sleepyegg
22hr ago
The protected classes are a result of some combination of white guilt, egaltarianism, socialism, feminism, and christian gullibility.
Western cities are a lost cause at this point, unless there are drastic undemocratic changes which break the status quo.
sleepyegg
1d ago
Personally I enjoy travelling but dislike driving. I used to enjoy driving but my reaction speed is getting worse so it's more of a dangerous activity than an adventurous one.
2500 miles of driving sounds like a punishment to me, I'd rather lay down on the floor and sleep.
sleepyegg
3d ago
From Iran's POV, why should they make a deal now when a better deal might be offered later? There is every incentive to threaten and shoot ships for tolls until they can get nuclear deterrence, an isolated Israel, and war reparations.
sleepyegg
3d ago
Immigrants are primarily economic immigrants, and I would expect that people trying to establish themselves inna new country would try to veer as far away from politically sensitive topics as possible, unless they were promised economic gain.
Also with a regional TFR of ~1.08 Catalonia may find itself having drastic cultural change in short order, losing the impetus for independence.
sleepyegg
5d ago
~220K for custom construction? That actually sounds really cheap, are you in a LCOL area?
For me the world cup match is an automatic go-to if the cost is within budget and the family would likely enjoy it.
I also think coolness or uncoolness should have no bearing on your decision making, for like almost everything. Aspiring to coolness is an adolescent male's concern that he is respected by his peers and that he is appealing to single women of his preferred dating demographic. As a husband + dad, I hope that you soon come to realize that you no longer need the approval of your male peers, nor the attention of single women anymore. At least that's my perspective as a husband + dad.
You may have a different definition of coolness than me, because I don't consider having kids to be uncool. To me having kids is tangible proof of a man's virility and relative wealth, elevating him to a higher level of status beyond the coolness anxieties of single or childless men.
What is a loser, anyways? I define a loser as a male of low status who engages in low status activities. You have a wife and children, clearly you did something right at some point in time, assuming you sired the children. Many men aspire for a family and are not so fortunate as you.
I believe asking questions and seeking advice shows self-awareness, a willingness to be criticized by others, and a desire for self-improvement. These are not qualities of a loser.
Damn, man. You're a dad with children now, its okay to be uncool. Your free time is probably limited if you have kids. You should not spend your limited free time doing things that you think may result in an interesting story to tell others. You should do what seems appealing. If you have curiosity about pro soccer, so be it, it is competiton at the highest level, but it can also be appealing to do nothing and follow the wedding schedule. Maybe there are some activities you can do with your kids locally in Mexico that are not available at home?
Attempting to be cool is always uncool. But I believe that not caring about being uncool demonstrates self-confidence, which is it's own form of coolness.
As a dad and husband, it does not set a good example for your family for you to be concerned with matters of trivial importance. Maybe you have some time to plan a interesting mini-vacation for your family, like scuba diving, cave exploration, or visiting interesting areas?
sleepyegg
9d ago
Political gridlock and increasing political polarization. Lowered trust in society and increased conflict. Basically nothing good.
Brazilification.
sleepyegg
11d ago
Sounds like the MCRN from the expanse, except they're Israeli now. Seems like a recipe for Earth-Mars perpetual cold war.
sleepyegg
11d ago
In defense of Israel, Singapore has better land, and focusing on a multicultural, multireligious state was always more likely to succeed.
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Singapore's land isn't an important religious site to multiple monotheist religions.
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Singapore's land was sparsely populated by native Malays and mostly unused jungle. The settlement of Chinese workers may have started in the 14th century, predating modern ethnic nationalism. Israel's land was far more occupied and contested.
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The malaysian Sunni muslims are either more tolerant of non-muslims from either a cultural basis, or maybe a Shafi'i islamic school perspective. This is less true of Arabic muslims in general.
If you could have body-swapped Lee Kwan Yew into dictator of Israel during it's founding, I don't think he could have molded Israel's society to be similar to what he did for Singapore.
sleepyegg
11d ago
The US may have been willing to loan the transport ships needed, the US navy was already blockading Iran anyway. 100K casualties sounds actually survivable, paraguay has survived worse. They would be getting full US air support and their mission would be regime change to a friendly government.
If Israel took 100K casualties in a ground control attempt in Iran but was faltering, the US public might be convinced to give them a troop surge to finish the job. That would be more palatable than the US shouldering 100% of any ground troop burden.
sleepyegg
11d ago
Civ IV has terrain, but it's only used defensively. Main usage was defending against enemy doomstacks with a mini-stack, and it's kind of fun estimating what you actually need to safely hold the enemy back. There's also that wonderful feeling where you perfectly estimate the minimum defense needed and you bait the AI doomstack into engaging your fortified-to-the-teeth city for a total loss.
To get the a good hold the line feeling I prefer the total war series.
sleepyegg
11d ago
Women and men do not follow the same rules of conduct for dating, your mistake is assuming that the rules are the same or should be the same. This is one aspect of dating most women are willfully ignorant of, and why dating advice from women to men is often misguided.
You don't need to accept the unfairness, but you will want to accept that this is the way things are unless you are prepared for celibacy.
Oh...wow. There should have been a cordon sanitaire on the Haredi, but I guess patient special interest groups eventually come to undermine democracies as time passes.
I think investing in beachfront properties near US Jewish enclaves is going to be a very safe investment. Israel's Ashkenazi brain trust will eventually get tired of Haredi subsidies + Iranian hostility and decide to leave for greener pastures.
sleepyegg
12d ago
Haredi don't seem to have any majority yet though, right? Google says Shas and United Torah are Haredi, so it seems like they are still in the minority for electoral relevance. Unless one of the major parties is more Haredi leaning than what wikipedia says.
sleepyegg
12d ago
I can't get into any civ after civ iv, the last civ with stackable armies. It's just so much more satisfying to walk around with a doomstack, and the map is visually simpler and easier to understand at a glance compared to later civ games.
sleepyegg
12d ago
Warband the last days mod for lord of the rings is still my favorite, even though the graphics are much worse. Prophecy of pendor is great too.
sleepyegg
12d ago
I see, so forcing secularization of the haredim would be percieved as a kind of religious genocide, like with china and the uyghurs. That's uh, extremely problematic to say the least because the han chinese can at least otherize the uyghur muslims which makes it more internally tolerable.
There would probably be many secular defectors in any forceful attempt to secularize the haredim, which seems like it would lead to massed civil disobedience and protests.
If I was a secular Israeli politician invested in the long-term future of Israel, I would be preparing a media narrative to otherize the haredim. Calling them rats, parasites, fifth columnists, etc. Not doing so would be effectively dooming Israel.
sleepyegg
12d ago
Considering how iran's islamic revolution champions the palestinians and advertises themselves as a literal defender of the greater islamic faith, I fail to understand why israel has not deployed expeditionary IDF corps to root out the IRGC while they were already blockaded. This should be a existential conflict for israel in the long term, Trump would probably continue air support if israel provided ground troops and a reasonable path to victory.
sleepyegg
12d ago
So all Trump needs for political pressure is to allow a special H1B program to fast track immigration of high-tech Israelis to the US, while simultaneously refusing to provide defensive assistance against iran. Unless these israelis are especially patriotic, many would probably prefer US jewish enclaves and/or sunny beaches rather than risking the odds of an iranian ballistic missile slipping through the missile shield.
While that is a raw deal for the secular Israelis, I feel that if push came to shove and the core undisputed lands of Israel were under threat the men could be convinced to mobilize if their homes were literally being torn down and their women kidnapped, spiritual leaders be damned.
Are there not also some disaffected Haredim that self-convert to the secular Israeli way of life? If so, they serve as a bonus pool of population that can slowly add to Israel's workforce. I think only the subsidies need to be cut for the Haredim to stop being a net drain, and in an emergency it seems like they could be tapped to repay all the subsidies they have soaked up over the years.
Forcing the Haredim to secularize would probably ruin Israel's democracy though, they would obviously never vote for it. It would be a one time action of a dictator.
Knowing Mandarin, the pool of women you can date and marry opens up considerably. A useful advantage if you are otherwise mostly surrounded by feminist women.
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