DesktopMonitor's recent activity
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Comment on The limits of the lunchbox moment in ~food
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Comment on Cyberpunk 2077 — Update 2.1 overview in ~games
DesktopMonitor Link ParentSo I guess cyberware malfunction now gets stacked with overheat while fighting him. Wonder if there’s anything else I should be doing…So I guess cyberware malfunction now gets stacked with overheat while fighting him. Wonder if there’s anything else I should be doing…
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Comment on Ordering off a 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian menu in ~humanities.history
DesktopMonitor LinkThe interior shot from the article got me thinking… did people really leave their footwear on indoors back in Mesopotamia?The interior shot from the article got me thinking… did people really leave their footwear on indoors back in Mesopotamia?
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Comment on Patients don’t know how to navigate the US health system — and it’s costing them in ~health
DesktopMonitor Link ParentRemember Palin’s “death panels”?Or maybe we need special state-level courts devoted specifically to medical necessity.
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Comment on Could the Israel - Gaza conflict be about an alternative to the Suez canal? in ~misc
DesktopMonitor Link ParentOff topic but Raistlin Majere, right? As in, brother of Caramon?Off topic but Raistlin Majere, right? As in, brother of Caramon?
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Comment on The bizarre story behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination in ~humanities
DesktopMonitor LinkThe whole thing was so weird. No one around me really knew what to think at first but there was some slight palpable relief when it turned out to be a Japanese rather than a foreign actor. A...The whole thing was so weird. No one around me really knew what to think at first but there was some slight palpable relief when it turned out to be a Japanese rather than a foreign actor.
A handful of days later the news broke that the assassination was somehow linked to that cult. Blew my mind since some sorts (some.) of LDP supporters are the same sorts you used to get screaming about every small grievance in their lives being due to some Korean conspiracy and then holy shit it turns out the ones in on the conspiracy were hundreds of their own politicians.
Few weeks later and there were some guys cosplaying Yamagami at Abe’s state funeral (scroll down a bit). Anyway, when I see a picture of Abe it doesn’t even feel like the guy actually died. LDP’s still doing their thing. Yen’s burning in a raging dumpster fire. At least we’re not hearing so much talk of revising the post-war constitution so they can turn the JSDF back into an army.
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Comment on Europe’s coming reckoning on immigration – large-scale immigration is the only thing that can prevent Europe from becoming an empty amusement park in ~misc
DesktopMonitor Link ParentIt is a top down policy proposal that would overlook quite a bit. I’d be able to put a sharper point on it if this were my field but I’m just another concerned individual so I’ll just try and do...the most braindead, easiest policies to implement for massive prevention of additional emissions. It doesn't require some engineering solution, it doesn't require mass infrastructure work, and it doesn't ask people to engage in personal sacrifice.
It is a top down policy proposal that would overlook quite a bit. I’d be able to put a sharper point on it if this were my field but I’m just another concerned individual so I’ll just try and do my best to explain my view below.
Basically, I don’t think you’d really get the desired effect of long term net GHG emission reductions by implementing this policy by itself.
Even if Canada changed its policy tomorrow, years later you’d still see the oil sands have continued to be tapped for all their worth. If the domestic market for oil were down due to population decline that’s just oil that’d be sold elsewhere (read: developing countries with population growth).
If any number of Canadian companies had similar issues they’d do the same thing. Development would happen elsewhere.
Without, as I previously mentioned, robust sustainable development practices implemented the wold over, your policy would at best just be transferring GHG emissions from one geographic area to another and from one point in time to a future point in time.
Importantly, this would all happen while millions of immigrants were denied an opportunity contribute to Canada’s future. They would just go elsewhere, and I think that’d be a loss for Canadian society. Finally, and not the least bit perversely, this very same policy would by its own logic more easily allow for an Australian or U.S. worker to migrate to Canada, since they’re already producing around as much GHG emissions as your average Canadian is responsible for.
The whole thing just doesn’t work. It has the net effect of pushing into the dirt the faces of millions of people who have as much of a human right to bettering their lives as anyone else. I agree with you wholeheartedly that GHG emissions need to be decreased the world over, but I don’t think this policy need be part of the solution.
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Comment on Europe’s coming reckoning on immigration – large-scale immigration is the only thing that can prevent Europe from becoming an empty amusement park in ~misc
DesktopMonitor Link ParentI don’t think I’m misinterpreting anything here but do you live in a developed country? Because if so the above reads as a pretty privileged position to take. Like, /we should limit immigration...if you take a bunch of people living low-carbon lifestyles in the third world and bring them to the first world, then they are going to emit much more carbon over the course of a lifetime than they otherwise would've.
I don’t think I’m misinterpreting anything here but do you live in a developed country? Because if so the above reads as a pretty privileged position to take. Like, /we should limit immigration from developing countries so they don’t start producing all the GHGs we do/. What would happen instead? I’m no economist and I know it’s dangerous to reorient conversations like these with such broad strokes, but with populations declining in the developed world, developing world markets will just be increasingly leveraged as a sources of revenue to satiate endless growth capitalists. The solution isn’t to deny migrants a future of their choosing based on their potential carbon footprint, it’s to embrace robust sustainable development practices the world over and rid ourselves of the notion that there should be no upper bound on the growth of a given company or net worth of an individual.
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Comment on Just passed my PhD defense :) in ~talk
DesktopMonitor LinkCongratulations! I immediately read fiction. Some books I’d been looking forward to for a while. I was able to read them faster than I’d ever read anything else in my life and to this day I...Congratulations!
I immediately read fiction. Some books I’d been looking forward to for a while. I was able to read them faster than I’d ever read anything else in my life and to this day I remember them much more clearly than any other novels I’ve read.
Waking life and sleep quality were awful for a while. It took until a couple months after getting the actual diploma in the mail for the after effects to really subside.
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Comment on Morning routines and getting ready for the day in ~life
DesktopMonitor (edited )LinkWake up between 5:05 and 5:30. I remind myself of what day of the week it is, consider how close it is to the next non-working day, and vaguely consider the amount of work I have to do. This...Wake up between 5:05 and 5:30.
I remind myself of what day of the week it is, consider how close it is to the next non-working day, and vaguely consider the amount of work I have to do. This happens within about 3 seconds after waking up.
Make a pot of pour over coffee
Do 15 minutes of exercise
Work on my iPad for 15-30 minutes until wife and kid are awake. Getting my kid out of bed is fun because she’s small and the whole experience is very cute.
We all get breakfast ready and eat it while getting ready to go out the door. These days I have started to eat oatmeal with a can of fish in it or some fruit. The former is better than you would think.
6:50 I shave and take a shower while my wife gets the garbage ready to go out.
7:05 I bring the garbage to the curb on my way to the train.
7:50 Wife packs kid and stuff in car to drop her off at daycare and go to work.
During corona I’d wake up at like 7-7:30 and switch on the computer at about 8:30-9:00. It would be better for my family if I could work from home, but I don’t see how I can do it.
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Comment on It’s not just Paris. Bedbugs are resurgent everywhere in ~health
DesktopMonitor Link ParentI am sorry you had to go through that. It sounds terrible. I'm glad you were able to get rid of them by yourselves, but I would never recommend anyone do the same. If you have a good exterminator...I am sorry you had to go through that. It sounds terrible. I'm glad you were able to get rid of them by yourselves, but I would never recommend anyone do the same. If you have a good exterminator that is using heat treatment and many other things then they should guarantee the job. I think it is surprising and disheartening to hear that you weren't offered such a guarantee. I paid at least $3-4k for treating a 2BR apartment and I do not regret a cent of it. The guys who did the job would come back for an additional treatment as part of what I paid them so long as I strictly followed their guidance. I mean, it was that level of confidence in their work that helped to dissipate some of the terrible emotions that were overwhelming my whole family at the time. I really wish those things would disappear off the earth forever.
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Comment on It’s not just Paris. Bedbugs are resurgent everywhere in ~health
DesktopMonitor LinkDon't think a lot of people who have won their war against them want to talk about them again. Lifelong trauma. Took a whole lot of joy out of life. No longer want to travel many places. Always...Don't think a lot of people who have won their war against them want to talk about them again. Lifelong trauma. Took a whole lot of joy out of life. No longer want to travel many places. Always got some part of me looking around for signs of their presence. Worst part is knowing there are people out there that can't call a professional and take care of them properly either out of ignorance, selfishness, lack of finances, their psychological situation, or maybe something else. Remediation is better than it was 10-15 years ago and if you get a professional in and follow their instructions you'll be ok, but it's real hell.
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Comment on How to download and install Linux in ~comp
DesktopMonitor Link ParentWhat’s up with the ‘a boomer thing’ and ‘for old people’? Desktop software vs. web platform is just a decision based on cost, performance, and productivity concerns. Over time, sure, more...What’s up with the ‘a boomer thing’ and ‘for old people’?
Desktop software vs. web platform is just a decision based on cost, performance, and productivity concerns. Over time, sure, more functionality from desktop software is being transferred to and augmented by mobile apps and cloud platforms but the desktop remains a productivity hub. Anyway, this conversation and related points have everything to do with tech development and not user age. I don’t get it.
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Comment on Brewing your own rice wine (makgeolli, doburoku, chojiu, etc...) in ~food
DesktopMonitor Link ParentIs mead as easy to make as the recipe in this video? That stuff is amazing.Is mead as easy to make as the recipe in this video? That stuff is amazing.
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Comment on How to argue against identity politics without turning into a reactionary in ~misc
DesktopMonitor LinkFrom the article: My reading of the article: You were initially sympathetic to its goals [but] have since recognized that the identity synthesis presents a real danger [because of this article’s...From the article:
Many people who were initially sympathetic to its goals have since recognized that the identity synthesis presents a real danger. They want to speak out against these ideas, but they are nervous about doing so. It’s not just that they don’t want to risk alienating their friends or sabotaging their careers. They fear that opposing the identity synthesis will, inevitably, force them to make common cause with people who don’t recognize the dangers of racism and bigotry, push them onto the “wrong side of history,” or even lead them down the same path as Mr. Weinstein.
My reading of the article:
You were initially sympathetic to its goals [but] have since recognized that the identity synthesis presents a real danger [because of this article’s argument against it]. You [now] want to speak out against these ideas, but you are nervous about doing so. It’s not just that you don’t want to risk alienating your friends or sabotaging your [career]. you fear that opposing the identity synthesis will, inevitably, force you to make common cause with people who don’t recognize the dangers of racism and bigotry, push you onto the “wrong side of history,” or even lead you down the same path as Mr. Weinstein.
I can’t get behind anyone who writes like this no matter what their message may be. It’s way too manipulative. I don’t need this guy to shepherd my thoughts and (dis)allow me from feeling one way or another.
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Comment on Under new policy, Italy starts removing lesbian mothers' names from children's birth certificates in ~lgbt
DesktopMonitor (edited )Link ParentOh, look. It got worse: ‘The state says our kids don’t exist’ - how LGBT life is changing in Italy. What a terrible speculation I’d made, and how quickly it came through. From the article:Oh, look. It got worse: ‘The state says our kids don’t exist’ - how LGBT life is changing in Italy. What a terrible speculation I’d made, and how quickly it came through.
From the article:
At the time of our interview they told us that the move had so far deprived their twins of Italian citizenship and means they would have difficulties having access to the country's free health care system and nursery schools.
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Comment on Birth rates are falling even in Nordic countries: stability is no longer enough in ~life
DesktopMonitor Link ParentI’ll bite. What are those arguments? Are they the same as your reasons? Misanthropic stewardship. Of course, the images we get to conjure up of a post-human quietude exist because we do. Altruism...I’ll bite.
There are a lot of really strong arguments in the anti-natal movement. As far as I'm concerned there are multiple reasons that having children is unethical.
What are those arguments? Are they the same as your reasons?
we don't need more children, or humans at all. The world would be better off without us anyway.
Misanthropic stewardship. Of course, the images we get to conjure up of a post-human quietude exist because we do. Altruism has its limits. All the non-human examples that come to mind (male spiders dying after mating, female octopuses dying after caring for their eggs, storks throwing the weakest chick out of the nest) facilitate procreation rather than end it. Condemning humankind to non-existence on the basis of a benefit to the earth. What is the argument for that?
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
DesktopMonitor LinkProject 2025, that massive conservative manifesto and transition plan for the US government. As much as I’d rather not, I need to deeply understand for myself what is happening in my home country....Project 2025, that massive conservative manifesto and transition plan for the US government. As much as I’d rather not, I need to deeply understand for myself what is happening in my home country. I’m also casually borrowing the most controversial US school library books. These two reading targets are unfortunately interlinked.
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Comment on What anime scenes are most memorable to you? in ~anime
DesktopMonitor LinkThe ending scenes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Millennium Actress were incredible. I can’t give anything away because they’re both just great movies worth watching without knowing...The ending scenes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Millennium Actress were incredible. I can’t give anything away because they’re both just great movies worth watching without knowing anything about them. Also the bedroom scene with Jiro and his wife in The Wind Rises when she cares for him in spite of her sickness. Honorable mention to learning about Nina in Fullmetal Alchemist.
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Comment on Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again at a Kentucky event in ~news
DesktopMonitor LinkEven a power hungry “kill [it] in the crib” monster like Steve Bannon thinks all members of congress should have term limits. If a guy like that can get behind an effort to actually curb power and...Even a power hungry “kill [it] in the crib” monster like Steve Bannon thinks all members of congress should have term limits. If a guy like that can get behind an effort to actually curb power and influence in the legislature then a change in the status quo would seem to have somewhat broad support.
I mean, would it not be amazing if even some single-issue voters in the U.S. could, ah, temporarily refocus their singular attention on an issue like term limits? Maybe do healthcare after that?
My daughter will likely have some moments like this when I make her lunch for school events here in Japan. That said I am /definitely/ making her a tasty sandwich. Some kids want to bully her about it, I would like to think it’s because they wish they were eating one too.