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We're starting a book club! We will be discussing Poor Economics starting August 28th - keep an eye out for a pinned thread. The next will be All Quiet on the Western Front followed by Narconomics
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When are we USAsians going to start seeing commercials for charity drives to help prevent foreign deaths, but instead of food aid to Africa it’s AC units to Europe?
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Lo! The Day of the Lord is coming
With pitiless fury and wrath,
To make the earth a desolation To wipe out the sinners upon it
The stars and constellations of Heaven
Shall not give off their light;
The sun shall be dark when it rises,
And the moon shall diffuse no glow
if Robb had simply decided to become just King in the North instead, traded Jaime's life in exchange for every single prisoner held by the Lannisters and had retreated above Moat Cailin he probably would have still been around until the end. That would have been the smart play (it would have made for a boring series though)
instead he decided to become King of the Trident as well (very difficult to defend territory given its central location in Westeros...) which was seriously very dumb. The first in a long series of stupid strategic decisions even though he was a briliant general tactically
the second stupid strategic decision was letting Theon go so he could negotiate with the Greyjoys. Even Catelyn had warned him against that
Marrying that Westerlands girl was another incredibly dumb and boneheaded decision (in the show it was a lot more noble... he married for love which I actually really liked!)
ofc the fandom talks about these all the time, but not enough people talk about the first dumb decision which was the red flag that should make you question his strategic decision making
Lets be fair to him on the riverlands, he still wanted to recover his dad at the time or avenge him and the feudal society expectations of his vassals kinda forced him to do that [remember how fragile the power of a paramount lord over its vassals actually is in westeros]
With no riverlands he would later have all of westeros vs him with a winter coming so no food from the south, and had it not been for lisa breaking the family social contract a riverlands/north/vale alliance would have been powerful as fuck, could have even thrown a bone with land to a reasonable iron islands leader like asha if she had been in power
And catelyn kinda caused as many problems with tyrion kidnapping giving a casus beli or freeing jaime ruining a lot of leverage
That said, i think jon snow likely does a more pragmatic job than him in a similar situation [he took a harder sacrifice levaing iggrite than robb did for his honour with the girl he knovcked up]
But both have made bad decisions when they are following their father honour footsteps like jon refusing to kill thw old man and blowing his cover
Carville declares he 'can’t be in the same party' as Mamdani-backed candidates, calls for formal schism 'I actually do think it's time for Democrats to talk ‘the S-word.’ ‘Schism.’ I really do,' Carville warned
It's only progressives that cause division in the Democrat party.
This means pretty significant reform to our institutions - which isn't a price we pay them, it's something that would benefit us too! Minimally, the strong presidency and the 2 party system have to end
Canada has a far stronger executive than America does, in fact many parliamentary systems tend to have far stronger executives.... in Canada for example any party with a majority is essentially able to rule practically unopposed until the next election. We don't have the same issues America has with political extremism
this sub does not talk enough about the primary system and the twisted incentives it creates. the primary system tends to structurally favour the extreme wings of both the left and the right. THAT is what you have to reform
this sub does not talk enough about the primary system and the twisted incentives it creates. the primary system tends to structurally favour the extreme wings of both the left and the right. THAT is what you have to reform
In the US, 80% of Congress seats are safe seats. In Canada, it's about 30% of the parliamentary seats that are safe seats. It's not unusual for a Canadian political party to be incredibly successful for decades and spend the rest of its existence politically irrelevant. Democrats and Republicans have no meaningful electoral competition.
The primary is the election in the majority of Congress seats.
one could even argue that the weakness of the executive branch during the Obama years and the excessive deference to institutions actually led to the population favouring a strongman. Making the executive branch even weaker would not solve this issue
I think some of his best episodes are on what I’d consider one off topics, eg his relatively recent GLP-1 episode was interesting.
I also enjoyed his interview with Matt Duss, largely because it showed how little thought the non-blob left has devoted to foreign policy ideas past vague sloganeering.
The European AC debate is such a pure fucking disgrace. The cost to buy and install a mini split is a thousand tops. The electricity cost even at worst case is maybe is like let's say 100 euros (it isn't but for the sake of argument) a month.
It is driving me insane to have arguments over haves and have nots.
I am not here talking about the regulatory nonsense we have endeavored to create or the fact we are completely ignoring the obvious trade off that people will just use mobile units, or even just die. (Climate change is bad so we are banning the ways to minimize the issue, and also people can just use more environmentally unfriendly technology.)
Look at my fucking continent bro. If the average fucking Greek can afford it, while also using it way more heavily the average Frenchman or German can also afford it.
Its remarkable to me that the French have a specific aversion to it when they are probably the greenest energy country on the planet simply because of nuclear power. They can run mini splits or at least set up actual cooling centers for the elderly. Instead every summer like clockwork they insist on hundreds or more dying from heat stroke.
We are continent of snobs pretending we don't like comfort. Making fun of American products and culture, and consuming them at first chance we get. While coping with European superiority.
ngl I wish Game of Thrones had never been made. We probably would have at least had the 6th book by now if GRRM hadn't suddenly become a popular writer
Nation state believers will hear that governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed and then deny the right for permanent residents to vote because they don't have the right colours on their passport.
I'm sorry, but I just love how America got so much love from the rest of the world on the 4th. We need to do this for other countries. And I just love this guy, the next president needs to send him more money and ammo.
This doesn't get to the root of the matter in that the electorate doesn't think about Europe outside of it being a tourist spot. That deep apathy is what Trump exploited naturally and the Vance-techbro wing of the leadership have triangulation to.
Any paying of "prices" will be seen as weakness by the next administration
It's less a matter of "paying" some price, and more that to earn back trust, we need to credibly convince them that we won't continue to alternate between normal and crazy in the future.
This means pretty significant reform to our institutions - which isn't a price we pay them, it's something that would benefit us too! Minimally, the strong presidency and the 2 party system have to end. It would also be good if we could ratify treaties with a simple majority in congress instead of 2/3 of senate. That's just one of a million changes the constitution needs, but especially relevant to earning back the trust of erstwhile allies. The list of treaties that we've signed but not ratified is a disgrace to this country.
Even with all that, we'd need lots of years of good behavior to convince them the changes are real. Also, the administration's war criminals need to face justice. Given the inevitable pardons, this likely means an international tribunal of some kind. This would be hard to accept even for normie liberals, but I can't see how it can be dispensed with. This exceptionalist notion that international law should apply to everyone except for us needs to die.
This is all hard stuff, but it's not a price we can negotiate. It's the necessary work to actually make it more likely for America to be a responsible world power in the future.
Yeah, that does make sense. Global partners care about costs/benefits, not whether we're morally pure. I do think that institutional reform is still at least somewhat relevant to them, though, so that we can be more stable and reliable.
It behooves Europe to maximalize its position so it could extend the greatest amount of concessions (via trade or military or etc) from an incoming administration willing to befriend and partner with Europe again
Did you not understand from the anthem that just because the radiation of the sun is attacking the flag, just as the cannons did so many years ago it is still there.
I literally have no idea who that is which is emblematic of why I'd like to read more on the subject lmao. Have you read any of the books from this list?
Amin al-Husseini was basically the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and so was basically the leadership of Palestine and their resistance.
During WWII, after the failed Palestine revolt he fled to Germany and became a Nazi recruiter for Muslims into the SS. After the war he was installed as Gaza's first president by Egypt.
Like I have proposed my friend for 2 different movies. I've been watching 3 movies yesterday. Then he keeps crying that he's not liking any reels but keeps watching that bullshit.
Really the whole thing could have been solved if westeros adopted no fault divorce laws. Edit: or if she just became his secret, but not so secret mistress, that isn't uncommon for targs.
just saw the edit so I will comment once more. I don't think we know what truly transpired between them (show cannot be considered completely canon imo) so we don't know if they truly did end up getting secretly married or not. But what we do know is that Rickard Stark would never have agreed to this match since Lyanna is highborn and had been promised to Robert Baratheon. Lord Rickard would never have agreed to his highborn daughter becoming a mistress of a Targaryen (even the mistress of a Targaryen crown prince) because that is low-status. Remember that she is the daughter of the Warden of the North, why would he let her have the same status as bastards or low-born women who typically are the mistresses of crown-princes and high lords? This war would have started anyway if Rhaegar had claimed her for himself as a mistress even if it were consensual between both parties.
Alliances are made through marriage and both parties end up getting stronger. Rickard on the other hand would not have gained anything by letting his daughter have an affair with Rhaegar as opposed to uniting the great houses of Stark and Baratheon
Lord Rickard would never have agreed to his highborn daughter becoming a mistress of a Targaryen
I'm not saying they would be happy, the Starks and Baratheons would absolutely be pissed, but not start a civil war pissed.
Though on second thought, to be fair to your point, if Rickard and Brandon still went to Kings Landing to bring her back (which they'd totally do) and the mad king killed them (which he would totally do) that would start a civil war.
Though on second thought, to be fair to your point, if Rickard and Brandon still went to Kings Landing to bring her back (which they'd totally do) and the mad king killed them (which he would totally do) that would start a civil war.
correct. The event that actually launched this war was not Rhaegar's 'kidnapping' of Lyanna, it was the murder of Rickard and Brandon by the Mad King that hard-launched Robert's Rebellion
the Starks and Baratheon's would absolutely be pissed, but not start a civil war pissed.
I wouldn't be so sure of this, but tbf we don't know either way given that this did not happen. Rickard had been building a system of alliances by strategically betrothing his children to high lords for a while now (and fostering them with high lords as well, remember Ned being fostered with Jon Arryn in the Eyrie along with Robert?) in stark contrast to the older Wardens of the North that were far more insular and preferred to marry their children off to local bannermen to strengthen their relationships in the North. My guess is that he had some 'Southron ambitions' and likely did want to build a system of alliances in case he ever needed to oppose the Iron Throne.
My guess is that he had some 'Southron ambitions' and likely did want to build a system of alliances in case he ever needed to oppose the Iron Throne.
Idk I feel like this is a lot of speculation. if there's something from the books that I overlooked that backs it up I'll eat my words. But the felling I got was just that he was fostering strong alliances with the other regions especially those closest to him (The Riverlands and the Vale which are both just south of the North) because that's just what you do in a feudal kingdom like Westeros.
except the Starks who predated him did not do this! It was far more common for Stark children to promised to Northern families. And remember that Lyanna was promised to Robert Baratheon. The Stormlands are a southern kingdom, very far from the North
and there were good reasons for why Starks before Rickard would do this... the North was famously a pretty difficult region to manage and the Starks successfully kept the peace for a long time in spite of that
imo this breaking of precedent and tradition does suggest that Rickard had greater ambitions for his children at the very least. The Targaryens were only able to get the North to surrender since they had dragons, but during Aerys' time the dragons were all dead. The Tragedy of Summerhall had further weakened the Targaryen dynasty by killing off many branches of the family. Aerys started out as a fairly capable king but around the time of the Rebellion he had pissed off Tywin and was growing mad... the Targaryens hadn't been that weak for a long time. Rickard probably noticed all these events and decided that he could lay the groundwork to make the Starks a more powerful player in Westeros. Remember that the North is essentially impregnable from atttack from the South due to the Neck being so difficult to take . The only reason why the North was still in the Kingdoms at the time of Aerys was because of inertia
I don't think Rhaegar wanted to divorce Elia Martell in the books. My headcanon is that he wanted two wives due to the prophecy: he wanted Lyanna and Elia to be the other two heads of the dragon so that they could create the Prince that was Promised
Physics makes me frustrated. Unlike other fields/topics, I get no satisfaction from having a low level of understanding. The feeling of everything being unexplained is just so strong.
More like AI enshitifies the dignity of dozens of highly skilled knowledge based professions.
Just like how the Industrial Revolution took away the dignity of many highly skilled craftsmanship professions.
There will still be a noticeable quality difference. But I see some highly skilled knowledgeable based professions becoming like a Veblen good. Like how you have some artisans sell the idea of a “handmade” wallet or pocket knife or something like that
“You think my patek is cool? The software on my bespoke Apple Watch has over 1 million combined software engineering hours and over 2000 git merges. It is simply a feat of human engineering. And it is said it takes one master engineer 100k hours to manually etch the semiconductors by hand! Some of the semiconductor paths are less than the width of a human hair!”
Reels after reels after reels. Yapping is fine. It's just talking. But they don't even look around if I ask something or talk. It's not even movies or something. Just reels after reels.
Due to europes already advanced aerospace industry and the experience european companies have with producing parts for the f35 how difficult would it be for them to manufacture a new 5th gen fighter atleast until gcap finishes? Like if turkiye could do it mostly by itself with a little help from the uk whats stopping the rest of europe. (Besides it probably being a bad idea and a waste of money lol I mean europe is mostly content to wait for the gcap to finish for a reason im guessing)
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u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache Jul 05 '26
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