cross-posted from: https://discuss.online/post/45744344

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/roach-2

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This isn't a metaphor. Just a story about a roach.

Bonus panel

Watching an ad would earn players another block of ad-free play time, called a "credit"

It’s been reported that in the German elections, a far right party has made ‘significant gains’.

In the UK (at least before the scandals) Reform UK seems to have had a significant boost and has even surpassed the right-wing Conservative Party in some polls/predictions.

Even France, one or two years ago, was threatened with a far-right government due to the French far right party gaining a lot of support.

It feels like in the last few years, the far-right has exceeded itself and had a surge in popularity. Is this the case? And if so, wtf is fuelling it?

I (23M, American) feel completely paralyzed from a career perspective because I have no idea what the hell to do. If I choose the wrong degree program, I have to pay back all the debt with nothing to show for it. Even if I get a job, there's no telling how long that will last. Everything keeps changing so fucking fast and it seems like any field I could go to college for could cease to be viable by the time I finish. On top of that, I have chronic health conditions to worry about that limit what I can even do.

(Edit: Basically I have POTS and a neck injury, so it’s hard to do physical labor and I suffer from dizziness, brain fog, and fatigue from being up for an hour or so. I don’t know my exact limits yet, since the severity of my condition varies by day and there appear to be ways to partially recover from the fatigue without having to lay down.)

I think stuff like urban planning and designing walkable environments would be cool, but I'm not sure if that's a viable path in 2027 and beyond. I also used to be interested in programming, but ever since AI and mass layoffs hit the scene, I've become disillusioned and stopped pursuing that path.

I used to feel like the world was stable and I could pick a career based on my passion and be fine. But ever since 2020, everything has felt increasingly more uncertain. The world seems to be losing its collective shit and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.

Is staking your sense of stability on your career the wrong way to think about this? Should I be trying to find close friends or some kind of supportive community that could act as a safety net? Or is everyone too hyperindividualist to look out for each other?

Where is lawbreaking not just visible, but designed to be seen? Where is antisocial behaviour worn as a badge of honour? Where is pleasure gained directly from causing distress? And where is reckless endangerment often ignored by the police or treated with the mildest of punishments? The answer is on the roads.

Today’s game is Portal: Alive and Kicking. I saw this existed somewhere the other day and grabbed it. From everything i understand it’s a remake of Portal 1 in the Portal 2 engine. It’s a minute difference I’m sure, but I was bored and wanted to try it.

Honestly this is a bit of a hard thing to right about because… it’s just Portal 1. I’d like to give some introspective about how cool “such and such” is compared to the original. But honestly there’s not much to say because it’s so well put together that I can’t tell any difference.

I did actually manage to lock myself out of the door which got a laugh out of me. All I had to do was take the cube off the button and put it back on. But it was funny to see.

There’s one change I actually just remembered I actually really like. At least I think it’s a change. The energy pellet collector thing(?) will cast a light on the opposite wall, which makes placing a portal far easier. This could totally be a thing in the original though so I could be wrong.

I made it as far as Chamber 10 before stopping. I wanted to go all the way to the end but it was getting late and I had some stuff to do, so I decided it was a good point to stop. I would like to actually go back and finish this. It’s just portal 1, so it’s not like it’s a crazy long thing to finish. I do also have a bunch of stuff already on my plate though I want to finish so maybe not.