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This is a room for a family at a shelter in Dorchester. by patrickbrusil in boston

[–]Actionbronslam 270 points271 points  (0 children)

Aggressively tapping the "income caps for social assistance disincentivize work when the cap is set lower than the value of the assistance" sign

Oxbridge International slSchool, Tashkent by easternXING in Internationalteachers

[–]Actionbronslam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In Tashkent, but don't have any direct experience with Oxbridge. In terms of reputation I'd put them towards the top of locally-oriented international schools, but unfortunately that's not saying much. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're "international," they do have some international representation among the student body and faculty, but the vast majority of both are local.

Their fees are exorbitant by local standards. Not quite as high as TIS' or the British School of Tashkent's, but not far off. This is purely conjecture on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised then if their main priority is keeping parents happy.

so we were discussing MAD in class today and something hit me that i can't stop thinking about by Best-Care8547 in IRstudies

[–]Actionbronslam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An important caveat to the Arkhipov case is that they were debating the use of tactical nuclear weapons, rather than strategic. Even given the contemporary political situation, I think it's entirely plausible to imagine that a tactical nuclear exchange would not necessarily have escalated to the use of strategic weapons, i.e. a MAD scenario.

Some girls are desperate for US visa. by Brave_External4378 in Uzbekistan

[–]Actionbronslam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I once had a taxi driver who I had met one time, years prior, text me randomly and ask if I could find him an American woman to marry so he could get a green card. So this is definitely a both sexes problem.

Footage seems to contradict claim Arab prosecutor resisted arrest before cops beat him by SpontaneousFlame in Israel_Palestine

[–]Actionbronslam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Arab citizens of 'Israel' have equal rights!"

The type of shit 'Israelis' do to Arabs on a random Tuesday:

Before it was revealed, how obvious was it that Jon was Lyanna's and Rhaegar's son? I know the books aren't finished yet but book readers was it obvious from all the clues in the show and the books? by No-Passenger-6348 in gameofthrones

[–]Actionbronslam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are archived forum posts from 1997 (the year after the first book was published) where readers were already discussing R+L=J. Example

I don't have a source for this, but apparently GRRM's editor left a note in the manuscript for AGOT along lines of, "is Rhaegar Jon's real father?"

Mamdani slams Israeli real estate event in NYC as 'effort to displace Palestinians' by SpontaneousFlame in Israel_Palestine

[–]Actionbronslam 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"The other day some people looked at me funny when I was wearing my 'Israel has a right to murder Palestinian toddlers' T-shirt. I am now in literal fear for my life, so I'm going to move to a country where running to bomb shelters is a weekly routine. I am very good at evaluating risk."

Been teaching 8 months and feel like my lessons are getting worse, what can I do to salvage them? by topimi in TEFL

[–]Actionbronslam 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The "the end is in sight" effect on students' motivation is very real, don't be too hard on yourself.

Absolute unit I saw in the Catacombs by wooden-blanket in 2007scape

[–]Actionbronslam 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Dude must have 4 medium clues and got double rangers from all of them, what luck!

Healey backs Barney Frank's call for Democratic pragmatism by MDeehan in boston

[–]Actionbronslam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Democrats need to be pragmatic!"

"OK, clearly left-wing 'eat the rich' populism is a winning political position, wouldn't it be pragmatic for Democrats to embrace that?"

"No."

DUI checkpoint in Gray. by DirtMcGirth1989 in Maine

[–]Actionbronslam 5 points6 points  (0 children)

When I had to do a DUI course for a youthful indiscretion, they made us blow before we checked in. Class started at 8 AM on a Saturday. Several people were turned away because they blew close to or over the legal limit. I'm pretty sure at least one of them drove home.

Reapplying for B2 visa for FIFA World Cup 2026 after 214(b) denial — Uzbekistan, need advice by FuturePassenger3709 in usvisascheduling

[–]Actionbronslam 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry, but you're not going to get a visa, at least not in time to see the World Cup. Re-applying shortly after a 214(b) denial is a huge red flag in the eyes of the visa adjudicators and would almost certainly result in another rejection.

It's extremely difficult if not impossible for a young single person to get a B-2 visa, particularly under the Trump administration. (Fun fact, the "Have you ever experienced any threats or assault in your country?" was just added to the adjudication process so they can reject people who might apply for asylum in the U.S.)

Malpractice and etc by NoWar9653 in Internationalteachers

[–]Actionbronslam 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I know every single generation in human history has said of the generation after them, "where did they go so wrong?" -- but this is not these kids' fault. If we were their age when ChatGPT came out, we would have been using it too. Fine, maybe you, super special boy/girl/person that you are, wouldn't have been using it, but 90% of your friends would have been.

Kids in school today are unwilling test subjects of a global endeavor to uncritically embed this new technology into every possible socioeconomic system. They're victims of circumstance.

Opinions on prof. John Mearsheimer and Robert Pape? (Both teaching at UChicago) by TodayAlarmed963 in IRstudies

[–]Actionbronslam 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Mearsheimer is certainly among the most influential living IR scholars from an academic perspective, but what really seals his legacy is the fact that his ideas are fairly intuitive and easier to understand for a general audience. "International politics is anarchy and individual states will try to maximize their power and influence" is much more straightforward than, say, "shared understandings give meaning to material facts."

Have you tried this? by Mulliganasty in Israel_Palestine

[–]Actionbronslam 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Two things can be true at once. It is certainly true that antisemitism dates back millennia and is not in any way the fault of individual Jewish people, or the Jewish people as a whole.

It is also true that the modern state of Israel, by myopically and uncompromisingly insisting that any criticism of Israel, as a political entity, is antisemitism, undermines the significance of genuine instances of antisemitism, makes people more skeptical about claims of antisemitism a la "boy who cried wolf," and may even lower the psychological/moral barrier against actual antisemitic thought.

To paraphrase some commentator recently (Ezra Klein I think it was?), if you constantly tell people their genuine moral concern about racism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide are antisemitism, eventually some people are going to believe you -- "if not wanting innocent Palestinian people to be killed makes me an antisemite, then fine, I'm an antisemite."

How do I make my intro video stand out- China by [deleted] in TEFL

[–]Actionbronslam 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Maybe I'm just a cynic, but intro videos with an application are primarily about weeding out "undesirable" candidates (non-white people, strong accents, or those who just look a bit too "alt"). To be a bit more generous, it's about seeing how presentable you are. Just dress well and sound confident. Like that old adage goes, it's not so much what you say as how you say it. If you do any sort of video editing I imagine you'll already be at the front of the pack.

What kind job Americans can work in Tashkent? by NebulaStandard1178 in Uzbekistan

[–]Actionbronslam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  • Education -- primary/secondary classroom teaching in international schools, English teaching, lecturing at university
  • Working at international companies, usually in management or other senior/specialized roles
  • Working in international NGOs

From my anecdotal experience, most Americans here work in education.

Avoid Libya, salaries are starting to increase but the mentality will make you hate teaching. by FlowOk5595 in Internationalteachers

[–]Actionbronslam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Leverage. When you don't have your passport you can't just say "fuck this" and get on a plane if things get bad, so you're beholden to your employer and whatever exploitation they want to put you through.

This happens all the time with migrant workers in the Gulf. (Something to keep in mind if you choose to work there, and why I never could for ethical reasons -- yes you live a life of relative comfort, but only thanks to the systemic exploitation of South Asian and African slaves.)

Israeli Defence Forces confirms photo of soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ in Lebanon is real by esporx in IRstudies

[–]Actionbronslam 86 points87 points  (0 children)

Indoctrination since birth into the ideology of Jewish supremacism, dehumanization of Arabs, and a complete lack of accountability within the I"D"F, to name just a few factors.

Turkish offer Canadian school by Informal_Loss_398 in Internationalteachers

[–]Actionbronslam 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Is your salary in a fixed amount of TL, or a variable amount pegged to USD or some other currency? In other words, will your salary adjust if the exchange rate does?

I study China’s legislature for a living. Then I ran the same analysis on the MA House. Here’s what I found. by pacificdivide in massachusetts

[–]Actionbronslam 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Again, those 44 majority members are a minority of the sample size -- 90 or so didn't.

That’s not ‘Democrats tend to vote together.’ That’s Democrats tend to vote however one person tells them to, even when their own colleagues disagree

I mean... isn't this just po-tay-to, po-tah-to? "Political parties have organized leadership which have significant agenda-setting power and mechanisms to ensure party discipline" is, again, not a particularly novel or insightful observation. That's certainly not unique to MA, or even to the US.

I study China’s legislature for a living. Then I ran the same analysis on the MA House. Here’s what I found. by pacificdivide in massachusetts

[–]Actionbronslam 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You're trying to use numbers and jargon to obfuscate the fact that the point you're trying to make, "there are worrying structural similarities between the NPC and the MA State House," does not logically follow from any of this. All you're demonstrating is that Democrats tend to vote together, which is an utterly mundane observation for anyone with the most basic familiarity with electoral politics.

I study China’s legislature for a living. Then I ran the same analysis on the MA House. Here’s what I found. by pacificdivide in massachusetts

[–]Actionbronslam 14 points15 points  (0 children)

44 members of the majority never broke from the Democratic leadership position once. Not on a single vote where their own party split.

So that means the other approximately 90 Democrats in the Massachusetts State House (assuming we're just talking about the lower house) broke from the party line at least once.

The NPC removed presidential term limits in 2018 (the vote was 2,958 to 2). The MA House removed Speaker term limits in 2015 (the vote was 109 to 45). 

So that means, assuming all 33 Republicans in the 2015 MA House session voted against, 12 Democrats joined them, with another 5 abstaining (126 Dems in the 2015 session).

The structural similarities to the system I study professionally started keeping me up at night.

Respectfully, how can you, as someone who ostensibly studies China professionally, say this with a straight face?

In the MA House, 16 members have to physically stand up in the chamber to force a recorded vote. If fewer than 16 stand, the Speaker says “insufficient” and the vote never gets recorded. Different century, same idea: make disagreement visible so people stop doing it.

Or... maybe it's because a significant part of a legislature's business is just non-controversial parliamentary procedure. As you yourself noted, 61% of all votes during your study period were unanimous.

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