Mantergeistmann
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User ID: 323
Mantergeistmann
4hr ago
In the case of the Cambridge folks, presumably having a dedicated and distinguished comedy troupe helped them learn and refine their humour. I would say that probably goes beyond merely "socializing and connections".
Mantergeistmann
5hr ago
Those last two combined would probably go well together: watching football means you're not a weirdo, while analyzing classical music scores is a bit quirky, sounds intellectual, and is a jumping off point for more conversation. Add something physical/outdoorsy (gardening? Casual bicycling?) And I think you're golden.
... i say as a man who's out of the dating market and has been so for a good many years.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
I recall it being over an hour (not counting traffic), and the other vehicle option was a Mercury Mountaineer. Call it 15-20 MPG?
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
I'm hardly on the left, but:
Trump is a populist liar who is only in it to enrich himself
This seems pretty uncontroversial?
Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity.
Up until AI, yeah, but mostly by default because what competition was there?
The resources that could be used to solve poverty, hunger, and global warming already exist.
Yes? But I largely give capitalism credit for this. There probably is enough food production worldwide that hunger is just a distribution problem at this point in time (and if not, well, GMOs can help with that!), and global warming has a lot of good ideas that can solve it... nuclear, cloud seeding, etc.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
You'll hear people talk about buying a brand new hybrid or electric car to "save on gas," even though there's no way the gas savings could ever add up to the cost of the new car.
My dad actually did that once: compared the cost of gas with his SUV vs. the cost of gas+payments on a hybrid. Came out in favour of the latter. Granted, that was largely due to him having a sizeable commute at the time, and your point probably does hold true for most people.
Mantergeistmann
6d ago
Do Pern and/or Mercedes Lackey count as "Romantasy"? Presumably at least the latter's 500 Kingdoms series would.
Mantergeistmann
6d ago
I wonder when the last time a world leader actually disappeared or had a Weekend at Bernie's scenario.
The new Iranian supreme leader?
Mantergeistmann
8d ago
Man, I guess I won't see any more job listings for "OnlyFans message responder" on Indeed anymore...
Mantergeistmann
9d ago
One game that wouldn't be classified as "horror" but might be worth including is Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. The entire game (at least early) is pretty close to being overall powerless, trapped with a metaphorical noose slowly and inexorably being tightened. It does a great job of instilling a claustrophobic effect.
Of course, this being MegaTen, you can eventually solve it by punching God, but still.
Mantergeistmann
10d ago
it's just a fun empirical fact that if someone online is very worried about China in some way, I can tell you with absolute certainty that they are either a right-wing patriot or deep in the weeds of AI safety.
Or they read the Maritime Executive at lunch and keep an eye on the South China Sea shenanigans.
Mantergeistmann
10d ago
I've encountered similar (but in reverse) with people arguing the US needs to reduce military spending (especially among people who are otherwise supportive of NATO).
Mantergeistmann
11d ago
Personal saving is equal to personal income less personal outlays and personal taxes; it may generally be viewed as the portion of personal income that is used either to provide funds to capital markets or to invest in real assets such as residences.
Emphasis mine. Does this mean that a mortgage payment is part of the personal saving rate? Presumably only the principal part if so, rather than taxes/interest. But if that's the case, the national rate seems impossibly low.
Mantergeistmann
15d ago
War of the sexes seems dumb. War is a game where everyone loses, but one side just loses less than the other.
"The problem with having a war of the sexes is that there's too much fraternizing with the enemy!"
Mantergeistmann
15d ago
In vanilla classic, there was a dagger that dropped from the end boss of a dungeon at a 0.2% rate (not a typo. zero point 2 percent, and later 2% after the devs changed it). Players would solo this dungeon boss 5 times an hour (the limit) nonstop until they got it.
That wouldn't happen to have been a level 19 requirement dagger that therefore made it tremendously popular for alts in low-level PvP, would it? I recall something like that specifically...
Mantergeistmann
16d ago
Or from a non-US base in England, even. That one was a bit more "Bavarian fire drill", less "dark of night", though.
Mantergeistmann
17d ago
Mantergeistmann
21d ago
Just today I was reading some theory about how groups run/composed by nerds sucked at excluding people (even if they really were causing a net drain of energy/enjoyment/efficiency) because nerds got excluded for giving the ick and so refrain from doing it to others
Is that the geeks/sociopaths/MOPs theory, or the social gentrification theory?
Mantergeistmann
21d ago
You can get a few traffic jams during leaf peeping season, but yeah, that was awful -- my dad was caught trying to drive south to PA from Burlington. My wife and I were lucky -- we were right at the southern edge just inside totality, and got in the car and on the road the moment it ended, and still wound up in about a half-an hour to an hour of traffic. Maybe the Lake Placid Olympics might've been worse, but I doubt it. Only reason a snowstorm might have been worse could've been if all the roads were literally impassable.
Mantergeistmann
21d ago
Sounds like what I know as a "charley horse". No idea how to solve them, though. Potassium and hydration was what I was always taught, but that doesn't mean it ever did anything.
Mantergeistmann
21d ago
Massive national debt? I dunno what the country's financial situation was at the time of the Louisiana purchase.
Mantergeistmann
23d ago
Or an old Italian guy, but that might have gone by the wayside.
Mantergeistmann
24d ago
I see a decent few around. Sometimes, as has been said, in strip malls, sometimes just small shops on a corner or in a residential area. Can't say how well they function as third places as opposed to just "get in, get the job done quietly, get out" these days, though.
Mantergeistmann
25d ago
Short answer: don't. Hopefully I'll be able to write up a longer answer shortly, tho.
Mantergeistmann
26d ago
English translations, generally on the sites themselves. It's just been strangely popping up recently when I do my usual google news search for nuclear topics; guess it's been a slow week otherwise.
Slightly misleading headline: one of the ships sank due to damage sustained in a September 23 strike (so unconnected to the recent surge, except that it maybhave hindered damage control/salvage efforts but I've seen no claims of such), the other from recent damage that Iran claims was a mine rather than a projectile.
So actually as a headline it seems to be very factually inaccurate, but directionally true.
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