koopa's recent activity
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Comment on New policy changes for Southwest Airlines in ~travel
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Comment on Poland seeks access to nuclear arms and looks to build half-million-man army in ~society
koopa LinkThis is what a world without reliable American alliances looks like. Nuclear proliferation is the only option for countries threatened by Russia or China. South Korea and Japan would be wise to...This is what a world without reliable American alliances looks like. Nuclear proliferation is the only option for countries threatened by Russia or China. South Korea and Japan would be wise to consider the same if they don’t want to be next in line after Trump abandons Taiwan the way he has Ukraine.
Eventually we end up with dozens more nuclear armed states on edge with each other, making a nuclear conflict all the more likely. An outcome we spent 80 years trying to prevent just down the toilet for no reason. And all it took was 45 days to get here.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department in ~society
koopa Link“Joe Biden cannot cancel student loans held by the government when the secretary of education is given the power to do so via law because of a new “major questions” doctrine we just made up. But...“Joe Biden cannot cancel student loans held by the government when the secretary of education is given the power to do so via law because of a new “major questions” doctrine we just made up. But if Donald Trump wants to delete the whole agency created in law by congress that’s fine “ - Supreme Court probably
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Comment on US President Donald Trump calls for an end to the Chips Act, redirecting funds to national debt in ~society
koopa LinkYes, I’m sure the guy demanding 2 trillion more unpaid tax cuts for the rich is very concerned about the national debt. But it sounds good to the vast majority of people not paying attention,...Yes, I’m sure the guy demanding 2 trillion more unpaid tax cuts for the rich is very concerned about the national debt.
But it sounds good to the vast majority of people not paying attention, which I guess is Trump’s playbook.
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Comment on Screen Time on iOS shows "verizon.com" as an app being used 24/7, and I don't even know what "verizon.com" is in ~tech
koopa LinkScreen Time is a fairly buggy feature. They were talking about it on The most recent episode of Cortex podcast where one of the hosts had a 24/7 listing for Bloomberg.com. So I don’t think it...Screen Time is a fairly buggy feature. They were talking about it on The most recent episode of Cortex podcast where one of the hosts had a 24/7 listing for Bloomberg.com.
So I don’t think it means anything other than Screen Time needs some bug fixes.
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Comment on Godot 4.4 release candidate 3 — "We are almost ready to release Godot 4.4 officially!" in ~comp
koopa LinkI’ve gone all in on static typed GDScript in my projects, so typed dictionaries are my favorite new feature of the bunch. Really happy to see that hole be filled.I’ve gone all in on static typed GDScript in my projects, so typed dictionaries are my favorite new feature of the bunch. Really happy to see that hole be filled.
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Comment on Google may be close to launching YouTube Premium Lite in ~tech
koopa Link ParentThe way I read it is that music videos won’t be ad free. But maybe there’ll be other exceptions.The way I read it is that music videos won’t be ad free. But maybe there’ll be other exceptions.
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Comment on What insights do you have as to why and how the US right is accepting blatant corruption and why the government cuts are so extreme and unrelated to stated goals? in ~society
koopa Link ParentYep, the cuts are intended as an ideological purge first and foremost.Yep, the cuts are intended as an ideological purge first and foremost.
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Comment on The age of the coward is here, where America’s most powerful corporations, once eager to preach their values, now fold like cheap umbrellas at the first gust of political wind in ~society
koopa LinkYep, my company has federal contracts and this week killed hybrid WFH for the entire company out of fear due to Trump/Elon statements on remote work the last couple weeks. It’s pathetic to watch.Yep, my company has federal contracts and this week killed hybrid WFH for the entire company out of fear due to Trump/Elon statements on remote work the last couple weeks.
It’s pathetic to watch.
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Comment on Donald Trump directs US Treasury to stop making pennies in ~society
koopa Link ParentYeah, we keep assigning abstract beliefs of government principle to Trump voters but I don’t believe it exists. It doesn’t go much further than my team good, other team bad. It’s the kind of...Yeah, we keep assigning abstract beliefs of government principle to Trump voters but I don’t believe it exists. It doesn’t go much further than my team good, other team bad.
It’s the kind of thinking that someone uses to conclude that Biden can’t forgive student loans via executive order but it’s totally fine for Trump to use an executive order shut down an agency that must exist by law.
It doesn’t make sense in the context of any specific principles about government or law but that’s not the level of abstraction that they are using to think about government.
This is the downstream effects of both education polarization and the senate filibuster paralyzing congress.
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Comment on reCAPTCHA: 819 million hours of wasted human time and billions of dollars in Google profits in ~tech
koopa Link ParentIf you use Google (or Apple) navigation it now shows icons at intersections to indicate traffic lights and stop signs which I find helpful. And the audio directions will say things like “go past...If you use Google (or Apple) navigation it now shows icons at intersections to indicate traffic lights and stop signs which I find helpful.
And the audio directions will say things like “go past this light and turn at the next one” or “at the next stop sign turn right”.
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Comment on Ask Tildes: Job security - does it exist, how to deal with lack of, how to process being fired / unemployment in ~life
koopa Link ParentDepending on the state you can still get unemployment insurance if you quit based on “good cause” which varies by state for what qualifies. But you absolutely need funds beyond unemployment insurance.Depending on the state you can still get unemployment insurance if you quit based on “good cause” which varies by state for what qualifies.
But you absolutely need funds beyond unemployment insurance.
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Comment on Ask Tildes: Job security - does it exist, how to deal with lack of, how to process being fired / unemployment in ~life
koopa (edited )Link ParentThis is all great. Another thing in terms of financial planning: know how unemployment insurance is structured in your state. Figure out how much money you’re entitled to and how long you will get...This is all great. Another thing in terms of financial planning: know how unemployment insurance is structured in your state. Figure out how much money you’re entitled to and how long you will get it for.
You should have months worth of separate savings beyond unemployment insurance, but it can be an important part of the picture.
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Comment on US DeepSeek users could face million-dollar fine and prison time under proposed bill in ~society
koopa LinkThis headline is a joke. There is no “new law” just a proposed bill from a single China hawk congressman that isn’t going anywhere. Are we going to say Bernie Sanders’s new law is giving...This headline is a joke. There is no “new law” just a proposed bill from a single China hawk congressman that isn’t going anywhere.
Are we going to say Bernie Sanders’s new law is giving healthcare to everyone just because he proposed a bill that won’t pass in congress?
The very definition of clickbait.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump announces 25% tariffs against Canada, Mexico starting Tuesday; 10% against China in ~society
koopa Link ParentAnd the Wall Street Journal is calling it the “Dumbest Trade War in History”.And the Wall Street Journal is calling it the “Dumbest Trade War in History”.
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Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society
koopa LinkThere has been some amount of pushback, courts have already blocked multiple unconstitutional executive orders. The funding freeze got pulled back because the message “Trump is taking food out of...There has been some amount of pushback, courts have already blocked multiple unconstitutional executive orders.
The funding freeze got pulled back because the message “Trump is taking food out of the mouths of babies, seniors, and veterans” is one that cuts through to the public. The public doesn’t care if he is technically breaking a bunch of laws firing inspector generals etc. That’s the kind of stuff that requires other institutions to push back on.
But fundamentally Democrats have no institutional power at this point. Add on the fact that MAGA/Trump are using primaries in gerrymandered districts to hold the Republican Party hostage. And you have a recipe for little pushback from congress while they hold the majority (at least for public pushback).
Ultimately something more dramatic would need to happen to spark public backlash but the mass chaos stops any one thing from becoming the main thing. There’s a new outrage every day, a bunch get blocked by the courts, a bunch don’t. It all just becomes background noise.
It is also true that any kind of pushback just takes longer than the two weeks he’s been back in power. The Watergate scandal played out over years and that was at a time of much lower partisanship than today.
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Comment on AI is creating a generation of illiterate programmers in ~tech
koopa LinkThis discourse always reminds me of Socrates’ thoughts on the potential harms of writing. He wasn’t exactly wrong either, look at how certain religious texts have been twisted and used to control...This discourse always reminds me of Socrates’ thoughts on the potential harms of writing.
In the Phaedrus, Plato quotes Socrates as follows: "If men learn this [writing], it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks." Books, "by telling them of many things without teaching them" will make students "seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing, and as men filled, not with wisdom, but with the conceit of wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows. Then anyone who leaves behind him a written manual, and likewise anyone who takes it over from him, on the supposition that such writing will provide something reliable and permanent, must be exceedingly simple-minded."
He wasn’t exactly wrong either, look at how certain religious texts have been twisted and used to control the “simple-minded”. But just because his fears were correct in some ways, doesn’t mean it’s all downside or even that the downside you can see will be worse than the potential upside.
So I don’t really disagree that some people will become overly reliant on AI, but I don’t think that tells the whole story of what the future will be.
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Comment on Is the United States in its Soviet Union era? in ~society
koopa LinkI really don’t see a Soviet style collapse coming at all. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with American economy or society at large other than social media powered rage. The US is still the...I really don’t see a Soviet style collapse coming at all. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with American economy or society at large other than social media powered rage. The US is still the richest country on earth and its only real economic problems are too much government debt. But that’s the kind of thing that takes a long time to become an issue and pretty much all the other rich democracies are in worse debt situations.
Trump is a bad guy and a worse president but I would look towards the way authoritarianism has succeeded in the American system in the past for answers rather than the Soviet collapse. I think things like segregation, Jim Crow, the Chinese Exclusion Act etc are much more along the lines of what we would see in a potential breakdown of American liberal democracy. And we should look for guidance from the history of abolitionism, desegregation, and other anti-fascism traditions in America that ultimately won out in the past.
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Comment on Visitor visa for staying in Canada while waiting for spousal visa? in ~life
koopa LinkMy wife did the opposite move from Canada to the US so I am very familiar with US immigration law but not the other way around. I would try to find a dedicated immigration forum like visajourney...My wife did the opposite move from Canada to the US so I am very familiar with US immigration law but not the other way around.
I would try to find a dedicated immigration forum like visajourney but for Canada. They will know more about what the rules are and what you can/cannot get away with.
My wife and I had to spend years apart while her visa processed, as you generally will not be let into the US for visa free travel if you have an application for a permanent visa pending. Canada could handle things differently, but if they are allowed to stay in Canada while the visa processes they likely will not be able to leave the country while that process plays out.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump to make historic move towards revoking birthright citizenship in ~society
koopa Link ParentIf you ignore Mexico and about every country in South America… Pretty much every country in North and South America has birthright citizenship.Most countries don't have it outside the US and Canada.
If you ignore Mexico and about every country in South America…
Pretty much every country in North and South America has birthright citizenship.
I guess the goal is “make everything worse so people get our credit card to get some of it back”
They’re also devaluing their points and making redemptions “dynamically priced”.
Sad day. There’s no reason to pick Southwest over any other airline now.