This post may be sort of an am I the asshole sort of thing, but it is about DnD.
We are 8 sessions in to a campaign with a total of 7 players. I created a variant human, dex, dual wielding ex-pirate fighter because it sounded like a fun character. His alignment is good as he is trying to make up for the evil pirate acts. He has 10 str, 16 dex, 16 con, 8 wis, 8 int, and 14 cha.
We reached level 3 at the end of last session and the DM wanted everyone to send their character sheet again. He noticed on mine that my armor is 45 pounds, which is close to my encumbrance. I was confused and he explained that he is using a variant rule. He said he mentioned it before, which he may have, but it was never actually used in game. He had my character sheet from level 1 which was encumbered with medium armor, two rapiers, and random misc items. 49 of my 50 pounds with this rule was just my armor and two weapons.
I said if he was steadfast on this rule, I'd like to either change my current character to STR or roll a new character. I already felt less useful than everyone else because my attribute values were less. That's my fault because I used the standard array rather than rolling like everyone else. They all ended with at least one 18 or even 2 18s. I never brought that up before because it was a choice I made on my stats. However, I mentioned that, with enforcing the encumbrance rule, it would make me even weaker. My speed would either be reduced by 10 ft or my AC reduced.
His next email suggested I was overly focused on numbers, I want to get my way every time, that I was trying to not give anything up with my character build, and that I may not be a good fit for the group. I say suggest because he never directly said those things. He said he would never understand the style of play that is entirely focused on numbers, something has to give in a dex build, every player doesn't always get what they want, and that he thinks it won't be a good fit if my response to DM rulings is to roll a new character.
Now this did frustrate me because those remarks are insulting and don't do justice to the thought I put into making my character. A dex based build is giving up plenty. Most skills are cha, int, or wis based. This build isn't breaking the game. I have an AC of 17, 31 hp, and can deal 1d8+3 damage with one action then another with a bonus action with a +5 to hit for each. Nothing crazy about that. It's more of a midway between straight damage or tank, so it gives up some of both.
I never asked to reroll a character before or roll a new character in response to past disagreements. The only past disagreement was about another player pickpocketing mine, but I never said I wanted a new character. I asked if that would continue to be allowed and if I could have some way to combat it if it will be allowed. He just decided it won't be allowed.
This is getting too long. My questions are:
How do people feel about this rule?
Does my character seem like I'm trying to give him everything?
Is it unreasonable for me to at the very least want to make my character str based?
I probably won't be playing with this group anymore since it appears the DM thinks very poorly of me. I've been trying to think if I have been acting like this terrible person he thinks of me and don't think I have been. I'm obviously biased, though. Hoping some more feedback will help me with deciding if more retrospection is required on my part.

Hi. I'm looking to talk to new people, maybe make a friend
They are:
History, especially the 19th-20th century but with more broad and general knowedge in other time periods. I'm not an expert or anything but I am pretty passionate about it and tend to read/listen about one event or the other on a pretty regular basis.
Literature, especially old novels. I recently read Demian (my all time favourite book), Day of the Oprichnik, Heart of Darkness, the Perfume and Little Prince. Some of my other favourite works would include: "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "Faust part I" (need to get to part II) and "No Longer Human". I also like to write short stories and book reviews. I'd also really like to read the same book with someone and discuss it. I just started reading Grimm's fairy tales.
Languages. I know three, with one being a bit rusty. I'm currently working to scrape off the rust and then when I'm finished with that will begin to learn a fourth language. It's fun to go through different works in multiple languages. For example, I read the aforementioned Faust part I in all three.
Games. I recently played Cyberpunk 2077. Now that the dust has settled and the bugs mostly removed...It's not that bad! The main questline at least, Fallout 76 (Very average, I'm dissapointed with what they made the "RPG" system) and will try out Deus Ex Manking Divided again ( Got inspired since it's somewhat similar to Cyberpunk). I was waiting to play Elden Ring but it ended being too stressful for me. Go here and get beaten up go there and get beaten up, repeat...Besides that I'm a big fan of Paradox strategy games...like EU IV and HoI IV (also thinking of making my own project for HoI IV). I am definitely looking forward to try out Victoria III, after they add more content to it. I also got Modern Warfare 2, since the first MW had great multiplayer gameplay.
Anime and Manga. In recent times my interest has waned but I still watch the occasional series here and there. Like Cyberpunk Edgerunners (Which I found to be rather mediocre) and the very good new season of Bleach. Some other favourites include: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Death Note, Fate;Zero, Psycho Pass , Higurashi (season 2 is a bit weak but the first one is a masterpiece of horror), Code Geass, Attack on Titan and others. My favourite Manga is Berserk...I hope it gets a good ending..the first couple of new chapters were...a bit rough but the new author seems to have got his footing.
Anyway, that should be enough information to give you a good picture... Before I go, I would like to ask for you to include the title of the last book you read in your reply. A small request, I feel. I'll be ignoring those that don't.

OK I used to watch the bill when it was tv yearssssss ago like mid 00's is the timeframe here. I don't remember exactly what happened but it distinctly had the actress Sally Rogers in it and it was either a 4 part or 5 part episode series. Things I remember was Sally's character was tied to a chair in the kitchen j believe before she was duct taped by this younger women and then and the end of one of the episodes there was a drive by assassination on someone. I think outside the police station but you never saw the perpetrator but I'm sure it was dual pistols or something and there was like 2 suspects and we didn't know which one of them did it. A African American person was one of the suspects I'm sure being questioned by the police. Does anyone have any idea when this one? Probably around 06-09? Been bugging me for years

We are Sprout House, a community dedicated to Pikmin tournaments. We've been running tourneys open to anyone and everyone since July 2020, and this is our newest yet! We currently have 10 people participating, but we hope to get this number up before the tourney starts!
This is a Pikmin 2 2-Player Battle 1v1 tournament, but it's not the VS mode you're used to! Our official Sprout Cup Hack replaces the existing maps with 20 all-new custom ones! Additionally, there are numerous balance changes to ensure a fair throwdown, from being able to carry your own marble to the removal of egg sprays to Pikmin-on-Pikmin fights being deterministic rather than RNG-based!
The maps feature all-new game-changing additions, such as mini marbles that award a full marble each time you collect 5, a purple marble on some maps that instantly wins the round when collected but is slow to carry, a special marble that you carry to your OPPONENT's onion on some maps, various new obstacles and hazards such as bridges, seesaw blocks and even the Waterwraith... and a timer to keep the pressure on!
There will be fixtures published at the beginning of each week. Matches will usually be on weekends. If your fixture doesn't work for you, you can ask for it to be moved to another time and/or date. Participants will be matched against each other in a double-elimination bracket tree. Win your match to advance up the ranks, but you'll have a second chance (or maybe more) if you lose! We have dedicated hosts in North America and Europe, who will handle all the multiplayer stuff on their end - just join the Parsec and soon enough you'll get straight to the action! We also have a tech support on hand to assess any problems you may have setting up.
To participate, you will need Parsec (a FREE program that lets you remotely access another person's computer) and a decent internet connection. We also strongly recommend a controller. You do NOT need the game or the hack, but you are welcome to try it out yourself if you want.
Whether you're interested in participating or just want to watch, join our Discord server HERE - https://discord.gg/8rubGFkQVA
The Discord is where we do everything - it's where the matches happen and where you can get involved with our community. We upload recordings of our matches, with all the boring bits in between rounds edited out, to our YouTube channel. Our matches have insightful and entertaining live commentary, and for each round everyone gets to vote on the maps the participants will play!
The tournament starts on June 12th, so don't miss out! Got any questions? Ask them in the Discord or comment down below!

My almost 4 week old hit a growth spurt between 2-3 weeks old. He started eating 3-4 oz every ~3 hours. Now he's downing 5 oz and still crying for more. So after I top it off with another oz. (6), he still rages, making sucking faces and fists trying to find the nipple again. Clear hunger cues. He's reaching 7 oz. sometimes and he's barely a month old. They say you can't overfeed a newborn, but he will spit up a large amount when he tries to eat more. I've began pace feeding and trying to drag out the feeding time and taking burp breaks. It calmed him down from being an aggressive eater and helped his spit up, but he is still ravenous after 5 oz. I thought that maybe he just wants to suckle so I give him a pacifier afterwards but it just makes him more mad! I'm confused because I've tried to distract him when he would want more after having 6oz. and it usually works. Like if I play death metal and ONLY death metal (I've tried every music genre) and walk around, he stops crying and falls asleep! I just can't get him to feel full on his own.
Does anyone have experience with this? Isn't' 6-7 oz way too much for a month old or should I just feed this baby what he wants?

Ex bf (M23) broke up with me (F21) about a week and a half ago because he "saw himself with someone else." To preface, this relationship has been rocky from the start, but it was our deep love for each other that kept the relationship (somewhat) together. The reason for the relationship being so rocky was due to the fact that he was in the military up until 2 months ago. His contract with the military was up 2 months ago, and we both had agreed for years that this would be the solution to our problems. We dated on and off for about 3 years long distance, which created a lot of complications on top of him having tons of childhood trauma and me also having my own issues with anxiety and an anxious attachment style. He was very toxic during certain parts of our relationship and he hurt me many times. He would always come back though and profess his love for me after something happened.
Whenever he took a leave and was able to come home during his time in the military our relationship was absolutely perfect and all those issues we had in long distance were gone. Thats why when he finally got out of the service we both were so excited and thought that everything would be amazing. The thing is, it honestly was very amazing. 2 months in one day he just told me he started to see himself with someone else because we didn't share that many hobbies together. We knew that already though, and it wasn't a deal breaker before.
I knew that I should have not gotten back together with him so many times and I should have saw the on and off ness as a sign that it was never going to workout, but he just knew all the right words to say every time he came back and he would come onto me so strongly (almost like love bombing). I genuinely tried so many times to get away from this guy but he was persistent in staying in my life. He gets out of the military and now he doesn't want me though???? What is that BS!!! None of it makes sense.
He is the first guy I have ever dated seriously and loved so it was just so hard for me to leave because I was so attached. He had so many good qualities that I thought outweighed the bad, and I was just blinded by love. I truly did think that our love was so deep and strong, but now that he left me for good after getting out of the military (which makes me think he used me just for company when he was in it) I just think that he never truly loved me the way I thought he did. The thing is though, he would make it seem so deep! It wasn't just me overlooking things all the time. This is what leads me to believe he's manipulative... but I just don't know. I question myself so much because this is my first relationship.
It's been a week and half and although I have a long healing journey to go since it was such a long relationship, I am not crying all the time anymore and I am feeling better. The only thing I'm left with when I think about this relationship though is how does someone seem genuinely so in love with you for YEARS and the feeling leaves within 2 months? I just don't understand. Like practically, my brain doesn't get it. And it bothers me because it makes it hard to process the relationship properly because none of it makes sense. I know there's the saying of "you never get closure" but I feel like my situation is different because I genuinely have no answers. I remember he used to tell me "if anything ever happened like a world apocalypse or something I would go straight to you." How does someone feel that way genuinely and then decide one day randomly that you just aren't the one for them??? It makes no sense.
It makes me think he's just a dumb 23 year old guy who wants to throw away something good with someone for the freedom of dating around in his 20's. Well guess what, he could have realized that the countless times I tried to get away from him back during long distance, but no he realizes it now after he's wasted 3.5 years of my life. I just need answers as to how someone loves you so much for years but then changes their mind in such a short period of time. What does that mean? It just doesn't make any sense...
Also if anyone is worried I am still in contact with him I blocked him on all social media and his phone number. I have no interest in ever contacting him again because I want to move on from this whole mess but it's just so hard to process the break up when I have so many unanswered questions that he couldn't give me. All he could say was "I'm sorry."
Also one more thing, all of my friends and family didn't really like him for all the stuff he put me through, so he also said he wanted a clean slate since he messed up so bad, although that excuse still doesn't make sense to me because he could have figured that one out ages ago too, lol. If anyone can help me process this or has any words of wisdom I would SO appreciate it. tl;dr

Hello! I'm a college student at home for the summer and am living with my mother who cannot work and is living off her SSI. She struggles to get by on her SSI check when alone, but it's even worse when I come into the picture. Luckily, I've been able to find a good job early this year, but I won't get my first paycheck for a while, and my mother's SSI check doesn't come in until the end of the month. We are currently left with around $41 to survive off of for the next three weeks, and most of that will have to go to gas and my new uniforms.
If anyone could help us with food, that would be wonderful! Here is an Amazon wishlist of food items that would help--please note that if it says "needs 2, has 1," I do not actually have this, I've just gotten it before.
Any help at all is appreciated, and we thank you!!

I am heading to Japan at the end of the month for a business trip and would like to purchase a couple nice knives for myself. I have inherited various knives over the years, bought things on a budget, but never bought exactly the knife I want. Being in Japan is too good an opportunity to pass up so I'm going to go for it! I would like to pick up at least two knives and am willing to spend a couple hundred dollars each to get something truly unique.
My first question is where should I do my knife shopping? I will be in Kyoto first, and then Tokyo. I recently saw this post about someone visiting the actual smiths' shops in Sakai which seems so cool! I it worth it to take the train an hour over there from Kyoto to see the actual smiths, or are there better selections in shops? I would be very interested in making the trip to see knives being forged. In terms of shops, is there better selection in Kyoto, or Tokyo? My research has uncovered more notable shops in Kyoto (like Hayakawa Hamonoten), but I'm sure there are many options in Tokyo.
As for what to buy I have some ideas based on my experiences with past knives but I'm interested in suggestions as for what to look for. Some thought on knives I have now:

• Tojiro VG10 DP basic 3 pc set - Purchased this to have a cheap set of "nice" knives for guests to use but I find myself using it a lot. I like the santoku profile but the gyuto is odd, too small. Everything is a bit thin and light.
• Tojiro A1 2 Rivet 165mm Nakiri - So good for veggie prep! Really fun to use. As a home cook I do feel silly getting it out for a single onion, and then switching to another knife for other prep... I also find it a bit short.
• 240mm gyuto I got for Christmas years ago and cant find the receipt for (pics) - I picked this knife for the steel (I think blue #2) and cheaped out on the handle. I've had this for a long time and don't actually use it too much. I just find it a bit unwieldly, and the handle isn't very comfortable. When I get out the big cutting board I do like how it cuts.
• Hitohira HG 240mm Gyuto Stainless Suminagashi Tsuchime - I helped my friend pic this knife out at a cutlery store and got it for him as a wedding present. It isn't what I would have gravitated towards but I like it in some ways! I have a hard time believing its 240mm since it handles so nicely. Its very handle heavy as its thin and has a bolster but I don't hate it... The bolster gives it weight in the hand while the thin blade gives nice low resistance cuts.
• 6" Brad Leone signature cleaver - vary useful for just going at it... Makes me want a real Taiwanese cleaver!
• Various german knives - A couple mercers, a hand-me down henckles set. My first nice knives, and they still sharpen up good! Generally I find them too heavy but they're nice to have for when I might encounter bones and such. Also get the majority of guest use.

Any advice on how to approach knife shopping? I'm not attached to any particular brand, but would love something unique, hand made. I'm envisioning a 210mm or "short" 240mm with a 2-3mm thickness, with a nice wa handle with more rounded edges. Pair that with something else that strikes my fancy. Maybe a flatter ~185mm bunka/santoku or a nakiri. Is there something in particular I should look for when in a knife shop, or can I trust my gut and the experts in stores to help me find what I'm looking for?

Introduction:
Before I start my reasonings I want to make it clear that I aim to remain as objective as possible while giving reasons why I think the way I do. This post took me a lot of time and effort to make and I politely ask that you treat it with respect, even if you disagree. My goal is to ultimately explain why I think the Millennial Generation was done dirty.
Note that this is the updated version of the previous post I made on the matter.

1. Millennials and The Homeland Generation:

Here is what Neil Howe from (S&H) has to say about Millennials and Homelanders. Keep in mind that this is from 2016:
"Say hello to the generation of kids coming after Millennials—we call them the Homeland Generation. But you may have heard them called by other names: “Generation Z,” “Plurals,” “iGeneration,” or even “Founders” (thanks to MTV). How old are they? Opinions differ on that as well. Some say that the oldest of this generation are already hitting their late teens. We disagree, because that would cut Millennials short. History shows that every generation ends up around 20 to 22 years long".

1. The Cusp Years and The 2008 Recession:

A lot of people mock individuals born in the early 2000s by calling them "Core Gen Z" but this is simply untrue as they were born during the cusp years. For context, individuals born during the cusp years have characteristics and traits from both generations, As it’s a transitional period.
And just like generations, the Cusp Years can also vary depending on different viewpoints and such. But generally speaking the Millennial/Gen Z cusp years starts in the mid-late 1990s and ends in the early 2000s.
While using memory to define cohorts isn’t the best practice in my opinion, 2005 is a realistic start year for the Homeland Generation as the people born that year wouldn’t recall anything before the 2008 Recession. Which some people still haven’t recovered from.

1. Technological Context:

It's far too ignorant to say digital only environments make a generation. It's the GENERATION IN MIDLIFE that shapes the generation in childhood. It's just how it works on a natural socio biological level.
And Gen Xers moved into midlife right as the post Millennial generation started to be born and are still in midlife as this post Millennial generation continues to be born roughly (into the mid to late 2020s).
Also, in the Gen X generation, there is the old school half (first) and the Nintendo half (second), so this technological environment can make a difference in their experiences but it doesn't change the generation to which they belong.
I personally never see anyone point out the massive differences between early and late Gen Xers, but when it comes to the inclusion of the early 2000s in the Millennial Generation "it’s a bridge too far" apparently.

1. The TRUTH About "Gen Z":

To avoid confusion, Generation Z is not the same thing as the Homeland Generation. This is confirmed by Neil Howe.
Anyways. This is without a doubt going to be the most controversial part of the post. But Generation Z isn’t actually a real generation, the length of the gen, the labeling coming from pop culture, it’s all arbitrary.
What the public makes of a generation, Does NOT in any way shape or form speak to the actual generational experiences or life paths. And "Gen Z" is the way it is, mostly because of pop culture etc, not life experiences.
No matter how much research goes into something like generational cohorts, no matter how many proven statistics or articles etc are shown. In the end it’s still misinformation if what’s being presented isn’t historically correct.
I highly recommend watching this YouTube video from Generations Work for more details. It really goes into depth with the problems of the commonly used definitions for generations https://youtu.be/L0qwdt4lyT0
Generations Work Perfectly Summed up The Truth About Gen Z With This Comment:
"yes, gens can be "fuzzy" on the cusps, but seriously, i mean, if "the public" is going to LOP OFF 8 years that once belonged to Millennials, then every and all article, white paper, stat etc that talks about Millennials' SIZE and predominance as a generation, needs to be readjusted. BOTH CAN'T BE TRUE. Millennials can be this mega, dominate-the-workforce by 2025 etc generation and have 8 years chopped off and given to Gen Z because marketers and others wanted to call it a new gen.
A similar but less-celebrated thing happened to the end of GenX years with the newly minted non-generation of GenY. It was so vague in its definition (they mostly meant last 7 years of Xer and first handful of years of Millennials), but eventually - - and on wikipedia and other "sources" - Gen Y is now an equivalent of Millennial."

1. WW2 Example:

Speaking of WW2. Take the GI for instance, most people are completely fine with Pew Research on their belief that the GI began 1901-1927, WW2 started in 1939 and America joined the war in 1941.
Someone born in 1901 would be 40 years old while someone born in 1923 would be 18, and even with the massive age difference they still fought and later won the same war, which is what crowned them the GREATEST GENERATION.
If you can believe Pew Research on their belief that the Greatest Generation began 1901-1927 then you can believe (S&H) on their belief that Millennials began 1982-2004.
My Thoughts:
I personally prefer using the JCHS Millennial definition, as I think the early 80s being included in the Millennial Generation is a stretch, the early 80s has too many traits and characteristics similar to that of Gen X.
But anyways I felt like I had to make this post as I’m sick and tired of people saying the real Millennials range is "1981-1996"
Which are actually dates the PEW Research got wrong as nothing significant enough happened in 1996 to warrant a generational change. Nothing happened that would define the next generation.
A lot of people point to "9/11" to try to justify the 1996 end date but they fail to realize it doesn’t work like that. 9/11 was admittedly a big deal in the US and may have changed a few things even outside of the US, but for the rest of the world 9/11 was just a tragedy, not this "world changing disaster that marked a new beginning and defined the next generation" that many would tell you.
Many others try to justify the 1996 end date by saying they were "the last to come of age around the turn of the millennium", but once again they fail to realize that 1996 borns came of age in 2014, now if the turn of the millennium was around the year 2000, then how in the world is 2014 even remotely close to ‘the turn’? (It’s not).
Conclusion:
To clarify. I don’t have any disrespect towards those who are Gen Z at core, I just want to make it clear why the early 2000s actually do belong to the Millennial Generation.
Credits to Generations Work for making a lot of what I had to say possible.

I asked GPT-4 to create a puzzle that would do the following: comprehension, abstraction, basic maths, and logical reasoning.
This type of challenge is what I use the local LLMs for. Not storytelling, or chatting, or with frameworks. I write code in python (with GPT-4) and chain the models and outputs manually. It is important to me that each iteration of the meta loop does not decrease the process quality - cf. the propensity of AutoGPT and similar chains to hallucinate and get stuck very quickly.
So, this is the puzzle that tests the models' comprehension, abstraction, basic arithmetic, and logical reasoning:

The Enigmatic Town of Four Seasons

In a distant land, there is a town called "Four Seasons". The town is divided into four districts - Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Each district has a unique number of houses and a unique dominant color (Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow). Also, each district has a different mayor - Mr. Frost, Ms. Bloom, Mr. Sol, and Ms. Harvest.
Your task is to determine the number of houses (3, 4, 5, or 6), the dominant color, and the mayor of each district.
Here are the clues:

1. Winter has one house fewer than the Red district.
2. The Blue district has more houses than the district governed by Ms. Bloom but fewer houses than Autumn.
3. The district with 6 houses is not Autumn and is not governed by Mr. Sol.
4. The Yellow district has more houses than the district governed by Mr. Frost but fewer houses than the district governed by Mr. Sol.
5. Mr. Sol is not the mayor of Winter and Spring has 3 houses.
6. The district governed by Ms. Harvest has fewer houses than the Green district and is not Summer.
7. Mr. Frost is not the mayor of the Red or the Yellow district.

Solution:

• Winter district: 5 houses, Yellow, Mayor Mr. Frost
• Spring district: 3 houses, Blue, Mayor Ms. Harvest
• Summer district: 6 houses, Red, Mayor Ms. Bloom
• Autumn district: 4 houses, Green, Mayor Mr. Sol

All Llama models fail irrespective of parameters. I tested them with the following: temperature = 0.1, top_k = 10, top_p = 0.1 and temperature = 0.7, top_k = 80, top_p = 0.5. Seed is kept constant.
GPT-4 is the only one that can solve this out of the models that I tried
Bing: hallucinates itself into a comfortable reality where it is correct, inventing a link to where this puzzle and the correct solution were published, alas it is a hallucinated reality.
​

• Winter: 4 houses, is Blue, and is governed by Mr. Frost.
• Spring: has 3 houses, is Yellow, and is governed by Ms. Bloom
• Summer: has 6 houses, is Red, and is governed by Mr. Sol.
• Autumn: has 5 houses, is Green, and is governed by Ms. Harvest.

​
GPT-3.5: goes insane, try it. It will become lost in an iterative loop to nowhere trying to explain its reasoning, over, and over again, and never completing.
Wizard-Vicuna-30B-Uncensored.ggmlv3.q8_0.bin: fail, comprehensive solution but it even invented a condition where there are 2 houses which is not one of the allowed states. I observed similar behaviour only with 13B and 7B models before, and that is why I do not use them, ever.
based-30B-GGML/based-30b.ggmlv3.q8_0.bin: fail - no meaningful output
guanaco-65B-GGML/guanaco-65B.ggmlv3.q8_0.bin: fail. Comprehensive solution, but incorrect reasoning
VicUnlocked-Alpaca-65B.ggmlv3.q8_0.bin: fail. Also comprehensive, but incorrect solution
gpt4-alpaca-lora_mlp-65B/gpt4-alpaca-lora_mlp-65B.ggmlv3.q5_1.bin: fail, presented just the "solution", no reasoning
alpaca-lora-65B-GGML/alpaca-lora-65B.ggmlv3.q5_1.bin: fail, also just a solution, no reasoning
All 65B models had this as a solution. Fine tuning or Lora made no difference to the solution, just to the explanation and verbosity:

• Winter - 4 houses, Blue, Mayor: Mr. Frost
• Spring - 3 houses, Green, Mayor: Ms. Bloom
• Summer - 5 houses, Red, Mayor: Ms. Harvest
• Autumn - 6 houses, Yellow, Mayor: Mr. Sol

I made judicious use of that skip button whenever they were on screen. They were just abhorrent.
The mother was prepared to drop everything and disappear off to France to live a new life, she didn't care about them. Eternally demeaning, judgmental and sanctimonious. She had to get so drunk she couldn't remember even being at the show. Equated comedy to selling your body.
She wasn't even prepared to go to the final 'big break' because she had not been deified enough in her eyes.
And the father, whom nobody liked in his teaching role because he was horrible. All he had to do was step back and take an advisory role and keep getting that check and a home for his family.
They were happy to lay down the law about what time to come home etc. when they 'owned' the apartment but when Midge made a truly massive gesture to bring the family back together they couldn't possibly lose face and made up some story so they didn't look bad.
Then the father's typing in the bathroom so he doesn't wake his wife, who does nothing, instead to wake his daughter who is actually paying for their home?
First thing he does when interviewed for a federal crime is, unprompted, throw his friend of years under the bus to save his own skin? (that wasn't actually in jeopardy)
He was a flaccid, pathetic man who suddenly has a revelation, right at the end of 5 seasons that he's always been an asshole.
How can anyone root for these people? These faux upper class, keeping up with the neighbors, pious assholes pretending they're better than they are while looking down their noses at others. They treat everyone around them with disregard and disrespect.
No accountability, no compassion, entirely self absorbed and uncaring.
Utterly contemptuous scumbags. They burned through my goodwill very quickly and lost the right to be in my version of the show.

This post may now be moot with indications that Hardge is walking from Mullen, but the academic side of me wants it on the record that there were clear signs that Hardge was not being on the level with his sayings and dealings. Plus the fact that I already had most of this written last night, and was waiting for Financial Journey to release the actual recording of his call with Hardge to confirm what had been said earlier.
On the one hand, Hardge has repeatedly spoken boastfully (not at all humble) of all the massive deals he personally had lined up, all of whom wanted to work with HIM and not Mullen. He then talked like he was doing Mullen and its shareholders a favor by sharing the alleged profits of these deals with Mullen. Hardge sounded quite miffed that Mullen seems to not want to agree to his terms for the deal and considers it a huge knock against his public credibility. And yet despite all this, he still wanted to try to work something out with Mullen so he can be paid the $5M that he believes the company owes him.
Let’s take what Hardge has previously claimed at face value.
He owns the patents and IP for the EMM. So all intellectual RIGHTS and LICENSING is apparently set.
He has multiple independent test results proving that the EMM does what he claims. So all VALIDATION of the technology is apparently set.
He has deals with Saudis and multiple other Middle East countries ready to provide BILLIONS of dollars. He even has individual investors wanting to put “a billion dollars” into his company (15:20 mark). So all FINANCING needs are apparently set.
He has an international manufacturing company that is ready to make tens or hundreds of thousand of EMM devices starting within 4 weeks (2:36 mark). So all MANUFACTURING needs are apparently set.

So why does Hardge need Mullen Automotive to sign any agreement at all?

What does Mullen bring to the table that Hardge did not already have in place?
He claimed that all these international agreements were in the works and ready to go BEFORE Mullen entered the picture. The only thing that Mullen would seem to do is take 51% of the revenue. LH claims he wanted to share these deals to “take the load off”. But if he had BILLIONS in financing commitments, shouldn't he be able to hire ALL the necessary labor and engineering expertise he could ever need?
Credit to Cal for asking Hardge (26:27 mark) why he doesn’t do the deal direct with the Saudis. Hardge claims he needs the engineering staff and facilities that Mullen has to do the work installing the EMM. Hardge’s response is just unbelievable, and again credit to Cal for trying to pursue it a bit further with Hardge in asking him why that would be such a big problem if the return is so much greater. Hardge claims that he would have to hire “consultants to do all of that in the midst of an already hectic business schedule.” But that’s just a basic part of running a business!
And then at the 28:48 mark Hardge talks about Mullen’s vans. Here’s a key statement Hardge makes: “They didn’t have a manufacturing for the installation, I went and got my own that I already was working on. Now we got a deal, they can provide any numbers around the world, international manufacture.” It sure seems like Hardge knows how to arrange for manufacturing and installation deals, which directly contradicts his explanation just a couple minutes earlier for why he wants to work with Mullen.
Hardge has also said on multiple occasions that the EMM is “easy to install” and “plug and play” such that “a high school drop-out could install this system in these vehicles” (8:15 mark in the Mullen Troy livestream). In other FB livestreams, he spoke about the EMM as an aftermarket device that the buyer would install on their own vehicle, just like putting on a window shade or cell phone cover.
In addition, Hardge himself said as reported by Cal in Twitter space meeting that Mullen engineers apparently didn't know how to do any wiring stuff, and that when he was at Mullen's Troy facility doing work on the vans that he had to do it all himself, or something along those lines. Not exactly a sign of confidence in Mullen's technical staff, is it?
It makes no sense for Hardge to say (2:09 mark) that it would take the Saudis 2-3 years to build a factory in Michigan to manufacture the EMM, given that he has said previously that the cost to make the EMM is just $85 and can be built using off-the-shelf parts from Home Depot or Lowes.
There are multiple clear contradictions between what Hardge claims he has on hand (deals, financing, manufacturing) and the degree of effort that he has put in to try to get paid $5M from Mullen to finalize the Definitive Agreement. Hence my play on Shakespeare in the title of this post: Methinks Larry doth protest too much. It seems unbelievable that anyone that genuinely has all the deals and such that Lawrence claims he has lined up would still be sticking around trying to work out some sort of agreement with Mullen. I believe that Hardge was trying to pull a fast one on Mullen from the start, and unfortunately for the company and its shareholders David Michery bought into the con and dragged Mullen into the last several weeks of buffoonery involving LH. And the damage has already been done.

Hi there,
I know these things exist but I must not know the proper trade name for them because I’m cant seem to find any for sale. I need a set of drawer slides that have some sort of positive engagement locking mechanism that will hold them closed. Not the type that pop open when you push them in, but the type that has a little detent that you can feel right at the end of travel that just helps them stay shut. Does anyone know what they’re called? TIA.

1. Collect 8 golden clams. 8mini clams=football
2. Once you have the football (or someone on your teams does, protect and back them up as they go to the goal to throw it in) teamwork is crucial - everyone is gonna immediately gun for the player with the football- h e l p
3. Footballs must be thrown FIRST into the opponents goal, once it’s down everyone can throw golden clams for extra points
4. EVERYONE CAN SEE YOU WHEN YOU HAVE THE FOOTBALL- even in squid form, you are highlighted on the map, hiding with the football will not work.
5. YOU CAN PICK UP THE FOOTBALL that your own team drops when splatted, if it sits too long it will disappear, so get it quickly
6. Using your special will make you drop all clams/ football, so use it wisely
7. If your goal gets dropped - PROTECT IT. The other team will keep throwing clams for extra points unless someone stops them, the more you throw in, the longer it stays open.
8. Once your own gate goes back up, it drops a football EVERYTIME**** directly under your own goal. grab that football and get it to the other goal.

Things that do nothing: - shooting the other teams goal with your weapon- you will get splatted, that does nothing - shooting the other teams dropped football, it doesn’t make it go away any faster you’re just wasting ink - staying in one spot the whole game up high to splat people, sure you might splat some players but that’s not how you win, you’ll be much more helpful sticking together as a team
Hope that’s helpful! This mode is actually super fun if more people knew how to play! if you have any questions lemme kno

Caste is an interesting evil and a social phenomenon of the Indian soil. It is founded neither on subjective nor objective fact or reality; yet it influences our minds in a strange way and makes us behave peculiarly, as if possessed by the notion, which becomes sufficiently real to us. The patterns that the notion is able to trace on social behavior have strange outlines and persistent and deep origins. Primitive peoples suffer from it more than those who lead an open and dynamic life. Separatist instinct itself supports it from the negative side. Race and color provide it sometimes with a semblance of objective reality.
From the positive side of human nature, vague notions of traditional origin and of supposed spiritual value lend it support. Thus nourished it thrives on the tree of life as epiphyte. Though unsupported by scientific ethnology, weak people rely on a pseudo-sociology in which they find some consolation. As it works in favor of some sections of the people as against others, those who reap the advantage naturally give it their support. The notion thus enters as a factor in the struggle for life and the very vagueness of the claims of caste superiority keeps it alive from generation to generation.
Outward marks and behavior give caste an independent objective reality, as when a policeman wears his uniform. Thus given artificially, the outer reality meets the inner psychology, so that with vague sociological and psychological justifications, the notion of caste establishes itself firmly rooted in the body politic, economic and social. Its very unreasonableness is its strength, and unwary people get their notions of spirituality molded by it through its ready-made shapes of forms available in actual society at a given time.
The social value called ‘chastity’, especially the chastity of women, is at the core of this notion of caste. As the Epic Ramayana had Sita at its core in the long and eventful stories in which men killed each other in great numbers, so caste thrives as a vague fear in the subconscious group mind of peoples lest imaginary cultural or religious barriers should be violated by the so-called outsiders. The danger of the confusion of castes to which Arjuna himself alludes in the Bhagavad Gita (I.41) is thought of as arising from unchaste women due to mixing up of castes. It is true that Krishna himself, as representing Absolute wisdom, does not support this view, but wholly ignores the plea. Caste is a word of Portuguese origin currently used in India after the historic connection of the Portuguese with India in recent times. It is derived from the same root as ‘chaste’. It refers to the purity claimed by a clan or tribe because of the chastity of the women within its closed and static imaginary frontiers.
When caste notions became a chronic nightmare to the Indian mind, various rationalizations were attempted by the fundamentalist orthodoxy at different epochs of Indian history. The post-Gupta period was responsible for formulating caste as a social system, and it was then it got its sonorous title of varna-ashrama-dharma (duty, based on color or race and stage or calling in life).
In Spite of such a fine-sounding name based on a compromise and an attempted rationalization, however, caste as a system remains vague and indefinable still from any understandable norms or standards, whether ethnological, sociological or biological. Varna-ashrama-dharma (color-calling-duty), kula-dharma (clan-duty) and jati-dharma (duty as belonging to a kind of species of beings) are to be distinguished carefully if we are to get anywhere to the bottom of the riddle of caste.
We have seen that the first term (varna-ashrama-dharma) is a vague attempt at the rationalization of caste for politico-economic purposes after the Gupta period. The second term, kula-dharma refers to the inbreeding and purity of strain of certain clans. A lower-caste woman could marry a high-caste man but the converse would not be permissible, and so forth. These are features of such a caste-system as prevailed for historical reasons and which no longer hold good in modern India. They deserve to be forgotten as a bad dream.
Casteism in Bhagavad Gita and Vedas
The Bhagavad Gita has two main references to caste, one at the end of ninth chapter and one in the eighteenth chapter. The well-known ‘chatur-varnyam’ reference alluded to Bhagavad Gita’s attempt at making a social hierarchy as presented in chapter 4 verse 13 is a himalayan attempt by the orthodoxy to justify caste and make an impression that it is hardwired to the social system by God, giving it an absolute status.
Chapter 4 of Gita is called Jnana-Yoga (Unitive Wisdom) which is preceded by the teachings pertaining to the Unitive way of action. On carefully studying the Gita, the specific verse (13) is not talking about a four-fold division in society but it is talking about the nature of action (karma) and its apparent origin in Absolute Reality. The obligatory character of caste is taken away and characterized as a free and contingent factor in life. This is found in Chapter XI, verse 32, which throws open the door of the high spirituality recommended in the Gita to women, vaisyas (traders) and even those outside the Aryan pale (sudras). A further comparison of the implications of the sequence of verses (Chapter XVIII, 41 et seq) confers a revalued status of caste free from all obligatory character altogether. When this is read together with (XVIII.66) the wisdom-teacher says to abandon all dharma (duties) and take refuge in Absolute wisdom, which is not a state of inaction or morbid selflessness but to act according to one's own inherent tendencies and talents without the anxiety and spiritual regret. Then the caste hierarchy based on vocation becomes shadowy and non-existent and humans are free to choose their own caste.
Furthermore, in one among the 108 Upanishads which are considered as authentic, the Vajrasuchika Upanishad explicitly talks about who is a Brahamana - the holy order. It is not based on birth or action that a Brahamana is identified but his spiritual status as a person endowed with Absolute experiential wisdom. There are more references from even major Upanishads (Chandogya Upanishad - the episode of Janasruti and Raikva) where a sudra was instructed in Brahma-vidya (the Science of the Absolute) which is kept secret and away from all by the Brahmanical orthodoxy now. This shows how ignorant, misinformed and fanatical the orthodoxy really is.
Man’s Humanity Distinguishes the Human Kind
Reformist Sage like Narayana Guru (from Kerala) had an approach to the problem of caste which was neither accidental or unconscious. In the first line of his composition he evidently addresses himself to the Hindu orthodoxy when he insists in the Sanskrit language of Hindu orthodoxy itself that humanity is what should give us superiority. In other words the good person is one who is more human and who recognizes humanity in his fellow beings.
The requirements of social justice, of morality, and for the superiority in the name of one’s caste are all thus referred to the same central and unitive principle in the value called Humanity. Likewise when human and godly values are treated unitively in the religious context we get the same result of an absolute human value at the core of human affairs.
On a certain occasion the Guru went so far as to say that if his devoted followers insisted as they sometimes did, on considering him as an apostle of God, they could so only on condition that such a status was conferred on him because of his opposition to caste as it prevailed.
The unique status of Narayana Guru implicit and explicit in his attitude as one who wished to abolish caste barriers is a matter that needs greater recognition in modern times not only in India but the world over. The poignant complaint of the Guru is expressed at the very end of the very first verse of his composition: “Alas ! This truth no one understands!”
We see that authentic Indian seers and wisdom teachers were not with the orthodoxy in their claims of being a superior individual but they saw sameness in all beings. This we see in the master-mind of Vyasa himself in his epoch-making masterpiece - The Bhagavad Gita, we read:

“The wise man considers with equality the brahmin endowed with learning and humility, the cow, the elephant and the dog as also the dog-eater. (V.18)”

These words put the seal as it were on the uniqueness of the discovery of the Indian Gurus in their own words. The unity and solidarity of humanity was what was most dear to the heart of these spiritual giants.
Narayana Guru, like many others spent all his life revaluing and restating the ancient perennial wisdom of the Indian seers - the Upanishads. When there was a gathering in his humble hermitage, he asked one of his attendants to make a welcome sign in bold letters which says:
“AUM! SAHODARYAM SARVATRA !” “AUM! Brotherhood Omnipresent Fills !”

I tried to recover from bulimia and I quit purging but I still binge and I kept maintaining my weight that I gained.anytime I restrict I end up purging a meal a week later and then start binging and purging multiple times a day. Lately I haven't purged in 2 weeks and have had a +0 deficit and this is the worst I've ever felt I just feel like I'm morbidly obese and everyone around me keeps lying to my face that I'm not and laughing at me when I clearly need guidance on a good weight loss plan. Idk what to do everyday I'm super angry and irritable and hate everyone. I'm slowly becoming a non functioning member of society. I miss the high I used to get from purging, the dizziness, finally being able to pass out from exhaustion and wake up with a new day. I feel like the only two options I have are : lose the weight, purge or di* soon. If I don't have the possibility of losing more and more weight everyday I have nothing to live for. I have so much stuff to focus on but I don't even care anymore. People are telling me that I look so healthy and good now but inside my soul is just empty. I just need to lose more and more but I'm still in this endless bulimic cycle and maintaining like an idiot.

We're both in our mid 30's and have been dating a little over a month. We've gone on six dates (one a week), and usually send each other about one longer text each day. I've kissed her a few times, and while I've never been rejected for a kiss a couple of them have felt a little awkward.
Yesterday we had another date and we talked about expectations, love languages, and what we're looking for out of a relationship. She admitted to not having a lot of relationships in her past, being very slow to move in relationships, ending relationships when she feels like they're moving too fast and having a problem communicating and physical touch. She said she actually has gone to therapy about her communication and intimacy issues because it was causing problems with her relationship with her family. She also admitted to not knowing how she feels about me yet. I tried to be very supportive and told her that I want to respect the pace that she wants to take the relationship at and didn't want to put pressure on her. And is she felt like I ever was putting pressure on her I wanted her to feel comfortable enough to call me out on it.
I do have some concerns. It does sound like she has some commitment issues. I am ok with taking things slow and I don't want to be in an overbearing obsessive relationship either. I've been in controlling relationships like that before and it's no fun. But I am looking for a partner and I don't want to be dragged around if she doesn't see it going anywhere.
So my question is, what should I be thinking right now? Is her saying she doesn't know how she feels about me yet a red flag? Should I not worry about it and just keep on doing what I'm doing - because conversation and being with her feels natural and fun? Should I be concerned about dating someone who admits to enjoying being single most of their life?
I feel like patience is my best route. Don't give her pressure on progressing the relationship quickly, but also let her know that if she's not interested in in me romantically then she needs to tell me sooner than later.
We're still planning dates, and she's actually the one who is suggesting we do things together a month or more in the future, so that's a good sign. She is showing signs of being interested (planning dates, sending long thoughtful messages daily, and trusting me enough to visit where I live and meet my dog) so part of me thinks I'm just getting in my head a little.
TLDR: girl I'm dating has commitment issues and doesn't know how she feels about me yet and it gives me anxiety. I don't know how much of a red flag is. Do I need reassurance or a wake up call?

After getting recommendations to play this I finally started Rebirth and I liked it. As I was close to the end I however restarted, because I wanted to make changes to my decisions and if anyone would be so kind to help me I will have few questions.
1) When choosing villain's name can I choose Sidestep and will I be automatically revealed? Also if I would add another word to the name would the game still recognize it or it wouldn't count anymore? For example - Crying Sidestep idk xD I read somewhere that it is possible, but I don't know and I wanna go batshit crazy and reveal myself completely. I want to know them it is me.
2) How do I minmax my power and influence lore wise? I don't mean stats I just want to have maximum power and I read that probably in second game I think you can gain some servants or something like that. I want to guarantee that I get them in future and get all of them. I didn't play second book however yet so I would appreciate the knowledge.
3) How OP Sidestep is in the universe? I know that already his telepathic powers are very strong and after you get the suit I know you can beat the shit out of several superheroes. So obviously you are stronger than most, but I am curious if there was someone revealed to be stronger than Sidestep?I would love to enjoy proper power fantasy.
4) How to become most depressed as possible? I already know that Sidestep has lot of mental troubles, but I want to maximize them and make myself truly fucked up in the head.I think there are some decisions you can do like that. I think you can become suicidal if I am not mistaken and so on.
5) Can I romance Ardent in second book even if I go full batshit crazy? I was told that Ardent is dommy mommy and I became weak and I wanna simp. I know I can romance her only in second book which I didn't play, but I wanna know please. I heard that If I go batshit crazy she won't be interested. (understandably)During first book I was quite pleasantly suprised by Ortega as she was caring and kinda mommy, but I changed my mind that even if you are romantically close and flirting etc. she is also willing to date puppet. That is not for me.Also I heard that I can get choked by Ardent. How? I wanna be abused by mommy. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
6) I heard that in second book I can change my hair color from natural to more unique. Is it true?
I would greatly appreciate any help to any of these questions/points. I would be most grateful. Thank you so much in advance for anything! Also please correct me if I am wrong anywhere. As I said I only played first game yet and I have information only which I read on reddit etc.
I obviously don't care about spoilers. I have OCD and part of it I need to make everything "perfect". So I actually like and prefer to have future knowledge. So please go ahead and give me spoilers.
PS: Yes, I have issues. I am aware. Indeed I am degen. I am not ashamed. To anyone telling me I should go to therapy. Don't. I already am. LMAO

This is a throwaway.
I'm Jordanian and for my entire life I've been uncomfortable with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as I lived near the border of the west bank, I've never been to Israel not Palestinian territory yet many Palestinians live in Jordan and for a very long time I used to be very extreme about my beliefs of the conflict, I remember when I was convinced that the only way peace could exist is if the entire Israeli population is deported to Europe and if they refuse then genocide, this was justified by the idea that this is "arabian homeland" and jews where "rich men from europe" supported by this "west".
Slowly, as I began to mature and slowly move away from islam I also began to forget about the conflict as it didn't really concern me but then in the past few years with the recent uptick in violence I went back to it, note that now I began supporting a 2 state solution rather than the 1 state solution I had loved so much previously, I've begun getting more unconformable with the conflict, nearly everyone I talked to suggested how the only way peace can be established is to completely destroy all jews in their mind this was reasonable, I still think that Israel has committed war crimes but now it's beginning to appear that this conflict is now being ingrained in the new generation, millions of young people are now starting to believe that genocide was justified to the other side. I never really was able to get a different perspective on things as I never talked to a jewish person before, but after I started using the internet I managed to connect with other people and collect more opinions and perspectives, some of these people were more moderate and suggested a 2 state solution but the majority of them utterly hated the other side, slowly my uncomfortable feeling grew as I watched mass violence on TV from both sides, deportation, torture, beatings, and death. an unending cycle of revenge where the hatred has reached the point of not even contemplating murdering people from the other side but automatically doing it instinctively like an animal, my family members have casually celebrated murders of Israeli civilians and on TV I've seen Israelis chanting "death to arabs", I've seen parades in the streets of irbid and amman of Palestinians burning an Israeli flag made from a towel. And I have met Israelis online who have also been turned into animals that seek only destruction of the other side.
Both sides, turned into wild bloodthirsty animals who want murder and are constantly militarizing themselves.
I was confused, I don't know if all of them are like this? Because I've rarely seen anything moderate from either side, is this because I'm looking at the wrong places or is there just really no peaceful resolution to all this?
I need you to know that I don't have a clue about what's going on, is there an end coming? Will there be any peace or will "peace" be established when one side eventually massacre the other or when both sides destroy themselves?
I don't know if the governments of these countries are at fault or if it's something else, and at this point I don't care who's land this is, I don't care whose grandfather was maybe living on this land 500 years ago, I just want peace because this land is so beautiful without the chaos.
So what's your opinion? Is there an end coming? Will the "new generation" come and finally instate a fair and bloodless peace like a happy ending in a fairytale or will the young continue slaughtering each other to make this war continue on indefinitely?
Sorry for the rant and bad english, I just wanted to vent it all out.

Here at WSB, I'm sure all of you guys are watching GameStop (GME) stock, as the video game retailer will report its first-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings today after the market close. Despite demonstrating some impressive growth over the past month, the stock has struggled to retain momentum.
However, if the company can beat Wall Street’s modest expectations, GME stock has a chance to rise. Given its meme stock status, GameStop tends to garner skepticism from experts, even on its best days. As InvestorPlace’s Eddie Pan reports, institutional sentiment toward GME remains mixed, even as the stock has risen since Q1. Additionally, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates recently divested from its GameStop position, generating further uncertainty.
Earlier this month, CEO Matt Furlong released a letter to shareholders, detailing the company’s plan and focus for the year.
“In fiscal 2022, GameStop’s operating environment dramatically changed due to the onset of inflation, rising interest rates and macro headwinds,” said Furlong. “Rather than stand still, we pivoted to cutting costs, optimizing inventory and enhancing the customer experience.”
That’s exactly what the company has been doing. In Europe, for example, GameStop has placed an emphasis on cutting costs by initiating exits and partial wind-downs. GameStop has also focused on forming partnerships with other retail and gaming companies in order to accelerate efficient top-line growth. To drive revenue, the company has explored building market share in high-margin related businesses, like collectibles and toys.
Now, with earnings coming up, investors will get a preview of GameStop’s cost-cutting efforts. This is not the type of post you wanna skip onto the tl;dr portion. These details are going to be key, so let's get into it.
For the quarter, analyst have forecasted revenue of $1.358 billion, which would imply a year-over-year (YoY) decline of 1.45% and a quarter-over-quarter decline of about 39%. During the past few years, Q4 has been a strong quarter for GameStop, likely due to the holiday season. This can explain the quarter-over-quarter decline.
Meanwhile, adjusted net income is expected to be a loss of $36 million, while adjusted EPS is expected to be a loss of 12 cents. Analyst believe that GAAP EPS will be a loss of 15 cents. A year ago, GameStop reported an adjusted net income loss of $158 million and an adjusted EPS loss of 52 cents.
Just as important, if not more important, than earnings is guidance. For the second quarter, analysts have forecasted revenue of $1.155 billion, which reflects YOY growth of 1.67% and a quarterly decline of about 15%. Adjusted net income is expected to be a loss of $62 million, which would equate to an adjusted EPS loss of 21 cents.
For the full year of 2023, analysts believe that revenue will be $5.908 million, down by 0.33% YoY. Adjusted net income is expected to be a loss of $91 million, while adjusted EPS is expected to be a loss of 30 cents.
Things to Note: Short Selling Ban
GameStop fans have been watching closely for updates on a pending short selling ban. If regulators successfully enact a policy that prohibits the practice of short selling, it may put an end to some of GameStop’s problems, as it is a popular target for short sellers.
GameStop management will likely address the potential short-selling ban during the June 7 earnings call, offering insights as to how they will handle operations if the bill becomes a law.
Things to Note: Plans for Web.3.0 Gaming
In 2022, GameStop turned plenty of heads when it ventured into the world of NFTs. You know, those fungus tokens or whatever? Hype around this controversial commodity has since died down, but the company still is digitally innovating.
It recently announced a partnership with the Telos Foundation to integrate blockchain technology into its “upcoming Web3 game launcher.” This new development certainly has the potential to bolster GME stock if executed correctly. This foray into Web 3.0 will likely also be a point of focus during the earnings call, as investors will want to know the company’s plans for scaling its new launcher and improving the gaming experience through blockchain. Additionally, it may also mean updates on GameStop’s NFT marketplace and its impact on the company’s profitability.
Why GameStop Could Go Parabolic
Last quarter, GameStop caught bears off-guard by reporting earnings per share of 16 cents. Analysts had predicted the video game retailer would post a loss per share of 13 cents. GameStop's unexpectedly profitable quarter caused GME shares to soar about 50% after the earnings announcement.
Last quarter, one of the few analysts covering GameStop, Wedbush's Michael Pachter, provided a $6.50 price target for GME, with an "Underperform" rating. Pachter claimed that shares were "at trading levels that are disconnected from the fundamentals of the business due to irrational support from some retail investors."
Although GameStop shares are still trading 40% higher than they were before the previous earnings release — and 73% above the Wedbush analyst's target — Pachter has reinforced his bearish thesis for Q1 earnings and left his price target intact.
Holiday sales largely contributed to GameStop's fourth-quarter net profit — making it questionable whether the video game retailer can pull off that feat for the second quarter in a row. But if GameStop does report a net profit in Q1, it will be a catalyst for the stock's retail investors to drive share prices higher. Currently, short sellers hold about 21% of GameStop's outstanding shares.
As demand for shorting the stock has reduced dramatically since March, borrow fees for GME have dropped from 40% to 7.6%. But because the company continues to attract short sellers, these fees may increase.
With the stock outperforming the S&P 500 by about 30%, GME shorts will likely accumulate mark-to-market losses this year. This, combined with high borrow fees, will likely result in a short squeeze.
Update on DRS Numbers
Besides a potential second consecutive quarterly net profit, GameStop's shareholder base is looking forward to another piece of information: the number of GME shares registered with Computershare, the company's transfer agent.
In recent quarters, GameStop investors have increasingly registered their shares directly with Computershare via the Direct Registration System (DRS). With this service, shareholders do not need to hold shares through a broker.
In addition to giving holders the autonomy to have their shares registered in their name, recording shares through the DRS also reduces short sellers' ability to borrow GameStop shares. That is because, unlike brokers, transfer agents cannot lend shares to short sellers.
Since the third quarter of 2021, GameStop has disclosed the number of shares registered with the transfer agent in the quarterly filings.
In the most recent annual filing, 76 million GameStop shares were registered with the transfer agent. Considering the size of GameStop's float, about 25% of all GME shares outstanding are held beyond brokers and banks.
Does this affect the stock's trading volume? Yes. If you look at GameStop's trading volume history, it is clear that there has been a decline in activity since May of last year. Check this chart, data from yahoo finance.
It is impossible to say with certainty that GameStop's recent volume drop is due to investors using the transfer agent to keep their shares away from short sellers. But, we can say that if GameStop reports that more shares have been registered through the DRS, retail shareholders could send the stock higher.
What does the chart say?
GameStop shares have rallied higher since the start of May, with a supportive trendline following the share price higher. We can see the stock came close to testing $25 on several occasions last week and this could be a key level to watch considering it has held as a reliable ceiling since late last year, apart from one brief move above here after it posted that surprise profit in the last quarter. A move above here would pave the way for the stock to climb above $27.
On the downside, a slip below the supportive trendline risks seeing the stock unravel back toward the lows seen at the start of May of $18, with the 2023 lows back in play below that.
What I'm doing for earnings?
All the research is telling me to get calls. I'm gonna be dropping a significant portion of my portfolio into GME 6/9 30c for $100 each. Then I'll watch the stock at 4pm, and hope for the best. That being said, it's up to you guys to read this and come to your own conclusions. IV is very high so it's better to go for a spread, regardless of what you choose.

My boyfriend and i have been together for 2 years and in that time my boyfriend has had a job as a waiter.
Now, my boyfriend is a good looking guy and i’ve been told in the past by his co-workers that he does get flirted with my customers and occasionally get given numbers which he throws away but my boyfriend told me that they were messing with me and this does not happen.
I was doing the laundry the other day and when i was clearing out his pockets i found a napkin with a number on it.
When i asked him about it he told me that he kept it as a joke and his co-workers forced him to take it to embarrass him and said he was going to throw it away but he forgot, so i threw it in the bin and i thought that was the end of it.
That was until later on in the day i looked in the bin and the napkin was gone, it was easy to tell because the bin wasn’t full at all but the rest of the rubbish was still in there, expect for the napkin.
I haven’t said anything yet, i don’t know what my next move should be. I’ve even checked the bin multiple times just to he sure and i’m 100% its gone.
I don’t want to overreact in case there is a reason why the napkin is gone or there is an extremely slim chance the napkin was in there and i somehow didn’t see.
Ive even considered asking his co-workers if they forced him to keep the napkin but i feel like thats a crazy move.
Im not sure if I should pursue this further or just let it go?

Caste is an interesting evil and a social phenomenon of the Indian soil. It is founded neither on subjective nor objective fact or reality; yet it influences our minds in a strange way and makes us behave peculiarly, as if possessed by the notion, which becomes sufficiently real to us. The patterns that the notion is able to trace on social behavior have strange outlines and persistent and deep origins. Primitive peoples suffer from it more than those who lead an open and dynamic life. Separatist instinct itself supports it from the negative side. Race and color provide it sometimes with a semblance of objective reality.
From the positive side of human nature, vague notions of traditional origin and of supposed spiritual value lend it support. Thus nourished it thrives on the tree of life as epiphyte. Though unsupported by scientific ethnology, weak people rely on a pseudo-sociology in which they find some consolation. As it works in favor of some sections of the people as against others, those who reap the advantage naturally give it their support. The notion thus enters as a factor in the struggle for life and the very vagueness of the claims of caste superiority keeps it alive from generation to generation.
Outward marks and behavior give caste an independent objective reality, as when a policeman wears his uniform. Thus given artificially, the outer reality meets the inner psychology, so that with vague sociological and psychological justifications, the notion of caste establishes itself firmly rooted in the body politic, economic and social. Its very unreasonableness is its strength, and unwary people get their notions of spirituality molded by it through its ready-made shapes of forms available in actual society at a given time.
The social value called ‘chastity’, especially the chastity of women, is at the core of this notion of caste. As the Epic Ramayana had Sita at its core in the long and eventful stories in which men killed each other in great numbers, so caste thrives as a vague fear in the subconscious group mind of peoples lest imaginary cultural or religious barriers should be violated by the so-called outsiders. The danger of the confusion of castes to which Arjuna himself alludes in the Bhagavad Gita (I.41) is thought of as arising from unchaste women due to mixing up of castes. It is true that Krishna himself, as representing Absolute wisdom, does not support this view, but wholly ignores the plea. Caste is a word of Portuguese origin currently used in India after the historic connection of the Portuguese with India in recent times. It is derived from the same root as ‘chaste’. It refers to the purity claimed by a clan or tribe because of the chastity of the women within its closed and static imaginary frontiers.
When caste notions became a chronic nightmare to the Indian mind, various rationalizations were attempted by the fundamentalist orthodoxy at different epochs of Indian history. The post-Gupta period was responsible for formulating caste as a social system, and it was then it got its sonorous title of varna-ashrama-dharma (duty, based on color or race and stage or calling in life).
In Spite of such a fine-sounding name based on a compromise and an attempted rationalization, however, caste as a system remains vague and indefinable still from any understandable norms or standards, whether ethnological, sociological or biological. Varna-ashrama-dharma (color-calling-duty), kula-dharma (clan-duty) and jati-dharma (duty as belonging to a kind of species of beings) are to be distinguished carefully if we are to get anywhere to the bottom of the riddle of caste.
We have seen that the first term (varna-ashrama-dharma) is a vague attempt at the rationalization of caste for politico-economic purposes after the Gupta period. The second term, kula-dharma refers to the inbreeding and purity of strain of certain clans. A lower-caste woman could marry a high-caste man but the converse would not be permissible, and so forth. These are features of such a caste-system as prevailed for historical reasons and which no longer hold good in modern India. They deserve to be forgotten as a bad dream.
Casteism in Bhagavad Gita and Vedas
The Bhagavad Gita has two main references to caste, one at the end of ninth chapter and one in the eighteenth chapter. The well-known ‘chatur-varnyam’ reference alluded to Bhagavad Gita’s attempt at making a social hierarchy as presented in chapter 4 verse 13 is a himalayan attempt by the orthodoxy to justify caste and make an impression that it is hardwired to the social system by God, giving it an absolute status.
Chapter 4 of Gita is called Jnana-Yoga (Unitive Wisdom) which is preceded by the teachings pertaining to the Unitive way of action. On carefully studying the Gita, the specific verse (13) is not talking about a four-fold division in society but it is talking about the nature of action (karma) and its apparent origin in Absolute Reality. The obligatory character of caste is taken away and characterized as a free and contingent factor in life. This is found in Chapter XI, verse 32, which throws open the door of the high spirituality recommended in the Gita to women, vaisyas (traders) and even those outside the Aryan pale (sudras). A further comparison of the implications of the sequence of verses (Chapter XVIII, 41 et seq) confers a revalued status of caste free from all obligatory character altogether. When this is read together with (XVIII.66) the wisdom-teacher says to abandon all dharma (duties) and take refuge in Absolute wisdom, which is not a state of inaction or morbid selflessness but to act according to one's own inherent tendencies and talents without the anxiety and spiritual regret. Then the caste hierarchy based on vocation becomes shadowy and non-existent and humans are free to choose their own caste.
Furthermore, in one among the 108 Upanishads which are considered as authentic, the Vajrasuchika Upanishad explicitly talks about who is a Brahamana - the holy order. It is not based on birth or action that a Brahamana is identified but his spiritual status as a person endowed with Absolute experiential wisdom. There are more references from even major Upanishads (Chandogya Upanishad - the episode of Janasruti and Raikva) where a sudra was instructed in Brahma-vidya (the Science of the Absolute) which is kept secret and away from all by the Brahmanical orthodoxy now. This shows how ignorant, misinformed and fanatical the orthodoxy really is.
Man’s Humanity Distinguishes the Human Kind
Reformist Sage like Narayana Guru (from Kerala) had an approach to the problem of caste which was neither accidental or unconscious. In the first line of his composition he evidently addresses himself to the Hindu orthodoxy when he insists in the Sanskrit language of Hindu orthodoxy itself that humanity is what should give us superiority. In other words the good person is one who is more human and who recognizes humanity in his fellow beings.
The requirements of social justice, of morality, and for the superiority in the name of one’s caste are all thus referred to the same central and unitive principle in the value called Humanity. Likewise when human and godly values are treated unitively in the religious context we get the same result of an absolute human value at the core of human affairs.
On a certain occasion the Guru went so far as to say that if his devoted followers insisted as they sometimes did, on considering him as an apostle of God, they could so only on condition that such a status was conferred on him because of his opposition to caste as it prevailed.
The unique status of Narayana Guru implicit and explicit in his attitude as one who wished to abolish caste barriers is a matter that needs greater recognition in modern times not only in India but the world over. The poignant complaint of the Guru is expressed at the very end of the very first verse of his composition: “Alas ! This truth no one understands!”
We see that authentic Indian seers and wisdom teachers were not with the orthodoxy in their claims of being a superior individual but they saw sameness in all beings. This we see in the master-mind of Vyasa himself in his epoch-making masterpiece - The Bhagavad Gita, we read:

“The wise man considers with equality the brahmin endowed with learning and humility, the cow, the elephant and the dog as also the dog-eater. (V.18)”

These words put the seal as it were on the uniqueness of the discovery of the Indian Gurus in their own words. The unity and solidarity of humanity was what was most dear to the heart of these spiritual giants.
Narayana Guru, like many others spent all his life revaluing and restating the ancient perennial wisdom of the Indian seers - the Upanishads. When there was a gathering in his humble hermitage, he asked one of his attendants to make a welcome sign in bold letters which says:
“AUM! SAHODARYAM SARVATRA !” “AUM! Brotherhood Omnipresent Fills !”