Nostr notes by mike805

I was expecting her to learn a whole lot harder, as in face full ...

2026-10-27T03:00:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…x0rx
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I was expecting her to learn a whole lot harder, as in face full of asphalt hard. If someone is acting crazy, what she did is very unwise.

You cannot tell much about the male, except he is in a rage and about ready to get violent.

Pearl Harbor, 9/11, 10/7. In all three cases the same question is ...

2026-10-27T00:54:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…sd8k
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Pearl Harbor, 9/11, 10/7. In all three cases the same question is asked: were they really that clueless, or did they let it happen for political gain?

2legged was arguing for exactly that sort of "give it back to ...

2026-10-26T17:49:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…fmu8
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2legged was arguing for exactly that sort of "give it back to the natives" policy that has caused this conservative victory in Canada.

My question was "which natives?" given that they all fought each other before we got here. If land titles obtained by conquest are invalid, then ALL land titles are invalid, since all habitable land has changed hands in war and the first residents were usually killed off.

Do we give Mexico back to the Aztecs? Oh wait, they conquered it.

Well then my original point was valid: "We can either accept ...

2026-10-26T15:51:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…ywt0
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Well then my original point was valid: "We can either accept the world's existing land to people distribution, or fight over it some more."

A lot of people want to fight over it some more, including Israel and most of their neighbors. Such will does not exist the USA on any scale, fortunately.

What makes you think "good guys" would win any such struggle? I have my doubts.

Many Americans own houses and guns. If you told them their land ...

2026-10-26T03:28:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…nggk
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Many Americans own houses and guns. If you told them their land title was invalid (and they'd presumably have to move or pay rent to someone) the guns would come out right quick.

So that's a good example of "either tolerate the current land distribution or fight over it some more."

Not happening, IOW.

You could say that about the USA too; it was majority Native ...

2026-10-25T15:38:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…j58h
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You could say that about the USA too; it was majority Native American before we showed up.

Every piece of habitable land on Earth has been conquered least once, and most of it several times.

If obtaining land by conquest is illegitimate then ALL land claims are illegitimate. That's a valid philosophical position, but then what decides who gets to live where?

We can either accept the world's existing land to people distribution, or fight over it some more.

Well ok... but Europe has declining birth rates, and Germany and ...

2026-10-24T20:20:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…0800
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Well ok... but Europe has declining birth rates, and Germany and the UK are talking about national sacrifice and resuming the draft. Making preparations for total war can make it more likely.

If it breaks out then Western airpower will come in against Russia, and Russia will be left with infantry, and nuclear missiles, and nothing much in between. That cannot end well.

If you put NATO troops in Ukraine and some of them get killed by ...

2026-10-24T17:18:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…vrss
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If you put NATO troops in Ukraine and some of them get killed by Russia, this can obligate the rest of NATO to declare war on Russia.

How did WW1 escalate again? Right, alliances and obligations.

> increased from fifty to a hundred So if you go to the range, ...

2026-10-23T17:31:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…htuj
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> increased from fifty to a hundred

So if you go to the range, they count out the cartridges and count back the empty casings? That would be a pain.

They are worried about people hoarding ammo, so they fear a revolution. That is why Europe has limits like "one rifle of each caliber" as they don't want people stockpiling arms to create a modern SA or Red Fighting Front.

The hard Left is a problem everywhere but the imminent fear of death will motivate the rest against them.

The Israeli Arabs are why Israel has strange gun laws. They ...

2026-10-23T16:56:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…pefc
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The Israeli Arabs are why Israel has strange gun laws. They don't want the Arabs armed, so their gun laws have some "may issue" discretion and favor ex-military. How are they handling that post 10/7 where they are expanding gun ownership?

The Ultra-Orthodox are becoming more unpopular because their numbers are growing and they are, or were, immune to military service.

But Israel is a clear case of "hang together or they will hang separately" so they will get along somehow.

That looks like a fun game. Where can I download that?

2026-10-23T07:05:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…7d6c
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That looks like a fun game. Where can I download that?

In other Israel-related news... ...

2026-10-23T06:42:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…ykgj
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In other Israel-related news...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/10/23/cia-civil-war-total-collapse-israel-haredi-ultra-orthodox/

Diversity is not their strength either, according to some people at the CIA. (This is the "Devil's Advocate" branch of the CIA, which is supposed to challenge assumptions, but still...)

Now his utopian talk about multi-planetary civilization is ...

2026-10-23T00:59:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…5p4h
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Now his utopian talk about multi-planetary civilization is basically BS. The poles and the ocean floor are far more habitable than anyplace outside of the Earth.

If we do get to the point of making money in space mining, it will have all the problems of earlier frontier life, plus the fact that you have to bring even your air with you.

Money will be very much relevant in that situation. You will have to pay to breathe.

In three cases (reusable rockets, desirable electric cars, fast ...

2026-10-23T00:54:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…5jhg
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In three cases (reusable rockets, desirable electric cars, fast satellite Internet) Musk found himself in the same position:

He was the outsider who had no reason NOT to knock down the incumbents' castle. All of the above had been considered and not built by existing companies that had conflicting incentives. Musk's outsider companies got them done.

Is he nice? No. Neither was Steve Jobs. Most people like that aren't, but they built important things.

Because he has a trillion dollars. And rockets. He has rockets.

2026-10-23T00:12:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…2nug
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Because he has a trillion dollars. And rockets. He has rockets.

So that might explain the violent opposition of teachers to using ...

2026-10-22T21:10:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…4f3v
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So that might explain the violent opposition of teachers to using phonics.

When they have tried it, the slower kids acted up. Imposing discipline would be discrimination.

So they went back to the safe method even though it doesn't work.

Learning requires an application of willpower much like physical exercise does. Progressive education is hostile to anything that requires willpower.

They also hate anything that exposes ability differences. 2/2

Your drill and kill makes a good point. One of the overwhelming ...

2026-10-22T21:08:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…h2j2
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Your drill and kill makes a good point.

One of the overwhelming goals of "progressive education" is to avoid anything that would cause disorder in the classroom.

Of course you cannot throw the disorderly people out or put them on the short bus because that would be <insert evil accusation word here> depending on who you throw out.

So turn education into picture book entertainment and maybe nobody will get bored and act up. 1/2

The opposition to phonics has always puzzled me. Is there really ...

2026-10-22T20:31:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…veck
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The opposition to phonics has always puzzled me. Is there really a secret society conspiracy to make the public illiterate? And if not, why did anyone oppose phonics?

The whole advantage of English over Chinese is that the alphabet represents the sounds in the spoken language. If you see a word you have only heard, you can probably make the sound and your auditory brain will recognize it.

Math, likewise, did not need changing. But phonics puzzles me.

They should have kept the textbooks. High school math and ...

2026-10-22T19:09:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…uz3v
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They should have kept the textbooks. High school math and language have not changed. Just get them out of storage.

What would the people at Xerox PARC make of this? They put a lot of effort into making their GUI and proto-tablet student friendly. And the commercial version is so bad we're going back to paper? How did that happen?

It would make for an impressive getaway from the traffic police. ...

2026-10-16T19:54:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…h6yw
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It would make for an impressive getaway from the traffic police. But probably only has enough thrust gas for one jump.

SpaceX is good at feedback control. It looks like they applied what they learned landing rockets.

Gary Hart was also a takedown. Everyone who stood in the way of ...

2026-10-15T21:48:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…kw86
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Gary Hart was also a takedown. Everyone who stood in the way of the Leftist takeover was dealt with using some sort of dirty trick.

The 1960 election was basically stolen.

The unfortunate part is Nixon and other Republicans were not very good at this game.

The Republican approach to getting elected is to ask people to vote for you.

The Leftist approach is, control the process and you control the outcome. That is why they are so interested in where, when, and how you vote.

There is a robot floor cleaner in Walmart too. It moves very ...

2026-10-15T20:52:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…cghy
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There is a robot floor cleaner in Walmart too. It moves very slowly while beeping. People get out of its way.

Doesn't your emergency call system automatically send ...

2026-10-15T04:40:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…qm05
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Doesn't your emergency call system automatically send location? It has forever in Europe and the USA.

Cheerfighting. Let's make some rules: To win, all your ...

2026-10-15T04:39:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…vyjs
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Cheerfighting. Let's make some rules:

To win, all your fighters must be in the other team's half of the court, OR you must force all members of the other team out of your half of the court.

The match must go for at least one minute to prevent the first fighter across the line from being pushed back and ending the game.

That could get you in legal trouble in "two-party" ...

2026-10-14T23:31:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…3qhs
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That could get you in legal trouble in "two-party" states, where recording a conversation requires both parties' approval.

The military version is controlled by the USA government, not ...

2026-10-14T23:29:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…t4dc
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The military version is controlled by the USA government, not Musk. Blame Trump, not Musk, if you want to blame someone.

Obvious explanation: Trump told Zelensky to stop attacking oil infrastructure. Zelensky immediately hit oil infrastructure, presumably using StarLink. Trump decided to yank Zelensky's chain by very specifically blocking StarLink above 100 mph. That would only affect offensive strikes. Defense can use direct line of sight radio control.

The recent French refrigerator incident is relevant here. That ...

2026-10-14T22:13:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…a38n
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The recent French refrigerator incident is relevant here. That sort of thing could be done to the whole power grid.

in World War One, when the government directly controlled things ...

2026-10-13T16:11:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…s45k
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in World War One, when the government directly controlled things like the phone system and the use of radio.

A state in that mode can get a lot done quickly, as both Germany and Russia did. Unfortunately, some of the things they "get done" are not good things.

Yes a strong leader can turn around a failing society. If AH had died before the invasion of Poland, he would probably be a big hero today. Nobody would take seriously some of his more radical statements. 2/2

NS Germany and Stalinist Russia were totalitarian. Just about ...

2026-10-13T16:08:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…xt45
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NS Germany and Stalinist Russia were totalitarian. Just about everything that had been done by the private sector was done by the state, or under direct dictate from the state.

There were several Boy Scouts type organizations in Weimar Germany. After 1933 there was one.

There were many film studios, all consolidated into one under Party control.

Industry was "private" but was told exactly what to make, how much to pay, etc.

The USA was arguably totalitarian 1/2

Yup. They are consensus followers. In fact a lot of Nazis were ...

2026-10-13T05:34:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…0knh
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Yup. They are consensus followers. In fact a lot of Nazis were ex-Communists who got their asses kicked by the SA. They switched to the winning side. Those were not trusted like the "Old Fighters" were.

And in East Germany a lot of ex-Nazis took up Communism to get the perks.

Independent thinkers would be looking for the exit from any totalitarian system.

Owning slaves and exploiting Indians (both kinds) is just the ...

2026-10-11T06:09:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…du4m
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Owning slaves and exploiting Indians (both kinds) is just the other side of where we're at now. I.e. karma is a bitch.

The majority of us want to be nice to the stranger. A ruthless minority want to exploit him. The combination leads to disaster every time.

This is common sense: if someone has already demonstrated that ...

2026-10-07T20:27:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…t9pc
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This is common sense: if someone has already demonstrated that they'd rather use drugs and sleep on the street, telling them "we'll house you if you stop using drugs" isn't going to work.

Some people are deficient in serotonin, and need SSRIs. Some are deficient in dopamine and benefit from ADHD drugs. Some people are probably deficient in endorphins, and only feel right when on opioids or kratom or something of that sort.

Typical conspiracy case: two cops and an idiot. These same ...

2026-10-07T19:33:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…ppwf
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Typical conspiracy case: two cops and an idiot.

These same tactics are used against jihadis, leftists, and right-wingers.

New steam generator, new turbine and alternator, new control ...

2026-10-07T17:05:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…3y27
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New steam generator, new turbine and alternator, new control systems. They also have simulation algorithms that tell them, for example, how to move bundles around to maximize their burn-up.

Nuclear is like if they had banned new cars in 1979. You would have some wild modifications of old cars on the road.

American kids grew up learning how to fight on a sci-fi ...

2026-10-07T17:01:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…rse2
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American kids grew up learning how to fight on a sci-fi battlefield. And with drones, you really do respawn when you die, so the mentality of a video gamer is exactly right. If the next war is like Russia-Ukraine, don't underestimate the gamer kids.

SSRIs. Hypomanic state. It's in the prescribing information. ...

2026-10-07T05:35:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…qlyc
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SSRIs. Hypomanic state. It's in the prescribing information.

In plain English, that's a rage monster state. Adolescent males in that state are the ones who do school shootings. Women, apparently, kill their kids. I bet most of those people were on one or many pills.

Great, that's one big reactor's worth. They are modifying ...

2026-10-07T05:31:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…qcwl
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Great, that's one big reactor's worth.

They are modifying existing units to increase their efficiency. The nuclear industry has gained a lot of output that way.

Catholics and the pope? Isn't "synodality" the ...

2026-10-04T22:37:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…d5tk
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Catholics and the pope? Isn't "synodality" the breakdown of that culture?

It's pretty obvious from the state of the Church that the leadership has lost its faith; otherwise they would have brought down wrath on the corruption of their institution.

The only healthy part of the Church are the Traditional Latin Mass elements (which also take exorcism seriously) and the leadership is trying to stomp on that. Time for a breakaway faction and a tithe escrow system?

So is China the modern implementation of that? They seem to have ...

2026-10-04T22:34:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…6zuy
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So is China the modern implementation of that? They seem to have an authoritarian state where competence can rise. Not necessarily nice to live in, but it may well work.

Regarding the succession problem, if it is just the eldest son ...

2026-10-04T22:17:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…gk34
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Regarding the succession problem, if it is just the eldest son (or king's choice of his sons) then the quality declines in peacetime.

In wartime, the sons have to go lead campaigns. They get leadership training in the process, and the stupid ones either get killed or display their incompetence and get put into harmless roles.

A peacetime royal court is horrible. It's all about social climbing. High school with the death penalty.

Monarchy was made for war.

My point about monarchy is, it only works with a priesthood ...

2026-10-04T22:11:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…yxmz
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My point about monarchy is, it only works with a priesthood convincing the masses that the monarch is doing the will of God.

There was a Chinese astronomer who got executed because he missed predicting a solar eclipse, which happened right in the middle of an imperial parade. That sort of thing was dangerous in a monarchy.

That philosophical worldview is VERY DEAD, even among the Catholics. So it would be difficult to restore a monarchy. Stalinism is doable.

The same people and ideas that blew up European monarchies blew ...

2026-10-04T22:02:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…yxmz
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The same people and ideas that blew up European monarchies blew up the American republic. The question then is, if that was prevented, would monarchy or republic be better?

Shakespearean England was said to be pretty good for that tech level. No usury allowed, stable money, and far more small scale landowners than in Europe.

A good honest monarch can produce a golden age, yes. Things go to ...

2026-10-04T19:01:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…dkjv
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A good honest monarch can produce a golden age, yes. Things go to hell rapidly when he dies.

Anyway, that system blew itself up through war, inbreeding, and infiltration by people whose interests were not aligned with those of the nation.

The philosophical basis of it has also been destroyed, so it's probably not coming back. A republic might.

Yes better food and time to train were two key advantages of the ...

2026-10-04T18:09:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…wl70
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Yes better food and time to train were two key advantages of the nobility over the peasants.

The biggest weakness of the peasants was that they still believed in monarchy as a concept. (The nobility knew the king was often barely keeping the nobles' hands off each others' throats.)

So when the peasants sought relief from oppression, they went to the king asking him to do something about bad nobles, rather than attacking the bad concepts at the root of it.

Chivalry only applies to the nobility. That has not changed. The ...

2026-10-02T06:45:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…x8vt
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Chivalry only applies to the nobility. That has not changed.

The peasants in the movie did not learn the lesson. They went into "Robin Hood" guerrilla mode, and had the opportunity to kill the King who had backstabbed them. They did not take it.

Meat was a military advantage for the nobility. In the age of muscle-powered warfare, it kept them bigger and stronger than the peasants. 4/4

Finally the King agreed to the mob's terms and prepared ...

2026-10-02T06:45:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…swft
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Finally the King agreed to the mob's terms and prepared pardons. The King ordered the mob to put down their weapons and follow him to the church where the pardons would be distributed.

And when they got there, the pardons were set on fire and then the cavalry charged out of the tree line and slaughtered the peasants. You could see it coming. So there's one thing to NOT do. There is no point where you have won and you no longer need your weapons.

3/4

if only they could make him aware of how bad the local nobility ...

2026-10-02T06:44:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…lzfv
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if only they could make him aware of how bad the local nobility was. The King was actually young and controlled by his advisors.

The rebels marched to London and demanded the King change a bunch of stuff, including limiting taxation and getting rid of serfdom. The King stalled and then eventually agreed, meanwhile the mob went on a rampage through London and beheaded a bunch of people. The King let the mob kill off the advisors who had put him in this position of near disaster.

2/4

Just watched the movie "The Uprising" which was set in ...

2026-10-02T06:43:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…dfcy
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Just watched the movie "The Uprising" which was set in this era of England. There had just been a pandemic, and the upper class was trying to make up for the lost income by squeezing the remaining peasants harder. Eventually trouble broke out. The rebellion had a dangerous leader, who was a heretic priest.

While the peasants understood that the noblemen squeezing them were corrupt and useless, they held out some faith that the King was still good and would take their side 1/4

Monarchies had excessive wars because there were too many princes ...

2026-09-30T21:08:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…zk3c
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Monarchies had excessive wars because there were too many princes that needed campaigns to lead and lands of their own.

America has had excessive wars because we keep thinking we can somehow perfect the world by force. The Founders warned against that, but the temptation seems to be overwhelming. And there's always a big fat profit motive behind the idealism.

That may have been the ideal. The reality was "Old ...

2026-09-30T21:06:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…4ts6
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That may have been the ideal. The reality was "Old Fighters" who had been in the Party before it came to power were given a lot of key positions. It was all about personal loyalty. Some of them had no clue what they were doing.

That was a government of men, making it up as they went along. It is surprising they got as far as they did.

Yes we need a system where people can rise by demonstrating competence. That requires the society to do things that require competence.

paid premium wages for the fastest workers. That used his capital ...

2026-09-30T19:10:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…h6vq
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paid premium wages for the fastest workers. That used his capital more efficiently, and the worker bought a Ford. (The banker already had a Cadillac!)

Nazi Germany tried to use slave labor in modern industry, and failed. Albert Speer wanted to use German women (who had been quite productive in WW1) but der Fuhrer would not let him.

Slavery does not work in capital intensive industries, including mechanized agriculture. 3/3

Now the industrial case. You have two workers operating machines. ...

2026-09-30T19:08:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…36a0
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Now the industrial case. You have two workers operating machines. The worker makes $2 per day and produces 3 boxes of widgets per day. But the lease on the machine costs you $3 per day.

Slave owner offers you the slaves, 2 boxes of widgets per slave for $1 a day. Like the farmer, you'd save a dollar on labor, but you'd pay $3 more for a third machine. The slave operates the machine less efficiently. You tell the slave owner to go away.

Henry Ford figured this out and 2/3

The South wanted to expand slavery, even into Mexico by force. It ...

2026-09-30T19:07:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…takv
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The South wanted to expand slavery, even into Mexico by force.

It works like this: you have two hired workers. Each one gets paid $2 per day to pick 3 units of cotton. A slave owner offers to lease you some slaves. A slave costs $1 per day and picks 2 units of cotton. Absent moral qualms, you lease three slaves and get the same amount of cotton while making an extra $1 per day. Win? Only until the price of cotton drops and everyone has to switch to slavery. 1/3

"Never trust the middle classes to make political ...

2026-09-30T19:00:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…k3c3
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"Never trust the middle classes to make political decisions."

Okay, if you let the lower class make political decisions you get the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, or Maoism far too often. Those are far worse than what they replaced.

If you have a permanent hereditary upper class, competent people outside those families are denied a place in society. They will eventually form a rival group.

Maybe the Chinese civil service exam and rule by smart people was good?

Avoid democracy, ok. Which form of government does not decay over ...

2026-09-30T18:55:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…rsps
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Avoid democracy, ok. Which form of government does not decay over time?

Monarchies are created by and for warfare, and start to rot as soon as peace breaks out. A peacetime monarchy is high school with the death penalty. You get into power by social climbing skill, not practical competence.

Republics turn into democracies as each class and faction demands a seat at the table.

We have not solved the stable government problem yet.

In San Domingo there were large groups of escaped slaves living ...

2026-09-30T18:46:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…4wem
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In San Domingo there were large groups of escaped slaves living wild, and the Europeans did nothing about it. Eventually they got their own French revolution.

South Africa made the deal that would keep things normal in the short term, at the expense of the long term. People wouldn't give up the house maid.

The American South would have been even more screwed if they had won the Civil War and brought in millions more slaves just in time for the tractor and power-driven agriculture. 2/2

Supremacist cultures all have the same problem, from Rome to the ...

2026-09-30T18:43:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…0r2k
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Supremacist cultures all have the same problem, from Rome to the American South to San Domingo and South Africa. (See also Saudi Arabia and Dubai, heading the same way! It's not just us.)

The ruling class gets lazy and takes their superiority for granted. They bring in people to serve them. The servile class massively outnumbers them.

When the trouble starts, separation is not an option because then the ruling class would have to do actual work, and they can't be bothered. 1/2

Thinking about it a bit more, that would be a effective way to ...

2026-09-27T04:04:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…ehkg
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Thinking about it a bit more, that would be a effective way to reduce shoplifting and disorder in malls. You have to swipe your debit or credit card at the door, and they try to pre-auth $100. If that fails you don't get in.

They could also just match the video to your swipe and bill your card if you steal.

People have to have a vision of the future. Whether empire or ...

2026-09-27T02:58:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…54n2
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People have to have a vision of the future. Whether empire or high-tech or religion, people have to have something to collectively look forward to.

Have you seen Tomorrowland at any of the mouse parks lately? It's a perfect representation of our lack of a collective future vision. Random junk and sci-fantasy. We need a 1939-style World's Fair.

Israel has a vision of the future and that is one reason they are above replacement.

The whole "Population Bomb" thing was a problem yes. But ...

2026-09-27T02:47:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…rkwh
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The whole "Population Bomb" thing was a problem yes. But modern economic demands are just not compatible with human biology. If there is no way forward to a better economic system, humans will end up back to harsh patriarchy, probably facing Mecca.

Someday malls will be cashless and you will have to swipe a ...

2026-09-27T02:46:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…5nyr
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Someday malls will be cashless and you will have to swipe a credit card to get in.

Japanese culture imposed a bunch of obligations on women. For ...

2026-09-27T02:36:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…n3uf
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Japanese culture imposed a bunch of obligations on women. For example, they have to take care of the elderly on both sides of the family if they get married.

Starter homes are completely unaffordable in places with jobs available.

I've read that the Singer sewing machine kicked off first-wave feminism. It gave women a lot more free time and a bit of independent income if they wanted to do piece-work.

#2 is not just a Western problem. Japan and S. Korea have some of ...

2026-09-27T02:23:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…ga93
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#2 is not just a Western problem. Japan and S. Korea have some of the lowest birth rates in the world, and nobody knows how to fix that.

Has anyone ever found a solution or is this just the rat utopia problem?

The Jesus story was interpreted in the context of beliefs of that ...

2026-09-25T17:39:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…jvdr
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The Jesus story was interpreted in the context of beliefs of that time, i.e. sacrifice at the Temple and appeasing God.

If you want to look at it in terms of spiritual energy, it gets far more interesting. When something dies, energy is released. That's why the hungry ghosts like sacrifice. When a soul departs, energy leaves the world.

So you could argue that Jesus either brought a special type of good energy into this world, or took negative energy out of the world. 1/2

Yes nderf.org for example has collected NDE stories from around ...

2026-09-25T17:34:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…6jq6
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Yes nderf.org for example has collected NDE stories from around the world and they are very similar. People are far more likely to see deceased family than any religious figure, for example.

There are also quite a few reincarnation stories from Western nations now, it's not all Ian Stevensen in India.

Just listened to an Islamic podcast about "jinn" and while they have a different backstory for it, they are well aware of that dark realm around the earth.

I've read books that correlate near death experiences, after ...

2026-09-24T19:43:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…wner
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I've read books that correlate near death experiences, after death spontaneous communications, pre-birth memories of children (choosing one's life), past-life memories of children, and meditative spiritual experiences.

They all line up toward a cohesive view of the spirit world, including a gloomy dark realm around this world which is filled with lost, angry, and sometimes evil beings. Many but not all of human origin.

Mediumship is the outlier that does not fit the pattern.

Well most people end up at "it's all politics and BS, ...

2026-09-24T19:34:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…egql
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Well most people end up at "it's all politics and BS, there is no supernatural." A smaller faction end up at "my book is true, everything else is demons."

But if demons wrote much of the world's scripture, are you really sure your book is 100%? Especially given the evil actions found in all the scriptures.

The overwhelming conclusion from Hungry Ghosts is, the mediums were and are genuine. The spirits are real. But they are lying and manipulative parasites from the earthbound plane.

Most of the ancient religions believe that sacrifices were ...

2026-09-24T19:23:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…shxm
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Most of the ancient religions believe that sacrifices were required to "power up" their god so he could do miracles.

Now if you really are dealing with the creator of all energy, why does He need you to charge Him up?

If you are a spirit with no energy of your own, however, feeding off someone else's life force might be quite desirable.

This applies to the Old Testament as well as (other) pagan gods. They all look like Hungry Ghosts from the modern perspective.

There are examples in the Old Testament of sacrifices to other ...

2026-09-24T18:06:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…9zax
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There are examples in the Old Testament of sacrifices to other gods turning the tide of battle against the Israelites.

And the Israelite god spoke through the prophet of a rival civilization and tricked them into an ambush.

The evidence is, many spirits have tried to manipulate humanity down through the ages, and they are still at it today. Much of the world's scripture is a record of their machinations.

There is a good book "Hungry Ghosts" looking into the modern side of this.

People who own their houses will not give them up without a ...

2026-09-22T16:02:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…jy5l
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People who own their houses will not give them up without a fight, and in the USA they are well equipped for the fight. So there will be private housing or a civil war. All public housing would be communism and we know that sucks.

If a basic level of support was guaranteed, and that level is good enough materially, then we don't need to care how rich the rich are.

This basic level needs to be as automated as possible. No human management, ideally. Human ego would screw it up.

I think the best you could do is have enough public housing for ...

2026-09-22T05:37:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…rxey
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I think the best you could do is have enough public housing for anyone who wants one, and private housing for people who are willing and able to pay.

There ought to be a public facility in every city where anyone can get a meal, shower, and a place to sleep, for free. That would take a lot of the pressure off.

The odd thing is, the above facility DOES exist but it's intentionally made unpleasant (at great cost) so nobody goes there by choice. It's the county jail.

The closest thing to a "who lives where" committee are ...

2026-09-22T05:34:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…gd23
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The closest thing to a "who lives where" committee are neighborhood associations and co-op boards. Both notoriously political and nasty.

Neighborhood associations were originally created to enforce segregation (restrictive covenants) and they still serve that purpose indirectly by tightly restricting what people can do with their houses, therefore making the neighborhood unpleasant for the wrong kind of people.

> decide as a community who lives where Ah, there's your ...

2026-09-22T05:32:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…lyag
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> decide as a community who lives where

Ah, there's your committee. When they decide on racial apartheid - as we know much of America would - does anyone intervene? If not, the Far Right might actually like your plan.

There are enough houses for everyone, but some of them are in more desirable locations, or are just nicer. If money doesn't decide, politics does. That is what worries me.

> collective farming didn't work out

It didn't work for the Pilgrims either. Incentive failure.

Adam Smith and Karl Marx agreed that landlords don't add much ...

2026-09-22T04:16:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…g04u
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Adam Smith and Karl Marx agreed that landlords don't add much value.

The question then becomes how do you allocate a scarce resource like desirable housing?

If you have the state do it, either the state becomes a monopoly landlord (and maximizes profit) or there is a political process to get a decent place to live.

If the state does try to build public housing, it's usually not very nice, whether in formal Communism, or European welfare states.

The problem is unsolved.

So then the question is "is the landlord doing anything for ...

2026-09-22T00:56:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…e27w
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So then the question is "is the landlord doing anything for the tenant?"

Theoretically yes he's obligated to fix the plumbing and so on. In practice he's mostly just getting paid for having money. The tenant could accumulate quite a plumber fund if he didn't have to pay rent.

So aside from rent, how do you allocate desirable places to live? Having a committee you have to impress isn't too great an option, and leads to corruption.

That is one reason corporate landlords are taking over from ...

2026-09-21T19:16:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…4z67
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That is one reason corporate landlords are taking over from private landlords. They can afford lawyers. Access to Wall Street money is the other reason.

Private landlords have one expensive situation that requires a lawyer followed by a cleanup crew to rehab the house, and they don't want to do that any more.

If you rent out your house you risk having a lot of bad things ...

2026-09-20T22:11:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…99n6
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If you rent out your house you risk having a lot of bad things happen. Getting a "tenant" you cannot get rid of, having the house trashed, getting sued. Therefore people choose not to.

Treating houses as a stock that's supposed to always go up was a big mistake.

The Americans sent diplomats and asked the Barbary Pirates, ...

2026-09-20T04:17:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…wjwf
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The Americans sent diplomats and asked the Barbary Pirates, "what is your problem with us?"

The answer: You're not Muslims, so you either pay tribute or you're fair game.

The Americans sent the newly-organized Marines instead. Tripoli port was fortified, so they landed elsewhere and marched over land.

When the Marines were marching on Tripoli from the land side, the Muslims suddenly became very willing to negotiate.

Barbary piracy collapsed shortly thereafter.

There is a parallel between AI now and nuclear fission in 1939. ...

2026-09-19T00:52:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…wy7s
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There is a parallel between AI now and nuclear fission in 1939. In 1939 every physicist knew that nuclear fission was possible, and might blow us all up, and we might be better off just not doing that.

They also knew that whoever did it first would have a massive advantage, so not doing that wasn't an option.

At least having the weapons under tight control in each country that had them was accomplished. Nobody has stolen a live one that we know of.

Should big AI be treated like that?

The main part of Catholicism that is growing is the Traditional ...

2026-09-19T00:49:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…wd3e
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The main part of Catholicism that is growing is the Traditional Latin Mass people. It's well past time to form a separate TLM branch, and a tithe escrow mechanism so people who feel morally obligated to tithe have a place to send the money.

That money would be handed over to the real church post-restoration. The Catholics and the Orthodox were the most effective at standing up for Western Civilization when it was in trouble. We need that.

So where is the Saudi Air Force in all of this? Do the Houthis ...

2026-09-19T00:47:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…06x0
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So where is the Saudi Air Force in all of this? Do the Houthis have some missiles that can shoot down non-stealthy jets? Why was MBS begging DJT to go in rather than launching his own forces?

Nostr event nevent1qqszx4yqyg2r649evugyeg0fxyqu0l6aeyndpetg0x7sqntg02knldczyqcse34yat6h2qcylx0w473yuqz9t43420adt9n03hvuk706zfjlx43qsrk

2026-09-19T00:45:49Z

https://slashdot.org/story/26/09/17/2042242/ai-insiders-issue-new-warnings---including-former-anthropic-engineer-jacob-coxon If these people really believe AI is going to destroy humanity, why are they not at the UN trying to organize a global AI kill switch or something?

Nuclear power plants have government inspectors. Nuclear weapons have PALs that require a code to enable them. The large AI data centers could easily have remote controlled power switches, using existing PALs, which can be triggered from airplanes with the grid down.

The stuff you can run at home is much less of a concern.

"Treat everyone exactly like you want to be treated." ...

2026-09-12T18:42:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…xf3t
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"Treat everyone exactly like you want to be treated."

Well, I want to be given a billion dollars. So let's give everyone a billion dollars.

Oh wait, now a billion only buys a loaf of bread.

There was a case where cereal bowls were shown in advertisements ...

2026-09-11T17:10:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…y7yv
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There was a case where cereal bowls were shown in advertisements with Elmer's white glue instead of milk. They also dumped out a couple boxes of cereal and chose the best looking flakes.

That was legal, because the cereal was real and they weren't selling milk.

They let their quality go to hell. BMWs and Mercedes were always ...

2026-09-10T02:11:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…mzjv
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They let their quality go to hell. BMWs and Mercedes were always expensive to fix, but they generally worked in between expensive service appointments.

They outsourced components and software, with predictable results. Flaky and unreliable tech features.

Also, electric cars with fake grills are ugly. Either make a purpose-built body with no place to put a grill, or go ahead and include the grill for the A/C and inverter cooling. But don't put a plastic plug where the grill should be.

The book is "Angels in Iron" by Nicholas C. Prata. The ...

2026-09-09T02:59:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…r0gm
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The book is "Angels in Iron" by Nicholas C. Prata.

The Christians had incendiary "wildfire grenades" which proved rather effective. It is not obvious why the Janissaries did not dampen their clothing after the first wave got lit up, but lucky for us they didn't.

Most people don't realize how often Western civilization has come down to one battle, one siege, one act of defiance. Lepanto was another one. It almost seems like there is a metaphysical "nobody wins it all " principle.

The right questions re: 9/11 are (1) who benefits? (2) who ...

2026-09-07T18:35:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…pp8c
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The right questions re: 9/11 are (1) who benefits? (2) who shorted the airlines? (3) which nation did the hijackers come from? (4) who is that nation allied with? (5) who let the Bin Ladens jet out of the USA?

And the conspiracists never ask those.

Hahaha but how did they know which floor to place them on? The ...

2026-09-07T18:07:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…jf4d
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Hahaha but how did they know which floor to place them on? The collapse started where the plane hit.

I watched a conspiracist's brain crash and reboot when I asked that question. That controlled demo theory has been pushed with serious money behind it.

They do that. You have the official theory and the looney theory and nothing in between, so nobody asks about people celebrating or short sales. It works.

There was a study of parole boards. You are far more likely to ...

2026-09-04T00:33:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…yar3
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There was a study of parole boards. You are far more likely to get parole if your case is (a) first thing in the morning or (b) right after lunch.

After they have heard the same "he's turning his life around" crap 20 times, they aren't buying it.

Takeaway: humans cannot be unbiased even if that is their job.

Alright now this I have to dispute. It's based on pre-modern ...

2026-09-04T00:12:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…uzkk
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Alright now this I have to dispute. It's based on pre-modern understanding of disease vs. poison. Disease is contagious. Poison is not. There was nothing you could carry a small quantity of that would persistently poison a source of running water. Poison someone's drink, sure, but not a well.

The plague was carried by rats and their fleas. If you went to the public baths, and someone with the plague hung up their clothes, you ended up with plague fleas. Thus the fear of bathing.

That is rather like the "Ban Nuclear Fission Act." It ...

2026-09-03T23:45:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…jn38
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That is rather like the "Ban Nuclear Fission Act." It means the enemy will have the Bomb first. That is all.

Unlimited cloud AI also has an expiration date. You will know ...

2026-09-03T18:39:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…hemw
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Unlimited cloud AI also has an expiration date. You will know when it hits you in the face.

Netflix also used to eat costs to get customers. This has been the entire history of the commercial Internet. They give away value at first and then they take it back.

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OTOH there is no human or group or committee who could decide ...

2026-09-02T23:54:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…60pg
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OTOH there is no human or group or committee who could decide "we're just not doing generative AI" any more than we could decide "we're just not doing nuclear fission."

Like fission, the techniques for AI have been known for a couple decades, and the prerequisites have gradually filled in. GPUs, large machine-readable datasets (thank you book pirates) and better architectures.

So yes AI just happened and there was nobody who could opt out. Asia would do it if the USA did not.

This was also the case when Israel got bushwhacked in the six-day ...

2026-08-31T22:36:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…hg49
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This was also the case when Israel got bushwhacked in the six-day war. There had been ample warning that was not heeded.

Pearl Harbor, 9/11, six-day war, even the American attack on Trenton during the Revolution. The people who got surprised had warning in all cases, and did not act on it.

Conspiracy or just incompetence?

I know what they were, but what was their endgame? What did their ...

2026-08-20T20:35:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…8lj4
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I know what they were, but what was their endgame? What did their utopia look like?

Many bioethicists are profoundly evil. It's only a short hop ...

2026-08-17T22:07:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…uezy
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Many bioethicists are profoundly evil. It's only a short hop from there to "unleash a plague to save the planet." Which they would do if they could.

When you start out with "humans are just objects with no individual moral weight" this is where you end up.

The reason they want watermarking is to prevent their LLMs from ...

2026-08-17T20:19:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…ea09
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The reason they want watermarking is to prevent their LLMs from training on the LLM output, which screws them up.

Painful looking cop fail at the beginning. They need some ...

2026-08-16T03:48:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…gcn8
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Painful looking cop fail at the beginning. They need some athletic cops to deal with this sort of thing.

There's a video on YouTube of Indians repairing pole ...

2026-08-11T00:17:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…grnx
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There's a video on YouTube of Indians repairing pole transformers. They had some scary unsafe looking tackle to get the transformer off the pole. Then they took it apart and cut out burned windings and replaced them.

In the USA they'd replace it with one from China, and send the busted one to Mexico for rebuilding.

We need that repair culture here.

They have no freedom of speech. Even complaining is illegal. They ...

2026-08-10T22:43:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…6grz
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They have no freedom of speech. Even complaining is illegal. They have no weapons. They are arrested for buying baseball bats. They are about where East Germans or Soviets were in the 1970s. Except they can still leave. It is surprising the exodus has not started yet.