@inappropriatecontent's banner p

inappropriatecontent

Nihil Concierge

1 follower   follows 7 users  
joined 2022 September 05 19:44:52 UTC
Verified Email 

				
User ID: 691


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
inappropriatecontent


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Nihil Concierge

				
				
				

				

					1 follower  

					follows 7 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 19:44:52 UTC
				


				
					

					
No bio...

				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
User ID: 691


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
							
								Verified Email
							
						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
‎

			

				
				

					Hour
					Day
					Week
					Month
					Year
					
				

			


			
‎

			

	
	

	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Political Survey
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Up or on?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 23, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Spending a bunch of money offering free services for years may just have been what the kids call a "Zero Interest Rate Phenomenon".




With apologies to Ned Flanders, indeed-ily doob-ily.  The whole Internet did that good decade or so; there's a wonderful Hollywood-focused substack called The Ankler which has been covering the phenomenon's entertainment industry manifestations.


I'm increasingly convinced history will look back on the turn of the millennium and discover in Michael Lewis a prophet of the age on the order or Upton Sinclair or Thomas Paine.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 23, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
My favorite Clinton anecdote is from TNR or maybe the New Yorker a while back. Doctor said, “Bill Clinton loves to talk; a friend of mine once got chance to meet him when they were both in the locker room of a racquetball club in Manhattan, and enjoyed the first hour of the conversation, but ended up faking a phone call from his wife as an excuse to prevent the chat from entering hour three.”


I suspect the surviving Bush and Obama might both do the same thing—just imagine being the top 0.001% for ambition and extroversion, with decades of life left, and every single job in America would be an embarrassing step down.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 23, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


GATTACA and associated neo-ludditism is excluded from good




But Gore Vidal is in that movie!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 22, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I just blew through The Big Short in a day and a half.  It is, Peter Segal observed, a most unusual book because adapting it into a movie didn't mean making changes to make things more exciting or dramatic—but several things that really happen did have to be toned down!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Try narrowing the years to something like 2010—2023 and Hispanic will populate.  I don't know what year the census bureau started asking people if they were Hispanic (I'm pretty sure the US Census is actually where the word "Hispanic" was invented) but the charts on that website will stop showing that data as soon as you include any years where the question wasn't asked.


I hope that makes you feel less crazy—although many people go mad for reasons that have nothing to do with the Census Bureau. I'm not qualified to rule those out for you.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I used the website below, which gets data from the census bureau, to see how much of California was white in 1975.  87.6%--because the 1975 data does not include Hispanic as a category.


https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/state/california/?endDate=2021-01-01&startDate=1975-01-01


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Oh, goodness, I was so busy trying to being clever I forgot to be smart.


I am honestly embarrassed about this.  Mea Maxima Culpa.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Mendacity and social fictions are not unique to Californians. Perhaps I've just been exceedingly unlucky in my acquaintances, and I'm suffering a Chinese Robber effect. But this pattern has repeated with enough frequency that I’ll tentatively call it a cultural difference.




Actually, when I moved to a midsize southern Californian port city in 2018, it was explained to me that the punishment for mendacity and social friction would be a one-way ticket to ...  well, let's just say that the VHS tape I was given was of a once-great local news anchor named after a wine explaining that Californians accused of things like financial crimes, harassment, or petty theft might well be offered plea deals that include "a one-way ticket to Cajun country in lieu of jail time."




They're like the younger sons of European nobility who colonized the New World.




Don't forget the workers they brought with them: criminals who chose to labor as their farmhands over the noose; and others, in harder-to-fill positions, filled only after the "no thanks, I'll hang," phase of the recruitment flow was removed.


Also don't forget the religious whackjobs who just refused to let the King tell them who to burn at the stake.


Oh, and don't forget the squatters who broke into William Penn's summer estate.


Who would have ever thought that those three groups had enough in common to actually team up against their Monarch--let alone that they'd get help from Manhattan.  You'd think people would be grateful to be liberated from being Dutch!


Oh, and Maine.  Have I forgotten why the people in Maine joined the other twelve colonies--or did they keep their reasons to themselves?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I drove through Idaho with my dad on the way to a week in Seattle with relations.  We had a very pleasant breakfast at a Denny's near the Oregon border; we'd probably still have no problems in Ida-White (what else could you name it?), as I doubt our very nice waitress recognized an old Jew when she saw one — because anyone who looks at my dad has seen one!


But what if the Parliament of Idawhite passed a law adding a couple of episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm to the elementary school curriculum? My dad has been confused with Larry David.


What about black drivers? My old roommate is now an adjunct professor at Portland State University, and between the job interview and the move, that's three times a black lesbian has driven past the exact same Denny's—and we have yet to ask anyone in thar demographic lucky enough not to share a lease with me about any omelettes they've ordered whilst en route to the Pacific Northwest.


What happens, if we give Idaho to the white nationalists, when the rest of us want to drive to Seattle? Are we just expected to not have a Grand Slam?


ETA: You could also name it Ida-Cracker.  Obviously.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Getting whipped in the house actually has a very different meaning in thr U.K. due to the English moral traditions.


The British sex scandal  anthology series on Amazon is currently in production on season three, AFAIK.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I made all those jokes about how "congress only makes things worse"—apparently god heard and decided to show me how things are without a Congress.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


(plus communication is always easier in dive bars)




That's why shinjuku ni-chome was my favorite neighborhood in Tokyo. Well, one reason.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


In 2020, Liberal Member of Parliament Emmanuella Lambropoulos, a trilingual millennial representing the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, told the official languages commissioner she would need evidence to believe that French was on the 'decline' (with air quotes).




Thus earning an enduring place in my heart, and also sounding like a cool lady to hang out with.


I can see why Saint-Laurent so inspired filmmaker Frank Oz that he set a thriller there which included many shots of Edward Norton outside the city's customs house and a scene of DeNiro saying "you always told me ... live in Montreal" to Marlon Brando himself!


The film was clearly a love letter to the city—although since a movie called  "The Score" about the a heist of said customs house directed by the puppeteer who played Miss Piggy can, accurately, be described as "a Muppet says criminals should live here," I suppose Francophones could mistake it for an insult, if they didn't all love cinema so much.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				[META] A Whole Host Of Completed Minor Changes
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I just marked a very long post on the Gaza megathread "neutral" while doing janitor duty.  It's the first time I shirked and didn't read the post, and I'm feeling guilty and conflicted about that.  I skip lots of posts on here, but when I click on that otter who says he needs me...


Well, I've never let him down before.


Mostly I just wanted to say that since the aftermath of the Hamas attack is something I don't want to read about but also one of the most important issues in the world, I found the megathreads incredibly useful and really appreciate the mods putting them up.  Thank you.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				There and out the back end: A gaijin’s tail Or: Colonoscopy in Japan
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


it doesn't take much imagination to understand at micro level why local Japanese communities lose patience with the base population and the bases themselves.




I always thought a huge part of this related to the Navy Exchange operations, which place stores that sell everything a sailor needs on base itself. I had a couple shipmates who never stepped off base at all, but the problem comes with the 80% who do their shopping and eating on base, then go off base once or twice a month — too drink.


I may have said impolite things on my way out of those wonderful coffee shops scattered around Sasebo, after stopping by with a book or picking up a latte to go — but many locals wouldn't believe most Sailors even get coffee. We look like nothing but drunks thanks to a Pentagon contract with Starbucks and McDonald's that places the routine aspects off life out of view of the neighborhood. (Not to mention capturing a lot of the economic boon of being a military town, which must have hurt during the lost decade especially.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for October 18, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well, about fifteen years ago I kind of got tricked on something like this.  I showed up at this job with an attitude of "I will work very hard but also be aggressively gay until you fire me for being gay," which sounds weird but my employer at the time had a policy of firing people for being openly gay which wasn't just legal, but actually specifically approved by the President of the United States.  By the time I figured out my organization wasn't actually obeying the policy, and in fact mostly used it to get rid of low performing homosexuals and as a convenient escape hatch for people of any orientation who wanted to quit without the negative consequences outlined in their employment contracts, which included imprisonment, it had been almost three years and I felt like I had basically been conned into working harder than at any previous job.


I coasted for a little over a year, but only because I couldn't quit without being thrown in jail.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed about a year after I got out.  For subsequent jobs, I went back to my previous policy of taking an entry level position, performing better than most entry-level hires for about a year, then losing interest and quitting without giving notice.


Obviously, I wouldn't have posted this if you'd specified in your post that you wanted useful advice for your situation instead of expressing curiosity in general, since we obviously have very different goals in life; but on the Motte, how one phrases the question will affect the answers one receives.  ;-P


But in all seriousness, I would strongly second @Walterodim 's advice about placing cultural fit with the company above monetary compensation.  I once moved from a hotel company to a bank for more money and it was a huge mistake.  Going from $12.50 per hour to $14  for similar low-level call center duties is very different from the offers you'll be facing quantitatively, but qualitatively similar to what Walter outlines--but I went from enjoying my work and co-workers to being deeply unhappy with the work and consequently unpleasant to otherwise likable people, even though the job description was virtually identical.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				There and out the back end: A gaijin’s tail Or: Colonoscopy in Japan
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I mean what would anyone have to say to that which would save the moment for decorum.




Among English speakers, I generally use body language, facial expressions, and context clues to send the message I am not a person who is concerned with decorum. Please feel free to depart.


I do hope that sentiment was able transcend the language barrier whilst I was stationed in Japan. The protests against our presence always represented a minority of the electorate; with luck, the participants were all political instead of personal.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The first time I became aware someone was corrupt was watching a general in the Mexican army being interviewed by Nightline or Newshour or some show.  I was maybe 13 and I recall him telling the interviewer about how he had this many men and they were covering that many kilometers searching for the other cartel smugglers...


"Sir," the reporter interrupted, "How many have you caught?"


Ten seconds of dead silence, and the look on the general's face that made it clear catching people was not part of his plans--and that's the day I realized how the world worked.


I heard the same rant from every American General in command of the Afghanistan invasion and occupation for decades, though usually before a congress tame enough not to ask any awkward questions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				There and out the back end: A gaijin’s tail Or: Colonoscopy in Japan
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
They'll never call you baka gaijin to your face, but I used to get laughs* by putting watashi wa in front of it.


*Astonishment is the same as amusement, according to the class Sailors have to attend before they give us plane tickets over.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


A mark of success in rational fiction ... is when the audience successfully predicts or theorizes about upcoming plot twists.




As a reader, the sweet spot is when I pick up on something a few pages before the protagonist. That's more luck than author's intent, since an equally smart person reading the same book but after lunch instead of before will be a few chapters behind the curve, but it's the most fun I have.


Maybe second most, after seeing a movie with a friend and whispering "are they really X?" but then the people on screen really do X—before my friend has time to reply.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I use the same federal subsidy and have asked the major providers here in California (Lifeline and NET10 wireless) for flip-phones—they only offer cheap android smartphones (or even tablets).  Can you tell me the name of your provider so I can get a flip phone too?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The only flagship phone I ever owned was Hawei's, purchased just a few weeks before the spying scandal broke, and never actually used for phone calls.  Feature wise, the new Pixels have just barely caught up, and that's not counting the IR blaster with built in universal remote app


And it's not that your liver is "suffering," so much as "used to the fullest" or maybe "done it's duty when called upon."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Agreed: I certainly get the sense whoever wrote that description would get along well with a friend in California who knows what to say to get a medical weed card, and can refer you to physicians to whom to say it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm presuming you have a much more desirable phone than my Pixel 3—but leave room for the possibility that I have better kidneys.