Recent posts

#1

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Darth Wagtaros - Today at 09:02:25 AM

I think we need a comet to just end the misery.  Save global warming; mega plagues; and political unrest the trouble.

#2

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Zanza - Today at 07:47:38 AM

My hope is that the obvious insanity going on now will actually mitigate the reputational damage to some extent, because the world knows that the stupid tweets are not really coming from the same agencies that earned the prestige, even if they carry the same name. 

It's like if a widely respected man goes down the street naked yelling obscenities:  the behavior is so obviously crazy that you know it's not the same man doing it, even if the body is the same.  You know a mental health crisis is behind it, and it doesn't erase the man that was there before.  Of course, all this makes a difference only if you can treat the mental health crisis and return the man to what he was;  if the crazy guy persona is the new normal for him, then it gets bleak.

Germany never reached its early 20th century status in the sciences again. Some damage is perpetual.

#3

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Zoupa - Today at 07:21:36 AM

You can't say it's been 2600 years of Atlantic ascendancy because some Greeks beat some Persians all those years ago. Europe was a backwater until the Renaissance.

Sure I can. Macedonia dominated Asia all the way to India. Rome dominated about the same exent. Then it ebbed with the Arabs and Ottomans, then nothing but from there.

While I disagree with your characterization, my main quibble is about geography. The age of discovery is what started the Atlantic era, which implies both sides of the ocean being involved.

#4

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - Today at 07:05:32 AM

The real question is: are we in a comedy, or a tragedy?

A farce

#5

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by The Brain - Today at 06:01:38 AM

I don't think Republicans will bother repealing the 13th amendment, they will just EO the matter.

#6

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by The Brain - Today at 05:50:50 AM

A general observation: many US government organizations have historically been heavy hitters globally, their regulations and assessments have carried some weight worldwide in many industries. That prestige is starting to evaporate, since US government is a joke now.

My hope is that the obvious insanity going on now will actually mitigate the reputational damage to some extent, because the world knows that the stupid tweets are not really coming from the same agencies that earned the prestige, even if they carry the same name. 

It's like if a widely respected man goes down the street naked yelling obscenities:  the behavior is so obviously crazy that you know it's not the same man doing it, even if the body is the same.  You know a mental health crisis is behind it, and it doesn't erase the man that was there before.  Of course, all this makes a difference only if you can treat the mental health crisis and return the man to what he was;  if the crazy guy persona is the new normal for him, then it gets bleak.

I really hope the US recovers. At the current trajectory we have to apply the lessons of the 1930s though.

#7

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Tonitrus - Today at 04:53:48 AM

The real question is: are we in a comedy, or a tragedy?

#8

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 04:16:29 AM

I am seeing a number of these deep-fake "Jimmy Kimmel" youtube videos like

I thought that youtube forbad these sorts of clearly-imposter videos, yet the same account seems to be able to post multiple versions of them (sometimes with the same wording but different backgrounds, sometimes the same background with different wording.

Anybody know what gives?

I click on it and there's a big altered or synthetic overlay on it.

As far as I understand that's the rules. It's allowed but needs to be tagged as AI'd.

Though I've heard it's all or nothing which seems to imply to me any little edited image for a transparent joke needs just the same tagging as something clearly dodgy like this.

#9

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 04:12:22 AM

That was a thousand+ years where Europe ebbed whilst China was really on the rise.
And it was less than a thousand years from Alexander through to the fall of Rome.

#10

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Admiral Yi - Today at 03:46:09 AM

You can't say it's been 2600 years of Atlantic ascendancy because some Greeks beat some Persians all those years ago. Europe was a backwater until the Renaissance.

Sure I can. Macedonia dominated Asia all the way to India. Rome dominated about the same exent. Then it ebbed with the Arabs and Ottomans, then nothing but from there.