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Trumpcare dead!? GOP has lost two more votes! Open Thread

Mitch McConnell has a sad

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By David Futrelle

BAM! Two more Republicans have announced they’ll be voting no on moving forward on Trumpcare, for a total of four. So it looks like the bill is DONE.

DISCUSS! Celebrate! No trolls,  Trump fans allowed!

UPDATE: McConnell is now pushing REPEAL ONLY. Seems like a desperate move, but we need to keep calling and protesting!

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kupo
kupo
7 years ago

@John
I’m sorry you’re going through that. Sometimes I’ll get to a point where I’m relying too heavily on not being sober and when I get to the point where I want to change that I’ll substitute something else that relaxes my anxiety, like video games. Took me a while to find that solution so I thought I’d share. Feel free to ignore if you’re not looking for advice.

Alan Robertshaw
Alan Robertshaw
7 years ago

@ kupo

which means I can spend that time reading

I sometimes used to catch the bus for exactly that reason. Also, on the return, I could jump off a few miles early and have a nice walk which I find is a good way to ‘de-tune’. It’s having that physical and temporal separation between work and home that doesn’t seem to be the same when you’re driving.

But yeah, if they’ve been good enough to get back to you so quickly then it’s only polite to reciprocate. Good luck anyway whichever option you choose.

Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
7 years ago

@kupo

I uh had been trying to do that, but games became part of the problem eventually. On one hand, there’s this one I got back to about a month and a half ago, which is… shall we say, relaxed. It’s structured like a MMO but plays and feels more like a 3D point-and-click, and some of the activities available at my levels are incredibly AFK – it’s a blessing because with my current setup, anything click-intensive is gonna be a real fast track to carpal tunnel syndrome. It’s also a curse because I pretty much always have both my hands free to roll anything and everything. The other problem is the community, at times extremely toxic. Most of my friends and clanmates go about their business with public chat turned off for this very reason, but I’ve been unable to do the same. I’m always afraid of missing something I need to see, like someone asking for help or something like that.

As for console gaming ? I don’t even know where to start. There’s just nothing that really gets me going right now. Started Toukiden 2 about two days ago and got bored almost instantly. And a few months ago I’ve had to tell my usual co-op teammate to go fuck himself with a hornet-infested cactus since he voted FN then came straight to me to splain ’bout I need to educate meself. Playing alone is more fun than listening to that bullshit, but still. My fear of spiders and my inability to find people to play with (yano, someone I can put between the spiders and me while I snipe the creepy fucks from very far indeed) has kept me off Ark, pretty much the only game on the PS4 that I really wanna play these days.

So yeah, we’re at the point where even friggin video games make me depressed. It’s funny ’cause nothing makes sense anymore, folks !

… drinks are on me.

Policy of Madness
Policy of Madness
7 years ago

McCain has brain cancer:

I’m sure it’s terrible to have brain cancer even if you have fantastic insurance coverage. Too bad McCain wants to rip away insurance coverage for people with brain cancer who aren’t him. I don’t think brain cancer survival rates are improved by lack of affordable treatment.

kupo
kupo
7 years ago

@John
That sucks. 🙁 I’ve been mostly playing RiME which is really chill and Horizon: Zero Dawn which I’m currently stuck on a boss in. And I’ll usually fall back on a Harvest Moon type game (currently Stardew Valley) if I don’t have other things to play.

Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
7 years ago

@kupo

Which boss is that ? I can probably offer advice seeing how much HZD I’ve played, including in very hard mode, and I’ve got some seekrit tacticz for most Machines. I think I also have most of the whole thing figured out by now, so maybe I can offer some general advice as well, like how to best mod stuff, etc.

I’m veeery excited for that expansion, too. Kind of the first trial by fire for the franchise, now that so much has been said about the game and the “controversies”. I’m hoping the DLC will double down on everything that made the usual assholes boycott, and work on the legit issues raised by others. (Also probably gameplay improvements and additions, sure, why not. But I can’t lie, I mostly care about the SJWness of the game and whether it keeps it up and adresses its own issues).

As a bonus, it looks like it’s gonna have ALL the snow. As a non-downside, Aloy will be the player character in the DLC too, which is kind of a disappointment on one hand because I could see Sylens as the best candidate for a new player character. On the other hand, he is kind of a dick and Aloy is so friggin awesome I don’t see myself ever getting bored of playing as her anyway.

… I also really wanna see Horizon go full Monster Hunter with character creation and multiplayer. Like, in a spin-off game mode à la GTA Online. The way Aloy’s story and character have been developping so far, I can totally see her founding a tribe for the tribeless in a future game. Then you can write her and the player-created characters’ stories in parallel, with the latter being those tribespeople of hers. What, I can dream, can’t I ? ._.

And then you make them grind super-rare components for gear and keep them enslaved in an addicting loop of RNG ! Muhahahahaaahh !

… I can’t even read a mention of HZD without nerding out to the far ends of the Earth.

Falconer
Falconer
7 years ago

@kupo:

I’ve been mostly playing RiME which is really chill and Horizon: Zero Dawn which I’m currently stuck on a boss in. And I’ll usually fall back on a Harvest Moon type game (currently Stardew Valley) if I don’t have other things to play.

I need to get back to HZD. I haven’t been playing video games much in the evenings; I’m running a 5E game on Saturday mornings using the collection of classic modules in Tales from the Yawning Portal, so I’ve got a lot of prep time, especially since I’m not sure the book covers the gap between Lost Shrine of Tamoachan (not quite 6th level at the end) and White Plume Mountain (8th level at the beginning).

I really enjoy Stardew Valley. So do my kids. I made them their own farm to play with, because turning my game over to four-year-olds really feels like letting in griefers. All they really want to do is plant torches in every available space, but it won’t be long before they discover they can knock down stone walls and dig up garden plots.

Anyway, I’m stymied on Stardew Valley at the moment because I reached 80th level in the mines and ran into a wall. The difficulty jumps really high.

Scildfreja Unnyðnes
Scildfreja Unnyðnes
7 years ago

<3 John. I know you're doing what you can. No shame in any of it! If you think it would help, feel free to talk about it as much or ass little as you want to. Brains are weird.

Haven't played many video games lately, sadly. Sounds fun :c

Tov01
Tov01
7 years ago

I would love to play HZD, but I don’t have a PS4. *sigh*

Mostly I’ve been playing a lot of Crusader Kings 2.

kupo
kupo
7 years ago

@John
It’s one of the cauldrons, I think RHO. I can beat the snapjaw in the main world but in that confined space it’s really hard. Plus he finds me when I hide, which wasn’t an issue in previous cauldrons. I really dislike the cauldrons because you need to adopt a completely different fighting style than the rest of the game. Plus I apparently don’t have the best weapon upgrades for this guy and I can’t leave now that I’ve entered the boss chamber.

Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
7 years ago

@kupo, Scildfreja

Thanksies. I feel like I might make some progress if I stop acting like a hermit even online. And I definitely don’t spend as much time here as I should 🙁

and I can’t leave now that I’ve entered the boss chamber.

Ouch !

Um… That means you have to make do with what you have on hand. Are there freeze rime herbs in the room ? You might have the other materials needed to make a potion, that’d greatly help in a long range fight.

Shock ammo may help get an angle on the freeze sac under its neck. Careful with that ‘splosion though ! Another method (a lot riskier) is to drop a tearblast arrow right in front of it when it’s moving forward. With timing and/or luck, it will hit the sac.

The ice splosion will get the nasty frozen, and you can then take out the fire canisters too. They might be shielded so be sure to tear off that armor before freezing it.

And if you have a sling that fires freeze bombs, use it until the Snapjaw is frozen, then go for the freeze sac, then for the canisters !

And if all else fails, you can always lower the difficulty. I think being stuck in a no-win situation warrants it.

(This might sound dumb but have you tried fast-travelling ? Right after you reload and before you free the boss)

kupo
kupo
7 years ago

(This might sound dumb but have you tried fast-travelling ? Right after you reload and before you free the boss)

Not a dumb question. I’ve tried it, didn’t work. 🙁

I’ll try some of those tips. I don’t think my sling has freeze. I can’t remember what all ammo I have. I think I have one weapon with shock. I know I have shock wire at least. I was going to try ‘sploding the sac under his jaw or belly as I’m being lowered down when first activating him, just haven’t had time or patience for it in a while. 🙂

My husband has offered to try to beat him for me, but I want to exhaust my options first.

EJ (Scheming Liberal Race-Traitor)
EJ (Scheming Liberal Race-Traitor)
7 years ago

Mostly I’ve been playing a lot of Crusader Kings 2.

OHMYKATIESOGOOD.

Scildfreja Unnyðnes
Scildfreja Unnyðnes
7 years ago

ck2 10/10 would be excommunicated for discovering heliocentrism again

Scented Fucking Hard Chairs
Scented Fucking Hard Chairs
7 years ago

If we’re taking about wasted-ass gaming (one of my favourite subjects!): I had an attack of the naughties the other day and blew my savings on a Switch. Because Splatoon 2 comes out in… *checks watch*… Five hours and I wanted everything to be ready. Eheh. >_>;

So yeah, if nobody sees me for a week, it’s because I’ll be playing Splatoon, Fallout and Pokemon at the same time and just don’t have enough hands. Wish I was a real squid…

Falconer
Falconer
7 years ago

@SFHC oh my glob, I can’t wait to play Breath of the Wild myself, but I’m not sure I’d leap over the Wii U to the Switch for it if there’s a Wii U version. All I’ve got is a Wii, and boy, did I earn it. By calling Game Crazy only once a week to see how close I was to the top of the waiting list.

kupo
kupo
7 years ago
Scildfreja Unnyðnes
Scildfreja Unnyðnes
7 years ago

Tromp’s a gibbering half-wit with no idea what life’s like for 99.9% of humanity. Not big surprise!

(sorry, that came out sort of harsh! I can’t do more than roll my eyes at how disconnected he is. He’s just clueless.)

Policy of Madness
Policy of Madness
7 years ago

You guys! What the actual fuckcakes?

That’s not even the first time he’s said something like that. He said it once before and either nobody corrected him, or they tried and it went right through without sticking in his brainpan. That’s not a gaffe, he genuinely believes he’s saying something correct.

Katz
7 years ago

He also told McCain to “get well soon.”

Ooglyboggles
Ooglyboggles
7 years ago

@kupo
I’d slay 50 werehogs for 15 dollars a month insurance. Is *~meme magic~* going to make it happen because of Trump’s rock dumb mind.

@Scildfreja Unnyðnes
No insult is too much for someone like this.

Tov01
Tov01
7 years ago

@Katz
That would be a cruel joke if we didn’t already know he was an idiot.

Redsilkphoenix: Jetpack Vixen, Agent of the FemiNest Collective; Keeper of a Hell Toupee, and all-around Intergalactic Meanie
Redsilkphoenix: Jetpack Vixen, Agent of the FemiNest Collective; Keeper of a Hell Toupee, and all-around Intergalactic Meanie
7 years ago

Haven’t caught up on this thread yet, but I found this editorial cartoon on Imgur just now, and thought I’d share it here:

http://i.imgur.com/2TKMFlr.jpg

This idea might not be implementable, but it’s fun to imagine.

ETA: Brain bleach I just found there too:

http://imgur.com/gallery/u7N2m

“We just spent a hour looking for her”

http://i.imgur.com/gTR7gJV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8wHtOqO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IebOcR3.jpg

Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
Sinkable John : Pansy Ass Pinko, Regicidal Beast-of-Burden
7 years ago

Also see Hair Furor’s insights on the napoleonic wars.

@redsilkphoenix

I’m all for that and putting them on minimum wage.

And those that don’t like it can quit and go make money elsewhere, since it’s apparently more important than, yano, doing their fucking job for the people they’re supposed to represent.

It’s also totally implementable, seeing as it only requires radical social changes that are sorely needed anyway if our species is gonna make it through this century.

ETA : Okay I could really do with some brain bl… *melts on the floor forever*

Katz
7 years ago

This idea might not be implementable, but it’s fun to imagine.

The ACA has that exact provision!

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