Varyk

joined 2 years ago
MODERATOR OF
[–] Varyk 16 points 1 week ago

probably the trans communities are better than the meme community.

[–] Varyk 8 points 1 week ago

be the change you wanna see

[–] Varyk 18 points 1 week ago

and more will follow, thank goodness

Rump bragged he would basically sabotage the utility of weapons and equipment the US sells to allies.

[–] Varyk 12 points 1 week ago

"am I just imagining some idealistic version of the past that never existed"

yup.

Americans have always been this stupid, but stupid people aren't the problem.

everyone is stupid, greedy, or otherwise morally corrupt at some point or another or in some situation or another, that's why legal rights and protections were so important, to keep the playing field level and the trains running on time when the assholes wanted to run riot.

the successful conservative suppression of civil rights and removal of restrictions on corporate and wealthy political stuff civil activity, particularly the allowance by the Supreme Court of money to dictate political action, has removed the guardrails that used to protect the stupid and keep corrupt people in line.

[–] Varyk 1 points 1 week ago
[–] Varyk 17 points 1 week ago

wwwwhoa that is crazy.

[–] Varyk 3 points 1 week ago

very cool. I didn't know cheesecake was so unique among different countries.

although I guess if you're going to experiment and make any dessert your own, cheesecake is a good one to eat the mistaken experiments of.

thanks.

[–] Varyk 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

tldr your anxieties here are ridiculous and for the large part simply unfactual and unsupported by any evidence, although I take the time to correct them below.

"most people understand that traveling abroad with a passport is no guarantee of getting a job abroad"

this is specifically because they don't have the experience or knowledge that comes with traveling abroad.

"Even if you travel and you have a remote job, there is no guarantee that your cost of living is gonna go down. "

this is flatly incorrect, maybe the most ignorant comment so far. this is as incorrect as claiming that one plus one equals four.

if you move from a country with a high cost of living to a country with a lower cost of living, your cost of living will go down, full stop, there is no maybe about it.

that is simple fact, and to claim otherwise is absurd and makes absolutely zero sense.

"Countries change."

broadly and over time, but you aren't going to land in a country that costs 50% less and then suddenly find out 3 months later that everything costs as much as the US.

that does not hapoen, but even if we play to make believe and it did, you can move the next day to another of the 100+ countries with a lower cost of living.

"the pesky fact that to be able to work as a vacation stay while being inside another country, you usually need a visa."

this is also incorrect and clearly stems from your ignorance of travel.

if you ask questions instead of making assumptions, I won't have to correct every single one of these false statements.

three important points here:

  1. if you are a digital nomad, many countries waive taxes and a work visa for digital income. you can go through the Visa process if you want to, but you do not need to.

  2. a work visa for teaching English abroad as a native English speaker is about the easiest visa to get.

  3. visas are not some kind of crapshoot or gamble. if you apply for a Visa and you fit the requirements, you get the visa. the process only becomes more surefire for industry-critical jobs, like English teaching in a world that relies on English.

"You can work remotely in there, all good."

correct.

"But you will have to pay for everything in cash"

incorrect, you can use a card with no transaction fees, or online payments.

"...because you can't use the ATMs up to certain limits of withdrawals."

every bank in refrigerator country has daily withdrawal limits, is that what you're afraid of?

because the daily limit in Panama for withdrawals is $500 per day. that's plenty of money for daily activities.

you don't even need more than $500 a day in the US.

"Try western union? Good, a chunk of your money is just gone, and that's if they don't catch you transferring money to yourself."

there is no reason to throw away your money.

if you want to throw away your money personally, feel free, or give it to someone in need.

you choosing to throw away money out of ignorance or fear doesn't mean that the cost of living is more expensive, it means that you are personally choosing to throw away money.

"Try crypto?"

again, zero reason to do this.

"Even credit cards have limited use as you need to leave a travel warning to the card. "

first, this is not true.

secondly, if you want to leave a travel warning, it is a one minute phone call.

you call the company you want to, tell them I will be traveling for the next 6 months, they say okay and add the notification to your account.

if you forget to do that and your card gets frozen while abroad (which is not common), you call up the bank tell them you are traveling, confirm your identity and they unfreeze your card.

"Maybe you renew it, maybe not"

this would be the exact same thing if you were still living in the US. do you use expired credit and debit cards in the us?

of course not, that would be idiotic.

"after a time suspicious activity starts to pile up from outside your billing country"

this is simply untrue, the longer you travel the more normal it becomes that you are using your card abroad.

and again with a one minute phone call, you can let the company know you were traveling, this is a non-issue.

"Pay rent? In cash."

flatly incorrect again.

you can use pretty much any form of payment to pay online for rent in every country.

"Rent is not cheap in there"

again, that is the whole point of moving to a place with a cheap cost of living.

you seem not to understand basic math.

if you move to a place that costs more, or a house that costs more than where you are living now, you are going to end up paying more, and have a higher cost of living.

my suggestion is that people who are paying a lot move to places that cost less for the same quality, that will result in a lower cost of living.

you want to pay more, I want people to pay less.

"Food is cheap but it is getting near international prices since a few years ago"

this is not true, even though you've chosen the richest country in Central America.

you can take a bus from that country to any other country and everything will instantly be cheaper.

you are very confused about how economies work.

"forget about all the luxuries you have in the usa while living in there. "

incorrect, especially in Panama you can enjoy every single luxury at a lower price than you enjoy in the US.

not to mention the cost of living is so low, you're enjoying zero cost of utilities, an incredibly low cost of insurance, low cost of healthcare, low cost of all foods, low cost of rent, and every luxury you want is available but costs less.

this is why I encourage people to move away from the US. except for you, you are so afraid of basic facts that maybe you should give yourself some time.

"Transportation is the easiest one..."

you're clearly talking about how afraid us transportation makes you and how expensive it is, that is the most expensive and useless transportation in the world.

transportation everywhere else in the world is very commonplace, easy to use and cheap in comparison to the US.

none of what you have said so far is remotely accurate, while my information is easily verifiable by online apps, charts and articles.

"You could become a citizen"

you could become a skydiver.

"But if you have 40k ISD to 750k USD to spare, why the hassle? Stay at the USA."

because if you have 750k USD to spare (and have no unforeseen expenses), you can live for several years in the US inside a system that does not support you, OR you can live abroad well for the rest of your life.

if you stay in the usa, you have no health Care. if you travel abroad, you have quality, instant, affordable healthcare.

if you stay in the us, your utilities alone cost more than twice your rent if you live abroad.

if you stay in the us, you aren't guaranteed a job as a native English speaker. abroad, you are guaranteed that job.

there are many reasons to not stay in the US.

you are completely off the mark following your fears and anxieties.

[–] Varyk 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Amazon has a game launcher?

[–] Varyk 2 points 1 week ago

oh, okay. thanks for explaining. it's all good.

[–] Varyk 4 points 1 week ago (5 children)

oh, it says epic up top.

I don't use Amazon. thanks though, the game looks cool

[–] Varyk 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

dagger Moon sounds sincere, I second the motion.

23
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by Varyk to c/[email protected]
 

Update! Newpipe is working again after an uninstall and reinstall just now!

--

I've been using newpipe for 3 years and it's never failed completely like this.

It's been a few days now that zero videos work and newpipe hasn't released an update or anything on their blog.

Cleared cache. Uninstalled reinstalled, reset phone, no difference.

Is new pipe still working for other people? I have an uninstalled reinstalled

7
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by Varyk to c/animorphs
 

9
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by Varyk to c/animorphs
 

Scary opening for a minute when nobody is answering Cassie and she thinks she's all alone on the mission.

Forrrreshadowing.

spoilerDefinitely written in 2000, a massive firefight erupts in an airport that everybody just shrugs off and things keep going normally instead of the entire place locking down, and planes in a baggage are left unsecured, just a regular transit station instead of a Homeland security nightmare.

Also, the most exciting opening for Cassie in a long time, that turns into one of the most consistently exciting adventures, with Cassie alone.

Non stop action.

The Australian outback is such a good setting for an adventure. I'd like to read a longer version of a story like this.

Actually there was that popular YA series "tomorrow when the war began", that was a great series.

71
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by Varyk to c/patientgamers
 

TLDR: I loved Borderlands two and I'm going to start a replay with a different character, which i almost never do.

I had fun with Borderlands 1, but was basically pushing through by the end trying not to fall asleep.

B2, on the other hand, I was very engaged in the entire ride through, although it seemed well balanced and the game ended when it should, even including the side quests.

Improvements -

The writing! I think I heard a reference to Anthony Burch writing in Borderlands 2 from hey ass. Whatcha playing episode, and he got some award?

Experience tiers, which I didn't initially like because it wasn't explained, but basically the quests are more important than farming enemies for experience, so you get much more engaged with the stories because you're following quests instead of trying to kill enough boring enemies in the same way to get high enough of a level to destroy future enemies.

In any case, the writing that I did like in Borderlands 1, was perfect in 2. Not too long, always funny, always engaging, every character very well defined, which brings me to my next point:

The voice acting was hilarious and perfect, again, very well defined and idiosyncratic for every character, just so much fun to listen to. Every time handsome Jack pops up. It's fun to listen to him be an a******.

The quests were so much more satisfying. At the end of the first game, I was basically just following marker to marker without caring what anybody said or what was written down just tapping through to the next wavepoint until the quest was finished.

In Borderlands 2, Even if I accidentally clicked through the introduction to the quest, I would go back and make sure to read because I know that the paragraph introducing and explaining the quest is funny and that the quest is going to be rescuing lab experiments and I have to find a particular valve or putting together a treasure map with a weird lure, rather than just find the bigger bad guy punch him to death.

Driving was huge - I was not into driving in Borderlands 1 and got really bored and irritated every time I had to drive. I felt like the aiming system was complete dog s***, and it was just not very fun to drive around in general, like the handling was terrible.

I loved driving around the Borderlands too and was actively bummed out whenever. I didn't get a car, but it made perfect sense and they used the car just enough so that the game wasn't too easy. But you could still boost and race around however you wanted, or chase down a beer van. So much fun driving, such a huge improvement from the first game.

Larger levels with more interesting landscapes in them, each level felt much more unique than the entire The first game to me, like each area had its own style to a degree I hadn't seen before.

I can't remember a single place from the first game, but I'm going to remember the different style of the underground bug. Bunker and the dust and all these other places that had an impact on the personality of the game.

Lastly, art is more efficient, not as many bold lines emphasizing the comic book quality, which is carried through more by the personality of the game instead of by the specific art.

7
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by Varyk to c/animorphs
 

Blech, always hate it when anyone has to morph a taxxon.

Also hate being confronted with tobias' torturer.

Probably not as much as Tobias does, though.

Great inside cover!

13
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by Varyk to c/animorphs
 

Is this one a "yikes" for everybody?

Maybe they just needed a break from a book every month for five years.

spoilerMarco's heart exploding, or being exploded, is pretty harrowing, but the helmacrons combined with the trope theme is impossible not to roll my eyes at.

I still like the animorphs themselves within the story and I like Marco's initiative, but this book is odd and somewhat unsatisfying.

Maybe they needed some breathing room to get ready for the final run.

352
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by Varyk to c/[email protected]
 

TLDR: there are no qualifying limitations on presidential immunity

Not only does any US president now have complete immunity from "official" actions(with zero qualifying restrictions or definitions), but if those actions are deemed "unofiicial", no jury is legally allowed to witness the evidence in any way since that would interfere with the now infinitely broad "official" presidential prerogatives.

Furthermore, if an unofficial atrocity is decided on during an official act, like the president during the daily presidential briefing ordering the army to execute the US transexual population, the subsequent ordered executions will be considered legally official presidential acts since the recorded decision occurred during a presidential duty.

There are probably other horrors I haven't considered yet.

Then again, absolute immunity is absolute immunity, so I don't know how much threat recognition matters here.

If the US president can order an action, that action can be legally and officially carried out.

Not constitutionally, since the Constitution specifically holds any elected politician subject to the law, but legally and officially according to the supreme court, who has assumed higher power then the US Constitution to unconstitutionally allege that the US President is absolutely immune from all legal restrictions and consequences.

38
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by Varyk to c/[email protected]
 

I have one from a band called Massie that says "you work hard, I'll be sexy".

Makes me laugh every time.

I also have a t-shirt with a purple teddy bear under a paragraph of text telling a nihilist horror story in broken english about that teddy bear as if he were a real person.

Both winners.

 

I owned most of these books and this was one of the ones I reread the most because of how poetic so many difficult personal struggles and fears are faced and worked through so rapid fire, it's pretty overwhelming without being trite.

This book ends perfectly,

Title

the simple act of asking Cassie if she was okay when he didn't ask her like he should have the day before.

 

This is one of my favorite songs and videos.

6
submitted 9 months ago by Varyk to c/animorphs
 

I cannot remember the first time I read this series, but I can't imagine thinking anything other than "ah, The power of friendship!"

Which upon this reread is hilarious given how clearly the authors wanted to portray a gay couple in 2000, which wasn't done often in a series fronted by a major publisher.

spoiler

This time, I was like "oh right, the andalites living together, and then I was inundated with the hunts of gardening, super fitness, pink furniture, shunned by society, debilitating incurable illness, cared for by "best friend", androgynes, and especially the poetic language of how the became friends, they were both pilots and their wings tangled together and they crashed to the ground together.

Pretty awesome that when so other few authors were willing to have gay characters, especially in a young adults series, ka and grant went full bore and even named this title "the other".

I always thought the "Marco" being bi what sort of and unsupported gimme afterthought, but they already had an unmistakably gay couple having badass adventures.

I wonder if they made them both pilots because of top gun?

And this title is not merely a showcase of queer culture, the story is as developed and well told as any of the other books, and of course more so than some of them.

I find the thought-speak across great distances very interesting, how visser 3 doesn't want anything to do with either of them because of andalite culture treating difference as an embarrassment, and also how ax is very openly hostile toward both of them.

It's another good book!

view more: ‹ prev next ›