Nephil Thief

Suddenly, the stuff I've heard on Top 20 radio stations makes a frightening amount of sense.

I'm betting the record labels make more money than the rappers, though. (And I believe there are a lot of problems with this model of "victory," much more than just who gets the money. But I don't have the knowledge to offer commentary on it.)

[bolding mine] And IMO that is a problem. Knee-jerk ad hominem responses may be emotionally satisfying, but they are unhelpful and alienate people. I agree that nobody should be policing the legal status of your turban-wearing privilege. OTOH, I don't think there's anything wrong with people telling you in such a case: "You know, that might be considered offensive." Likewise, I don't think there's anything wrong with you thinking about it, considering whether it's actually a good idea, and (eventually) rejecting the notion. I don't like most forms of censorship, but this isn't censorship. Telling people when they're about to do something insulting is not censorship. Self-restraint is not censorship. Etc. In general, just because you have the legal freedom to casually insult someone's culture, doesn't mean you should. The question in my mind isn't whether the author has a point or not. They have a point. The question is more about where (approximately) one can draw a line. Makes sense. A lot of my worldview does seem to be informed by Jewish philosophical concepts rather than Christian ones. At least for now... I missed this earlier... Ouch. My parents' families were fortunate to get to the US earlier - my father's side from Russia, my mom's variously from Hungary and Poland, at the beginning of the 20th century IIRC. At this point we're all pretty Americanized. (Though, my grandmother on my father's side would be a second generation immigrant. She just turned 90. I should ask her about it, some time, if she's willing to talk... Also, thanks.)

So yeah, possibly of note: when I mentioned this article to family yesterday, the response included an indication that people trying to police cultural appropriation can "jump off a cliff." In my experience, when someone provokes a suggestion of self-injury or violence like that - even a sarcastic suggestion - it's often an indication that they have a point. *high fives*

Err... Sorry. In retrospect, I think the Chanukah music example was a terribly really bad one. I was fishing for analogies, but there aren't any - because Jewish culture has not been, well, colonized in the same way that African-American culture has. As for the article I linked to, well - my feeling is that, seeing as I'm more closely attached to the colonizing culture, I don't get to ignore the author. Even if what they're saying annoys me at first glance. I don't know. I'm just getting some conflicting messages, and trying to make sense of things. Hope I'm not being too pompous.

You can't always be the hero.

I hope this article is not too excessively political for here... http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/09/cultural-exchange-and-cultural-appropriation/ Because I found it pretty thought-provoking. ... I'm reminded of my high school's a capella group singing Chanukah songs, back in ~2006. That kind of got under my skin. It felt like an intrusion into my territory - not sacrilege or insult, but an obnoxious blunder. Which is really kind of amusing, when you think about it; seeing as I'm only Jewish by ancestry, certainly not by religion, and barely by culture. My last visit to a synagogue was over a year ago (and I'm surprised I didn't burst into flames when I walked in). On the other hand: my family is full of white jazz musicians. I enjoy cooking curries. I listen to all manner of music myself. Is that not a bit inconsistent? ... I have a hard time classifying my feelings on this. Where does one draw the line between appropriation and not-really-anyone's-business? Between being respectful, and being needlessly self-limiting? Between promoting cultural equality, and promoting a kind of cultural protectionism? For my part, I feel that if a Christian chef wants to cook latkes, that's their own business. But Christians singing Jewish holiday songs in front of a mostly Christian crowd feels like a bit much. On the other hand, why don't I feel the same way about jazz and soul food? Like I said: inconsistent. Not good. ... More to the point, I'm a (very amateur) writer of fiction. And I feel like I'm pulled in several directions there. On the one hand: "Appropriation is bad." On the other: "Your default setting is politically counterprogressive." Between those, if I want to be a reponsible writer, there's not much I could write about. (Mind, I wouldn't mind a Christian writing about a Jewish character, culture and all; as long as they actually did the research and got things correct. But how much of a litmus test is that? Different kinds of oppression are not equivalent.) ... tl;dr If I want to at least try to make the world a slightly better place, what are sensible best practices for navigating the seas of intersecting privilege and oppression? (And should I even be asking that here?)

Ouch. Phantom Unicorns are quite tough. *digs around in pockets for a Ring of Resistance*

... I'm like the only one anywhere near Boston, aren't I.

Wheee! Thanks!

Anyone know where the Unicorn Graveyard dungeon is? I've never been able to find it.

I didn't actually expect a sympathetic response, or any response really... Err, thank you. Very much. I mean it. But it was my fault.

Whoops, right you are! Fixing momentarily. Edit: on an unrelated note, how does almost everyone here grow their hair so long and pretty?! I always lose patience with it before it's even past my ears.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7EgLkt64WtabUV1UWdTMWFXUXM/view?usp=sharing I don't know where I'd be without cats. [Edit: fixed link, whoops]

So... I realize I'm still a bit of a stranger here, but... I want to apologize for the various times I've hijacked threads on social privilege, etc. with my own whining and personal issues. That was really not cool. I should have given people space and been respectful, instead of seeking reassurance at others' expense. Mea culpa. I'll do better.

It's been a long, long time since I watched television... Let's see... Earth: Final Conflict was good while it had an interestingly ambiguous protagonist, then they got a new guy who was a total Mary Sue. Sigh. Enterprise and Star Trek: Voyager, ugh, awful. Star Trek: The Next Generation, some very good episodes, far too many awful ones. Notice a pattern? Star Trek: Deep Space 9 didn't feel like Star Trek, and I think that was a very good thing. Firefly, hmm, I have mixed feelings. When it's good, it's good. But a lot of times, it falls into the very stereotypes it supposedly tries to subvert. See the ending of Jaynestown for a good example of this, or the whole character of Jubal Early. Who is John Doe was good and creepy until the title character discovered martial arts and went all Mary Sue. Sigh. More recent stuff? Well, I once saw five minutes of The Walking Dead. Most of it was some huge musclebound guy beating up three women at once, followed by them getting rescued by another huge musclebound dude, with loud rock music in the background. Because zombies aren't gritty enough I guess? Anyway yeah, how about no thanks.

Euroclydon - that sounds a lot like some of the stuff I went through, after I dropped out of college. And am stilll going through, really. That sense of not knowing who I am is familiar. Likewise the apathetic contemplation of suicide. Please do stay with us. I know it's hard to see, but you are worth something. *hugs*

Wow. Sorry! I was taking it as a given that the US skews way to the right, but didn't realize how far to the authoritarian right we skew even by current UK standards.

https://www.politica...-7.88&soc=-6.77 Economic Left/Right: -7.88 Social Liberterian/Authoritarian: -6.77 For whatever that's worth. My answers on some things would skew more authoritarian by the standards of a multiple-choice test. To be honest, that is in part from observing my own lack of scruples at times; I think I'd be doing more good in the world if I were mandated to, rather than just on-and-off encouraged. And likewise, less ill if some of my worse habits were actually illegal. (Not an excuse, mind. But.) [Edit: for some reason I find it amusing, given the above, that my current forum title is "Mercenary."] Oh, and on a different and rather depressing note: https://www.politica...-7.88&soc=-6.77 I'd heard the UK's left kind of imploded last year (and read all about it on a very acerbic blog), but... wow.

http://i.imgur.com/Vum0h9u.png These days I use Linux exclusively... not so much because I like it, as because there is no alternative. (And I'm not letting you see my desk. There's so much stuff on it that the bottom layers of paper are starting to compost.)

[Edit: deleted, thought better of it. Dumping one's existential nausea on a public forum is also unethical. Sorry, all.]

Found the problem! Finally! Additional Features menu -> uncheck "Terrain Animations Play" -> no more CPU churn. I would suggest this feature be turned off by default, but I'd bet it doesn't cause nearly as much resource usage in the cross-platform port.

This scenario is like a James Bond novel written by C.S. Lewis. No, really. It derives a lot from Christian concepts, and even from Christian conspiracy theories. The thing is that, while the latter would probably strike me as toxic in a modern setting, it seems entirely appropriate for epic fantasy; especially this epic fantasy, set as it is in a vast bureaucratic empire. The messianic story fits okayish; the creepy conspiracy notes fit like a glove. Or, rather, a steel gauntlet. My main criticism is that there's too much of the messianic and too little of the conspiracy, especially towards the end. The scenery is great, too. The city of Keptus feels legitimately old. The Prazac Dam all but hums with modern energy. The Spine really does feel like a beautiful-but-dangerous mountain landscape. For the limited scope of a 2D game, this is an impressive feat. I would say this scenario definitely deserves a BEST rating, rough edges notwithstanding. Also I kind of hope the author found a career in writing or game design or something, because he has got some serious talent.

Ah, my apologies for the redundancy then. Also, seriously, thanks for porting it.

Just something that needs to be noted: the above depends on the MSVC++ 2013 library. That version of the library will not install under Wine. Linux users will need a Windows partition or virtual machine - probably Windows Vista SP2 or later. I don't know if MSVC++ 2013 can install on XP, either.