The History Kid

How appropriate. I come back one year later and I'm still a mod? I love you guys, but you might wanna check your OPSEC - because this ain't it, hoss. Wub you AF, even if you are dying a slow death. I had tried to pull for you all, but after being passed over, I occupied my time elsewhere (as you can see - and then some). Stay resilient and safe all.

Greetings and salutations AF. I am posting this here, because I am not sure it would be appropriate to post out in the open (I will leave that for others to decide). The last few months have been exceptionally busy. When you consider everything that 2020 has provided many of us, that's not a hard feat to believe. May saw an extended need for being out of the office, a rise in civil unrest, and other things that threw monkey wrenches into my planning left and right. June exacerbated that, and by July things had formally evolved into something entirely different. We got slammed with two natural disasters this year, and are still recovering from the first. It's been a rollercoaster ride for sure. With that being said, I've had research requests piling up on my own site, projects that need to be done, and have also taken up Twitch streaming. In the midst of that, I also started a second set of classes, added a jet pilot training course to my load, and formally accepted a mod slot in a Discord server for an L.A. based voice actress. Shortly after I got brought on as an IP Advisor for her, and have since been doing a bunch of things behind the scenes. Therein lies the problem - this is in addition to what I'm already doing. The autopilot nature of AF - at least as it has seemed - has thusly been shoved way to the back of my mind. With that being said, I am stepping back from AF on the web site. I will continue to provide support in the Discord server if wanted, but I don't find it much fair to AF to be labeled a mod if I'm not really doing anything mod-like. Of course, you all can continue to reach out to me over there on Discord, or any of my site-related points of contact - but as for AF proper, I probably won't be around all that much. Good luck, and god speed! Michael

Censorship is nothing new. Anyone who thinks so hasn't been paying attention. Most censorship processes are done because of subtle differences between rating systems between national distribution. The U.S. has some of the most rigid guidelines that exist, whereas other countries are much more fluid and flexible. Case in point: the original JP release of Tales of Berseria would have put the game as being Rated M because it showed "just a few too many gorings." That extremely limited the reach of the game, if Namco/Bandai opted to leave it. So instead, they opted to censor parts of the game in the North America release so it would retain it's T rating thus maintaining the series reach. It's not always because "big brudder wants control" or some Orwellian stuff like that. Sometimes it's a business decision - that has plenty of logic, reason, and confirmed research behind it.

You're the only one I know that'd still be running one. I don't know too many people that liked theirs (I didn't like mine). That being said, I do know a few people still sporting their S2's. I sold the hell out of those things back in the day. Miles beyond the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S.

I do not believe EV's are anywhere close to feasible for everyday vehicles just yet. HEV's on the other hand are the way to go right now. They have added reassurance of being able to handle fuel if need be, generally can travel farther distances, and most eliminate the need for plug-in electrical consumption (which is arguably just as eco-negative as gas is, but more expensive). For me, I believe I'm a generation or two away from full EV. My Hybrid gets 700 miles to a gallon, coupled with it's EV component, and it recharges simply by breaking or mid-drive.

Anything but fish.

I may forgive your transgressions if you #presenttacos Because he is one of the few who are safe from my flames of explodey death.

I can appreciate Carlin's work for what it is, but he is by far not at all comprehensive in most of his research. The standard research prospectus takes about that same amount of time to compose generally, and there are hundreds if not thousands of RPQ's that go unanswered for that reason. That being said, the atomic bombings are pretty cut and dry (I am assuming that's why you brought this up!) and the only thing historians really beat around the bush about sometimes is the reasoning. Here is what we know that has largely been in a state of denial to new acceptance in both west and east historical retrospection: 1. The war may not have "started" at all, but could rather be seen as just in a perpetual state since 1914. 2. The war, if it did have a start, likely should be attributed to the 1931 Manchurian invasion. 3. Japan was an arguable instigator with it's forceful hegemony and case in eugenics. 4. The use of atomic diplomacy was, in retrospect, a means to save lives rather than destroy them (albeit they did do that). Much of this lends to research in documents thought to be destroyed by the Japanese after the war, but were in fact not. Instances like Unit 731, the Rape of Nanking, the enslavement of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean citizens, experimentation on American POW's, and the whole other onslaught of icky stuff. The bottom line, is that Japan had to reshape itself if it had any chance to survive in a post-World War era. The Allies would have won, and while it would have bled them, Japan would have been totally annihilated in the process. The Japanese knew this. That often leads to this saying: The victors of war are arguably victorious.

You act surprised - but why?

I still forget it at times. It's not a second nature thing for me, and I don't imagine it ever will be. Either way, what gets me is the people that are literally wearing them all the time if they leave the house. In their car - wearing them. I'm not sure what they think they're stopping in their car, but more power to them I suppose.

I bought a thing...

I blame @Lelouch

To be descriptive, we are on our tenth extension, we just got our eleventh. Leave is frozen and work has gone to anywhere between 48-70 hours a week. Leave had been frozen since way early on, but it just continues. I've been running on reservoir adrenaline now for over a month - not sure how much I have left.