TheDemonRazgriz
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User ID: 3577
TheDemonRazgriz
4d ago
That really is a great ad, legit funny and such a clean attack. I can see why he’s doing so well, he comes off very charismatic in just that short clip. Plus, wow, all else aside the GOP really did pull out all the stops to run an awful slate of candidates this year, didn’t they. Paxton, Vivek, Lindsey Graham’s nepo-sister, apparently this lady…
TheDemonRazgriz
4d ago
Indeed. He deserves credit for running a great campaign and creating that remarkable political moment… and then promptly pissing it all away.
I’ve never been a Trump fan by any means (I voted Dem-Dem-Libertarian for president in 2016-20-24) but I actually had some optimism after he won in 2024, and I certainly was enjoying the cultural vibe shift. “The man himself may be a narcissistic idiot”, I thought, “but the movement around him is vibrant and has attracted people who seem to sincerely care about some of the real problems facing the country. He’ll probably do some stupid shit but this is a great chance to make some positive changes too.” The end result has been, while not 100% bad, below my lowest expectations. Maximal burning of political capital for minimal results.
TheDemonRazgriz
4d ago
Good post. Trump II has been a colossal, pathetic waste of what was really a historic opportunity for the American right. I’d add that this is the exact same error the Biden admin committed, taking a mandate for “stabilize the government and focus on things like physical infrastructure and protecting the economy” as an opportunity to go Full Woke, then getting thrown out four years later. Trump’s own personal… idiosyncrasies… just happened to turn it to 11 this time around and speedrun the effect.
TheDemonRazgriz
4d ago
Well, they could always power it with a nice, clean, quiet nuclear reactor… right?
TheDemonRazgriz
5d ago
Opposition to data centers comes from a few sources.
- The median voter doesn’t know what a data center is.
- They do know they’re related to AI and Big Tech, which they don’t trust at all, and in fact expect to actively fuck over normal people at any and every opportunity.
- Data centers don’t provide local jobs in any meaningful amount (as opposed to e.g. a factory).
- There really have been cases of data centers being forced upon communities in obnoxious and disruptive ways, it’s not an idle threat.
- People do know that data centers use tons of electricity, and they really do not want their electric bills to explode. The tech companies say they’re going to power it themselves, but nobody trusts that to really happen, because of point 2.
Points 1 and 2 are the critical ones imo, and are supported by 3, 4, and 5.
TheDemonRazgriz
5d ago
Who would’ve thunk it?!?
The Republican trajectory from 2024-2026 has to be one of the biggest political self-owns in the entire history of the country. What a waste.
TheDemonRazgriz
5d ago
I think this is unlikely for the simple reason that Trump will never resign voluntarily, and I just can’t see the congressional GOP having the spine to force the issue, even if it does make sense. It’s not impossible but I definitely wouldn’t bet on it.
TheDemonRazgriz
5d ago
Turnout was remarkably high in my (heavily blue) neighborhood when I went to vote tonight. My subjective impression was that it was actually busier than around the same time of night in 2024, and I overheard some of the volunteers talking about it too, so that may even have been true (doubtful, honestly, but still really surprisingly high turnout).
Just another little bit of anecdata in favor of my gut feeling that the polls are mostly right this time around and this is going to be a bloodbath for the GOP. We shall see…
TheDemonRazgriz
5d ago
(in another interview, she wasn't as sure about if Jesus ever existed, but she was sure about Jimmy boy)
This is still just so crazy to me. Even secular historians agree that Jesus existed, it’s decisively been the (again, secular) consensus for over a century, at least. This could be sort of an edgy but intriguing thing to say in like the Vienna cafes of the early 1800s, now it’s just stupid.
The Texas senate race this year is truly the Battle of the Bad Candidates, isn’t it. I don’t envy people voting in that one, especially moderates. Curious if there’ll be an unusual rate of abstention in that particular vote.
TheDemonRazgriz
6d ago
Nothing to add really but I wholeheartedly endorse this commentary.
TheDemonRazgriz
6d ago
JKR is notoriously bad about internal consistency in her world building, and the bloodlines = magic bit is one of them. If you’re writing to make the point that everyone should be included, maybe don’t make genetics a component of your magic system.
The books are quite explicit that while many of the pureblood wizards believe that keeping their blood “pure” is important to retain their powers, they are in fact not correct. There is never any actual indication that being more pure makes you stronger. Of the main characters: the Potter family were a pureblood lineage but Harry’s mother was muggle-born, and he is a strong wizard; Ron is a pureblood and is a moderate-to-strong wizard; Hermione is a muggle-born and is “the finest witch of her generation”; Malfoy is a pureblood and is a mediocre wizard; even Voldemort, one of the strongest wizards ever (and leader of the wizard-supremacy movement) is himself a half-blood.
Some wizards are naturally stronger than others, it’s not only about practice, but that natural talent is not correlated to “blood purity” at all. Hermione is the obvious example for this, and it’s why Malfoy hates her so much, this is not subtle in the text.
TheDemonRazgriz
6d ago
Yep, I think I was a year or two older when I first read it but no more than that. Still one of my all-time favorites.
TheDemonRazgriz
6d ago
Well, I read Ender's Game as a 10-year old and loved it, but I wouldn't exactly recommend that as an intentional parental choice, lol. I was also a giga-bookworm as a kid though, so it's a bit of an exercise to put myself in opposite shoes.
I'd say Starship Troopers but the dated language might put him off if he doesn't already like reading. That kind of thing can make old books more of a challenge, or chore, for kids then many well-read adults probably realize... lots of words to look up and unfamiliar sentence structure. I-Robot could also be a great choice, but probably the same caveat -- and it sounds like he'd bounce off of something like Foundation. Frankly I think a lot of the suggestions downthread are great for a precocious 10-year-old who likes books, but would not convince one to like books.
The first Hitchhiker's Guide book, maybe? It's very funny and fast moving, although there is some adult humor in there.
If he likes Star Wars there are a number of quite good YA-ish book series from the older Expanded Universe. Obviously more space opera than "real" SF, but that's not necessarily a problem. For a kid I'd probably suggest the X-Wing series. They're very fun and fast-paced mil-SF books, with the focus on soldiers and dogfighting rather than Jedi mysticism. Lots of action but nothing too bloody, a touch of romance but nothing explicit, and the good guys always win in the end -- great for a kid imo. I believe I started reading those around age 10 myself. For something more kid-oriented there's also the Jedi Apprentice books (which are basically short stories/novellas, and so might be more up his alley), I started those a little younger but definitely still liked them at 10 and beyond. They're not high literature or anything but they have good characters and engaging plots with real stakes, iirc, and could be better suited for a kid who doesn't want to sit down with a 200+ page novel.
Animorphs is much-beloved and should be engaging reads, I was never really into them but lots of people have fond memories.
I have a vague half-memory of reading some books in what I believe was the "Young Tom Swift", or something like that, series (a modern reboot of the classic adventure novels) around that age as well... can't properly endorse something I don't really remember, but they were pretty quick reads and very gadget and invention oriented, which could be fun for a kid with more of an engineer-type brain (although maybe not so much if he's really into the hard science side).
I also want to second the post that mentioned Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. They may seem like basic choices, and they are fantasy rather than SF, but they're famous for a good reason. A whole lot of kids seem to get very rapidly hooked by these, and he is just the right age.
TheDemonRazgriz
6d ago
Help me decide how to vote tomorrow on the most interesting ballot question in my state: MA Question 3, which would replace Massachusetts' current conventional party primary system with a "jungle primary" in which all primary candidates of all parties are on one ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff in the general election. This would apply for all state elections.
My main goal in this decision is to promote competitive elections, if not necessarily in terms of party then at least in terms of substance. My instinct here is definitely to vote "yes", because the Republicans are so rarely competitive at the state level here anyway (yes, I know Charlie Baker wasn't very long ago, but it's hard to see that happening again in the remotely near future given national partisanship) that the current system often results in the Democrat nominee running de-facto unopposed. An election between a "left-wing" and a "moderate" Democrat would be much more competitive than one between "whatever Dem wins their primary" and "some GOP no-hoper", at least in theory. And this could force the Democrats to actually focus on the full electorate in their primaries, instead of only their own voters -- since they nearly always win anyway this seems like a plainly good thing.
Also, both parties have spoken out against this ballot question; since I dislike and mistrust them both, I've taken this as a small piece of evidence that I should go with a yes vote.
The only thing that really gives me pause is that the biggest state which uses this system is, of course, California -- which is not exactly a model of good political or governmental practice. The other example, Washington, is not much better as far as I can tell. It doesn't really seem that implementing this system has made their elections more competitive (unless of course it has? the counterfactual CA government would still surely be de-facto one-party Dem rule, and perhaps they would be even more extreme and even less responsive to the voters). Now, for all the flaws it does have, MA is not nearly as dysfunctional as CA. But maybe going to this type of system really would result in less competitive elections than the classic Dem vs Rep framing? I don't really see that happening, but hey, that's why I'm asking the question here -- maybe we have some election nerds who can weigh in with arguments I haven't considered.
TheDemonRazgriz
9d ago
Teasing, incidental touch.
Yep. The most direct advice I ever got about girls was from an upperclassman on a Model UN trip when I was 14 or 15: “it’s all about escalating to casual physical contact.” As in, once you’re talking to the girl and the conversation is getting a little flirty, brush her hand or gently touch her shoulder while laughing at a joke or something like that. Assuming she reciprocates, you’re golden, and can slowly escalate to handholding or to kissing or whatever (depending on the context). But that first gentle touch is the critical moment.
I do wonder if zoomers aren’t getting practical advice like this. So much of the dating discourse I run across online seems pretty kooky and often orthogonal to the realities of the topic.
I also suspect you’re correct about zoomer girls not knowing how to show interest in a guy in a parallel way, based on my limited experience with them, but I wouldn’t really know.
TheDemonRazgriz
10d ago
Most women who sincerely don’t want children will say so outright. IME “unsure if she wants kids” is distinct from “doesn’t want kids” and usually really means “does want kids, but is scared of it, and so only with a guy she very much trusts to support her and do it right”. The flip from “no” to “yes” is different from the flip from “maybe” to “yes”, to put it another way. The biological clock is a real phenomenon too, not sure how old you and she are but generally it seems to kick in by the late 20s or early 30s. It’s a judgment call though, and of course depends on the individual and your impression of her.
TheDemonRazgriz
10d ago
children and teens are now treated as completely incapable babies and this will be enforced not just socially but through the law.
I don’t have the time right now to make a proper post on this (funny enough I’ve been thinking of doing a top-level on the topic recently, can’t remember what sparked that), but I strongly agree that this a problem. I actually think the infantilization of adolescents and children (and I do mean children, this treatment is most noticeable and severe with teenagers but it starts much earlier) is THE principal problem facing American society today. We are destroying the emotional development, mental stability, and general life trajectories of our new generations. It is nothing short of a socio-cultural catastrophe.
TheDemonRazgriz
14d ago
The alleged shooter was a 62 year old retired NYPD detective named Victor Romero
Not to ruin everyone’s good time debating murder versus manslaughter, but it seems there is one piece of this perp’s description that obviously drove that reduced charge:
retired NYPD detective
The NYPD is still very powerful in city politics, they notably managed to survive the BLM era almost totally unscathed (relative to other major cities at least). Just look at the (very amicable) relationship between police commissioner Jessica Tisch and alleged commie mayor Mamdani. I promise you that Tisch has a hell of a lot more influence in general city politics than Bragg. In some ways this power is good; New York is safer than a lot of much smaller cities in America in no small part because the NYPD is larger, better equipped, and more competent than most other cities’ police forces. Political power is both a result and a cause of this success. But, that power means that cops (and ex-cops) are essentially a class of their own in the courts and can, well, get away with murder.
One of my friends has a mostly-joking conspiracy theory that GRRM has already more or less written the conclusion to the series, but just doesn’t want to deal with it, and will only ever release it posthumously.
TheDemonRazgriz
17d ago
FWIW, I have a college buddy who has become quite successful in the tech-sphere, and he once met a guy who had been part of DOGE. According to that guy, the whole thing was very disorganized but also very active and he left feeling like he had accomplished something meaningful (he also described it as tremendous fun). It seemed that most of them knew the project wouldn’t last forever and just tried to do anything and everything they could to potentially cut bloat and whatever stuck would stick. Based on that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if their more successful initiatives were quietly adopted by at least some departments after DOGE was formally dismantled. I realize this is only a second-or-third-hand anecdote but it’s at least some evidence that the whole thing wasn’t totally useless.
TheDemonRazgriz
19d ago
chirurgeon
So, for real, what’s the deal here? I don’t have a dog in this ongoing argument, I’m sincerely curious. I had never even seen this word before skimming through this thread, and a quick google only gives “archaic synonym for surgeon”. To my knowledge it’s not used by any surgeons or even seemingly medical historians. Where did you pick this up? Are you just a super-hellenophile classicist, or something?
TheDemonRazgriz
19d ago
She just has name recognition, there’s no way she really gets nominated. I’m doubtful she’ll even make the attempt. Newsom is much more likely (cold comfort perhaps), or even AOC, but my gut says the eventual nominee will be someone nobody knows or cares about right now.
TheDemonRazgriz
20d ago
I am less than convinced that Mass Effect 2, the game which famously and gratuitously focuses the camera directly on Miranda’s ass almost every time she speaks, was made by people who wanted to avoid the male gaze. Seriously, if you’ve forgotten or if you never played the game, look up a compilation of her on-ship conversations. It’s outright comical. The idea that Miranda “catsuit” Lawson is an example of uglifying female characters is just totally ludicrous.
That game comes firmly from the upfront and open “sex sells” era, it was a period where the pressure from major publishers was to make the female characters hotter and put them in less clothing. I would note that Mass Effect 3 is still very much under this pressure: just look at what they did to Ashley Williams. Publishers did not switch to the modern prudishness until about 2015-16, post-gamergate, and it was a sharp change.
TheDemonRazgriz
21d ago
Number one for me is probably the early (think Cahokia) Native Americans, who didn’t leave almost any records and built mostly in wood. The large majority of our knowledge of North American native tribes starts with the tribes which existed at the time of European contact, and often only in the state they were in at that time. It would be fascinating to know their earlier histories, who came before the tribes we know, how did they form, how they got to be in their political positions and relative powers as we know them.
Also, the proto-Slavic cultures in places like Poland that also built primarily with wood (and so left essentially no ruins) and either barely had writing or wrote on wood which did not survive. We do have some general knowledge about these cultures but as far as I know there’s not much granularity.
I still feel like there’s a good chance the 2028 Dem nominee is a relative outsider, someone who’s not currently a national name. I’ll be surprised if AOC isn’t a player, although she’s not at all likely to win it imo. Given the way things are going right now I kind of doubt it’s going to be a Jewish guy, either, although that could change. It’s true that Ossoff looks pretty damn good after Tuesday. I do also agree that Newsom is not going to be the guy.
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