The even more fucked part is that everyone’s lag is different, and there is no universal “now”. Check this out if you want to lay awake for a few nights:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietdijk–Putnam_argument

Reminds me of the warp creatures in the Astartes video

Mine pretty much only gets raised when I need to tuck my office chair under it (basically never)

Sounds about as good as waterboarding in Guantanamo bay

having free copies of the content available on the internet decreases the desire for people to obtain paid copies of the data.

According to who?

Someone has been watching too much Clarksons Farm, lol

I guess “undesirables” don’t count as part of the citizenry? You’re only reinforcing my point, that the government stripped firearms from the people they wanted to kill/oppress. If it wasn’t worth doing, nobody would have done it. Instead, Pol Pot, Hitler, Idi Amin, Stalin, Kim I’ll Sung, Mao, Mussolini, etc., have ALL taken away firearms in some way from their peoples.

Almost every tyrannical regime in the 20th century systematically disarmed their citizenry, leading to some of the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. It’s not a coincidence.

So it would resemble the beginning of the universe, but smaller. Neat.

In my experience, it totally depends on the shop and what kind if environment the owners are trying to cultivate. I’ve been to super competitive shops that are crazy anal about sticking to game rules, rude to newcomers, etc, and I’ve been to others (like my current shop) that realize we’re a bunch of middle aged fucks playing with toys (40k is my shit).

More often than not, though, the vibe is going to be a welcoming one. As others have said, its more people to play games with! Especially in the plastic crack community, where there’s certainly a 30 year Warhammer veteran just waiting for a newbie to dump their lore knowledge into.

Local gaming shops are good options if you’re in an urban/suburban area. Many run regular events for TableTop Role Playing Games like Pathfinder and DnD, Warhammer, board game tournaments, etc… Many also host discord servers so folks can make “LFG” (Looking For Game) type posts.

Obviously its going to depend where you are, but I’ve found it to be a great place to socialize when I’m bored.

I see your point, but I’d be cautious of underestimating them.

Regardless of their own shortcomings, they have more resources than virtually anyone else on the planet to compensate for them. They certainly have teams of incredibly smart, and incredibly well paid people scheming for them.

What are the chances they are working together and creating a distraction?

I too have a no soliciting sign, though I don’t think anyone has ever walked up, read it, and turned around. Instead, when I open the door, I mention the company they represent should start doing literacy tests, point at the sign, and tell them to get the fuck off my porch. I know that ignoring them is an option, but so is throwing rocks, soooo…

https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

Its like they’re cutting policy from whole cloth

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

What they say: Small government

What they do: Spend massively on police, military, and surveillance while pushing laws that dictate personal behavior (abortion bans, anti-trans legislation, drug criminalization).

What they say: Free market

What they do: Hand out subsidies to corporations, give massive tax breaks to the wealthy, and block labor protections.

What they say: Traditional values

What they do: Use “tradition” as a smokescreen to resist civil rights, suppress diversity, and enforce a narrow Christian nationalist vision.

What they say: Personal responsibility

What they do: Blame poor people for their conditions while defending corporate bailouts and generational wealth hoarding.

What they say: Rule of law

What they do: Apply it selectively—crack down on protests they dislike, but excuse insurrectionists and lawbreaking when it suits them.

What they say: Cautious to change

What they do: Rush radical deregulation and culture war laws through state legislatures while blocking any progress toward equity or justice.

You mentioned a few times meditation gets you “high”. What exactly do you mean by that?