kerneloftruth

I keep hoping that we reach and pass Peak Woke, but I think we're still not there. Journalism (capital J) has been thoroughly damaged by it, as is evident in so many magazines, newspapers, sites, channels, etc.

I'm optimistic that there will be a renaissance of objective Journalism, and eager for it to happen.

I drink alone, and have decided it's the best path for me (YMMV).

I see alcohol as a "frenemy", of which I'm OK with so long as I remain leery of it. There is no "healthy" amount of alcohol to consume -- it's basically poison. Rather, I see it as "not ununhealthy" to consume small amounts, in strict moderation. For me, that's at most 2 Ol' Fashions on weekends (Fri,Sat,Sun) - each measured (1.5 oz). I want no daily relationship with it, and I also want no drinking buddies (where drinking is a purpose/sub-purpose being together). I don't want to talk about booze, or times spent drinking. Outside of that, my strict rule is: alcohol is never allowed for stress relief, only for celebration.

I think this view and rule set make me a pretty boring, weird drinking companion for others, anyway, so it's likely best for all. I grew up with alcoholism destroying lives all around me, which I guess led me to distrust it. I regard it as healthy distrust.

A general rule I've found to be very true is: if you can't explain a concept to somebody else fully, clearly, and concisely -- then you don't _really_ understand the concept yourself (i.e. if you can't explain it to a 5 year old, then you don't really understand it).

"Imagine ... that they're not very good at articulating what the intuitively feel to be right about web3. When they talk about decentralization it much less about technology than routing around the central locus of control that serve as gatekeepers to keep people down."

And this describes exactly people who haven't really thought through the web3 concept -- especially indicated by the emotional perspectives of "feels rights" that the status quo is filled with "gatekeepers to keep people down". This makes it seem like a trend amongst the cool kids, which to me is what it actually is at this point.

I took a LISP class in graduate school in the late 1980s, and dialed up to their VAX on a 300 baud modem from my commodore 64. Ah 40 character lines crawling across the TV/monitor. It felt powerful!

"It’s time for us to do what we have been doing, and that time is every day." -- Kamala Harris, January 2022

Yes -- I almost stopped early in the article at "the deadly attack".

It was a disgusting action taken by the mob, but the nation heals more if the press acts _honestly_. Media bias (especially on that story) only divides and embitters people.

I think they're also sending a message: Censor more! (because the mid-terms are coming).

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. University isn't for everyone, and thankfully many instead pursue skilled trades (which benefits society as well as the tradesman).

If the mantra is that everyone should go to university, then it becomes an extension of high school, and the credentials less valuable... and mostly the student loan industry thrives.

The White House seems laser focused on issues that are not that important to most people. Yes, "cyber security" is always relevant -- but what is accomplished by a high-profile photo op meeting like this? What does the White House/Executive branch really have to offer? Next week, is there going to be a high-profile meeting with cereal makers to discuss nutrition? I mean, that's important too I guess...

Retail is where the greatest churn is happening -- and it makes perfect sense. Between shutdowns, layoffs, having to enforce mask rules on customers, having to deal with customers, smash and grabs,... retail seems like one of the worst job experiences to have, and with shaky job stability.

When were we, as a society, so generous and selfless that we created products without a profit (or other reward) motive?

It's great to have exceptions like the wordle guy -- but the norm is perfectly fine, too.

Yes, and the high achiever will be further blunted by seniority-based promotion practices.

If FAANG-type companies unionize, one can see a possible positive outcome for the smaller competitors, as the quality talent will leave $BIGCO for better opportunities in the smaller companies.

You do not need LinkedIn. I closed my account there early last year, and have never regretted it or feel that I miss out on anything. Instead, needless distraction has been removed. I was on LinkedIn for 12 years, and never once got a consulting gig from it; rather, those all came from colleagues, Craigslist, and DICE. I looked for new opportunities this past autumn, and found _plenty_ without LinkedIn.

YMMV, and for me a key factor is that LI is heavily slanted to full-time employment. For consultants, its value proposition isn't so great.

Good luck!

Cloth masks satisfy those policing people to wear a mask. For me, that's 100% effective.

Here, you're supposed to see convicts solely as victims. I noticed, too, that he's specific about courses he's taking, but vague about the crimes -- and detect no remorse whatsoever.

What he does describe sounds like he does indeed want to work, and I hope he finds an employer, somewhere.

They're very advanced in that effort. Their relationship with US media is deep, and the messaging US audiences see and hear is very soft on China and the CCP. Where is the Hollywood movie that criticizes their behavior at all? I can think of none.

Xi has great ambitions outside China, whereas our attentions have turned inward. With us seeing the adversary as being within our own ranks, he has a distracted and weakened opponent.

"I'm all for stopping new variants of COVID"

That's very likely not even possible[1]; and, it not being realistic, would be a waste of time, effort, and money. There are lots of corona viruses that we have never stopped, and we live with via herd immunity, hygiene, and therapeutics[2].

[1] https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/11/05/covid-why-we-will-never...

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/general-information.html

Which reminds me of a quote from Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile":

“Take the Pyramids. Great blocks of useless masonry, put up to minister to the egoism of a despotic bloated king. Think of the sweated masses who toiled to build them and died doing it. It makes me sick to think of the suffering and torture they represent."

Mrs. Allerton said cheerfully: "You’d rather have no Pyramids, no Parthenon, no beautiful tombs or temples—just the solid satisfaction of knowing that people got three meals a day and died in their beds."

The young man directed his scowl in her direction. "I think human beings matter more than stones.”

I can relate to what the author is saying. I stopped my PhD program after having completed all coursework, and right as I was beginning the work on my dissertation. I had a great pair of professors as my main advisors, who frankly asked "Why? Why are you pursuing this PhD?". My answer was that I felt that I would enjoy and thrive doing "pure research". Their feedback was very honest and frank: "but we hardly ever get to do any pure research". They went on about faculty politics, hours spent writing grant proposals, hustling to get published, ..., and how teaching students is actually a pain (if one really wanted to do research) after a relatively short time.

That was 1993, and the exploding new world of opportunities in working on _actual_ distributed systems (my dissertation topic area) in the newly forming "Internet Era" were real and exciting. Those opportunities, juxtaposed with my advisors' depictions of academia, made the choice easier. I felt very grateful to get such honest insight. For years I wondered/worried if I would regret abandoning all the work I had done, and it felt uncomfortable having not finished a goal I had set. By 10 years after, though, I had no regrets or worries remaining.

Getting people fired from their jobs because they didn't want the vax is a form of state power. State power is ultimately backed up with police and prisons, where violence by them on you is legal.

"For more than a year, I did everything that public-health authorities told me to do. I wore masks. I canceled vacations. I made sacrifices. I got vaccinated. I got boosted. I’m happy to get boosted again. But this virus doesn’t stop. Year over year, the infections don’t decrease. Instead, virulence for people like me is decreasing, either because the virus is changing, or because of growing population immunity, or both. Americans should stop pointlessly guilting themselves about all these cases."

Yes, indeed. It's time for people to resume critical thinking regarding this, and not be guided by "lizard brain" level fear responses. The virus has evolved, we've learned more, we know who to protect the most -- time to adapt.

Exactly. It's been a recognizable trend since the 1970s, at least. Really, since the start of the medical insurance industry.

It was the information given to people, by the very experts they're taught to look to for truth, to convince them to get the vaccine. It's really more than a promise, in fact -- it's a statement that said "we have studied this, and are convinced that it's 95% effective". Further, the efficacy was not stated as a range, with a lower bound of 50% or less. Rather, we were told _it works_. The CDC director saying last Spring "if you've gotten both doses, you cannot catch Covid, and you cannot spread Covid" was not an intentional lie -- but it was a promise made very clearly, but unfortunately overly optimistic.

This article makes me more glad than ever that I saved all my old Stinkpads (a name I use cynically, yet affectionately). They're the only brand of laptop I've used since when they were made by IBM. I have 8 or so now. None of them quit working -- all replaced just because I wanted a newer model. Reliability and Linux readiness has never really been an issue (except the normal Nvidia driver issues). These, along with a stash of IBM M-101 keyboards keeps my ergonomics consistent since the 90s.

Yes, that's what was promised. https://www.va.gov/pittsburgh-health-care/news-releases/va-r...

...many more like that if you search.

Not ineffective, but far less effective than what was promised and expected. They're helpful, it's true.

They're basically saying the same words in response. I think those who wish to be vaccinated have already done so.

Given how the reality of it has unfolded, it's fascinating (horrifying) to see the continued hysteria: one _must_ take the vaccine invented less than 2 years ago, that has been available for only a year, whose makers are immune from litigation re: unforeseen effects, is far less effective than it was first promised to be, and where even triple-dosed people catch Covid, regardless. It's super bizarre to see the desire/demand to vaccinate children with the brand-new drug...as young as 5!?!

As the virus evolves, our experience with it increases, the reality of the vaccines becoming clearer (they help, but not as much as we hoped for), and therapeutics become more available -- mandates that require vaccines seem less valid. It's appropriate to reconsider them, like _all emergency powers_. I'm actually hoping the SCOTUS knocks down the OSHA mandates. It's bad precedent to grant an agency such powers via fiat (executive order); and, what's being mandated is not at all what we thought it was.

It sounds like most French citizens and the media are correct in that view.

For you though, the Nazis invaded and occupied France, taking over the ports. The US bombs them to stop their takeover of France... and it's the US you blame?

If your house catches fire and you call the fire department to put it out, do you then blame the fire department for the water damage caused while putting it out?

Covid-19 taught me that I want absolutely nothing to do with reckless Gain of Function experimentation done secretly in government research laboratories, and to [fruitlessly] seek transparency and honesty regarding any such research done to date.

Headmelted's head melted.