#american dystopia

[omg-snakes]

In honor of the Supreme Court's decision allowing businesses to discriminate against certain individuals, I would like to announce that for the month of July I will be waiving shipping costs for all LGBTQIA+ buyers. If you'd rather arrange for local pick-up, then you'll get 30% off.

Straights pay full price.

[its-all-down-hill]

[reaja]

Oh wow! Affordable meals? Let's check out the local low-mid tier teriyaki place.

An affordable meal for one for the low low price of $32.45 cool cool cool cool cool cool cool

[silver-esq]

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT: “We have retrieved intelligent, non-human bodies from a downed aircraft of extra-terrestrial origin.”

Me, internally screaming but I have to get this motion done by EOD: Woah. *formats word document*

[theelkmechanic]

One other reason that this overlooks is that public transit in most of the U.S. is utterly terrible, if it exists at all. Most kids outside of a few major urban centers would be unable to get to school using public transit. School districts here can be huge and mostly suburban/rural, where no good transit options exist. So rather than build actual decent public transportation systems, we cobble together the school bus system on a district-by-district basis.

Back when I still went into an office to work, I looked into taking the bus instead of driving for a half hour each way. I would have had to leave at 6 in the morning, and I couldn't find a way to get home at night before around 11 p.m. And that's in the capital region of New York State.

I wonder: Do Americans know about american school buses? Not their existence in general, but how they're seen overseas.

Over here, they're one of the symbols of America, on par with the Statue of Liberty, the flag, the Eagle, and well ahead of any chain restaurant you can name. People won't know any US states, but they will know these vehicles.

The thing is, here in Germany, we don't have dedicated school buses. The general idea is that kids go to school on their own. When that's not practical, they're expected to use (and given free tickets for) public transit. Public transit is designed around this requirement; there are many places where there is a bus, and anyone can get on it, but the route and timetable really only makes sense for school children. In case a dedicated school bus is really needed, that's generally subcontracted out, and the lines either use something like a Sprinter Van for smaller routes, or a normal city or interurban bus (often a used one that's a bit older). School trips are normal public transit, or a rented bus, typically a coach or regional bus.

It's not a perfect system, in the past couple of years there's been an epidemic of people bringing their kids to school in their cars instead of letting them walk, which is less than ideal. It is what it is. But building a dedicated network of public transit lines only for students, and building dedicated vehicles only for that, has never occurred to anyone here.

Of course we know about these buses, from movies and such, but they're as foreign here as cacti or pick-up trucks (actually we're seeing more and more of these here) or yellow cabs (all europeans will assume all cabs in the US are yellow until they actually visit).

You do see these buses here at times, because people still generally like the idea of the US, even if they have a lot of issues with a lot of details, and so folks bring them over, along with stretch limos and stuff (also not really a thing here). And of course, if someone goes to all that trouble, they don't do it to haul school kids, they rent it out for city tours or as a party bus or whatever.

So you see these yellow things as a symbol of faraway places, scenic vistas, some vague undefined idea of freedom that doesn't necessarily hold up to any contact with reality, and it's just a huge part of the whole US aesthetic.

And then you go to a student exchange with the US, and you finally get the chance: You yourself get to ride in one of these iconic chrome yellow buses! It looks just like in the movies! You get in, you drive in them a little…

…and you realise they're shit. Just the worst buses in the western world. Terrible suspension. Uncomfortable seats with weirdly high backs (so they don't have to put seatbelts in, they just restrict how far kids can fly in an accident). Everything made out of the cheapest materials. Turns out the reason why the US uses school buses like that instead of normal modern city buses, which the US has, is to save money and because they just hate kids.

And then it hits you why US Americans say "as American as apple pie", a dish that is made and enjoyed literally anywhere in the world, instead of "as American as yellow school buses". Of course the Americans already knew all this. They got tortured by these things forever. It would never occur to them to see this as a symbol of America, it's just a normal part of life for them. It's a symbol of school and school life and sometimes normalcy, and tells us that these actors getting out of it are supposed to be teenagers, nothing more.

But most people in Europe have, of course, never ridden on these buses. So when they see them in movies and TV, that's a giant big yellow signifier that we're not in Hessen or Wallonia or wherever anymore. A symbol of a different world, one that may be at most a once-in-a-lifetime-experience for most people, just like a picture of a tropical beach, Mayan Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, or Hildesheim (there's no reason to go there twice). And I think Americans don't know that, and that's fascinating.

[the-fire-bubble]

I'd like to propose a thought bubble to the class. 3rd or 4th installment to the National Treasure Series.

But instead, it's an oceans 11 style heist of epic proportions.

Picture this, several Representatives of Congress and Senators didn't submit a photo when they got elected. No one knows what they look like. It's a new election year and no one knows what these 11 new guys/girls/government cronies look like. They mysteriously get kidnapped for the first 2 weeks of the new year, but their coworkers don't know because they've never seen them before. The replacements put up a vote to cease all proxy wars in the middle east, in an attempt to save an ancient Babylonian relic that inspired the original founding fathers to make a new country and save the world from climate change as foretold by a prophecy. The kidnapped government workers are kept in a retired doomsday bunker with all the amenities. Their families think it's a 2 week hazing/initiation ritual and that's why there's a new government shutdown.

[everyonehasamnesia]

If anyone’s wondering what the state of American healthcare is like, I get marketing emails from the huge, branded lab that does all of my medical test processing.

[vectorisheree]

Cowboy redesigns from forever ago that I forgot to post ^^

(Design notes and stuff under the cut)

Sundown and Moonhigh are two performer animatronics that have a sort of 'cop and robber' routine where Sun plays the role of a sheriff and Moon the criminal. While they make put on an act of hatred on stage, behind the curtains, the two are inseparable

Moonhigh

Behind Moonhigh's swave and laid back veneer, he's just like any other Moon, a lover of mischief and play

I was also like 100% sure that moonhigh was an actual term??? Its not!!!!! It's from warrior cats

Moonhigh's clothing is desaturated due to sun bleaching and dust, his clothing is not as well taken care of as Sundown's both because of neglect from staff and Moonhigh's general distrust of them. This neglect is also the reason for his damaged faceplate as it was deemed too expensive to completely replace it and the injury enhanced how scary he was as a villain

Moonhigh's cape also doubles as a blanket! He takes good care of it and even washes it himself. It’s also handy for applying pressure to wounds, not that Moonhigh would ever need to use it for that purpose.

Moonhigh's designated flavour is coconut and he's usually seen in the Fazwest's milkshake bar between performances

Sundown

Sundown is a lot sweeter than most Suns though he does have his moments of apathy towards others due to him not quite understanding other's troubles due to his cushy treatment from staff

He shares the same general anxiety and mannerisms as his predecessors, he's always twitching and bouncing around

Sundown was similarly injured at to Moonhigh at some point but his faceplate was fixed, giving him a shiny green eye

Sundown has scarily accurate aim

Sundown's designated flavour is mango and he's usually seen in the horse stables in between performances

[neon-wonderlands]

DMC 12

Delorean

Back to the Future

[alethianightsong]

Bioshock: Why Individualism is a shitty philosophy to build society on

Bioshock 2: Why Collectivism is a shitty philosophy to build society on

Bioshock Infinite: Why American Exceptionalism is a shitty philosophy to build society on.

[false-anomaly]

Trevor Hills being Pathetic Blorbo #1 and your enjoyment of him being said Pathetic Blorbo #1 just adding on to the games pre-existing meta commentary is,, so good. They made him as miserable as possible and god it really worked.

[ulubionywuja]

some dumbass will put this on without disinfecting first i fucking know that

These are $30 for one but stitches at the hospital are more expensive so this is pretty damn great

[beauty-funny-trippy]

⠀ Elon Musk said his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries.” In other words, Musk is enjoying his new-found political power and plans to keep on buying elections. Responding to a report that he might fund challengers to GOP House members who don’t vote to confirm Trump’s nominees, even if they are obviously unfit for the job, Musk said, “How else? There is no other way.” Yes Elon, there is another way. Let politicians vote on what they think is best for America without any threats from you or Trump. During a recent visit to Capitol Hill, Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a warning to Republicans who don’t go along with their plans to slash spending. Marjorie Taylor Greene remarked, “Elon and Vivek talked about having a naughty list and a nice list for members of Congress and senators and how we vote and how we’re spending the American people’s money.” It seems they're making a list of whose political careers to ruin, and who should receive a Thank You (bribe). Trump’s second term comes with the specter of the world’s richest man serving as his political enforcer. Musk seems intent on pressuring Republicans to vote the way he and Trump want them to vote. When the richest person in the world is buying elections and openly stating that he is going to bully and threaten lawmakers to vote the way he tells them to vote, it's proof that America is no longer a democracy — it's an oligarchy. You can bet, somewhere in Russia, Putin is smiling.

[troythecatfish]

[skarabrae-stone]

Apparently it passed the senate and the house and was sent to the governor a few days ago. So at this point, I think the person to call would be Brian Kemp. https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB63/2023

I haven't heard people talking about this much, but I feel like it's important for people to know. Especially since SB 63 essentially bans bail funds by not allowing organizations, charities, individuals, or groups to bail out more than three people per year and requiring them to register as bonding agencies.

This is a direct response to all the protests happening here in Atlanta. So far, spreading the word can help as well as donating to The Atlanta Solidarity Fund .

In the meantime, here's some phone numbers of politicians you can go bug.

Randy Robertson (Guy who's sponsoring the bill): +1-404-656-0045

Brian Kemp (Governor of Georgia): +1-404-656-1776

[tumblasha]

a friendly reminder that dystopia is not written about a future bad world but about the one we live in now