Melvincible's recent activity
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 13 in ~news
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 13 in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentIt's based on there being thousands of people missing but not yet declared dead. Hands can't move the heaviest rubble and they don't have tools to do it. We don't really need much more information...It's based on there being thousands of people missing but not yet declared dead. Hands can't move the heaviest rubble and they don't have tools to do it. We don't really need much more information to deduce accurately that people who are still missing are likely to be dead. That is a high probability, and not based on "nothing".
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 13 in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentI find this headline a bit misleading. The total number of deaths hasn't changed. What has changed is that they've positively identified a certain number of people in each category. There might...I find this headline a bit misleading. The total number of deaths hasn't changed. What has changed is that they've positively identified a certain number of people in each category. There might very well be (and probably are) the same number or higher in each category as before. They are just showing us confirmed numbers with the unknowns separated out, instead of the unknowns being put into a category based on guessing. The title leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I agree with your comment and that this is an improved way of looking at this information, and I'm glad it's being looked at and talked about. It just feels like the headline wants people to get the impression it's "not as bad as we thought" which I find a harmful thing to imply.
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Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk
Melvincible Link ParentI have a close friend who is a forensic psychologist. She spent the first 10 years of her career working with sex offenders. I think she did a lot of good for humanity in that job. Obviously these...I have a close friend who is a forensic psychologist. She spent the first 10 years of her career working with sex offenders. I think she did a lot of good for humanity in that job. Obviously these people had all already committed offenses, and some of them were fucking gnarly as fuck like no redemption. But some of them were much less bad, like peeping or flashing (still bad but you know, no one died and they were mostly hurting themselves). It was interesting hearing her perspective on working with them. Very humanizing and showed compassion for a group of people it's really hard to have compassion for. The commonality is that every one of them was traumatized in their own childhood, 100% of them. Some of them clearly would not have offended if they had had a support system at any point in their life. Therapy can be harm prevention.
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Comment on Solar storm knocks out farmers' tractor GPS systems during peak planting season in ~tech
Melvincible LinkWhat problems would be faced at harvest? If it's just that the tractors gps was down, could they not manually steer the tractor to plant in a row? I don't think I'm fully understanding whatever...What problems would be faced at harvest? If it's just that the tractors gps was down, could they not manually steer the tractor to plant in a row? I don't think I'm fully understanding whatever the implications are. I work in ag but it's not on the scale of crops like corn or wheat, and planting is not controlled by robots. Is it just that the tractor will have inaccurate data related to the location of the plant? Is it because it breaks the automation? Seems like a learning opportunity here.
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Comment on Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To (2024) in ~music
Melvincible Link ParentYeah that's the one. Slaughterhouse 2 omg.... I love this album.Yeah that's the one.
Slaughterhouse 2 omg.... I love this album.
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Comment on Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To (2024) in ~music
Melvincible LinkI snagged tickets to take my nephew to see them in Raleigh in June. But my nephew is pretty into christianity and now he doesn't want to go :( I guess they said something like "fuck the church". I...I snagged tickets to take my nephew to see them in Raleigh in June. But my nephew is pretty into christianity and now he doesn't want to go :( I guess they said something like "fuck the church". I am bummmmmed. Maybe I'll just go by myself :'(
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Comment on Macklemore - Hind's Hall (2024) in ~music
Melvincible Link ParentIt makes me wonder where they draw the line, if not at genocide. What would have to happen for them to stop thinking it's worth it to sacrifice their values for a "lesser evil"? I am suspicious of...It makes me wonder where they draw the line, if not at genocide. What would have to happen for them to stop thinking it's worth it to sacrifice their values for a "lesser evil"?
I am suspicious of someone who would encourage others not to make whatever stand they can against an ethnic cleansing.
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Comment on Macklemore - Hind's Hall (2024) in ~music
Melvincible Link ParentI don't support this administration. And I can say that and mean it theoretically, like I don't believe in their ideals or I don't agree with their views, that's all mental stuff. If I vote for...- Exemplary
I don't support this administration. And I can say that and mean it theoretically, like I don't believe in their ideals or I don't agree with their views, that's all mental stuff. If I vote for them, I can't say it anymore because I will have done an action that does support them in a real way. That part is not about the results of an election it's about who I am as a person and what my values are. It would force me to change how I think about myself in a way that is unacceptable to me. If I truly don't support it, then my actions can't, otherwise I'm just lying to myself. I am not a person who will not support a genocide with a thought or with an action, and I need that to be true.
The consequences of this vote in particular are not the responsibility of the voters. The parties put up candidates against the wishes of the majority of their base, the majority of all citizens did not want these to be the choices. If we were choosing between different options than this, if we had actual choices, then I would feel that the consequences depended on voters. Civic duty and all that. It's just not what we're doing this round.
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Comment on Macklemore - Hind's Hall (2024) in ~music
Melvincible Link ParentI understand completely. I just feel like this argument, that voting third party objectively helps an evil, shifts the responsibility for that evil onto voters. The responsibility lies with the...I understand completely. I just feel like this argument, that voting third party objectively helps an evil, shifts the responsibility for that evil onto voters. The responsibility lies with the candidates. I am tired of carrying that around... the consequences of this vote don't belong to me. I just can't in good conscience cast a vote for a party who funded a genocide. That is so deeply against who I am as a human being. But I do get where you're coming from and understand why it makes sense.
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentIsrael also has an obligation to protect the citizens in the territories they occupy. They don't need to stop fighting hamas to do. I don't think anybody in the world cares if they kill hamas...Israel also has an obligation to protect the citizens in the territories they occupy. They don't need to stop fighting hamas to do. I don't think anybody in the world cares if they kill hamas fighters. Why do you think that returning hostages would end the violence? I'm genuinely curious. Everything I've heard and seen from any israeli government person is that the fighting would continue after hostages were exchanged. Have you seen otherwise?
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentThat seems a bit disingenuous. Netanyahu has been more than clear that there is not going to be a cessation of fighting after any hostage exchange. Every single version of the proposed cease fires...Hamas can get a ceasefire any time they want by simply releasing all the people they kidnapped
That seems a bit disingenuous. Netanyahu has been more than clear that there is not going to be a cessation of fighting after any hostage exchange. Every single version of the proposed cease fires so far included that the pause in fighting would be temporary, and would resume no matter what.
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentGiving both sides equal responsibility for ending the genocide is not really equitable. They could stop the genocide and still fight hamas. They don't need any sort of ceasefire deal to stop...Giving both sides equal responsibility for ending the genocide is not really equitable. They could stop the genocide and still fight hamas. They don't need any sort of ceasefire deal to stop targeting places that have civilians in them. They are absolutely 100% responsible for what they are doing.
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Comment on Macklemore - Hind's Hall (2024) in ~music
Melvincible Link ParentI am tired of pretending it's okay to vote for someone awful because the other person is more awful. It's still voting for someone awful, I'm just not doing it anymore. It feels like the two...I am tired of pretending it's okay to vote for someone awful because the other person is more awful. It's still voting for someone awful, I'm just not doing it anymore. It feels like the two parties want us to be hostages. Either way we are zooming rapidly toward some super not good shit. I'll be voting third party from now on.
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Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement
Melvincible Link ParentNative grasses will have much better odds of survival. And all the chemical treatments won't be necessary.Native grasses will have much better odds of survival. And all the chemical treatments won't be necessary.
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Comment on What are some of your favorite history books and why? in ~books
Melvincible LinkThe Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder - by David Grann. It's really fascinating to read about sea journeys from the 1700s. They still didn't really know how to navigate with great...The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder - by David Grann.
It's really fascinating to read about sea journeys from the 1700s. They still didn't really know how to navigate with great accuracy, and often ended up hundreds of miles from where they thought they should be. And how anyone survived on their diets at sea is just amazing. This one was a good read.
The Speckled Monster:a Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox - by Jennifer Lee Carrell. This one goes really deep into the resistance to innoculation. A duke's daughter was disfigured by smallpox, and wanted to protect her own children. She married an ambassador to Turkey, and discovered that the women there had been innoculating their children and she wanted to bring this to England, but people were vehemently opposed to the idea. People experimented on prisoners, and in the American colonies a doctor had a similar struggle to implement change and was almost murdered for doing it. Really the history of smallpox is fascinating no matter what time frame you look at it. Our species history is completely inseparable from that disease, it's crazy how much it has shaped our world. Eradicated in the 1970s so we are collectively starting to forget it's impacts.
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
Melvincible LinkHamas says it accepted ceasefire proposal -
Comment on More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentIt would seem highly innaccurate to me to call the police response proportionate or just. They looked like straight up soldiers. I couldn't believe the footage I have seen is from the US, like...Protests should prove the injustice of the systems through a disproportionate response from an unjust authority.
It would seem highly innaccurate to me to call the police response proportionate or just. They looked like straight up soldiers. I couldn't believe the footage I have seen is from the US, like it's wild that they are allowed to beat the shit out of unarmed people and pepper spray them and use rubber bullets. They shot at least one person in his face, he needed staples. They are doing everything they can to intimidate and frighten people right now.
A bill was drafted and rushed through the House this week which is intended to make it possible to charge someone protesting Israel's actions with a hate crime. This is an intimidation tactic at best, and at worst will set a precedent that has scary implications for our freedom of speech in the future.
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Comment on More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses in ~news
Melvincible Link ParentThe second part of your comment implies that their goals include changing hearts and minds, and creating enduring social change. But their goal is divestment. What actions could the same groups of...The second part of your comment implies that their goals include changing hearts and minds, and creating enduring social change. But their goal is divestment. What actions could the same groups of people take that would be more effective at pressuring their school to divest, in your opinion?
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Comment on US to require automatic emergency braking on new vehicles in five years in ~transport
Melvincible Link ParentIt would disrupt labor if people can't drive to work, it would lower revenue from car sales, and it would lead to regulating an industry that doesn't want to be regulated. They spend many tens of...It would disrupt labor if people can't drive to work, it would lower revenue from car sales, and it would lead to regulating an industry that doesn't want to be regulated. They spend many tens of millions a year on lobbying.
The "new numbers" are working the same grand total or ~35k. That 35k does not include the thousands of people still under rubble, the unknown number of people in mass graves, or the people dying from disease and malnutrition. It eventually will. When the big number goes up, which it will, the numbers in all the categories go up.