For the past weeks I have been mulling over a very interesting PhD position, which came to a conclusion yesterday. Last Thursday I had an interview with professors because I was selected as one of the best five out of more than 50 applications. I had my reservations, and they had a bunch of good questions. My takeaway was that the position is about as good as a PhD position can get: a full ride, stipend and benefits, a nice faculty and plenty of collaborations and conferences to do. And I could probably pull it off, too, if I wanted to dive into it. If. Over the weekend I came to the realization that I still felt an enormous barrier to say yes, even after most of my reservations had been resolved. If there's nothing wrong with the position and I still don't want to jump at the opportunity it's probably just not for me. I realized that I can do it but I didn't want it enough - I just couldn't get excited for the position. Maybe it's the narrowness of the topic that I like but don't love, maybe it's the prospect of four years of data juggling and insipid writing, or maybe it's because I still don't feel at home in this city. Probably a combination of the three. So yesterday morning I wanted to contact the professor when I saw that he already tried to call me. Turns out that they already decided to give the position to someone else! I had the best application and they would've chosen me, were it not that one guy with a similar background had multiple years of experience in transportation modelling and data analysis over me. We came to the conclusion that a part-time PhD in a topic that I care more about would fit me much better. Maybe some day, who knows. I'm also in talks with a bunch of companies. I have one offer in already, two more to come soon-ish. The common denominator in these conversations is bringing into focus what I think I want to do: innovating with geodata in urban problems, bridging the gap between technicians and urban planning experts. Over the last year I've already done that a few times in my consultancy gig and I'm starting to realize it's one of my best and most valuable skills. And I like doing it! Now I just gotta find the best spot to do that. Right now I am working really hard (well, if I'm not on Hubski that is) on getting my thesis up to snuff. I need to hand it in before the next Pubski for my greenlight meeting that I have in two weeks. If it's good enough I will graduate just before Christmas. I've written 4 out of 6 chapters which was the bulk of the writing. I'm creating a ton of graphs and maps to visualize my results and sensitivity analysis. Praise the lawd for matplotlib and automated mapmaking...
I wish you the best of luck. I am the WORST in negotiations. It's definitely a blindspot for me. We should convince TNG to do a negotiatingwiththenewgreen series...
Yes please! It does feel like selling, but I'm selling myself. My tactic so far (note that I am entirely improvising this) is to 1. get them to understand my value, 2. keeping the conversation on my terms (I want to be the one to make the final calls), and 3. to understand that information is the most valuable thing in a negotiation, especially any expectations about money and terms. Oh and to realize that an uncomfortable conversation now is worth the long term benefits every time. But who knows, I might panic if they play a tough game...
Negotiate from a position of strength. If you have options, you have strength. That said, don't over-optimize. A lesson I have learned the hard way. Dont let perfect be the enemy of good. A good opportunity in the right hands can turn in to a perfect one. Lots of platitudes here :) Good luck my friend.
Dala, some knitting. A hat, made with this pattern. Probably the most complex knitting I've done so far. Some fingerknit leg warmers. Half a scarf. Brioche knit. --------------------------- I've started working 35 hours a week at the preschool. That is too long. 9 hours today, 13 kids. --------------------------- I'm 23 today.
Happy birthday, youngster. Your knitting work is awesome. I dig the hat.
Happy Birthday! I love that hat. I have not knitted any hats yet but I have purchased yarn with the intent to turn it into a hat, actually I have a couple of balls of yarn with knitted hat plans attached them. Yay legwarmers! I have yet to make any myself, but I have a few pairs that I have bought, mainly from sock dreams. I admit that I am not familiar with the term fingerknit. Is that somehow doing knitting with your hands but no needles? I really like the color of the brioche scarf. That is a technique I have heard of but not tried, it seems like it is maybe more difficult than I am ready for. I will have to take some pics of the stuff I am working on and post them for you later. Right now I have a 42lb mutt who thinks she's a lap dog making sure I don't need any legwarmers for the moment. XD
Here's the video I used to learn brioche, I think it's actually pretty easy once you have it set up. The scarf is knit using just one repeating row, you should give it a shot! Here's a good finger knitting video - I've used it to make a hat, but you can use it to make any roughly circular object you want. A bonus is that, because of how tactile the process is, you can fingerknit without looking once you've got a bit of practice. I actually knit (one of) those legwarmers while watching a movie at my local theater. My next finger knitting project is a Haramaki, AKA a belly warmer. I'd love to see what you're working on! And also puppy pictures.
Guys! I did a double backflip!! Tomorrow is the final round of interviews for the internship I applied to at Morgan Stanley. Three back-to-back-to-back interviews and then a group activity. I completed my suit yesterday. Have a date tonight. I'm kind of killing it right now. I'm wondering if I should take a late night studio art class next semester. It'll keep me on campus from 6-10pm, and I live half an hour away. On the one hand, it's on the bucket list to take a studio art class in college. On the other, next semester is going to be tough as it is. I've registered for it while I deliberate. I think I'm gonna have to bake on this one for a few weeks.
I almost thought you were going for it... until you turned around, and I thought... there's not an athlete in the world who can throw down a double back flip from standing.... not to mention from a beam. but you did solicit a hearty chuckle on this otherwise normal Wednesday afternoon...Guys! I did a double backflip!!
I agonize over shit like this. It'll affect an 18-week period of commuting. Which isn't terribly long, but I love soliciting opinions. That said, the unresolved questions regarding the decision have everything to do with what the class is like, which as you said I'll figure out in due time. I could even audit it since I don't need the credits.
Congrats on the double backflip. That's quite the accomplishment. Your form is amazing. It was inspiring to watch such poise in motion. You're like a later day Mary Lou Retton. Also, fuck you too :-)
Try this on for size: You are rigorously focused on achievement and expansion of your knowledgebase. You are an eager and voracious learner. The majority of your attention seems to be given over towards pursuits that - and I don't know Poland - are atypical of the interests of most teenagers I've ever met. I would hypothesize that your interests more closely align with what your professors and elders wish kids did than what kids actually do. It's entirely possible that you spend every Friday and Saturday night playing beer pong'n'date rape but I'm gonna go out on a limb and presume that you portray yourself fairly faithfully on here. There's a very real chance, then, that your existence - from their perspective - is as a constant reminder of the achievements and focus that they are actively eschewing. I'm not going to tell you to change. However, if you spend a little while analyzing how they spend their days vs. how you spend your days, I suspect you'll detect a difference. More than that, I'll bet your reaction to cataloguing their days has a hint or two of "why would I waste my time with such infantile detritus?" Fundamentally, you have a different value system than your peers. They... can detect this. If you would like to get along better with them, you have to adopt some of their values. The drums are a great step in this direction. Now I'm almost curious enough to try and find out why so many people are hostile toward me or outright snap.
I'm gonna write that down somewhere on my body and read it whenever applicable. I'm sure there's an IPA symbol for the throat giggle.
Pro tip: send that audio anytime anyone invites you to hang out anywhere. Guaranteed to work. That giggle at the end is just perfect! Another Pro tip: If you get shitfaced, parties and clubs become very fun! More Wódki please! Last Pro tip: Take all advice on the internet with a grain of salt ;) But seriously, that audio made me giggle too.
If you want to do things 'properly', I recommend spending some time learning basic snare drum rudiments. And then have a go at some snare drum only pieces/exercises. This is because when you move on to the full kit and start playing beats and fills, you're quite often just playing those same rudiments, but now over multiple drums and cymbals. As such, having that foundation in your muscle memory will stand you in good stead. It should help you develop with more consistency.Yup. That's all mine now! Now, all I have to do is to figure out how to play the drums.
Adding on: please please please take lessons if it's at all possible. I taught myself for ~2 years before finding a real drum teacher and I had to do so much unlearning. Not to mention how much more quickly I progressed with my teacher's guidance: I can't afford lessons now and my skills have almost totally stagnated.
I can't drum a bit, proficient in a few instruments but talentless at drums. I used to hang out with a few great drummers and noticed some habits that seemed to drive their craft. All three of them would strip their kits down to snare, high hat and kick every few months. The stripped down intervals really seemed to focus their styles and skills. They all spent a time practicing on just snare and high hat as well.
Devac please disregard my advice and follow this instead.
Oh god, drums are the best. There's one drum beat that pretty much opens up the ability to play most beats once you get the hang of it. It's the drumming equivalent of patting your head with one hand and rubbing your belly in circles with the other without them affecting each other: (High hat)- x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x--- (snare)---- ----o-------o-------o-------o--- (kick drum) O-------O-O-----O-------O-O----- (drum notation is my own because the alternative idea I had was to beat box it and upload it to soundcloud) It just occurred to me that I've never seen you lose at chess before. The moves that gave you the most centipawn loss look so sensible at first glance. I need to start taking chess more seriously. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is pretty much a book of stories by the author about all the times he chose to not correct people when they were wrong. Not that you shouldn't correct people, but know that you can make a shit ton of money by writing a book about all the times you didn't correct people.
My bad, I didn't mean to suggest you shouldn't have corrected him. I definitely would done so too- bl00 has the idea covered better. Also, please don't read that book, I do not want you associating that book with me. Wait- show me that game. Even if you didn't know en passant was a real thing, I find it hard to believe that you would have gotten yourself into a losing position without knowing that rule.
Sweet drumset, man. That's amazing. The game of chess has always fascinated me, but I never had the patience or the attention span to do good with it. I know I'd break down quickly if I were to play for anything other than fun and friendly competition. Congratulations on the results. You may feel like you're failing yourself, but the truth is, you're excelling magnificently. Keep your chin up, and good luck next time. |Now I'm almost curious enough to try and find out why so many people are hostile toward me or outright snap. Could it be because you're on the spectrum?Still, in a tournament that's 11 rounds long, I think that I'm one point away from beating my personal best.
Because you think I'm "calling" you "out", as if it's some kind of an insult -- here at Hubski, of all places? No. I'm just trying to come up with a possible solution to a long-term problem. I'm no expert, but outside perspective could never hurt. I don't care if you're autistic, which you've just said you provably aren't -- but before I knew that, I thought you might.that's a tad uncalled for
Sorry. I was trying to say "autistic" just isn't a very creative insult. I know it sucks. If it helps though, it's just a sign you're kind of kicking ass, because your success makes them feel so vulnerable they have to make up dismissive conclusions about you to help their ego. Keep your head up man, shit like this tends to smooth out the older you get. People become nicer, you develop thicker skin, your perspective changes, etc. If it helps, I still think you're awesome.
Not to worry. Just so you know: I may very well be as straightforward in suggesting solutions to the problems as you are. For future reference, consider that I might be helping you solve something before you think I attack you.
or, "I'm seeing a problem here. Do you want to tell me why you did it that way?" or some other question. If the other person says yes, you have their buy in. How did you begin that encounter?Now I'm almost curious enough to try and find out why so many people are hostile toward me or outright snap.
Giving feedback is a delicate dance. People are automatically defensive. Did you first say, "Would you be willing to talk about this math problem here?" Give the person a choice.
I'm currently writing a novel for NaNoWriMo. It isn't going to be great. Maybe it isn't even going to be good -- but I'm writing it anyway, because writing something is better than writing nothing. It takes a lot of effort to simply keep writing every day. I'm already stressed from the rest of the life, and the looming deadline and the massive wordcount required aren't providing the escapism one might expect. I haven't written in several months, and this jumping right into it makes me even more anxious. Is this what taking responsibility for an actual, life-changing undertaking feels like? If I succeed, this is going to be the first novel for me. I've written one-page short stories before, when life hasn't started throwing responsibilities at me yet, but this is another level entirely. I've never finished a project before. If this succeeds -- if I put out a novel, no matter how bad it might end up -- this is going to be a life-changing experience... if I start doing things differently. It's the science of life: you have a theory about the way things are supposed to work. You test it by organizing a massive poll, the kinds you've never done before. If your theory is proven successful, things are going to change for you in ways you never thought were possible. I'm frustrated with my own inability to do things I want to do, whether it's from depression, poor work ethics, laziness or plain apathy from life weariness. This is my opportunity to prove those deep-seated assumption and habits wrong.
Oh, I've tried that. I've tried everything there is in the book. Right now, I'm motivated by the sheer anger at the disappointment my results have continued to prove so far. It's not a mindset issue. I want to do it. I just can't, -- which is what led to believe depression to be at least one of the issues.
Procrastination is the problem I'm working on right now- my aha moment was that I have a huge fear of disappointment, because disappointment sucks ups the fun of the actually finishing. At least, it gets really hard for me to work on something once the deadline has already past, and thinking about it, that's what usually happens whenever I try Nanowrimo.
I am extremely not a fan of NaNoWriMo. You're outlining exactly what's wrong with it - "if I vomit words on a page I will have a book." And you're outlining exactly why it's wrong - "is this real life?" If you folded a thousand paper cranes, at least you'd have a thousand paper cranes when you were done. You could put them on a wall and people would go "cool! A thousand paper cranes! That must have been a lot of work!" If you knitted a blanket, you could wrap yourself up in it and go "and now I have something to keep myself warm." More importantly, if that blanket started to look like ass you'd go "hmm. I should probably start the last eight rows over because this thing is starting to look like a fishing net." But with NanoWriMo it's always about "oh god don't revise or else you'll never make it to our arbitrary goal!" Thing of it is? You're either going to know better than to subject your friends to your "novel" or you're going to make things awkward. Either way, nobody is going to enjoy it. And here you are, putting the weight of the world on a ridiculous word-vomit draft that has nothing whatsoever to do with your core competencies, because everyone is doing it. Has it ever struck you as weird that there's no "national novel reading month?"
Only backward countries would do such a thing. It's advertised in all schools and libraries, fairly popular at that. It's the fifth* year when November is our national reading month. While it lasts you get access to free books and audiobooks and is sponsored by our Ministry of Culture. * - I initially wrote 'second', but was mistaken. It started in 2013Has it ever struck you as weird that there's no "national novel reading month?"
You've managed to turn "extremely not a fan" into an understatement. Here's an idea. Stop writing. Don't allow yourself to write anything for the next 30 days, not even notes in the notebook (well, maybe... but only when you feel like it). Keep telling yourself it's tedious and just too big of a job to start now, and that you'll definitely start once you feel like really writing. Start fantasizing about the things you could be writing about -- all those great stories, and all those particularly spectacular moments that express the characters perfectly and drive the plot in the most natural way... The people you describe in that quote? That's me. And this is my opportunity to finish something. Is it going to be shit? I don't think so; that's not the way I write things. I'm not even sure it's going to be -- but in the end, at least I know I gave it a decent effort. Besides. Nobody's saying I should stop at the end of November, or that I can't edit it further.NaNyNaNyNooNoo is the worst piece of shit waste of time I have ever encountered.
I find that it is largely entertained by people without the stamina to finish anything
I do not believe there was ever a time where I was inspired to write all those particularly spectacular moments down in a notebook. Writing has always been this spiteful thing I do better than other people to make them STFU. Eventually it became this thing people thought I could do for money, then it became this thing people paid me to do. I haven't written in eight months. I've been waiting to hear back from my agent, and it's been ridiculous just getting her a goddamn draft. I'll say this - as someone who has always been externally motivated to write, y'all are fucking insane if you really think that if you want it bad enough you'll get it. Or, more importantly, that if you arrange your life in this way or that you'll accomplish something you wouldn't accomplish otherwise. Write for an audience. Write to respect their time. Write in a way that they want to read it. Write to put your ideas in their head. Write for as long as it takes, for as long as you're productive, then stop. Because - and here's the bitch of it - if you are dependent on contrived deadlines and forces to get you to write, you will never truly write. I once wrote 15,000 words of a screenplay on a flight from Japan to San Francisco. It got me signed to William Morris. But hey - I know a guy who once wrote a 20,000 word screenplay in 2 days because he showed 5 loglines to a prospective agent and she asked to read the one he hadn't written. You can keep going. You can edit it further. You can do all these things. But good god, man. If you have any respect for yourself don't swaddle your craft in a smothering blanket of metooism.
Where do you find the stuff you read? What do you like about it? Figure out how those outlets get their material. If it's magazines, they probably accept submissions. If it's novels, they probably have agents. If it's online fanfic, it's the crud that floated to the surface. WRITE THAT. Write to that length, write to satisfy that itch, and write as if you were trading vital only-get-it-once lifeforce for the act of writing it. Because you are. If there is anything you would rather be doing than writing, do that instead. Because it's not an obligation that you cream through 50,000 pages a month once a year. It's that thing that you do better than anybody you know, and that gives you a feeling unlike any other.
I've definitely realized I've never really been interested in reading someone else's Nanowrimo writing. I just try to be polite, it's still a huge accomplishment to finish that much writing at once. But my writing is fucking great, suck my dick.
It's about a young woman nicknamed "Rosa", after the flower that seemingly grows in her right eye socket. She lives in a world where, until very recently, people like her -- the Younger Nations -- lived near, though with very few contacts, people of unimaginable powers. They were titans, and the rumors of their power were magnificent. Their magic was far beyond what the Younger Nations could imagine, and the glimpses of it struck awe into the witness. Then... the titans fought among each other, and in the end, only few remnants of their living remained. The Younger Nations were not foolish, and went to seize whatever power remained for themselves. Most of whom are now known as prospectors have instead met their demise at the ruins, unaware of many dangers the titans' structures posed. Those who succeed despite those dangers are revered and misunderstood due to their nature: who if not someone with black magic in them can thrive where others fall so easily? The Younger Nations, indeed, are young enough to believe something like that. I was fascinated with Tyranny's setting: it's a fantasy world where people have only recently discovered ironworking, and where magic, while a point of study, is still an object of fascination due to its mystery. It's the Younger Nations part of Rosa's world, where the "titans" are these hyper-advanced alien people with technology according to Clarke's third law. The scientists of the Younger Nations are struggling to understand how exactly the titans' devices operate, and mostly rely on cargo cultism and superstition to operate the devices with any efficiency. After the titans have vanished into thin air -- after much thunder and lightning, so to speak -- they left behind a land ravaged with scars. It's an otherwise ordinary terrain -- surreallistically so -- that has many things of odd properties growing on it, similar to Strugatsky brothers' Roadside Picnic. It has ordinary green grass covered in white mold that, upon contact, spreads through the body and shreds the cellular structure as it goes: a continuous necrosis where the victim feels everything until the mold touches the brain. The scars is only one of the dangers a traveler -- or a prospector, for that matter -- has to evade. So, Rosa is a prospector. She dives into the ruins of the titans and brings whatever she can carry to the scientists of her nation. One day, she takes her gear and moves to the ruins again... and doesn't return the same night. Next day, by the twilight, she's limping to the city, bruised, beaten and bleeding. The last thing she remembers is trying to crawl into her house, when she loses consciousness... ...and wakes up in the middle of nowhere, with no supplies and a knife as the only tool -- and a flower growing out of where her eye's supposed to be. Amidst the sea of green grass, she has no water, no food and barely a way to orient herself. Without a way to guess which land is closer (the countries are basically circled around what used to be the titan territory, so you're likely to find someone alive if you reach the edge of the continent), she picks north and starts moving. That's what I've gotten to so far. Truth be told, I'm writing by the seat of my pants, so even I don't know what's going to happen next most of the time.
Chapbook. It's a common way for poets to put out their work. Version 1.0. I wrote it by hand and Xeroxed it. My non photo blue pencil was not non photo blue. Imma lay another one out in InDesign and use this as like a book arts project with a little bitty run. I told lil she could have that one but apparently she hasn't checked her Gmail
I've lost an inordinate number of friends to lunatics with guns. I am a gun owner, a liberal, and pro gun regulation. So I dig in to this quagmire with some regularity, searching for a way through to the other side. (The "other side" being some practical, legal way to regulate gun sales, training, and insurance, modeled kinda on car ownership.) There are two key stumbling blocks: 1. The Individual Mandate. The Supreme Court has ruled that an individual has the right to own any gun without restriction. That is the law of the land, currently. The only way to change that is to have the Supreme Court hear a case that shows the Individual Mandate to be in contravention of the Constitutional rights of Americans. I have noodled this quite a bit, but I cannot conceive of a court case where an individual's rights would supersede the rights of all Americans. (AKA - "The individual mandate so egregiously wrongs this individual that we are going to remove this Constitutional right from all other Americans.") That's just the reality of the situation. I do not currently think there is a case that could be brought before the Supreme Court that would cause them to backtrack on the Individual Mandate. So... 2. Reduce the number of guns in the wild. If we can't force people to give up their guns because of the Individual Mandate, then maybe we can incentivize people to turn in their unwanted guns, and make the transfer of ownership exquisitely difficult, and provided by few service providers. Take the example of a dealer in antiquities. They need to know the provenance of the piece they are selling. A full and reliable paper trail of ownership, going back as far as possible, so they know the object in question was not stolen from a museum, looted from a heritage site, a counterfeit, etc. Every item an antiquarian sells is highly scrutinized by multiple reliable sources, whose reputation is on the line, and who takes great pride in the work they do. There aren't many people that can look at an Egyptian figurine and determine where it came from, what it is, the chain of custody from when the item was discovered, all the way to the item sitting in the assessor's hands. Drawing the Antiquarian parallel to gun ownership: If I want to sell a gun, I need to register my desire to sell it. I have to provide as complete of a chain of ownership as I can. I need to provide a currently valid certificate that the federal government is not looking for this weapon in connection to any crime. Etc. To sell the weapon, I have to turn it over to an authorized dealer (the antiquarian-like professional described above), who certifies the transfer from owner to owner, and takes a small percentage of the sale price for their service commission, thereby incentivizing them also to sell it at the highest price possible. Along with some sort of federal buy-back program, targeted at gathering up the shittiest of the 250m+ guns off the market, this could, over time, be a Constitutionally-resilient way to begin to deal with the gun problem we have in the USA. ... yeah, it's still just a germ of an idea, but I'm teasing out the details, and working on how this could be implemented, practically speaking. (There's a good model for this here in Seattle right now. A lot of marijuana shops opened up when things got legalized. But as the business reality of regulation, taxes, banking issues, and supply chain management become more refined, the less-professionally-run pot shops are going out of business. This leaves us with higher quality shops, meeting strict regulations, and operating in a very professional manner. I can see the same thing happening with gun shops, if my gun sales idea ever goes into effect: consolidation of many small businesses into larger, more professionally run ones. Dodgy edge-case operators getting out of the business entirely. And the Gun Show loophole finally being closed for good.) Eh. It's an interesting puzzle to try to piece together. And a worthy goal, in the end.
They did run a Daily Show episode on the subject of Australia and their gun control laws. I'm not suggesting anything along the lines of "Just do that! It'll work", but there were a few reasons highlit-up for the success of the Australian campaign that may be of help to your argument. I'd say those Americans who died by the hands of a mass murderer with a gun in his hands got wronged pretty fucking hard. Their families, too. Hell, that ripple went far beyond their immediate friends list."The individual mandate so egregiously wrongs this individual that we are going to remove this Constitutional right from all other Americans."
Problem is, the Australian model doesn't include the "enshrined in the founding documents of the country" problem that we have. They made the law, and people adhered to it. Badda-boom, badda-bing. In the USA, you would have to alter the Constitution in such a way as to REMOVE a right from all Americans. That ain't gonna fly. Ever. In the end, a dead American can't bring a lawsuit before the Supreme Court. And even if someone did it on their behalf, the individual didn't die because of a gun. They died because someone shot them with a gun. Which is VERY different, legally speaking. And no matter how tragic that individual's death, it does not supersede the constitutionally-enshrined right of 350 million other Americans. It's just not a legally tenable position to take, so there's not point in discussing it.
The fact that it takes legalese-level of causal obscurantism to not prevent mass shootings is absolutely fucking insane.And even if someone did it on their behalf, the individual didn't die because of a gun. They died because someone shot them with a gun.
I don't agree. Every complaint you have about guns, every regulation you want to put in place, and your reasons for them, can also be applied to cars. Or planes. Or public pools. Or ladders. Remember, the law can't do anything about mass shootings. Law is something that is applied after the fact. Even if you could find a way to instantly ban all guns, criminals would still have guns. This is true in every country in the world. Gun deaths are the symptom. They are not the problem that needs to be solved. Those people are dead at the hands of an angry white man, and they are not coming back. Preventing the next angry white man from expressing his frustration/insanity with a gun, is the ACTUAL PROBLEM that needs to be addressed. Angry white men use guns, C4, fertilizer, home-made bombs, vehicles, and anything else they can find to express their anger. Guns are just easy to point at because they are scary. But it is the person holding the gun with rage in their heart, that is the actual problem we need to focus on. Otherwise they'll just move on to the next tool in the garage.
While I agree that guns itself are not the root of the problem, I get the feeling that your position lacks some pragmatism. Are they? Is there not a long between the thought of wanting to kill people and the act? I mean, it's not like other countries don't have angry losers that want to kill people, but they don't have mass shootings or mass C4 bombings or mass [whatevers] to the scale that the US mass shootings are happening. The root of the problem has been discussed here before (i.e. KB's "losers with no prospect and a gun") and I would want nothing more than to tackle the root of the problem, but the sheer ease with which you guys can buy and own guns is abhorrent at best and a catalyst for these shootings at worst. Wouldn't you much prefer the loon in the subway to have a screwdriver instead of an AR-15? It may not solve the actual problem but I'm pretty sure not doing that makes the problem way worse. So I think restrictions are desperately needed in the short term, with societal changes something for the longer term. Despite what the NRA wants people to believe, it has bipartisan support:Those people are dead at the hands of an angry white man, and they are not coming back.
I'd prefer we deal with the root problem and not have to worry about Phillips-head screwdriver wielding maniacs on the subway, or whatever.
A Quinnipiac University poll in June 2017 showed 94% of voters support background checks for all gun buyers–including 93% of Republicans. The same poll found that a majority, 57%, believed guns are too easy to buy, and only 35% thought more people carrying guns would make Americans safer. A Pew survey of gun owners found that almost 30% of them support stricter gun laws. “There’s a complete disconnect,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat. Link.
Listen, I want fewer guns out there in the wild. I absolutely do. I also want every single person that owns a gun, to have to regularly be certified in the proper use, cleaning, and care of the weapon, and have to carry insurance, both for theft and unlawful use of the weapon. I want it to be a difficult and long process to buy or sell a gun. All of this would be Good and Right. But none of it is legally feasible, for all the reasons I have already stated, and more. It is also not feasible from a practical perspective either, because there are simply too many guns in circulation in the US. We can't get 50k coal workers to accept retraining in higher-paid less dangerous work, for free. We are NEVER gonna be able to reclaim any significant portion of the 250+m guns in private hands in the US. So what CAN we do? We can address the actual problem, which is angry white men who see a gun as a way to express themselves, their anger, their frustration. This is a social, societal, medical, services issue that we can approach with science, data, and historical precedent, and grounds upon which the NRA has zero traction, experience, or skills with. Progress can be made on the Angry White Man Issue TODAY, with funding and programs that are already in place, with zero legal, legislative, or political action needed. Guns don't kill people. Angry white men with guns kill people. If we address the angry white man problem, the number of guns out there, who owns them, and how they get transferred between owners can be dealt with at another time. Because people will stop dying in droves from one man with issues. Of course, gun suicides still outnumber all other gun deaths by an order of magnitude, but ... oh wait, look at that... it's another social/medical issue, rather than a gun issue! Let's address that one at the same time. Remove the guns, and you still have angry white men with ANFO. Remove the angry from the white men, and ... shit. Can you imagine how cool the world would be then?!?
You want to resolve society before you put in place some scaffolding because, apparently, WE CAN'T DO IT™. Coming from a country that has trouble keeping up the 9/11 disability pension, I have high doubts about that being more feasable. I would like to see it happen. I don't see it happening. Maybe I'm blind, or maybe I'm blinded by the bonfire next to the AR-15 totem that people dance around.Remove the angry from the white men
I'm glad we largely agree. Still, I have a few points: I might be completely missing some basic understanding of your legal system, but isn't the Consitution a living document, at least to some degree? What are amendments if not improvements over that supposedly enshrined set of rules? (And wasn't it Jefferson who said the Constitution should expire after 19 years?) "[T]he Court adopted the notion that the Constitution is not static. It doesn't mean what the people voted for when it was ratified. Rather, it changes from era to era to comport with – and this is a quote from our cases, "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." [...] It seems to me that the purpose of the Bill of Rights was to prevent change, not to foster change and have it written into a Constitution." This seems to me a clear example of society maturing, becoming more civilized. Yet you give some good suggestions for how to do that in the top post! Maybe I'm just more optimistic and / or naive than you in this regard, but I think that a restriction on ammo and a reduction of supply might help quite a bit. And less suicide! Over here, women attempt suicide more often than men, but men succeed more often because they use more drastic (and less fail-prone) ways of suicide, like jumping off a building instead of trying to ODing on over the counter medication. I distinctly remember a factoid that the most dangerous single thing you can do in your home (largest increase in likelihood of death) is to get a gun, as it might make a difficult night into your final night. Can't find the source, but my point is that the availability of guns is not an insignificant contributor to the problem, and that I think "just" calling it a societal problem is a reduction of the complexity of this problem.But none of it is legally feasible, for all the reasons I have already stated, and more.
In a fascinating question-and-answer event in 2005 between Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer, the question was broached as to when and how the concept of a "living" Constitution came to be. Scalia opined that the Court first began employing relativism to a significant degree starting around 1945, right after World War II. As Scalia says:
We are NEVER gonna be able to reclaim any significant portion of the 250+m guns in private hands in the US.
Remove the guns, and you still have angry white men with ANFO.
Yes. When the government is working in the way intended, the Constitution is supposed to be a living document that changes over time, and that's why the ability to add Amendments exists. The problem is, it has been a long time since Republicans and Democrats worked together to govern in the best interests of the American people. Since roughly the Reagan-era, it has been polarization and entrenchment, and any discussion, collaboration, or efforts to work with someone on the other side of the aisle has been seen as traitorous, rather than an effort to reach accord on real issues. The last time we had an actual Amendment to the Constitution that actual changed any material part of the founding document, was in 1961 when we limited Presidents to two terms. Prior to that it was giving women the right to vote in 1920. So in theory the Constitution is a living document that should undergo changes from time to time to adapt to the changing world. In practice? Our political discourse is broken, and until that is repaired, changing the Constitution just isn't feasible. True. But people don't buy ammo to go on a gun rampage. They use what is available to them at the moment. 220m guns take a lot of ammo. And people have been stockpiling that shit for decades. America is also fiercely anti-regulation, and it is an easy task to equate limiting ammo sales and production with "killing American jobs". Ain't nobody gonna vote for something that puts Americans out of work. Again, like I said, this is a social problem to be solved with treatment programs. Making suicide a guns issue is failing those who are inclined to commit suicide. We need ways for them to easily get the help they need, when they need it, whether they want it or not. Small anecdote: I lost 5 friends to a mentally-ill man with a gun, who walked into their cafe and shot everyone inside. His family knew he was unwell. They had tried a variety of treatments. But he was an adult, and living in a different state, and the laws said you had to consent to being committed for a psych eval, and he - being sick - refused the service. Multiple times. His family knew he was sick. They appealed to the authorities to help them do something about their son/brother, and the authorities failed. Blaming the gun for his death is a disservice to him and to anyone suffering from depression, or any mental illness. We need to address this problem systematically, with better options available all along the line. Unfortunately, Reagan dismantled these programs in the late 1980's, and there is no way to rebuild a social-service program in America, now that everything has to turn a profit. I might be completely missing some basic understanding of your legal system, but isn't the Consitution a living document, at least to some degree?
...I think that a restriction on ammo and a reduction of supply might help quite a bit.
And less suicide!
I wouldn't call that 'small'...I can't even begin to imagine how awful that must have been. I'm sorry, I did not mean to do anyone a disservice, especially not you. I wish there were easy answers to these issues. And I really do want systematic solutions, and I wholly agree that the root of the problem is largely with societal issues. My intent was to discuss the complexity of the issue - to not reduce this issue to any single cause, because my impression is that it is a mixed bag of illness, poverty, exclusion, lack of (societal) prospects and violence that kills people. It's not a guns issue but it's also not not a guns issue, if that makes sense...Small anecdote:
They'll come around. We often try to legislate behavior in the US. It doesn't work out most of the time. Legislate against guns. Fine. The next angry white man will go back to using fertilizer to make a bomb. Or a rental truck. Or poison in Tylenol. Or a dirty bomb. And I, personally, don't want to fight that war of escalation. I'd prefer we deal with the root problem and not have to worry about Phillips-head screwdriver wielding maniacs on the subway, or whatever.
I'm not sure what you mean by Individual Mandate with respect to gun ownership. You mean the second amendment right to own a firearm? The Individual Mandate typically refers to the section of the Affordable Care Act which compels health insurance coverage under a tax penalty. Not quite. You can't own a sawed off shotgun per the Supreme Court. But nonetheless, you're right that personal firearm ownership is a broad right. I'm with Sam Harris on the subject of gun ownership. It should be incredibly difficult to get a gun license. Think pilot license-level of training, scrutiny, and regulation. But it's such an intractable mess of history and politics right now that I'm not to hopeful for any imminent resolution, even in the next generation. I just want to hear an honest gun advocate come out and say it: mass shootings are the social cost of the ease with which people can buy and own firearms in this country. I resent that that cost is hoisted upon us, but it's not up to me.The Supreme Court has ruled that an individual has the right to own any gun without restriction.
He means McDonald v. Chicago. Basically, if the Feds say you can own a gun, your city can't stop you from owning a gun. Goobster's discussion is much more about the mechanics of minimizing gun violence. The relevant law, since John Roberts took over, has been that city and state bans can be superseded by federal permission. However, they didn't declare The Purge and drop the mic. Scalia: So. California's gun restrictions still stand. Massachusetts gun restrictions still stand. Pretty sure NY's restrictions still stand. What you or Sam Harris want isn't really the issue here - it's what can be made to happen. McDonald v. Chicago wasn't nearly as sweeping as it could have been. It's been seven years and you're not entirely aware of it. I'm no legal scholar but Scalia's opinion, to me, says "this is not an originalist end-run around gun laws and what's in the constitution is not clear enough to be considered a complete mandate. Fucking legislate, people."The Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
I probably shouldn't have capitalized it, but in colloquial terms around the 2nd Amendment, the "individual mandate" is the Supreme Court's support for the idea that the individual's right to bear arms - regardless of their participation in or with a militia - cannot be infringed. This is commonly known as the "individual mandate", in 2A circles. McDonald v. Chicago establishes the right to self-defense with a gun, and builds upon District of Columbia v. Heller, which establishes the constitutional right of an individual to own a gun, outside of their participation with a militia.
election night Locally, two of the three city council candidates I supported won. The one I was most excited about managed to net herself a four year term. Went from being the fourth place vote getter in the primary to second in the general. Less locally? The district judge candidate who wrote that? Fucking won. Lee Carter, one of the people politico used for their "Could America’s Socialists Become the Tea Party of the Left?" bit? Fucking won. It's not all riding coat tails of the Democratic party either. Ginger Jentzen straight up ran on the Socialist Alternative ballot line and did pretty damn well.I say all of this to say that while I have not identified as a democratic socialist in the past, I would be honored to have the support of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. To me, being a socialist means acknowledging, confronting, and demanding reparations for social inequalities in no uncertain terms.
Some of the financial guys I follow - conservatives and libertarians all - are suggesting that investors brace for outright goddamn socialism in the next four years. Not because they're fans, but because they see everything in pendulum swings and cycles and they figure the backlash against populism is gonna be epic.
The landscape is definitely changing. It's quiet, but something does seem to be happening. At the very least, Red shaming stopped being an effective firewall while no one was paying attention. Lee Carter sang Solidarity Forever to celebrate victory. The Democrats are still busy rending themselves apart, and that opens the door to the left hijacking more of their ballot lines.
Marathon Training of the week: 5 kms in 24"43 Semi-marathon in 1"57"43 5 kms in 27"12 (went way too fast on the first km) 12 kms in 1"06"48 Don't know if it's good or bad for a target time of sub 4-hour Marathon? Marathon Day is January 14.
Pubbing a bit later than usual this week. Not sure why. Work Turns out I can make my boss happy, all he needs is perfection. In the process of emotionally detaching from my work. I see it this way, I am perfectly capable of being kind, empathetic and listening to my patients when they are in front of me AND THEN giving myself some emotional space when I am reading over their records and putting things into the data capture system. I have no obligation to be as invested and tied up in their journey when it's just me, their chart and the computer. Framing this as 'appropriate usage of emotional resources' rather than 'You cold heartless jerk, care all the time!' is helpful. Other than that, things proceed apace. I continue to be absolutely aghast at the lip service paid to mental health in American medicine. Be sick, or be crazy, definitely don't be both. And definitely don't be broke AND sick AND crazy. Holidaze This is the first holiday season after my parents are officially divorced. Looking at the current calendar, I have three thanksgivings to go to, two of which I am cooking a sizable portion of the food. My dad had no intention of doing anything for the holiday, and would have spent it alone were it not for my efforts. Go me, I suppose. Being patriarch this young still sucks though. If there is to be any semblance of cohesion in my family, it seems that it must start with me. Everyone else is either too young, too emotionally unstable, or has too many obligations it seems. Or maybe I'm just the one who gives the most fucks. I am ever thankful for my RPS. lil I am doing my best to follow your advice. Defining my own family unit is helpful in times like these. I take care of my household, and then do the best I can with everyone else, and that's enough. Weirdness I was absently browsing housing rentals on craigslist and found a too good to be true listing. After exchanging a couple of emails with the 'owner' and doing some digging (How can a house be listed both for sale and for rent? ) and contacting a real estate agent, I found out it was indeed too good to be true. There's just no way a 3BR3BA in a major metropolitan area could rent for less than several thousand a month, especially in this super boojie college town. I'm a little disappointed with myself that I allowed myself to get so excited, fantasize as much as I did. The thought of having space, a fenced yard, raising another leader dog... Well, it was a really bright, shining fantasy that made me really happy, and the resulting hopelash stings like a bitch. In an effort to make something positive out of it, I realized that within a few years I am going to likely be in a position where I am looking to buy a house. I'm not currently in that position, but there are things that I can do now to improve my position later. So, in an effort to get something useful out of this, I set up an appointment with a friend of a friend who does mortgages. We're gonna get lunch and have a discussion that amounts to 'Other than getting rid of as much debt as I can, and building up as much of a down payment as I can, what can I do over the next few years so that I will be able to buy a house?' and see where that leads. It's difficult to not just let this turn into bitterness. Working on it anyway. Productive bitterness is better than just sitting and fuming, I think. Mental Health Every now and then I get these flashes where it feels like all the progress I've made is washed away. I am the same guy who made some of my most inflammatory posts. Instantly, (thankfully only for an instant) I put the worst possible spin on everything that I'm doing/everything that's going on. This doesn't persist, but it does happen. I've been considering re-starting therapy, I have an open invitation from my last counselor to come back whenever. Maybe it will go away on it's own.
Mind if I ask which piece of lil's advice you're following? Avoiding the binary, or something else?lil I am doing my best to follow your advice.
Last Friday there was a zine fair. I printed two Lit.cat writing collections and a collection of my own writing. It went incredibly well, I sold nearly all of my stock, and two people posted my writing on Instagram. (also, it is nuts how many people showed up to this fair, like maybe 300 people in a building meant to house 200?) My favorite teacher in the world was there- my 6th grade elementary teacher! It was his first year teaching a class by himself that year, and I remember him kindly for reaching out to all of us. He said the most validating thing to me after reading my zine: "That 12 year old kid who rambled in class all day- he's still in here. But now he's refined and persuasive. It was a good day. ===== I started playing Cuphead, I found out you could pair single Nintendo Switch controllers to your laptop, and it works well for gameplay, other than a weird glitch that prevents you from talking to characters and progressing. The music made me forget I wasn't white.
Cuphead looks amazing, but I think I'm gonna steer away from it due to the difficulty level. If you have any interest in old timey cartoons (the animation style that influenced the game), you can often find DVD collections of them for not much money at all. They're a great little thing to have if you want something playing in the background while you work and if you actually pay attention to them, you'll be amazed at the depth early animators went in exploring the craft from humor to surrealism. That zine fair sounds awesome and it's great that you were relatively successful there.
I have a Felix the Cat VHS set somewhere- I don't even remember any specific episodes. I'll find a Youtube collection somewhere. Hand drawn animation is nuts, it's the one job I'd rank above Astronaut. It takes so much work and so much skill. I still daydream about creating my own hand drawn Sakuga work, but it's too easy to convince myself it's too much work. I really wanted to work in cartooning when I was a kid. I remember there was a newspaper cartoonist who visited my class when I was in 2nd grade, and I gave him a page of comics. It makes me cringe so hard because I know the comics in them were so terrible. I also had a comic in middle school where I recycled the jokes from a Bloom County collection because we didn't have any of Berkeley Breathed's comics in our newspaper. I would arrive early to every period and a good portion of my class liked reading them. It would be years until I realized that people liked me because they thought I was cool, not because I was funny. Man, I really don't want anyone to not play Cuphead because the game is difficult, but it's taken me at least 8 - 15 times to get through each level so far. Each level is slightly over 2 minutes long. I hope you think about whether you can handle being stuck for 30 minutes, because it feels so good if you can get over it. I have a looping playlist of the music from the game with really exciting drum parts:
On Monday I lay awake in bed for hours trying to think about what I want, what I really want, from work and I came to the conclusion that I want money - to be able to pay off my house and take care of my family. Tuesday I got a call from a guy I used to do web design for. He offered to pay me to do it again and I turned him down because it's hard. So that theory is out the window. Meanwhile I keep getting more and more involved in church. I'm not a religion person in any form, but this is a farm church and we spend our time growing crops or baking bread to give to people in need. It's good work and it feels rewarding. I think there's some lesson here in the futility of close inspection and the value of action, but whatever. Speaking of bread, I'm making my biggest batch - an octuple batch. I'm kind of worried I don't have containers large enough for the proofing process. Lastly, in games - Cities Skylines came out with a new expansion for green cities. I don't know why I love management games so much, but it's really fun to make a city. I beat the main story of Odyssey, but there's still a ton more to do. I'm really amazed at how dense the game is - it feels so small but contains so much, which is a brilliant design. Also the new overwatch hero scares and excites me.
Maszlow's Hierarchy has been heavily discredited as a psychological tool but as an aphorism it ain't bad. What you're saying is that you want security out of work. That's not strictly accurate, though. You need security out of work. it is the thing that ensures your food water shelter sex. It does not provide self-actualization, which is that thing Maszlow figured few people ever achieved. It doesn't give you the tip of the pyramid. Your church gives you the tip of the pyramid. What you're grappling with is the dichotomy between your need for security and your want for self-actualization. you turned down the web design gig because it does not provide you enough security for the self-actualization it would deprive you of. If you thought web design was your one true calling, you would have taken it regardless of the money. After all, nobody is paying you to bake bread.
Books Varieties of Religious Experience by William James has kind of stopped being an interesting read. The dude is smart and he has points worth hearing, but he meanders and rambles for way too long. The thing is over four hundred pages, I bet it could have easily been condensed down to 100-150 if he'd just get to the point. Yes, I know they're collections of lectures and all the caveats that go with that, but still though. I think the thing that gets me the most though, is that he constantly uses anecdotes to support his arguments, which is cool for a guy like me and technically probably an okay thing for a scientist from the 1800s, but compared to Dataclysm that Dala's reading right now that I stole a glimpse or two from, it's just not up to modern snuff. I want some numbers and statistics. I want some studies. I don't want a quote from Grandpa who was suffering an episode of night terrors. I'm doing a Secret Santa thing that involves books. The only clues I have for the person is they like history, biography, and reading The New York Times. I'm gonna head to one of the local book shops today and see what they have that I think might be interesting. Panama/Paradise Papers Remember last year's Panama Papers? Well, now they're followed up by a different company from a seemingly different country with a collection of leaked documents called The Paradise Papers. It strikes me as crazy that not many people seem to be talking about them (Unless you're The Guardian, then you're not shutting up about them). I got into a huge argument with someone yesterday about them because we were talking about this whole tax reform bill and I said maybe if companies like Apple paid their fair share this shit would be easier to figure out. Words were exchanged, I got called "a limp wristed liberal" and for some reason, for that insult, I will now hate Apple forever and ever for being a bunch of tax dodging fuck heads. Well that and the whole depriving our country of needed income for repairing roads, building schools, etc. Holiday Shopping I'm not gonna get much this year, but with the exception of two items I got already from big box stores because that's the only place they can be found, I think this year I'm gonna buy all local. I think it's the right thing to do.
This whole tax thing is pissing me off. Big companies can evade billions in taxes, but if Trump's tax plan goes through, I'll have to pay taxes on my tuition waiver -- which by most estimates will double what I owe. Fuck. I was so happy to be finally making five figures...all I want is to be able to not lose money while I'm finishing up school.
Money is a game for rich people and a life-and-death struggle for poor people. This allows the rich people to make gambits and feints that poor people simply can't afford. As such, they are much better at their game which tends to cost the poor a lot in their life-and-death struggle.
NYT and WaPo are both providing little pokes from the Paradise Papers whenever they can work them into their Trump narratives. I suspect the new model is "we can't make the audience care about this abstract thing right now when there's so much concrete bullshit going on so we'll use it as a database to fill out our coverage wherever we can." It is extremely difficult to make rank-and-file citizenry care about the particulars of how the rich are fucking them over, particularly when they have known forever that the rich are fucking them over and the ones being fucked the hardest have somehow decided a fake billionaire has their best interests at heart.
The whole subject really gets to me for two reasons. One, I can't imagine it'd be that hard to make laws to prevent tax dodging. Are you a company with an American presence? Bam! Show all your paperwork for all your business in all countries and then we'll figure out your tax rate from there. Or something, I dunno. I'm not a lawyer but sometimes I wish I wrote laws. The big thing though? I was raised in thinking that paying taxes is something you do out of civic duty, out of love for your country and neighbors. So tax dodging? That's a pretty big "fuck you." I think if other people saw it that way, they'd feel the same. But no, I get lame arguments like "If America didn't allow these loopholes to exist, these businesses would take their business elsewhere and we'd miss out" and I don't even know how to begin to argue against that.
The problem is, other countries don't require this. Thus, the Republicans point to how unfair you're being and point out that you're driving jobs abroad. And they have a point. One shitty thing about the Panama/Paradise papers: due to the way taxes in the United States are subject to state as well as federal control, Nevada, Delaware and other states end up being every bit as adequate as tax havens as Bermuda or the Azores. There weren't that many American citizens implicated in either dump because there didn't have to be. Now - so long as the banking industry controls Nevada and Delaware legislatures, don't expect much in the way of change. That said, the Obama administration's taxation and revenue department grew some real teeth. it's the most successful funds repatriation organization in the world. Piketty singled them out at great length and pointed out that if every country did what the US is doing, it would increase taxable revenues by something like 3 trillion dollars. With just the US alone that number was something unreal like 1.4 trillion. Now if only we hadn't spent $5.6 trillion on war.Are you a company with an American presence? Bam! Show all your paperwork for all your business in all countries and then we'll figure out your tax rate from there.
Lemme let you in on a secret, my friend. The government doesn't make anything. It doesn't produce a product. It doesn't sell anything. So the ONLY tool that your elected representatives have to negotiate with are Tax Breaks. Wanna know why the tax code is so fucked up and Byzantine? Because it is the ONLY tool they have, and when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Wanna know why EVERY SINGLE news story and conversation about government legislation is about taxes? Because that's the context in which ALL of their conversations and negotiations take place. "Here is a way I can benefit my donors by lowering their taxes, and pushing that cost off onto someone else with less money to spend on my campaign. And yet, taxes are one of the smallest expenses for any business or individual in America. So if they can keep you focused over here on this little tiny corner called "taxes", they don't have to actually deal with the real problems we face, that need real solutions. "One, I can't imagine it'd be that hard to make laws to prevent tax dodging."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam Except resources, federal land, weapon, food, and aid to other countries, manpower, technology, etc. to businesses and other nations all the time. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/08/trump-att-time-warner-takeover-threaten-deal https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/10/08/555879601/betsy-devos-first-semester-a-status-report CTRL-F-"Taxes" Results=0 I mean, I kind of agree with you there, but we could have gotten to this point without the hyperbole. The fact of that matter is though, the government both writes the tax laws and collects taxes. They literally have the power to prevent this shit. They could at least try to do something to put a stop to these shenanigans, instead of allowing loopholes so big you can fit the GDP of a micro-nation through them.The government doesn't make anything. It doesn't produce a product.
It doesn't sell anything.
Wanna know why EVERY SINGLE news story and conversation about government legislation is about taxes?
So if they can keep you focused over here on this little tiny corner called "taxes", they don't have to actually deal with the real problems we face, that need real solutions.
Every single one of those loopholes was intentionally put there, so someone could use it. The tax system is complex, but it is well understood by those who know how to use it. It's not like the benefits the rich get from all these loopholes were unintended consequences of tax law designed to help the majority. (Pedantic Detail: The highway system, the internet, Hoover Dam, the F16, and Betsy DeVos' entire budget, were all paid for with tax money. The problem is that the loopholes designed into the system allow some people to get off without paying their fare share, putting an inordinate burden on those who will benefit the least from those paid-for-with-taxes projects.)
Well looks like i've circled back to the "what should I do with my life" phase of my life again! My work contract is over, we're settled at our new place and now... I'm not too sure what to do with my days. I'm super spoiled by the fact that I don't need to find a job ASAP. But I know I get in a funk when I feel I'm just wasting time being unproductive. So currently seeking some fun projects to embark on!
Oh god, this was me since the beginning of summer. I got myself a large nest egg and just stressed and depressed my way through it. It was really stressful because I still felt like there was something I should be doing at the back of my mind- getting a portfolio ready, working on lit.cat, make an improvement on a previous client's project- and I kind of got stuck in a tyranny of choices.
Still sick-ish. Joining the board of a second nonprofit. Put together a business plan for something that won't ever make money. Signed up for another run. Have a date tonight. Ta-da.