Parliament's recent activity
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Comment on Tesla to wind down Cybertruck production in Texas next year in ~transport
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Comment on Real-life 'Truman Show' pulled from TV as it's branded 'psychological torture' in ~tv
Parliament Link ParentThis genre can be incredibly polarizing. Jury Duty is a lot more accessible/heartwarming/mainstream (even more so in season 2), but among my friends, Nathan Fielder is either loved or hated. No in...This genre can be incredibly polarizing. Jury Duty is a lot more accessible/heartwarming/mainstream (even more so in season 2), but among my friends, Nathan Fielder is either loved or hated. No in between. Some folks just don't like the dialed-up extremist cringe/awkward/surreal angle of Nathan Fielder, and tbh, I don't blame them for it at all. It's just a matter of preference. I love him and have laughed harder at his comedy than any other modern comedian, but I freely admit that he makes me feel uniquely uncomfortable. The payoff is unlike any other comedy though. Some would say he arguably crosses a line at points. I don't necessarily disagree, but the debate around his comedy and how it blurs the line of reality and finds unexpected human sincerity is why he's so compelling to me compared to just jokes and topical humor.
If you want to dip your toe in the water, I would recommend either S01E04 (Gas Station / Caricature Artist) or S02E05 (Dumb Starbucks) of Nathan For You. Personally, my favorite episodes are S03E01 (Electronics Store) or S03E02 (Horseback Riding / Man Zone), but the other two are the most recommended for first time viewers, particularly Dumb Starbucks for people who don't ordinarily enjoy this genre of comedy. They aired on Comedy Central so are only 20 mins long. Not a big commitment, and you don't have to watch them in order. The basic premise is that Nathan plays an awkward consultant brought in to help struggling businesses. Each episode features 1-3 different businesses.
In The Rehearsal season 1 (Nathan's HBO show with a much much larger budget), he helps people rehearse for important moments in their lives because Nathan himself is so terrified of uncertainty that he'll spend hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to eliminate it. Or at least that's how it starts before spiraling wildly out of control around one of the individuals he's helping rehearse for a major life decision. Episode 1 is relatively docile but pure gold. Nathan helps a guy admit to his weekly trivia friend group that he's been lying about having a master's degree because he wanted to seem smarter.
In season 2, Nathan becomes obsessed with a real aviation safety problem. Copilots sometimes fail to challenge their captains due to the social dynamic of superior and subordinate, even when the copilot recognizes a potentially catastrophic mistake. So what if he used the same insane rehearsal methodology of season 1 to prevent airplane crashes? Season 2 is more cohesive around the idea of aviation safety, but again, it spirals wildly out of control in unimaginable ways and is an extraordinary escalation of season 1. All of his shows become vehicles to varying extents for exploring his own mental state, social anxiety, and perception of reality.
He was also a writer and co-director on Sacha Baron Cohen's show Who is America?, which is a little more hit or miss but still a gold mine.
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Comment on Real-life 'Truman Show' pulled from TV as it's branded 'psychological torture' in ~tv
Parliament Link ParentThe Joe Schmo Show would be more like Jury Duty/Corporate Retreat. Everyone around the target is an actor to create comedic moments, but in the end, the target is still rewarded in a big way at...The Joe Schmo Show would be more like Jury Duty/Corporate Retreat. Everyone around the target is an actor to create comedic moments, but in the end, the target is still rewarded in a big way at the end. They did a fantastic job of making the comedy about the supporting cast and the target's reaction to their absurdity. They also set up the target to succeed and be loved as the hero of the show, so it felt very heartwarming after the reveal. The characters built real connections with the heroes. I was honestly emotional at the end of both seasons.
I was just reading the Joe Schmo wiki page, and I can't believe they mentioned a somewhat-obscure show from this genre that I have on DVD, Invasion Iowa. I didn't realize these shows were created by the same people!
The series depicts events from September 2004, in which William Shatner played a hoax on the small town of Riverside, Iowa, by claiming to film a science fiction movie there. Unbeknownst to the residents of Riverside, the movie was in fact fake, a satire on the genre. In front of and behind the cameras, Shatner and his purported entourage performed a parody of Hollywood and celebrity culture. Producers designed the various plots and gags to elicit reactions from the townspeople. Shatner played the part of the eccentric star and improvisational actors were hired as members of his entourage.
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Comment on Real-life 'Truman Show' pulled from TV as it's branded 'psychological torture' in ~tv
Parliament (edited )Link ParentThis feels like way over the line even by Nathan Fielder standards, and he already toes the line with some of his shows.This feels like way over the line even by Nathan Fielder standards, and he already toes the line with some of his shows.
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
Parliament Link ParentIn 2017, control of the Virginia house of delegates was decided by a single vote. Defeatism can swing a result. That's why you vote every damn local/state/federal/off-cycle/special/primary election!In 2017, control of the Virginia house of delegates was decided by a single vote. Defeatism can swing a result. That's why you vote every damn local/state/federal/off-cycle/special/primary election!
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
Parliament (edited )LinkI live in TN. We all expected the key races to go Republican, and they all did albeit much much more narrowly than predicted... except for one. Scott DesJarlais lost his highly gerrymandered...I live in TN. We all expected the key races to go Republican, and they all did albeit much much more narrowly than predicted... except for one. Scott DesJarlais lost his highly gerrymandered congressional district by less than 300 votes to Victoria Broderick. Despite being staunchly pro-life, DesJarlais is a serial adulterer who paid his wife and mistresses to have three confirmed abortions. He had at least six affairs with people he came into contact with while Chief of Staff of a hospital system in Jasper, TN, including patients he was actively providing care for. He is also a denier of the 2020 election results and staunch Zionist. He has held the seat since 2011 and beat Broderick in 2024 with 70% vs. 26.8% of the vote. It can't be overstated how incredible this is, and as someone who has been living in a Republican trifecta for most of my adult life, it's a win for all Democrats in TN whether we live in the district or not.
My local county also voted blue in all US House/Senate/Governor races for the first time since 1990. Insane!
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
Parliament Link ParentI'm thrilled that a Democratic governor will now have some authority over Elon Musk's businesses after he moved so much of his operations there to avoid taxes and regulatory scrutiny.I'm thrilled that a Democratic governor will now have some authority over Elon Musk's businesses after he moved so much of his operations there to avoid taxes and regulatory scrutiny.
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
Parliament Link ParentI'm in TN, and our Republican trifecta is pushing a constitutional amendment to ban state property tax. Note: we don't have a state property tax, we haven't had one since 1949, but they want to...I'm in TN, and our Republican trifecta is pushing a constitutional amendment to ban state property tax. Note: we don't have a state property tax, we haven't had one since 1949, but they want to enshrine a ban in our state constitution. Seems to be a recurring theme of Republicans aiming to ban things that don't exist or impact our lives at all.
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Comment on The American suburbs are better than you think in ~life
Parliament (edited )Link ParentIn our case, they all used to be considered suburban neighborhoods but shifted to the urban category due to sprawling growth through continued city limits annexation. The change in the...In our case, they all used to be considered suburban neighborhoods but shifted to the urban category due to sprawling growth through continued city limits annexation. The change in the neighborhoods' categorization is more relative to the growth of the rest of the city rather than change in a vacuum. Frankly, these neighborhoods look a lot like they did 75-100 years ago, just with a bit of in-fill development in places that used to have trees, vacant lots, or abandoned manufacturing plants (now Superfund sites!). Some new SFHs, some SFH flips, and some developments with a bit more density (townhomes, ADUs, du/tri/quad-plexes, 3/4/5-over-1s, etc.), but they are still vast majority SFHs. Despite being the more walkable/accessible neighborhoods of our downtown core, they are less walkable/accessible than they were 75-100 years ago when we had a respectable street car network that was completely abandoned shortly after WW2.
We don't really have any truly urban neighborhoods that you would imagine as a Bay-area resident. A handful of high(er)-rise apartment buildings popped up in the last 15 years, but the original downtown core is still 90%+ commercial-use and becomes a ghost town on certain blocks outside the 9-5 M-F window (besides drivers passing through).
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Comment on The American suburbs are better than you think in ~life
Parliament Link ParentI'm from the southeastern US and have lived in four different states in the region (LA, KY, TN, and GA). There are certainly plenty of exceptions--not all suburbs are as bad as people online would...I'm from the southeastern US and have lived in four different states in the region (LA, KY, TN, and GA). There are certainly plenty of exceptions--not all suburbs are as bad as people online would have you believe--but the default suburban neighborhood in the SE is not somewhere I would ever want to live after growing up in one. Since moving back to the medium-sized city (<200k people) where I spent my HS years, we've lived in three different urban neighborhoods with lots of craftsman/bungalow/Sears-style century homes with alleyway car access instead of front yard driveways near the city center.
There's charm, beautiful older buildings, transit connectivity (by US standards) with our bus system and bike lanes, walkability, older trees with shady sidewalks, a pedestrianized college campus teeming with life, a grid-style street layout, fewer streets with more than 1 lane in each direction, and fun things that you can do in a downtown area (restaurants, movie theater, regular events hosted in public parks, a pedestrian bridge connected to a beautiful car-free riverwalk, various music venues, stadium and arena for sporting events, etc.). We're not such a big city that it feels overwhelming or overly noisy (again, by US standards, besides the leaf blowers, emergency vehicles, and occasional burnouts).
In contrast, all suburbs here are car-dependent. Some of them in wealthier, older areas have charm of home design/layout, older trees, quality parks/green spaces, or mountain/river views, but the 21st century developments are extremely Ctrl C/Ctrl V. They are claustrophobic, tree-less, sidewalk-less hallways for tiny driveways with parked pickups and SUVs. The real estate developers are the foxes running the hen house here (literally a majority of the local planning commission). In some suburbs, we have the theoretical proximity for mixed-use utility, but every neighborhood is still designed to insulate residential from commercial rather than connect them for anyone outside of a car. I've seen suburbs from the northeast (e.g. outside Philly), and they really opened my eyes to how much worse off suburbs are in the southeast (with exceptions).
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Comment on NFL news, live updates: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts reportedly out for season as he undergoes treatment for DVT, blood clots in lungs; Indianapolis Colts fire Chris Ballard in ~sports.american_football
Parliament LinkFRP for me in fantasy this year. Ah well.FRP for me in fantasy this year. Ah well.
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Comment on Grand Theft Auto VI | Launch trailer in ~games
Parliament Link ParentThose are all great games! I should go back and play some of those myself. Two of those are games I played in their eras (Q3 and UT) but not ones I ever revisited in the years since (not for any...Those are all great games! I should go back and play some of those myself. Two of those are games I played in their eras (Q3 and UT) but not ones I ever revisited in the years since (not for any particular reason). AOE2 is just my lifetime obsession, so with the limited time I have to play now that I have two kids, I always go back to my old faves. And my son plays it with me now too. A dream come true.
Hmu if you ever wanna play AOE2DE! My friends and I have been trying to beat the AI on extreme difficulty, and we lost 3x 3v2s yesterday. They're not always available to play when I am though. We can beat extreme in a 2v1, but when you give it an ally, the difficulty goes way up. I can manage a 1v1 on hardest but not extreme yet.
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Comment on Grand Theft Auto VI | Launch trailer in ~games
Parliament LinkI've played every GTA game dating back to the 90s but never at the actual release date. For reference, I didn't complete the main storyline of GTA V until early 2022. I will probably do something...I've played every GTA game dating back to the 90s but never at the actual release date. For reference, I didn't complete the main storyline of GTA V until early 2022. I will probably do something similar with GTA VI because my nostalgia for the series runs too deep not to check it out. Maybe in a couple years though once the PC release has been out for a while and comes down in price. Not like it's going anywhere. My daily driver PC game is a 2019 re-release of something that originally came out in 1999, so I'm in no hurry to play the latest cutting edge games. That said, I'm still excited to play GTA VI... eventually!
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Comment on Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news in ~news
Parliament LinkStory of the week from my group chat: The Rooster found guilty in Shrek text harassment trial, fined $200Story of the week from my group chat: The Rooster found guilty in Shrek text harassment trial, fined $200
Jurors found Donald "D.J." Byrnes guilty of harassing Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, for texting an explicit image of Shrek and two messages in the wake of Cirino's failed bid to lead the Ohio Senate as its president. Visiting Judge Michael Cicconetti told Byrnes to have no contact with Cirino, including text messages, but this was not an official no-contact order. Cicconetti also ordered Byrnes to pay a $200 fine.
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Comment on US Pentagon says the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed in ~society
Parliament Link ParentRIP Curtis Flowers. I recommend In The Dark season 2 for anyone who wants an in-depth look at his legal case. One of the worst cases of prosecutorial misconduct in modern American history.RIP Curtis Flowers. I recommend In The Dark season 2 for anyone who wants an in-depth look at his legal case. One of the worst cases of prosecutorial misconduct in modern American history.
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Comment on Why do we find Tildes (and Lobsters) more interesting than the alternatives? in ~tech
Parliament LinkI've never heard of Lobsters. Do you have any invites to share?I've never heard of Lobsters. Do you have any invites to share?
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Comment on Someone ‘torturing’ LLMs in a robot prison has triggered the dumbest debate in AI yet in ~tech
Parliament Link ParentWe used to kick crawdad mounds in our yard as kids.We used to kick crawdad mounds in our yard as kids.
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Comment on Comerica Park will be renamed to Fifth Third Park starting in 2027 in ~sports.baseball
Parliament Link ParentIt could be so much worse than Comerica or Fifth Third. Like the Crypto.com Arena, which most people still call Staples Center.It could be so much worse than Comerica or Fifth Third. Like the Crypto.com Arena, which most people still call Staples Center.
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Comment on A college girl was exploited on camera. A network of anonymous men got to work. in ~tech
Parliament Link ParentI imagine the vast majority of people haven't heard of that case. I'm francophone and read French news feeds daily, and even I've never heard of it. And it was in the news when I was still in my...Though, after the Pelicot case, I am surprised anyone finds this surprising.
I imagine the vast majority of people haven't heard of that case. I'm francophone and read French news feeds daily, and even I've never heard of it. And it was in the news when I was still in my true crime era.
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Comment on Do you iron your clothes? in ~life
Parliament Link ParentWhen I used to travel a lot for work, I would hang them in the bathroom with me while I took a hot steamy shower.When I used to travel a lot for work, I would hang them in the bathroom with me while I took a hot steamy shower.
My favorite comparison is to Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.