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[Neonivek]

Because they're totes evil for not paying obscene tax rates.

Tax is theft don't ya know

Oddly enough I've seen a show that was exactly that.

These artists join a artist colony and the Taxman comes and everyone says "Everyone has to pay their dues even artists" and I thought the protagonists were going to be taught a lesson about responsibility or something...

But nope they... kind of... defeat taxes and never have to pay taxes ever again.

[Erkki]

Ahh I see, it very well could be a tax thing. Your gun laws are odd any way, I mean, almost anyone can get a gun and they're cheap, only receivers are the firearm legally(while here barrels and bolts are too) BUT then you have silly, silly 200 $ per item ATF tax for stuff like silencers and grippods.

So, how many 22 LR boxes of 500 do I order for you? This shop also has non-corrosive primer .223 Rem for 30 ¢ a piece.

[Eric Blank]

None. I have only a .17 caliber. I only really use it to chase off coyotes and anyway.

Because they're totes evil for not paying obscene tax rates.

Tax is theft don't ya know

Its not theft, but when its so much higher than the alternatives that nobody is willing to pay it, does it make any more sense to charge them for theft when they pay taxes to your more reasonable neighbors instead? Just because you want it so bad?

It just ends up looking like Washington state is run by a bunch of orangutans that throw temper tantrums when they don't get what they want.

[Lord Shonus]

It isn't a tax thing. Several years ago, gunmakers realized the popularity of the AR-15 and similar combined with the high price of .223 ammunition meant there was a niche in the market for a similar gun chambered in the cheap, ubiquitous .22lr round. They were very right, and demand for .22 ammo skyrocketed virtually overnight. Combined with bullet speculators buying every round they could find to resell at an inflated price, this drove the price of the ammo through the roof.

It got so bad that .22LR was literally rationed by most retailers for awhile.

[Erkki]

I see. In that case its interesting that the high retail prices there havent transferred to high export prices in what, several years? They really are 7 to 9 cents a piece here. Most expensive ones are like 15, which seems to be the usual price there.

Schönebeck SK from Germany and domestic Lapua(I know that Lapua is a premium brand abroad) are both more expensive than the US-import Winchester, Federal and CCI.

[Orange Wizard]

Its not theft, but when its so much higher than the alternatives that nobody is willing to pay it, does it make any more sense to charge them for theft when they pay taxes to your more reasonable neighbors instead? Just because you want it so bad?

It just ends up looking like Washington state is run by a bunch of orangutans that throw temper tantrums when they don't get what they want.

So for tobacco this actually makes sense - smoking is really bad for your health and costs the public an awful lot in healthcare, etc.
Border control is kinda necessary in order to call yourself a sovereign state, if you can't enforce your own laws you're not a government worth respecting.

[itisnotlogical]

Playing Fallout 3 after a pretty long pause. It always amazes me how Bethesda's writers, and the voice actors they hire, utterly fail to inspire any sort of pathos or empathy.

You're fleeing from a terrifying enemy that outnumbers and outguns you, when suddenly you have to stop; one of your charges has a heart condition. You need to do something right now, or he dies; but if you stop then you'll surely be caught and killed.

Here's how the scene is written. I'm paraphrasing but this isn't too far off:

Doctor: Garza needs medicine. I swear I won't leave him.

(Good ending)
Garza: I need medicine.
Doctor: Here's medicine.
Garza: Thank you doctor for this medicine.
Doctor: You sure did need that medicine.

The first line is the only one delivered with any emotion at all; the rest is totally casual and conversational.

[EnigmaticHat]

The (years long) trend in open world games seems to be that everyone is an asshole and no one likes the player.  Not quite what you're talking about but it produces the same effect.

[Putnam]

Nono, it's actually related. A huge part of that scene (which I remember vividly) is how awful Doctor Li is towards you and how pants-on-head idiotic she is about it. Then again, most of that game's characters are pants-on-head idiotic.

[Tack]

Yeah keep in mind that Fallout 3 is a progression from Oblivion's "stop right there, criminal scum!"

They were kinda pioneering open-world 3D RPG's, so a lot of the voice acting was new to the actors.
I think. I haven't googled a single thing.

[Neonivek]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

I thought the origin of the word "Barbarian" would be vague meaning... or possibly involve a specific group (It isn't impossible)

But nope! its origin is quite explicitly kind of racist to denote someone who talks and 'walks' differently.

It is probably one of the few cases I can think of where an incredibly racist term just kind of naturalized all on its own. If I had to guess why it is likely it became so associated with fantasy and a specific view (like Conan) that it no longer applies to any real group anymore. THAT and Barbarian as an insult had been subverted in fiction "They aren't the barbarian YOU ARE!" so many times that the subversion ("Someone who is needlessly cruel") has become the definition.

[Lord Shonus]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

I thought the origin of the word "Barbarian" would be vague meaning... or possibly involve a specific group (It isn't impossible)

But nope! its origin is quite explicitly kind of racist to denote someone who talks and 'walks' differently.

It is probably one of the few cases I can think of where an incredibly racist term just kind of naturalized all on its own. If I had to guess why it is likely it became so associated with fantasy and a specific view (like Conan) that it no longer applies to any real group anymore. THAT and Barbarian as an insult had been subverted in fiction "They aren't the barbarian YOU ARE!" so many times that the subversion ("Someone who is needlessly cruel") has become the definition.

It literally means "not-citizen", and was originally applied to anyone who was not Greek. Since Classical Greece has always been considered to be the center of Western civilization (especially by the Classical Greeks!), the association between "not-greek" and "uncivilized swine" is a natural evolution; and from there all it took was a slight cultural shift to create the various meanings of today.

[Tack]

Yeah, when the roman barbarians gave them sandal-sole.

[Teneb]

Yeah, when the roman barbarians gave them sandal-sole.

Spoken like a true barbarian who wears clothes to hide their deformed body.

[Tack]

If by deformed you mean "gigantic" and by body you mean "penis", then How Dare You!