My week has been consumed by the new Factorio Expansion. Now instead of the win condition being to simply launch a rocket, you need to build platforms in space that will let you travel to the other 4 plants in the system. Once you're developed new science using the unique resources of each planet, you can head to the edge of the solar system, thereby winning the game.
It's a lot of fun so far. I'm on one of the new planets right now, it's a volcano planet and the resource sit has make some things a lot easier, and others more difficult so you need to rethink even things you're used to building in the base game.
Alternatively, maybe it's not a great idea for the government to have so much control over the economy that the best way to get rich is to suck up to the people in power.
Honestly, I don't blame Bezos for being careful. Trump is vindictive and has no regard for the laws or customs of the United States. People think of billionaires as powerful, but that only works when the threats are legal - against the unrestrained force of the US Federal Government, Bezos would be utterly helpless.
There are three institutions that are capable of reining is such a President - Congress which has refused to convict him of his High Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Courts - which have practically handed him an blank cheque to do crimes, and the voters - who get one more chance to stop him and don't seem to be all that interested in doing so.
This is literally what led to Caesar declaring himself dictator. Under Roman law a magistrate couldn't be prosecuted while in office. this wasn't much of a problem because most offices were 1-year terms. Caesar was in legal trouble and keeping himself in an office by resurrecting the old office of dictator like Sulla did before him was his way of staying out of legal trouble.
As you may recall, this didn't end well for anyone (except Octavian).
For me, the big gaming news of the week was the gameplay reveal for Civilization 7. There's a lot to like here (navigable rivers, a smarter alternative to endless barbarian hordes, Gwendoline Christie as the narrator). I'm not as sold on the new ages system, and that you now change civilization each age. I didn't think it worked in Humankind, though it looks like they're trying something a bit different with it here, so I'm willing to see how it works out.
Yglesias suggests doing town hall style events instead of interviews. That would show her engaging with real issues, without having to deal with the press's uselessness.
Honestly, if it proved that the Democratic leadership had somehow forced Biden out that would actually really increase my respect for the party. A US political party that could get over its addle-pated President worship to remove a weak candidate? That would be far more than I would expect.
Also, the people complaining about how quickly Harris sewed up party support remind of the people who cried foul when Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropped out of the 2020 primary and endorsed Biden on the same day. Politics is about organising a coalition to achieve your objectives. Complaining you've been out-organised in an election is like complaining that the other sprinters in the race can run faster than you.
In fairness, I can't think of amore on-brand way of paying tribute to Trump than to make a huge, flashy announcement and then simply not follow through on it.
There are two people who have gone up in my estimation with this whole affair. One is Biden himself. Relinquishing power is never easy, especially after all this time seeking it. Having has to fight past people saying he couldn't do it last time, only to triumph? And then to turn around listen to those same people now? Stepping down was both right and necessary, but people have held on for grim death in similar circumstances before.
The other person is John Stewart. He caught a lot of flack when he pointed out Biden's age and speaking problems 5 months ago. Recent events have proven he was entirely justified. I can think of no one better to play the role of the US's court jester.
Of course, the real best way to specify dates is the ISO 8601 standard of YYYY-MM-DD, which is optimal for storage. But did you know that ISO 8601 contains a standard for displaying dates without the year? It specifies that such partial dates should be reported using this format: --MM-DD. The double hyphen is a way of communicating that the lack of a year is deliberate. If Americans would just do this (and use full ISO 8601 when including a year), I could get behind it.
Of course you won't because your culture is fundamentally incapable of change, but a guy can dream.
I actually think this is a real advantage of going to Harris (well, technically going with anyone but Biden, but same thing really).
On top of his criminality, stupidity, narcissism and propensity to hang around with fascists, it's worth remembering that Trump is also really really old. He was the oldest person to be elected President in 2016, and he's 8 years older than that now. Hell, he's basically the same age Biden was in 2020, so if you think that Biden was too old, then Trump is too old.
Trump's age is a major weakness that practically any candidate other than Biden could hammer hard. Harris, who at 59 is a perfectly respectable age for a world leader, would be a really strong contrast with Trump.
I don't think Biden is actually losing his marbles. He seems to be having more trouble find the right word and controlling his stutter, but that's him getting worse at something he was always weak at, not a new loss of capability. My guess is that with age he's having a harder time managing his speaking difficulties. That isn't really a problem for him being President, the real issue is that tic might make it harder for him to campaign.
So, should Biden step down? Honestly, I don't know. The tricky part here is the people that matter here are very different to the sorts of people who frequent this site. Some people here will vote for the Democratic nominee no matter what, while others won't no matter what. And of course my opinion is worth less than the rest of you since I'm not even a US citizen.
The relevant people here are the marginal voters. People who would vote for Biden but not Harris or vice versa. Those tend not to be people who hang out on politics blogs for fun. One the one hand, its going to be hard for Biden to run an aggressive campaign with his difficulty speaking. On the other hand, he has a much stronger track record attracting the support of ordinary voters than Harris does and it hasn't escaped my notice that most (though not all) of the people calling for Biden to drop out were opposed to his nomination last time - Biden has never been liked by the chattering classes, and and I think we need to weight their reaction to Biden with that in mind. I hope luminaries of the Democratic Party are running those numbers in the background.
What I do think you guys need to do, desperately, is stop nominating septuagenarians to the Presidency. There are major risks with nominating people that old. I assure you that there are plenty of people in the US who could do the job who were born after the Berlin Airlift.
On “ICC Follows Through on Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu & Others”
The US isn't a member country of the ICC, so it doesn't even put any obligations on the US government.
On “Ordinary Times Needs Your Help”
Alas, donations from New Zealand don't appear to be supported.
On “Declare Your Independence From Donald Trump”
Agreed. this is the sort of post that's good in a way that leaves little room for discussion.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Deeper into Black Myth Wukong”
My week has been consumed by the new Factorio Expansion. Now instead of the win condition being to simply launch a rocket, you need to build platforms in space that will let you travel to the other 4 plants in the system. Once you're developed new science using the unique resources of each planet, you can head to the edge of the solar system, thereby winning the game.
It's a lot of fun so far. I'm on one of the new planets right now, it's a volcano planet and the resource sit has make some things a lot easier, and others more difficult so you need to rethink even things you're used to building in the base game.
On “From The Washington Post: On Political Endorsement”
Alternatively, maybe it's not a great idea for the government to have so much control over the economy that the best way to get rich is to suck up to the people in power.
"
Honestly, I don't blame Bezos for being careful. Trump is vindictive and has no regard for the laws or customs of the United States. People think of billionaires as powerful, but that only works when the threats are legal - against the unrestrained force of the US Federal Government, Bezos would be utterly helpless.
There are three institutions that are capable of reining is such a President - Congress which has refused to convict him of his High Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Courts - which have practically handed him an blank cheque to do crimes, and the voters - who get one more chance to stop him and don't seem to be all that interested in doing so.
Why the hell should Bezos stick his neck out?
On “From The Atlantic: Trump: ‘I Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Had’”
This is literally what led to Caesar declaring himself dictator. Under Roman law a magistrate couldn't be prosecuted while in office. this wasn't much of a problem because most offices were 1-year terms. Caesar was in legal trouble and keeping himself in an office by resurrecting the old office of dictator like Sulla did before him was his way of staying out of legal trouble.
As you may recall, this didn't end well for anyone (except Octavian).
On “Hamas, Anyar Sinwar, and The Grand Delusion”
I mean, the French's refusal to collect ethnic or religious data is unusual, but they have very good reasons.
On “Missing the Forest for the Trees on Springfield”
I thinknis is a much better articulation of the distinction than that ofyen-simplistic "punching up vs. down" distinction.
On “Group Discussion: The Push For Social Media Warning Labels”
Enshrined as "The Politician's Fallacy" by Yes, Prime Minister.
On “Debate Recap: Harris Played the Tune and Trump Danced To It”
Never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Fallout :London”
For me, the big gaming news of the week was the gameplay reveal for Civilization 7. There's a lot to like here (navigable rivers, a smarter alternative to endless barbarian hordes, Gwendoline Christie as the narrator). I'm not as sold on the new ages system, and that you now change civilization each age. I didn't think it worked in Humankind, though it looks like they're trying something a bit different with it here, so I'm willing to see how it works out.
On “Kamala Harris DNC Speech: Watch It For Yourself”
The thing is, while it has legal elements, a lot of it is cultural. New Zealanders just would tolerate campaigns as long as yours.
I also think your primaries are a big part of the problem, they take months to run, and that necessarily extends campaigning.
On “Is Harris Limiting Press Access Helping Her?”
Yglesias suggests doing town hall style events instead of interviews. That would show her engaging with real issues, without having to deal with the press's uselessness.
I think the idea has a lot of merit.
On “Trump News Conference: Watch It For Yourself”
Wait, is that something he actually said?
On “None Dare Call It A Conspiracy, Because It Wasn’t”
Honestly, if it proved that the Democratic leadership had somehow forced Biden out that would actually really increase my respect for the party. A US political party that could get over its addle-pated President worship to remove a weak candidate? That would be far more than I would expect.
Also, the people complaining about how quickly Harris sewed up party support remind of the people who cried foul when Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropped out of the 2020 primary and endorsed Biden on the same day. Politics is about organising a coalition to achieve your objectives. Complaining you've been out-organised in an election is like complaining that the other sprinters in the race can run faster than you.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/22/2024”
In fairness, I can't think of amore on-brand way of paying tribute to Trump than to make a huge, flashy announcement and then simply not follow through on it.
On “The Next Candidate To Be Dumped?”
Don't some states have faithless elector laws? That could complicate the VP election at the electoral college.
On “Joe Biden Announces that he is not Running for Re-election”
There are two people who have gone up in my estimation with this whole affair. One is Biden himself. Relinquishing power is never easy, especially after all this time seeking it. Having has to fight past people saying he couldn't do it last time, only to triumph? And then to turn around listen to those same people now? Stepping down was both right and necessary, but people have held on for grim death in similar circumstances before.
The other person is John Stewart. He caught a lot of flack when he pointed out Biden's age and speaking problems 5 months ago. Recent events have proven he was entirely justified. I can think of no one better to play the role of the US's court jester.
On “The Case For MM-DD-YYYY”
Of course, the real best way to specify dates is the ISO 8601 standard of YYYY-MM-DD, which is optimal for storage. But did you know that ISO 8601 contains a standard for displaying dates without the year? It specifies that such partial dates should be reported using this format: --MM-DD. The double hyphen is a way of communicating that the lack of a year is deliberate. If Americans would just do this (and use full ISO 8601 when including a year), I could get behind it.
Of course you won't because your culture is fundamentally incapable of change, but a guy can dream.
On “From The Los Angeles Times: Schiff calls on Biden to drop out, citing ‘serious concerns’ he can’t win”
I actually think this is a real advantage of going to Harris (well, technically going with anyone but Biden, but same thing really).
On top of his criminality, stupidity, narcissism and propensity to hang around with fascists, it's worth remembering that Trump is also really really old. He was the oldest person to be elected President in 2016, and he's 8 years older than that now. Hell, he's basically the same age Biden was in 2020, so if you think that Biden was too old, then Trump is too old.
Trump's age is a major weakness that practically any candidate other than Biden could hammer hard. Harris, who at 59 is a perfectly respectable age for a world leader, would be a really strong contrast with Trump.
On “Trump Picks Senator JD Vance as Running Mate”
Adenauer may have come after Hitler, but he wasn't his successor.
"
Vance once described Trump as "America's Hitler". I suppose that means Vance wants to be America's Hindenburg.
On “Choose Your Own President Biden Press Conference Adventure”
I don't think Biden is actually losing his marbles. He seems to be having more trouble find the right word and controlling his stutter, but that's him getting worse at something he was always weak at, not a new loss of capability. My guess is that with age he's having a harder time managing his speaking difficulties. That isn't really a problem for him being President, the real issue is that tic might make it harder for him to campaign.
So, should Biden step down? Honestly, I don't know. The tricky part here is the people that matter here are very different to the sorts of people who frequent this site. Some people here will vote for the Democratic nominee no matter what, while others won't no matter what. And of course my opinion is worth less than the rest of you since I'm not even a US citizen.
The relevant people here are the marginal voters. People who would vote for Biden but not Harris or vice versa. Those tend not to be people who hang out on politics blogs for fun. One the one hand, its going to be hard for Biden to run an aggressive campaign with his difficulty speaking. On the other hand, he has a much stronger track record attracting the support of ordinary voters than Harris does and it hasn't escaped my notice that most (though not all) of the people calling for Biden to drop out were opposed to his nomination last time - Biden has never been liked by the chattering classes, and and I think we need to weight their reaction to Biden with that in mind. I hope luminaries of the Democratic Party are running those numbers in the background.
What I do think you guys need to do, desperately, is stop nominating septuagenarians to the Presidency. There are major risks with nominating people that old. I assure you that there are plenty of people in the US who could do the job who were born after the Berlin Airlift.
On “The Arrow of Time, Lodged Deep in Our Political Posterior”
The funniest thing that could happen is them both dying.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.