Mantergeistmann
No bio...
User ID: 323
Mantergeistmann
18d ago
If some of them die in a war, that just creates even more demand for young men.
Kind of like the idea that the Black Plague was a good thing for the peasantry (that survived)?
Mantergeistmann
19d ago
Yeah, I work at a generic-ish large-ish company, and there is literally zero way - including being an internal applicant and stopping by the hiring manager's desk! - to get your resume moved in front of them quicker or to jump the line.
Mantergeistmann
21d ago
Isn't that basically the premise of Laplace's Demon?
Mantergeistmann
21d ago
You'd have thought they'd at least try a VR-enabled one, both to sell hardware and as a "like being in the cockpit!" experience.
Mantergeistmann
30d ago
A lot of people don't understand that weapon stocks degrade and must be refreshed, and that manufacturing chains have to he kept online.
Of course, on the other side, a lot of people don't seem to understand that it's the industrial base and the size of the US military/military budget that enables it to supply Ukraine, and that a lot of the funding for Ukraine "that's being spent in America" is going straight to the Military-Industrial Complex, because that's what it's there for.
Mantergeistmann
30d ago
Also the part where to enforce a no-fly zone, you have to be willing to enter combat. A no-fly zone means being willing to shoot at Russia and have them shoot back directly. Which is usually called "being at war".
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
I'm reminded of people who speedrun video games. I feel sad when I see videos of them getting a new best time, springing out of their crusty chairs in a dimly lit room, screaming in elation: A new world record! Who knows how much effort, how many hours these folks spend on this completely insular and self driven compulsion to get the best time that is of no consequence to anything at all. But this perversion of effort and strife gets paraded around as an important accomplishment by similarly minded people.
Couldn't you say the same of any art or hobby without a practical use, though?
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
If anything less than complete withdrawal of Russian forces is unacceptable, then I think Ukraine will lose everything rather than something. Western elites who continue to talk in those terms are fundamentally unserious, incapable, and unwilling to commit the forces necessary to make that happen.
My understanding is that mosf of those people are trying to play a waiting game... if Ukraine keeps holding out. surely at some point Russia's economy will collapse under the weight of war/casualties/sanctions, and at that point Ukraine can get favorable terms and/or retake most if not all of its territory.
I unfortunately have no idea of how to evaluate that likelihood (beyond my personal view of "it's a nice dream, but highly improbable"), as all the reporting on the state of the Russian economy/military is... distorted, to say the least, and I don't claim to be an economic expert to begin with.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
If Ukrainians actually want to fight to the end then open the borders, make army volunteer only
Wasnt that basically Heinlein's take? Any nation that requires conscription doesn't deserve to continue to survive? The problem, of course, being that in that case the world may end up with only "nations that don't deserve to survive" on the map.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
For example, using examples is often helpful.
That's a beautiful piece of prose right there, and I mean that in all sincerity.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
I'm not sure if I'll laugh or cry if this whole thing turns out to be history's biggest Bavarian Fire Drill.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
My grandmother used to work as an Occupational Therapist at the VA. They were way ahead of most of the rest of the country with a lot of the things she was doing. And, say what you will about the quality of care, the free van trip to the VA for those who needed it was a literal lifesaver.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
For that, you'd have to break HR's stranglehold on the process. Strongly in favour of, by the way.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
Europe is still a major force in music.
Also various metal subgenres. Not that most people in the US care, but it matters to me.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
"She was a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia
My sister knew one of Scalia's law clerks, but I don't believe this one. Said clerk was extremely progressive, but clerked for Scalia because despite having opposing views on many things, he was just that good. Also it was hyper-prestigious.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
"I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country in his heart, and not with his lips only, follow me."
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
Curious for people's thoughts on the Dept of Education getting shut down? Personally I think it's a good thing - our education system has had terrible outcomes with no accountability for far too long.
Is there a good breakdown anywhere as to what the Department of Education actually does, aside from administering national standards of achievement and the testing thereof?
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
In no order: longsword; giant fuck-off hammer; polearm; gun/small sword; rapier/cloak. Seriously, give me more cloak fighting. Give me a game where I play a matador, but taking down horrendous beasts rather than a tortured animal.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
Yeah, that's a movie/hollywood convention. Nothing to do with the books.
Mantergeistmann
1mo ago
In some cases I think it does, but that's the exception, not the rule.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
I know people (unwillingly; they're in my neighborhood) who honestly think that if they can just manage to get Trump to pray for someone sick, said person will be healed. No shrines and prayer candles that I'm aware of, but I don't hang out at their house, either.
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
Instead, I felt the urge to police left wing people celebrating the shooting. But I soon noticed there weren't actually nearly as many of these as I expected.
You must hang out with a different crowd than I do. Some of the kindest people I know were still saying, "Well, wouldn't it be better if he had been assassinated?"
Mantergeistmann
2mo ago
That nuclear baseload is a beautiful line.
Could have been worse. Could have started a "Reply all" chain. It took my company a surprisingly long amount if time to figure out how to stop those.
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