TheFireTheft's recent activity

  1. Comment on Post something from your notes app in ~talk

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    A journal entry dated 2025-01-03: I just received a call from Jacob, learning that grandma has passed away. It was a good run! She just turned 90 years old a few days ago. I haven't spoken with...

    A journal entry dated 2025-01-03:

    I just received a call from Jacob, learning that grandma has passed away. It was a good run! She just turned 90 years old a few days ago.

    I haven't spoken with grandpa yet since his house is full of people right now and he probably needs some space anyway.

    As the annals of this journal will show, I've had various opinions of grandma throughout my life. But in recent years, I've grown quite fond of grandma. She was a pleasant person and wanted what was best for her family.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Looking for mobile puzzle-ish games with a heavy emphasis on stats in ~games

  3. Comment on Looking for mobile puzzle-ish games with a heavy emphasis on stats in ~games

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Never heard of a Playdate until just now but I'm interested! Do you think one of these would be appropriate for a 4-5 year old (in small bursts of course)?

    Never heard of a Playdate until just now but I'm interested!

    Do you think one of these would be appropriate for a 4-5 year old (in small bursts of course)?

    1 vote

  4. Looking for mobile puzzle-ish games with a heavy emphasis on stats

    ~games Ask (recommendations)
    I really love being able to see all sorts of stats -- number of games played, wins/losses, leaderboard rankings, even obscure stats. I also love word, card, and puzzle games. Games like solitaire,...

    I really love being able to see all sorts of stats -- number of games played, wins/losses, leaderboard rankings, even obscure stats.

    I also love word, card, and puzzle games. Games like solitaire, for example, would be PERFECT candidates to lean heavily into the stats, but I just haven't been able to find a good one yet.

    What are your favorite games in these categories? Bonus points if they have an emphasis on keeping records and stats.

    28 votes

  5. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    I just discovered Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar. I've been listening to it non-stop for the past few weeks. Hip hop is probably #3 or 4 on my list of most active genres, but I...

    I just discovered Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar. I've been listening to it non-stop for the past few weeks.

    Hip hop is probably #3 or 4 on my list of most active genres, but I gotta say, DAMN. This album is a rollercoaster ride.

    In fact, the song Mother I Sober actually had me sobbing. It's the only time in my entire life that a song has brought me to tears.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on US President Donald Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    Can someone explain to me the immediate and long-term implications of this, given I have a child just about to start going to a public elementary school?

    Can someone explain to me the immediate and long-term implications of this, given I have a child just about to start going to a public elementary school?

    6 votes

  7. Comment on Restaurants recommendations near Times Square in ~travel

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    There's John's Pizzeria in an old church a few blocks away. It's not as good as John's on Bleeker but it's still phenomenal pizza by most standards.

    There's John's Pizzeria in an old church a few blocks away. It's not as good as John's on Bleeker but it's still phenomenal pizza by most standards.

    1 vote

  8. When it comes to USA's future, I'm failing to see any positive outcomes. Please help me.

    ~society Ask
    TL;DR: I'm trying to work through what the future looks like and my brain has been awash in negativity since last November, so I figure putting something on paper may serve as a form of therapy....

    TL;DR: I'm trying to work through what the future looks like and my brain has been awash in negativity since last November, so I figure putting something on paper may serve as a form of therapy. The long and short of what I've typed below is I'm trying to piece together USA's current geopolitical situation and rationalize what the likely or possible outcomes are.

    I'm posting this through doomscrolling-tinted glasses, so bear with me. But I'll also mention that I've always tried to be empathetic to both sides, understand differing arguments and motives, and generally believe that people act or vote the way they do because it's what they think is best for the country, their communities, and their families.

    I'm afraid I have given too much faith to humanity.

    Overnight, we've just switched our allegiance from Europe/NATO/Ukraine to Russia -- our arch-nemesis for the last century. This comes on the heels of threatening to make Palestine disappear and "punishing" our brothers and sisters to the north and south (and across the Atlantic for that matter) for no apparent reason. The mutual trust and respect we've worked on for so long with our neighboring countries and Europe are vanishing... just like that. Unless there's something huge that I'm missing, we're not playing smart geopolitics here. We're just giving up hegemony for the sake of what... making it easier for rich men to hoard more money and get away with corruption?

    I'm not a single-issue voter, but geopolitical implications have always received the lion's share of my decision-making. We've been able to maintain a relatively* prosperous and safe world order. More importantly, we've been able to keep the M.A.D. lightning in a bottle. Selfishly as an American, I think it's safe to say that our geopolitical situation has afforded us, the citizens, our current luxuries and opportunities. Sure, we have some other MASSIVE issues, but why would you want to take this one away?

    • I know, we've done a lot of bad shit in the past. I'm not going to argue or defend that here.

    So as the threads of democracy unravel in America, what does our path forward look like?

    I believe we are at a crossroads right now. As all of these executive orders are being created – some of which are valid but we don't like them because they're coming from the other side, and others of which are clearly unconstitutional – the judiciary is getting to work making rulings on them, one by one. It is a slow process, but at the end of the day we should have a bunch of directives -- these EO's get to stay, and these other ones are unconstitutional so they must go.

    The left branch of the crossroads is the one where the executive branch chooses to play by the rules. As much as Democrats would hate to admit, I see this as democracy playing out (in the worst possible way, but hey, I'm looking for silver linings). "These EO's can stay, and these EO's have to go." Then, in two years' time, the mid-terms will provide another opportunity for voters to swing the pendulum back toward the middle a bit -- or not. And then we can start the long, slow rebuilding process of restoring relations with our allies.

    The right branch of the crossroads (where the executive branch becomes more and more powerful) is the one that I think we simply call "fascism," and there's plenty of historical research and precedent as to where things go from there. I don't see a clean exit from this. I see the following possibilities, from least to most horrible.

    1. Americans just give in and accept the new government. We turn into a single-party state, corruption grows rampant, basic welfare benefits are taken away, etc. But, because there was no fight or give-a-fuck, we just accept it. And hey, maybe life is still fine for many people. But maybe we watch the indicators slowly tick in the wrong direction -- life expectancy, upward mobility, homelessness, crumbling infrastructure, innovation, general happiness. Given our current state of apathy and lethargy, I believe this is the most likely scenario.

    2. Military intervention from within. If things get screwy enough, there comes a point when the military has to decide whether it's time to step in or not. In general, military interventions are a BAD thing. Furthermore, I believe there is major support for the President within the armed forces. Could there be a clean exit here, one where the military removes the current executive and benevolently allows for a new election? Sure, maybe, but if you think MAGAs believe all blame belongs to "the others" right now, this will be a whole 'nother level. More likely, this would lead to an outcome like most other military interventions historically.

    3. Some flavor of a fractured republic, civil war, etc. The exact opposite of a clean exit. It would also most likely lead to...

    4. Military intervention from outside, a.k.a. war. This is my greatest fear -- that we have now become the "bad guys," and the rest of the world realizes they have to band together to stop the tyranny and restore order. This option almost certainly ends in M.A.D.

    I can't believe I'm typing all of this with any semblance of sincerity. I always subscribed to the thinking that "things always work out in the end," and it has done good for me so far. At this point, I could use some reassurance. Please tell me that I'm completely wrong and am simply being dramatic.

    39 votes

  9. Comment on Bernie Sanders - Trumpism can be defeated! in ~society

  10. I'm a middle-aged man and I want my first tattoo

    ~life.men Ask (advice)
    I've given a lot of thought to what my tattoo(s) would say. Since they're stuck on me for life, they need to be meaningful. For sure, I know I want a tattoo that says "timshel" which comes from...

    I've given a lot of thought to what my tattoo(s) would say. Since they're stuck on me for life, they need to be meaningful.

    For sure, I know I want a tattoo that says "timshel" which comes from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. There's a whole beautiful verse in the book about the meaning of timshel, which the author explains translates to "thou mayest" -- or, we can choose our destiny. Caveats: I'm not religious, and I understand that Steinbeck didn't get the translation quite right. But I don't care about that -- it's the verse itself and the meaning behind it that is so powerful to me. I want the "Steinbeck timshel," not the actual Biblical translation.

    If there will be a second tattoo in the future, I'm leaning toward "this too shall pass" but I'm not quite as certain on that one.

    Since I'm a tattoo virgin, I have all sorts of questions:

    • Where's the best place to get a "timshel" tattoo?
    • So what do I do, just mock something up in Adobe Illustrator or tell the artist "here's what I want in this font"? Or do they have a bunch of presets?
    • How do I find a good tattoo artist?
    • At this stage in life, should I rethink this scheme altogether?

    EDIT: I want this/these tattoos to serve as reminders for myself, not to show off to other people. Not that I care if other people see them... Not sure if that helps with placement.

    25 votes

  11. Comment on The United States of pizza, mapsplained in ~food

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    I was in Hartford for one night and had an opportunity to jump on the Amtrak and head down to New Haven for some apizza. Ubering to the train station, traffic was so bad that I missed the train....

    I was in Hartford for one night and had an opportunity to jump on the Amtrak and head down to New Haven for some apizza. Ubering to the train station, traffic was so bad that I missed the train. So, I had Frank Pepe's in Hartford instead. It was good, but I don't think it was the real thing.

    For Chicago deep dish, I highly recommend Pequod's instead of the more touristy spots. It's probably the second best pizza I've ever had (behind John's on Bleeker, of course).

    And here in Texas, we're in a sort of dearth of pizza. Sure, there's good pizza here and there. But nothing gets anywhere close to what you can find on every street corner in the north east.

    1 vote

  12. Tildes feels like the last bastion of the Information Superhighway

    ~tildes Text 188 words
    (Information Superhighway, for you youngin's, was a term that was thrown around quite a bit in the early days of the internet. See also: "world wide web" and "cyberspace") I'm writing this post to...

    (Information Superhighway, for you youngin's, was a term that was thrown around quite a bit in the early days of the internet. See also: "world wide web" and "cyberspace")

    I'm writing this post to say thanks to the developers, admins, and moderators of Tildes. This is one of the few corners of the internet that hasn't been completely taken over by bots, trolls, shills, or astroturfers. This is a tight-knit community of folks who are good at disagreeing with each other respectfully. It's the way the world should be.

    I'm thankful that I can come here and talk about things that I'm uncomfortable discussing elsewhere on the internet or even in the real world.

    I came from the great Reddit exodus of 2023. For a while, when I was actively watching the Tildes User Growth chart, I started to worry when it looked like user registrations were stagnating. I even created a post asking the community if it was time to accelerate growth. Thankfully, there was pushback from Tildes veterans who understood that bigger is not necessarily better. I now agree with that sentiment.

    Be human, everybody!

    116 votes

  13. Comment on Growing a beard. Tips and tricks, please! in ~life.style

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    I think I'll give that a shot. I never make it that far because it just ends up looking so gross to me in that interim period. I've been growing it for about a week now, but I've also been mowing...

    I think I'll give that a shot. I never make it that far because it just ends up looking so gross to me in that interim period.

    I've been growing it for about a week now, but I've also been mowing it over with a trimmer to keep everything "groomed" if you can call it that.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency agents access sensitive US personnel data, alarming security officials in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    At this point I'm deep into conjecture territory, but my guess would be that it's viewed as the cost of doing business -- the end justify the means and all of that BS.

    At this point I'm deep into conjecture territory, but my guess would be that it's viewed as the cost of doing business -- the end justify the means and all of that BS.

    4 votes

  15. Comment on Growing a beard. Tips and tricks, please! in ~life.style

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    Am I destined to be beardless for the rest of my life? I'm approaching 40 now, and while I can grow a full mustache and hair in the goatee area of my face, the hair on both cheeks is very patchy...

    Am I destined to be beardless for the rest of my life?

    I'm approaching 40 now, and while I can grow a full mustache and hair in the goatee area of my face, the hair on both cheeks is very patchy at best. Can that be solved? I've always wanted a beard, if nothing else, just to try it on.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency agents access sensitive US personnel data, alarming security officials in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Sadly, I think it's even worse than that. It seems to me that half of the country is cheering this on because (1) "big government is bad" and (2) "look at all those lib tears" or even "stop being...

    no real pushback

    Sadly, I think it's even worse than that. It seems to me that half of the country is cheering this on because (1) "big government is bad" and (2) "look at all those lib tears" or even "stop being dramatic by calling this a coup -- you're just mad because your side isn't doing it."

    The media (old and new) have created so much division and cognitive dissonance that our country is now divided between those crying out in desperation because centuries-old institutions are being dismantled, and those who are actively rooting for the dismantling.

    12 votes

  17. Comment on Are we witnessing the takeover of a country right now? in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Can you expand on this a bit? I just tried Googling and came up with nothing satisfactory.

    cryptoeugenics

    Can you expand on this a bit? I just tried Googling and came up with nothing satisfactory.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Are we witnessing the takeover of a country right now? in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Just chiming in here to say I love your writing style!

    Just chiming in here to say I love your writing style!

    5 votes

  19. Comment on Book recommendations for regular people living through fascist/authoritarian regimes? in ~books

  20. Comment on Book recommendations for regular people living through fascist/authoritarian regimes? in ~books

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    You reminded me of a book I read a few years ago that I thought I'd crack open again. The Authoritarians -- free download Here's an excerpt from the end of the book, which was actually just...

    You reminded me of a book I read a few years ago that I thought I'd crack open again.

    The Authoritarians -- free download

    The last reason why you might be interested in [this book] is that you might want more than just facts about authoritarians, but understanding and insight into why they act the way they do. Which is often mind-boggling. How can they revere those who gave their lives defending freedom and then support moves to take that freedom away? How can they go on believing things that have been disproved over and over again, and disbelieve things that are well established? How can they think they are the best people in the world, when so much of what they do ought to show them they are not? Why do their leaders so often turn out to be crooks and hypocrites? Why are both the followers and the leaders so aggressive that hostility is practically their trademark? By the time you have finished this book, I think you will understand the reasons. All of this, and much more, fit into place once you see what research has uncovered going on in authoritarian minds.

    Here's an excerpt from the end of the book, which was actually just referring to getting out and voting, so it may be too little too late...

    However Americans have, for the most part, been standing on the sidewalk quietly staring at this authoritarian parade as it marches on. You can watch it tear American democracy apart, bit by bit, bite by bite. Or you can exercise your rights too, while you still have them, and get just as concerned, active, and giving to protect yourself and your country. If you, and other liberals, other moderates, other conservatives with conscience do, then everything can turn out all right. But we have to get going. If you are the only person you know who grasps what’s happening, then you’ve got to take leadership, help inform, and organize others. One person can do so much; you’ve no idea! And two can do so much more.

    But time is running out, fast, and nearly everything is at stake.

    7 votes