durdenhobbes
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User ID: 1307
durdenhobbes
10mo ago
I mean, sure, but we're talking about the average person, who is always going to take the path of least resistance. So it should concern us that said path is heavily tilted toward one worldview.
durdenhobbes
10mo ago
I can't believe we even have doctors, given this system. I wouldn't live like that for 5 years even if the payoff was a trillion dollar lump sum.
durdenhobbes
2yr ago
As an aside, I've often felt it was a blatant smear that Republicans got tagged as the "racist" party (with increasing fervor) in recent years, when the supposed "most racist" states in the South were reliably Democratic during the eras of exponentially-greater blatant racism. I've often heard the defense of "oh well the parties flipped", but I've never been able to square that argument with obvious examples like Robert Byrd being a Democratic senator a mere 13 years ago, or things like Biden's comments in the 70's about a "racial jungle".
I'm like "okay, if the parties flipped, then when did they flip?". Because when it comes to Biden (and countless others, I'm certain), they clearly haven't flipped yet.
durdenhobbes
5mo ago
Weirdly, I just saw it mentioned on Reddit, 15 seconds before I opened this tab. Guess I'll go research that now, too.
Has anything noteworthy improved in the world in the past 10-15 years?
I've wondered if it's just a natural product of depression or aging, but I was thinking recently about how absolutely everything feels as if it were so much better a few short years ago. Housing/food/necessities more affordable, political discourse less toxic, the internet was both more wild west but also more self-regulating, TV was in its golden age (Breaking Bad, The Wire, Mad Men, etc.), sports felt more like an escape than circus, technology still held promise of a brighter future rather than potential enslavement of humanity, people still talked to one another without being addicted to smartphones, the media was still somewhat believable, medicine was still a respected profession by a wide margin, college was the smart choice for many/most young people... I could go on but you get the idea.
What has actually improved in the time since? Uber? Starlink? That's all I can think of, and I don't use either one.
durdenhobbes
5mo ago
side effect of absolutely shredding American international standing.
I'm not being obtuse when I ask: what value, exactly, does American international standing have?
durdenhobbes
8mo ago
A comedian calling West Virginia a mountain of white trash wouldn't make anyone bat an eye.
durdenhobbes
2mo ago
How do you handle it logistically? Do you leave it inflated all season? Seems like it would need to be rolled and stored somewhere dry if not inflated, but running the pump 24/7 seems inefficient and noisy. But something that large has to be heavy as hell to move back and forth frequently.
durdenhobbes
5mo ago
It's not "evidence", exactly, but having stayed up all night on Election Night 2024, I was getting text messages from my Biden-supporting friends and family members basically throwing in the towel and saying congratulations. Then at midnight or so, when all the major swing states stopped counting because poll workers "needed to sleep", I thought it really strange that all these states in different time zones decided that at the same time. Then when the 4am ballot dumps came in (what happened to sleep?), and I saw every predictor index go from 95%+ Trump to Biden, I was forever convinced that it was a rigged election.
Too many inexplicable abnormalities. There were some significant statistical anomalies that came out later to confirm my suspicions, but they seem to have mostly been scrubbed from the internet.
durdenhobbes
8mo ago
Given the relative outcomes in terms of higher educational attainment, life expectancy, suicide rates, gender-specific advocacy/scholarships/celebration, etc., I can't believe there are still men who feel compelled to give up anything to further support women in 2024.
durdenhobbes
8mo ago
Agreed. You didn't antagonize anyone specifically, you made factual statements with references, and there was no rule broken that I can identify.
durdenhobbes
8mo ago
Has Musk's star been waning? The Starship booster landing the other day was probably the technological achievement of my lifetime.
durdenhobbes
9mo ago
I could be wrong, but I feel like an officer would probably look you up with the number, but then chide you with a "you need to carry your license when you drive" before he sent you on your way.
durdenhobbes
1yr ago
Assuming you work a distributor, see if you can leverage your mechanical skills and work ethic to convince your supervisor to send you to Micro Matic Dispense Institute. It's only a few days, but you learn everything you need to know about troubleshooting draught beer systems (which is a constant problem for accounts) and installation (there are constantly new bars and restaurants opening all over the country). Once you have some experience with that, you should be able to command higher pay either with your current employer, one of the competing distributors, or if you're really motivated—starting your own draught installation/maintenance company.
durdenhobbes
1yr ago
Agreed. I'm not sure I have the writing skills to make a top-level post, but if I did, I'd be lucky to have even a single issue on which I was both articulate and interesting enough to make multiple posts on the topic. I guess that would make me a single issue poster (which there is no discernible rule against).
I'm also highly antipathetic toward governance/justice/moderation being levied based on identity. Judgment, in this and in every case, should be on the merits of the argument, not because of who posted it. Either the ball was in bounds or out of bounds; making that call shouldn't depend on whether Tom Brady or Todd Marinovich threw it. If it does, then we're playing a rigged sport here.
durdenhobbes
2yr ago
I find myself in a weird position where I don't like to be alone for very long. I can't sit at home all day, and need to be around people fairly regularly. But once I'm around people and someone starts a conversation with me, I immediately can't wait for that conversation to end, even if it's interesting. I want to want to talk, but it just feels off and I never seem to know what to say.
The only workaround I've ever found to this is alcohol, which makes conversation entirely enjoyable, frictionless, and engaging, but it comes with obvious health downsides.
Are there any healthy remedies to make sociability not feel like awkward work?
durdenhobbes
2yr ago
That's not even a criticism, though. That's just shock-gallows humor. Not to mention, people get cancelled for saying a whole lot less than "I think it's funny when they die" when it comes to actually-favored groups.
durdenhobbes
2yr ago
In fact I think it's already quite clear that Presidents as Kings is an even more untouchable standard, so long as you weren't elected against the wishes of the entrenched elite. But god help you if you were.
durdenhobbes
2yr ago
Would it be acceptable for an athlete who opposed some war to refuse to wear a camo jersey?
Absolutely, and Muhammad Ali is hailed a hero for refusing to fight in Vietnam.
To answer your first statement: absolutely! No one in my generation asked for this, no one in my circle wants it, and I think it should be the one burned to the ground. It’s pure societal poison.
As for men (or women) who treat their spouses in a "pitch-black evil" way, we've always had means of dealing with that, outside a parasitical family court machine. A strong family is a good start, for example. Something that the current M.O. has made scarce.
durdenhobbes
1mo ago
Meanwhile I've already used it to do things for my startup that I can't even imagine how I'd have paid for otherwise.
Would you mind sharing any examples? I've failed to engage with AI in any meaningful way, not for ideological/luddite reasons, but the simple inertia of doing things the way I've always done them. I'd love to try something new, and don't know where to begin.
durdenhobbes
5mo ago
That's just it: I don't know who my probable allies are (or if they exist), and finding/mobilizing them will be part of my initially-unilateral effort. Meanwhile I have to live somewhere and send my kids to a school district today.
durdenhobbes
5mo ago
The grass, in this instance, doesn't grow nearly as quickly as my children do, and I'm not going to gamble their early education on the hope that I can unilaterally drag an underperforming school district out of the mire.
durdenhobbes
1yr ago
Reade appears to be an actual Russian asset.
While I haven't kept up with this story in extreme detail, this is the first I've heard of this accusation. What makes that so apparent?
Could you share the readings that led you to believe that? I tend to hold the Jon Stewart "chocolatey outbreak in Hershey PA" view of things.
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