domain:philippelemoine.com
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
58m ago
Fixed. Apologies.
ThomasdelVasto
Κύριε, ποίησόν με ὄργανον τῆς ἀγάπης σου
1hr ago
The slate star codex subreddit, astral codex ten open thread, and data secrets lox are all pretty good.
Jiro
1hr ago
It's not in there in the same way that radio, television, and the Internet are not in freedom of speech or the press. Do we really need to have a new amendment just to keep the government from censoring the radio? The founders thought that the categories they were using were exhaustive, even if the future proved that to be wrong.
A proposed amendment could even use more generic language
How would that work? Remember, your idea doesn't go by wording--if the air force were called a Flying Navy that wouldn't make a difference. So no matter how generic the law made the category, you could always claim "this new thing isn't enough like the category they described, so it isn't included". Suppose the Constitution said that freedom of speech applies to all communications media. When radio was invented, you could still say that the Constitution doesn't apply to radio. Sure, the words "communications medium" now include radio, but we're not going by words, we're going by meaning, and the Founders clearly didn't mean to include radio.
DradisPing
2hr ago
He knows how to write a compelling screenplay which he can then direct. Most directors can't even do that, so it seems a bit unfair to call out James Cameron specifically.
Avatar would have more of a cultural impact if he worked with some good sci fi writers to do some spinoff novels to expand the world. Unfortunately he wants to do it all himself between his submarine adventures so it's a little more simplistic than is ideal.
ControlsFreak
2hr ago
I like how you fail to quote the remainder of that paragraph. The criticism of such a position. But I would go further. The clauses which distinguish between Armies and Navies aren't really providing separate "powers"; that bit was mostly done already. There's some notion of "powers" here, but it's more that they're outlining substantially different modes of operation within the government, speaking even of constraints.
If you aren't sure which one it comes under, that's different from not thinking it counts at all.
I mean, you're the one saying that it counts under one of them. Which one? Why? Do you think it's both somehow? How?
It seems unlikely that the founders would think the Constitution doesn't allow for an air force at all just because you're not sure exactly which thing it's most similar to.
Not "just because". Primarily, it doesn't allow for it, because it's just not in there! It's nowhere to be found! Instead, you're trying to say, "Well... I think it's kinda like these other things... but I can figure out which one or how, what rules will apply, etc., because, well, it's not in there anywhere." The straining gets more obvious every time you try to patch the hole without actually amending the Constitution and patching the hole. Wouldn't it be vastly mentally easier to just amend the Constitution and patch the hole rather than try to continue juggling such epicycles in your head? A proposed amendment could even use more generic language that actually enables future military forces of
self_made_human
Grippy socks, grippy box
2hr ago
I mean, if that's what you want to do, be my guest. The storytelling in Avatar is... simplistic at best.
CanofWorms
2hr ago
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I really enjoyed Demon Copperhead and I'm quiet enjoying Poisonwood as well.
CanofWorms
2hr ago
I grew out my hair during COVID when I turned 30. So I wasn't middle-aged, but I wasn't a young college kid either.
There really is no way to keep from going insane. You kind of just have to commit to feeling ugly and unkempt for around 12 months, after which, hopefully, you'll be able to sort of pull your hair back into a ponytail.
It worked out OK for me since I was able to grow my hair out while working from home during COVID, but I recall going on a business trip when my hair was around 5 to 6 inches long and people definitely commented on my "salad bowl" look. Not my favorite work trip.
Additionally, you're right about maintaining long hair being a complete pain in the ass. I still have long hair, but I will likely cut it once I get married. I met my partner after growing my hair out and she has pressured me to keep it long until we tie the knot (wedding photos, I suppose). Considering I haven't even proposed to her yet, I'm likely stuck with my long hair for at least another year.
CanofWorms
3hr ago
Awesome. For as stupid as a person is to walk into a police HQ intoxicated or high on drugs, I find it deeply unfair for the police to throw the "felony book" at him. Particularly when he was there to, presumably, assist the police in an investigation.
Grant_us_eyes
3hr ago
Is this where we start bitching about how the two Avatar movies make no goddamn sense whatsoever and how James Cameron is a fucking hack who doesn't know how to write?
Because I'll do it. I'll fucking well do it.
Props for the essay, but it's stuff I've seen before. Hell, it's pretty much my original take away from the first movie.
And Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri did it all better anyways.
orthoxerox
If you can read this, you're using a custom theme
3hr ago
If you want an eager escort who has a great technique in oral sex, your ideal woman is likely a 25-30yo who has given head a few thousand times in her life and perfected her game, not a 16yo hooker. On priors, I don't think that Epstein specifically recruited virgins for his guests, because most of his guests would not appreciate a woman who curls down on the floor and starts crying when she is told what is expected of her, but I think that the whole setup was pretty much build around maximizing the power difference, his guests were probably into making their victims submit to sex acts which were way out of their comfort zone.
It's much easier to get a 16-yo to keep her mouth shut. A 26-yo will go to a gossip rag to tell everything about the sexual preferences of VIPs she was paid to have sex with the very moment her escorting career starts to wind up. A 16-yo is still young and stupid enough to be coerced into keeping her mouth shut, even stupid stuff like "would you like your parents to learn what you did?" will work on them.
5434a
3hr ago
Recently finished Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte after seeing it mentioned here. Good fun, entertaining.
Now reading Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. So far it's stuck to interesting reportage and avoided the Road To Wigan Pier trap of segueing into lengthy political rhetoric.
Jiro
3hr ago
Rules are bad. They're literally symptoms of problems rather than solutions to them. You cannot fix every loophole - you can only get rid of the type of person who would exploit a loophole.
Closing loopholes affects bad actors on the margin. Yes, someone who's sufficiently determined can find loopholes in almost anything. Buit it can be easier or harder to find loopholes, and it can be easier or harder to get those loopholes past that subset of judges who are actually fair.
The second amendment has probably done quite a bit for the right to bear arms even though state and Federal government constantly finds loopholes ro work around it.
ToaKraka
Dislikes you
3hr ago
A search for all instances of "fifty stalins" prior to year 2014 shows the Slate Star Codex article (archive) as the only result.
Jiro
3hr ago
The founders did seem to think that there was a meaningful difference between Armies and Navies, naming them separately rather than some unified term and including entirely separate clauses addressing particulars of each.
Sure, but that seems to substantially agrere with the person who was using "gymnastics".
Michael responds to this post here. His reply is difficult to summarize, but if I understand it correctly, the key claim is that an independent Air Force is permissible under the text of Article I so long as the "powers" it exercises can legitimately be considered either "Army" or "Navy" powers.
If you aren't sure which one it comes under, that's different from not thinking it counts at all. It seems unlikely that the founders would think the Constitution doesn't allow for an air force at all just because you're not sure exactly which thing it's most similar to.
JulianRota
3hr ago
Along the lines of what Amadan said, I think you need to first think about what the long-term future looks like with all of the options you are considering.
Say the woman at least intends to be genuine and the baby is real and actually yours, and you actually move there and attempt to raise a family. Do you really know this woman well enough to know what a long-term relationship with her would look like, across such a huge gap in culture and wealth? I don't know what you did with her over those weeks, but did you really see her in enough situations to get a feel for who she really is? Do you speak any of the local language at all? And what of your friends and family and any career you may have here in the US (assuming you were born and raised in the US, or wherever else you're from), what will they think of you when you tell them you're moving to the Philippines to marry and raise a family with a local stripper? What if it ends up not working out and you have to move back?
Or say you go along with the idea that the kid is real and yours and you want to support it. This will be an obligation for decades, and it will almost certainly come out eventually. What if, 8 years from now, you get into a serious relationship with a regular woman in your actual home city? She will eventually find out that you're sending money to and communicating with someone in the Philippines. What will you tell her and what will she think of you as a result of that?
Or option 3, you just block and ignore her from now on and completely forget about her, possibly sending money for an alleged abortion before doing so. This option closes the door on this unfortunate situation for good. Nothing in your current life or future will be affected by it, nobody will know except your own conscience and the people of the Motte here.
When you think about it like that, I think it's clear that Option 3 is the only real choice. Does it feel a little bad? Yeah maybe. But you acted like a total douchebag travelling to the Philippines and having unprotected sex with a third-world sex worker in the first place. There's nothing to do now but complete the act and ditch her. There's no magic pill to get out of this cleanly for you. If you feel bad about it, congratulations, you've discovered that you are not actually a total douchebag. Therefore, cease doing douchebag things. It's not really that bad in the grand scheme of things - you screwed up, but you've learned some about who you are and why you should not do certain things. And yeah, 95% chance she's scamming you and the kid is fake or not actually yours, and if it's the other 5%, well she's in the business and not a little kid, she should damn well know this is a possibility by now, and if not, it's about time she learned. Either way, she already has a big family and 2 kids, she'll be okay in the long run whatever the actual deal is here.
2710, top 16%. Scored 0 on three rounds, due to
Edit: looks like the same questions when I refreshed? Put the answers in spoilers just in case.
Amadan
Enjoying my short-lived victory
3hr ago
I don't think you're a horrible person. Most commenters (even the fellow who thinks basically all women are deceitful whores) are just seeing red flags waving and trying to save you from making a mistake while you are obviously emotionally invested in a way we are not.
If I were you I wouldn't worry a lot about whether her pictures sent from the hospital are "real." Consider it a bullet dodged (and consider why she'd be sending you proof that she aborted?) and move on. This isn't going to end in some happy love story. Do not try to be Captain Saveaho.
sockpuppet2
3hr ago
Did Scott coin the "50 Stalins Protest?" If not, who did? If so, what were the prior descriptions of the notion?
Amadan
Enjoying my short-lived victory
3hr ago
I'm aware of what you think of pussy-havers, but most of them don't get into the life because they just wanted a new smartphone. You can argue they could have or should have chosen some other (likely even more miserable) grind, but you don't actually need to despise them.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4hr ago
So it’s not the philosophical tradition of equality that got us the French and American revolutions, the 14th amendment, and the suffragists, all before IQ was really conceptualized. And it’s not the specter of communism, even though it influenced plenty of other groups to try their own flavors of radical egalitarianism. Nor can it be pure guilt-by-association with the Nazis; progressives certainly wouldn’t jump the gun there. And it’s definitely, certainly nothing to do with battles fought during the Civil Rights movement, such as the only Supreme Court case most people could think of relating to IQ.
No, women hate and fear IQ because they know it proves men are superior.
Seriously?
I am not even condemning them for it; it's a survival strategy for desperately poor women who have few other options.
It's almost never merely a survival strategy nor are they that desperate.
From their perspective, converting pussy to pesos (or whatever local currency) is just a path of lesser resistance and higher ROI than grinding away at some regular day job like a chump. A newish-model smartphone, a replenishing supply of makeup, and a recurring supply of new clothes aren't going to pay for themselves—which her stupid parents and/or an ordinary boyfriend/husband are/would be too stingy or poor to provide. Scamming foreign men is the cherry-on-top, whether playing the short- or long-game, as it's easier and more profitable—and even more fun—than picking up more shifts as a bargirl or tacking on an additional side-gig at a normal day job.
WandererintheWilderness
4hr ago
It depends on specifics, but in a lot of casting-couch cases I think the actress who's been offered the deal has a credible fear of retaliation if she says no - not just that she won't get the job, but that the spited producer will pull strings to get her blacklisted and ruin her career, leaving her much worse off than one who was never offered the deal in the first place. While you can still view giving in as the morally worse option, I think even an actress who gives in to that kind of ultimatum deserves a lot more sympathy than one who tries to sleep her way to a job of her own volition, with no expectation of actively negative consequences if she doesn't.
phailyoor
4hr ago
There's nothing morally wrong with being a psychopath either but the stigma around that term isn't going away anytime soon either. Having a mental disorder may be morally neutral but the results are not for the vast majority of those afflicted, so I can't blame the public for having prejudice.
Those things aren't the same. However it is important to take a political stand in honest defence of values even if standing up for those values has short-term costs and ruffles feathers.
If we're gonna accept light statutory rape amongst elites (if it is even limited to light statutory rape, since the documentation and evidence of whatever's really going on remains concealed), why not medium statutory rape amongst grooming gangs? Where does it end? There are laws and those laws should be enforced. Laws and proper behaviour mustn't seem to be 'for suckers'.
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