US climate with equivalent cities from around the world.
This is the greatest map I have ever seen. I want an interactive version where you can click on any city in the world and get a pop-up list of all the climate-equivalent cities.
Fortunately, I am never going to live in Fukuoka.
The statuary source of that executive order from 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) is … pretty broad and far reaching:
Suspension of entry or imposition of restrictions by President
Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. […]
There seems to be no Congressional check at all on that power? The president can basically shut down entry into the US as he pleases, effective immediately and indefinitely? This seems kind of excessive.
there might be a number of situations where granting excessive powers to the executive branch begins to feel like an error in hindsight.
“But Our Guy would never have abused them!” - politicals
Anonymous asked:
mitigatedchaos answered:
“Very intellectual”
Heh.
Could someone start a knock-off of Singapore’s People’s Action Party and get any seats for it?
Not under the current electoral system in America, though we see elements, bits and pieces can sometimes get through, such as Maine adopting a kind of preference voting for the governor’s seat.
The polarization into two parties is the natural state of the first-past-the-post, winner-take-all electoral system - you want exactly 51% of the vote in order to have the minimum amount of compromise. This creates a lot of dumb politics.
There is, after all, no place for me in the Republican Party, nor in the Democratic Party.
However, while a unified party powerful enough to take power may not emerge, some ideas, elements, and legislative reforms could get through. And if there are subtle changes to the system, then a more unified platform could become viable.
Some of these elements which escape to be adopted by others may be ideological in nature. Some of my posts on Nationalism have caused some local Rationalists to scratch their heads, wondering “wait, why isn’t that the argument actual American nationalists, in the form of the GOP, actually make?” Or otherwise they simply have never been exposed to an argument for Nationalism that is more than performative flag-waving, by the kind of person who believes that nations are both real and fake at the same time, that can see them as constructs, but still considers them desirable. Also, many may not have been exposed to the idea that open borders may be a pathway to an incompetent yet oppressive world government (gradually, over time).
Likewise, in constructing a kind of Social Centrism, most people do not currently have access to arguments against the most liberal positions (on e.g., polygamy) that are rooted in secular considerations and which also take in mind future developments (e.g., Transhumanism).
There is a question - when GOP members exit their current ideological basis, what will they exit to?
By making these arguments, which then are shared, I create a more defensible ideological position of retreat other than just crossing over entirely to the other side.
The ideal body for my politics right now, given conditions, would be a think tank that could conduct research and produce ready-to-sign legislation along pathways that the existing political parties are not currently setup to defend against (insufficient pre-built memetic barriers - battles they don’t even realize they are or will be fighting). This does not require a mass movement, but rather a fairly good-sized chunk of funding and a core of intelligent and motivated contributors.
On a more mass basis, once a more clear ideology is produced, I think it can be simplified in a way that is more easily communicated…
…though that may still have issues generating sufficient excitement.
If you are concerned about the polity in a multi-racial society breaking up into a number of racially-aligned parties, then isn’t the two-party system we have in the United States a good idea?
A good question, but is it better to have one “White Party” and one “Everyone Else Party”?
Or one “White + Asian Party” and one “Everyone Else Party”?
The real answer, I think, is to knock it the fuck off and realize that Melting Pot + Civic Nationalism is the superior model for racial harmony vs. SJ and its subtextual ethnonationalism and racial intellectual property rights.
President orders evacuation of all territory east of Appalchias as experts predict debris from category 8 storm could land as far as Berlin
Why did the early 2000s neocons think we could export liberal democracy to the Middle East? We can’t even export liberal democracy to the United States.
Once you drink too much of certain variants of Liberalism, you start assuming that Liberal Democracy is the natural condition of mankind and once the restraints are removed, it will naturally emerge and take root, along with economic development.
I mean, it‘s probably doable, but step 1 is to enforce a ban on cousin marriage for 1000 years.
Ah, but you see, Neocons are ideologically prohibited from acknowledging this, because hey, what is a foreign culture but food and clothing waiting to be sold in the United States?
You could do it in far fewer generations, but you’d have to install a 20-year military governorship, still ban cousin marriages out to the third degree, enforce village exogamy, and seize total control of the educational system to wipe out non-trivial parts of the culture and replace them with ideology necessary to support Liberal Democracy.
That’s a pretty big ideological price, and it would require a long troop presence to enforce.
It’s hardly impossible. Afghanistan was liberalizing at one point. But if you’re too hooked on the ideology that democracy flowers in all soils, it isn’t possible for you to carry it out.
That actually kinda sounds like “the last few hundred years of Japanese history, but faster”.
Why did the early 2000s neocons think we could export liberal democracy to the Middle East? We can’t even export liberal democracy to the United States.
Once you drink too much of certain variants of Liberalism, you start assuming that Liberal Democracy is the natural condition of mankind and once the restraints are removed, it will naturally emerge and take root, along with economic development.
I mean, it‘s probably doable, but step 1 is to enforce a ban on cousin marriage for 1000 years.
Ah, but you see, Neocons are ideologically prohibited from acknowledging this, because hey, what is a foreign culture but food and clothing waiting to be sold in the United States?
You could do it in far fewer generations, but you’d have to install a 20-year military governorship, still ban cousin marriages out to the third degree, enforce village exogamy, and seize total control of the educational system to wipe out non-trivial parts of the culture and replace them with ideology necessary to support Liberal Democracy.
That’s a pretty big ideological price, and it would require a long troop presence to enforce.
It’s hardly impossible. Afghanistan was liberalizing at one point. But if you’re too hooked on the ideology that democracy flowers in all soils, it isn’t possible for you to carry it out.
Alright, US Republicans, listen up.
You think your goal right now is to “Repeal Obamacare”.
But that has issues. Given your values, your goal should not just be to repeal Obamacare, but to prevent the emergence of a single-payer healthcare system in the United States, in which the US Federal government monopolizes 1/5th of the US economy in a botched attempt at recreating the NHS.
This does not mean trying to pass laws to sabotage the attempt. They’ll just get overturned, and that will be celebrated as a Democratic party victory.
You have to deflate the demand for single-payer healthcare. That is what is necessary for market-based healthcare to continue to exist in the United States. As long as the demand is there - and it is growing, as middle-class families come under increasing pressure - the desire for single-payer will re-emerge.
Yelling at people about how they don’t deserve healthcare because they haven’t worked hard enough will not help. You just picked up a bunch of rural voters that got laid off at the factories and can’t meet their deductibles. You have to focus on preserving the market-based allocation.
There is a simple way to do this.
Now, first objection is probably that this will bid up the price of medical care to the new floor. I believe that is unlikely - because the voucher accumulates and people don’t actually like randomly buying healthcare, it makes much more sense to save it up and spend it later as you normally would, or else just buy insurance.
Second objection is that people might launder the money to get it for themselves. In this case, the person they are screwing over is mostly their future self, so they have incentive not to do this.
Third objection, which I’m likely to get from my left-wing readers, is that this isn’t enough money. That’s probably true, but this is likely of more benefit than whatever the Republicans are currently cooking up. In the current situation we have some poor people buying the mandated insurance, but unable to actually get medical care because they cannot afford the deductible. Under this system, they can go get medical care tomorrow. Likewise, for pre-existing conditions, this ensures that at least the value of the voucher is available each year to pay for it.
Later administrations could raise the amount, but the benefit for the Republicans here is the preservation of the market mechanism. This is likely to be a popular program.
This could be coupled with a variety of other reforms to reduce overall healthcare costs, such as requiring hospitals to post information about their prices, success rates, etc. Don’t just cross your fingers and hope the market works. Education alleviates information asymmetry and lubricates markets. Create the right framework for suitable informed competition to take place in.
the terror organization known as the so-called united states
U.S. actually the heel all along
good guys actually obscure village of farmers in remote province of China
Why did the early 2000s neocons think we could export liberal democracy to the Middle East? We can’t even export liberal democracy to the United States.
Once you drink too much of certain variants of Liberalism, you start assuming that Liberal Democracy is the natural condition of mankind and once the restraints are removed, it will naturally emerge and take root, along with economic development.
Why did the early 2000s neocons think we could export liberal democracy to the Middle East? We can’t even export liberal democracy to the United States.
Once you drink too much of certain variants of Liberalism, you start assuming that Liberal Democracy is the natural condition of mankind and once the restraints are removed, it will naturally emerge and take root, along with economic development.
I mean, it‘s probably doable, but step 1 is to enforce a ban on cousin marriage for 1000 years.
Ah, but you see, Neocons are ideologically prohibited from acknowledging this, because hey, what is a foreign culture but food and clothing waiting to be sold in the United States?
Biblical Series VII: Walking with God: Noah and the Flood (7/11/17)
@96:05:
[Did] any of you see the new NRA ad? You might want to look that up. I would say that’s the most shocking manifestation of political polarization in the United States that I’ve yet seen. Most of it I’ve seen on the left. The real– What’s shocked me, mostly, has been on the left. But, the new NRA ad, that’s a whole new thing.
So it’s this attractive woman. I’m doing a voiceover. She kind of looks like Demi Moore.
Well, she’s kind of tough looking. I guess Demi Moore could look tough now and then.
and she has contempt on her face, and that’s a dangerous thing. And in the background there’s nothing but images of Antifa riots and Berkeley riots and fire and protest
and she’s describing that as a conspiracy, essentially, a conspiracy that involves the intellectual elite, including Hollywood, which is named by name. The accusation is–is that there’s a Cabal of corrupt intellectuals, let’s say, who are bringing the country to its knees, and that it’s time to get your goddamn guns. And so, look up the ad and see what you think, because there’s lots of people who would be perfectly happy if that was the direction in which we were headed. And one of the things that I’m hoping is that we might be able to talk our way through it. But we’re in a situation where every act of individual idiocy will push us one iota closer to the brink, and that’ll make the 15 percent of the population, or 30 percent of the population who would love to see everything degenerate into chaos perfectly happy, because that’s their aim.
http://slartibartfastibast.com/post/160482414619/a-man-may-seye-full-sooth-in-game-and-pley
A decade ago I’d have assumed somebody up the chain was aware of where this was going and where it was coming from. But, like, the only way neanderthal hybridization could have had the genetic impact it does is if it had a much bigger phenotypic (or, at least, reproductive) impact than the recently-ruffled consensus presently maintains. So even things as fundamental to shared identity as the particular details of our species’ founding storyline are more in dispute than the learned beard men are willing to admit in public. Same deal with consciousness. Apparently now basic human biology as well…
People are often fucking morons and if we don’t quickly find a way to deprogram them without simultaneously filling them up with new and improved horseshit that would be nice. So far, Peterson seems like a good bet. I’m optimistic. Maybe he can contribute his self authoring curriculum to a joint AI MIRI eugenics Thiel transblackman NRx sequences of procedural neural network Andrew Ng feedback education MOOC system overlord hivemind D-Wave.
fuck, my blog is only like one third of those adjectives. i’ll have to try harder.
