Music: Amaranthe's Digital World Video: a selection of ZZZ Cut Scenes.
Zenless Zone Zero is an astonishingly well written game and despite all the issues that are inherent to the Gacha model, it is quite satisfying.
It's VERY Free To Play friendly (I have yet to spend a cent after one year). The story itself is weird and as mentioned here, despite the Xianxia elements, it scores surprisingly high on Moh's Scale of Sci-Fi Hardness, (4-4.5 is the number I keep coming up with...and that is SO strange*).
I started streaming this game as a temporary filler and was frankly put off at first by the very unconventional mechanics. However the story was interesting and it has grown on me. While lacking the gorgeous scenery and astounding open world of Genshin, it is every bit as well written as Genshin Impact and the more urban environs are interesting in their own right.
The combat playstyle is reminiscent of the arcade fighting games of long ago with every character having a specific set of keystrokes to maximize their ability in addition to the usual controls.
I do recommend it.
Tonight we'll be streaming the premier of the Summer Event and exploring more of the story, in an early stream 6pmEST/10pmUTC over at https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet so stop by, say "Hi!" and bully a V-Tuber as he roll the Gacha and tilts at the RNG.
*While the science is fairly solid given the conceits of the plot....we should perhaps have a trigger warning for engineers...there is no engineering here!
Thoughts On Lists, Priorities, and Maintaining PerspectiveSarah Hoyt and Kim DuToit both have perspectives on the recent hysteria over the latest chapter of the Epstein debacle.
I urge you to read both in full. Mr. Du Toit has provided links as well to support his Hypothesis, (Which Mrs. Hoyt largely shares) that the sudden frenzy of screeching inchoate rage amongst the a certain hysterical wing of the right seems strangely timed to distract from several other nefarious deeds being investigated as well as distract from a full appreciation of the current administration's list of victories, which, while not sufficient in and of themselves with regards to the national debt and other issues the country faces, are surprisingly consequential wins if those issues are to be dealt with.
The first corrective action to take when moving in the wrong direction is to slow down. This is what is being done, it may not be enough (historical precedent indicates that the odds are against the U.S. saving itself) but it is an important first step.
As to the lack of Epstein List names being released, this list sat in the hands of a Justice Department infested with Obama's appointments and it is vanishingly unlikely that it has not been sterilized or further corrupted. Getting to the bottom of the matter, if at all possible, will indeed take a long time.
For now the priority has to be preventing such crimes in the future (to the extent such parasitic hedonism can be deterred) and saving the country from its enemies, foreign, domestic, and financial.
And Now: A Word From Hololive
The Star Spangled Banner is a hard song to sing. A lot of V-Tubers try from time to time and it's frequently done as a bit, since hilarity often ensues. Hololive does this in the context of a beat game that scores the player on how well one matches the proper version of the song....Naressa Ravencroft took it seriously though, and pretty much nailed it.
(In fact, I'd never caught the last word of the first verse until now)
249 Years
While it is fashionable in some quarters to make a big production of not celebrating the holiday because America is far from perfect it is important to step back from such performative pouting. The "stolen land" slur is particularly silly, since EVERY single occupied spot on the planet was once occupied by some other group. Ironically, amongst the best claims to land based on historical precedent as opposed to historical realities is Israel, which the same folks decry as inherently illegitimate, and gleefully support those who advocate for the most barbaric depravities being committed against THOSE folks.
The U.S., like it's parent country, actually did a great deal to advance the notions of self determination, property rights, and even the anti-colonialism that so many of the countries critics so enthusiastically say they expose. The fact that these concepts took time to take root is because they did not exist, except in the most self serving fashion before the nation was founded, and the U.S. and other western nations developed them themselves, and bequeathed them to a largely ungrateful world. Since the 1920s the U.S. has given all its colonies the option of independence in elections, and those that have not taken that offer yet still have it as an option. In that same period it has expended considerable blood and treasure defending other nations and aside from occasional demands that the protected pay their fair share the country has asked as payment only for small plots of land to bury our dead who fell in the defense of those polities.
The notion that we should restrict the influx of people who wish to take advantages of the many advantages of living in our imperfect, but still successful society, and to only those who show respect by following the rule of law is not tyranny, oppression, or selfishness, but an acknowledgement of reality. Many of those who point to the unfortunate displacement of the native habitants of the Americas, now advocate for the exact same policies, societal norms, and outcomes of a world 400 years less advanced, outcomes that they performatively decry in any other context. Theirs are not good faith arguments.
The U.S. is not perfect, having been created by and inhabited by human beings, who are as some may have noted, an imperfect lot. It has, however, frequently self-corrected sometimes at great cost in money and blood. The nation for all its faults has created through its people, great prosperity, and has, increasingly, over time, afforded its people great personal autonomy, and an ability to voice their opinions; even very stupid opinions.
The United States did much more than its share to save humanity from the abattoir that was the 20th century and while there were those involved who did so cynically, the result was still a net good.
I'm not ashamed to be an American, I am on, balance, very happy to be so, and while my contribution to the countries' achievements has been essentially nil, I am proud of my country and what it tries to stand for. . This does not mean I turn a blind eye to our previous or current failings, nor does it mean I think our problems will be easily solved, but I am hopeful.
A video that makes a compelling case that Zenless Zone Zero is less Chinese supernatural fantasy (Xianxia) than it is a Chinese fighting vigilante hero story (Wuxia: what we usually think of as kung-fu stories).
It posits that the retroisms in the game are NOT just nostalgia, but an important part of the actual 'science' behind the lore.
1
YEah, I'm not sure what the consequences will be, but I approve of the strike.
I'm generally willing to roll the dice on the next world war, more because I calculate that the costs of not being resolute in calling bluffs are likely to be high.
If there was a real question of whether to start a lasting conventional war now, I have doubts that we have the public good will for expeditionary stuff. I think we need to work on domestic business first.
The quality of the people condemning Trump does not count as a complete endorsement of whatever it is that he has done now, but often it is a good starting approximation (even if also an emotionally unhealthy one for me).
The Iranian regime folks are not that likely to restrain themselves from attacking us, and the 'anti-colonialism' speech that someone has been promoting at US universities is distinctly threatening towards Americans. They were already probably doing everything they could do to hurt us.
The 'stability' concerns of the FRench, UK, etc., loonies are mostly only their own delusions.
I have a longer term interest in the B-2, but not enough to let myself sink a lot of time into reading up on current deployments.
Posted by: PatBuckman at Wed Jun 25 10:16:48 2025 (rcPLc)
Not mentioned in the above video, is that preliminary (VERY PRELIMINARY) indications are that things were not only successful, but that things are calming down.
Make sure you give people beneath you warning BEFORE doing so. Lawyers falling a terminal velocity can do almost as much damage to someone as they can in the courtroom.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Jun 29 16:01:05 2025 (3NtfN)
I'm going out on a limb....
I think that taking out the nuclear production capability of a group of, antisemitic, millenarist religious fanatics that are supporting terrorism around the world, oppressing their own people and believe that bringing about an apocalypse will usher in literal heaven on earth, AND doing so with zero combat losses and none, or vanishingly few civilian casualties, is .....I know this is a hot take.....a GOOD thing.
Replying To A Comment on the Last Post. @PatBuckman: You are right, the assassin does SEEM to be a very left wing guy, given what has been published about him.
However, the two folks he murdered were leaders in the DFL, the Democratic Farm Labor Party one of the oldest of the far left parties in the US and historically quite radical. There is SPECULATION that Representative Hortman was targeted because she voted for, or supported the defunding of programs financially helping illegal immigrants. This would IN THEORY track as the DFL is one of those organizations that, however misguided they might occasionally be, is actually legitimately and quite passionately concerned about the plight of domestic workers and farmers rather than academic theory or virtue signaling to one's upper-class peers. However, I have not been able to pin down state records or legislative transcripts of any legislation or debate that might be the source of this notion. And I've looked.
That is why the whole post consisted of a link and 9 words. The situation is horrific and whoever did it for whatever reason needs to die, but there is no information.
There is a quite reasonable theory that the fact that they claim to have a manifesto, but are not commenting on it, is a bit of a tell. I agree that certainly APPEARS to be a completely legitimate hypothesis. But it is JUST a hypothesis without the screed in question. It could be an attempt by the left at a masterful rope-a-dope if the guy is a right wing nut job, it could just be Governor Waltz's love of censorship. It could indeed be abject terror at the potential political backlash if the assassin actually is a Tankie or something. The suspicious silence could even be protecting innocent children named in the document, or keeping unsuspecting guilty parties in the dark about the fact that they were mentioned. We just don't know. about that.
What we DO know is that whoever did this vile deed needs to be hunted down.
1
Concur. And, where a lot of hypotheticals are concerned, I hope I see things that are not there, and that it is simply my own suspect judgement.
Posted by: PatBuckman at Sun Jun 15 21:53:12 2025 (rcPLc)
2
What little we know of the suspected assassin doesn't really fit either of the typical right/left extremes. And the "kill list" in the vehicle is reported to include a lot of high profile targets from right, left and center. So I'm just going to assume "disconnected from reality/crazy" until we hear different.
Posted by: David Eastman at Sun Jun 15 22:14:22 2025 (aAyxl)
3
Depending on the crazy, Obama would be evaluated as left, center, or right. A basic part of problems currently, is that mixing communists in with our previous mixture of republicans and democrats (small r and d, and I guess c), has the effect of making things pretty uncertain unless you know who made the statement, and how they think. It is self evident that the Democratic Party falls under RICO for the terrorism of 2020, but where a LEO is will make a drastic difference about whether he says that. People in various law enforcement organizations are not there ergoditically, they traveled a path of choices. Like, I would expect an FBI man to have FBI man biases in not considering whether the FBI has clearly been a partisan criminal conspiracy from its origins in the Wilson era.
Posted by: PatBuckman at Mon Jun 16 11:26:02 2025 (rcPLc)
4
Anyway, seems to have just been an evil crazy. He documents the order, adn then gets confused about who he is to kill part way into the mission? The guy is too obviously impaired and delusional to be a reliable witness.
Posted by: PatBuckman at Sat Jun 21 09:08:24 2025 (rcPLc)
1
Booth had somewhat fo a wider conspiracy, but Seward and Johnson were targeted by it, not complicit in it. Enough Democrat Governors have been stupidly complicit in crimes lately for one to wonder if this lack of capturing the man is more than ordinary. Is this merely an ordinary left rando 'punishing' Democrats who were acting as cut outs in cooperating with Republicans? Or could someone as stupid as Walz is be stupid enough to have meddled with the manhunt? He could merely simply have valued incompetence in his subordinates. yet, manhunts can be a very hard problem. (I know that there is the usual effort to paint this dude as a right winger, my understnading from sources is that he was not. Albeit, sources are randos on internet, and I am not sure which ones.)
Posted by: PatBuckman at Sun Jun 15 09:49:02 2025 (rcPLc)
HYPE! HYPE! HYPE! (I Should Invest in a Blimp)
THE TWITCH CHANNEL HAS ITS FIRST SPONSOR!
Join Us Tonight at 9pm EDT/1am UTC Over on https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet For a VERY Wholesome Audience Participation Stream, Where We'll be Exploring Teyvat, Chilling With Chat, and...Giving 50% Discounts on Delivered Meal Plans! 'Cause the Stream is Sponsored byFactor-75:
1
I remember several years ago that some bureaucrat tried to ban ordering pizza and other meal deliveries to the Pentagon in an attempt to shutdown this OPSEC indicator. However, all the Pentagon parking lots are readily visible from near by roads, office buildings, and apartment complexes. It is obvious to anyone watching when large numbers of Pentagon staff are working late.
Posted by: Siergen at Mon Jun 16 10:47:19 2025 (ChWik)
Progress of a Sort
I do apologize for the streaming hiatus of the last two days. There have been both technical, health, and scheduling issues. Streaming will resume Friday evening though!
I actually will be doing my very first paid promotion! The promo is with Factor 75, a meal delivery service, that is rated as one of the 10 best in the country So stop by for a chance to get discounted mail order food via the promo code!
Thoughts on That Thing That IS NOT HAPPENING
Team Frietas has a lengthy discussion of the completely safe, non-combustible, and peaceful event that is going on now in Los Angeles.
They include some rather optimistic ideas of how this might blow up in Mexico's face, (though I for one am NOT optimistic).
I've linked to both of these recently, but this really is a good discussion (despite the occasional edgy rants by Christian Hines) and well worth one's time. Data Republican's information she's posting on X is eye opening.
I for one am glad that there is currently a continent between me and this mess, even as I anticipate that such separation will not continue much longs as riot season progresses.
1
I have trouble too (with slug of posts being ignored). It's a little surprising that a code base this old somehow bitrots in these strange ways.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Jun 10 23:53:50 2025 (LZ7Bg)
2
The thing that got me was that copying and pasting an image is such an obvious work around but I did not think to try it for months. All those years of using a Mac have left me a retard with regards to computers.
I really should change my handle to PEBKAC.
I did note today that posting an old image from the library does not break the system.
@Pete: We have a similar issue on the Project Zomboid server that I share with several other streamers. Any update to a mod can completely screw things up now, and that server's only 2 years old. I Imagine that the Mee.nu code, with constant updates and all the tweaks to deal with spam and DDOS attacks has similar issues. That so few issues have arisen is pretty impressive actually.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Jun 11 18:25:42 2025 (3NtfN)
I copy-pasted a screencap from another blog. Given the current image issues IDK if it will be visible, but it talks about the violence erupting in L.A. at the moment because Illegal immigrants are getting deported. The tweet(? what are they called now anyway?) also links to analysis by DataRepublican(small r) indicating that the organization organizing this is largely government funded.
Except for a few specific examples, mostly the U.S. Aid programs that have been taken up by the State Department the vast amounts of Taxpayer money that D.O.G.E discovered has been given to activist groups has not been stopped due to congressional inaction. However that is a real possibility. Secretary Rubio has indicated that about 12% of money allotted to U.S. Aid causes went to the actual causes, meaning that 88% went to....um....
Oh! That's a lot of information behind that "um". Let us have a moment of silence for the sacrifices made by deaf autistic girls in wading through all that data to find the truth.
There.
Now, the up-shot of all this that there are a whole lot of people who have been basically living on sinecures at taxpayer expense and a large number of very big activist organizations that have been funded with money looted from programs that are ostensibly government funded charities. The taxpayer money spigot is now, for the first time since this scam began, actually in very real danger of being turned off. The beneficiaries of this system, faced with loosing their sinecures and rent-a-mobs have always been unlikely to give it up without a fight. (and fight they will)
Heretofore this year, the weather has not been conducive to burning, looting, or murdering, but as we enter summer these beneficiaries of our taxes, who are essentially aristocrats, are likely to get VERY violent (or at least stir others up to violence) in order to protect their payouts and the power they purchase for them.
1
China and possibly Qatar funding domestic terrorism/insurgency means that some of the judges and other parties involved with protecting the US funding sources are maybe prosecutable as co conspirators.
On the reassuring side, hired hands are maybe less likely to be true believers enough to be willing to go to prison for the sake of terrorist acts motivated by their beliefs.
Posted by: PatBuckman at Mon Jun 9 08:33:39 2025 (rcPLc)
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!