sonya
1yr ago
I believe that my trans friends should be able to browse the internet without seeing content they deem hateful/disturbing (like harry potter content).
To me this seems like the error. Rather, it is your friends' responsibility to avoid content they find offensive, and when they do encounter it, control themselves like adults and promptly move on to look at stuff they do like without losing their shit. This is the strategy I employ.
sonya
1yr ago
DSL = Data Secrets Lox, another discussion forum in the same cultural sphere.
sonya
1yr ago
Corgiville Fair is a treasure!
Just empirically, people are not allowed to use their land however they like. There are innumerable restrictions, which is basically what this whole fight is about — which possible set of restrictions is optimal. The answer to that varies based on one's vantage point. "Do whatever you want" is not on the table because we live in a society, etc. It would be cool if Ancapistan existed but it doesn't because it's game-theoretically untenable.
Why do we have to be so soft on homeowners?
Because there are a lot of them and they vote in their own interests, and otherwise advocate for themselves, to a greater extent than opposing demographics. Insofar as this changes, preferential treatment of homeowners will also change.
I assume you already know this so possibly I'm being obtuse about what you were actually asking, or it was a rhetorical question?
We don't extend this level of hand-holding and thought about compensating business owners or owners of large amounts of stocks. Those things can rapidly lose their value as well and consist of a large part of individuals assets.
This isn't strictly true, for example there are assets you can't buy unless you're an accredited investor.
sonya
1yr ago
The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch — it's a little too comprehensive for my taste, and thus a bit of a slog, but interesting enough that I'm going to finish it. Broad theme: Once the universal hold of European Catholicism is broken, various polities discover through successive rounds of bloodshed that it's no longer practical to have One True State Religion.
sonya
1yr ago
I comment very sporadically for this reason — effortposting takes too much time and, well, effort! Even when I do comment, it's usually just a brief thought. The Motte is an entertainment + procrastination venue for me, and my substantive effort is reserved for things like my actual job or personal creative projects. I do try to contribute by promoting the community elsewhere on occasion.
Is it just a matter of exercising my writers-muscles?
In general yes, the way to get better at anything is to practice. I work as a writer and I've gotten a lot faster over the years (though I'm still not particularly fast, nor prolific, in the overall distribution of writers).
Is it my method of commenting, is there some more efficient way to comment? Do other people put hours into posts with any amount of substance? [...] Is most everything on here peoples' first edit?
It varies. Some people are indeed investing hours into their posts and going through multiple rounds of edits. Others have the enviable combination of logorrhea and natural eloquence.
sonya
1yr ago
I've been there, it's frustrating. I didn't figure out any "one weird trick" personally, I just gradually got better at forcing myself to buckle down. I still procrastinate a lot but I do also get done what I need to get done. Shorter-term deadlines where I'm accountable to a colleague are helpful. If someone is relying on me to do X at N time, I'm much more motivated than if it's a "finish this eventually" situation.
This service is often recommended, probably worth a try: https://www.focusmate.com/
sonya
1yr ago
I got an Aeropress and enjoyed it for a few weeks... but since then I've been too lazy to use it since my husband brews a pot every morning. The quality difference doesn't matter enough to me to make up for the minor hassle.
sonya
1yr ago
I read a bunch of Ask A Manager when I first started getting "real" jobs which was really helpful for calibrating what's normal and how to behave in an office, that kind of thing.
sonya
1yr ago
These lines of argumentation kinda strike me as arguing that monogamy doesn't real because people cheat. Like, sure, the map is not the territory, but that's not a good reason to throw out the map.
My other thought is that race is a "thick" concept that bundles various things together — phenotype, ethnicity, culture (sometimes including nationality), and the emergent socioeconomic connotations of combinations thereof.
sonya
1yr ago
having used all of these methods, IMO the bidet is the clear winner. it's not even close
sonya
1yr ago
I have no idea how to hire an escort.
I mean, if you were so inclined, it wouldn't be hard to find out. You can literally Google it
sonya
1yr ago
He blogged about it, naturally. Ctrl+F "divorce" for the relevant bits. Here's one:
My wife filed for divorce in the spring, but you should know that I believe she did the right thing, ultimately, because continuing in this ferocious pain after ten years was destroying both of us. It is a relatively amicable split, one that even our priests had suggested was finally the right thing. But even relatively amicable splits are terrible, and I beg your prayers for us all.
There may be other divorce-relevant posts in his archive but since I'm not a regular reader of Dreher, I don't recall.
sonya
1yr ago
The Crimean War: A History by Orlando Figes — good so far but it also puts me to sleep quickly so progress is slow. I'm still in the "context for the conflict" beginning section.
sonya
1yr ago
Your English is actually quite decent, there are many native speakers who write worse than you. Some of them significantly worse. You could 100% pass for a native speaker online if you didn't mention that you're not.
sonya
1yr ago
I ponied up for a SimpleHuman trash can — though not an automated one — which felt outrageously expensive at like $150 but the mess-limiting design and build quality turned out to be soooooo worth it. I assume the automatic-lid cans are also good.
sonya
1yr ago
In some ways it's a higher lift to jump through the bureaucratic hoops to get the state to sanction your death, in some ways it's a higher to off yourself personally. But you don't have a principal-agent problem if you're the one killing yourself. Besides, that option can't be legislated away. Not sure how I'd feel if it could.
sonya
1yr ago
I've come to view the physical pain of suicide as a feature rather than a bug due to its deterrent effect. You have to really, really want it, and I think that's a good thing. But ODing on fentanyl seems... well, not fun, but better than most other methods.
sonya
1yr ago
The problem isn't biting, it's biting hard when the target is inappropriate. You want to train a soft mouth. Yelp and act injured / upset whenever she bites hard enough to hurt you.
sonya
1yr ago
I vastly prefer this interface to Reddit, and the CW threads have not had as much "here's my dumbass manifesto" lately, so I'm happy overall.
sonya
1yr ago
Recently began Apollo's Angels, a history of ballet. More sociological analysis than I expected! Enjoying it so far.
sonya
1yr ago
Would the transgender tendency to document absolutely everything online
It may be a legitimate demographic tendency, idk, but this is like drawing the conclusion that all plastic surgery is botched because the plastic surgery one notices is botched. Sampling bias. The people who document and publish their lives online the most are the most visible.
I worked in privacy tech for a couple years, and the other two examples du jour are abuse victims and LGBTQ+
More options
Context Copy link