Recursive_Enlightenment
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User ID: 791
Recursive_Enlightenment
4d ago
That's a hard question, especially without specifying the number of people in the set called "powers-that-be". I like the term because it is clear that I am not pretending to know exactly who is in the set.
Recursive_Enlightenment
4d ago
My understanding is that a low level government worker who did what Trump did with classified documents would go to jail, but an important politician (e.g. Hillary, Joe Biden, Sandy Berger) likely wouldn't.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
The real games the powers-that-be care about are foreign policy and the distribution of money. The Supreme Court mainly handles the cultural wars kayfabe stuff that keeps the masses entertained.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Trump is Tiberius Gracchus
On which of these other places would you see a comment like this implying that readers know who Tiberius Gracchus was?
Or "AI has two letters, my plan for alignment."
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Trump is given a choice: Go to prison for the rest of your life or with probably P get assassinated. For what value of P is Trump indifferent? If it's for a P>.9 the two are very similar.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
What they are openly trying to do to Trump is as bad as an assassination attempt, is my point.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
I'm imaging life in prison for a rich 77-year-old is likely a worse-than-death outcome.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Putting a 77-year-old in prison unjustly (if that is indeed what is being attempted) is on par with assassinating him.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
The Powers-That-Be will likely be sending Trump to prison if Trump doesn't win in the next election. Don't just look at US history, but all of human history when considering the possibility of the elites killing the guy at the top. The US has been extraordinarily lucky in nearly everything since the Civil War, so expect reversion to the mean and don't consider past US history as a good bases for your Bayesian priors.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Would be too obvious, and might seriously threaten the stability of the US.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Because Biden is more likely to beat Trump than the alternatives.
Recursive_Enlightenment
5d ago
Conservative Mike Cernovich (1.2M followers) Tweeted "Trump needs a VP that will make him assassination proof. Anyone saying otherwise has no understanding of the time we are in. Tim Scott as VP? Trump's survivability will drop to zero. It's incredible to me that more don't understand this."
How seriously should Trump take such a threat, and how seriously does Trump take such a threat? Yes, the powers-that-be truly hate Trump and if he became president and had Scott as VP many would rejoice at Trump's death. But by what mechanism might they kill him? Obviously, it creates horrible incentives if Trump believes the threat and it causes him to consider someone such as Kari Lake, Marjorie Taylor Greene, or Sarah Palin for his VP nominee. In sort-of support of Cernovich, part of the reason that Biden might be sticking with Harris as VP is to reduce the chances he gets removed from office for senility.
Recursive_Enlightenment
29d ago
If the nuclear facilities are out of reach, Iran's power generators are not and destroying all of them would significantly damage Iran's economy and hence its military capacity.
Recursive_Enlightenment
1mo ago
Israel probably bombed the consulate in retaliation for what Iran's proxies did to Israel. International relations is not governed by rules treating agents symmetrically.
Recursive_Enlightenment
1mo ago
Iran just gave Israel the option, but not the obligation, to launch a massive attack on Iran without Israel losing the support of the US.
Recursive_Enlightenment
1mo ago
Did Iran really know the drones were going to be easily shot down?
Recursive_Enlightenment
1mo ago
An argument that only works if Europe isn't fearful of Russia.
Recursive_Enlightenment
1mo ago
Yes, but anyone who, say, completes and undergrad economics major should be capable of using a computer to check for negative drug interactions. Let them prescribe drugs after passing some test.
Recursive_Enlightenment
3mo ago
I wonder how long before AI makes substantial progress with string theory, which based on my limited understanding is based on geometry.
Recursive_Enlightenment
3mo ago
A plausible ranking of what a US president does by importance is (1) Controlling Nuclear Weapons, (2) Foreign Policy, (3) Appointing Federal Judges, (4) Regulatory Policy, (5) Budgetary Stuff, (6) Other Law Making, (7) Communications. Almost everyone ignores (1) which is horrible, but that seems to be the nature of democracy. Perhaps it was mostly luck but US foreign policy went extremely well under Trump as he seemed to have deterred adversaries from making new trouble. If you are a conservative Trump did about as well with (3) and (4) as you could hope from any president especially with respect to the Covid vaccines. Washington is broken with respect to (5) and Trump didn't fix it but most likely neither would anyone else. We didn't get many bad new laws under Trump which is the best you can realistically hope for if you are a conservative. If you like Trump's style then he maxes out with (7).
Recursive_Enlightenment
4mo ago
Quillette founder Claire Lehmann Tweets about the Guardian article's author "Somewhat surprised to see that @guardianscience has known antifa associates writing for them now. (The author of this piece is pictured below behind camera, next to guy in brass knuckles). But I suppose scientific credentials are not required when the target is @realchrisrufo"
Recursive_Enlightenment
4mo ago
I have used Cologuard even few years, at my doctor's recommendation.
Parody of the protests from a satirical show in Israel.
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