Do you really not know who your family likely voted for, or your roommates? People like this don’t need a registered ballot result to make an inference that lets them act violently; unless he’d had the foresight to play at being a Trump convert months ago, I think this story is extremely credible.

Many microwaves have a timer that can run without microwaving things.

I’m not confident the nurse was wrong!

You didn’t read them in the car on the way home?

You’re taking the utterings of keyboard warriors as reflective of reality?

GURPS has a specific disadvantage that is essentially this.

Nah, if I remember right, those arrows use the poison from a tree frog’s skin, not something like a snake’s venom. So still poison!

…I think that might be less far-fetched. After all, our black VP is competing for her next job with a guy who’s a few oranges short of a basket…

That’s not what I’ve seen. The stories I’m familiar with usually involve defending those things where they already exist, not establishing them. Even in cases where that needs established, as often as not, they’re usually protecting someone else who embodies that ideal.

I’m sure there are stories similar to what you’ve described, but I don’t see that in the stories I’m familiar with.

It’s always seemed strange to me that earth never made any sort of meaningfull technological progress despite having access to a galaxy full of new tech.

This actually seemed reasonable to me - if alien tech is anything like ours, we lack the parts to make the parts to make the parts to make the tech, so we can’t mass produce any of it yet. And we’re a bit of a backwater - what resources we do have of galactic interest (vibranium, maybe?) isn’t for sale. So we make do with what scraps do find their way to earth.

Stories don’t need to be told, humans need to tell stories. That’s what makes us human, and is how we spread ideas like honor, justice, and even civilization itself.

Hero stories reinforce all of these ideas, and others besides.

I don’t think it’s bullying, because bullying involves tormenting them - finding what they react negatively to, and pushing on that. Here, you’re letting them know that there’s something you need them to do before you’re comfortable playing with them. You might think of it as modelling how to protect your own bodily autonomy!

For me, when my kids were going through that, I’d say something like “Ack! Don’t touch me with poo hands! Go wash first, then you can climb on me!” It’d generally get a giggle, then they’d go finish washing up. You’ll want to pay attention to their reaction whatever you do, but if you make it clear they’re still welcome to play, I don’t see how it could be bullying.

…how kid friendly? Haven’t been able to introduce my kids to his stuff yet!

I want a horror movie where some of the heroes are genre-savvy, Practical Guide to Evil style. I picture it starting as a horror, and shifting into a kind of heist storyline

…I would be very interested in seeing how you describe your hummingbirds!

I certainly hope that happens. But it’s not a reliable enough consequence to justify the currently low level of fines, which was how I read your earlier comment.

That seems like a pretty weak consequence, and not an intended one. Worse, it’s one likely to be least impactful for the worst offenders - a megacorp isn’t going to care much about fines, and the market won’t see any danger to their investment in them.

Beam them into a cargo hold, with gravity disabled

As they burned, it hurt because

…it didn’t occur to them to even start learning Russian before they went?!