I remember having to steal magic spells from enemies. It really turned me off from the game.

I was glad to see FFIX go back to a more traditional system.

I feel like if the President of the country isn’t held to any standards whatsoever, it’s disingenuous to suggest that people who hold lesser elected offices should be held accountable for treating “all constituents evenly and fairly.”

True.

I have a friend whose brother-in-law is a long-time Republican, evangelical, Trump voter. He listened to and agrees with Charlie Kirk’s religious views. But he said that because of Kirk’s more extreme positions on wider issues, he wouldn’t let his young kids listen to Kirk … and now he’s a pariah in his own family.

This is basically what I got too.

Those Republicans aren’t gone. They’re just Democrats now because the entire spectrum of political discourse in the US has shifted that far right.

Remember when the Cheneys found themselves on the outs with the Republicans? Their alliance with Dems would have been utterly unthinkable 25 years ago, but look at them now. As Republicans move further right and Democrats keep trying to court “centrist” voters, all they’re doing is moving their party to the right.

I have to assume that any witch selling curses on Etsy doesn’t believe in the Rule of Three.

I wonder how many really identify as witches and actually cast the spells people pay them for.

I think there are certain things that we, as a society, can agree are worthy of feeling shame.

Racism is probably number one.

But asking LLMs for any kind of advice or using them as search engines should be pretty high on that list.

You’ll have to add a couple of instances of “dang ol’” on your own to make that work.

How is a city spending $200k per homeless resident and still not providing them with housing?

That’s more than 8 years’ worth of rent/mortgage at $2k per month. And even longer in a more reasonably-priced home.

I understand there are more expenses than just rent, but I also understand that it’s nearly impossible to get a job if you don’t have a permanent residence. If we’ve got a homelessness crisis that includes working families, why wouldn’t the states want to help those families?

A rent/mortgage assistance program seems like it would do a lot more long-term good than simply “cleaning up” encampments.

The right to roam was something I found really charming and fascinating when I visited Scotland. We took a tour to see some standing stones and other ancient monuments, and I was shocked to find out that several of our destinations were in people’s sheep pastures.

Our guide was really strict about our not littering (duh) or feeding the sheep (which I never would have dreamed of doing). He said that in some of the more popular places, the farmers have lost livestock to idiot tourists feeding them whatever junk food they have on hand.

But some people apparently really want fudge, pancakes, and old-time photographs!

I always lived in states where deer hunting was a pretty common pastime. The first time I went to a zoo in South America, I cracked up when we got to the display of white-tailed deer.

When I lived in the US, I lived in cities on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. People who weren’t used to river traffic would get excited about riverboats and barges.

And people from other climates always got excited about snow. Even the slightest flurries were cause for celebration.

Now I live in the Andes, and the exciting things here that the locals take for granted (or even count as nuisances) are the volcanoes. I can see one from my apartment. Four years in, and I still admire it every day.

In the UK, the thing I thought was fascinating was just the sheer amount of history literally everywhere. Like, 2000-year-old stone monuments in people’s sheep pastures. It made me understand how extraordinarily young my native country and my current home country both are.

This is fine, but the other 582 pages contain some real doozies.

Breonna Taylor’s ghost would like a word.

Seriously, her boyfriend was arrested (but acquitted) for returning fire in their home when police had no lights, no sirens, and no bullhorn.

This officer’s advice does not apply anywhere that no-knock warrants can still be obtained.

The neighbors heard 22 shots. Most of that could have been a pray-and-spray tactic by the homeowner.

Teacher here. I have had exactly one coworker whom I would trust to carry a gun at school, and he would refuse to do it. Not to mention the possibility that a student (or group of students) could overpower a teacher and take their gun.

“More guns in schools” is not the answer.

This. Times 1000.

Kids aren’t born with internet-connected devices in their hands. Adults give devices to them and then walk out of the room.

Would you let the average internet poster or YouTuber babysit your kid? Because that’s literally what you’re doing.

I grew up in the '80s and '90s. My mom did her best to pay attention to the shows/movies I was watching, the books I was reading, the music I was listening to. And up until I was about 13, it was all very tightly controlled. It’s still possible to have that kind of oversight, but it’s more work than a lot of parents are willing to do.

I live outside the US now, and most of my elementary-school students have parents who very tightly control their screen time and actively monitor their usage. The kids have sports training, dance classes, and other activities that get them out in the world. It’s very, very different from the kids I used to teach in the US.

Donald Trump: I’ve never heard of Project 2025. I don’t know what it is. I’m not a part of it.

Also Donald Trump: Appoints Project 2025 authors to high positions in his administration, signs a ton of Project 2025 policies as EOs on Day 1.

Once you learn how to live on very little money out of necessity, living comfortably within your means as your wages increase doesn’t feel like such a bad thing.

And anyone who has been without a safety net understands that keeping a buffer in their bank account feels way better than splurging on impulsive luxuries.