domain:archive.ph
sarker
It isn't happening, and if it is, it's a bad thing
19m ago
This is the problem with fighting a genuinely genocidal country like Israel: you can never surrender because they admit they want to replace you on your land.
If this were the case, Israel never would have unilaterally withdrawn from Gaza, including demolishing Israeli settlements. Evicting Palestinians from Gaza has only become a serious option after the latest round of bear-poking.
sarker
It isn't happening, and if it is, it's a bad thing
25m ago
the us tax payers is funding efforts to educate a bunch of foreign nationals who then leave.
Do they leave? I work with tons of very smart foreigners who got an advanced degree at an American university, so they can't all be leaving. We'd definitely be worse off if we can't brain drain the world anymore.
And let's not forget that Trump once proposed a drastic solution to retain international students:
You graduate from a college, I think you should get, automatically as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country. That includes junior colleges, too.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
34m ago
When I'm trying to attract women, and looking to settle down and marry before the decade is out? Then what other people think of you matters.
It's your right to decide whether you do this thing or not. But this is a terrible reason because it just isn't true. Lots and lots of people (the vast majority, in fact) attract a mate without resorting to cosmetic surgery. You, yourself, have said you've had reasonable success with women. In other words, this sort of thing is not needed. Getting some face fat removed from you is simply not going to matter to your ability to get married before the decade is out.
Sunshine
40m ago
Why didn’t America just bomb the city until everyone died?
If Israel was willing to bomb Gaza until everyone died, the war would be over by now because everyone in Gaza would be dead. Do you think this is what is looks like when a modern military power with total air superiority tries to obliterate a civilian center? It is not.
It is entirely within Israel's power to turn Gaza into a smoking pile of rubble. They are choosing not to do that.
Sunshine
45m ago
I believe the point is that if America did kill 36 million Chinese civilians, the Chinese would nuke Los Angeles and America would have only itself to blame.
The moral of the story is: Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Dean
Flairless
47m ago
He's not. If anything, Harvard is getting its turn after Columbia, which was targeted first due to its weaker position.
(Warning - link is not QRD. But it may be interesting.)
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
49m ago
I'm aware of the risks, but they seem small and acceptable to me. My surgeon has recommended 2ml of fat removed per cheek, which is, AFAIK a very conservative value. I've probably got a decade or more before my cheeks shrink by themselves, and looking at older family members, it's not very noticeable. I think the risk of becoming gaunt are manageable.
Have you ever heard of or tried microcurrent devices like the Ziip? It's a microcurrent device that basically electrocutes your facial muscles. The designers claim all kinds of benefits from facial contouring to clearing up skin. My wife has one, I've played around with it, but I've never been disciplined enough or cared enough to keep up with it for months. When I've used it on the "contouring" setting it does get some of that sharper look I think you're going for, and it's relatively cheap and very low risk compared to other choices you have. I know there are also salons or spas or whatever that offer a higher-end version of the home product in microcurrent facials, which you could try without committing to purchasing one and using it all the time. Rescue Spa is the top end, but I don't think they're overseas.
I'll have to look into it, but my gut feeling is that it's not reliable. I can't see an obvious MOA from merely passing current through the face muscles!
My wife recommends botox, it is cheap and low risk. Find a reputable provider and get very little. Start small, most women do way too much which leads to the paralyzed look. What's nice is it just goes away if you use the right amount. My wife gets them biannually, it's no big deal, small amounts in the forehead. It'll be ten years before it approaches the cost of a real surgical procedure. Let it fade off completely between shots.
Good advice, send her my thanks. I believe masseter botox doesn't have much impact on facial expressions or wrinkles, the biggest side effect is usually decreased chewing strength and fatigue, and that usually wears off quick.
Also possibly PRP injections below the eyes are something to look into, according to Mrs. FiveHour.
Fillers are okay as a temporary solutions, but autologous fat grafts, especially from the buccal area, tend to be far more lasting. Is she recommending it for enhancing the upper cheek? I don't really have baggy eyes, or at least I don't care about them.
In general there's nothing wrong with trying to look better, and there are ways to do it, but especially as a man you absolutely must avoid the appearance of having had plastic surgery. For women there is at least a little leeway, in that obvious plastic surgery at least often has the effect of making her look slutty and sexually available, so it's not all bad. For men, visible plastic surgery is pretty much the worst thing possible, making a man look vain, effeminate, faggy, untrustworthy, and foolish. So start light and focus on the long game.
I see a dozen woman a day on the streets who I can tell have had work done. I struggle to name a single non-celebrity man. Most men opt for hair transplants as their foray into cosmetic surgery. The BFR and masseter botox don't leave any visible scars, and barring the risk of lopsidedness (unlikely with a skilled surgeon), I really doubt anyone could tell. They'd probably think I've lost weight and worked out, which to be fair, I'm doing alongside the procedure. I'm interested in a rhinoplasty, which would be harder to explain away, but I doubt anyone would particularly care.
dukeleto
49m ago
Do you know if the undergrads are any better? My primary experiences have been with international ms (the worst) and PhD (who seem average to slightly above average) students.
Stellula
1hr ago
Can anybody give a QRD of why Trump seems particularly pissed off at Harvard?
coffee_enjoyer
☕️
1hr ago
The aerial campaign over Japan was because 100k died in the Pacific Theater and a ground invasion would have resulted in up to 1 million casualties.
unconditional surrender is an option
Actually it’s not, because Israel would prop up their own proxy government who would immediately cede the land to Israel, dispelling the Palestinians to another country. This is the problem with fighting a genuinely genocidal country like Israel: you can never surrender because they admit they want to replace you on your land. Hamas is making the only decision available to them. But peace was possible through a mediation that allows continued self governance of Palestinians.
in Israel, that instead applies to the entire country, something that might be the case in the US if an attack lead to the deaths of ~40,000 people
Is there a number that you would for pin for “maximum amount of casualties” permitted in response? What informs this number and how can we compare it to any previous conflict in Western history? For instance, when Zionists killed 100 British during the King David bombing, how many random civilians was Britain permitted to target in the 1940s as a punitive measure? Infinite?
I feel like people are giving institutions like Harvard the benefit of the doubt in a way that they do not deserve. If we where talking about MIT or caltech (and maybe even Stanford) I believe that most of these arguments about having the best international students would be correct, and while Harvard is very good, it’s not as if their institutions primary purpose is supporting ground breaking work in the physical sciences, it’s there to provide the most privileged children in the world a place to mingle and make connections.
I suspect the elite truly see themselves as post national “global citizens” and removing that from Harvard will hurt their image.
More broadly I don’t think that people have really thought through how corrosive having tons of international students is to the us university system (this comment applies to state schools as well as elite institutions). Put succinctly, academics advance their careers by getting grants, and publishing papers. This means paying talented post docs and graduate students. Having an essentially open boarders system for this means that academics can access foreign labor at a fraction of what it would cost to hire us students, so instead of having one or two students who are paid slightly more, you end up with academics who have 8-10 students, 2 of whom are domestic and the rest are international.
This leads to worse mentorship and the situation we have now where the us tax payers is funding efforts to educate a bunch of foreign nationals who then leave.
I have worked with plenty of brilliant people with PhDs, it may just be my particular background but it seems to me that the main trait shared by the best ones was that they had received good mentorship from their advisors. You’re less likely to get that when the advisor is able to recruit an army.
Finally I would add that giving them all green cards would just make the system even worse since it would give academics even more power over their international students than they have now and would make these positions even more attractive.
So while I don’t have a problem with some international students, I think it’s important to reco
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
1hr ago
It's not that expensive, perks of opting for this while visiting India. I don't have an exact quote, but even accounting for the expense of the best hospital around (no ex employee discount, sadly), I doubt it will cross 4k USD. Optimistically, less than 1k USD. I'll know a better figure once I go to the billing desk, I was too lazy to queue today. Just the buccal fat removal would be around 4k USD in the States.
There are different degrees of fat removal. My surgeon suggested 2ml both sides, which is a conservative approach. So you can go from anywhere from subtle to gaunt.
anti_dan
1hr ago
Its the opposite of what your gut instinct was. International students are the "rich and mediocre" type, overwhelmingly. And there is a surplus of brilliant, nonrich, Americans, not just for Harvard, but for the Ivy League.
The_Nybbler
In the game of roller derby, women aren't just the opposing team; they're the ball.
1hr ago
The only real question is whether the executive can deem Harvard, of all institutions, of similar legal stature to Bob Jones University.
That is what equality under the law means.
Some of Trump's demands in the funding case seem unreasonable, but both going after the tax status (which hasn't actually happened yet and is the same as what was done to Bob Jones for similar reasons) and Noem's letter about foreign students which demands only information, not policy changes, seem well within the law, except perhaps the demand for disciplinary records.
Celestial-body-NOS
🟦 'We have a golden rule: "Mind your own damn business!"'🍞🌹
1hr ago
Would hamas accept a two state solution on these borders?
I think so, yes
I wish I shared your optimism....
orthoxerox
If you can read this, you're using a custom theme
1hr ago
When I search for images of "buccal fat removal men before and after" I get pictures that don't differ much at all, similar to "face during a bulk vs face during a cut".
On the one hand, this means you are unlikely to end up looking like Skeletor or Erin Moriarty. On the other hand, is it worth the expense?
Celestial-body-NOS
🟦 'We have a golden rule: "Mind your own damn business!"'🍞🌹
1hr ago
What conditions did they refuse to accept?
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
1hr ago
In some ways the precedent for the administration was set long ago. The only real question is whether the executive can deem Harvard, of all institutions, of similar legal stature to Bob Jones University. They may have the text of the law on their side: Congress not infrequently writes "If the Attorney General decides...", presumably giving her a lot of discretion in this case, subject to its other rules about capriciousness.
Alea iacta est, but I know not which way the legal cards will fall in this case.
Celestial-body-NOS
🟦 'We have a golden rule: "Mind your own damn business!"'🍞🌹
1hr ago
before his own people hung him from a bridge
Hanged him from a bridge. He's not a bloody tapestry!
I see, per capita deaths.
If considering how a country might react to being attacked, scaling up the attack to match the scale of the country is useful for understanding effects. In New York after 9/11, it was often understood that everyone knew someone who knew someone who at least worked in the towers, if not was killed. In Israel, that instead applies to the entire country, something that might be the case in the US if an attack lead to the deaths of ~40,000 people.
You don’t see anything wrong with Israel killing, at minimum, 36,400,000 “Chinese civilians” worth of Gazans?
The government of Gaza already maximally wants to kill Israelis. We don't need to debate the hypothetical of how their opinions might change if they took casualties equivalent to 36,400,000 Chinese civilians. Their answer to whether they want to wage unrestricted warfare against Israel on October 6 2023 is "yes" and their answer to that question on 24 May 2025 remains "yes".
In WW2, the US was quite happy to kill 2-3 million Japanese in retaliation for Japan killing 2,400 at Pearl Harbour. Japan could have suffered a lot less casualties by choosing to surrender on December 8, but decided instead to fight a war and lose.
They are willing to surrender, but Israel refused to accept conditions.
An unconditional surrender is always an option.
HereAndGone
1hr ago
I stopped taking Impassionata seriously a good while back and now it's very difficult to parse out how much they genuinely mean, how much is a performance, and how much is them caught up in all the alts and clashing viewpoints to the point they can't remember what they mean now.
HereAndGone
1hr ago
To be fair, TheSchism has less commentary overall on everything because they don't seem to have the numbers for people following, joining, or wanting to get involved in discussions. Plus, they have their own different interests and emphases on what they consider worth discussing, and I think they try to avoid anything too Culture Warry. (Impassionata of course is their own unique case).
Tophattingson
1hr ago
Why do you think ChatGPT would be able to accurately calculate that value?
Tophattingson
2hr ago
The arrangement of politics in Australia is different and so support of political violence usually takes the form of supporting political violence by the state against dissidents. Why would the Australian blue tribe want to take matters into their own hands when the police will do it for them?
Harvard Related piggyback: Steven Pinker published a mostly defense of Harvard in an NYT opinion piece titled "Harvard Derangement Syndrome". I call it a mostly defense, because I don't think the title is appropriate. While the purpose and conclusion of the article is to defend Harvard against Federal interference the meat is more rational examination.
Some pulled paragraphs:
Pinker concedes much. Too much for the NYT commenters who might lambast him more in other contexts. He likely doesn't concede enough for those that want to see Harvard suffer. His position negates neutrality, though he attempts to refute this conflict of interest with with his own demonstrated principles.
I find the antisemitism weapons repugnant. That's not specific to Harvard, but it's a lame justification across the board. I would consider it a good thing for student-activists and campus administrations alike to learn the value of viewpoint diversity, limitations of protest, boundaries of conduct at university, what an education is meant for, and so on. That's not going to happen regardless. Jewish advocacy can crush their ideological opponents. Schools can use it as an excuse to push through reforms they want to, but there will be no Skokie protest at Harvard or Columbia.
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