Tolya Ugajin

I went to the 10 and 15. When I got the gist of what they were all about, I lost interest and haven't been back since. I didn't like most of the people I went to school with, and most of those I liked were a year ahead of me, so why would I want to go see these people years later?

I used to commute 4 hours a day for work, and had a lot of time to ponder this question every time the lottery got big. I would start with a single sim, open to only myself and close friends. Most of the sim would be raised around 50 meters high, cliffs down to the sea, with a few little beach areas at the bottom of the cliffs. I'd hire Safira Tempura to come out of retirement and create a modern mesh version of her "Grans" castle. The rest would be the most beautiful gardens imaginable. Surrounding that would be a ring of 8 sims. At the outside of these sims would be a continuous beach, the rest would be all water, open to the public for water sports. In the air at 500m intervals would be a series of platforms, and the last 1000 meters open for skyboxes. This housing would be given free to select individuals. Surrounding that would be a ring of 16 sims. I would find 15 people to manage 15 of them, and each would have it's own BDSM-oriented theme. So, one with a Japanese bondage theme, one Medieval, etc. The managers would be able to set up clubs, a small amount of shops, public and private areas, and be given an allotment of housing on the prior ring to give to people of their choosing - hopefully thus creating a very strong group of good people in residence. The managers would keep any and all proceeds of the commercial aspects of these sims. The remaining sim on this ring would be educational. I'd give the managers generous budgets to hire custom builders for all of this. The final ring, 24 sims (so 7x7, minus the 25 sims inside) would be open water homesteads. The ground level for boating and underwater gardens, etc. and sandboxes for residents to create in up in the air. And, with all of this, I'd probably just sit at home with my girl and play Hand and Foot all day... Now, all I need to do is win a big Powerball!

Personally, I find people are more "real" (as in genuine to their true selves) online than in RL. People tend to drop their polite masks in the anonymous online world, and show their true colors, which are generally unpleasant. I'm thinking, at my 35th reunion, walking in with my wife on one arm and well-paid highly attractive escort on the other, and say, "hello everyone! This is my wife, and this is our girlfriend. I win!" I hate reunions - a bunch of people whose lives peaked in high school standing around lying about how awesome they are doing, and all the a**hats who were jerks back then suddenly pretending to be nice people. /me is feeling extra misanthropic this morning.

And it's a good thing, too - you have so much great stuff and, what, 4 sims of it?

While I cannot respond at a local/state level, not knowing which would apply to you and unable to respond for all 50 states. this is simply untrue at a federal level. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/historical-tables/ Go to table 3.1. Projections over the 4 fiscal years of the Trump administration show a 22.5% increase in non-medicare health program spending - around triple the rate of inflation. Medicare to go up 20%, Social Security 24%, veteran's benefits 32.7%. You can use table 3.2 to get a different breakdown, and there you will indeed see a decrease in food assistance programs - but considering those programs were 25% higher at the end of the Obama administration than during the height of the great recession, one would think some decrease in spending would be appropriate, given the economy is far stronger and the need for those programs would have declined. On the other hand, federal spending on transportation continues to increase at about the rate of inflation. But, most transportation programs are local. Now, which party controls most large city governments? Hint, it ain't the Republicans.

Excellent! /me puts down Orwar as his first citizen. "How about Minister of Justice?"

No thanks., he looks like a guy we used to stuff into lockers in high school. Besides, his hair looks very greasy.

But I'd be ever so more benevolent than any Czar

My, what a pretty kitty you have, Scylla! It was a lousy movie, other than Halle...

SCYLLA! Where is your kitty picture submission?

Rammstein's "Te quiero puta!"

I am somewhat ashamed to say, my millennial daughter can mop the floor with me in a sake drinking contest. That stuff puts me down HARD.

No, but regardless of what holidays, if any, they and everyone else celebrate, I wish everyone a wonderful nondenominational winter solstice and a happy next trip around the sun. Oh, ETA if you started an in-world fundraiser for their happy hour, I pledge 1,000L, or 400 quatloos, whichever is less.

I used to drink boxed white wine all the time in college, but eventually graduated to red. Assuming your prices are similar to my area, you can get a decent bottle of tempranillo for $7-$9.

Yeah but I can never decide who are the Populares and who are the Optimates. At any rate, don't be selfish and vote purely for your own self-interest. Vote for what you think is going to be in the best long-term interest of the nation (or at the state and local levels, those) as a whole.

Thanks a lot. You made me laugh so hard I peed myself.

Personally, I'm in favor of a benevolent dictatorship...but only if it's me.

I still don't get it in this context... Oh, and I'm at work, so opening videos and hearing them is out of the question (but I've seen this before)

NOT THE CHEAP STUFF!!! Although, I must admit, you can get very good Spanish reds for under $10/bottle.

LOL yeah I prattle on, and assume people know a lot of the background. But, I don't get the cowbell reference?

In a nutshell, as the Assembly became more and more powerful at the expense of the Senate, it began to decide on matters of war, who would be consul, etc. based less on who would do the best job and more on who would give them the most, rather than generally deferring to the Senate. Oh, and outright bribery became much more common, because you couldn't bribe your way into the Senate, but you could bribe enough people to be a Consul, even if it was technically illegal. Follow the careers of Marius to Caesar to Augustus and watch how bribing and/or whipping up the urban populace (the "democratic" element in their government) became ever more important. Prior to that time, the internal rivalries between Senators ensured that no one could attain supreme power for longer than a year. Even someone like Scipio Africanus, who finally put an end to Hannibal's campaign against Rome, couldn't stay on top for long. But, when a scared populace decides to ignore the law and elect a popular general (Marius) Consul in absentia, and do it 5 years in a row, because his partisans on the one hand raise the level of fear (of the Cimbri and the Teutones) and on the other promise great rewards from plunder, and you've set the stage for civil wars, triumvirates, and finally perpetual dictatorship. Add into the mix the permanent elimination of property requirements to serve in the legions (thus permitting Marius, Sulla, etc. to turn penniless men into soldiers reliant on their general, not the Republic, for their future) and you've laid the groundwork for someone like Pompey, at best a mediocre general, despised by the Senatorial elite, but rich and popular with the ignorant commoners. Remind you of anyone?

I hear about people voting "in their own self interest" a lot. The problem is, most people can't figure out their own self interest beyond next weeks paycheck. It always reminds me of the saying (of dubious attribution) " A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. " It happened in Greece. It happened in Rome. It's happening throughout the West today, including America.

That should be in the kitty picture thread!

Ahh so because she's in the Congress defending her positions against mere mortals is beneath her. Got it. Of course, Ted Cruz, a Senator (a much more prestigious offer than Representative) offered to debate Alyssa Milano, so maybe it's just AOC after all? Oh, and you may want to watch the clip again. He didn't call Neil a "leftist", he questioned whether he was an objective journalist or an opinion journalist. And, he admitted he got "destroyed" because he wasn't prepared. And he apologized. Curious, would it be OK for me to start a post to you with "Girl" or "Lady" or some such? Asking for a friend, because he thinks it would be denounced as sexist.

Actually, he relies primarily on facts, and he usually provides the sources to, you know, credible research. For instance, AOC: "ZOMG, TRUMP IS PUTTING CHILDREN IN CAGES AND MAKING THEM DRINK FROM TOILETS!!!" (holds up picture of kids in cage) Shapiro: "Actually, that picture is from 2015, when Obama was putting kids in "cages". Here's a link. Why didn't you and the media go ballistic about it back then? Oh, and they are not drinking from toilets. The water fountain is on top of the commode in an all-in-one unit, which saves plumbing." Rachel Maddow: "Wow, that just happened, Shapiro is such a misogynistic racist".