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VoxelVexillologist

Multidimensional Radical Centrist

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joined 2022 September 04 18:24:54 UTC 

				
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VoxelVexillologist


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Multidimensional Radical Centrist

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 04 18:24:54 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 64


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Most people on this board aren't vaccinated for a lot of the stuff in the US schedule these days.




Do you have specific examples?  The US schedule is mostly met with the standard childhood vaccines.  I got all the recommended ones when I was a child, and it looks at a quick glance that HPV and chickenpox are the only new additions there.  Beyond childhood, I think tetanus and the flu are the only ones recommended regularly.  I've had to get some fun bonus ones for international travel, too.  I'm pretty sure I'm up to date on most everything (except the COVID boosters), although I didn't ever really set out to get a bunch of shots for fun.  If I were much older (or made certain, um, "lifestyle choices") I'd be missing a few.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 28, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Like if someone makes a comment implying the police are racist or something,




Honestly, it's not too hard to acknowledge that this does happen more often than it would in an ideal world (never, presumably).    I don't think I know anyone who thinks police racism is a good thing.  Maybe someone wants to argue that Bayes makes it worthwhile, but I don't find that terribly compelling.


That humans are fallible is unsurprising, but how to design systems that work despite human failings is the core of civil political discourse.  The extreme points of repressive jackboots and Mad Max anarchy are both pretty obviously undesirable to most: How do we choose balance personal freedom and public safety? Who watches the watchmen? These seem like less charged directions you can steer such a conversation.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


the Russians did not establish Nazi-style concentration camps for industrialized slaughter




I think it's worth noting that while the camps are the most well-publicized part of the Holocaust, a decent fraction of the deaths, especially early in the war were attributable to death squads with guns rounding up "undesirables."


There have definitely been recorded mass graves in places like Bucha that at least seem to resemble this sort of policy of wanton death.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In this hypothetical are you a state or federal judge?  Demanding the feds remand someone they've detained to state custody seems like something you at best could ask nicely for (see the precedent of Grant v. Lee on the subject).  I would generally expect them to agree for major crimes absent other major political concerns.  If federal (and assuming Article III), then no.  If federal and Article II, then I think it's at least unclear which parts of the executive can order which others around.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 17, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I do think mainstream left-leaning media (NYT et al) have been tacking more toward center of late because of the visible success of new platforms and publications with more moderate, rationalist-adjacent takes.  I'm thinking of Substack (Nate Silver, Matt Yglesias), or The Free Press, for examples.  Not necessarily huge success in what has long been described as a dying market, but enough that mainstream media is at least taking notes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 22, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
These statements aren't strictly contradictory, although both are probably stronger claims than I would make.  One lesson I've only recently begun to understand about WWII is that, at the scale of warfare required, seizing territory and, by extension, it's populace, gives fodder for larger armies.


This doesn't come up for discussion of American (or even Commonwealth, really) involvement in the war because the Western Allies weren't conscripting from recently-annexed territory, but the German army was much larger for having conscripted Czech and Austrian soldiers.  It's not inconceivable that the same units currently armed by the West could be, after a surrender, rearmed by the Russians and marched west.


The only reason I don't find that situation hugely likely is that I'm pretty sure that most anyone can see that, in the case of a true hot war in Europe that NATO was involved in, the result would be a pretty decisive curb stomping on the scale of Desert Storm.  Which is, to my mind, a huge argument for maintaining that technical and armament superiority, and also for Europe to step up their commitment to those alliances.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 29, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I went to a smaller school that often had take-home essays and even exams (up to the professors, more common in smaller honors classes).  While cheating might have happened somewhat, it is possible IMO to instill a culture that expects people to follow the rules even when they aren't being watched closely.  But it was occasionally enforced by expelling violators.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 15, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I actually use it and am pretty happy with it, but it is really heavy.  That said, I'm not really trying to run other heavy applications at the same time other than compile jobs, so it's not really inconveniencing on any reasonably-modern hardware ("I have 1-2GB of RAM available for this").


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 28, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Do you have any links to read more about that?  I'm curious.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Could you elaborate on the distinction here?  I don't immediately see a difference in the simple case: if I import a widget for $1 completely manufactured from scratch in [country], I'd pay a percentage of that value as a tariff.  Or I'd pay a (similar) percentage in a VAT regime, because it seems to me that in both cases all of the "value added" comes from one place.  I guess there is a distinction for supply chains that go back and forth across the border in question to produce final products, but is that the modal case?


Would a tariff carve out for reimported intermediate products (excluding the value of American-made semiconductors used in iPhones, for example) meet your goals?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


if you're the product of a mixed family, are roughly the same color as Taylor Lautner and have the surname "Lopez" are you hispanic or white?




There have been a number of shifts in the common definition of "white" (which has occasionally gone by other terms like "WASP") that generally get swept under the rug by partisans.  In the late 1800s, it didn't include Italians.  Catholics more broadly were probably excluded until maybe the JFK administration.


I sometimes wonder if we'd all get along better if we actively tried to culturally expand that definition to include all Americans, rather than focusing on divisive "hyphenated Americans" (a term which dates back to the late 1800s).  But it seems an unpopular idea in political activist circles.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I had to look it up a while back, but my (urban) school district required Hep A/B (and it was at least generally recommended at the time) and I recall many universities required meningitis vaccination when I was applying.  Both of those may have been fairly recent at the time.  I think you're right about PCV.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for January 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Are you physically active?  This is probably out of scope, but as an (amateur) runner, I've definitely hit high training volume periods where fullness and satiety decouple and I've finished meals stuffed but still hungry for calories (past a certain point, there is the effort of effectively planning an extra meal every day, but that isn't often for me).  It seems plausible to me that some people get used to the wrong signals (full stomach vs. satiety), especially for hyper palatable foods, but I'm hardly an expert.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 11, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Do you think Jones would have escaped the huge damages if he claimed that, I suppose, his bipolar disorder made him do it?  I don't know if he's ever been diagnosed with anything like that, but there also seems to be to be at least a vibe that those sorts of protections don't apply to red tribers like Jones, but do to the in-group sometimes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 30, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I hear those are also highly recommended in earthquake-prone regions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 2, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I seem to recall reading that US and South Korean border guards are selected to be particularly tall specifically for, er, diplomatic reasons.  But I don't have a citation on-hand.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 26, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


In reality, everything that the EU wants Durov to remove from Telegram is stuff Musk’s X already does remove and is happy to remove if a takedown notice is filed.




As someone who's never used Telegram, to what extent do you think this is due to right-leaning Western content, versus its affiliations and use by the Russian military and PMCs?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 18, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I have never found a serious source for this in aggregate (probably publication bias), but I have a suspicion that outcomes correlate negatively with funding. It's not hard to look and see that the districts that spend the most per student tend to also be the worst performing overall.


Some of this is higher costs in urban areas, and frequently bad districts can have some really good magnet schools.  And I'm also not really of the opinion that this means cutting funding would improve outcomes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 12, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Wait, is wearing ties unhealthy?  I've never heard that before, and to be honest I'm a bit skeptical of the claim.  Do you have a source?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 18, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There are still states holding out on the Obamacare Medicaid expansion funds, which the states are only on the hook for 10-ish percent.  And IIRC SCOTUS loosely capped the amount of allowed funding coercion. So it does happen, but nobody seems to be turning down highway funding these days.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for August 16, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


recreated the magic of 2




As far as I know, neither of the first two games seems to be available on Steam.  Are they (legitimately, I guess) available anywhere these days?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 22, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


In the USA-vs-Russia proxy war that's happening right now the west is being dramatically outcompeted in terms of ammunition supply/manufacturing, and on top of that there's a technological gap between the US and Russia - the US still hasn't bridged the hypersonic weapons gap.




The West isn't falling completely behind there: the Army opened a new artillery shell plant in May, and within the last month the US announced operational deployment of long-range air-launched SM-6 missiles and Lockheed announced a hypersonic missile (I haven't seen any claims of deployments, though).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 22, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


There's also a point that almost every single youtube inter-video add for the last few days feels to have been a Kamala fundraiser ad




If this is the same one I've been getting, my first observation was that the audio was terrible: echoes, ambient noise, and such.  This was memorable because even low-budget YouTube channels have, I guess, been able to get good-enough microphones, acoustic panels, and turn off the air conditioner (things I've seen brought up in passing) to manage better than a multi-million dollar campaign that I'd think would be doing professional-quality media constantly.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 15, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


the procedures involving the Speaker and Prez pro tem succession are hilariously dumb and would cause a ton of chaos if they actually saw use




Gerald Ford isn't the most fondly remembered (although we did name an aircraft carrier after him), but managed to serve as President without being elected on a national ballot.  Although I believe he was elevated to VP from Speaker and then subsequently to President.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 8, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I find it darkly ironic that problems exist at both ends of this spectrum: yes, there are obese people, but the number of serious runners (among other sports) with very real eating disorders isn't zero either.


But for most people, more activity and less gluttony is probably better.