bkimmel's recent activity
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Comment on How are you preparing for a fascist America? in ~society
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Comment on How are you preparing for a fascist America? in ~society
bkimmel Link ParentJust some other stories from neighbors; Couple down the street from Colombia and Puerto Rico almost cancelled their trip to Puerto Rico (which is even a US territory). They're still going but...Just some other stories from neighbors;
Couple down the street from Colombia and Puerto Rico almost cancelled their trip to Puerto Rico (which is even a US territory). They're still going but bringing passports for the whole family just in case.
Next door neighbor is white but his wife and kids are Indian. He's always been anti-gun in every way but last week he showed me his new handgun he bought in case someone tried to take his kids.
None of this is normal.
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Comment on How are you preparing for a fascist America? in ~society
bkimmel LinkWe ordered passports for the kids. Started reading some books on Milosovic / collapse of Yugoslavia in the mid/late 90s since I think that's the closest parallel to the situation in the U.S. First...We ordered passports for the kids. Started reading some books on Milosovic / collapse of Yugoslavia in the mid/late 90s since I think that's the closest parallel to the situation in the U.S.
First move is to book it for the Canadian border, I guess and maybe on to Ireland or something from there (my company has an office in Dublin).
I'm a former employee of the DNC, so trying to figure out where my name would be on "the lists" is something I'm thinking about.
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Comment on Temu and Shein are raising their US prices next week in ~finance
bkimmel Link ParentThank you, yes. To put a finer point on it: "When you choose to do nothing on issues that stand to benefit a majority of the electorate for a long time, this is what happens in the end." I hadn't...Thank you, yes. To put a finer point on it: "When you choose to do nothing on issues that stand to benefit a majority of the electorate for a long time, this is what happens in the end."
I hadn't considered the notion that rolling back civil rights would be a real benefit to anyone (although that's certainly being done right now for political reasons that benefit no one IMHO but that's another topic). Which forms a corollary: "The civil rights things you care about will also be nuked if you choose to ignore these kinds of sensible policy issues."
"Sensible trade policy" was a thing we could have done since (really) the Carter administration and chose not to for the sake of "money from big donors". It was compatible with our ideals (labor, environment) unlike repealing civil rights (which is not) but we just chose to do nothing for like 50 years except tell people they were too stupid to understand how competing with child slaves in China was "actually good for them".
Now we're where we are.
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Comment on Temu and Shein are raising their US prices next week in ~finance
bkimmel Link ParentAs one of the Democrats arguing for "sensible trade controls" for 30 years and being ignored (at best) I hope this is one of the big lessons the party takes from this: If you don't choose to do...As one of the Democrats arguing for "sensible trade controls" for 30 years and being ignored (at best) I hope this is one of the big lessons the party takes from this: If you don't choose to do things a sensible way when you have the opportunity they will certainly be done in a bad destructive way eventually and you can't really complain when that happens.
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Comment on What's a secondhand heartbreak you've experienced? in ~talk
bkimmel LinkIn high school one of my close friends and I sort of "fenced" at the top of our class for who was the "smartest kid in our grade". I tended to edge him out in English/History and he was a lot...In high school one of my close friends and I sort of "fenced" at the top of our class for who was the "smartest kid in our grade". I tended to edge him out in English/History and he was a lot better than me at Math and Science generally speaking. On paper, he was the valedictorian and I was generally more of the party/drinking guy so as we got later into high school he pulled ahead in most of the things you could put on a college application. He applied to Harvard our Junior year and everyone just sort of assumed he would get in: His record was unimpeachable in every imaginable way.
When he got rejected, I think I took it harder than he did. I never had any intention of going there, but it really felt like they were passing judgment on me, vicariously.
From that point on, I started to really dislike that school. The recent news where they told the Trump admin where to shove it is honestly the first positive thought I've had about that institution in like 30 years.
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Comment on United Auto Workers statement: In a victory for autoworkers, auto tariffs mark the beginning of the end of NAFTA and the “free trade” disaster in ~society
bkimmel Link ParentThe root of the problem, as I see it, is that this statement is "basically true": competing against "practical slavery" in China - not to mention the absolute flouting of environmental laws - is...The root of the problem, as I see it, is that this statement is "basically true": competing against "practical slavery" in China - not to mention the absolute flouting of environmental laws - is not good for American workers. 3 successive Democratic administration have done absolutely nothing about it (or if they did, like NAFTA, they made it worse). They could have done this the "right way" for 40 years and they chose to take big money donations instead and talk out the side of their mouths about "competitiveness" or throw crumbs like the CHIPS act on the ground... So now we're doing it "this way", which sucks but was inevitable.
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Comment on “I don’t see how we can save it.” in ~life
bkimmel Link ParentAgreed on enjoying the writing style. There is some kind of quality that puts it on the edge of being sonorous or poetic without crossing either of those particular meridians.Agreed on enjoying the writing style. There is some kind of quality that puts it on the edge of being sonorous or poetic without crossing either of those particular meridians.
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Comment on What are your goto cocktails? in ~food
bkimmel LinkMy cocktail flowchart: Am I in New Orleans? -> Sazerac Is it really hot? -> Pimm's Cup Is it Spring / am I watching a horse race? -> Mint Mojito Good bartender & I'm in the mood for it -> Ramos...My cocktail flowchart:
Am I in New Orleans? -> Sazerac
Is it really hot? -> Pimm's Cup
Is it Spring / am I watching a horse race? -> Mint Mojito
Good bartender & I'm in the mood for it -> Ramos Gin Fizz
Do they have Gosling's Ginger Beer? -> Dark & Stormy
Bad/understocked bar or a bad bartender / general backstop -> Gin & Tonic -
Comment on What are your goto cocktails? in ~food
bkimmel Link ParentI love the Sazerac, but I hesitate to order it outside of New Orleans because most bartenders just don't do it right.I love the Sazerac, but I hesitate to order it outside of New Orleans because most bartenders just don't do it right.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
bkimmel LinkI just finished Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on Switch (via Nintendo Online GBA). This might seem like an odd thing to do in 2025, but I was a huge Zelda fan from the original game through Link...I just finished Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on Switch (via Nintendo Online GBA).
This might seem like an odd thing to do in 2025, but I was a huge Zelda fan from the original game through Link to the Past but I didn't have a Nintendo system between SNES and DS Lite (roughly the late 90s through 2008) so I missed a lot of the Zelda series entries during that time.
I decided to give Minish a shot and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It's similar to Link to the Past in terms of gameplay with some really fun puzzles, tools, mechanics, and areas to explore. In short, everything I'd want from a mainline Zelda game.
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Comment on Who are your favorite actors? in ~movies
bkimmel LinkSteve Buscemi in pretty much everything, but Big Lebowski and Death of Stalin stand out IMHO. Neil Patrick Harris Starship Troopers, HIMYM, Dr. Horrible, just great at bringing quirky/dark comedy...Steve Buscemi in pretty much everything, but Big Lebowski and Death of Stalin stand out IMHO.
Neil Patrick Harris Starship Troopers, HIMYM, Dr. Horrible, just great at bringing quirky/dark comedy characters to life.
Patrick Stewart Picard. Probably had more effect on me / my self image than any other actor.
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Comment on Musings on our current system in ~society
bkimmel LinkThe best system was "You live in a large Capitalist nation with other large communist nations around." Billionaires behaved better with the threat of being convicted in a Worker's Tribunal and...The best system was "You live in a large Capitalist nation with other large communist nations around."
Billionaires behaved better with the threat of being convicted in a Worker's Tribunal and being sent off to a gulag. I miss the Soviet Union.
(From the outside though. I would never want to live in a socialist country until there's some evidence that they can exist on a large scale without becoming enormous brutal prisons.)
I'm not sure I ascribe most of the brutality in the world to capitalism, per se. Current conflicts (Gaza/Ukraine, which are contained locally for the most part) notwithstanding, the current era of capitalism (since the fall of the Berlin wall, generally) has largely been the most peaceful (in terms of outright famine and war) and prosperous in recorded history.
It kind of begs the question "which era would you have preferred to live in where despotic committees or some other hereditary mechanism instead of collective demand determined the prices of things"? Because there were plenty of those: people died at 28 and made very little "human progress" for centuries.
Which, again, is not to say that we should ignore the suffering of "marginal" populations (especially refugees) but we should be honest about what is causing their plight and I'm not sure it's necessarily "capitalism".
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Comment on Anyone using Meshtastic/LoRA radio? in ~hobbies
bkimmel Link ParentI watched a bunch of YouTube videos about it. Try "Jeff Geerling Meshtastic" - to see a good rundown of devices and setting them up. It's pretty easy, on the basic level. To just get a node and...I watched a bunch of YouTube videos about it. Try "Jeff Geerling Meshtastic" - to see a good rundown of devices and setting them up. It's pretty easy, on the basic level. To just get a node and set it up is about 15ish dollars, maybe cheaper if you can get it off AliExpress.
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Comment on Anyone using Meshtastic/LoRA radio? in ~hobbies
bkimmel Link ParentI think the things that keep HAM contained to a degree are "licensing" and "no encryption / private conversations". LoRA solves both of those problem. I think it's possible that the following...I think the things that keep HAM contained to a degree are "licensing" and "no encryption / private conversations". LoRA solves both of those problem. I think it's possible that the following factors are all converging in a way that might lead to Mesh/LoRA having a "tipping point" moment in the near future:
- Consumer-friendly devices finally hitting the shelf. Like you said, a lot of HAM radio ends up being about the equipment/gear. There is still a lot of "DIY"-ness to Meshtastic, but that's changing with the new generation of standalones/handhelds like the T-Deck. Jeff Geerling covers this on his Youtube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ry-ck0fhfw ).
- I don't want to support Musk and Zuckerberg's temple of enshittification anymore than I absolutely need to anymore and I bet a lot of other people feel the same way. We're a long way off from the point where LoRA can replace internet communication - especially for things like video, but modern usage of the internet started off with ASCII messages on BBS systems and grew from there so who knows?
- A corollary to "the internet is now irredeemable" is "what to do with kids?". My kid is getting to the age where he will want a way to communicate with his friends - maybe with Meshtastic I could make him a cool way to stay in touch with his friends/parents but keep those conversations safe from Musk/et.al. Wishful thinking, perhaps but I know a lot of parents with the exact same concerns and it's not that far-fetched.
I think there's some other things going for it too, and besides that it's just fun.
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Comment on Anyone using Meshtastic/LoRA radio? in ~hobbies
bkimmel Link ParentI did that too, I think! I "forgot" the Bluetooth device on my phone and it won't let me reconnect. It's early days for this stuff - a lot of the equipment/ui has sharp edges still.I did that too, I think! I "forgot" the Bluetooth device on my phone and it won't let me reconnect. It's early days for this stuff - a lot of the equipment/ui has sharp edges still.
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Anyone using Meshtastic/LoRA radio?
Just wondering if any other tildan electronics/radio hobbyists are playing around with Meshtastic. I got my first two nodes (right under the wire before the tariffs!) and set them up last weekend....
Just wondering if any other tildan electronics/radio hobbyists are playing around with Meshtastic. I got my first two nodes (right under the wire before the tariffs!) and set them up last weekend.
I got my first response today on the public channel from someone else a couple hops away and it honestly feels like 1993 again with that "can anyone read this?"-vibe the first time I posted on a BBS. The more I see how the internet becomes hostile to humans, the more I think something "human community-based" like this is the inevitable future.
Is anyone else on the Mesh yet? Are there a lot of nodes in your community? What do you think Meshtastic will amount to?
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Comment on Is the United States in its Soviet Union era? in ~society
bkimmel Link ParentProof: https://tildes.net/~society/1djn/the_poverty_of_anti_wokeness#comment-bri9 -
Comment on Is the United States in its Soviet Union era? in ~society
bkimmel LinkOMG I am so happy to hear someone else say this. My wife is sick of me pointing at everything over the last 5 or 6 years and shouting "Look! It's late-stage Soviet Union!!!" ad nauseum. Once you...OMG I am so happy to hear someone else say this. My wife is sick of me pointing at everything over the last 5 or 6 years and shouting "Look! It's late-stage Soviet Union!!!" ad nauseum. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Thank you for making me feel less alone in this.
I've tried to find good books about the end of the SU, haven't really found any I'm really happy with yet.
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Comment on The Democratic National Committee should move HQ to Youngstown, Ohio in ~society
bkimmel Link ParentBut to drive the point home, Traficant was also the most adept populist politicians of the last century outside of perhaps Trump. He was emblematic of "knowing how to speak to people". When I...But to drive the point home, Traficant was also the most adept populist politicians of the last century outside of perhaps Trump. He was emblematic of "knowing how to speak to people". When I worked on Capitol Hill, you know what I saw? Pictures of Jim Traficant everywhere in places where people worked: hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurants, barber shops and places like that. Years after he had been kicked out of Congress, his picture was still up in these places, because the people who worked there loved him.
Just imagine.
The Khmer Rouge was predicated (iirc) on an open and wholesale rejection of modernity and a return to an almost entirely agrarian society. While there may be shadows of Pol Pot in the MAGA rejection of certain things (vaccines comes to mind) I don't know if your rank-and-file MAGA really wants to wind back the clock that far but that period is certainly instructive (in a very dark way) about how brutal people will treat their neighbors for purely ideological reasons. It's scary as hell to think about.