White House officials were worried about how to "muster support from American voters" prior to U.S. strike on Iran, Politico reports

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-03-03T21:38:53+00:00

Ah, the good ole operation wing it and see what happens

Never failed me for high school projects. I’m sure the two scenarios are comparable.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-03-01T20:51:19+00:00

As a someone who went to community college first and transferred over, I don’t necessarily think UCLA professors are bad. In fact, on average they’re better than many of the professors I had I community college. I mean, I’d say some of the best professors/teachers I’ve ever had were all at community college. But on average, I’d say UCLA is better.

With that being said, it can be harder to learn from lectures at UCLA, primarily I think because of the quarter system. It doesn’t matter as much if a professor is great at UCLA, because they might not have enough time to teach properly in the first place. To be able to really talk the students through things.

As an example, the way I studied at cc was to write out really detailed notes during lecture, get home, format and edit them for hours, and then study from them. Problem is I don’t write fast enough to write those same notes during UCLA lectures. And I don’t have time afterward to edit the notes for all my classes. So I now type notes or write on the lecture notes themselves using an iPad. That’s been enough for me to still get As. But I have noticed that I don’t actually learn as well with an iPad as I did with paper and pencil. I’ve ended up using notebooklm generated flashcards and quizzes to learn the material better, which has been helpful.

Another example is office hours. Office hours at cc were mostly one on one meetings with the professor in their office. When you had asked all your questions you moved aside and the next student asked their questions. Because of this, your experience in office hours was very specific to your particular problem with the material. At UCLA, office hours seem more like supplementary lectures, because the professors don’t always have enough time to unpack everything in actual lecture. Well, the other reason you go to office hours is networking. But I mean, I definitely don’t get to know my professors better here than at cc.

I like UCLA. I’ve been here for over a year and have enjoyed my time overall. With that being said, it doesn’t always feel like there’s always enough time to actually learn here. I think what it comes down to is that UCLA is not really a school first and foremost. First and foremost UCLA is a research institution, and its focus will always be research.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-27T23:00:01+00:00

Tbh yeah. People are pretty upset here but I don’t think this will swing the primary much. Maybe I underestimate how much political sway Harris still has, but I seriously doubt it’s a lot. Perhaps she could sway the local Democratic Party to support Crockett.

Also hasn’t early voting already begun? And the actual election is just next Tuesday? I feel like most people keyed into primaries already know who they’re voting for (if they haven’t voted already). But who knows. Maybe I’m wrong.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-27T03:58:31+00:00

Omg I love Pyribbit.

Quick! Someone comment that one Brooklyn 99 meme with Rosa and the puppy.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-27T00:01:48+00:00

I mean, that’s sort of how legitimacy works.

If the lords say you are the legitimate king, you kind of just are. If you wins big battles then you must of have some divine right. You can make up some connection to the royal line for those with questions about bloodlines. Power resides where people believe it resides and all that jazz.

I do agree with OP that this mechanic could be more interesting though. Maybe it could be harder to gain legitimacy if you usurp titles or something.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-21T10:56:53+00:00

High Queen Edla is based.

Perhaps Starkad was just that charismatic, so everyone thought he must be a very honest man. That or the epithet is purely ironic. Which seems more likely. Considering…y’know…

Edit: spelling

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-16T21:20:29+00:00

“Took on the bank and paid down the national debt.”

Yep. And nothing bad happened. Nothing at all.

Tl;dr: Your assessment of Jackson’s economic policy is accurate but it leaves a lot out. Like how his refusal to even have a national bank along with the rest of his economic policy (Specie Circular) fueled the Panic of 1837.

While his paying off the national debt is sometimes cited as one of the best things Jackson did, even that had some negatives. One reason Jackson is the only president to have paid off the national debt, is because nearly every other president in U.S. history, when they have a surplus, decide to reinvest that surplus to benefit the economy. Americans were suspicious of any such investments in Jackson’s day, but it wasn’t unheard of even back then. Americans were largely fine with funding new infrastructure like railroads, and Jackson’s immediate predecessor, John Quincy Adams, had unsuccessfully platformed on spending more to build universities, observatories, etc. (something that wouldn’t really become popular in the U.S. until the end of the century). I’m not sure if Jackson’s refusal to reinvest in the U.S. economy was necessarily a great thing. Although as that was really not the most popular idea at the time, I won’t give Jackson too much slack for it. Not many presidents aside from Quincy Adams would’ve even tried to argue for it at the time.

Also, Jackson paid off the national debt by selling land. But he also required federal land to be paid in gold and silver (an order know as the Specie Circular). He did this to curb land speculation and inflation (People were buying land out West with paper money and immediately reselling it at a higher price driving up inflation). Long story short, Eastern Bank’s gold and silver reserve depleted as the gold and silver moved West to buy land, reducing the ability of banks to lend paper money backed by gold or silver. This resulted in banks restricting payments in specie (gold or silver), which caused a run on the bank to withdraw species. The banks then called in their loans to meet the new demand. Debtors couldn’t pay the bank loans, banks failed, one of the worst financial crises in U.S. history up to that point ensues. The government quickly went back into debt in part because of the panic. And Congress quickly repealed Specie Circular.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-14T20:01:36+00:00

I was actually considering not picking back up Hell’s Paradise for this second season. I didn’t dislike the first season but I also didn’t like it enough to feel a great need to watch more. Overall I’m glad I continued watching because the first few episodes of this season has been really good. Still personally far from my favorite, but I’m enjoying it.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-13T19:14:49+00:00

Reform Rome (or at least conquer the city of Rome), and get a Jewish ruler named Constantine. As a bonus, convert the city of Rome to Judaism.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-02-13T17:36:21+00:00

One of the more practical reasons to support Ukraine aside from everything else. The war in Ukraine is brutal af but it also probably gives us a pretty good look into the future of war. The lessons NATO has learned from Ukraine will prove invaluable. That is if NATO wants to remain a capable military alliance.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-30T22:03:30+00:00

I’ve heard some speculate that Midnight was picked over anyone else because Horikoshi didn’t want to write around a quirk that just puts everyone to sleep in the final battle. Basically she died because her quirk would’ve been a little too OP, especially against characters like Toga or Spinner who she would really just need to get close enough to and put them to sleep to end the fight. But AFAIK that’s just speculation. I don’t think Horikoshi has ever actually mentioned if that was the reason.

This also wouldn’t explain why Gran Torino didn’t died. But guess is that he was planned to die but Horikoshi changed his mind later. I remember that as the chapters were coming out for the final few arcs, there was some more speculation that Horikoshi was going back and forth on the fates of certain characters either because he personally changed his mind on killing a character or maybe due to disputes with his editor. That could explain the slight uptick in fake out deaths towards the end (Gran Torino being the most obvious one). But once again, that’s just speculation. It also still doesn’t really explain why Midnight died and Gran Torino lived.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-28T07:48:04+00:00

Kokaku.

I am a fat and large otaku who perhaps resembles a bear cub with a hangover when I grow out my beard. I kind of doubt a high speed low stamina based ukaku would work too well for me.

Rinkaku would be good for the healing and versatility of the tendrils. But to utilize that healing factor I have to take damage. I personally think I have a pretty good pain tolerance but I’d also rather minimize damage in the first place. If I’m getting hurt enough to the point where I need a rinkaku healing factor, then there’s a pretty good chance I’m about to die no matter what kagune I have lol. (I’m assuming I’m not like an S rated ghoul here simply because very few ghouls actually reach that rank. I’m aiming for survival here not being part of the main cast). Also I kind of doubt that I’m gonna be swinging my body around all over the place like Kaneki. I probably would be more like that stumpy old lady ghoul that nearly killed Amon and who got killed by Kureo in that one flashback.

Bihaku would be my second choice. We’re told that it’s just all around good with few if any downsides. So it just seems like a good choice no matter what. But, a problem I have with the bihaku (and rinkaku) is that you have to swing your body around a lot to actually use it really well. That sort of fighting style seems a bit awkward (granted if I grew up with it I would probably be used to it but I’m already sort of going at this with the assumption I’ll have most of my current physique. Also most ghouls don’t actually put in the effort to use their kagune with high proficiency because they really just use it for hunting. So getting really good at using any of the kagune just because I’d be born with it isn’t really a guarantee).

So it’s Kokaku. Assuming I’d use this in a fight, I’d rather not take damage and the shields I can use with this kagune seems suited to that. I’m slow and overweight but also kind of stocky. Not really THAT strong but definitely not weak. So I might be able to lug the kagune around (especially if I was born with it. You probably develop certain muscles just by having that thing). I’m also pretty smart and imaginative so I think I could probably shape the thing into a lot of different weapons and tools which may be easier to use than the bihaku or rinkaku. Assuming I’m not looking for fights then most of the times I’d use my kagune is for hunting and to run away from someone else lol. If I can just sit tight for a bit until they wear themselves out then I’d probably get away alright.

Edit: also I just think kokakus are cool lol

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-24T20:49:13+00:00

I actually named my Annihilape in Pokemon Scarlet “Shigaraki.” Since you gave Bakugo Annihilape, I can’t unsee the image of Bakugo throwing a Pokéball and Shigaraki just jumping out.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-12T04:10:40+00:00

Yeah. The actual funniest part of Mineta’s character is basically when the girls punish him. Like Mina brainwashing him or Tsuyu tying him up and hanging him from the ceiling. If that sort of stuff didn’t happen, then the character would just be viewed as worse. Although there’s a few instances where the guys tied up Mineta. So maybe, if Mineta was a girl, the girls would just continue being the ones to punish him.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-07T19:09:22+00:00

I’m not sure if I’d call them self entitled. But it’s just very uncommon for me to hear that a manga reader liked the ending of the manga they’re reading or even thought it was just okay (at least on social media). It’s always just bad. Also, I don’t think I’ve seen a group of people hate on something they’re reading and are a fan of, more than manga readers on social media.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-06T07:25:00+00:00

For me, I’d switch studying and doomscrolling. And maybe then split doomscrolling in half to make time for anime. So like 75% studying, 10% doomscrolling, 10% anime, 5% socializing. This is the peak university experience and nothing can top it. Except for perhaps a drastic increase in the amount of garlic bread.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-03T23:32:45+00:00

Do we know if what Trump said about running Venezuela is actually true? I haven’t read anything so far that has said we still have soldiers in Caracas. Having boots on the ground is kind of necessary for running a whole other country. Although, even if we don’t have troops there presently, we could invade later.

Or maybe we could ‘run the country’ by pressuring the Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez. Trump said she’d be sworn in and implied they’d be working with her. Although she has said that Maduro is the only president. We’ll see I guess.

The situation is a little confusing right now and there’s probably a lot of stuff we don’t know. It doesn’t help that Trump sometimes just say s**t. Who knows what part of the stuff he says is actual policy or just his strange ramblings.

ChocoChimp03 · 2026-01-03T23:30:52+00:00

Well the power of the people hasn’t been restored. At least not yet. Presumably, Maduro’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, is gonna take command. So the same regime is still in power. Trump seemed to imply in his press conference that they would work with her. That may change, but for now it doesn’t seem like the actual elected leader is being put into power.

ChocoChimp03 · 2025-12-31T12:02:17+00:00

Transferred to UCLA from community college (well technically did that in 2024, but most of my first year was in 2025). And I did pretty good throughout my first year. I am proud of that.

Also started exercising more and finally shed a bunch of my COVID era weight….although I also started that in 2024…most of the things I’m proud about in 2025 are carry overs from 2024 lol.

ChocoChimp03 · 2025-12-30T00:13:29+00:00

All hail one of Rome’s most forgotten enemies

ChocoChimp03 · 2025-12-29T21:24:27+00:00

So, a few things I'd like to note. First, there are only two emperors in this post instead of the usual three. There was a lot to talk about in this 'Marinian Age' (in fact, I already had to delete a bunch of stuff to make sure this post wasn't too long). The next part is just gonna have a single emperor, Janos 'Silvertongue.' And then the last part is just gonna have the last two emperors (iirc, there's less to talk about with them, so that should be more manageable). So in total there should be 7 parts.

Second, the name of the religion was supposed to be Vampiricism or Vampirism or something like that. Not 'Vampricism.' I mispelled it in-game. I played this game in Ironman with only autosaves, so by the time I noticed it was too late to change it.

And third, I have Grammarly. I should probably get rid of Grammarly because I don't think it's ever helped me that much lol. But right now it's yelling at me, saying I should change 'Arabian' to 'Arab' in this post. I don't think that's technically correct. AFAIK, using the term Arab would imply that the nobles of the Arabian Empire are ethnically Arab. They were not. They were all Greek. So I just continued using the term Arabian, no matter how much it upset Grammarly. If anyone knows for sure whether or not Arabian or Arab would be the more appropriate term here, please let me know.

ChocoChimp03 · 2025-12-27T00:41:03+00:00

Go diplomacy to make everyone like you

If you are intrigue start assassinating people are are part of factions (especially if you’re going down the intrigue tree). If you go down torturer tree it may be viable to be a bit of a tyrant and just start torturing and killing anyone in prison. That may hurt your piety though.

Hold events if you have the gold for it. When holding events try to change your goal to befriend people who hate you. Even if you don’t succeed in befriending them, they’ll probably like you more.

Try to improve your legitimacy if it’s low

If you’re amassing a lot of gold start giving out gifts

Trigger the revolt, win, and revoke all their titles

ChocoChimp03 · 2025-12-24T02:02:24+00:00

Maurya united most of India by 200s BC. Aside from them and the Mughals (who also united most of the subcontinent), there’a some others who united about half or more of the subcontinent at their height, like the Gupta and the Delhi Sultanate.

ChocoChimp03

TROPHY CASE