There may be something to that theory. Considering most of the people I still see and know IRL who are tomboys dont have social media and also consider it to be a plague.
Looking into it, it looks like Hyundai also offers a pretty significant amount of hybrids. The only US maker I saw with a lot is Ford. And if I am being honest, I have actually considered swapping my Jeep Compass for a Ford Maverick (their hybrid pickup) here at some point in the next year or two.
What I want to know is why we skipped Hybrids? At least to me, that seems like the next most logical step: still uses the existing infrastructure, but significantly more efficiently. So you end up with situations like Ford making a smaller size pickup that can be useful for an average persons hauling needs (cant pull heavy trailers, but can carry larger cargo than a car or SUV), and can do it at 45 MPG.
Its honestly what lends me to the idea that it is a deliberate attempt to make it so normal people have no vehicle, thus taking away their freedom of travel.
Technically, it is not my joke. I got it a long time ago from a semi-parody review of James Bond where the reviewer described part of the appeal as "Hot cars and fast women". So sometimes when I am giving a somewhat facetious answer to sometime like that, I will use the same terminology.
I guarantee you it is.
I think the most obvious example that has happened recently involves The Witcher on Netflix. We have learned from one of the show writers who left to go work on something else (X-Men '97, and he instituted a rule that you have to be a fan and/or respect the original for him to hire you), and indirectly through Henry Cavill, that the writers are exactly the nerd haters you grew up with. They hate Geralt, they wanted to make Yennifer into a Girl Boss even though Ciri is already a good "strong female character", and they thought it was hilarious in a condescending way that Henry kept trying to use the original works to tell them they were wrong in how they were making the show.
YaBoiZack has talk about this a lot on his Youtube channel where he discusses the modern comic industry as someone who has one foot in the door. The people writing not just comics, but a lot of entertainment, are broken people who for one reason or another never got past high school. So they still are obsessed with clichés (which of course means bullying the nerds), they still hate their dad, and they really hate that they have to pretend to be a nerd now for social clout. But they are miserable and made even more miserable by the fact that no one is really playing along with this (especially now that apathy is setting in and killing their careers), and they write that bitterness and hatred into their stories.
They are then shocked that normal people dont share that bitterness and hatred and think they need help. They dont need help! They used to be POPULAR damn it!!
And they would rather watch it all burn, and even pour kerosene to make it burn faster, than let go of the past and move on with their lives.
Ah yes, war against....nebulous enemy of unspecified nationality.
It is exactly what the first movie is, and what Americans like: US comes in, kills the bad guy, and saves the day. It doesnt matter who or what it is, it doesnt prepare people for war with some nation. Its just that normal people like big explosions, hot jets, fast women, and "America, Ra Ra."
It may not be based. But its not woke or subversive either. It is just the possible last gasp of a Hollywood that still understood entertainment instead of propaganda.
but they'll also be massive financial failures.
They could be just as big as the first movie and still be financial failures. Cameron has already admitted that this movie needs to make almost $2 BILLION...JUST TO BREAK EVEN!! And considering the metrics coming in are that it had a strong opening but is starting to fall off, just like every other movie with bad word of mouth...
Top Gun: Maverick already showed Hollywood that you can make billions of dollars, with almost nothing but the American box office (so you dont have to worry about China banning your movie), and have positive word of mouth, and all you have to do is give the people what they want in a movie and make something fun. It doesnt even need to break new ground, just not suck compared to the last.
That Hollywood continues to treat Top Gun like a pariah and hiss at its presence shows that their hatred is deliberate, and they would rather go bankrupt making movies that appeal to their personal bubble and let them sniff their own farts long before they make a movie that appeals to...ewwww "Normal people."
According to an interview I saw with a British volunteer, it sounds like the problem is that US volunteers are so used to fighting with instant air and artillery support being just a radio away that they are not used to this war and most fights being with sparse artillery and no air support.
Considering the other instance I know of US troops fighting Russians in Syria where they DID have air support ended with the Russians getting absolutely massacred, I am willing to believe it.
All that said, I still think the US is in shape to win a war with Russia or China. It may be closer than I would care for, but we have seen US tech is so ascended compared to anything our enemies are rocking that we still win in the end. And honestly, I am happy about that, because it means our only true enemies are ourselves, which means all we have to do is beat the Uniparty, and that is more doable than the Doomers claim.
Also, speaking as someone with experience and having talked to people that take part in those war games, I wouldn’t put too much stock in them. Because they are always weighted heavily in favor of REDFOR and against BLUEFOR, sometimes to the point that it defies actual, real world capability. Because they are supposed to be about learning techniques and command under pressure, not actually simulating a fight.
but somehow she vigorously protects the filibuster.
If you ask me, it because she knows that for all their attempts at suppressing the Populist movement and the Republican Party that is being taken over by it, they will never be able to stop it forever. And if the Populist had a president and a Congressional majority that doesnt have to worry about filibusters? Then all the Dems have done is awoken a sleeping beast, filled it with a terrible resolve, and now gave it a weapon to hunt them with. So like many a politician before her, she protects it to save her own skin.
It is just that the AOC's taking over the party are so retarded and short sighted they dont realize it can happen to them.
Having had this conversation before though, I will say Gizortnik at least has a basis to his theory in that he fears DeSantis running will leave Florida open to being re-wokified if he hasn’t finished the purge, and that the Uniparty could put people around him that will defang him like what happened with Boris Johnson.
For my own money, I think it is a valid fear but one that probably won’t happen. And I stand by my theory that we are living an echo of the 1970’s in terms of the Dems having power and attempting to surrender the country to the Soviets Chinese, but that when the history of this time is written, it will be “Trump=Nixon, Biden=Carter, DeSantis=Reagan”, as we go into a new golden age in the next decade.
Like I told another commenter, his “walking back” is making them abide by the same laws as everyone else instead of having what was effectively their own private county in the state that answered to no one.
The talks are about making them follow the same rules as every other special district in Florida. Which is still a giant loss for Disney. I will make the thread tonight when I get home, but Legal Mindset (one of the few lawyers who specializes in those laws) is where I got my info.
I think there are a lot more “normal” LGBT people who think that than they realize. My fiancé is bi, and she utterly refuses to associate with the modern movement because she thinks they are a bunch of insane perverts.
Even some of the dialogue that is bad at least can be somewhat justified in the context. Like all of the complaints about how Anakin trying to talk to Padme comes off as cringey, to which my response is "No shit." My boy was raised in a cult that told him that emotional attachment was evil. How did you expect him to talk to people?
Implying I havent seen every single Star Wars and love them all. Except the Sequels, because fuck the Sequels.
I suppose this would also be a bad time to mention that my favorite Star Wars is Revenge of the Sith?
IIRC, Embracer has actually been generally hands off with controlling what their studios do, which is why they have such a wide variety of stuff coming out. From actually pretty good and well crafted games like Snowrunner to trash fires like the New Saints Row.
Imagine thinking the Prequels are bad, period. Even with subpar entries like Phantom Menace, they are still great movies and I love them.
your gaming pick made me play 'It has to be this way' in my head
Well then I am about to give a mildly controversial take: I am actually not a huge fan of It has to be this Way, and I think Collective Consciousness is the better of his boss songs.
Of course, this is all moot anyway because my favorite boss song in the game is Stains of Time (the boss song for Monsoon).
That still doesnt give them justice. They are the only species of bear that is known to actively attack humans just because they can. Unlike every other bear that will only attack humans if they feel threatened or are starving.
Gaming Villain: Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising: Revengence, all day, every day. Even beyond the memes and the epic fight, his true motivation is admirable, and you can even make an argument that him going as far as he does makes sense in the context of the Metal Gear universe. In fact, the only reason I dont consider him to be the hero snubbed by the game and the author is because he goes too far.
Media Villain: Iago from Shakespeare's Othello. He still serves as my platinum standard of a villain for all media regardless of type. He manages to accomplish all of his goals, get his revenge, do it without being suspected by anyone else, and even manages to kill those he feel wronged him without lifting a finger. He merely spoke a few words and then let them tear themselves apart.
Historical Villain: I am going to go in a little bit of a strange direction and say Thomas Robert Malthus on the grounds that he is the inventor of Malthusianism. This is the single most destructive ideology created IMO, and is the one that most of the Elite of the world seem to have come to believe which is why they are making such destructive policy. This despite the fact that if you actually look at history, we actually figure out ways to either get more resources or we use them more efficiently (Peak Oil was supposed to be like 40 years ago, yet we are still increasing oil production). And the worst part of his theory? Its starting basis is flawed! He based his idea that eventually you run out of resources and therefore need aggressive government control of the population is based on his review of the Irish Famine...WHICH WAS A GOVERNMENT CREATED FAMINE!!!!
People always say they would go back in time to kill Hitler? Nah bitch, I am going back in time and killing Malthus.
Cities Skylines
On the other hand, it can be fun to go full gremlin mode and create a city in such a way that it would make your average Modernist NeoLiberal city planner want to pull his hair out (as much as the game will let you anyway).
My typical cities consist of:
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Almost everywhere that can be accessed by mass transit can also be accessed by car. And any that cant will at least let you get close. And of course, the road network will not be hostile to motorist (multiple lanes, highways, good access, no reserved lanes, etc).
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Extensive suburban and single-family housing for those who dont want to live in downtown apartments with the Bugmen.
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Manufacturing jobs available in abundance for those who dont want to be an office drone downtown.
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Power provided by reliable means, which means a mix of both "traditional" power (coal and oil), as well as reasonable renewables. This then goes out the window once Nuclear is unlocked and the grid becomes 100% nuclear.
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Harsh enforcement of laws by an aggressive police force to keep the criminals in the slammer where they belong.
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The main funded and endorsed universities are a Research University and a Trade School, because they are actually important.
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If any of the above offends you, you can either live downtown with the Bugmen, or live in the district I dubbed the "Hippie Ghetto", where non-electric vehicles are banned, roads are hostile to motorist (take the tram you smelly Hippie!), housing is "eco-friendly", businesses are organic and social justice-minded, and its also where we dumped the Liberal Arts college. Oh, and I hope you like the additional 2% tax on your business and home for the trouble of stinking up my city, assmunch.
Victoria at least has some advantage in that regard as it does have free-floating wages (although like I said, it is currently unoptimized and due to be patched in the near future). But you as the government can institute wage controls and welfare....which I usually see as the moment people cite as their economies beginning to die, as wages get so high its virtually impossible to keep business profitable without subsides, which further eats into their profits and gold reserves.
So they have to start raising their taxes. And when that is not enough, they have to start taxing goods. And when that still isnt enough, they have to go get colonies, which pay taxes without using your institutions. And when that still isnt enough, you start looking at your neighbors to try and bring them into the fold, and....oh wait, this is all starting to sound very familiar.
Meanwhile, my Capitalist, Liberal society has profitable business, my workers are making just as much, if not more, money even without wage laws, welfare exist for a very select few of the population that deserve it (like the elderly), and even with taxes minimized I am still collecting more than I know what to do with because my Capitalist are funding everything due to their profits meaning I dont need to pay for construction. And of course, I am making a killing selling excess items for export, and importing what I lack.
If it happened that way, it was either a glitch or they had taken some sort of deliberate action. Council Republic just makes it so that the building owners is redefined as "All employees" instead of "Private Ownership" (which can either mean Capitalist or Aristocrats depending on other laws and building type).
The way it works is that any excess profit of the building is paid as dividends to all owners, which means under a capitalist system the owners will make stupid amounts of money (which can then boost your Investment Pool for construction), but under Council Republic since everyone is the owner everyone gets a [much smaller] slice of the profits.
If I had to guess, if the Capitalist are making no money and have low standard of living, it is because they have excessive taxes on them and then have consumption taxes on the goods they buy, as well as making those goods deliberately expensive (ie: not producing or importing things like Porcelain and Luxury Clothes because "Eat the Rich!"). But since the people I see on Reddit showing off their starving Rich never show the SoL tab, I am just guessing at what they are doing since I know the mechanics.
As for the pay hikes and immigration they talked about: Immigration happens if you have a higher SoL than where they are coming from, but how fast it happens depends on what your border control policy is, so I imagine they have Open Borders (which is a policy favored by the Industrialist, by the by).
Wages is the only thing that actually matches what they are talking about, and that is only because it was unoptimized at launch to where businesses would always raise their wages when they had excess profit, until you had people making such high wages that your entire economy collapses because its literally impossible to make enough money. Which is getting changed in the upcoming patch to make it so wages only go up when businesses have to compete for workers, to make it more in line with actual IRL economics. So its an exploit that can only be used for about another week.
Having played the game for about 200 hours now, I am going to say this: The people saying that Communism is OP in the game is very much a self-report rather than a genuine take on the game.
I have had runs where I deliberately try to become Communist just for RP purposes, and I never have it work out. Either I almost get there and have a revolt to take the government back to an older Capitalist stance, or I just dont have any momentum to pull it off. Because why would my people do it? If anything, the games I have had CAPITALISM is the OP one. My people have frankly absurd standards of living, have been making tons of money, and have been living reasonable lives, and therefore are not open to radical changes in government (sometimes to the point that I cant even change minor laws because "Its fine as is").
The only way these people can get Communism probably means they are keeping their people in low conditions so they demand radical change, or they just got lucky.
Also, it probably also means they are keeping the price of products high, because other people I have seen on the forums say that Communism worked great...right up until prices started falling and their command economy crashed with it because their government lost income. I have had no such issue with Capitalist runs, and in fact have managed to get to a point where people could buy everything they wanted for reasonable prices while I still had significant export.
Here is a fun idea about that concept. They do experience racism, and then think that if that is how it is with Leftist, who are of course the most enlightened about race, imagine how racist those normal people and especially those Flyover hicks are!
See also: Feminist insistence that Men are trash and dangerous. After all, look at these Male Feminist.