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Texas is freedom land

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joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC 

				
User ID: 647


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
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Texas is freedom land

				
				
				

				

					9 followers  

					follows 3 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 647


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
And how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, anyway?


From the outsider’s view, the unreasonableness isn’t exactly limited to folk paganism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It always worked. Sectarian revolts predate Christianity, let alone the Enlightenment. The Romans lost cities to chariot racers.


Edit: my mistake—the Nika riots were in 532 AD. I think they still support the general point, but I guess another example would be better. Maybe Rome’s Social War?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Several of these cult members did manage it. The victim was quite a badass.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Nobody talking about it? I saw it on the SSC subreddit for obvious reasons. Source appears to be a garden-variety local news site, though I suppose it could have some connection to Mr. Ngo.




The ability to selectively "problematize" and craft narratives continues to be the main source of power, and seems to be almost completely impervious to evidence-based arguments.




I can only hope you’re aware of the irony. Twenty thousand Americans murdered each year, and the only one you’re talking about is the one which best flatters your politics.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Actually, Halo has quite prominently featured multiplayer since its inception!


How does this theory handle abstract puzzlers like Baba is You? Or even pure math puzzles like Sudoku? Obviously, demonstrating clever puzzle-solving is worth some social status, but that’s not why people do these things. No, they do them because they’re fun.


I suspect curiosity, attention, and the little thrill one gets from a solved puzzle are embedded pretty deeply in our evolutionary history. Probably deeper than socially-mediated value.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I wish I could. I just think it’s neat!


My old torpedo fleet was thoroughly overcome by updates, so that’s out. It was one CL and a slew of spotting and sig-scramble corvettes and frigates. Haven’t made a new one yet since the missile designer intimidates me.


I’ve tinkered with a CL Wolfpack intended to sneak up on carriers. Now that the update frenzy has died down, I’m not sure it’s a remotely good investment. As you observed, “sneaking” is awfully tricky when you’re huge and everyone brings sundials.


The other niches that come to mind are “torpedo boat destroyer,” existing to screen CA or BB, and “counter cap,” intended to slaughter shuttles. I have yet to run either.


But it’s just too pretty to ignore.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Ñ




I had never seen this spelling for it, so I was going to make some sort of joke about the “Nya-“ sound. Catgirl Celebrimbor, maybe.


But when I looked it up, it’s apparently a recognized spelling. Weird.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


gaming industry over the past 10-15 years




That’s the market for you, isn’t it? Games are getting commoditized in a way they weren’t before the Internet, before personal computing. A team of 200 outscales a team of 20 outscales 2 guys with an Apple ][, but by commanding so many resources, they are forced to be more conservative. The shareholders demand it!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Hello, fellow ANS enthusiast!


I don’t know how to play OSP, and I don’t need to when the Vauxhall is right here.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 26, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Not really. “Player vs. Environment” games are reasonably common. Fortnite actually started out as one before they realized most people wanted to do the competitive thing.


Most people try league (or overwatch, or an MMO, or whatever) to share a social experience with their friends. Once they’re in, the competitive mindset does the heavy lifting and keeps them playing. That doesn’t mean chasing a ranking—it means competing with other players. Most people don’t even play ranked mode!


Sometimes it doesn’t even require other players, because League does have popular PvE modes. There’s a decent contingent of players who only play those modes and never face other players. It takes all sorts.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Sure there is.


That’s like saying there isn’t actually a need to teach your kids to read. The free market will encourage them, right?


If you want your kids to have the best chance of success, you’d better provide them support and direction. If you want your fellow citizens to do useful research instead of going into paperclip advertising, maybe you’re going to have to coordinate it.


A separate question: why do we need Congress to handle the military? Why can’t we get equivalent quality defenses via crowdsourcing? Because it’s a distributed benefit, it has to have a coordinated cost. Education and research is the same way.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don’t know how to put this politely, but I’m convinced that if Trump took a shit on the sidewalk, you would jump online to tell me it was the obvious way to revitalize struggling American neighborhoods.


Is there anything he’s done that you don’t actually like?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I’m not sure how else you’d phrase it.


If coffee says there’s No Evidence ™ of negative ramifications, he ought to have some measurable outcome in mind.


I like your VA example, except I don’t know how much of the VA is grant-funded. It’s a government agency, not a separate nonprofit, right?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
To be clear, I expect the dog will bark, but Trump enthusiasts will cheerfully dismiss it as an injured cat.


Abandoning the metaphor—some people were getting money, and if this works, they won’t keep getting money. Even if this is a good thing, they are going to complain and dig up the most sympathetic first-generation college student flattened by student debt. It’s not a statistical argument, just a political one.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I could imagine a polite, careful argument which included calling people “mongrels,” but this ain’t it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Did you mean to post this as a top-level? Cause I don’t see any mention of “PEPFAR” in the parent.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Why wouldn’t there be negative effects for abruptly cutting off funding? You know what they say about the absence of evidence.


The net effect absolutely could be positive, but it’s not going to be free. I am certain the media will be blasting genuine sob stories from whatever percentage of Americans were actually depending on this.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Neither you nor @jeroboam answered my actual question, though. I understand how spending money buys him things aside from lives saved, and I understand that on priors, you (and I!) expect people to care more about power/status than lives saved.


But I’m asking what Gates would do differently if he really did care more about the latter. What could convince you?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Bold words from someone standing in life-saving range.


If spending that kind of money on saving lives doesn’t demonstrate it, what does?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Speaking of rules, we have several. Of particular interest are “Write about specific groups” and “don’t just boo your outgroup.”


For your third offense of the exact same thing, three day ban.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Summary of final Biden-Era Executive Actions: January 13, 2025 to January 20, 2025.
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Chuckwalla:




To placate solar companies, 40,000 acres has been shaved off the original Chuckwalla monument map in the past month to steer clear of solar development and transmission zones along Interstate 10.




So there are development zones but also preservation zones. And I guess this has been in the works for a bit.


I will read more on the others later, since I like this idea of having a baseline. It might be worth figuring out what Biden's most impactful EOs were, rather than just the parting shots. Maybe there's some sort of citation/impact score?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Why you should shoot Black Powder
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Welcome! I may have to borrow that description of the site.


Most of my gun collection is World War era. You make branching out into black powder sound incredibly appealing…once space allows.


For now, my local gun club is hosting some sort of demo event in the next month or two. Looking forward to trying out some black powder there.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 20, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If either your or @The_Nybbler’s interpretation is true, I’d expect it to feature prominently in other regulatory debates. Does trucking ever come up in fights over the EPA, or union law, or whatever?


Something is keeping employers from cranking up wages. It’s not a cartel, like the doctor supply, because trucking is unskilled and pretty darn distributed. It’s not a glut of cheap immigrant labor,  not if we see a shortage across the board. Are truckers just literally not generating enough value to command higher wages? Is it getting eaten by tax and regulatory burdens?


I don’t understand economics.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for January 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Ranger has the details.


I just want to add that HPMoR is how I ended up in this orbit. Not sure about the exact jump, but it involved Worm, the general concept of rational fiction, and Eliezer’s other stories. At some point someone must have linked to a Scottpost.


It has to precede Rabbit Hole or Unsong, because I know I was insufferable in 2014.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 20, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
"A sizeable portion of the professional-managerial class".


Scott's Haiti article is a good example of actually putting in the effort to be less inflammatory.