Edit: forgot my own citation: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fen...

Why? This is a factual statement. Do you stop reading anything that contradicts your (likely erroneous) preconceived notions? That's a fast way to become a moron. Smart people, when they read something that sounds wrong to them, keep reading and then use logic and citations to attempt to disprove what they read.

Yes one can set up their own personal VPN on a rented server in the target country with minimal extra lag, but I suspect that it's well beyond the technical ability of most console gamers. Parent is right, running through run-of-the-mill VPN services is going to increase pings to the point of unsuitability for most modern games.

As much as I disdain big corporations I have to partly disagree here. I have no problem with google exercising strict control over what they allow in their app store, because it is trivial to sideload apps or use an alternative source for apps like fdroid. Apple exercising strict control over their app store whilst also not allowing sideloading or other app stores is fine because they are also the sole manufacturer of the hardware on which their app store runs, so they can do as they like. If you don't like it, don't buy Apple. If you want (relative) freedom, buy an android phone and sideload everything.

The above could accurately describe anytime a rightwing/conservative leader has been democratically elected in any country in modern history. Millions of working class people convinced by the (billionaire-owned) mass media to vote against their own economic interests. The lack of critical thinking that allows them to be so deceived is a very deliberate consequence of chronic underfunding of education systems by rightwing/conservative governments, a vicious positive feedback loop.

Who says we can't have both?

Usually, I would agree with you, HL1 was recently remastered (to HL2 level graphics/physics) and HL2 still looks pretty decent. However, cast your mind back to 2004 and the state of FPS video games back then. HL2 (well, the source engine really) was a monumental leap forward in terms of realistic graphics and more importantly realistic physics. When Valve released source engine and HL2 tech demos in 2003 people were literally stunned by how advanced it was for the time (I remember this one vividly: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F...).

Now, if HL3 is released on nothing more than a slightly updated Source 2 engine, your statement will stand, and many gamers will be sorely disappointed. If, however, Valve makes a repeat performance of 2004 by dramatically improving on the graphics and physics simulation capabilities available in games today (maybe they'll call it Source 3?), then that may warrant further remakes of HL1 & HL2 in this new engine.

Nope, Win10 enterprise never nags me for anything, ever. Although I have an MS account (which I use for playing microsoft's multiplayer video games like Halo) I have never had the OS itself logged in, never even been asked. Also onedrive, cortana, edge, xbox game bar, automatic updates (I apply security updates manually at my convenience), telemetry and all other bloat all permanently disabled.

Agreed.

The above statement is true, but those people tend to have less influence (harmful or otherwise) on politics/law/economic policy than the billionaires idolized by republican voters, who exert a huge influence on those things to benefit themselves at the cost of everyone else.

True again, but the billionaires (who contribute billions mostly to the republicans) are manipulating both sides to such an extent that it makes the manipulations (of either side) by other groups/interests insignificant by comparison

All of which would be solved by the US having a REAL left-wing social democratic party in power. But we all know that will never happen because most USians will conflate social democracy with the ultimate boogeyman, communism, even though it would vastly improve the quality of life for the majority of them by fixing the issues you mentioned. Citation: Nordic countries. Disclaimer: I'm not american, but my country is not much better.

Sounds good in theory, but in practice the 'reasonable discipline measures' don't do diddly squat without the support of the parent, which is absent all too often. I know many teachers, several of them often lament that they are being as strict as possible with defiant children, but when they contact the parents to explain the situation and the reasonable consequence/disciplinary measure, the parent responds by blaming the teacher rather than supporting them to implement that consequence. At that point the teacher's hands are tied, the child has 'won' because of a bad parent. As a result, that child knows they can get away with whatever it was in future, other children observe this and assume they can get away with it too. Even if they can't (because they have competent parents) it creates significantly more work for the teacher, resulting in less actual teaching taking place, all to the detriment of the entire class, the school, the education system, society as a whole. This might be a bit extreme, but maybe parents should be made to pass some kind of test before being allowed to procreate. I don't mean sitting a written exam, I mean a practical test, like raising a well-trained dog or something.

As someone who has done some work in education (although not my main profession) I can confidently tell you this: the success of a child in school strongly depends on their attitude, respect for others, their willingness to work (especially on difficult or boring tasks), their ability to self-motivate and self-regulate, and their manners. These are things that have to be taught by parents, and if the child hasn't acquired these skills by a certain age (usually around 8-12) then it's too late in a majority of cases. Too many kids seem to believe that their uneducated opinions are more valid than the teacher's facts, or that learning requires hard work from the teacher but not themselves, and this comes from the parents having a similar attitude.

Completely agree.

Absolutely, if the reason for the tax is to cover road repair, in any sane world it MUST be calculated from vehicle weight, number of axles and distance driven. Because as you alluded to, there is a 4th power law. To be specific, damage to roads is proportional to the 4th power of axle load/weight.

The fact that this comment is modded down, when everything you said is factually correct, is deeply worrying for the future of our species.

Contradiction in terms, if they were capable of learning such things, they'd have figured it out long ago. Otherwise I agree with everything you said.