Category: Links

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Dream welfare (really)
• The mental illness divide between liberals and conservatives probably isn’t what it seems

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“All this effort is invested in making influential people decide that you have taken away something they felt they deserved, causing them to hate you for life. Yes. These people are, generally, libs. They were already your enemies. Do you want to hurt them, or do you want to convert them? A child would want to hurt them; a king, to convert them.” – Curtis Yarvin (My thought: wow, not wrong, just needs a moral compass and he’s set!)

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• One or the other
• Questions for Rubio

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Growth!” – Cancer

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• I guess you can enjoy this without understanding it
• How the tariffs paused

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Escape room idea: a well-stocked bookstore with clearly marked exits. You have one hour. Good luck.” – Internet Person

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Observational evidence for string theory
• Pueyo on Korea’s History (good summary for those unfamiliar)

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“We all have forests in our minds.” – Ursula Le Guin

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Kriss’ strange fiction (?) is always interesting (The coming AI overlords…)
• Slightly right-slanted analysis of extreme political polarization in SKorea

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Ölümden qorqma, faydasız yaşamaqtan qorq.” – Crimean Tatar proverb (“Don’t fear death, fear living a meaningless life.”)

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Diversity is a good thing
• Governance Ideology (sci-fi)

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“When you go far enough left, you get your guns back.” – Internet Person

A thought.

Closed-border autarky is just right-wing-coded degrowtherism.

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Just stop breathing – the evolutionary path you didn’t know you had as an option
• 일본어 공부함: 7

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Dreams drag truth out of the darkness” – Internet Person

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• I think he just prefers playing golf
• Detailed write-up on El Salvador and Bukele
• Consciousness is in the eye of the beholder

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Everyone is systematically exploitable. You can pay costs to mitigate this, but not to entirely solve it. That’s impossible, and not even obviously desirable. The correct rate of being scammed is not zero.” – Zvi Mowshowitz

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• • Kerala (the part of India most interesting to me)
  • I only understand about 5%, but I still find it interesting (theoretical physics)

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.” – Timothy Snyder

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• What are Harberger taxes?
• Another “DOGE isn’t doing enough” rant thoughtful essay

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“How do you make software? It’s so simple. You start with a block of bytes, and carve away everything that’s not software.” – internet person

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• New OPSEC threat model just dropped: “Am I a moron?”
• Dyspareunia

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“It is possible for a dictator to govern in a liberal way. And it is also possible for a democracy to govern with a total lack of liberalism. I personally prefer a liberal dictator to a democratic government lacking in liberalism.” – Hayek

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• On agnetology
• H-Mart paean (Trung Phan is awesome blogger)

An illustration from the internet.

A thought – my own thought.

“In my darkest moments, I feel that I am becoming an accelerationist. I think: go ahead, burn Social Security to the ground! Take the VA and Medicare down too, while you’re at it! Let’s see if we can get into a hot war with Canada or Europe; let’s raze the entire country…”

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• The Zvi on recent, viral, AI-written fiction
• Useful reporting about the intersection of crypto and drumpism
• The new Utsonomiya tram (宇都宮ライトレール)

An illustration from the internet (a few months late, sorry).

(Transcription and translation: 혹시 파트너 소개팅방 관심있으세요? / 내란수괴 윤석열은 퇴진하라 / 퇴진하라 … Are you interested in “partner blind date rooms” [sex chat]? / The coup-leader, [President] Yoon Seok-yeol, must resign / resign)

A quote.

“Ignorance is rarely an accident. It operates with precision, lurking in classrooms where history is selectively taught, in courtrooms where justice bends under the weight of wilfull blindness, and in cabinets of power where silence is often the most strategic policy. It is not simply the absence of knowledge but the calculated absence of knowledge, forged to serve particular ends.” – Colin W P Lewis

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Memecoin grift: from Milei to Melania
• Veganism is a first world luxury

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs). The most improper job of any man is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Inflammation implicated in major depression (not yet replicated)
• Fiction on the theme of Common Lisp [A programming language]

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“[S]o far as we approve of monarchy, in America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other.” – Thomas Paine in Common Sense

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Sushi in Ukraine
• Dinkytown: much has changed, but the Espresso Royale Cafe is still there (I basically lived in that cafe in the late 1980s)

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“There is no escape. If you will not have rules, you will have rulers.” – Professor Ransom, in CS Lewis’ That Hideous Strength.

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• An ode to skype
• The why of pi

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“The bad news is that America is falling apart, but the good news, now that they are our enemies, is that America is falling apart. They are weakening as a force in the world every day. They are crashing their own economy. They are creating a cost of living crisis within their own borders. They have destroyed their civil service in the name of what may amount to as little as $5bn in savings. They are dismantling their scientific community. They are dismantling their education system. They have fatally wounded the FBI and the CIA. They are gutting their national institutions one by one. In terms of self-mutilating policy decisions, they are up to about a Brexit a week at this point.” – Stephen Marche, Canadian writer

I stopped doing this “links” thing back at the beginning of January, when I learned I’d be traveling to Queensland for much of the month. And then, since getting back, and the subsequent trip to Portland, and feeling overwhelmed by caregiving and running the store, I’ve simply been unmotivated to resume. But I haven’t stopped looking at the internet, so there are still things worth putting into these links features – I just have to motivate to post them. So here’s a resumption – we’ll see how long it lasts.

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• • Best website evar – a perfect synopsis of pop culture over the last 40 years
  • Short fiction about the universe, and Lisp [computer programming language]

An illustration from the internet. Graffiti seen in Calgary.

A quote.

“The president is not our teacher, our tutor, guide or ruler. He does not command us; we command him. We serve neither him nor his vision. It is not his job or his prerogative to redefine custom, law, and beliefs; to appropriate industries; to seize the country, as it were, by the shoulders or by the throat so as to impose by force of theatrical charisma his justice upon 300 million others. It is neither his job nor his prerogative to shift the power of decision away from them, and to him and the acolytes of his choosing.” – Mike Pence (!)

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• • Dead or alive
  • Pascal invented public transit

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Asking you to give me equal rights implies that they are yours to give. Instead, I must demand that you stop trying to deny me the rights all people deserve.” – Elizabeth Peratrovich

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• “Please always use robots safely and friendly.”
• A moral development index

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“In any fundamentally evolution-driven system, diversity is the most important feature if you want that system to be resilient over time. So in the context of human society and its embeddedness in the wider ecosystem, diversity is the characteristic to be maximized: not just human genotypic diversity, but cultural diversity too.” – this was my own half-developed thought

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
• “Male flight”

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Doe maar gewoon dan ben je al gek genoeg.”

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• • Online special-purpose historical maps
  • Although I normally avoid posting links to video, these existential storm troopers insist.

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“English is weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.”

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• • Although it’s on twitter, worth perusal: robots get some money
  • Economist Donald Harris

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Her face would stop traffic. It was large, octagonal, and red.”

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• • Our beloved gerontocracy
  • Zeitgeist

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Let the mind of men be blind to what is to be. May those who fear be permitted to hope.” – Lucian

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Philosophy with gpt
• Being imprisoned makes minorites and women more Republican (Yikes!). A new reason to lock everyone up.

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“The end is nigh. In fact, the nighness of the end is really quite undeniable.” – JL Jones

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Diagnose yourself! I got 32/50. Hmm…
• I said I would never post videos, but this is too funny

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“I once almost choked to death while eating food. I did my own research and discovered that I am not alone. Thousands of people choke every year while eating, and hundreds of those people die. That’s why I don’t feed my kids. Its dangerous. Now plenty of people will point out that food supposedly “prevents starvation,” and that might be true, but Its not fair to  completely ignore all the dangers food poses, like choking, allergies, gingivitis, and garlic breath. I’m just saying, do your own research and decide what you think is best for your kids. If you choose to give your kids potentially deadly food, that’s your problem, but as a parent, I don’t think the government has any right to tell me that I need to feed my kids.” – Gordon Scott

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Cup runneth over
• Substack is horrible. I already knew this. Just to be clear – I sporadically read 100s of blogs on the substack platform. Because that’s where many of the good blogs are, these days. But you will never see me give a dollar to anyone through the substack platform. If I really like someone who publishes on substack, and want to donate to support them, I find alternate pathways to donate.

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Remember, if you’re ever feeling down, free will means you can just eat a whole block of cheese anytime you want.”

A stray thought.

I feel like most people believe very strange things about sleeping surfaces. I sleep on the actual floor – the hard floor, with just a blanket under me – and I have no issues with it. It works fine. Humans didn’t evolve to sleep on mattresses. ‘Big Mattress’ has everyone hoodwinked. Is this a conspiracy theory?

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Oligarchy – a philosopher’s stray thoughts
• This makes me feel nostalgic for something I never had

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“By saying mostly insane nonsense, I can imbue the few meaningful nuggets that I utter with more significance.”

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Eras
• Dark Satanic Millian Liberalism

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“The kids might still do yoga and say namaste, and they still think there’s a universal consciousness that’s ultimately identical with their own self—but they’re no longer interested in renouncing desire or achieving union with the divine. They don’t want to escape the material world. They don’t want enlightenment. They are driving their bodies like cars, and they have no interest in getting out.” – Sam Kriss

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Yeah, that’ll work out, for sure (Syria)
• Excellent long read on history, urbanism and fertility in South Korea
• McDonalds will teach you what you need to know about America

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.” – Issac Asimov

Here are some links I found interesting – with minimal comment.

• Why you shouldn’t be vegan
• Alleged manifesto
• Said manifesto gets a failing grade

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Si Luigi Mangione mató a ese CEO, imaginense de lo que Waluigi Mangione sería capaz.” – Sergio

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• The Nobot
• Tiny steps to building state capacity in Chicago
• Too much effort was expended in producing this, no matter how much effort that was

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“어째서 사람이 이 모양인가” – South Korean Conference of Catholic Priests, in response to the recent failed auto-golpe by president Yoon [“How can a person be like this”]

Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.

• Gonzo at the failed Korean auto-golpe
• Handwriting over typing
• “Either we embrace the value of life, of nature, or we do not. Not to do so is monstrous, a philosophy suited to absurd killer sci-fi robots and mad Cthulthoid gods.” – Eugene Earnshaw

An illustration from the internet.

A quote.

“Craig, Alaska: Where everything is a little bit half-assed!” – G. Klein, a local booster in my town.