Horizon is that game for me. I put it on story mode and simply enjoy the scenery. Tlou2 is next again, lot of dark themes in it but plenty good to spot in the characters. Going in with an open attitude looking for the good in the characters makes it a wonderful game for me. Games that don't sugarcoat life feel more believable and thus more of an escape, if that makes sense.

What works for me nowadays when I get overwhelmed (got OCD and prone to sensory overload) is going for a long run. Then I can shut out everything around me, focus on running while working through things in my head. Sometimes letting the dark thoughts flow, exhausting them before the end of my run. (I usually go for 75 to 120 minutes, 16 to 22K, at least I'm in great shape now lol)

Burning shores is lovely, tourist mode


Just like in RL, running around, exploring, calms my mind. I used to cycle for the same effect but after getting hit by a pickup truck while sunk in my thoughts, wiping out on gravel from a dog charging at me, running is safer and works all year round :) Accumulated enough scars lol. Is that a thing, covering up mental scars with physical ones. I guess.

And yes, accepting the things you can't change is key, but also extremely hard. It does seem to get easier later in life. I'm 50 now and the yearly fall depression is so far less than it has ever been (/knock on wood) despite it being the same drab grey overcast early dark as every year. (And not living in the USA helps with recent developments :/)

Apparently you don't grasp the concept of there being countries outside of the USA.

I give my former boss 2 years or less before he resigns. He is being sent to do a serious job for an unserious man, and like many before him will leave in frustration. It is joke already that he will be likely serving along with Tulsi Gabbard.

Games discussion in a politics thread, how the tables have turned. I never thought I'd see the day.

There's a lot of gross and inappropriate comments between the two of you, that is against the rules - flaming and trolling. 

Don't let it happen again, consider this a much friendlier warning than this really deserves.

Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930

The interesting thing is George Bush Jr. raised tariffs again in 2002, to negative effects on the economy. The Republicans keep trying it.
Donald Trump again tried the tariff thing to "protect" US steel, and again, caused business collapse downstream in US-based industry, and higher prices at retail.

Another interesting thing is that laissez-faire capitalist cheerleaders (who call themselves "libertarians" in the US) seem to favour tariffs, despite the fact that such acts go against laissez-faire capitalism.

Just so that I don’t leave that number uncorrected (and bring the thread back on track), more than 233,000 votes were needed to flip those 3 states and for Harris to win.

I also have been meaning to read more on housing problems in the USA. Because that’s always a missing piece of any inflation/costs of living conversation.

In the UK the situation is horrible, so when people are told “wages are outpacing inflation”, it never clicks, especially for younger people (I keep saying young but this has been a problem for so long that people entering their 40s with no prospects of ever buying a house), because people can wait for discounts, buy eggs in bulk, stay in a 2 star hotel instead of 3 etc, but this never applies to housing.

And if you’re able to buy, you need to be tied down paying for it for decades, which never should’ve been normalised, all this money could go to other parts of the economy that’s in desperate need for growth, but too many rich people and mega-corps are invested in the housing sector and god forbids we upset those. Rentals get increasingly madder every year so that’s not a viable option either. Labour plans so far remain unchanged, what they’re proposing isn’t going to fix anything, and a lot of what they’re proposing relies on the private sector anyway which has no interest in lowering the costs for the consumers (why build a million house when you can build a quarter of that and make the same profits?!).

Now the elephant in the room is that Harris proposed bold plans for this issue and she still lost, and I doubt republicans will do anything for this, so 🤷‍♂️ But maybe it's not as bad in the USA

This video has some interesting insights I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC-VkbEpac4

You mean the concept of a non-American posting in a US Presidential Election thread?  If it didn't affect you, you wouldn't be here.

I definitely understand that reaction. I've kind of felt the same way. It feels like the system doesn't really work, so, while I'll keep voting, I have lost faith it the system as a solution to all of the problems I care about. 

I'm not really sure what there is to do outside of it though. I have some money to give, so I'll be looking into (preferably local) charities but it is hard to throw money into a black box...

I feel like we need a powerful movement in this country towards individual action. A lot of leftism is focused on systemic change, and for good reason, but I don't think we should lose focus of the amount of good one person can do.

As for gaming, one of my favorite narratives is Transistor (by the people who made Bastion, Pyre and Hades). Beautiful game with one of my favorite game soundtracks, a great story and a real fun combat system!