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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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				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 30, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Alarm fatigue is a real thing.  I know lots of people that have mentioned disabling alerts like this because they're tired of Amber Alerts (missing kids, often custody disputes) or Blue Alerts (for police getting fired at) from hundreds of miles away, or to be honest, even lots of NWS alerts, which IMO seem to have started appearing more often for less severe weather.  I feel like I get weather alerts that are well meaning, but not surprising: "severe heat warning" for most of the South in summer isn't wrong, but I didn't need a klaxon to tell me that (uncertain if I've gotten one exactly like that, but not too far from it).


There is a tier of unblockable alerts, but we've only tested that once.  I think we need to better-align the alerts with the people that need to see them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The Jet A open air burn temperature is 1,030 °C, considerably less than the melting point of even lower melting point steels.




True, but the theory isn't that the beams melted, it's that they weakened due to the temperature.  Structural steel loses half its room-temperature strength at 500 °C, and the chart I can find doesn't go much past that.  Structural factors of safety are high, but not that high, and it's unsurprising IMO that they'd fail at "extended structural fire" temperatures, which is why we mandate automatic sprinklers in such buildings these days.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
IIRC around the end of the first Trump term, we got perilously close to dueling national injunctions for "must continue DACA" and "must immediately halt DACA", which isn't a sustainable way to run a national judiciary.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I will at least observe that Red states have been, even in this era, pushing back on the prevalence of online porn.  Pornhub, notably, has blocked a number of states that have passed relevant legislation to require age verification.  It's Very Possible Nowadays to circumvent such things or find sites that don't care about (American) jurisdiction quite so much, but it is happening.


Notably, though, the argument is less "this content is sinful", and more "this content is demonstrably poisoning the relations and sexual health of our children".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 30, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think it'll be hard to explain to the next generation, but the effects in The Matrix were absurdly groundbreaking.  But they also were groundbreaking enough that pretty much any movie with a VFX sequence will copy some of its visual language.  If you've seen a bunch of modern action movies, though, and then watch The Matrix, you're going to feel that a lot of it is just playing to standard visual tropes that have been done well, maybe even better, in lots of movies.  But the thing is, most of those were new in 1999, and you won't appreciate it unless you can compare it to the zeitgeist of 1998 cinema -- without a lot of effort, you really have to have been there.


I'd compare it to The Beatles: I wasn't around when the originals were published, and I find it hard to appreciate the novelty that my older friends and relatives attribute to them because very few features in their catalog haven't been done better (and with better recording and mastering) by other artists since.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 30, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


but plenty of civilized countries like to play that game.




"So there I was in a pub in Belfast enjoying a lovely Imperial pint and watching the local match, when my accountant back in Boston called asking about retirement contributions.  I got lots of weird looks at the bar when I said 'I want to contribute as much as I can to the IRA', and you'd think the room went cold."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I bet 'perceived crime rates' includes observations of crime-adjacent activities that wouldn't ever be measured in 'actual' rates: the appearance of ubiquitous graffiti (see pictures of 80s subway cars), or of loitering ne'er-do-wells in the park isn't necessarily a wrong perception about crime rates.


You don't have to fully endorse the broken windows theory of (causing) crime to accept that frequent observations of broken windows can cause a true perception of rising crime rates.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


In real estate, when you have a claim, even a weak claim, it represents leverage, and you can get your counterparty to negotiate and give you something for it. You never let it lapse for nothing.




This is somehow the most logical explanation I've heard for 2020, and I hadn't heard of it before.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've heard lots of accounts of regular medical (and dental) patients crossing the border to Mexico (and maybe Canada) for procedures because it's much cheaper there and the quality is equal or at least close enough.  A few horror stories too, though.  Usually not too distant travel, though.


I think cancer patients travel pretty regularly for specialist treatment too.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Who is stealing detergent?




A while (a decade or more, now) back, there were a series of articles about Tide being used as street currency for drug sales.  I'm uncertain if that is still true, or even was ever particularly common, but it probably is at least known to store managers.


https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/14/why-would-drug-dealers-use-tide-as-a-currency


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


My advice for rulers, especially ones on the outs with major geopolitical powers...




It seems like "on the outs with major geopolitical powers" is doing a lot here.  It's not even "be a democracy": nobody is threatening to invade Eritrea (not far from Yemen, also a dictatorship).  It's not exclusively Muslim nations either (Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea are in the club).


As best as I can tell, the only consistent rule seems to be "don't be jerks to your neighbors beyond your borders," but I'll accept there's some level of Realpolitik at play.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


At the moment, most people openly advocating for racial segregation are Neo-Nazis




Maybe?  There are also "affinity housing" programs at a number of universities that haven't gotten the Bob Jones treatment that I would personally consider "racial segregation," but seem to be supported by leftists.


But I otherwise mostly agree with your conclusions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
IMO we've seen a big shift on Holocaust narratives in the last decade partially because the set of vocal Holocaust survivors willing and able to speak out from a position of moral authority has shrunk substantially.  I wouldn't be surprised if the narrative of the Civil Rights Era changes in the next decade or two for similar reasons: the youngest people to march with MLK are in what, their late 70s?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


And yet no one is seriously accusing them of being genocidal.




I think "no one" is excluding a lot here: the governments of several NATO member states have made such claims, and the ICC (which admittedly isn't held in the highest esteem everywhere) has issued arrest warrants for Russian leaders on genocide or genocide-adjacent charges.


I'm not suggesting you have to agree with those descriptions, but I think it falls well short of "no one."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The pro-life side will probably happily point you to the apparently slippery slope of MAID in Canada (and elsewhere): have you considered euthanasia as a treatment for PTSD?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
IIRC the NYC mayors race OP is complaining about uses ranked choice voting.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think the prequel trilogy proved that Lucas wasn't the single voice behind the writing for Star Wars: he had to bring in new editors (including his then-wife) to redo the first movie, and then shared writing credits on Empire and Jedi with Lawrence Kasdan.  When in charge of everything, the writing quality got noticeably worse, although maybe I'm still too salty about the "Special Editions".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 23, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
PP seems to show up in lots of anecdotes about cross-sex hormone prescriptions, especially for trans minors with relatively few questions asked.  As far as I can tell (see SCOTUS thread) those are rather controversial.  But I can't say what fraction of their business that is.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The external bed of a pickup truck is also easier to clean than the inside of a van, so you can haul dirty things that you might not want inside your van (cans of gas for your lawn implements, deer carcasses, brush) and hose it out when you're done.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 9, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


"this is a politically motivated assassination"




Charitably, this statement is true if they were killed because of their roles as politicians, which seems likely any time a public political figure is killed except by random violence or accident.  That said, the implication that "the other side" did it isn't necessarily true, and hyping it as such in this case can presumably put a lot of egg in the face if it turns out to be [your side] infighting, which also isn't uncommon.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 9, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Gaza was “genocide” on Day 1. Exactly what does Israel get for not doing exactly that...




Somewhere here is a good observation about the importance of escalation dominance in the domain of information warfare.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


To take a common example, the United States imports a lot of the goods used in our defense industry. Particularly computer chips and the parts used in their production.




In theory, defense supply chains aren't supposed to do this.  In practice, counterfeit components do sneak in unexpectedly (and there are safeguards to reduce this risk), but I don't think Lockheed (or its subcontractors) are allowed to design in Chinese (or even Taiwanese) bolts and capacitors into an F-35 without a whole lot of paperwork, if at all.  There are domestic component manufacturers for those, but often they're not used for vanilla commercial products because they are pricey.  There is a reason "mil-spec" components are expensive: maybe part of it is grift, but part of it is supply chain management.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't think "something that can float" helps much in raging floodwaters, unfortunately.  As an experienced (if a bit rusty) camper, you really want vertical above the river in this situation (maybe not the very top of the hill in a thunderstorm).  But it's much easier to say that academically than to expect a bunch of little girls to know they should seek high ground and actually charge out into the torrential rain.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


If you can't afford chemo you sell everything you have until you run out of money to pay for it and die.




I believe the system as-designed has you sell everything until you qualify for Medicaid, at which point the state/feds should pay for almost all of the treatment.  Now, Medicaid-accepting providers have a bit of a reputation for being, well, worse than other doctors (true also for Medicare, but less so because it pays out a bit more, IIRC), so the quality of care might drop.  But it isn't supposed to be a death sentence there (in practice, I'm sure it happens).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 30, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The "leads to genocide" observation is hardly exclusive to white people, though.    See also: Japan/China in WWII, Rwanda, any number of sectarian feuds in the third world.  Realistically, it seems like it was largely the norm or at least not uncommon among almost any group with the power to do it until largely-European philosophy eventually decided it was a morally repugnant idea (to which I'd agree).


Sometimes it seems like "genocide" only applies if European-descended folks (er, Volks) are doing it, otherwise it's just "sparkling ethnic cleansing" or something.