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AstroStelar [he/him]
AstroStelar [he/him] @ AstroStelar @hexbear.net
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20
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249
Joined
1 yr. ago

  • Using nominal GDP instead of GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). America still leads in the former because the same goods and services cost more there than in China.

  • Christopher Rodriguez tried to detonate a bag of explosives at the embassy in Washington, D.C., by firing a rifle at it but missed

    They keep missing!

  • If you look at her Wikipedia page, it uses three different sources for hateful comments in Russian media, and no specific attention to stuff from her own country...

  • If you look at her Wikipedia page, it uses three different sources for hateful comments in "Russian state-owned media", and nothing dedicated to stuff at home...

  • I looked up what this flag is about.

    The flag bears the Arabic phrase, “Ya la-Tharat al-Hussein,” which can be translated in English as, “O ye avengers of Hussein.” As Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein is one of the most sacred figures of Shia Islam, in which he is the incarnation of justice. He was killed in the year 680 at the battle of Karbala, in present-day Iraq, by caliph Yazid’s troops.

    This battle and Hussein’s martyrdom are the founding elements for Shia Islam, and mark a definitive schism with Sunni Islam. According to certain Iranian Shia traditions, “Ya la-Thara al-Hussein,” should be a rallying cry for believers upon the return of the Hidden Imam, the last of twelve imams recognized in Imamiyyah, the largest branch of Shia Islam.

    Source: https://factcheck.afp.com/no-red-flag-revenge-was-not-raised-first-time-iran-mosque

    It's flown regularly in the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Shia Muslims, it's a period of mourning dedicated to him. Outside of that, it's on moments like this, meant as a sort of rallying cry.

    Wikipedia claims that "it also flown [sic] in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran whenever a milestone of casualties was reached", but I couldn't find sources for it elsewhere.

  • There are good reasons against assassinations in many circumstances (adventurism, blowback, Great Man Theory, etc.), but to categorically reject them entirely? Really?

    and
    are such obvious instances where it's morally right and/or effective.

    And the appeal to the conscience of Trump voters is absolutely pathetic.

    (sorry for the constant editing, can't help myself)

  • They seem to have replaced it with a mere photo of Warwick's shopping district now:

    Edit: on the Wayback Machine, even the earliest snapshot uses this photo (6 hours after it was published). This screenshot might be fake, or it might be a still from an accompanying video. Can't check though, because even on the Wayback Machine the paywall persists...

  • You've come to the right address lol

    I'm autistic too with no prior experience with Battle Network-style gameplay and my reflexes aren't the best either (I can panic and make mistakes easily), but I still beat the final boss on the second attempt with little to no grinding, just playing the game with that ROM patch and doing all the sidequests. Haven't done much of the post-game yet though.

    The first Star Force game is rather easy compared to Battle Network before it, the patch even includes a custom hard mode you can turn on and off whenever you want, as lack of difficulty was a common critique among fans.

    In short: it's very doable, however things can get overwhelming with three or more enemies at once.

    As for the story: a common opinion I've seen is that the Battle Network series has better gameplay, while Star Force (except 2, which fumbled it) has some of the best writing in the Mega Man franchise. The following bit is personal, so it may not hit you as hard as me.

    The MC's character growth has unironically been inspirational for me; the game's aesthetic, theming and music fully understood me in the worst period of my life. It reminded me of what I want to be and do in a time where I felt hopeless about overcoming anxieties and incapacities. It made me believe in myself again. I haven't been the same person since, and while I still fall in familiar pitfalls and still have anxieties about self-image and competence, I feel like now I'm truly growing up. (I'm 20 years old and studying)

  • Battle Network!!

    (Haven't played it yet, but have played Star Force and get happy when I see anything Mega Man-related)

  • Reminds me of the Nisour Square Massacre in Baghdad by Blackwater mercenaries:

    One of the senior military officers who testified before the grand jury, Col. Michael Tarsa, said that he rushed to the scene and came upon a “white Kia with two corpses inside, decimated with bullet holes and on fire,” the report said. He also saw other nearby vehicles “riddled with bullet holes,” even though they were “apparently fleeing the shooting.”

    Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20170227170643/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/world/middleeast/17blackwater.html

  • Permanently Deleted

    Jump
  • It's an isekai lol

    It's VERY bright and colourful. It kinda looks like they made a Mario game with an engine used for anime games. They seem to continue the trend set by Wonder in making things very bold and expressive, now with cel shading.

    And it's no longer constrained by the 3DS screen resolution, it's such a big improvement.

    This new world seems to revolve around electrical stuff it seems. People made out of plugs and sockets and all that.

    Anyway, glad that this series gets continued after the original developer shut down.

  • For the record, this isn't in China. It's a project in Malaysia near Singapore that is targeted at rich people. It's basically a "sustainable" gated community.

    And by "sustainable" I mean that they destroyed wetlands to build it.

    It was a project by a Chinese housing developer and was an extension of the real estate bubble over there. A lot of buyers were Chinese, however, according to Wikipedia:

    initial strong sales from China collapsed after its leader Xi Jinping implemented currency controls, including a $50,000 annual cap on how much buyers could spend outside the country.

    The developer responsible is one of the big shots that suffered when the housing bubble was forced to pop. I have no qualms riffing on this particular project.

  • The reversal was “not likely to last”, said Marzec-Manser of ICIS, as Russia would in the summer be able to ship LNG to Asia via its Northern Sea Route. That was likely to reduce the amount sent to Europe, while US LNG production had picked up again, he said.

    “Russia has limited flexibility to hold on to this share [in Europe] as demand [for gas] rises into next winter, whereas overall US LNG production is only growing with yet more new capacity coming to the global market by the end of the year,” he added.

    Sure... based off this graph it would only be a matter of time before it happens again, though.

    The European Commission is supporting efforts to establish an investment plan to expand the capacity of pipelines in the Southern Gas Corridor between the EU and Azerbaijan.

    Ethnically cleansing Nagorno-Karabakh is fine apparently.