Random political thought thread.

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

omfg regular people have been put in boxes for less​

 

[The Cat]

 

[Coriolis]

Why do so many people recoil at the idea that formal higher education should be something students receive a return on investment from? It seems kinda anti-student to me. If the schools cost so much, shouldn't they set them on a pathway so they can pay ift off? I'd be fine with the "place for learning" model if the cost wasn't so high.

I question why the schools cost so much. Part of it is that there has been credential inflation. Jobs that used to require only a high school diploma and perhaps some work experience now require a college degree, even though that often is not needed to perform the duties. Inflated requirements fuel inflated demands, which keeps prices high. University education has become little more than job training in many cases, rather than the pursuit and development of true scholarship as it once was. Job training is fine, but let's use the right tool for the job and set up trade schools or apprentice programs for that, and let universities do what they do best.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I question why the schools cost so much. Part of it is that there has been credential inflation. Jobs that used to require only a high school diploma and perhaps some work experience now require a college degree, even though that often is not needed to perform the duties. Inflated requirements fuel inflated demands, which keeps prices high. University education has become little more than job training in many cases, rather than the pursuit and development of true scholarship as it once was. Job training is fine, but let's use the right tool for the job and set up trade schools or apprentice programs for that, and let universities do what they do best.

My other main beef is hyperspecialization in the workplace. Evidently you are supposed to pick a few things that go together and keep doing them for the rest of your life, as far as I can tell. I guess that means no deciding to learn a new skill when something gets boring and doing that. No building additional skills for robustness, either, even though things might go out of date or your employer could decide to outsource the job.

 

[The Cat]

Riddle me this: If an authoritarian gives an order, and no one listens,
what is the difference between a deposed king and a raving madman?

​

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

Ben Shapiro sounds like someone who wouldnt be caught dead serving in the military. I remember what a lot of us serving thought about some of these war hawking talking heads and what they were actually good for 20 years ago. I think similar things about Big Boy Ben and his ilk. People who never have to pull the triggers and push the buttons and turn the wrenches being awful big talkers of death and destruction considering all they've got in their hands is their own little dick and the only thing in their belly is piss warm fear. War is hell there are no winners and no one comes out of it better off. It breaks everyone who it touches in one way or another. People who would never take the oath and bear the yolk should have the common decency to keep their mouth shut when it comes to demanding it and hawking for it.

Fantastic Comedian though.
A legend.​

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

It had to be done.

Just a party girl.
Giving drunk theater a whirl.
She hit her vape and she grabbed his schlong.
Just a democrat guy
touchin boob and caressing thighs,
he likes her dress, and her matching thong.
Both politicians they are unaware,
that neither of them has a prayer,
of living in a world where they can get it on and on and on.

Vape clouds blowing,
no regard for theater etiquette:
Selfies, snapping in the niiiiight.
Jesus people?
Have you been paying attenion?
Hypocrisy? Really? How is this a surpriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise???

Working hard, to clutch the pearls,
everybody loves clutching pearls.
Giving anything to find the moral high ground
just one more time.
Some will deflect,
some will agree,
everyone's hoping no one sees,
that so many men had to fake disgust at
Lauren Boebert in that dress to their spouse it goes on and on and on.

I swear dear, its not hot,
I don't even look at other women,
not since I got married to youuuu
Lying? Never! I don't even like that dress.
No dear, I swear, I would never date a girl like that.
how about a quick hand job toniiiiiiiight?

Don't stop believing, everyone is super conservative.
No one likes having seeeeeeeex.
Don't stop believing , hold onto that feeeling
You've still got the moral high grouuuunnd.
Don't stop belieiving that it doesnt turn you on
just because the fashion's changing its just a yellow dress and not blue...
(repeat until fade out)

If only she weren't a politician and wanna be authoritarian,
I think a lot of people would get a real kick out of her.
The last a pretty woman story like this happened Julia Roberts was nominated for an oscar.

​

 

[Virtual ghost]

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

 

[Red Herring]

Here's a sample of what the Tagesschau looks like. It has more viewers than the top US news channels combined even though Germany only has a quarter of the US's population so it really is one of the most influencial and trusted news sources over here. It is publically funded via a license fee but protected from government interference and for the most part considered politically neutral.

item 1: world climate conference (first some background facts, then sort of a breakthrough but not enough being done)
item 2: regional court orders government to become quicker in implementing the legally perscribed climate protection measures
item 3: Hamas is releasing 2 more hostages while also killing several more Israeli civilians in an attack, hopes for an extension of the ceasefire
item 4: Russian court declares LGBTQ movement to be an "extremist movement" (presented matter-of-fact)
item 5: Henry Kissinger died, important but controversial figure
item 6: local court is sentencing a group of rightwing terrorists
item 7: public broadcaster reforms
item 8: sports - women's handball team very narrowly wins against Japan
item 9: painting smuggled into an art hall is auctioned off for charity
item 10: the weather

 

[The Cat]

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I've been following this guy, Mehdi Hasan, on Instagram for a while. I think I've seen his show a few times. I really like the way he approaches topics, especially this one. Regrettably, it seems like his show on MSNBC has been cancelled. It's not surprising, though.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Open secret at climate talks: The top temperature goal is mostly gone


As I said some 2 months ago: start thinking about what you will do when things actually get out of hand. Since it is becoming totally evident that this isn't getting fixed on time. I know these are heavy words but this is just how it looks like. After all this looks as pretty much another climate summit where nothing really will be fixed.

 

[SensEye]

Open secret at climate talks: The top temperature goal is mostly gone


As I said some 2 months ago: start thinking about what you will do when things actually get out of hand. Since it is becoming totally evident that this isn't getting fixed on time. I know these are heavy words but this is just how it looks like. After all this looks as pretty much another climate summit where nothing really will be fixed.

No surprise at all. And it's going to get worse - as in, climate targets will continue to be missed.

Focus needs to switch to carbon extraction technology. You can't make consumption unpopular and you can't make carbon taxes popular. It's a big waste of effort and investing in expensive and low energy density renewables is distracting from research into extraction technology. At the very least, focus on nuclear power and making it safe as possible until something better can be found.

 

[Virtual ghost]

No surprise at all. And it's going to get worse - as in, climate targets will continue to be missed.

Focus needs to switch to carbon extraction technology. You can't make consumption unpopular and you can't make carbon taxes popular. It's a big waste of effort and investing in expensive and low energy density renewables is distracting from research into extraction technology. At the very least, focus on nuclear power and making it safe as possible until something better can be found.

In my book carbon extraction from atmosphere is interesting concept but there is one pretty big flaw in that idea. Which is that this will for sure require plenty of energy, and we are already consuming too much. Plus where would a man even store all this carbon in a way that it doesn't escape into the atmosphere again ? How exactly will you transport it to the storage site ?

While nuclear energy is also in problems as I pointed out a few weeks ago. Especially since peak Uranium is a thing just as peak oil. Plus large parts of the world evidently aren't allowed to have nuclear reactors (just in the case you haven't noticed the topic over the years). Therefore those parts of the world will just continue to burn fossil energy. Not to mention that most of the world can't even afford nuclear energy.

Plus world's population is still growing and thus you will have to clear additional forests in order to avoid direct social and regional instability. However since crops tent to weight much less than forest trees with this replacement you are basically adding new carbon into the system. Since there is large difference in organic mass that has to go somewhere. Therefore even if we cut fossil fuel energy to zero we will still create plenty of new carbon in the atmosphere. Not to mention that large drought driven forest fires around the globe are also directly adding plenty of new carbon into the atmosphere. The carbon that no one is adding into the equation because it isn't direct product of fossil energy. This carbon is hard to "define" and thus tax, so it isn't "socially interesting". But it is evidently there in a physical sense. I mean do you realize how large carbon extraction infrastructure would have to be to compensate things at this scale ?
Etc. etc.


Therefore I think that we are coming to the point where we simply have to admit it to ourselves that we are in dead end street. Not a comforting thought but if you go deep enough that is the most logical conclusion.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Therefore I think that we are coming to the point where we simply have to admit it to ourselves that we are in dead end street. Not a comforting thought but if you go deep enough that is the most logical conclusion.

The answer probably lies in changing the way our economies work. I don't know how anyone does that, whether it's here or in Europe.

But the truth is that there are no profits, no incentive structures to saving the planet. I doubt classical economists could even conceive of limits and constraints on extraction of pretty much anything.

I'm always reading about this one new technology that someday could save the planet. Maybe some of them actually could, but if they aren't profitable they would never go anywhere. That's the irony of the situation.