pigeonburger
9hr ago
but the medical one goes by "if you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras".
This one makes me laugh because I heard it first on an early episode of House MD (maybe even the first episode?), and then the show is the biggest zebra parade you ever saw.
This possibility (#2) is interesting because it makes me realize that I don't actually know what the stated purpose of agency officials is. Is their highest goal to serve the purpose of the agency, or the will of the electorate? Even if they claim one or the other, what processes do we have to ensure that's true?
I think the answer to that one is that the electorate, at some point, willed the agency into existence with a mission statement, and thus their job is to follow this mission statement, period, until the electorate amends the mission statement or closes the agency. In theory, of course, it shouldn't be up to government employees to do political analysis to try and figure out the electorate's wishes. Still, I think this arrangement gives them a lot of leeway, especially with a disfunctional legislative body that is unable to direct these agencies, at that point everyone kinda hopes for and turns a blind eye to agencies stretching their mission statement.
pigeonburger
1d ago
So, he wants to run a hanania republic.
pigeonburger
2d ago
Honestly, Japan, India and Australia are pretty much the only ones whose answer matters, having a navy in the general area.
Transfer of learning doesn't exist, so all those quotes about how chess teaches foresight and vigilance are full of shit; learning chess teaches you to play chess, period. And we are not in an age or place where it is a common pastime, so it is not particularly useful as a social skill, either.
I would not be categorical about it, I think there are a lot of lessons that a child would learn from chess. Mostly character lessons, not intellectual lessons, and not because it's chess specifically, but because it's a competitive game. It would teach a child humility; even if the kid is good, she will meet people who can effortlessly curbstomp her at it, so she will have to learn to deal with that. She will also learn that if she studies and practices hard, she can improve at something; a valuable insight that eludes a surprising amount of adults.
There's a few pitfalls too though, it's important that she understands that just because she can beat some people at chess, especially adults, it does not make her better, superior or even really more intelligent than them. And vice-versa. But I can easily imagine a kid losing respect for adult autority because she thinks she's more intelligent than them.
but you could never imagine him saying "libs are right"
He would not say it because of all the things libs are definitely wrong about, this is the one that they are the most wrong about.
There is enormous danger of misinformation and disinformation, and of modern lysenkoism, in enshrining the opinions of any class of people, even your beloved Elite Human Capital's. Letting ideas compete is the long term solution, not the problem, even if it can be sometimes subobtimal in the short term.
pigeonburger
3d ago
But not quite up there with that misunderstood Karl Popper quote!
pigeonburger
3d ago
The WSJ is not too partisan usually, but I would not be surprised if they felt that the Democrats would be less willing to throw in with socialists if they had better chances in the midterms.
pigeonburger
3d ago
Somehow I doubt it, not for a long time. Those who have been left behind by the media are not going to be easy to convince that modern TV shows are now worth watching. And there's tremendous demand from disappointed blues for copium media where they can comfort themselves that their beliefs are self-evidently true and their values virtuous.
pigeonburger
3d ago
I'm not sure they the WSJ cares about the truth of it, presuming they want to help the Democrats right now, anything that keeps Epstein in the news cycle, including a lawsuit from Trump, is productive. That might be very well the trap here; they know Trump's ego wouldn't allow letting this be heard unchallenged, but challenging it is guaranteeing it stays in the news cycle for months.
pigeonburger
4d ago
No one is arguing that the work is nobler and that everyone should be doing it, they're arguing that it is noble that if it is to be done, and that machines are not the most efficient way to do it, then it should be done by legal citizens at whatever rate is necessary to be paid to incentivize it, and not by imported slaves.
pigeonburger
4d ago
Please tell me more about Costco. What do you like about it? When you see the inside of Costco, are you blinded by its majesty? Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?
My (european) wife's reaction upon entering Costco for the first time could have been described as "awestruck". Like within seconds of entering and seeing the inside, she knew she loved it and that it was one of the best places on earth. And that's just inferior Canadian Costco. I can't imagine what American Costco would do to her.
pigeonburger
6d ago
Personally, I've been shopping for a car recently and the aspect that I found was useful was to model all usage modes. I've been looking for BEV at start, mostly because of the way they handle, and because we have reasonably priced options in the used market now. Lots of people are afraid of used BEV, PHEV or hybrids because of battery degradation, but all the info I find from people with experience with it say that if the car was designed with a buffer, it's not really an issue for many years. I was interested in a BEV with a pretty high battery range but pretty low charging speed (Chevy Bolt) and when I calculated a trip to the town I'm from (a roughly 500km trip), I found that the car would force me into two charging sessions, over 30 minutes (probably more around an hour each), one of which would be a "make it or run out of gas" stop at the single waystation in a giant provincial park, where everyone stops to charge so I might have to wait for a charging spot to open, and where last time I went there was a power outage. So I decided against a BEV. Then I calculated my expected daily commutes and I find that they would pretty much all fit within or almost entirely fit within a PHEV's electric range.
So basically, BEV is superior for frequent medium distance driving (within your metro area), infrequent long distance travel in well-served areas. PHEV is superior for frequent short distance trips, semi-frequent long distance travel. Standard hybrid is superior for frequent long distance travel.
When the story wants me to believe that a blind man somehow manages to be a dangerous assassin on part with John Wick, I fucking give up. The man uses a katana most of the time.
I have not watched John Wick 4, but that does sound like something Keanu Reeves would have asked to put in the movie, as a direct hommage to Zatoichi.
There was a discussion here recently about whether it was better to immerse yourself in the world of fiction or to be analytical of it. Personally, I think both are worthwhile, and the best works manage to give a good time to both modes of media consumption. Probably that inclusion was meant more for people who analyse the movie than those who want to believe in it.
I'll give you though that the John Wick movies have gotten steadily worse with each one, and I think it's for the simple reason that studio execs don't have restraint and cannot accept that perhaps sometimes you should not give what the public begs for.
The first movie's story was great because of how little they went into the assassin society stuff. It's there, but it's not the main thrust of the movie, it makes the movie feel richer by being hinted at. By the third movie, that's all there is left. Mystery is like spices in cooking. You put a bit of spices in your meal to make it taste better, you shouldn't just shovel spoonfuls of spices into your mouth. John Wick 2 was an overly spiced meal; still a meal, but they should have cut down on the spices. John Wick 3 was like shoveling spoonfuls of spices.
pigeonburger
13d ago
Exactly, until they have had a chance to actually interact meaningfully with you, women are going to be maximally uncharitable with anything you say on your profile. Because they can afford to, as "men willing to message them on apps" are not a scarce ressource at all for them. So if you mention anything about anime in your profile, especially if it's one with limited real estate (I don't know how Hinge works specifically), then they will assume that this means anime is a massive part of your identity, so their mental image of you will shift to that of a neckbeard weeb with waifu bodypillows..
It's the same as with the politics we were discussing in this thread too. Until there's a bit of time/emotional investment from her part, you want to avoid giving her any reason to reject you; because as far as she knows, somewhere in her inbox is a message from her perfect 10, 6'3, 8" cock, liberal surgeon/prince who shares all the same interests as her, so why would she waste any time trying to understand what kind of human being someone with any yellow flags at all is like?
Once she's met you, or had some meaninful communication with you that humanises you, that changes, of course.
pigeonburger
14d ago
Do I need to persevere until my brain just gets it?
That's what worked for me.
pigeonburger
14d ago
I think the main reason to hide your power level in this situation is that majority of women, especially in cities, are going to be at least tepidly liberal, probably just fully in line with mainstream liberalism. Liberal bubbles are extremely strong and their media dominance allows them to pretty much never have to meaningfully engage with opposing opinions; from your average city liberal's perspective, conservatives or anyone more conservative than maintstream neo-liberalism are either willingly ignorant morons or hateful.
If you can first make her realize that you are neither of those things, if you lead with the "actually a smart and caring guy" part and then reveal you're also moderate/conservative, then there's a pretty ok chance you'll burst her bubble. If you lead with the moderate/conservative, you'll likely just bounce right off.
pigeonburger
14d ago
I don't know about them coming back, I've had one most of my adult life, at different levels of kemptness (as of now, decently trimmed). At first it was because I was conforming to hipster fashion. I've experimented with my facial hair a fair bit, I've had handlebars even at some point. But now my wife would divorce me if I shaved my beard, and it conforms to image I have of myself, as a gruff and stern looking.
I'm also a sysadmin, so it's basically a uniform for me.
pigeonburger
14d ago
Great advice list! Couldn't have said it better myself. Ultimately the overarching goal is communicating that you're a well-rounded and well-adjusted guy, everything you do on these apps should be done with that in mind and your advice goes a long way towards giving tips as to how to do so.
pigeonburger
15d ago
I'm not sure I'd put this on kids or parenting attitudes. The important questions here are:
How foreseeable was this flooding? Is that a zone that historically floods? What was the worst ever flood there? Was this not the worst, only a bit worse than the worst ever, or like completely out of proportion with anything that ever happened in the area?
If it was reasonably foreseeable what was the plan to mitigate this risk and why did it fail?
And finally, if it was foreseeable and the plan was inadequate, whose idea was it to let kids in a vulnerable area there?
pigeonburger
15d ago
So what exactly do you really believe is the parallel? First, is the increased budget for ICE an increase in the salary of ICE agents or more funding to accomplish their task? Because the second wouldn't make them feel any extra loyalty. Do you also seriously believe that Trump is planning or hoping that ICE is going to stand on his side against... the US military? All other state law enforcement? Seriously, state what you believe Trump is doing here and listen to yourself, and then realize why everyone is telling you this is just TDS. He's just funding the main tool he has to do something a majority of americans explicitely wants him to do, and which fuels his popularity.
pigeonburger
17d ago
Last I checked Trump doesn't distribute the belongings of deported illegals to ICE officers, so I don't know what parallel you see.
Where, despite becoming rich and famous, the mental software of many male celebrities remains incompletely updated when it comes to dealing with women, their toolkit remains lacking, and they can exhibit quite what many would call suboptimal behavior—including inertia, passivity, low standards, one-itis, and/or habit of strippers/prostitutes.
Or maybe sex with young models is just not their thing. By that I don't mean that they're gay or don't enjoy it, but even for the rich and famous there are opportunity costs. Most men with a pulse I know would enjoy driving an exotic sports car on a track or in an environment where they can let it loose. And most men with a pulse I know would enjoy sex with young nubile models (presumably who know what they're doing in the bedroom). But not every man who has the opportunity to decides to own and collect exotic sports car. Maybe they prefer to spend their leisure time (a scarce ressource that rich and powerful men don't necessarily have more of than the average joe) and money on travel, or on a yacht, or on going on safaris and hunting rare animals, etc... Some, I assume, will go for women, but I'm not surprised it's not all of them. It still requires time and effort of them and some risk, they still need to keep minimally in shape so that they're not so repulsive (while many women find wealth and power attractive, if you're so physically repulsive to her that it's obvious she's just holding her barf in for a payday, I think it'd put a lot of damper in most men's enjoyment of the act), they need to spend time hanging out in places where you meet young models.
They also need to be careful which young model they take to their hotel suite; falling prey to a gold-digger who casts a powerful "one-itis" spell on him like some witch is always a possibility, we're talking about women at the absolute peak of female power here, I'm not sure every man is immune. And sex involves vulnerability for rich men too, often of blackmail.
In that context, prostitutes are almost appropriate, kind of like renting an exotic sports car to ride at the track. The well-vetted high class ones will be discreet and won't be much as much risk. What looks like one-itis or low-standards, could very well just be a man deciding to settle with a woman that has higher value to him than to most others, a sensible choice as it ensures a better return for the ressources invested. Having a preference for traits most others see as a flaw is a blessing; it means less competition.
pigeonburger
21d ago
It's not that men can't cook, I can actually cook great (by standards of men my age, though my brother is actually much better). But I also don't take much care of myself and if there's no one I'm accountable to and for, I'll probably go for least effort solutions (fast food, or junk frozen meals).
In the show's defense, sometimes it's not a zebra, it's horse with stripes painted on it so that they waste the whole episode assuming it's a zebra.
More options
Context Copy link