Finally, stable currency

Yeah I've met some Africans who I regard as assimilated into middle-class Anglo-American culture.

I've also met some Africans born abroad and clearly assimilated into global Anglo culture.

However, this doesn't mean all Africans are assimilated, nor that such assimilation washes away all meaningful differences.

Plainly not

I don't hate Africans, I just don't believe that race is merely skin-deep

I don't hate hippos but I wouldn't want them loose in my neighborhood

Or marrow

No, I will not watch other people play D&D

Machiavelli is dealing with a very specific scenario, in which a man comes to hold political power in a new way but must grapple with an existing oligarchy. It's written as a guide to stabilizing medieval Florence out of a revolutionary period rather than governing at all times and places.

I used to play a lot of older MTG formats (Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, etc)

I went looking earlier today at some of the old forums. Depending on the topic there's no posts for months or even more than a year. For example MTG Salvation has no posts on "Established" Legacy combo decks for over a year and no posts on any "Established" Legacy deck at all for over a month.

The main Vintage forum ("The Mana Drain") seems to be offline at present.

So I think much of the older player-base has probably been put off by this or that thing that Wizards has done and moved on.

That said, for probably the past decade Wizards (makers of the game) has been pivoting more towards casual games with many players and away from competitive, one-on-one duels. Their support for the Pro Tour has supposedly been declining for some time and their special products have been focused on casual group play for years (eg Nemesis and Commander). I think Magic is now built/marketed as an alternative to Dungeons and Dragons with a more fleshed-out structure (due to the cards).

I was interested in Magic as a sort of alternative to chess (to which I have returned as my main hobby), and I think that phase of Magic is mostly gone.

If you liked Magic for the strategy, I recommend lichess.org (for chess) and backgammongalaxy.com (for backgammon)

I also like to spectate Starcraft, especially Brood War. I know you mentioned your interest in SC in another post. If you don't already know, top-level Brood War tournaments are still ongoing in Korea, with the SOOP StarLeage (previously Afreeca StarLeague) just finishing a round of qualifiers and about to start a new season. A few years ago Blizzard released a "remaster" of SC1 which keeps all the same mechanics but upgrades the graphics (and fixes a few bugs, the most impactful of which is increasing particle limit so Terran Valkyries can actually shoot).

I've been following a new RTS called Battle Aces which just finished a round of closed beta. It's like Starcraft 2 minus all the homework (eg inject larva every 40 seconds). The major skills seem to be unit choice, strategy (harass, push, defend, expand, tech) and fine unit control ("micro"). Basically it looks like the Starcraft 2 I always wanted to play.

I don't think there is an active arena shooter now that Quake Champions has wrapped up its life-cycle, but I think there's surprisingly good strategic depth in that genre. Rapha's VOD reviews are really great if you've never seen them. Rapha is the Quake GOAT specifically because of his strategic understanding of the game (his aim now is about as good as other pros, but historically was worse). Watching him explain the logic behind his gameplay is quite satisfying.

gold is at all time highs

but silver is still waiting to take off

only 6% more inflation left

"Just say no to Tucker"

"Why?"

"Am I not entertained?"

das raycis

To be fair natural "intelligence" is also out of control

https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=jdanSzYmjFM

(see 1m45s for a particularly clear example)

Do you think you'll ever become a cisgender female?

The Shriners claim to be Islamic (but Jews claim to be all sorts of things)

Are Freemasons Jewish?

Are the Jews that run Western governments trying to destroy the majority populations under their control? Yes, obviously

https://invidious.perennialte.ch/watch?v=-s7E-PsMJRI

the actor was just an actor

This is good actually