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George_E_Hale

insufferable blowhard

2 followers   follows 13 users  
joined 2022 September 04 19:24:43 UTC

The things you lean on / are things that don't last

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George_E_Hale


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
insufferable blowhard

				
				
				

				

					2 followers  

					follows 13 users  

					joined 2022 September 04 19:24:43 UTC
				


				
					

					
The things you lean on / are things that don't last



				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
User ID: 107


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
							
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				Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Mission: Activated


edit: Thank you for taking the time to write this up


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


What do cows drink?




Well, baby cows do.


Ok calves.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Disallow her, do you?


Several months ago I was on a train headed to wherever, and I believe a Korean guy sat next to me (Japanese men tend to avoid scents, at least when going to work). The Korean guy was wearing some sort of cologne, or eau de toilette or whatever--the smell hit me immediately. Suddenly I was standing outside a shower where the person exiting had become cleaner than imaginable. To use the word "soapy" would be an injustice to the scent. I wish that I had the gift of describing smells, because this one transported me to a place I did not know existed. I found myself purposefully inhaling through my nose. I felt that I could sit by this man for hours, for the rest of the day, or maybe even life, and not complain. We could be friends, I could accompany him to places as a colleague. Were I slightly more fey I might have even turned to him and asked "Hey what kind of cologne are you wearing?" but I could not summon a way to ask it without feeling a permanent burning shame. This, I thought suddenly, must be what they mean by pheromones.


Yet I did not desire him. Aroma alone was not, alas, enough to alter my sexuality. I've only once smelled this same cologne on another guy, and that was on a down escalator in Namba station. It was unmistakeable. Enough to make me appreciate smell as a sense--we really don't, you know. We so easily forget it when we hold our noses at the farts and Durian and milk that's gone off. We put on masks and take antihistamines against the pollen.


And I've sought out this fragrance, I will admit to you now. I went in a high-end department store and wandered the kiosks, served by heavily made-up, but otherwise very attractive women, or suited, thin men who seemed overly enthusiastic. I tried Diptyque, Chanel, Maison Margiela, a lot of those on the list written by @Closedshop nine months ago. Nothing matched. Maybe it has to do with contact with skin or something. No idea. But I've never found the smell, and I don't even know if I did find it if I could bring myself to buy it. It seems like too much--too much energy, too much might. Like the ring of power, maybe you shouldn't be putting it on after all. Cast it into the fire, Isildur! And what if it only attracted a bunch of middle-aged men? Like I had men suddenly wanting to sit next to me, half-poised to ask me the same question I myself could not ask. That would be not good. What if my wife hated it? Or thought it meant I was trolling for attention from women?


If I could find it I imagine I would keep it all in the bottle, and come home some nights and close the door and uncap it and hold it to my nose, just briefly, like pinching the leaf of a lemon balm plant and smelling your fingers. Just a whiff. Or maybe I'd pour it into a handkerchief and snort it like modeling glue until the high put me on the floor. I don't know. It's hard to project how I would react if I had an unlimited supply of my own. Maybe that is what made it so amazing. Maybe if I did have it I'd tire of it, like a girlfriend. One day the thrill is gone.


As it is at least I know that smell exists out there somewhere, and tomorrow could be the day I encounter it again, though probably not if I am seeking it out by walking through Daimaru or wherever.


This whole wordy post just to say I suppose I get you. I don't like most perfumes. When I passed through the Dubai airport once I felt every Arab man there was doused in Paco Rabanne. It cloyed. And don't get me started on women whose hairspray, skin creme, and perfume create a baroque war in the nostrils.


But I've been to the mountaintop. And I've smelled the promised scent.


Still interesting that you disallow your wife to put on fragrance. I guess she's okay with this?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
We can all converse with LLMs. There they are, we need only ask them a question (worded properly.) And they can, I agree, give reasonable, even "insightful" answers, if that is the word to use. I myself have gotten good advice from LLMs on issues as diverse as how to word an email in Japanese to what kind of fertilizer to use on the verbena (though ChatGPT abetted my murder of my olive tree.) The blossoming use of LLMs everywhere outside of mathematical or computational applications (in things like cooking, cleaning, shopping, stain removal, gardening, etc.) suggests considerable utility in their use. They are not evil.


My point is simply that when I open the Motte I prefer the warts-and-all version of humanity. (And often get it.) I should say, since I'm spouting off my druthers, that for my part I do not mind if people use LLMs for direct translation, though the non-English-native-speakers here tend to have far better written prose than most native speakers. My reasoning is that LLM direct translation is often very good, especially if calibrated for tone, and in such cases the original writing was, well, written originally by the writer.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Personally--and ai may be alone here--I would prefer a poorly-worded, convoluted, even slightly ungrammatical-yet-readable post to anything made "with the assistance of LLM." I am not anti-LLM and don't think they're by default evil, but that's not why I come to theMotte.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Plus in the modern age girls are idiots at 15. And the window of years around that. Particularly when an older man can flash cash at them and not be immediately hung by his heels by her brothers or dad. Some of the Epstein accusers aren't, in my view, the heroines they are made out to be, but I don't doubt they feel traumatized. Even the girl who served as his wrangler and got all her friends to turn up for all the great times. Of course she regrets it now. We all regret a lot of things.


Centuries ago yeah, maybe females and males could get the sexual congress going earlier. They could also feed themselves and survive in the wild, and had to answer to the tribe. In the current year I'm not at all convinced. I partially agree with @Corvos in his comment, but like almost everything, case-by-case.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You're assuming that I know what it is you are comparing your hypothetical situation here to. I do not, without assuming. This lack of specificity is what made me dismiss your earlier post. I'm not an autist (as far as I know) and I'm not trying to be overly pedantic here. I feel though as if you are making posts based off of vibes instead of building an argument.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is such a facile, scolding, humorless comment that I don't know if you're even serious. I suspect that you are, because if you weren't it would probably need to be worded in a funnier way.


Countries don't "tolerate" anything. A country is not a unified mass of likeminds. I assume you mean republicans or Trump supporters here? And by "joking about doing away with the peaceful transfer of power" you mean the hats? How is that the same thing? Or do you mean something else? Personally I'm far more mollified if I think a person is capable of humor than if they're dead serious and solemn in every utterance. Anyway maybe your comment just hit me at the wrong time of day. This is the kind of statement that gets posted as text over some photo and reshared over Instagram and wants to be deep but really says very little.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for February 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
During COVID we used the RingFit game on Nintendo Switch. Played it on the television. You can set it to an insanely difficult level (in terms of core exercises, not resistance or weight training) if you want. Of course if you don't have a Switch or a television this is useless advice. My family eventually gave up competing with me when I finished all the levels twice. Great fun if you have someone to play with, but you can exercise alone without competing.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for February 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Migraines are fascinating to me.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for February 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Interesting. When did this start? You say "used to" but don't specify. I'm interested because in my limited experience of migraines the people who get them have always seemed to have had them, like they say "I've had them since I was a kid" etc.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
ばれた!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't recall the blatant lies you're referring to, but I have no reason to doubt your sincerity in believing that he was the author to such. I'm going only off what I witnessed of him in the numerous videos I've been exposed to (all before his murder). I never saw him in any context except speaking to college students in various places, from Oxford union to Wherever, America. Until his death, when suddenly all the news coverage was about him, I had little knowledge of Turning Point USA, for example. So my knowledge of him is likely not complete. I'd add that I still don't see him as equivalent to Kulak (or more high profile agitators like Candace Owens, etc.) I'll end by saying that I didn't buy everything Kirk was selling, but I did agree with many of his ideas, so that does add a bias to my perspective. If I despised him as much as many seem to despise him (and often I do think he is just misrepresented) who knows, maybe I'd classify him differently. My public speaker, someone else's dangerous orator or whatever.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well okay, that's where we have arrived, but my response was prompted not out of a desire to debate but as a response to your application of violence as an equally valid response to Pretti's behavior as to Kirk's behavior, as if the two can be compared meaningfully, which in my view they simply cannot. If your greater view is that rabble rousing influencers (of the type I would also suggest that Kirk was not) can cause harm to society (and avoiding terms like "feminine violence") by their agitation of ill will, fomenting discord, turning brother against brother, shit stirring, etc., then I would tend to agree with you. Loud obnoxious voices are part of the deal in allowing free speech, however. And free speech is the "hallowed thing" that many here do value, if that's what you meant (and maybe it isn't.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You're taking Charlie Kirk and suggesting he was this kind of anti hatter, instead of just a rather plainspoken and direct public speaker. He was known for having open mic conversations at college campuses. I never heard him suggest "something needs to be done" to anyone, and that you have apparently sealed him in this type of box suggests to me that @Mihow in his earlier dismissals of your points as the product of media lies was probably closer to accurate than I suspected.


I don't suspect we're going to make much progress in this discussion, but I will say that I respectfully disagree with your assumptions and conclusions, in particular about Kirk. Fomenting violence is of course not to be encouraged, but then I don't think Kirk did that or intended that--I certainly never had that impression in any case. Maybe he did in videos I've never seen.


I'd agree that bureaucratic and systematic violence (of say Holocaust variety) begins with manipulation of thoughts. But again I think you're reaching in the examples you're using (if it's Kirk you're referencing.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You're now wading into an area where the word violence loses its meaning. What you're calling "feminine violence" is what I'd call rhetoric. It's explicitly not violent by definition. Sure it can be catty, can wound, etc. (if not physically) but it isn't violence. That's a newish, very late 20th century/early 21st century take on the term. I reject that definition of violence wholesale. I mean call it something else.


So then you're just talking about what constitutes what we used to call "fightin' words." And you're suggesting here that a gunshot to the throat is somehow fitting? I think you're really stretching here.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You have a reasonable view here, but my original dispute (apart from how we may classify Kirk on some spectrum of shit-stirring or snakeoilsmanship) is with your comparison of the Pretti killing to Kirk's murder. I think there is a fundamental difference in the two that makes any comparison specious. Namely that while Pretti was armed, waded on purpose into an escalating situation, and, if the recent video of him kicking the SUV is any indication, was gunning (cough) for a fight. Kirk didn't do any of that. He was--at least verbally--inflammatory, yes, and did not shirk from an (oral) conflict, but did not advocate violence (to my knowledge), and was squarely in the zone of "words can never hurt me" for his critics, one of whom nevertheless shot him dead.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I just typed out a lengthy reply then lost it by clumsy typing.


The gist is I think Kirk was, in fact, a good example of the restrained discourse you describe (if not moderate takes.) Candace Owens more neatly fits into the system you describe. And I still wouldn't advocate or nod at her murder.


I also suspect personally that Kirk was motivated by genuine conviction. My previous reply was better, apologies, cynicism vs naïveté, etc.


Edit bc of your edit: Kulak and Kirk are leagues apart.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


He was destroying the fabric of our society for profit and fame.




Is this your devil's advocacy purposely hyperbolizing or do you believe this? Because it's certainly arguably both wild overstatement (the first part) and very presumptuously ascribing motive. I frankly don't see how your comparison here works. Unless you're trolling, in which case, well played I guess.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for January 28, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Liberal conservativism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for January 28, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I definitely rethought some things and eat far less sugar than I used to. I had quit soda drinks (other than the occasional Jack and Coke) years ago but yeah, I think for, say, an obese American living in the heart of Sweetville, a bit more caution with sugar is much needed. I ate an ice cream cone (the kind you buy in a box, for home) recently and I was thinking how laughably, absurdly small it was compared to its equal in the US, where it would be triple the size.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for January 28, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I read Lustig's book about two years or so ago and his personal assumptions mingled with science became too much for me to the point where I no longer view him as authoritative. I don't have the book with me but I remember he would often write how specialists in other fields often asked him breathlessly about his statements, which to him suggested he must be on the right track (in his demonization of sugar.) He references so-called"leaky gut" regularly in a very pop-science way. And of course he hawks his own fiber snacks or whatever.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Tinker Tuesday for January 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I hope you do, it would be interesting!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Tinker Tuesday for January 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Looks amazing. The photos, but also the experience.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
"xyz gives some people a hard-on" is just guy talk. I don't see it as "weird(ly) sexualized" in any way, and I'd be surprised if it were a left-coded way of communicating. I'd be more surprised if someone took time to do a study to determine this.