The alcohol industry is probably the most evil by far, given that alcohol is tied to nearly half of all domestic abuse, around a third of all car crashes, a key component in many sexual violence cases (which has also been used to discourage victims from going to the police),and linked to at least a quarter of all violent crimes. And that's before you even get into the health impacts, addictive nature, and the role in systemic poverty.

The amount of evil in the tobacco industry is barely a drop in the bucket compared to alcohol, yet very few people talk about doing anything with the alcohol industry despite the furor over less-damaging industries or even complaints about things that largely result from the downstream impact of alcohol.

I can't justify paying $70 for any video game. Even $60 has been ridiculous. I'll wait for a sale of some sort.

I'll stick to the porn porn subreddit, thank you very much!

tbh, I usually skipped that part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hebWYacbdvc

The concept is a little all over the place, probably because they want to channel some Marvel and also soft-reboot things. Some of the reveals were surprising. Granted, I was hoping for something more traditional.

Of those, wings. But none of them are things that I was all that hyped about... well, I guess the wings were alright.

I always just go in. There's a 1/10 chance they fuck something up so it covers that.

It can mold. Even Twinkies can mold.

The better question is, "Why do people believe stupid claims like McDonald's food not molding?"

Long John Silver's
Blimpy's
Popeye's
Bennigan's (if still around)
Bertucci's (probably still around?)
Chili's
Red Lobster
Arby's
A whole bunch of Asian chains
Quiznos

I also like KFC and McDonald's, but the quality can be inconsistent.

Judgmenl posted...

(Coworkers don't seem to understand that if you work 7 days a week you will tunnel vision and burn out / go insane).

Completely untrue.

Muscles posted...

Unless you've been living under a rock since the mid 60s you should know who Page is. He's one of the most famous people from the 20th century

Except he's not. At all. He wouldn't even be in the top 100 most famous people from the 20th century. You know who would be? World leaders and heads of state -- ranging from Bill Clinton to Hitler. And you could fill up 100 with just them. Not fair? Okay, let's move to celebrities -- no, let's move to musicians. Is Page more famous than either Elvis, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, and... well, the list goes around the block again and again.

Have a lot of AMERICANS heard of Led Zeppelin? Sure, but most Americans couldn't name one guy in the band. I sure as shit couldn't.

I mean, it has Star Wars Visions? I thought that was supposed to be an anime.

DirtBasedSoap posted...

https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/10/28/the-ps2-launch-titles

meh

Indeed.

wpot posted...

I'm glad I feel no need to get hardware when first released. It has to impress me with a decent library first (and coming down in price doesn't hurt). Plenty of old stuff to play around with in the meantime.

Pretty much

papercup posted...

Translation: if they wanted to shoot it down they would have. The DOD has likely known about this thing for days or weeks, its just that the public noticed this one. I guarantee this is not the first one China has sent in recent years, and were doing the same to them.

tbh, they've gone on the record for claiming any number of reasons for not wanting to shoot the balloon down. But honestly, it just boils down to Beijing Biden being soft on China again.

Yellow posted...

Lol that's honestly pretty funny.

Can we make this a campaign issue for 2024?

I mean, having a spy balloon publicly flaunt your sovereignty is a pretty big fucking issue and the current inaction is setting a pretty lousy precedent for how these things will be handled (although, considering Biden has been a pretty lousy president, it's not terribly surprising -- I often suspect he was never really interested in the job and only came back because his party convinced him he was the only way they'd win the White House at the time, which was probably the case)

JigsawTD3 posted...

>unironically using green text arrows like this is 4chan

>Unironically making a 4chan reference like anybody ever uses 4chan

Also green? Check your color settings, buddy.

>Unironically defends an anti-semite with a long history of racist remarks
>Unironically talks about hoping people don't have mirrors

If you held her to a fraction of the standard you hold Republicans, you'd be leading the charge for her removal. But then again, this is coming from BS0, the same guy who:

>Unironically advocated for the constant obstruction of the government and rooted against the US
>Unironically accusing other people of treason

I lived in Georgia and Florida (although not north enough in Florida to be the US South), as well as vacationing across the SE US, and I can't recall once hearing somebody use Yankee. This feels like it's not a thing.

And, as a general rule, it's northerners who spend more time mocking the south, which makes turning around and pretending that the north is the wronged party all the more hilarious.

BigOlePappy posted...

It is kind of cringe. "Yankees" have mostly forgot the civil war happened and have regional identities. The south is still clinging like an ex boyfriend calling his ex by her pet name... But her ex is like already engaged to somebody else and moved on.

Not for nothing, but it's pretty fucking cringe that's your argument.

I'd stopped fiction for a while (other than a title here or there), but really should get back to it.

Like mustard, am occasionally okay with ketchup, but mayo can go burn in a horrible-smelling fire.

What's with the trend of people describing normal feelings as neurodivergent

What's up with the trend of you shaming people for mentioning their potential struggles with mental health?

Lokarin posted...

nah, 9 is frozen bananas, ma best bud (probably)

No, he does have most of the board ignored. He's posted the list at times.

You kinda already have that between IVs/EVs, natures, abilities, and move choices.

Hot sushi would be disgusting. And what would you do with hot chocolate? Call it cold chocolate? Would the stuff even mix?

Zareth posted...

Then gladly pay $300 for an anime waifu figure that they don't even need to build or paint and can't play games with

Pretty sure you're confusing nerds with otaku or weebs.

Plus there's usually a cheaper option.

Lokarin posted...

In retrospect, I'd rather have gotten a RealDoll than my warhammer collection

Probably a fuckton cheaper.

Blightzkrieg posted...

And to be fair, the majority of Warhammer that gets sold doesn't get painted, used for games or even built. It just sits in somebody's closer.

I hate it when things sit in the closer.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Sane and rational people will call Warhammer expensive as well. Nerds are just the only ones willing to PAY that much for tiny unpainted figures they need to buy dozens of and then paint themselves in order to potentially play a game with them.

I also liked looking at them, tbh.

If your opponent runs out of cards is a rule in a lot of CCGs.

It's good for 1-4 items, but a pain for everything else since you have to scan, put it down, scan, put it down, scan, put it down, and it doesn't register multiple items. If I'm buying 5 of the same thing, a register can check me out in like 30 seconds. A self-check is taking minutes.

Ferarri619 posted...

IDK if Russia hates us more or about the same as the USA.

It'd obviously hate you less by a LARGE degree, but it'd still be a poor decision, especially if you don't respect their laws. However, even if you do, you could be accused of spying if they want a bargaining chip. Canada doesn't have as many Russian prisoners as the US does, if any.

Nope, because their flag features a dragon.

BlackScythe0 posted...

I don't know what you're on about but the American Dream is dead because of Boomers. There was the idea that if you worked hard your kids could have a better life than you did growing up. I have an objectively worse quality of life than my parents or grandparents because I had less opportunity and that is pretty common for millennials.

Why are you trying to debate this? Do people actually think it's because every millennial is lazy because of some crap they see on tv?

ie, "Oh no! The policies I've largely supported and promoted -- and still do -- have led to the decline of industries ensuring I have fewer opportunities!"

You can either support the far-left policies that led to the destruction of American labor or you can complain about the far-left policies that led to the destruction of American labor. However, complaining about policies you largely support -- and attitudes you largely hold -- is just silly.

While far-leftists from earlier generations got the ball rolling, you've helped to carry it into the end zone if only by your voting record and support for the absurdly-far-left. And the only reason things aren't worse now is that your furthest-left candidates haven't won as many elections.

That said, not only can people who work hard STILL have a better life -- from an economical standpoint -- than their parents and grandparents, but even taking economics off the table, advancements in QoL have generally meant that everybody has things that were the stuff of science fiction just a scant 40 or 50 years ago. In countless regards, most people are living better today than they would've in decades past. And for all of your grandstanding, I doubt you'd be willing to take a time machine and live as just an ordinary person 60 years ago.

Zareth posted...

Than JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson

tbh, it was almost like the character was invented for him. It was the only thing that Raimi got unequivocally right.

Yellow posted...

We're not the geniuses that implemented the hugely successful pro-business government that's lead to record-breaking costs of living

We're going to clean up your mess and you can keep complaining about it, then maybe our kids will be able to move out before the age of 30. Oh that's another thing, we don't endlessly hate on our kids for things we did. As if Zoomers have done anything at all. If those guys are idiots it's because you broke the education system.

The schools today are being driven more by millennials than boomers and are doing a far worse job today than when far-left boomers fucked things up in the 70s. Not that the schools were an isolated phenomenon, since far-left policies basically killed the labor in the US and removed the advantage the US had coming out of WWII. And, in most regards, far-left millennials are way further to the left of far-left boomers, so the US's march to irrelevance will continue unabated in the decades to come.

GanglyKhan posted...

Yeah, EliteGuard's remark was completely and unbelievably fucked up... so no wonder BS0 instantly rushed to agree with him.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Pretty sure Millennials and Zoomers are doing a pretty good job of that all on their own.

I'd ask what those generations are going to do once there's no Boomers left to blame for stuff going wrong, but let's be honest, you're all going to keep blaming the Boomers long after they're dead anyway.

BS0 and his contemporaries will always find somebody to blame, tbh. Even when they can't possibly justify blaming boomers (which is a struggle even now), they'll find some new target for their ire.

Dikitain posted...

Millennials are the new boomers.

We should rename ourselves to "Boomer Light" or "Boomer Ice"

tbh, millennials are going to wind up being a lot worse than the boomers in the long run, so it's more of a "Hold my beer" generation.

Lokarin posted...

how many foreign movies are in your theatre?

After reflecting on your shitpost some more, I was thinking about the fact that so many movies we don't even realize are foreign because the US is an open, free market. At any given moment, there are a LOT of foreign-made films in American theaters. It's as natural as walking down the streets of NYC and seeing a mix of races. Compare that to China where their system makes it as difficult as possible for non-Asians to immigrate so, outside of tourist areas, there's next to no racial diversity. Meanwhile, in the US when you find a place with low racial diversity, it often feels odd or unnatural

adjl posted...

Your criterion for "capitalist" was "has an actual free market." You're the one who came in here with binary criteria, not me. I just called you out on it, and now you are moving the goalposts to try and pretend you were making a more nuanced comparison (while also bringing in a non sequitur strawman for even more fallacious goodness). You should know that you look terribly silly when you project like that.

The US has about as free of a market as you can find in the developed world. China's market isn't even free by developing-world standards. You can play around with words all you like, but China's market is less free than Canada's and Canada's is far more restrictive than the US's. (And, like China, Canada enforces protectionist media laws to limit how much foreign culture reaches their population (via things like CRTC requirements))

Lokarin posted...

how many foreign movies are in your theatre?

During any given year? Far more than the eight or whatever the CCP has decreed they'll let in. But, more importantly, the lack of foreign films in a US theater is due to market forces, not government fiat.

adjl posted...

There's no such thing as an actual free market, so you might want to adjust your standards so you aren't measuring real countries against a fantasy.

Or maybe you can stop running around with the goal posts while pretending that China's markets are comparable to the US's, or that free speech in China has the same characteristics as free speech in the US.

IronBornCorps posted...

Also, of course this is being ignored by bigger outlets. Is crime against trans people being mostly ignored by the media a new occurrence to you?

Which is a patently absurd allegation for countless reasons, not the least of which being that crimes against LGBT individuals very frequently garner mainstream media attention even when the claims aren't necessarily well-supported, along with the fact there are a lot of crimes against cisgendered persons that get no coverage at all. The only reason there was any investigation or coverage around Gabby Petito was because social media detectives took up the case. Before that, cops and the mainstream media were content with literally letting her boyfriend get away with murder -- and why charges were never brought against the boyfriend's family for their role in covering up the crime when, at a bare minimum, they were accessories after the fact.

I know tons of Switch owners, but only a relatively small amount of ps5 & xbox whatever owners. But you have a chip shortage and, honestly, it's a weak generation so far.

BigOlePappy posted...

And they isolated your genes to replicate you based on that trait?

I'd rather be put out to stud, although I'd worry about who they'd pair me with.