That could be it. It looks similar.

I don’t think so, but that looks like it might be worth a try.

That looks sort of like what I remember. I’ll give it and your other suggestions a try. Thanks!

There are so many cases I’ve seen of some piece of art getting commodified in ways that just kind of fly in the face of the original work.

The one that always comes to mind is Madoka Magica.

Idk if it will turn out good or not, but I don’t think the problems you mentioned are really an issue. I assume they aren’t just going to shoot a one to one remake with English actors, it’d be adapted to the culture it’s being presented in. (To be clear, I haven’t heard anything about the remake, this is just speaking generally.) Sort of like how there’s a US and UK “The Office” which aren’t just the same show but different actors.

While those specific cultural examples couldn’t just slot into a movie set in America, the themes still fit really well. It’s not like the US doesn’t have economic inequality and all. There’s a reason why Parasite and Squid Game got such international attention despite language and cultural differences.

That said, I’m generally anti-remake/franchise. Come up with your own original ideas dammit!

Also, I sure do love jelly-filled donuts.

I don’t know how much money it costs, but if it’s not going to financially hurt him and you don’t care about your burial, then it seems fine. Like I don’t believe in religious stuff, but other people do and I understand why. But you don’t even really need to get that deep into it. It’s a thing he wants and will make him happy. Just think of it like any other purchase.

“In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.”

But being serious: AOC and politicians like her ARE us “doing it for ourselves.” For a very long time, the vast majority of politicians elected in the US have gotten there by getting the backing of wealthy capitalists. They don’t say “common sense things” because those things aren’t good for the people who helped them get elected. If they did say those things, those capitalists would not only stop funding them, but fund their opposition more. The result is a government comprised of politicians who very rationally don’t represent us. (That’s not to say some of them aren’t crazy on their own, but them being there is a rational outcome of self-interested actors.)

In order to get a politician who does and says things that are good for people, you need an absolutely massive grass roots effort to win an election against the might of rich donors. AOC was one of the notable times when we managed to do that. But this shows the limitations of that strategy within our current electoral system. For every AOC, Illhan Omar, or Mamdani, there are literally hundreds of more races which are still dominated by big money. It took not only a massive on the ground organizing effort locally, but also a lot of support from engaged people across the nation. And it’s way more costly for the average person to contribute to a campaign than it is for a billionaire. So even if a lot of us want this, it’s going to be really difficult to get a critical mass of wins to actually make an impact.

So that’s why they’re a big deal. They might be basic social democrats in some less corrupt countries, but here they are the few who are unbought. What they say is less relevant than the fact that they are able to say it at all.

The same thing that it’s been for almost every war the US has been involved in since WWII: We want a government that will be good for US business and military interests. Iran in particular we’ve been fucking around with for over half a century. If the question is why now? It’s anyone’s guess. It’s Trump, he isn’t exactly the most sane president we’ve had, even amongst the evil bastards. Distraction from Epstein? Distraction from shitty domestic policy? Trying to create enough chaos to try to justify canceling elections? Israel pushing for it particularly hard? Trump just randomly losing it over something stupid? A spot opened up in our war calendar? Who knows?

No. It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what current AI models even are. They’re not smart and they don’t think. They are just reflections of what has already been. Whatever was fed into their training. They aren’t going to magically solve a problem in some way none of us would have because it’s kind of an amalgam of all of us. (and a LOT of bots) You also can’t separate governance from politics. There is no one best answer which everyone is happy with, and the various groups or individuals with those varied interests have varying degrees of influence over the process. If the AI came out and was like “socialism all the way baby!”… do you really think that the people in power who benefit from the current system would just be like “Well I guess the AI said it’s right, time to give up our power.”

That’s not to say there’s no place for AI. Machine Learning can be used as a great tool for statistical analysis to help answer specific questions we have in implementing priorities we’ve already decided on, but just like everything in statistics, it doesn’t matter how good your math or data was if you didn’t ask the right question in the first place.

I like the cultures that have leaned more into socialism. Not just for the practical benefits to society, but because they just seem to be more caring and community oriented in general. In the US I always feel so isolated. There are all sorts of norms that put up barriers between people and can make people feel like they’re on their own when they need help. I’d like to live somewhere where people would care and do something if their neighbors needed help or where I wouldn’t feel so weird talking to strangers. Maybe this is too idealized. I know no culture is a monolith, but there seem to be some better tendencies in other countries.

EDIT: For all the time I’ve spent watching anime (including 2 trips to Japan), I have a hard time thinking of much I actually admire about actual Japanese culture. They’ve got the toxic work culture, they’ve got the confucian family thing going on, there’s the xenophobia, and then there’s their… suspicious obsession with some other questionable countries like the US, UK, and Germany. I guess anime can be funny and they have nice trains. So at least they have that. Oh I guess they also seem to be more chill when it comes to religion. Like it’s still there, but it doesn’t seem like the intensity of it is enough to cause regular problems like it does in the Western world.

In general I’m jealous of countries where the norm is for them to eat healthier food. I grew up eating the typical crap 'Murican diet and it’s left me very unhealthy. I’ve been trying desperately to change that, but it’s such a slow process to change what you’re used to. I get repulsed by things that people in other countries just look at as at worst a normal part of their diet or sometimes they even actively like it. I wish I had grown up being socialized on that before things got so out of hand.

Sounds pretty cooked to me.

I’m in a fairly antagonist relationship with physics. Not the academic discipline, I mean physical reality. Fucking gravity man. I’m also particularly annoyed by properties of water. So many spills could have been avoided if water didn’t adhere to surfaces. And I know, if water didn’t behave in all the ways that it does, life on Earth likely wouldn’t have been possible, but… my statement stands. I would have spilled far less if I never existed.

I just want to clarify: Am I completely crossing my legs so that the feet have reversed sides? Or by putting one foot in front of the other heel to toe in a line? And if I’m meant to do the full cross, am I touching my right foot or the foot that is now on the right?

Depends, but both not a lot and a lot. I sometimes spend a lot of the day playing a game, but the amount of time I have per turn is going to vary, but usually it’s going to be like a minute at a time. So something I can do quick, stop, then continue just to fill the time between turns with something more healthy/productive than constantly tabbing over to my browser.

I have not. That looks good.

Related: May I introduce you to the Japanese abomination known as “Yakisoba Pan?” It’s a fried noodle sandwich. Carbs with fried carbs on top. I honestly can’t believe America didn’t create this.

I guess it depends what you mean exactly. Hated by people now? Hated by contemporaries? Hated by specifically American voters vs anyone affected by them? Total number of people who hate? Proportion of population? Intensity of hatred?

There’s also the extent to which media plays a role in this. We’re constantly aware of all the horrible shit Trump is doing, but the average person probably wouldn’t know much about say, The Trail of Tears at the time and it’s hard to say if they’d care given the way natives were portrayed to them. As for how people today look back on these people… maybe it’s just recency bias, but people don’t seem to really emotionally “hate” historical presidents as much as you’d think they should just based off what they’ve done. Slave owners, war mongers, and genocidal maniacs. People mostly know about the big stuff but… they always seem kind of disconnected from the horror of it.

So Idk. Trump is definitely up there, but depending on exactly what we’re talking about, we could probably make a good case for a few other monsters of the past.

Missed opportunity to call it the wrong thing so someone could correct it.

Thanks for the insight. That sounds pretty rough. I hope you can get better soon.