6051 pts · September 7, 2018
Another commenter has suggested that since the Trump administration can violate the law without consequences, the rest of us should do likewise. I'd argue that this is a failure of the rest of the system to hold the administration accountable, not an invitation for the rest of us to do the same. 2/2
Recall that civil disobedience, as described by Thoreau, necessarily involves accepting the consequences. Thoreau didn't pay his income taxes, because he didn't want to support the Mexican-American War, which he considered to be unjust. He made that decision in the full knowledge that he would go to prison for this, and he did (until, IIRC, his aunt paid his taxes and bailed him out.) MLK Jr also spent time in prison for similar reasons. 1/
We can't require adherence to only those laws that we agree with, or laws are meaningless -- including those that protect us, or that protect those that we care about. 2/2
This is going to be unpopular, but it needs to be said. While I think bathroom bills like Kansas's are deeply discouraging, completely indefensible, dehumanizing, hateful, and appalling, if we allow the governor to refuse to enforce bills she doesn't like, then we open the door for people like Kim Davis in Kentucky to refuse to issue marriage certificates to people that she doesn't like. 1/
For reference, the original tune is the Flower Duet from Lakmé (1883), by Léo Delibes. Lovely recording of the original at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ZL5AxmK_A
Bit of both, I think. AzgarOgly is entirely correct that the sugar crystals create different colors, just like soap bubbles. But I think the background light was also deliberately colored for some of those shots.
I would argue no, tho it can take some time and effort to find a compatible group if that's what you're looking for. I can only speak to FFXIV, not WoW, but although strategy guides do appear fairly shortly after the raid releases, you can still find groups who explicitly opt for blind prog. (Also, FFXIV doesn't do public test realms like WoW does, so early strategy guides are written by or based on week-1 raiders who _have_ to go in blind.)
[citation needed]The story I've always heard is that it was built as an observation tower for the 1962 World's Fair; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Needle
Astroturfing is artificial grassroots: on the surface, it looks like genuine public opinion, but if you dig deeper it turns out to be influenced/encouraged/bankrolled by powerful figures who have an agenda of their own but want to make it look like it's not just them talking.
Friendly reminder that the plural of anecdote is not data.
The relevant scene from the SkyOne TV adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPS5Yw_YsHA
#5 Yes, Pratchett did write this, in Hogfather. However, context is crucial. Immediately after the quote: "'Yes, but people have *got* to believe that, or what's the *point*--' 'MY POINT EXACTLY.'" And a bit later on: "YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY *BECOME*?" In context, the quote is a whole lot more hopeful than it appears on its own. (Conversation between Death, in all caps and in the original quote, and his granddaughter Susan.)
"Alum" is not original Latin, neuter or otherwise; it's just a modern abbreviation of alumnus/alumna that has the added convenience of being gender-neutral, since it's lost the original gender marker. The original Latin word alumnus is an adjective often used as a noun; the (nominative) neuter forms were alumnum in the singular and alumna in the plural. With very rare exceptions, nominative/accusative neuter plurals always end in -a; -es is a M/F 3rd-declension plural ending.
I mean, given how well the northern hemisphere countries have done at running things, I’m not sure I see a downside.
While I normally follow the principle of "never attributing to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence," I suspect that there's a very high chance that, if the posts are legit, Musk deliberately misspelled Mamdani's name as an attack. It's about as sophisticated and mature an attack as something I'd expect to hear from a 2nd-grader, but that's generally consistent with Musk's behavior.
Indeed, that was part of the simplification; I didn't really feel like getting into that in a 500-character text box. :-D But you're absolutely right, religious morality is certainly a component of this.
It's the dark side of the Protestant work ethic, which says, roughly, that self-reliance and hard work lead to success. (Yes, I'm oversimplifying.) Sounds good, but that's equivalent to saying that if you haven't succeeded, you must therefore be lazy and mooch off of everyone else. (Pls note: not my opinion.) Some people find this *very* attractive, as they can use it to justify having no obligations to the less well-off, as their suffering is clearly their own fault.
True, but how many people are going to follow the link?
Indeed! It's still important to figure out what happened, but at least he & his family are safe.
Hey, @OP, could you update the post with a note letting folks know that he and his family were able to depart safely? https://bsky.app/profile/mark-bray.bsky.social/post/3m2sgs7rmek2z I don't think a comment alone is going to have enough visibility. (Full disclosure: I find the possibility that someone abused their power to cancel his family's reservations quite frightening, but folks should know the whole story before reacting.)
Also worth pointing out that there are valid critiques of his work, and yes, left-wing authoritarianism also exists, though it is not the current problem in the US. 2/2
It's not that Americans hate being told what to do. It's that many of us hate being told what to do by the Wrong Sort of Person but will fight for the right to be told what to do by the Right Sort of Person. The problem isn't limited to Americans, of course; you can find this kind of person elsewhere as well. Bob Altemeyer did a lot of research on this a while back; look up "right-wing authoritarianism." 1/
Alternative take: Vance knows it's satire, he's just framing it as mimicry because that's what his base wants to hear. IOW, he's lying through his teeth, but that's nothing new.
I think that's the point? AFAICT, a lot of Trump's supporters are motivated primarily by a desire to be as nasty as possible to anyone who isn't like them.
I'm curious: how is this different from the thing someone at IBM(?) said several decades ago, about how computers cannot be held accountable, therefore they must not be permitted to make decisions with consequences? Identifying cancerous cells has consequences, but if the pigeon/AI is acting in an advisory role, or doing initial screenings that a human later checks, those consequences are much less severe. Evaluating hiring candidates, tho, unambiguously has consequences.
I like Pratchett's take on this from Hogfather. I'm paraphrasing, but as Death says to Susan, "Humans need to believe in things that aren't true [like justice and mercy]. How else can they become?"
I'd argue that learning _any_ foreign language is going to teach skills that make it easier to think systematically about English. Latin is great, and I'm glad I studied it, but I don't think it's particularly special in this respect, with the possible exception of the substantial amount of Latinate and Latin-influenced vocabulary that English has adopted, particularly in specialist fields.
Man, that makes my vocal cords hurt just listening to him scream. I'd be hoarse for days if I did that.
Ah! Makes perfect sense; thanks for the info!
What's the purpose of the metal object they insert into the open bunghole before rolling the barrel? (Genuine question, pls.)
Another commenter has suggested that since the Trump administration can violate the law without consequences, the rest of us should do likewise. I'd argue that this is a failure of the rest of the system to hold the administration accountable, not an invitation for the rest of us to do the same. 2/2
Recall that civil disobedience, as described by Thoreau, necessarily involves accepting the consequences. Thoreau didn't pay his income taxes, because he didn't want to support the Mexican-American War, which he considered to be unjust. He made that decision in the full knowledge that he would go to prison for this, and he did (until, IIRC, his aunt paid his taxes and bailed him out.) MLK Jr also spent time in prison for similar reasons. 1/
We can't require adherence to only those laws that we agree with, or laws are meaningless -- including those that protect us, or that protect those that we care about. 2/2
This is going to be unpopular, but it needs to be said. While I think bathroom bills like Kansas's are deeply discouraging, completely indefensible, dehumanizing, hateful, and appalling, if we allow the governor to refuse to enforce bills she doesn't like, then we open the door for people like Kim Davis in Kentucky to refuse to issue marriage certificates to people that she doesn't like. 1/
For reference, the original tune is the Flower Duet from Lakmé (1883), by Léo Delibes. Lovely recording of the original at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ZL5AxmK_A
Bit of both, I think. AzgarOgly is entirely correct that the sugar crystals create different colors, just like soap bubbles. But I think the background light was also deliberately colored for some of those shots.
I would argue no, tho it can take some time and effort to find a compatible group if that's what you're looking for. I can only speak to FFXIV, not WoW, but although strategy guides do appear fairly shortly after the raid releases, you can still find groups who explicitly opt for blind prog. (Also, FFXIV doesn't do public test realms like WoW does, so early strategy guides are written by or based on week-1 raiders who _have_ to go in blind.)
[citation needed]
The story I've always heard is that it was built as an observation tower for the 1962 World's Fair; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Needle
Astroturfing is artificial grassroots: on the surface, it looks like genuine public opinion, but if you dig deeper it turns out to be influenced/encouraged/bankrolled by powerful figures who have an agenda of their own but want to make it look like it's not just them talking.
Friendly reminder that the plural of anecdote is not data.
The relevant scene from the SkyOne TV adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPS5Yw_YsHA
#5 Yes, Pratchett did write this, in Hogfather. However, context is crucial. Immediately after the quote: "'Yes, but people have *got* to believe that, or what's the *point*--' 'MY POINT EXACTLY.'" And a bit later on: "YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY *BECOME*?" In context, the quote is a whole lot more hopeful than it appears on its own. (Conversation between Death, in all caps and in the original quote, and his granddaughter Susan.)
"Alum" is not original Latin, neuter or otherwise; it's just a modern abbreviation of alumnus/alumna that has the added convenience of being gender-neutral, since it's lost the original gender marker. The original Latin word alumnus is an adjective often used as a noun; the (nominative) neuter forms were alumnum in the singular and alumna in the plural. With very rare exceptions, nominative/accusative neuter plurals always end in -a; -es is a M/F 3rd-declension plural ending.
I mean, given how well the northern hemisphere countries have done at running things, I’m not sure I see a downside.
While I normally follow the principle of "never attributing to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence," I suspect that there's a very high chance that, if the posts are legit, Musk deliberately misspelled Mamdani's name as an attack. It's about as sophisticated and mature an attack as something I'd expect to hear from a 2nd-grader, but that's generally consistent with Musk's behavior.
Indeed, that was part of the simplification; I didn't really feel like getting into that in a 500-character text box. :-D But you're absolutely right, religious morality is certainly a component of this.
It's the dark side of the Protestant work ethic, which says, roughly, that self-reliance and hard work lead to success. (Yes, I'm oversimplifying.) Sounds good, but that's equivalent to saying that if you haven't succeeded, you must therefore be lazy and mooch off of everyone else. (Pls note: not my opinion.) Some people find this *very* attractive, as they can use it to justify having no obligations to the less well-off, as their suffering is clearly their own fault.
True, but how many people are going to follow the link?
Indeed! It's still important to figure out what happened, but at least he & his family are safe.
Hey, @OP, could you update the post with a note letting folks know that he and his family were able to depart safely? https://bsky.app/profile/mark-bray.bsky.social/post/3m2sgs7rmek2z I don't think a comment alone is going to have enough visibility. (Full disclosure: I find the possibility that someone abused their power to cancel his family's reservations quite frightening, but folks should know the whole story before reacting.)
Also worth pointing out that there are valid critiques of his work, and yes, left-wing authoritarianism also exists, though it is not the current problem in the US. 2/2
It's not that Americans hate being told what to do. It's that many of us hate being told what to do by the Wrong Sort of Person but will fight for the right to be told what to do by the Right Sort of Person. The problem isn't limited to Americans, of course; you can find this kind of person elsewhere as well. Bob Altemeyer did a lot of research on this a while back; look up "right-wing authoritarianism." 1/
Alternative take: Vance knows it's satire, he's just framing it as mimicry because that's what his base wants to hear. IOW, he's lying through his teeth, but that's nothing new.
I think that's the point? AFAICT, a lot of Trump's supporters are motivated primarily by a desire to be as nasty as possible to anyone who isn't like them.
I'm curious: how is this different from the thing someone at IBM(?) said several decades ago, about how computers cannot be held accountable, therefore they must not be permitted to make decisions with consequences? Identifying cancerous cells has consequences, but if the pigeon/AI is acting in an advisory role, or doing initial screenings that a human later checks, those consequences are much less severe. Evaluating hiring candidates, tho, unambiguously has consequences.
I like Pratchett's take on this from Hogfather. I'm paraphrasing, but as Death says to Susan, "Humans need to believe in things that aren't true [like justice and mercy]. How else can they become?"
I'd argue that learning _any_ foreign language is going to teach skills that make it easier to think systematically about English. Latin is great, and I'm glad I studied it, but I don't think it's particularly special in this respect, with the possible exception of the substantial amount of Latinate and Latin-influenced vocabulary that English has adopted, particularly in specialist fields.
Man, that makes my vocal cords hurt just listening to him scream. I'd be hoarse for days if I did that.
Ah! Makes perfect sense; thanks for the info!
What's the purpose of the metal object they insert into the open bunghole before rolling the barrel? (Genuine question, pls.)