It's not like the protests just went nowhere and petered out. That was the effect, but the state showed that it has a violent and psychotic response to any serious criticism, and was unashamed of it.
Hey, thanks for the advice. If I have some free time and spare gumption, I'll definitely give it a go. If that happens, I'll let you know what comes of it.
Not op, I got a free Ender 3 from a frustrated co-worker, and am now the frustrated co-worker. I've tried getting a new glass print surface, tried using glue sticks, tried changing print temps and speeds, tried levelling and re-levelling and re-levelling the bed, but I just can't get the print to stick for love or money. It's now been re-homed to the garage, as a parking obstacle for my bicycle.
Tbf, the Europeans have some pretty fucked cryptid lore, it's just that they're more chaotic neutral and less chaotic vengeance than the American variety. My favorite american cryptid is an old one you don't hear much of anymore, and was born from Pacific NorthWest loggers: the Hide Behind. Basically, this mf stalks your shit and will always duck behind a tree when you turn to look at it; it's fast enough to never be seen clearly, but you can just catch glimpses of it if you're fast/lucky. Eventually, it catches and eats unwitting loggers who let it sneak up on them.
Edit: I also like the deer stories. One of my all time favs was a free text about a deer stumbling up the street very clearly saying "BEEP BEEP BEEP" like a car being unlocked, followed by "Honey, I'm home!" over and over. That was the whole story, just a weird fucking deer stumbling up the street and talking to itself. 10/10 would gladly read again.
I mean, not trying to sound like a pessimist as much as a realist. Even if Europe started paying the full sum of what we're paying in defense subsidies, I seriously doubt we'd cut that spending. Raytheon and Lockheed's investors are counting on us.
This is so frustrating to watch as an American. I spent much of my youth on the internet getting clowned on by Europeans for the consequences of my country's hard right policies. The UK has been deservedly getting clowned on for the consequences of embracing the Tories. It beggars belief that the same people clowning on the US and UK would then turn around and say to themselves "yes, but it will be different for us, it will work for us, our situation really is different, you don't understand". No, it won't be different. Pretty soon, you're going to be following the path that the Tories set the UK on, marvelling at how dysfunctional your government is, and hearing about how the only solution is even more gibs to the people who are already the most economically advantaged and the private sector. Before you click reply, just consider that you guys deserve to get fucking dunked on, because you guys spent decades laughing at other countries for doing this shit just to say "hmmm... but what if sticking the fork in the electrical socket works out for me?" I'm honestly sad and disappointed for Europe, not least of all because after years of deservedly shitting on the US for being racist, all it took was one big wave of immigration for you guys to hold up blonde dumbasses with bad hair and worse ideas as the solution to all of your problems.
"Oh, great bozo of the European trailer park, what is your wisdom to save our culture from the immigrants?"
"Deregulate sewage plants. You will certainly not regret deregulating sewage plants."
Enjoy your US-style healthcare system in a few years, I guess.
This. I spoke to our mayor about it at a city council meeting, and he told me that the bus service was set up to maximize coverage for the people with no other choice, specifically at the cost of desirable stops and frequency.
So, he feels that the Nazi gangs in East Ukraine were engaging in ethnic cleansing against Russian speakers / Russian nationals that was more or less state sanctioned by the state showing they weren't interested in doing anything about it. He fully believes Russia's stated purpose in all this is to seize control of East Ukraine in order to stop the Nazis.
Imo, there's clear enough evidence that there's a Nazi problem in Ukraine. What isn't clear to me is why that's a reason for Russia to expand its territory (spoiler alert: it's an excuse, obviously. Russia also has a Nazi problem, like a lot of other countries. The northern hemisphere is working through some shit ATM.)
Qualified immunity more or less means that the cops can't be held directly liable for something that the courts haven't yet found to be wrong for a police officer to do while in the course of their duties. So, if a cop does something obviously wrong and fucked up in the course of their duties (like, say, detaining you in a car parked on railroad tracks) and you suffer injuries from it, but a court hasn't previously found that exact situation to be a wrong thing for a police officer to do, qualified immunity prevents them from being held personally accountable. The next person who gets detained on railroad tracks is covered, but you're shit outta luck.
I know what QI is about, the comment has more to do with fighting the cops in court when courts meet all manner of egregious police behavior with little more than stern finger wags and exasperated sighs at best (often. Very rarely, they actually do get held accountable) and endorsement at worst.
My buddy is on the side of the Russians in all this (we've agreed to disagree) and even he admits that the Hostomel airport wasn't anything else but a disaster. But it did give us one of the funniest moments in the whole war (so far), when a war journalist approached a Russian soldier to ask when he thought the Russians would be arriving.
This was actually discussed. The bill makes an exception for "members of a secret society demonstrating in public" as long as they get a permit from the police first.