calliope
@calliope@retrolemmy.com
- Comment on 1 day ago:
There’s also a relevant quote from Wikipedia article on Actraiser:
According to Douglas Crockford’s Expurgation of Maniac Mansion, Nintendo of America had a strict policy regarding game content in the early 1990s, especially in regards to material that could be deemed offensive, a blanket category that prohibited the inclusion of any overtly religious themes or plotlines in a game.
Nintendo of America may not have been consistent, but they were definitely over-strict for some games.
- Comment on The Most Iconic American Artwork Is the Hardest to See 3 days ago:
Calling the Statue of Liberty “the most iconic work of American art” is insane.
- Comment on YouTubers face up to five years in jail after being arrested sneaking into World Cup game 1 week ago:
I would be shocked if it stuck long-term unless someone wanted to make an example out of them (which isn’t out of the question).
They were both charged with interference with a sporting or entertainment event, which could lead to a prison sentence of up to five years if they’re found to have solicited each other into doing so, as that is a third-degree felony. Additionally, they can both be fined $5000.
“Interference with a sporting or entertainment event” is a stretch, and for the third degree felony it would have to be proven that they solicited each other to “interfere with an event.”
They will probably plea to a lesser charge.
- Comment on We’re Getting America’s Children Hooked on Gambling 1 week ago:
Well duh.
It will take decades for anyone people to care enough to change anything, just like cigarettes. Gambling will eventually be a huge issue, but the robber barons are in control.
I grew up with Joe Camel ads in Sports Illustrated, this is the same thing.
- Comment on Dianna Russini Was an N.F.L. ‘Insider.’ Was She Also Out of Bounds? 2 weeks ago:
Oh she’s trashy trashy.
Ms. Russini tried to fend off a ticket by telling the officer that the coach of the Buffalo Bills had been fired, and she was trying to break news.
The officer was unmoved, telling her he was a fan of a different team.
That’s when she made him an offer. Maybe she could connect him, right then and there, to his favorite team’s coach.
“Do you want to talk to the coach? You should talk to the coach,” Ms. Russini said she told the officer as she recounted the incident a couple of weeks later on “Stugotz and Company,” a radio show and podcast.
“I FaceTime the head coach,” she said, without naming him. “Head coach is in his office. He said, ‘What’s up?’ I go, ‘I just got pulled over and I just wanted you to meet my friend, Officer Joe.’”
The coach helped her get out of the ticket by telling the officer, “You should let her go, she’s a good citizen,” Ms. Russini said.
The podcast host howled with laughter. “I wish I had that kind of access,” he said.
She did this in front of her kids and then bragged about it.
- Comment on The Secret Reason Bosses Want Everyone Back in the Office, Every Day of the Week 2 weeks ago:
Case by case, there may be good reasons for teams to work together in person. As a general rule, though, it turns out that ordering people back to the office full time is a power and status move. It’s a signature strategy of leaders who exhibit narcissistic qualities. They see any kind of remote work as a threat to their authority and admiration. They want to be worshiped at the office altar.
- Comment on Artsy darling Remedy Entertainment has a new CEO - a former EA exec and sports betting platform president - who is there to "accelerate growth" 4 months ago:
Thanks for asking, honestly. I didn’t make the connection either.
- Comment on Democratic Upset in Deep Red Texas District Rattles Republicans 5 months ago:
I’ve been reading a book about this that makes a very good case with data that they are Christian Nationalists or Christian nationalist accommodators.
Which, oddly enough, shouldn’t be confused with actual Christians who read the Bible and go to church. They are different and they have different beliefs. That’s how stupid Christian Nationalists are, they’re not even Christian.
Christian nationalism is a separate social construct, and they are, indeed, a combination of fools and monsters. Or monstrous fools.
The book is short (165 pages) and dense; it’s called Taking America Back For God by Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry and it has been illuminating.
- Comment on Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who believe death is “wrong” 5 months ago:
He literally thinks he should be able to live forever at the expense of others, including his own children.
- Comment on Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who believe death is “wrong” 5 months ago:
They really bury the lede, which is that the same anti-aging dingleberry you’ve probably already heard of was the main speaker. He’s always the main speaker.
I was told that around 300 people had signed up for that day’s events, which was more than had attended the previous week. That might have been because arguably the world’s most famous longevity enthusiast, Bryan Johnson, was about to make an appearance.
He’s awful.
On October 13, 2021, Johnson announced an anti-aging attempt called “Project Blueprint.” Johnson underwent a series of six monthly 1-liter plasma transfusions with his son as the donor for one of the transfusions, but he says he will not repeat the transfusions due to lack of benefits.
Gimme your blood, kid!
The FDA has stated that transfusions such as the kind Johnson had are without benefit and may be harmful.
- Comment on Sam Altman’s make-or-break year: can the OpenAI CEO cash in his bet on the future? 5 months ago:
It’s the same pattern as social media followed over a decade ago. Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey were always claiming their services were going to change the world for the better.
Both of their services (Facebook and Twitter, respectively) have been used for organizing fascism and hate because hate is extremely profitable and they would rather have money than make the world a better place.
They have ultimately, actively changed the world for the worse.
- Comment on State Terror Has Arrived 5 months ago:
I’m realizing that this kind of willful ignorance in journalism is a major part of the problem.
As long as the plausible deniability exists that “we didn’t know,” everyone can pretend it isn’t a pattern and refuse to even learn.
Meanwhile, these same people were violently cracking down on protesters nearly ten years ago, vocally supporting white supremacy. Many of these ICE agents were in prison before being pardoned by this administration in 2025.
- Comment on ICE Agent Charged With Misdemeanor Following Scuffle With an Activist 5 months ago:
Imagine going after a 68-year-old man who is filming you. Throw him under the jail.
In an interview, Mr. Held, a 68-year-old trust and estate lawyer, said that he had been using his phone to record the agent from a sidewalk on Dec. 27, when Mr. Saracco approached him seeking to take the phone.
He had his hands on me and threw me to the ground,” Mr. Held said. “He did grab my phone, but I held onto it with both hands, I had to use all my might. I said, ‘Calm down, you have to de-escalate.’ I heard horns honking and he got off me, he did not get my phone.
“Calm down, you have to de-escalate” is such a badass thing for him to say while being assaulted.
- Comment on What’s Behind the Staggering Drop in the Murder Rate? No One Knows for Sure. | A decline in homicides across the country was a stunning reversal after crime rose during the pandemic. 5 months ago:
How is it a “stunning reversal” when it was declining significantly before the pandemic?
It was declining before the pandemic. Everyone knew this. No one is stunned.
- Comment on Suicides Were Frequent at the Golden Gate Bridge. Not Anymore. 5 months ago:
One of the most (personally suicide-deterrent) quotes I’ve ever read is from Golden Gate Bridge jump survivor Ken Baldwin.
I realized then that all of the problems in my life that I thought were unsolvable were in fact solvable—except for having just jumped.
- Comment on In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War 5 months ago:
It’s so crazy to me that there are patterns of asymmetric war (like The Troubles, which lasted 30 years), and the media always go back to full “civil war” because it drives clicks.
As a longtime foreign correspondent, I have covered civil wars in countries across the globe
When all you visit is civil war, everything looks like civil war.
- Comment on Move Over, ChatGPT 5 months ago:
Yep, this is exactly how most people describe using an AI chat bot to write code.
It’s a junior developer who can’t learn.
- Comment on A Man Bought Meta's AI Glasses, and Ended Up Wandering the Desert in Search of Aliens 5 months ago:
The man in the article also was alcoholic until mere “months before buying the glasses.”
They are burying all the ledes to make a “regular guy goes crazy due to AI” story.
- Comment on A Man Bought Meta's AI Glasses, and Ended Up Wandering the Desert in Search of Aliens 5 months ago:
It’s always kind of weird to me when articles describe insanely wealthy people in such a way that they try to make them sound normal.
A 50 year old who worked at the sane financial services company (in my experience, finance programmer bros are awful a lot of the time).
In 2022, he leveraged his family’s finances to realize a passion project: a rustic resort in rural Utah
“He had it all… please ignore the obvious.”
- Comment on La. Seeks Extradition of Calif. Doctor Over Abortion Pills 5 months ago:
Leave it to a tiny shithole in Louisiana to try to throw a doctor in jail from a thousand miles away based on their personal beliefs.
- Comment on ICE Agent Who Fatally Shot Renee Good Suffered Internal Bleeding After Encounter, Officials Claim 5 months ago:
CBS News reported, citing two U.S. officials briefed on his medical condition.
They don’t even cite believable sources.
- Comment on UK officials may be barred from US over X ban 5 months ago:
There it is, there’s another cliche! Keep em coming.
- Comment on UK officials may be barred from US over X ban 5 months ago:
Genuinely your arrogance is astounding.
- Comment on UK officials may be barred from US over X ban 5 months ago:
I don’t care at all. You’ve made your point.
- Comment on UK officials may be barred from US over X ban 5 months ago:
I know this is an unpopular opinion and I expect downvotes, but you aren’t that much better.
Brexit was such a success, right? Johnson was the right choice, and you totally didn’t have a big fucking racist rally in September? Those were all from the U.S.?
This isn’t just a U.S. problem but it’s nice that the narrative makes you feel better!
- Comment on Apple Creator Studio is launching 5 months ago:
I was actually wondering if they were bringing back something like Aperture.
I liked Aperture, it was my preferred editing software before they unceremoniously dropped it.
- Comment on Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California 5 months ago:
Oh I meant to block you the other day for the other stupid things you said.
- Comment on Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California 5 months ago:
Slow. Slow has always been the better choice.
- Comment on Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California 5 months ago:
It’s lose-lose but it’s painfully obvious one loss is worse than the other.
- Comment on Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California 5 months ago:
No, the “dopes” are right. If you refuse to vote against the worst presidents in history, you’re a fucking moron.