wavebeam

Some of you are about to be broke, which you should be excited for because it makes America great! - trump, probably

lol, i blocked that one jackass and now there's only 2 comments in this thread. folks, it's okay to block people for literally any reason at all. it can make the places you're in feel normal again. i entertained the thought process, but being compared to a pedophile for being more flexible with the literature with content appropriate for a high schooler is a pretty reasonable place to draw the block line, imo.

fuckin hell, so much "great american literature" that is considered a staple in the public school system has objectionable content at some level. many high schoolers have sex. being educated on it, and understanding what is fiction and what is academic is fully within their abilities and shouldn't be considered crazy. I don't know what's in roots, but this dude was spouting off about other banned books anyway.

i'm meandering a bit, but anyway i just want to reinforce that it's okay to just mute the noise.

lmao you're fucking crazy. the idea that kids younger than 18 are mature enough to handle sexual content in literature is not the same thing as being a pedophile you fucking nutcase.

i think you were being a little bit crazy, but mostly reasonable until i read this. the age is most definitely not 18.

I'm torn on this one because these books are smut, and not particularly good smut. but Porn is different, it's visual. The distinction between school libraries and public libraries is important, and school libraries cannot be infinite, so choosing to remove books like the ACOTAR series in favor of other, more relevant books for kids is fine. but in High School I had access to some gruelingly violent books in our school library, I struggle to see how violence should be considered acceptable but sex shouldn't be.

In HS, as part of the official curriculum decided on by the lit teachers in my school, I read "Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes" which contains discussions of many controversial topics, landing most of its focus on abortion. The teachers correctly understood that we were old enough to take in and have out own thoughts on the topics discussed in the book. It seems insane to try to gate keep topics that teens are definitely aware of and discussing and seeking out on their own. I'd rather my kids read stuff in text and ask questions about it and make decisions about it on their own than fully block it out so they just seek out actual porn. I think ACOTAR, which I've read the first 4 in the series, is fine for a teenager to read, and shouldn't be banned. And I think if a 5th grader tried to read it, they'd probably reject it for being a bit tough to read anyway.

Portland is like wetter SF, but not-Portland is like colder Florida, politically and intellectually speaking

But what about the actual MGS 4 that came before Peace Walker?

Most definitely. Like another commenter pointed out, music and movies don’t change but the way you experience them does. Theaters, Event halls become larger and more crowded on a kind of curve as well which makes them more expensive while also becoming less enjoyable.

I often wonder why there aren’t more copies of things rather than making the existing one bigger. The population of my city is bigger than the population of the bigger city an hour away did when they first had the airport i have to drive to, or the bigger stores and restaurants when they first opened. Why don’t we have more of those things even though in the last 30 years we’ve grown to what was at that time large enough to support that expansion?

¯_(ツ)_/¯

I think the difference for music, movies, books, etc is that the product itself doesn’t change in substance or function when more people are using it. Parks, Cars and the infrastructure that enables them, Restaurants, and other experiential products are negatively impacted by widespread usage. Cars are less enjoyable because of traffic. Lines to get on space mountain make the whole experience worse than you imagine the ride itself being. All this stuff is marketed as a fantasy version of the actual experience you have in a way that isn’t the same as when other people are cringe with your music.

Just like theme parks, the idyllic vision of the product is when you’re the only one around enjoying the product. The reality of LOTS of people enjoying the product while you do inherently reduces the appeal.

I agree that it was rude and unnecessary, but I don't agree that it was disproportional. Saying that anyone who finds it a worthwhile utility to be able to find their kid with a geotracker is a shitty parent is an asshole thing to do; it's shitty, you might say. I mean, I don't assume that anyone who leaves their kids at the park unattended is negligent. They might just have a kid who's capable and responsible enough for that kind of privilege. But many kids aren't that capable or responsible and need to have a parent around at all times. One isn't necessarily a better or worse parent for it, they just have kids at different levels for ANY NUMBER of reasons. Maybe their kid is adopted, came from a history of trauma, has a history of elopement, is on the spectrum, or any other type of potentially "invisible" disability that might mean they appear to most as a "normal" kid, but actually needs some extra attention, focus, or restriction. I think calling someone an asshole for making a blanket statement about a pretty mundane and typical tool being used is appropriate. They were being ableist at worst, and just kind of ignorant at best.

I love how hard this comment goes