And this is just some of the sexual stuff, I didn’t even bother looking through all of the explicit violence:

Genesis 19:33

And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

Genesis 38:8

And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

2 Samuel 16:22

So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Ezekiel 23:18

So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.

Deuteronomy 21:18

If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

Deuteronomy 22:28

If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Judges 19:22

While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”

Wow, 2 whole million? That’ll teach them.

I have to wonder what their suicide rate is like, though.

From a Terry Pratchett book:

Murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying “Got rocks in your head?” to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren’t careful.

Looking at that one, they have it labeled as “showcase” so they’ll probably do a limited collection of content in the game to demonstrate particular tricks and strategies but not the whole thing.

Yes, the info was released only recently:

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/02/g-s1-40854/tesla-cybertruck-explosion-las-vegas

Even if it was, presidents are now immune from criminal charges, and he is set to begin his next term in just a couple weeks, so not likely that anything could stop him from continuing to do this without sweeping reform of the office of president.

The FBI, apparently.

Bollards that can raise/lower aren’t that expensive and they don’t need to be mechanized. Back at my university, they’d raise them when they’d close off driveable areas for events and there’s just a hook to lift them up and secure at a higher height with a lock. They were made of solid metal and concrete so I assume they had some sort of counterweight underneath to help raise them.

According to some of the news I just saw, they said the driver is dead.

Ridiculous.

I get the notion that biological sex is one thing, but gender is another thing entirely. They’re still conflating the two.

And even in saying that, biological sex is not a binary because we know intersex individuals exist—people born with ambiguous sex organs, sex organs that don’t match chromosomal makeup, or even chromosomal makeups beyond the typical XX/XY. For all of the claims of “scientific reality,” the figures named in this article seem to do a very good job of cherry picking facts while ignoring the actual, less convenient reality of science.

Should also add that malls are not public. It may be something that can be typically accessed without paying, but they’ve made it quite clear in the past that it is not a forum for public use. Malls do plenty to kick the “undesirables” out.

There are other public venues we could have used like parks or plazas but it’s hard to accommodate for cold winter weather where everyone wants to be indoors. A library might have worked if it wasn’t social etiquette to not talk in libraries.

That’s a distinction without a difference.

I don’t think that’s the case. Every scam needs suckers, that dependence doesn’t make it a good thing.

I’m not sure if the church “allows” the poor insomuch as they simply need the poor. The vulnerable members of society are really the church’s only vehicle for growth, and so they take advantage of the needs of marginalized people to spread their ideology. Indoctrination masked behind charity. It’s more of an exploitative relationship in that regard.

Secular meeting spaces with no cost would be preferred, and they definitely exist, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a sort of standardized approach across environments and demographics without the dictatorial voice of god (or the state) demanding compliance to the degree the church does, which makes it an institution.

As another example, I also used to be part of a local Cantonese language practice meetup that would meet once weekly at our local mall. It was a small group, but we’d just sit at the food court and practice basic conversations. No barrier for entry, all welcome, but not the sort of thing that would have broad appeal, you know?

Why’s that? Any enthusiast hobby is the basis of community, and that typically includes some degree of material investment into said hobby.

I used to take martial arts classes, which was a great way to meet new people. And we’d have opportunities to get together and meet outside of our regularly scheduled classes, but the unifier that brought everyone together was the class that we were each paying to attend.

I mean, even in the church example, you get guilted for not donating when they pass the collection box around. What difference is there with a community that shames you for not paying?

A bit early for New Year’s, but I wanted to try a recipe for yi mein that I think came out pretty good.

Of the names you listed, only Washington was ever an ex-president. Lincoln and FDR died in office.

I think it counts as a third place. All it really takes to be a third place is not being home or work. Whether physical or not is definitely debatable and I think physical third places are a must, but I don’t think a third place being paid disqualifies it.

For one, a lot of folks don’t have to pay for internet. I can go to my local library or community center and be online if needed. There are also some government programs that may provide free internet. But even if it is paid, typical third places have traditionally included settings like cafes, bars, the gym, bookstores, theaters, etc. which are also all pay-to-use environments.

Boardgaming congregations, then.

Agreed. Hell, I know there are divisions of government military branches specifically designed for nuclear treaty monitoring, with satellites and terrestrial monitors purpose-built to detect if anyone on Earth ever detonates a nuke.

With the number of eyes on Israel and Syria, I doubt such a thing could be done secretly, even if half of the world is trying to cover for Israel right now.

They just want to protect perverts

Agreed. And even if there are devices plugged in and always running and (miraculously) always functional, what do you do in a disaster situation where all infrastructure is knocked out? That is the exact time you’d want to make sure there are no impediments to foreign support being able to enter the country. But with nothing physical to fall back on for identification, what would you do?

I’m all for digitizing currency and the like, I really never carry cash anymore. But ID documents are still crucial to have physical copies of, and the passport remains the only internationally recognized standard.