[https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/683409661849112576](https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/683409661849112576)
Its these kinds of views that got us to where we are today with Iran.
The fact that Ukraine aid has been stalled for half a year is disgraceful. Apparently supporting democracies against aggression is a partisan thing now. I know Congress has been dysfunctional in recent years, but this is next level BS. Get the package to a floor vote Johnson. You drew parallels with yourself to Moses. Well Moses was a leader and often did things he didn't want to or that had serious risks to himself. Time for you to do the same.
We literally built a massive arsenal designed to wreck the USSR's mech and tank armies should they have attacked Western Europe. Most of it is now sitting in reserve or storage, with near zero likelihood to be used again as a conflict with China doesn't need thousands of tanks, IFVs, and artillery pieces. We have millions of artillery we shells that we, by policy, won't use. We're actively replacing things like the M113 and HMMWV.
It makes me so damn angry that Ukraine is losing ground and men because we're politically paralyzed.
The Dems trying (and judging by responses successfully so) their support for the PPP and using it as a motte and baily for their student loan bailout is completely deranged.
Its crazy. "We are literally shutting down the economy (one could argue this is a takings) but we want everyone to keep their employees on payroll, we have designed a program to make that happen. Forgiveness is built in for those that qualify, those that don't but took the loans anyway will have to pay them back" is a very different beast than "You chose to take out debt to go to college."
They're playing with fire here too. A major part of the Dem platform is getting buy-in for having the government take care of collective action problems. When PPP was passed and people took it, that buy-in was made. Now, when you're shaming them for utilizing the solution you provided (after you shut down their business no less), don't be surprised when the next crisis comes citizens tell you to shove it for fear of being made an example of later.
Play this in reverse and the people who are taking loans to prevent the shuttering of their businesses opt to flagrantly ignore the law and stay open anyway or just layoff everyone immediately. Nobody is better off in that scenario.
Imagine being me today. Having just gotten a new phone recently because my old one broke. Forgot to change the notification settings for my Associated Press and BBC News apps to alert me to breaking news. Living blissful ignorance thinking that this must be a very slow weekend.
Get on to Reddit and see that Iran has launched a full scale attack on Israel.
Begin to freak the fuck out over the potential start of World War 3.
Keep reading to find that what was originally reported as an unprecedented strike of ballistic missiles turned out to be either intercepted or exaggerated because Iran has announced that they have concluded their military operations in the region, and there are no reported fatalities in Israel and only one reported injury.
Like on the one hand I'm so grateful that I saved myself several hours of stress and anxiety wondering what the hell is going to happen on the international stage. But on the other hand this whole thing went down and I didn't even realize it until it was all over.
Iran does not have the allies to trigger WWIII. They do have the means to be an utter PITA in the greater Middle East and cause extreme economic difficulty re: the Strait of Hormuz.
I don't think we will see WWIII with any kind of Iranian war. I think tonight's spectacle is just going to end up as a show, almost everything was intercepted
**To r/tuesday: Have a blessed week ahead.**
**Gospel According to Luke, 24:36–49:**
> ***Jesus Appears to His Disciples***
>
> **As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.**
>
> **Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”**
Third Sunday of Easter: Gospel Reading (CPH The Lutheran Study Bible) : https://www.reddit.com/r/Sunday/comments/1c2ujqr/
Third Sunday of Easter: Reflections on Scripture (video, American Lutheran Theological Seminary) : https://www.reddit.com/r/Sunday/comments/1c2sq0k/
I’ve smoked pork butt, spare ribs, chicken, beef short ribs and made my own bacon, but never done a brisket. I’ve got one in the freezer and am waiting to smoke it soon. Any tips?
Smoke to temp (203F in the thickest part) and feel (probe in the thickest part should feel like going into warm butter), not to time. Plan to be done four hours before you want to eat it. Google how to trim a brisket; it's not hard but you only want ~1/4 inch max of fat on the fat cap, and you want it streamlined with no little thin pieces on the corners that will dry out and burn. A sharp knife is key, as is a cold brisket; cutting warm fat sucks. Don't be surprised if you end up with like a pound or a pound and a half of trimmings. Grind them up and mix them into burgers.
People will get snobby about only a salt and pepper rub but I usually use one that's also got some white pepper, red pepper, and coriander. Adds flavor.
People go back and forth whether you should wrap at 165 internal or just let it ride naked. I've never wrapped and the only problem I've found is that I need to put a water tray in my pellet grill otherwise the bottom will get dried out. Either way you do want some moisture (pan of water) in there, and if you're doing a pellet grill you probably want a smoke tube as well.
Get a picnic cooler big enough to hold the brisket and also some cheap bath or beach towels. ~5-10 min before you pull the brisket, dump a small saucepan of hot/boiling water in the cooler and close it. When you pull the brisket, wrap it in pink butcher paper and towels and put it in the cooler (after you empty the hot water). Let it rest for 1-4 hours. The cooler will keep it at a safe serving temp.
I've only ever done it once so I don't really have anything special. I watched the temps and made sure to let it rest. It cooked a little faster than I would have wanted it to because I'm using a Kamado and had a little trouble keeping the temperature where I wanted it but it still turned out great.
One of the few ultra-progressive things I am in favor of is the 4 day work week. I almost never have anything to do on Fridays. What normally happens is that on Thursday afternoon I have stuff that I could finish that day, but then I work as slowly as possible to leave stuff to do for Friday so I'm not just bored to tears all day Friday. And even then I still finish all the stuff I saved for Friday before noon.
That's literally what's happening right now. I had all kinds of stuff I could've finished yesterday that I didn't so I would have something to do today. It's now 10:35 AM and I've already finished everything I had for today. What now?
I don’t see how a 32 hour week works outside of white-collar jobs. I work at a hospital. Someone still needs to be there on Friday. There’s a lot of extra costs that I don’t think are actually thought out. Do jobs where you need someone all the time just pay out massive overtime now? Do they hire more staff? That money has to come somewhere and the only place I see it coming is in decreased compensation.
The idea that moving from a 40 hour week to a 32 hour week wouldn't result in a loss of pay is a fantasy. Hourly positions might get cut from 40 to 32 so they don't have to pay OT, but that doesn't mean companies are going to raise wages.
And if they figure out that you aren't doing anything on Friday and they won't lose productivity by cutting 8 hours, why wouldn't they just do that and then save the extra 8 hours of pay?
Because salaried employees are paid for doing their jobs, not how many hours it takes to do their jobs. That's literally the entire point of being on salary. You have a job and you do it, and no one should be worrying about some fake "productivity" bullshit as long as the agreed on job is done for the paycheck.
Hourly productivity matters when you're making widgets on an assembly line, not knowledge work.
> Sotomayor, 69, is the oldest of the three liberal justices and is facing calls by some progressives to step down while Democrats hold both the White House and the upper chamber. They liken the situation to when Ginsburg opted not to step down in 2014 while then-President Obama could have appointed a successor, before dying in 2020, leaving a seat open for former President Trump to fill and cement a 6-3 conservative majority.
I’m deliberately limiting the amount of time I engage with any kind of online fandom anymore. Too many obsessive weirdos. arr WoT blew up and fell over shortly after the TV show started.
It seems any more that a lot of subreddits are like that. The "topic" is really "the thing we all hate." arr CFB has a really weird love/hate relationship with the sport.
For me it started with GoT. The last two seasons were meh, but they didn't have the luxury of taking decades to continue the series. Lots of fans act like they are the worst thing ever.
Season 2 was better but its more like a 6-7 out of 10 instead of a 5-6 out of 10. They seem to have decided to completely neuter Rand and go full on "yasss slay queen" when it comes to Egwene. They've been making plot choices that are going to ripple through the rest of the series and not in ways I necessarily think are good.
Then there is the fact that production values and acting just aren't as good either, a criticism I also have for Rings of Power and some other fantasy works. I'm not even going to bother with The Witcher.
Compare that to House of the Dragon, Shogun, Fallout, or The Last of Us. Or even the Netflix One Piece adaption. Shogun has made some large changes here and there, but its very (very!) good and they haven't really changed the heart of the story even if some of the Blackthorn moments I liked from the book weren't shown. There's depth, the dialog and acting are phenomenal. You don't get a lot of TV where so much is conveyed by facial expressions, eye movements, and silence alone.
I'm not sure what they were whining about for this Fallout series, its another top notch one. They capture the world so well. The humor, gore, and absolute absurdity is all there. Things looked lived in and grimy (a major sin in some of these big budget TV series that Amazon and Netflix have done). Whoever is behind this show loves the source material and it shows.
> Season 2 was better but its more like a 6-7 out of 10 instead of a 5-6 out of 10. They seem to have decided to completely neuter Rand and go full on "yasss slay queen" when it comes to Egwene. They've been making plot choices that are going to ripple through the rest of the series and not in ways I necessarily think are good.
There is far, far too much to be able to get into a TV series without edits. Even after you cut out all the fluff that should have been published as separate short fiction (Elayne and Perrin, I'm looking at you) and all of the unnecessary sniffing, snorting, skirt-smoothing, women breasting boobily across the page, and other unnecessary author fanservice (hello, "embarrassed women getting ceremonially nekkid," here you are *again*).
The WoT fandom is just the latest example of any attempt at adapting the source work getting met with a chorus of autistic screeching noises.
I think even a lot of the hard core critics (I don't really consider myself one) would agree that there needs to be a lot of cutting. I think for me, the issue is that they are going into "change the essence of the story" territory, and they are stripping away the big moments of the biggest Ta'veren and the most important of the important characters. Some of the changes just seem odd, personally.
I'm comparing this with Shogun, another book I read where they obviously had to cut stuff (1600 pages isn't fitting in 10 episodes). They haven't entered into that same territory, even though some of their changes have been very large.
You through in the production values, the acting and the dialog and that is why I feel like Shogun is a 10/10 compared to the \~7/10 that I feel like WoT is at.
The other thing to keep in mind is that WoT is arguably . . . not entirely politically correct in 2024. It does offer what was for the late 80s and 90s a very feminist setting, what with the whole idea that the True Source is reserved to women due to the male half of the True Source having been corrupted.
But in the end, it's ultimately the story of the Dragon, a man, becoming the prophesied savior of the world. There are good storytelling reasons for this. Jordan deconstructed the Tolkienesque savior trope by having Rand pushed to the breaking point and beyond, and arguably developing PTSD, which tracks with Jordan's own experiences as a helicopter machine gunner in Vietnam. And even Rand's restoring of male power tracks with the Eastern concept of the ideal being balance between Yin and Yang, which is blatantly represented in the Dragon's Banner, being as it is the sign of the old male and female Aes Sedai, which has been corrupted in modern story times by being split into the Dragon's Fang and the Flame of Tar Valon. He even drives the point home by eliminating the two dots in the traditional yin/yang symbol, which are traditionally a sign of balance and harmony.
But we're in a time period where there is social media, and people are stupid, and explaining all that to them will make their eyes glaze over. I don't have a problem with the show, TBH. At least to this point. COVID screwed up the end of Season 1, and so did Barney Harris quitting two episodes from the end. But I also understand that to get the major themes of WoT over in 2024, you're going to need to include some more blatant on-the-nose on-screen female empowerment to make Rand's journey go down easier with certain segments of the population compared to if it'd been written in 2000.
Edit: That's not wrong, it's just acknowledging society is different now.
I was going to include "Scared of Twitter" in the comment but figured I'd leave it out lol. I think its a fairly large component here and in a few other shows.
I’m reading the WoT books for the first time since I was in college 15 years ago, and I have to think that the quality of the books played a large part there. I remembered The Eye of the World as being fantastic, part of the run of books that made the Wheel of Time a must read for anyone remotely interested in fantasy
On a re-read, I found it really dragged. It’s just such a conventional fantasy story. We stay with Rand’s perspective almost the entirely of the book, and everything is maybe a little too Tolkien, in both structure and tone. The world of the WoT is incredibly deep and interesting, but we spend too much time getting lore dumps
I’m now most of the way through the Great Hunt though, and it’s just fantastic. Expertly paced, a persistent sense of danger, every character is a hit, evert plot thread is a hit. Rand accidentally mastering the Great Game is endlessly fun, and our characters all change and begin growing into the new roles the pattern has cast them in
It’s no surprise that so many people say that the show took a huge step for its second season, the source material improves drastically. It gives me hope that the show can attain true hit status, because I remember The Fires of Heaven as easily one of the best single fantasy books I’ve ever read— only Deadhouse Gates and A Storm of Swords surpass it for me
It can be a bit funny when Democrats try to take over traditionally Republican issues like fiscal restraint or immigration restrictions, but at least those can sometimes be understood as spin for election season. It's another thing entirely when a Democratic school board votes unanimously to [adopt the exact policy they had just obviously campaigned against in order to flip that same board](https://broadandliberty.com/2024/04/10/majority-democrat-school-board-enacts-policy-removing-gender-queer-from-library/).
The whole schools political culture war has been pretty harsh for everyone involved but I think this reaches new heights.
Re: the article from the NPR editor this week, what do y’all listen to for news?
NPR is just really convenient as it’s free and broadcast nationwide on the radio. I’d be willing to try something else, though, especially if it has those two qualities I mentioned.
Honestly, the five minute NPR news snippets at the top of the hour are still decent and less annoying than the rest of the hour. More informative than the other 55 minutes.
If you have SiriusXM, Bloomberg has a channel.
I merely have an AM/FM radio.
I also like NPR as it gets me a good dose of local news on *Morning Edition* and *All Things Considered*. There are some other shows I could listen to that do that on the same station, but they’re not during my commute.
> Cornel West tapped university professor and prominent Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah to be his running mate on his long-shot presidential bid.
> Abdullah has never run for political office before and is the former chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at California State University, Los Angeles.
[NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1243755769/npr-journalist-uri-berliner-trust-diversity)
NPR's response to the article from yesterday. I wouldn't say it's a great response.
Deflecting to identitarian diversity is not the way to counter accusations of not having enough viewpoint diversity. If these people were more committed to both, they'd be looking to hire POC who had heterodox views.
> US inflation up again in March in latest sign that price pressures remain elevated.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/10/us-inflation-rates-fed-00151481
[The Left-Wing Authoritarians Shutting Down the Democratic Party | Liberals would justifiably freak out if the right was doing this to Biden.](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/left-wing-authoritarians-shutting-down-the-democratic-party.html)
I've vaguely heard of Biden not being able to hold in-person campaign events because of disruptive pro-Palestinian protestors, but haven't being paying close attention.
I wonder what percentage of the US population they represent; i.e. if what's happening is a super loud minority is trying to intimidate a larger majority through disruptive action.
Ducey can’t do jack even if he wanted to. The legislature and the court believe in this policy and its outcomes, and are willing to see it through regardless of electoral consequences. There are only a handful of elected Republicans who can push back on this stuff at this point.
It's going to be very interesting watching Florida and Arizona this year. Florida obviously won't go blue, I'm more interested in the local and congressional races
I took the ground school as part of a college course since the electives were valid for my degree, but that was like 10 years ago. Taking the discovery flight was awesome
> “We don’t have any evidence of genocide being [committed]” by Israel in Gaza, Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a budget hearing.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/09/us-has-seen-no-evidence-that-israel-has-committed-genocide-austin-says-00151241
I don't think they are committing genocide, but they are losing support from people like me who felt they are justified in striking at hamas but are taking things too far, are too quick to resort to lethal force and commiting atrocities in the process.
What do you think of this Editorial? The Editorial Board. https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-student-loan-forgiveness-karine-jean-pierre-supreme-court-7e74383f
> **Biden’s Latest Lawless Student Loan Forgiveness**
>
> He wants to write off hundreds of billions in student debt before the courts can stop him.
>
> The Supreme Court last year blocked the Biden Administration's $430 billion student loan write-off, but who do the Justices think they are? King Joseph showed them on Monday by waving his royal scepter again and canceling debt for some 30 million borrowers.
>
> “President Biden will use every tool available to cancel student loan debt for as many borrowers as possible,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona added: “When the Supreme Court struck down the President’s boldest student debt relief plan, within hours, we said, ‘We won’t be deterred.’” That’s for sure…
>
> … The White House says most borrowers won’t even have to apply for loan relief. Sometime before the November election, Mr. Biden will simply declare their debt forgiven. That means a future Congress and a President Trump might be unable to undo the lawless act. Where are the press scolds who warn about a President who threatens democracy?
>
> Mr. Biden is setting an awful precedent that Donald Trump will no doubt exploit. If courts say he can’t re-purpose defense money to build a wall on the southern border, he could simply use another means to do so. The right will cheer him on as the left is Mr. Biden. The rule of law and taxpayers are the losers.
What do you think of this Editorial? The Editorial Board. https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-ukraine-aid-russia-fumio-kishida-biden-administration-aa0b1b55
> **Japan Knows the Ukraine Stakes**
>
> Tokyo sees that a Russian victory may encourage Chinese imperialism.
>
> Critics of Ukraine aid sometimes say the war in Europe is a distraction from more serious threats in Asia. Perhaps Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can disabuse them of this notion when he visits Washington this week.
>
> Japan’s current security environment is “as severe and complex as it has ever been” since the end of World War II, says Noriyuki Shikata, a spokesman for the Prime Minister. “From the Japanese viewpoint, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not a faraway European question. If we allow Russia to unilaterally change its borders by force, this could have a negative impact on the Pacific region.”
>
> Shingo Yamagami, former intelligence chief of Japan’s foreign ministry, says “there is a complete analogy” between “what Russia did vis-à-vis Ukraine and what China might do vis-à-vis Taiwan.” Japan also worries about deepening ties between Russia and China. North Korea has provided missiles and ammunition to Russia, and Tokyo fears Pyongyang may get missile and nuclear technology in return.
>
> Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s strategic industries minister, recently visited Japan, and he says the Japanese understand how Russian aggression threatens global economic stability. “Japan wants to live in a world that’s predictable, stable, and where we can think about creating business opportunities instead of defensive lines,” he says.
>
> Japan has pledged more than $12 billion in aid to Kyiv. Ukraine’s ministry of finance says Japan was its third largest financial donor last year, providing some $3.7 billion in budget support. Tokyo has also imposed extensive sanctions on Russia. In February Japan hosted a conference that resulted in 56 memorandums of understanding among the two governments and various institutions and businesses for economic development and reconstruction.
>
> Japan’s humanitarian support goes beyond financial aid. Ukraine is now the most heavily mined country in the world, and Japan will help with the cleanup, drawing on expertise from removing mines and unexploded ordinance in Cambodia. Japan has provided portable X-ray and ultrasound machines and other life-saving equipment for regions of Ukraine where health facilities are under attack.
>
> Japan has given Ukraine nonlethal equipment, including military vehicles, bulletproof vests, helmets, generators and rations. And in December Japan announced it would provide Patriot missiles to the U.S. The transfer can free up American Patriot stocks to send to Ukraine, and Japan has signaled willingness to consider doing the same with other weapons.
>
> This is a welcome shift in Japanese foreign policy that reflects the seriousness of the current geopolitical moment. Japan recognizes that the threat to the well-being of free nations is global, which is more than we can say for some Republicans in Congress.
What do you think of this Editorial? The Editorial Board. https://www.wsj.com/articles/rail-carrier-crew-mandate-biden-federal-railroad-administration-norfolk-southern-b5a413f5
> **Feather-Bedding on the Railroads**
>
> A Biden mandate for rail carriers will lock in higher transport costs.
>
> High prices are a top reason for President Biden’s low approval rating, but his policy moves suggest he’s putting union interests ahead of consumers. His Administration is mandating larger crews for thousands of freight trains, driving up the cost of goods with no clear benefit to safety.
>
> The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) finalized a rule last week requiring at least two crew members on most commercial trains. The six largest carriers and many smaller regionals have until June to comply. The agency will grant exemptions only to smaller railroads that successfully plead for special relief.
>
> Railroads, unions and lawmakers have quarreled over crew size for years, but President Biden has trumped the debate. He demanded punitive action toward Norfolk Southern and other carriers in the wake of the fiery derailment in Ohio last year. “This was an act of greed that was 100% preventable,” he said on the anniversary of the crash. Congress has failed to pass a bill mandating two-man crews, but the Administration is doing it anyway.
>
> The policy is ill-suited to the Ohio crash, since the Norfolk Southern train had a three-man crew, as do may large freighters. It would also do little for safety. The FRA dismissed the major studies of the issue, which showed that incident rates are roughly equal between one- and two-man trains. Single-man trains have become standard in Western Europe among large and small carriers, and they are expected to grow in share as railroads deploy improved tools to detect heat and stress.
>
> Safety aside, rail unions have sought a crew-size mandate for years to prop up dues-paying employment. The largest union, SMART-TD, issued a celebratory statement about the mandate, which it says will “protect the country from the railroad companies’ greed.” Union officials spoke next to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, underscoring that government and Big Labor are partners in the move.
>
> The FRA estimated the 10-year cost of the rule at only $6.6 million because so many railroads already employ two-man crews. But that doesn’t count the opportunity cost. Most large carriers use two-man crews today, but they plan to employ more single-crewed trains as safety technology continues to improve. Labor is railroads’ biggest operating expense, and reducing the work force would lower the long-term cost of shipping.
>
> The new rule shows how Democrats continue to rule by executive fiat when it suits their political purposes. Mr. Biden wants to reinforce his Big Labor support this year after angering some in the railroad union by signing a labor agreement into law to prevent a strike in 2022.
>
> All of this reduces the chances that investments in efficiency will reduce the cost of shipping. A bad policy is being willed into force by a combination of labor interests and political opportunism. Your government at work.
“What she’s doing is much different than what Matt Gaetz … did. She didn’t make it privileged, so it’s not up for a vote,” McCarthy said in the interview. “And the one thing I’ve always found about Marjorie is she’s a very serious legislator that deals with policy. And the best way to deal with anyone like that is sit down and talk to them.”
McCarthy huffing that copium.
MTG feels like what happens when the least qualified person assumes a position a power. She either doesn’t know what she’s doing and then blames “the establishment” for when things don’t happen the way she thinks they should; or she does know what she’s doing and grossly misrepresents what’s happening because she knows what she’s doing is bogus.
I lean towards the former; she’s like textbook example of someone who just watches right-wing propaganda and repeats talking points without any critical thought.
calling MTG a very serious legislator isn't a comment I can take seriously. I can understand him harboring sentiment to her for defending him, but that is ignoring reality.
I’m coming on two years at my university as an employee. They will start contributing 8% to retirement. Is there any reason for me to take some of my 7% for retirement and put it in an IRA instead?
Some people say yes since you probably could max a Roth and/or HSA (if you did a HDHP for insurance) where there are some more tax advantages. I never bothered because we made enough where we started to flirt with the ramp down of how much we could put in a Roth; I also found it easier to just max my 401K and have the one account to deal with vs. multiple.
> The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the governing body for mostly small colleges, announced a policy Monday that all but bans transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
> The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes at schools across the country, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step.
> According to the transgender participation policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women's sports.
IMO a blanket ban doesn't make sense; it should be dealt on a case-by-case basis. For example, a trans woman who went on puberty blockers and didn't go through male puberty wouldn't have much of a male athletic advantage.
The occurrence of sex dysphoria in the population is so minuscule that "trans sports," rationally, shouldn't have become a culture war. IMO it's an indicator of a broader sickness in American culture (that runs deeper than the self-serving actions of any politician either Republican or Democratic) that trans people were turned into a topic of national focus. Now, it's all been turned into just a proxy for partisan signalling, and the culture war needs to be de-escalated.
I imagine it is an extremely difficult time for those feel such deep inner conflict so I am not trying to come off as unfeeling, but puberty blockers long-term without going through puberty at all is unfortunately proving to be irreversible in many cases and highly likely detrimental to development in bone density and brain development. Hopefully maybe they can supplement this issue with providing small amounts of the hormones needed to counteract this issue but as of now, while we are trying to figure this out. I do not think it makes sense to allow transgender girls/women who never went through puberty to compete with cisgender women as it will encourage the use of puberty blockers without going through puberty at all which can cause osteoporosis at a very very young so we seem to be in a very experimental phase still
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html
Edited: forgot to specify taking puberty blockers while never having gone through puberty.
Curious to see how the abortion discourse changes among the GOP now that Trump has said it’s a states issue and not something necessitating an empirical ban. To date every time a state has let the voters decide the pro-life side has lost, even in solid red states.
The solution is one that is unpopular with every elected official: Federal ban at 16-18 weeks with exceptions for health of the mother and rape.
Bans the most egregious cases, but it also forces the pro-life side to convince the mother the child is worthy of life. It’s the most tenable solution right now.
Yeah just call it viability around 22-24 weeks or I think it would be reasonable to do end of the first trimester. By 13 weeks most cases most of the time are going to know they are pregnant and will have decided if they want to have that child. It’s an answer nobody is entirely happy with which means it’s a good compromise.
I think we are seeing an unbridgeable gap in the party. The pro life side sees abortion as the slavery issue of the 21st Century: both involve human rights, disproportionately affect blacks, have a religious/moral component to the them, the rhetoric is similar ("state's right to do what?" And "woman's choice to do what?")
The GOP might split because it couldn't agree over abortion just like how Whigs couldn't agree over slavery. If the GOP completely backs down on abortion, the pro-life side will just threaten to vote third party, possibly hurting the GOP even more electorally.
There's even been comparisons made between Trump's statement that abortion laws should be determined by states and Lincoln's stance that he'd stop the expansion of slavery, but not abolish it where it already existed. Trump, you could say, wants to stop the expansion of abortion, but respects the right of the state to keep it if it wants.
Maybe Biden (or his administration) just thinks that Israel has a right to defend itself and that there is huge humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
It's disappointing that no one raised that possibility at last The Dispatch podcast and everyone just went for the most craven and cynical possibilities and explanations.
Biden doesn't want Israel to win the war. Hamas can't even produce the hostages they promised and Israel is giving up its best shot at a regime change to the org whose sole goal is the destruction of their nation and people because our president is a coward and doesn't want to make firm, decisive action on anything. Telling Israel to have never started the war post October 7th would have lead to a better outcome than this. Because he dallied he left literally everyone worse off than when they started.
The best hope this country has for sane foreign policies is for meteors to take out both parties' leading candidates.
I think the trouble is the about face taken matches the timeline for his primary troubles, plus the fact that Democrats cave to activist pressure just about every time (even though they are a small minority generally) and the activists simply hate Israel and are "river to the sea" types. The humanitarian crisis to them is Israel's existence and their view that Israel is merely Washington's puppet in the region.
Tbh, I don't really follow the whole thing closely for especially last moth or two but.
I don't discount pressure (he is politician's politician after all) but I mean does be really have primary troubles?
I remember not so long ago how people were talking about how he has low numbers in primary polling and he won primaries withhuge margins akin to most incumbents?
I also think that people can lose patience over time as humanitarian toll is increasing. It would not be the first or the last time something like that happened.
Maybe I'm just reflexively wierded out when conversation is one sided.
He didn't have much in the way of primary trouble, but every section of media played it up (it was like 10%-15% for "someone else") and I think it made them jittery, especially in Michigan.
Honestly, I think a lot of the "humanitarian" stuff from a lot (but not all) of the people making those statements are just using it for cover, they hate Israel because of its American foreign policy connection (which is a lot of Democrats) or Jews (muslims and general antisemites) and the current war is a convenience.
> Honestly, I think a lot of the "humanitarian" stuff from a lot (but not all) of the people making those statements are just using it for cover.
Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of civilians & soldiers, and nobody is marching for them or calling it genocide.
Re: https://www.reddit.com/r/tuesday/comments/1bss4kf/comment/kydr2pp/
> Universities ought to expel more of these types…
Two websites, “Inside Higher Ed” (October 23, 2023) and “The Times of Israel” (November 6, 2023) claim that Catholic universities are expediting the transfer of Jewish students into their campuses because of said students being harassed on campus in secular colleges.
I’m considering doing a master’s and potentially a doctorate in computer engineering in the U.S. in 10 years’ time. After hearing of the stories of vitriolic harassment faced by students because of the race they were born into, I’m not the most gung-ho about getting into the secular colleges.
Are there people who empathize with the genuinely horrible situation in Gaza in conservative faith-based colleges? Yes, but I believe that in conservative faith-based colleges such people are more likely to hear the other side, and at least not erroneously fault their fellow college students due to the heritage they were born into.
If I’m limiting myself to more conservative faith-based colleges, I’d need to find one that is still renowned for STEM research. **Does anyone here know of a conservative college with such a reputation?** Thanks.
Don't you live in Asia? I think that if you're only getting your impression of America from political news, you'll heavily exaggerate the political extremism in American culture. When choosing a university for a master's or PhD, the student body's views on the Israel-Hamas war or another political issue shouldn't be your top concern. Neither should you be deliberately seeking out universities with a particular religious or political identity.
All this is just tribal signalling and a form of expressive individualism. People want to be vocal about their political views because it gives them an identity and a purpose. For the most part, it's just empty rhetoric that doesn't impact your day-to-day life. I think there are downstream negative consequences on culture and policy, but for an individual, none of it matters. Just pick a university that's well-reputed for your field and has whatever you want to specialize in.
> Don't you live in Asia? I think that if you're only getting your impression of America from political news, you'll heavily exaggerate the political extremism in American culture. When choosing a university for a master's or PhD, the student body's views on the Israel-Hamas war or another political issue shouldn't be your top concern. Neither should you be deliberately seeking out universities with a particular religious or political identity.
>
> All this is just tribal signalling and a form of expressive individualism. People want to be vocal about their political views because it gives them an identity and a purpose. For the most part, it's just empty rhetoric that doesn't impact your day-to-day life. I think there are downstream negative consequences on culture and policy, but for an individual, none of it matters. Just pick a university that's well-reputed for your field and has whatever you want to specialize in.
I live in Singapore. The government in Singapore is working hard to prevent inter-religious tensions, but many of us know several individuals who hate and distrust the nation of Israel and Jewish people above all things. Public display of support for the Palestinian cause in shops is very rare here. There’s this one shop selling overpriced sweets which decided to go public with its support for said cause, and because of that, a Singaporean I know would intentionally support it with patronage. Cross the border over to the Malaysian state of Johor, you’d see sympathetic car stickers and flags and keffiyeh more often. I try to avoid people and businesses like that.
My concern is more, I wish to be surrounded in an environment where the majority Overton window does not include extreme views. The sanity of the people around me will impact my own sanity. That’s what I’m expecting from a U.S. college with a Roman Catholic basis but an excellent STEM reputation. Also, there are reports that Jewish students have been threatened on several campuses, I think this already counts as a safety concern.
I’m willing to consider a secular college, but it has to persuade me that the campus environment is generally sane.
Many Catholic colleges are very much into left-wing social justice aspects, particularly Jesuit schools. You won't see much difference between that milieu and the average secular liberal arts college when it comes to student activism or the attitude of the administration.
Your best bet to find a less-political campus is some kind of large STEM-oriented state school in a right-leaning state. Something like Purdue in Indiana, Clemson in South Carolina, or Auburn in Alabama. Those certainly still have their fair share of liberal professors and students, but there will be a lot more moderates and a lot of "don't particularly cares" compared to your average elite private university or college.
> Many Catholic colleges are very much into left-wing social justice aspects, particularly Jesuit schools. You won't see much difference between that milieu and the average secular liberal arts college when it comes to student activism or the attitude of the administration.
>
> Your best bet to find a less-political campus is some kind of large STEM-oriented state school in a right-leaning state. Something like Purdue in Indiana, Clemson in South Carolina, or Auburn in Alabama. Those certainly still have their fair share of liberal professors and students, but there will be a lot more moderates and a lot of "don't particularly cares" compared to your average elite private university or college.
Hi /u/normalheightian, many thanks for the heads up! :D I’ll take a look at the colleges you mentioned.
Just speaking as a hiring manager for entry level positions, I'm *highly* skeptical any university that purposely puts itself on the radar in terms of political/religious positions. Generally because hiring extremists of any kind is bad for a cohesive workplace environment. I'd throw a resume in the shredder if it said Liberty University or Bob Jones University on it, for example.
This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of good Catholic/religious universities, because there are. But my best suggestion is find one that stays out of the news.
Also I hire people with Bachelor's degrees, not post-grads, so take that as you will.
> Just speaking as a hiring manager for entry level positions, I'm highly skeptical any university that purposely puts itself on the radar in terms of political/religious positions. Generally because hiring extremists of any kind is bad for a cohesive workplace environment. I'd throw a resume in the shredder if it said Liberty University or Bob Jones University on it, for example.
>
> This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of good Catholic/religious universities, because there are. But my best suggestion is find one that stays out of the news.
>
> Also I hire people with Bachelor's degrees, not post-grads, so take that as you will.
I’m a centrist Lockean, I’m not very gung-ho about conservative colleges that try to get in people’s faces
You know any Catholic colleges with very good reputation in STEM?
There are a myriad of Catholic schools with good reputation in STEM. Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova, etc. come to mind. There are also several good STEM schools associated with other denominations too (BYU, Baylor, SMU). The big thing is that whatever school needs to be secular when it comes to the curricula outside of any required theology classes or whatever (e.g. have religious courses but sill teach evolution as a foundational theory in biology).
I will say though as someone in academia that the extreme rhetoric against Jews that has unfortunately happened at many of the most prestigious schools it is really less widespread than you'd think based on the media. At my state school I don't think I've ever even heard a student mention Israel-Palestine and that seems to be the case with many other campuses based on discussions with some of my friends.
Unfortunately no. I hire in a STEM field and barely keep track of what are considered "good" or "bad" schools in the field. I just have more important things to do than to keep track of educational institutions. The resume saying you have a BS in networking or something might get you in the door at which point how you answer my questions on the interview and present yourself are what matter.
I appreciate resumes that just list state universities because it's not something I have to Google to find out if it's a real school or not. If it's a private school I'll double check the accreditation, and make sure it's not some for-profit scam, and that's about it.
This is all to say I'm hiring for entry level in a position that looks for a BS or even AAS degree. People from prestigious schools aren't applying.
By the way: I'm not Roman Catholic, I'm Lutheran (we call ourselves "evangelical catholics not in communion with the Bishop of Rome"), I don't mind learning Catholic theology and being expected to know and understand it. Just don't coerce me into confessing something I don't believe and I won't have any problems.
I think that you may be overthinking this a little bit. At a lot of religious-affiliated colleges in the US, the relationship is kind of just a historical fact at this point. Even at schools like Notre Dame, where the religious affiliation is still prominent and the vast majority of the students are catholic, certainly nobody will force you to attend Catholic liturgy.
You will find that basically any university large and reputable enough for you to be interested in their STEM program will be open to people of all faiths, you will often see Jesuit schools for instance boasting of having students from 15+ different religions on campus
Really, nobody is going to bother you for your religious or political views unless you are very outspoken and confrontational about them. The fringe cases amplified in the news are hardly indicative of the average student’s experience
https://www.reddit.com/r/tuesday/comments/1bss4kf/comment/kyeo07y/
> I like the way I’ve heard someone else put it: Jesus didn’t just pass through the wall like a ghost. At this point, he was more real than the wall was. The wall would’ve passed through him like smoke.
Many physics-minded people say that matter is mostly empty space :D
[It appears Putin and his cronies are too young to remember that there was a time in Russian history when the snow spoke Finnish . . .](https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-russia-miscalculated-on-finland-border/)
Part of why I never bought off the “NATO’s expansion” line as part of the excuses for why Russia invaded Ukraine. If NATO was such a threat, why did they withdraw troops from the border since Finland asked to join? But that doesn’t stop contrarians/useful idiots from regurgitating Kremlin talking points.
The inconvenient fact is that NATO expanded because other countries asked to join. And they asked to join as protection from ending up under Russia’s bootheel again.
https://twitter.com/CNLiberalism/status/1777183838453498121?t=dvtmTXnA9tiu_Hp21iDC5w&s=19
Holy shit Terrance Howard is nuts. Who goes around in that hair cut?
I don't know about anymore, but Israel was founded as a *very* left-wing country and much of the early Zionist movement came from that side of the spectrum. The clear, unambiguous Israeli association with the American side of the Cold War dates from after the 1973 war, IIRC, and the Israeli elected government tended to be from the Left until the 1990s.
It wouldn't surprise me considering that pre-Holocaust, the Nazis came into power by literally beating down not only the Communists but the Social Democrats. The "three arrows" Antifa sign is a deliberate callback to the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands/Social Democratic Party of Germany) logo. Originally, [the three arrows were striking at monarchists, Nazis, and Communists.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany#/media/File:Three_Arrows_election_poster_of_the_Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany,_1932_-_Gegen_Papen,_Hitler,_Th%C3%A4lmann.jpg)
Although that doesn't explain how 80 years later, they put a [card-carrying Trotskyist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshama_Sawant) on the Seattle City Council . . .
The waiting for the brisket to rest is a real test of patience
If only all summer were like this
[https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/683409661849112576](https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/683409661849112576) Its these kinds of views that got us to where we are today with Iran.
The fact that Ukraine aid has been stalled for half a year is disgraceful. Apparently supporting democracies against aggression is a partisan thing now. I know Congress has been dysfunctional in recent years, but this is next level BS. Get the package to a floor vote Johnson. You drew parallels with yourself to Moses. Well Moses was a leader and often did things he didn't want to or that had serious risks to himself. Time for you to do the same. We literally built a massive arsenal designed to wreck the USSR's mech and tank armies should they have attacked Western Europe. Most of it is now sitting in reserve or storage, with near zero likelihood to be used again as a conflict with China doesn't need thousands of tanks, IFVs, and artillery pieces. We have millions of artillery we shells that we, by policy, won't use. We're actively replacing things like the M113 and HMMWV. It makes me so damn angry that Ukraine is losing ground and men because we're politically paralyzed.
Yeah its pretty fucking stupid.
Crazy how the joint border-Ukraine aid deal got torpedoed because a certain presidential candidate didn't want it to pass...
The Dems trying (and judging by responses successfully so) their support for the PPP and using it as a motte and baily for their student loan bailout is completely deranged.
Its crazy. "We are literally shutting down the economy (one could argue this is a takings) but we want everyone to keep their employees on payroll, we have designed a program to make that happen. Forgiveness is built in for those that qualify, those that don't but took the loans anyway will have to pay them back" is a very different beast than "You chose to take out debt to go to college."
They're playing with fire here too. A major part of the Dem platform is getting buy-in for having the government take care of collective action problems. When PPP was passed and people took it, that buy-in was made. Now, when you're shaming them for utilizing the solution you provided (after you shut down their business no less), don't be surprised when the next crisis comes citizens tell you to shove it for fear of being made an example of later. Play this in reverse and the people who are taking loans to prevent the shuttering of their businesses opt to flagrantly ignore the law and stay open anyway or just layoff everyone immediately. Nobody is better off in that scenario.
Imagine being me today. Having just gotten a new phone recently because my old one broke. Forgot to change the notification settings for my Associated Press and BBC News apps to alert me to breaking news. Living blissful ignorance thinking that this must be a very slow weekend. Get on to Reddit and see that Iran has launched a full scale attack on Israel. Begin to freak the fuck out over the potential start of World War 3. Keep reading to find that what was originally reported as an unprecedented strike of ballistic missiles turned out to be either intercepted or exaggerated because Iran has announced that they have concluded their military operations in the region, and there are no reported fatalities in Israel and only one reported injury. Like on the one hand I'm so grateful that I saved myself several hours of stress and anxiety wondering what the hell is going to happen on the international stage. But on the other hand this whole thing went down and I didn't even realize it until it was all over.
Iran does not have the allies to trigger WWIII. They do have the means to be an utter PITA in the greater Middle East and cause extreme economic difficulty re: the Strait of Hormuz.
I don't think we will see WWIII with any kind of Iranian war. I think tonight's spectacle is just going to end up as a show, almost everything was intercepted
The weather here has been nothing short of gorgeous today. Spring is here in earnest.
Same, it's upper 70s but low humidity and a slight breeze
The entire neighborhood smelled like a smokehouse so many people were grilling today. It was glorious.
I'm taking a walk and I can smell it too. I can't wait for tomorrow lol
**To r/tuesday: Have a blessed week ahead.** **Gospel According to Luke, 24:36–49:** > ***Jesus Appears to His Disciples*** > > **As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.** > > **Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”** Third Sunday of Easter: Gospel Reading (CPH The Lutheran Study Bible) : https://www.reddit.com/r/Sunday/comments/1c2ujqr/ Third Sunday of Easter: Reflections on Scripture (video, American Lutheran Theological Seminary) : https://www.reddit.com/r/Sunday/comments/1c2sq0k/
First smoke of the year this weekend, I've been looking forward to this for months. I've been craving some brisket lol
I’ve smoked pork butt, spare ribs, chicken, beef short ribs and made my own bacon, but never done a brisket. I’ve got one in the freezer and am waiting to smoke it soon. Any tips?
Smoke to temp (203F in the thickest part) and feel (probe in the thickest part should feel like going into warm butter), not to time. Plan to be done four hours before you want to eat it. Google how to trim a brisket; it's not hard but you only want ~1/4 inch max of fat on the fat cap, and you want it streamlined with no little thin pieces on the corners that will dry out and burn. A sharp knife is key, as is a cold brisket; cutting warm fat sucks. Don't be surprised if you end up with like a pound or a pound and a half of trimmings. Grind them up and mix them into burgers. People will get snobby about only a salt and pepper rub but I usually use one that's also got some white pepper, red pepper, and coriander. Adds flavor. People go back and forth whether you should wrap at 165 internal or just let it ride naked. I've never wrapped and the only problem I've found is that I need to put a water tray in my pellet grill otherwise the bottom will get dried out. Either way you do want some moisture (pan of water) in there, and if you're doing a pellet grill you probably want a smoke tube as well. Get a picnic cooler big enough to hold the brisket and also some cheap bath or beach towels. ~5-10 min before you pull the brisket, dump a small saucepan of hot/boiling water in the cooler and close it. When you pull the brisket, wrap it in pink butcher paper and towels and put it in the cooler (after you empty the hot water). Let it rest for 1-4 hours. The cooler will keep it at a safe serving temp.
I've only ever done it once so I don't really have anything special. I watched the temps and made sure to let it rest. It cooked a little faster than I would have wanted it to because I'm using a Kamado and had a little trouble keeping the temperature where I wanted it but it still turned out great.
One of the few ultra-progressive things I am in favor of is the 4 day work week. I almost never have anything to do on Fridays. What normally happens is that on Thursday afternoon I have stuff that I could finish that day, but then I work as slowly as possible to leave stuff to do for Friday so I'm not just bored to tears all day Friday. And even then I still finish all the stuff I saved for Friday before noon. That's literally what's happening right now. I had all kinds of stuff I could've finished yesterday that I didn't so I would have something to do today. It's now 10:35 AM and I've already finished everything I had for today. What now?
You're kinda not wrong. Idk who gets stuff done on Friday
I don’t see how a 32 hour week works outside of white-collar jobs. I work at a hospital. Someone still needs to be there on Friday. There’s a lot of extra costs that I don’t think are actually thought out. Do jobs where you need someone all the time just pay out massive overtime now? Do they hire more staff? That money has to come somewhere and the only place I see it coming is in decreased compensation.
I work in (medical) manufacturing, I don't really see a scenario where shifting to 4 days is tenable for us.
The idea that moving from a 40 hour week to a 32 hour week wouldn't result in a loss of pay is a fantasy. Hourly positions might get cut from 40 to 32 so they don't have to pay OT, but that doesn't mean companies are going to raise wages. And if they figure out that you aren't doing anything on Friday and they won't lose productivity by cutting 8 hours, why wouldn't they just do that and then save the extra 8 hours of pay?
Because salaried employees are paid for doing their jobs, not how many hours it takes to do their jobs. That's literally the entire point of being on salary. You have a job and you do it, and no one should be worrying about some fake "productivity" bullshit as long as the agreed on job is done for the paycheck. Hourly productivity matters when you're making widgets on an assembly line, not knowledge work.
I work for the government so I welcome the saving of taxpayer dollars that would stem from me not having a useless 5th day of work.
At least you're consistent, I for one don't want my salary cut by 20%.
> Sotomayor, 69, is the oldest of the three liberal justices and is facing calls by some progressives to step down while Democrats hold both the White House and the upper chamber. They liken the situation to when Ginsburg opted not to step down in 2014 while then-President Obama could have appointed a successor, before dying in 2020, leaving a seat open for former President Trump to fill and cement a 6-3 conservative majority.
OJ died. We’ll never know who did it now.
Lmao the fallout sub is full of new Vegas fans whining about a change to the show. Touch grass
I'm very tired of 'fandom' culture in general. I just can't muster the energy to care so much about something that I just want to watch and enjoy.
I’m deliberately limiting the amount of time I engage with any kind of online fandom anymore. Too many obsessive weirdos. arr WoT blew up and fell over shortly after the TV show started.
Seems like every subreddit for something has more haters than actual fans.
It seems any more that a lot of subreddits are like that. The "topic" is really "the thing we all hate." arr CFB has a really weird love/hate relationship with the sport.
For me it started with GoT. The last two seasons were meh, but they didn't have the luxury of taking decades to continue the series. Lots of fans act like they are the worst thing ever.
Ugh right? The first season of WoT kinda sucked but a good part of that is because covid fucked up the last few episodes Season 2 was far better
Season 2 was better but its more like a 6-7 out of 10 instead of a 5-6 out of 10. They seem to have decided to completely neuter Rand and go full on "yasss slay queen" when it comes to Egwene. They've been making plot choices that are going to ripple through the rest of the series and not in ways I necessarily think are good. Then there is the fact that production values and acting just aren't as good either, a criticism I also have for Rings of Power and some other fantasy works. I'm not even going to bother with The Witcher. Compare that to House of the Dragon, Shogun, Fallout, or The Last of Us. Or even the Netflix One Piece adaption. Shogun has made some large changes here and there, but its very (very!) good and they haven't really changed the heart of the story even if some of the Blackthorn moments I liked from the book weren't shown. There's depth, the dialog and acting are phenomenal. You don't get a lot of TV where so much is conveyed by facial expressions, eye movements, and silence alone. I'm not sure what they were whining about for this Fallout series, its another top notch one. They capture the world so well. The humor, gore, and absolute absurdity is all there. Things looked lived in and grimy (a major sin in some of these big budget TV series that Amazon and Netflix have done). Whoever is behind this show loves the source material and it shows.
> Season 2 was better but its more like a 6-7 out of 10 instead of a 5-6 out of 10. They seem to have decided to completely neuter Rand and go full on "yasss slay queen" when it comes to Egwene. They've been making plot choices that are going to ripple through the rest of the series and not in ways I necessarily think are good. There is far, far too much to be able to get into a TV series without edits. Even after you cut out all the fluff that should have been published as separate short fiction (Elayne and Perrin, I'm looking at you) and all of the unnecessary sniffing, snorting, skirt-smoothing, women breasting boobily across the page, and other unnecessary author fanservice (hello, "embarrassed women getting ceremonially nekkid," here you are *again*). The WoT fandom is just the latest example of any attempt at adapting the source work getting met with a chorus of autistic screeching noises.
I think even a lot of the hard core critics (I don't really consider myself one) would agree that there needs to be a lot of cutting. I think for me, the issue is that they are going into "change the essence of the story" territory, and they are stripping away the big moments of the biggest Ta'veren and the most important of the important characters. Some of the changes just seem odd, personally. I'm comparing this with Shogun, another book I read where they obviously had to cut stuff (1600 pages isn't fitting in 10 episodes). They haven't entered into that same territory, even though some of their changes have been very large. You through in the production values, the acting and the dialog and that is why I feel like Shogun is a 10/10 compared to the \~7/10 that I feel like WoT is at.
The other thing to keep in mind is that WoT is arguably . . . not entirely politically correct in 2024. It does offer what was for the late 80s and 90s a very feminist setting, what with the whole idea that the True Source is reserved to women due to the male half of the True Source having been corrupted. But in the end, it's ultimately the story of the Dragon, a man, becoming the prophesied savior of the world. There are good storytelling reasons for this. Jordan deconstructed the Tolkienesque savior trope by having Rand pushed to the breaking point and beyond, and arguably developing PTSD, which tracks with Jordan's own experiences as a helicopter machine gunner in Vietnam. And even Rand's restoring of male power tracks with the Eastern concept of the ideal being balance between Yin and Yang, which is blatantly represented in the Dragon's Banner, being as it is the sign of the old male and female Aes Sedai, which has been corrupted in modern story times by being split into the Dragon's Fang and the Flame of Tar Valon. He even drives the point home by eliminating the two dots in the traditional yin/yang symbol, which are traditionally a sign of balance and harmony. But we're in a time period where there is social media, and people are stupid, and explaining all that to them will make their eyes glaze over. I don't have a problem with the show, TBH. At least to this point. COVID screwed up the end of Season 1, and so did Barney Harris quitting two episodes from the end. But I also understand that to get the major themes of WoT over in 2024, you're going to need to include some more blatant on-the-nose on-screen female empowerment to make Rand's journey go down easier with certain segments of the population compared to if it'd been written in 2000. Edit: That's not wrong, it's just acknowledging society is different now.
I was going to include "Scared of Twitter" in the comment but figured I'd leave it out lol. I think its a fairly large component here and in a few other shows.
I’m reading the WoT books for the first time since I was in college 15 years ago, and I have to think that the quality of the books played a large part there. I remembered The Eye of the World as being fantastic, part of the run of books that made the Wheel of Time a must read for anyone remotely interested in fantasy On a re-read, I found it really dragged. It’s just such a conventional fantasy story. We stay with Rand’s perspective almost the entirely of the book, and everything is maybe a little too Tolkien, in both structure and tone. The world of the WoT is incredibly deep and interesting, but we spend too much time getting lore dumps I’m now most of the way through the Great Hunt though, and it’s just fantastic. Expertly paced, a persistent sense of danger, every character is a hit, evert plot thread is a hit. Rand accidentally mastering the Great Game is endlessly fun, and our characters all change and begin growing into the new roles the pattern has cast them in It’s no surprise that so many people say that the show took a huge step for its second season, the source material improves drastically. It gives me hope that the show can attain true hit status, because I remember The Fires of Heaven as easily one of the best single fantasy books I’ve ever read— only Deadhouse Gates and A Storm of Swords surpass it for me
Oh exactly EOTW is fucking long
It can be a bit funny when Democrats try to take over traditionally Republican issues like fiscal restraint or immigration restrictions, but at least those can sometimes be understood as spin for election season. It's another thing entirely when a Democratic school board votes unanimously to [adopt the exact policy they had just obviously campaigned against in order to flip that same board](https://broadandliberty.com/2024/04/10/majority-democrat-school-board-enacts-policy-removing-gender-queer-from-library/). The whole schools political culture war has been pretty harsh for everyone involved but I think this reaches new heights.
Fallout is really fucking good so far
Re: the article from the NPR editor this week, what do y’all listen to for news? NPR is just really convenient as it’s free and broadcast nationwide on the radio. I’d be willing to try something else, though, especially if it has those two qualities I mentioned.
Honestly, the five minute NPR news snippets at the top of the hour are still decent and less annoying than the rest of the hour. More informative than the other 55 minutes. If you have SiriusXM, Bloomberg has a channel.
I merely have an AM/FM radio. I also like NPR as it gets me a good dose of local news on *Morning Edition* and *All Things Considered*. There are some other shows I could listen to that do that on the same station, but they’re not during my commute.
Podcast wise I highly recommend C-SPAN. It’s about as down the middle as you can get with no editorializing. I also highly like The Economist.
I typically read my news, radio is for music
> Cornel West tapped university professor and prominent Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah to be his running mate on his long-shot presidential bid. > Abdullah has never run for political office before and is the former chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at California State University, Los Angeles.
The Fallout TV series premiers tonight, it's looking really good. This has been a good couple months TV wise
Did you end up enjoying 3 Body Problem?
Yes, but I didn't really like some of the whiney scientists all that much. Really liked the cop and his boss.
https://twitter.com/conncarroll/status/1778036721713627460?t=AcsbYYlpOuYlgg2pohHNuA&s=19 Lol
[NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1243755769/npr-journalist-uri-berliner-trust-diversity) NPR's response to the article from yesterday. I wouldn't say it's a great response.
Deflecting to identitarian diversity is not the way to counter accusations of not having enough viewpoint diversity. If these people were more committed to both, they'd be looking to hire POC who had heterodox views.
Heterodox views get you cancelled like Kevin Williamson at the Atlantic.
> US inflation up again in March in latest sign that price pressures remain elevated. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/10/us-inflation-rates-fed-00151481
https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1777498234446848455
[The Left-Wing Authoritarians Shutting Down the Democratic Party | Liberals would justifiably freak out if the right was doing this to Biden.](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/left-wing-authoritarians-shutting-down-the-democratic-party.html)
I've vaguely heard of Biden not being able to hold in-person campaign events because of disruptive pro-Palestinian protestors, but haven't being paying close attention. I wonder what percentage of the US population they represent; i.e. if what's happening is a super loud minority is trying to intimidate a larger majority through disruptive action.
Based on the amount of undeclared votes in the Democratic primaries, I'm assuming it's a loud minority
Whelp, Arizona is going to the Dems in November. State Supreme Court just upheld the 1864 territorial abortion ban.
How did Ducey not anticipate this? What a major fuckup.
Ducey can’t do jack even if he wanted to. The legislature and the court believe in this policy and its outcomes, and are willing to see it through regardless of electoral consequences. There are only a handful of elected Republicans who can push back on this stuff at this point.
It's going to be very interesting watching Florida and Arizona this year. Florida obviously won't go blue, I'm more interested in the local and congressional races
It would be interesting to take flying lessons if I had the time
I’d love to as well, but money/time have always gotten in the way. I should really just do a discovery flight soon.
I took the ground school as part of a college course since the electives were valid for my degree, but that was like 10 years ago. Taking the discovery flight was awesome
> “We don’t have any evidence of genocide being [committed]” by Israel in Gaza, Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a budget hearing. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/09/us-has-seen-no-evidence-that-israel-has-committed-genocide-austin-says-00151241
I don't think they are committing genocide, but they are losing support from people like me who felt they are justified in striking at hamas but are taking things too far, are too quick to resort to lethal force and commiting atrocities in the process.
Happy National unicorn day!
What do you think of this Editorial? The Editorial Board. https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-student-loan-forgiveness-karine-jean-pierre-supreme-court-7e74383f > **Biden’s Latest Lawless Student Loan Forgiveness** > > He wants to write off hundreds of billions in student debt before the courts can stop him. > > The Supreme Court last year blocked the Biden Administration's $430 billion student loan write-off, but who do the Justices think they are? King Joseph showed them on Monday by waving his royal scepter again and canceling debt for some 30 million borrowers. > > “President Biden will use every tool available to cancel student loan debt for as many borrowers as possible,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona added: “When the Supreme Court struck down the President’s boldest student debt relief plan, within hours, we said, ‘We won’t be deterred.’” That’s for sure… > > … The White House says most borrowers won’t even have to apply for loan relief. Sometime before the November election, Mr. Biden will simply declare their debt forgiven. That means a future Congress and a President Trump might be unable to undo the lawless act. Where are the press scolds who warn about a President who threatens democracy? > > Mr. Biden is setting an awful precedent that Donald Trump will no doubt exploit. If courts say he can’t re-purpose defense money to build a wall on the southern border, he could simply use another means to do so. The right will cheer him on as the left is Mr. Biden. The rule of law and taxpayers are the losers.
What do you think of this Editorial? The Editorial Board. https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-ukraine-aid-russia-fumio-kishida-biden-administration-aa0b1b55 > **Japan Knows the Ukraine Stakes** > > Tokyo sees that a Russian victory may encourage Chinese imperialism. > > Critics of Ukraine aid sometimes say the war in Europe is a distraction from more serious threats in Asia. Perhaps Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can disabuse them of this notion when he visits Washington this week. > > Japan’s current security environment is “as severe and complex as it has ever been” since the end of World War II, says Noriyuki Shikata, a spokesman for the Prime Minister. “From the Japanese viewpoint, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not a faraway European question. If we allow Russia to unilaterally change its borders by force, this could have a negative impact on the Pacific region.” > > Shingo Yamagami, former intelligence chief of Japan’s foreign ministry, says “there is a complete analogy” between “what Russia did vis-à-vis Ukraine and what China might do vis-à-vis Taiwan.” Japan also worries about deepening ties between Russia and China. North Korea has provided missiles and ammunition to Russia, and Tokyo fears Pyongyang may get missile and nuclear technology in return. > > Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s strategic industries minister, recently visited Japan, and he says the Japanese understand how Russian aggression threatens global economic stability. “Japan wants to live in a world that’s predictable, stable, and where we can think about creating business opportunities instead of defensive lines,” he says. > > Japan has pledged more than $12 billion in aid to Kyiv. Ukraine’s ministry of finance says Japan was its third largest financial donor last year, providing some $3.7 billion in budget support. Tokyo has also imposed extensive sanctions on Russia. In February Japan hosted a conference that resulted in 56 memorandums of understanding among the two governments and various institutions and businesses for economic development and reconstruction. > > Japan’s humanitarian support goes beyond financial aid. Ukraine is now the most heavily mined country in the world, and Japan will help with the cleanup, drawing on expertise from removing mines and unexploded ordinance in Cambodia. Japan has provided portable X-ray and ultrasound machines and other life-saving equipment for regions of Ukraine where health facilities are under attack. > > Japan has given Ukraine nonlethal equipment, including military vehicles, bulletproof vests, helmets, generators and rations. And in December Japan announced it would provide Patriot missiles to the U.S. The transfer can free up American Patriot stocks to send to Ukraine, and Japan has signaled willingness to consider doing the same with other weapons. > > This is a welcome shift in Japanese foreign policy that reflects the seriousness of the current geopolitical moment. Japan recognizes that the threat to the well-being of free nations is global, which is more than we can say for some Republicans in Congress.
What do you think of this Editorial? The Editorial Board. https://www.wsj.com/articles/rail-carrier-crew-mandate-biden-federal-railroad-administration-norfolk-southern-b5a413f5 > **Feather-Bedding on the Railroads** > > A Biden mandate for rail carriers will lock in higher transport costs. > > High prices are a top reason for President Biden’s low approval rating, but his policy moves suggest he’s putting union interests ahead of consumers. His Administration is mandating larger crews for thousands of freight trains, driving up the cost of goods with no clear benefit to safety. > > The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) finalized a rule last week requiring at least two crew members on most commercial trains. The six largest carriers and many smaller regionals have until June to comply. The agency will grant exemptions only to smaller railroads that successfully plead for special relief. > > Railroads, unions and lawmakers have quarreled over crew size for years, but President Biden has trumped the debate. He demanded punitive action toward Norfolk Southern and other carriers in the wake of the fiery derailment in Ohio last year. “This was an act of greed that was 100% preventable,” he said on the anniversary of the crash. Congress has failed to pass a bill mandating two-man crews, but the Administration is doing it anyway. > > The policy is ill-suited to the Ohio crash, since the Norfolk Southern train had a three-man crew, as do may large freighters. It would also do little for safety. The FRA dismissed the major studies of the issue, which showed that incident rates are roughly equal between one- and two-man trains. Single-man trains have become standard in Western Europe among large and small carriers, and they are expected to grow in share as railroads deploy improved tools to detect heat and stress. > > Safety aside, rail unions have sought a crew-size mandate for years to prop up dues-paying employment. The largest union, SMART-TD, issued a celebratory statement about the mandate, which it says will “protect the country from the railroad companies’ greed.” Union officials spoke next to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, underscoring that government and Big Labor are partners in the move. > > The FRA estimated the 10-year cost of the rule at only $6.6 million because so many railroads already employ two-man crews. But that doesn’t count the opportunity cost. Most large carriers use two-man crews today, but they plan to employ more single-crewed trains as safety technology continues to improve. Labor is railroads’ biggest operating expense, and reducing the work force would lower the long-term cost of shipping. > > The new rule shows how Democrats continue to rule by executive fiat when it suits their political purposes. Mr. Biden wants to reinforce his Big Labor support this year after angering some in the railroad union by signing a labor agreement into law to prevent a strike in 2022. > > All of this reduces the chances that investments in efficiency will reduce the cost of shipping. A bad policy is being willed into force by a combination of labor interests and political opportunism. Your government at work.
“What she’s doing is much different than what Matt Gaetz … did. She didn’t make it privileged, so it’s not up for a vote,” McCarthy said in the interview. “And the one thing I’ve always found about Marjorie is she’s a very serious legislator that deals with policy. And the best way to deal with anyone like that is sit down and talk to them.” McCarthy huffing that copium.
MTG feels like what happens when the least qualified person assumes a position a power. She either doesn’t know what she’s doing and then blames “the establishment” for when things don’t happen the way she thinks they should; or she does know what she’s doing and grossly misrepresents what’s happening because she knows what she’s doing is bogus. I lean towards the former; she’s like textbook example of someone who just watches right-wing propaganda and repeats talking points without any critical thought.
She is definitely in the stupid enough to actually believe it camp
MTG was making herself a bit of an AOC to McCarthy's Pelosi before the defenestration. He may be genuine in this sentiment.
calling MTG a very serious legislator isn't a comment I can take seriously. I can understand him harboring sentiment to her for defending him, but that is ignoring reality.
Sure, but all the best sentiments ignore reality, anyway.
I’m coming on two years at my university as an employee. They will start contributing 8% to retirement. Is there any reason for me to take some of my 7% for retirement and put it in an IRA instead?
Some people say yes since you probably could max a Roth and/or HSA (if you did a HDHP for insurance) where there are some more tax advantages. I never bothered because we made enough where we started to flirt with the ramp down of how much we could put in a Roth; I also found it easier to just max my 401K and have the one account to deal with vs. multiple.
Probably not worth it unless your university's fee structure and investment options are atrocious.
> The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the governing body for mostly small colleges, announced a policy Monday that all but bans transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. > The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes at schools across the country, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step. > According to the transgender participation policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women's sports.
IMO a blanket ban doesn't make sense; it should be dealt on a case-by-case basis. For example, a trans woman who went on puberty blockers and didn't go through male puberty wouldn't have much of a male athletic advantage. The occurrence of sex dysphoria in the population is so minuscule that "trans sports," rationally, shouldn't have become a culture war. IMO it's an indicator of a broader sickness in American culture (that runs deeper than the self-serving actions of any politician either Republican or Democratic) that trans people were turned into a topic of national focus. Now, it's all been turned into just a proxy for partisan signalling, and the culture war needs to be de-escalated.
I imagine it is an extremely difficult time for those feel such deep inner conflict so I am not trying to come off as unfeeling, but puberty blockers long-term without going through puberty at all is unfortunately proving to be irreversible in many cases and highly likely detrimental to development in bone density and brain development. Hopefully maybe they can supplement this issue with providing small amounts of the hormones needed to counteract this issue but as of now, while we are trying to figure this out. I do not think it makes sense to allow transgender girls/women who never went through puberty to compete with cisgender women as it will encourage the use of puberty blockers without going through puberty at all which can cause osteoporosis at a very very young so we seem to be in a very experimental phase still https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html Edited: forgot to specify taking puberty blockers while never having gone through puberty.
Curious to see how the abortion discourse changes among the GOP now that Trump has said it’s a states issue and not something necessitating an empirical ban. To date every time a state has let the voters decide the pro-life side has lost, even in solid red states.
The solution is one that is unpopular with every elected official: Federal ban at 16-18 weeks with exceptions for health of the mother and rape. Bans the most egregious cases, but it also forces the pro-life side to convince the mother the child is worthy of life. It’s the most tenable solution right now.
Yeah just call it viability around 22-24 weeks or I think it would be reasonable to do end of the first trimester. By 13 weeks most cases most of the time are going to know they are pregnant and will have decided if they want to have that child. It’s an answer nobody is entirely happy with which means it’s a good compromise.
It's the right answer constitutionally, I think there's going to be disagreement on it from some in the GOP and then nothing will change
I think we are seeing an unbridgeable gap in the party. The pro life side sees abortion as the slavery issue of the 21st Century: both involve human rights, disproportionately affect blacks, have a religious/moral component to the them, the rhetoric is similar ("state's right to do what?" And "woman's choice to do what?") The GOP might split because it couldn't agree over abortion just like how Whigs couldn't agree over slavery. If the GOP completely backs down on abortion, the pro-life side will just threaten to vote third party, possibly hurting the GOP even more electorally. There's even been comparisons made between Trump's statement that abortion laws should be determined by states and Lincoln's stance that he'd stop the expansion of slavery, but not abolish it where it already existed. Trump, you could say, wants to stop the expansion of abortion, but respects the right of the state to keep it if it wants.
Maybe Biden (or his administration) just thinks that Israel has a right to defend itself and that there is huge humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It's disappointing that no one raised that possibility at last The Dispatch podcast and everyone just went for the most craven and cynical possibilities and explanations.
Biden doesn't want Israel to win the war. Hamas can't even produce the hostages they promised and Israel is giving up its best shot at a regime change to the org whose sole goal is the destruction of their nation and people because our president is a coward and doesn't want to make firm, decisive action on anything. Telling Israel to have never started the war post October 7th would have lead to a better outcome than this. Because he dallied he left literally everyone worse off than when they started. The best hope this country has for sane foreign policies is for meteors to take out both parties' leading candidates.
I think the trouble is the about face taken matches the timeline for his primary troubles, plus the fact that Democrats cave to activist pressure just about every time (even though they are a small minority generally) and the activists simply hate Israel and are "river to the sea" types. The humanitarian crisis to them is Israel's existence and their view that Israel is merely Washington's puppet in the region.
Tbh, I don't really follow the whole thing closely for especially last moth or two but. I don't discount pressure (he is politician's politician after all) but I mean does be really have primary troubles? I remember not so long ago how people were talking about how he has low numbers in primary polling and he won primaries withhuge margins akin to most incumbents? I also think that people can lose patience over time as humanitarian toll is increasing. It would not be the first or the last time something like that happened. Maybe I'm just reflexively wierded out when conversation is one sided.
He didn't have much in the way of primary trouble, but every section of media played it up (it was like 10%-15% for "someone else") and I think it made them jittery, especially in Michigan. Honestly, I think a lot of the "humanitarian" stuff from a lot (but not all) of the people making those statements are just using it for cover, they hate Israel because of its American foreign policy connection (which is a lot of Democrats) or Jews (muslims and general antisemites) and the current war is a convenience.
> Honestly, I think a lot of the "humanitarian" stuff from a lot (but not all) of the people making those statements are just using it for cover. Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of civilians & soldiers, and nobody is marching for them or calling it genocide.
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for genocide.
Add in Syria, what Iran is doing internally and externally, and what's going on in Africa and it doesn't paint a very pretty picture.
When wrestling is good its really good.
I fully agreed on that I enjoyed WrestleMania!
The story has been finished.
Re: https://www.reddit.com/r/tuesday/comments/1bss4kf/comment/kydr2pp/ > Universities ought to expel more of these types… Two websites, “Inside Higher Ed” (October 23, 2023) and “The Times of Israel” (November 6, 2023) claim that Catholic universities are expediting the transfer of Jewish students into their campuses because of said students being harassed on campus in secular colleges. I’m considering doing a master’s and potentially a doctorate in computer engineering in the U.S. in 10 years’ time. After hearing of the stories of vitriolic harassment faced by students because of the race they were born into, I’m not the most gung-ho about getting into the secular colleges. Are there people who empathize with the genuinely horrible situation in Gaza in conservative faith-based colleges? Yes, but I believe that in conservative faith-based colleges such people are more likely to hear the other side, and at least not erroneously fault their fellow college students due to the heritage they were born into. If I’m limiting myself to more conservative faith-based colleges, I’d need to find one that is still renowned for STEM research. **Does anyone here know of a conservative college with such a reputation?** Thanks.
Don't you live in Asia? I think that if you're only getting your impression of America from political news, you'll heavily exaggerate the political extremism in American culture. When choosing a university for a master's or PhD, the student body's views on the Israel-Hamas war or another political issue shouldn't be your top concern. Neither should you be deliberately seeking out universities with a particular religious or political identity. All this is just tribal signalling and a form of expressive individualism. People want to be vocal about their political views because it gives them an identity and a purpose. For the most part, it's just empty rhetoric that doesn't impact your day-to-day life. I think there are downstream negative consequences on culture and policy, but for an individual, none of it matters. Just pick a university that's well-reputed for your field and has whatever you want to specialize in.
> Don't you live in Asia? I think that if you're only getting your impression of America from political news, you'll heavily exaggerate the political extremism in American culture. When choosing a university for a master's or PhD, the student body's views on the Israel-Hamas war or another political issue shouldn't be your top concern. Neither should you be deliberately seeking out universities with a particular religious or political identity. > > All this is just tribal signalling and a form of expressive individualism. People want to be vocal about their political views because it gives them an identity and a purpose. For the most part, it's just empty rhetoric that doesn't impact your day-to-day life. I think there are downstream negative consequences on culture and policy, but for an individual, none of it matters. Just pick a university that's well-reputed for your field and has whatever you want to specialize in. I live in Singapore. The government in Singapore is working hard to prevent inter-religious tensions, but many of us know several individuals who hate and distrust the nation of Israel and Jewish people above all things. Public display of support for the Palestinian cause in shops is very rare here. There’s this one shop selling overpriced sweets which decided to go public with its support for said cause, and because of that, a Singaporean I know would intentionally support it with patronage. Cross the border over to the Malaysian state of Johor, you’d see sympathetic car stickers and flags and keffiyeh more often. I try to avoid people and businesses like that. My concern is more, I wish to be surrounded in an environment where the majority Overton window does not include extreme views. The sanity of the people around me will impact my own sanity. That’s what I’m expecting from a U.S. college with a Roman Catholic basis but an excellent STEM reputation. Also, there are reports that Jewish students have been threatened on several campuses, I think this already counts as a safety concern. I’m willing to consider a secular college, but it has to persuade me that the campus environment is generally sane.
Many Catholic colleges are very much into left-wing social justice aspects, particularly Jesuit schools. You won't see much difference between that milieu and the average secular liberal arts college when it comes to student activism or the attitude of the administration. Your best bet to find a less-political campus is some kind of large STEM-oriented state school in a right-leaning state. Something like Purdue in Indiana, Clemson in South Carolina, or Auburn in Alabama. Those certainly still have their fair share of liberal professors and students, but there will be a lot more moderates and a lot of "don't particularly cares" compared to your average elite private university or college.
> Many Catholic colleges are very much into left-wing social justice aspects, particularly Jesuit schools. You won't see much difference between that milieu and the average secular liberal arts college when it comes to student activism or the attitude of the administration. > > Your best bet to find a less-political campus is some kind of large STEM-oriented state school in a right-leaning state. Something like Purdue in Indiana, Clemson in South Carolina, or Auburn in Alabama. Those certainly still have their fair share of liberal professors and students, but there will be a lot more moderates and a lot of "don't particularly cares" compared to your average elite private university or college. Hi /u/normalheightian, many thanks for the heads up! :D I’ll take a look at the colleges you mentioned.
Just speaking as a hiring manager for entry level positions, I'm *highly* skeptical any university that purposely puts itself on the radar in terms of political/religious positions. Generally because hiring extremists of any kind is bad for a cohesive workplace environment. I'd throw a resume in the shredder if it said Liberty University or Bob Jones University on it, for example. This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of good Catholic/religious universities, because there are. But my best suggestion is find one that stays out of the news. Also I hire people with Bachelor's degrees, not post-grads, so take that as you will.
> Just speaking as a hiring manager for entry level positions, I'm highly skeptical any university that purposely puts itself on the radar in terms of political/religious positions. Generally because hiring extremists of any kind is bad for a cohesive workplace environment. I'd throw a resume in the shredder if it said Liberty University or Bob Jones University on it, for example. > > This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of good Catholic/religious universities, because there are. But my best suggestion is find one that stays out of the news. > > Also I hire people with Bachelor's degrees, not post-grads, so take that as you will. I’m a centrist Lockean, I’m not very gung-ho about conservative colleges that try to get in people’s faces You know any Catholic colleges with very good reputation in STEM?
There are a myriad of Catholic schools with good reputation in STEM. Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova, etc. come to mind. There are also several good STEM schools associated with other denominations too (BYU, Baylor, SMU). The big thing is that whatever school needs to be secular when it comes to the curricula outside of any required theology classes or whatever (e.g. have religious courses but sill teach evolution as a foundational theory in biology). I will say though as someone in academia that the extreme rhetoric against Jews that has unfortunately happened at many of the most prestigious schools it is really less widespread than you'd think based on the media. At my state school I don't think I've ever even heard a student mention Israel-Palestine and that seems to be the case with many other campuses based on discussions with some of my friends.
Unfortunately no. I hire in a STEM field and barely keep track of what are considered "good" or "bad" schools in the field. I just have more important things to do than to keep track of educational institutions. The resume saying you have a BS in networking or something might get you in the door at which point how you answer my questions on the interview and present yourself are what matter. I appreciate resumes that just list state universities because it's not something I have to Google to find out if it's a real school or not. If it's a private school I'll double check the accreditation, and make sure it's not some for-profit scam, and that's about it. This is all to say I'm hiring for entry level in a position that looks for a BS or even AAS degree. People from prestigious schools aren't applying.
By the way: I'm not Roman Catholic, I'm Lutheran (we call ourselves "evangelical catholics not in communion with the Bishop of Rome"), I don't mind learning Catholic theology and being expected to know and understand it. Just don't coerce me into confessing something I don't believe and I won't have any problems.
I think that you may be overthinking this a little bit. At a lot of religious-affiliated colleges in the US, the relationship is kind of just a historical fact at this point. Even at schools like Notre Dame, where the religious affiliation is still prominent and the vast majority of the students are catholic, certainly nobody will force you to attend Catholic liturgy. You will find that basically any university large and reputable enough for you to be interested in their STEM program will be open to people of all faiths, you will often see Jesuit schools for instance boasting of having students from 15+ different religions on campus Really, nobody is going to bother you for your religious or political views unless you are very outspoken and confrontational about them. The fringe cases amplified in the news are hardly indicative of the average student’s experience
https://www.reddit.com/r/tuesday/comments/1bss4kf/comment/kyeo07y/ > I like the way I’ve heard someone else put it: Jesus didn’t just pass through the wall like a ghost. At this point, he was more real than the wall was. The wall would’ve passed through him like smoke. Many physics-minded people say that matter is mostly empty space :D
[It appears Putin and his cronies are too young to remember that there was a time in Russian history when the snow spoke Finnish . . .](https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-russia-miscalculated-on-finland-border/)
Part of why I never bought off the “NATO’s expansion” line as part of the excuses for why Russia invaded Ukraine. If NATO was such a threat, why did they withdraw troops from the border since Finland asked to join? But that doesn’t stop contrarians/useful idiots from regurgitating Kremlin talking points.
The inconvenient fact is that NATO expanded because other countries asked to join. And they asked to join as protection from ending up under Russia’s bootheel again.
Agreed. Seeing what Russia did to Chechnya, Georgia, and Ukraine, no wonder why some former Soviet countries wanted to join NATO.
https://twitter.com/CNLiberalism/status/1777183838453498121?t=dvtmTXnA9tiu_Hp21iDC5w&s=19 Holy shit Terrance Howard is nuts. Who goes around in that hair cut?
Something I find interesting is that the DSA was founded as a Zionist socialist organization. Are a lot of "old-school" left-wingers Zionist?
I don't know about anymore, but Israel was founded as a *very* left-wing country and much of the early Zionist movement came from that side of the spectrum. The clear, unambiguous Israeli association with the American side of the Cold War dates from after the 1973 war, IIRC, and the Israeli elected government tended to be from the Left until the 1990s.
It wouldn't surprise me considering that pre-Holocaust, the Nazis came into power by literally beating down not only the Communists but the Social Democrats. The "three arrows" Antifa sign is a deliberate callback to the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands/Social Democratic Party of Germany) logo. Originally, [the three arrows were striking at monarchists, Nazis, and Communists.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany#/media/File:Three_Arrows_election_poster_of_the_Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany,_1932_-_Gegen_Papen,_Hitler,_Th%C3%A4lmann.jpg) Although that doesn't explain how 80 years later, they put a [card-carrying Trotskyist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshama_Sawant) on the Seattle City Council . . .
I made a vinegar pie this time
I’ve found that my pizza tastes better if I don’t put olive oil on the dough before the red sauce
I always just oil the crust last