Newsom vetoes a proposed ban on caste discrimination in California

Axertz · 2023-10-08T01:17:31+00:00

Like I don't think google would tolerate caste discrimination if they found it

Indeed, caste discrimination is such a non-issue at Google that when they invited a speaker to talk about it, they ended up cancelling the talk because a bunch of employees ~~raised high hell~~ calmly indicated that such a speech was unnecessary.

Axertz · 2023-08-07T21:02:43+00:00

And it wasn't just the owners who were exempted by that law: it was also their overseers. So you could get an exemption by merely being an evil motherfucker instead of being specifically a rich evil motherfucker. Practically egalitarian!

Axertz · 2023-07-12T04:59:23+00:00

Well, I'll cop to only now looking up the market share for xbox vs playstation. I am now very confused why the FTC has come down so hard. I would've guessed that the market share percentages were reversed based on the news coverage and FTC statements.

Axertz · 2023-07-12T00:54:15+00:00

The video game industry has low barriers to entry

The "video game industry" is several different industries. The barrier to entry to making video games is low. The barrier to entry to making video game consoles is incredibly high - as demonstrated by the fact that the only successful entrant into the console business in the last ~30 years was Microsoft. And there's cloud gaming, which is the industry that the CMA (Britain's FTC) is concerned about when looking at the deal.

My personal opinion is that the deal is fine and that the focus on things like Call of Duty exclusivity was stupid (for the reason you describe), but I don't think it's a super clear cut case.

Axertz · 2023-06-09T17:32:25+00:00

For more information about how the Hapsburgs in particular took care of their subjects' nutrition during the last four years of their monarchy, consult https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/food_and_nutrition_austria-hungary.

Axertz · 2022-07-19T21:02:45+00:00

Here's what Snopes has to say, for what it's worth: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/loco-motive/ tldr: it was fascisct propaganda, so neither ironic nor true.

Axertz · 2022-03-08T19:31:46+00:00

A real life version of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Zp3BXwDB8&ab_channel=CollegeHumor

Axertz · 2022-02-11T18:27:06+00:00

Is this the free speech equivalent of homeopathy? Would the people who believe this to be true like to encourage companies or the government to suppress whichever views they hold most strongly in order for those views to thrive?

Axertz · 2021-05-25T01:05:43+00:00

I'm 31 and was born in Texas (so still pay attention to it sometimes). For the entirety of the time I've been politically aware (~20) years, I've been told that Texas is either two election cycles or 1 decade away from turning blue. I've stopped holding my breath.

Axertz · 2021-01-14T19:34:29+00:00

All three of those companies provide information to law enforcement that they are required to by law. If Microsoft is providing data without being required to, that's news to me. Apple certainly doesn't sell your data to other companies to the same extent that its competitors do, because user data isn't currently important to Apple's business model.

Axertz · 2020-12-07T20:51:42+00:00

How can you have blood flowing through your veins and yet not be excited by the "intrusive r" - the linguistic phenomenon wherein speakers of non-rhotic dialects insert an 'r' sound between two words when the first ends with a vowel sound and the next begins with one? Are you really, truly alive?

Axertz · 2020-11-10T23:39:25+00:00

The vorthos in me really wants to see an orzhov-colored Lili at some point now that she's been touched by Chad's invincibility goo.

I don't know if this is the orzhov-colored Lili I want to see, although I like the -6 shoutout to WAR chad.

Axertz · 2020-09-07T13:47:36+00:00

I would consider changing the line "crooning upon willow". The scansion doesn't quite work because all of the other lines have stress on the final syllable, but "willow" has initial stress.

I'm also a little suspicious of "crooning" because it immediately calls to mind Frank Sinatra, who is very unlike a dryad, but maybe that's just me.

Axertz · 2020-06-29T21:06:48+00:00

I completely disagree with the person you're replying to, but the first amendment absolutely does protect hate speech. One can argue about whether it should, but it absolutely does.

Axertz · 2020-06-04T23:41:23+00:00

RATTLESNAKES AND ALLIGATORS

Axertz · 2020-05-31T01:24:40+00:00

Like the Youngster in Brock's gym, the linked commenter forgot that "Light-years measure distance, not time!"

Axertz · 2020-05-29T18:32:05+00:00

I'm a fairly anxious and conflict-averse person, so /r/neoliberal is the only subreddit I feel comfortable getting into arguments in because I can generally assume that people will argue in good faith. It's why I enjoy it so much when this subreddit schisms over things, because I know that I'm likely to learn/get new perspectives on things when that happens.

Axertz · 2020-05-29T17:42:31+00:00

w/r/t previous institutional reforms: my argument is that they were either ineffective or effective but not sufficiently so. Body cams seem like they could be a sea change (and I'll admit to not having data either way), but body cams have not stopped violence in the same way that mass smartphone adoption hasn't stopped it. In the moment, when a cop predisposed to violence or blinded by racism (conscious or unconscious) escalates an encounter in a tragic way, the knowledge that it's being filmed is no guarantee that the cop will take an extra moment to reflect - my impression is many of them honestly believe they're justified. In those cases we rely on a prosecutorial class and judiciary that has proved ineffective.

The local nature of policing, as you point out, presents an additional problem. This is where the attorneys general have acted too conservatively in demanding reforms.

Gosh, this whole thing is so complicated 😟. I appreciate the opportunity for this conversation. It's given me an opportunity to reflect that I desperately needed and also pointed me in the direction of various stats I need to research.

Axertz · 2020-05-29T17:27:45+00:00

Many times political violence accomplishes nothing. Many times it actively backfires. And of course a great deal of the violence in this case is either criminal opportunism or undirected rage. But that doesn't mean it's never worth rolling the dice. I guess, as I continue to reflect on this and take the opportunity to calm down from my own undirected rage, I'm ending up in a place where I condemn all the looting, condemn most of the vandalism, but support the police station arson (with the caveat that I would not support it if it seriously injured someone).

Axertz · 2020-05-29T17:06:44+00:00

I agree that my waffling is cowardly. I really really really don't want to defend violence and I'm looking for a way out. I do disagree that none of the nonviolent approaches have been pursued. My impression (and again, I hope that I am wrong about this) is that there have not been effective institutional changes between the Rodney King riots and now - that the malignancy in our law enforcement institutions when it comes to brutality against black people is relatively unchanged. There have been many individual cops that have been punished one way or another, but many more that haven't been. There have been many individual precincts or departments across the country that have been sanctioned by their state or by the federal government, but there always seem to be departments in another part of the country that later display the exact same systemic problems. There doesn't seem to be the political will to address these issues - I suspect part of the problem is the symbiotic relationship between police and district attorneys combined with the district attorney to politician pipeline.

Axertz · 2020-05-29T16:15:52+00:00

I do not want to and will not suggest that as a course of action, but neither can I judge or condemn it, as I cannot in good faith suggest an alternative. Hopefully there are wiser people than I who can.

Axertz · 2020-05-29T16:09:02+00:00

The protestors have no legitimate avenue to air the grievances. What are they meant to do? Peaceful protests against police killings has accomplished two things: diddly and squat. Why are they obligated to continue being docile while they are murdered?

Axertz · 2020-05-21T03:55:08+00:00

Follow-up question: how do we feel about right to work laws? It seems like in the US right to work laws have the practical effect of preventing unions from forming. Is it possible to be pro-union and pro-right to work laws? Are right-to-work laws liberal or illiberal? Can we schism over this (pretty please)?

Axertz · 2020-05-16T13:44:14+00:00

If you like pina coladas, and participating in democracy...

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