VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
No bio...
User ID: 64
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3hr ago
I'd bet a decent chunk are idiots with cheap DJI or equivalent drones not following the rules. But probably not all of them.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
1d ago
I have occasionally wondered if CO2, or something like it, is actually obesogenic somehow. It'd be really hard to test (nutrition experiments in controlled atmospheres sound expensive, even with rats), but it is a potential factor that is drastically different.
But "cheap, maximally-addictive, nutrient-lacking calories" sounds pretty reasonable too.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
1d ago
I have heard anecdotal accounts of illegal immigrants effectively forced to pay back those that got them across the border (cartels, I assume) from their under-the-table earnings in the States, presumably under threats to themselves or their families back home. I'd bet at least some have been forced to work in prostitution this way. Is it okay that I'm uncomfortable with Biden's effectively open-borders policies because an entire class of outside-of-the law persons tacitly legalizes indentured servitude?
I'm sure some are effectively indentured to their employers, too.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
1d ago
I'd prefer that beat cops in peaceful neighborhoods not be stomping around with plate carriers and full-auto rifles, but I don't see anything like that on the near horizon.
You know, for all the common talk about how American cops are so militarized, I've been surprised on a few occasions in Europe, where just having the gendarmes or sometimes even actual troops standing around in public spaces (airports, tourist hotspots) in full kit with long guns is a weird vibe. Although we recently had national guardsmen on the NYC subways, didn't we?
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
1d ago
The current standard for where speech stops being lawful is when it is directed to inciting imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action. I think that's a good standard.
I generally agree with this, but the zeitgeist on the ground has an awful lot of lawless action (political assassinations and attempts thereof) these days. It's obviously hard to tie specific actions there to specific speech, but the big picture is normalizing the idea of lawless action, not a single clear call for it. How much can I complain about "turbulent priests" before I'm responsible to the state when Thomas Becket gets murdered?
And I've never gotten a good answer on how "imminent" applies: can I promote a planned riot as long as it's more than, say, 12 months from now?
Clearly the shooter is a radical centrist when they're shooting people left and right.
ETA: although given my flair, I should probably explicitly condemn violence.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
2d ago
and while those kinds of women do exist, they aren't omnipresent. And more women than you probably think would be ok waiting until things become serious to have sex.
It may be more rare than it used to be, but I'm pretty sure "waiting until marriage" still exists from various anecdotes, and is even to some (women) a preference that they might not feel comfortable to state out front for the same reasons OP feels weird about this.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
2d ago
We've had the technology to raise temperature since around, oh, literally forever. But lowering temperature is a billion times harder.
This feels apropos applied to the Culture War, too.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
2d ago
I think Biden is the only vice president who was elected president since the Bush senior in 1988.
Interestingly, both served only a single term.
All of the victims were detainees.
As is tradition, I suppose.
The federal charges are not the strongest: "possession of a firearm within a school zone and discharge of a firearm within a school zone, in addition to interference with a radio communication station"
Doesn't this make it a "school shooting" by some metrics?
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3d ago
The point is to accuse the American people as such of racism and sexism and homophobia,
This accusation is always leveled at the right in particular. It's inconvenient when it would point at blue voting blocs, so I'm not surprised it gets swept under the rug. See also what happened to "Stop Asian Hate", and much of the mockery of that Gillette commercial.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3d ago
If TPTB had the chutzpah to just kill Biden, Kamala would have had a chance: she would have been the first female president, she would have had the advantage of being in power.
If only there were a role given the power, nay the responsibility, to, under the 25th amendment to assemble a majority of the cabinet and compel a Congressional vote of confidence in the President. Not saying that wouldn't have been a long and potentially-destructive option, but the lack of motion there wasn't IMO a compelling story once Biden stepped aside.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3d ago
I am somewhat critical of the entire gender movement, but also generally okay with consenting adults doing consenting adult things without bothering the rest of us, but I don't think it really matters too much to the example here: the remaining generally-agreed-upon systemic sexism that does exist goes mostly in one direction, which is why there isn't much drama about accepting trans men (not perceived as dangerous), but lots about trans women.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3d ago
Most likely he had a conversation with some Russia hawk who flattered him while telling him Putin was making him look like a fool,
IIRC he and the First Lady just talked to Zelensky and his wife.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
Aren't there a few cases where "am I being detained?" is actually a reasonable/correct response? Pretty sure it's followed by "if no, leave, if yes, ask for a lawyer".
It's definitely overused, though.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
"rape culture,"
You know, I feel like I haven't heard this one in a while now. Odd how fixations on these things fade, sometimes surprisingly quickly.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
And of course, the crime rate difference between men and women is gigantic.
There are plenty of ways in which The System™ very much accounts for this. I've never seen anyone in-ernest complaining that disparate conviction rates on the basis of gender being a sign of "Systemic Sexism". We got rid of all the exclusively-male spaces, but still allow women's-specific institutions: see the fervor on both sides of the trans issue, but the takes aren't typically "eliminate the women's restroom completely" or "repeal Title IX to have a single sports league again".
And honestly I think I'm okay with it that way.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
I think this is the only real answer to gerrymandering, so I think we agree.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
It's not hard to see that (some of) the "most progressive" areas are the most segregated in the country. Or sometimes just the whitest (Portland, Boulder). It's a weird dynamic that, say, Jackson isn't known for that.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
Because siblings with different amounts of African ancestry have the same family background
Is the claim this data was studied between siblings of the same parents? Because with enough genes at play this sounds like trying to divide by coinflips by heads count: easy for single-coin games (eye color, etc), but if you're flipping thousands of coins you're going to end up with about the same number every time.
But I'm not a geneticist, so feel free to tell me where I'm wrong.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
I think a decent chunk of the popular opposition to gerrymandering is specifically being upset at majority-party sweeps or over-representation, so I'm not sure I feel better about that.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
Is there even a good definition of "autism" at play? I have met enough cases that I kinda grasp it intuitively, but the lack of a concrete measurement for really any characteristic sometimes makes me wonder if in a slightly different world we'd be having the same arguments over "misanthropy" (including prefers things to people), or something like that. Imagine if we let people self-diagnose with something that caused irritability.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
I think the steel-man of the class/subculture argument here would be to point out that clothes and posturing are also doing a lot of work here: we're talking about someone putting their feet on the seats (not a 'proper' behavior). These cases are never about someone in a suit, or even a collared shirt, or about someone quietly reading a book or using headphones. It's always about someone swaggering around like they own the place.
I will absolutely concede that this correlates pretty strongly with race, and I won't take a side here on whether there is causation and in which direction. You can try to do so in a colorblind fashion, but I think it'll look pretty similar to an outside observer regardless.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
Attacks on free speech have been coming from both sides for some time here: the Biden administration leaned on Facebook and others to censor user posts about COVID vaccines. Biden also nominated Gigi Sohn to the FCC, who had previously tweeted strong negative opinions about Fox News (the Senate did not confirm the nomination). We also had the short-lived "Disinformation Governance Board."
Separately: Is Fox News even broadcast OTA anywhere? They don't need an FCC license to exist on cable networks. I know Kimmel is/was, and the "official" statement said gave OTA channels pulling the broadcast as the cause.
IIRC they were anti-draft pamphlets.
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