sesquipedalianThaumaturge
@sesquipedalian.bsky.social
LG human effective altruist 4/astronautical engineer 1/speculative fiction enjoyer 3
they/them
they/them
I have been similarly tempted by the idea of a “land acknowledgments are Zionist” post.
December 23, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I have been similarly tempted by the idea of a “land acknowledgments are Zionist” post.
Why do you think consumer sentiment recovered about half of the post-pandemic drop in 2024 before falling back to its current level?
December 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Why do you think consumer sentiment recovered about half of the post-pandemic drop in 2024 before falling back to its current level?
Maybe. I think it’s more likely that Disney believes they can make more money by licensing their IP to AI companies than they could by completely preventing any AI use of their characters. They’re still suing other companies for using their IP in AI without paying them.
December 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Maybe. I think it’s more likely that Disney believes they can make more money by licensing their IP to AI companies than they could by completely preventing any AI use of their characters. They’re still suing other companies for using their IP in AI without paying them.
I’m not happy about this decision by Disney, but I don’t think the vice they’re displaying is cowardice. They are taking a big swing towards something they think will benefit their industry, even though they know it will provoke backlash. It’s just a bad swing for other reasons.
December 11, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I’m not happy about this decision by Disney, but I don’t think the vice they’re displaying is cowardice. They are taking a big swing towards something they think will benefit their industry, even though they know it will provoke backlash. It’s just a bad swing for other reasons.
This does not prohibit stationing conventional weapons in orbit:
December 9, 2025 at 3:46 PM
This does not prohibit stationing conventional weapons in orbit:
The Soviet Union had hunter-killer satellites during the Cold War, and the Outer Space Treaty was not understood to ban them: www.russianspaceweb.com/is.html
IS anti-satellite system
Tselina electronic intelligence satellites by Anatoly Zak
www.russianspaceweb.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:49 AM
The Soviet Union had hunter-killer satellites during the Cold War, and the Outer Space Treaty was not understood to ban them: www.russianspaceweb.com/is.html
Yeah, I don’t think an orbital weapon would provide much advantage over anti-ship ballistic missiles for this use case. But either way, the carrier group has SM-3 missiles for defense against exactly this sort of attack.
December 9, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Yeah, I don’t think an orbital weapon would provide much advantage over anti-ship ballistic missiles for this use case. But either way, the carrier group has SM-3 missiles for defense against exactly this sort of attack.
(Not space-to-ground weapons, to be clear, just space-to-space ones. But the treaty doesn’t distinguish between those.)
December 9, 2025 at 6:38 AM
(Not space-to-ground weapons, to be clear, just space-to-space ones. But the treaty doesn’t distinguish between those.)
That’s a common misconception, the Outer Space Treaty only bans stationing weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Conventional weapons are perfectly fine, and have in fact been deployed on multiple occasions.
December 9, 2025 at 6:36 AM
That’s a common misconception, the Outer Space Treaty only bans stationing weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Conventional weapons are perfectly fine, and have in fact been deployed on multiple occasions.
If that were true, it would be the lowest number of annual layoffs in decades at least. Last year there were more than 20 million layoffs. fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1Ovyq
Layoffs and Discharges: Total Nonfarm
Layoffs and Discharges: Total Nonfarm
fred.stlouisfed.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
If that were true, it would be the lowest number of annual layoffs in decades at least. Last year there were more than 20 million layoffs. fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1Ovyq
I think using the bomb on Hiroshima was correct (though this was basically by accident, the decision process which chose it was terrible) but it’s hard to justify hitting Nagasaki three days later.
December 4, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I think using the bomb on Hiroshima was correct (though this was basically by accident, the decision process which chose it was terrible) but it’s hard to justify hitting Nagasaki three days later.
Interesting! Was there an understanding of what that represented from the characters’ perspective, like if you shared a screenshot of an important private conversation that meant your character had been recording it? Or did people not just not worry about that?
November 24, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Interesting! Was there an understanding of what that represented from the characters’ perspective, like if you shared a screenshot of an important private conversation that meant your character had been recording it? Or did people not just not worry about that?
Really enjoyed reading this as a non-Over/Under player, and the screenshot thing is something I was wondering about: was there ever discussion of restrictions on sharing them, so that in-world intrigue didn’t hinge on who was OoC better at faking Discord screenshots?
November 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Really enjoyed reading this as a non-Over/Under player, and the screenshot thing is something I was wondering about: was there ever discussion of restrictions on sharing them, so that in-world intrigue didn’t hinge on who was OoC better at faking Discord screenshots?
I mean, being a janissary is hardly all bad. Pretty soon you’ll be choosing who the neo-sultan is going to be.
November 21, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I mean, being a janissary is hardly all bad. Pretty soon you’ll be choosing who the neo-sultan is going to be.
Sorry, I’m already a diehard Camille Desmoulins/Lucille Duplessis/Georges Danton shipper.
November 20, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Sorry, I’m already a diehard Camille Desmoulins/Lucille Duplessis/Georges Danton shipper.
Almost all charities, including the most cost-effective ones, have paid employees. If they relied entirely on volunteer labor, they would do much less good. But that’s irrelevant to my above point, which is just that it matters how much a donation helps people.
November 19, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Almost all charities, including the most cost-effective ones, have paid employees. If they relied entirely on volunteer labor, they would do much less good. But that’s irrelevant to my above point, which is just that it matters how much a donation helps people.
That’s true, they can. Which Dustin Moskovitz is in favor of, as am I.
bsky.app/profile/mosk...
bsky.app/profile/mosk...
I am in favor of higher taxes - in fact I think that would cause more philanthropy to happen. So no conflict from my POV.
November 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
That’s true, they can. Which Dustin Moskovitz is in favor of, as am I.
bsky.app/profile/mosk...
bsky.app/profile/mosk...
I care about *how much* my donations help people, not just whether they help them at all. If I donate to a charity which on average saves a person’s life for every $10,000 they receive, then more people will live than if I give to a charity that requires $1 million to do the same.
November 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I care about *how much* my donations help people, not just whether they help them at all. If I donate to a charity which on average saves a person’s life for every $10,000 they receive, then more people will live than if I give to a charity that requires $1 million to do the same.
I see. Personally, when I’m giving money to charity, I care a lot about the impact that money will have on the people I’m trying to help, and if I didn’t expect it to help them I would give the money somewhere else.
November 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I see. Personally, when I’m giving money to charity, I care a lot about the impact that money will have on the people I’m trying to help, and if I didn’t expect it to help them I would give the money somewhere else.
That’s an interesting perspective. Do you feel the same way about other projects that have big effects on people’s lives, like designing a bridge, or trying to end a war? Or is it just giving money to help people where you shouldn’t evaluate the outcome of your efforts?
November 18, 2025 at 8:31 PM
That’s an interesting perspective. Do you feel the same way about other projects that have big effects on people’s lives, like designing a bridge, or trying to end a war? Or is it just giving money to help people where you shouldn’t evaluate the outcome of your efforts?
In fact, if I feel compassion, presumably I would care more about making sure I’m helping people as much as I can with the money I have. Which is the point of this nonprofit, to figure out how the donors’ generosity can help people as much as possible.
November 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
In fact, if I feel compassion, presumably I would care more about making sure I’m helping people as much as I can with the money I have. Which is the point of this nonprofit, to figure out how the donors’ generosity can help people as much as possible.
Surely the impact of the giving matters at least a little bit, right? Like if I give money to a wealthy private university, that’s not as good as if I give money to poor people who might otherwise starve, even if I’m being generous and compassionate either way.
November 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Surely the impact of the giving matters at least a little bit, right? Like if I give money to a wealthy private university, that’s not as good as if I give money to poor people who might otherwise starve, even if I’m being generous and compassionate either way.
What makes you say that? It seems to me like it would take a fair amount of work to figure out where you should spend money to do the most good, and then make sure that your spending is actually accomplishing what you hoped.
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
What makes you say that? It seems to me like it would take a fair amount of work to figure out where you should spend money to do the most good, and then make sure that your spending is actually accomplishing what you hoped.
How would shooting criminals via mutual aid work? I’m imagining there’d be some kind of volunteer mutual defense force that always has an armed person ready, and then if you’re being abused you can call their hotline and they’ll show up and shoot the abuser?
November 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM
How would shooting criminals via mutual aid work? I’m imagining there’d be some kind of volunteer mutual defense force that always has an armed person ready, and then if you’re being abused you can call their hotline and they’ll show up and shoot the abuser?
Turnout was significantly lower in this election than in 2024, so Jones could easily run ahead of Harris in terms of net margin without the support of any Trump voters.
November 6, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Turnout was significantly lower in this election than in 2024, so Jones could easily run ahead of Harris in terms of net margin without the support of any Trump voters.