Day: October 19, 2024, 7:51 PM

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Chill War

I know it’s the Kyiv Post so there is “bias1,” but we betrayed the Ukrainians, no matter what any doofus leftist type claims. We promised them security if they’d get rid of their nuclear weapons and otherwise disarm and we didn’t follow through on that.

And because of that betrayal, we’re likely to be fighting the Russians in Europe within the next 10 years. Good job, us.

  1. More here a “factual assessment of what actually occurred.”

Stick

Chill War

Not a noble death at all. Sinwar was responsible for getting dozens of thousands of his fellow people killed — which was the whole point of the October 7 Hamas operation. None of it brings Shani Louk or the others who died that day back, but a well-deserved death indeed.

Healthy Skepticism

Chill Clowns, Political Economy

Why conventional wisdom on health care is wrong (a primer).

Wow, this is full of fancy-looking and fancy-sounding absolute bullshit. I don’t have time to refute all of this (though it’s all just clownishly wrong and fairly easily refutable), but like a lot of BS, unfortunately my refutation would need to be 3x longer than the stupid article itself.

This is a great example of a high-IQ person using flimflam and $10 words to hoodwink those less intelligent. Because that technique really fuckin’ works, which is exactly why it is so often used.

Here’s something that’s a bit more sane and doesn’t launder and fudge the numbers to get the author’s desired conclusions.

I know that the quant clowns think it should be illegal to use qualitative anything, but by way of anecdote here’s a friend of mine’s experience of US healthcare vs. UK healthcare (she’s English) as best I can remember:

“I broke my ankle in the UK. I walked right in, they fixed it and it cost me £30. I cut my arm diving in the US and it was a 10-hour wait and it cost me $5,000. And they did a much worse job than the NHS doctors. I don’t know how you guys live like that.”

And that’s a very common experience of those who require health care in sane countries vs. the US. Only libertardians like whoever that fucking idiot who wrote the first article is can believe anything different.

Sys

Chill Tech

Bah, how do you teach a sysadmin mindset?

I do not believe this is possible. In fact, I think most of the real sysadmins are aging out, never to be replaced. They (and I will always consider myself a sysadmin no matter my job title) were created in and by a particular set of conditions that will never be replicated. Those conditions, were, specifically, access to real non-drool-optimized computers, required bouts of deep and search-engine-free troubleshooting, and using those computers to their full capabilities from a young age.

Now, nearly all of this is irrelevant or impossible.

The generations coming up behind me aren’t even 1/100 as good as I was at their age; I have to painfully lead them through every little roadblock, and even then since they have no deeper understanding they don’t recall any of it and cannot recognize very similar problems when they occur again. And since Google and search is becoming increasingly unreliable, they aren’t able to fall back on that anymore.

One of my team recently called me “Human Google.” He was not the first to do so, but I appreciate that compliment. I’m better than Google, though, because my answers are right.

Served

Chill Regular-ass Post

I seriously do love making recruiters angry by telling them I do remote work only, and that nothing else is even worth considering. And then those that push back with some variation of, “It might pay to not be so picky,” I respond with a semi-canned, “Bro/Broette, I already have an extremely well-paid job and 3-5 of you a week contacting with me actual fully-remote roles. I don’t need you. You need me.”

And that really sets ’em off. But they deserve it.

Chill Links

We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker. A POLITICO analysis of more than 20 of his rallies and campaign events shows Trump has demonized minority groups in all of them.

The Supreme Court May Use Dobbs to Take Down Trans Rights—and Beyond.

Make electric vehicles lighter to maximize climate and safety benefits.

Yahya Sinwar Finally Got What He Deserved.

Before Hurricane Helene, had you stopped by one of the many breweries, art galleries, or award-winning restaurants in Asheville, North Carolina, and spoken with anyone who lives in these parts — including me — most would have told you they felt pretty safe from climate disasters.

Generated images have become a new form of propaganda this election season.

US suspects TSMC helped Huawei skirt export controls, report says.

According to Yonhap news agency, North Korea has sent 12,000 troops, including special forces, to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, per their source in South Korea’s Intelligence. This aligns with an earlier statement from Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR).

Meet the Chinese ‘Typhoon’ hackers preparing for war.

The Proximity To Genius Effect.

LA woman is being dropped by her home insurer over an oak tree in her yard — the city says it’s protected and can’t be removed or damaged. Now she’s stuck, may never be able to sell her home. Cash buyer doesn’t require home insurance.