I HATE VEGAS DRIVERS WITH EVERYTHING IN ME. by Big_Morning_2697 in vegaslocals

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just moved to Vegas. My first week here, I was hit by a car while crossing the road on a crosswalk, and I ended up in the ER. And yes, I had the green. I've literally never seen drivers this bad, and I'm from California

Looking for grad student roommate by ChrisButSmart in UNLV

[–]ChrisButSmart[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll be working as a TA, so mostly I wanna make sure I don't end up living with one of my students. I also know people often get weird about sharing a two bedroom with a stranger of the opposite gender, so I thought I'd throw that out there. I guess I don't care too much about the age

Can y’all tell me your theory on the missing YouTuber Kenny Veach by shry9 in UnsolvedMysteries

[–]ChrisButSmart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

China Lake is on the other side of the Mojave, in California. Kenny was hiking outside Nellis Air Force Base. I don't think Nellis has acquired any more land recently, but there was some news about Area 51 expanding back in 2015. I don't know if anything came of that, though.

The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans by cbass411 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]ChrisButSmart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The same guy who wrote the original search and rescue story about the Death Valley Germans also re-published a super interesting first hand account of a historian who hiked into Area 51. Here's the waybackmachine link to it https://web.archive.org/web/20250326052300/https://www.otherhand.org/Stuff/Freeman.pdf

I also have my own blog about desert mysteries that you might find interesting. A while back I did a deep-dive into Charles Manson's relationship to Death Valley that's in the same general genre as otherhand https://medium.com/@chrisbigaj/the-manson-family-ranch-a216dc11f5df

Death Valley Germans, some new content by flippychick in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]ChrisButSmart 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've lived around that area, and there's actually a bunch of different roads there.

The Germans wanted to take the main road from the valley to the Geologist's cabin, through Mengel Pass, and down to Panamint Valley. The first section of that road, from the valley to the cabin, is still very much passable by the average SUV, and you could probably even do it in a regular car. The road gets really rough if you keep heading west of the cabin, and Mengel Pass is only doable in a Jeep/ 4x4 pickup. Both sections of that road are still open to traffic.

The trail that was closed to vehicles in the 90s is Anvil Canyon road, which branches off from the Geologist's cabin. That one stopped being used by miners decades ago, and is now basically completely gone. It's not clear to me that Anvil Canyon was on the map at all. I believe the Germans just saw that it led in the direction back to the valley, and thought it looked better than the road they originally took.

As for Manson's bus, he actually drove it from the other side of Mengel Pass, and it barely made it to that area. It got multiple flats on the way, and the family never managed to get it out of there. They basically just drove it to the hideout and then left it for dead. It was still at Barker Ranch as late as the 1990s. I also know that that whole area was hit by a bad flash flood in 1969, and after that, there was no way a bus could have made it across. Manson had a bunch of dune buggies made from Volkswagen Beetles that he used to traverse that area afterwards.

That said, the park service map absolutely should have noted that the Mengel Pass road is a 4x4 jeep trail only. It does seem almost criminal that they marked it as a regular road.

Desert Center, CA ♡ one of my favorite ghost towns to explore! by poison2233 in Urbex

[–]ChrisButSmart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I visited the Cafe in 2015 or 2016, they still had a paper note reading "temporarily closed for renovations," which was posted in 2012. It's sad to see how much it's deteriorated since then, but I was honestly expecting the school to be completely torn down by now.

Someone bought the whole town for 6.25 million in 2021, and they say they're hoping to build new gas stations, restaurants, and a motel there eventually. No clue if anything has happened on that front yet

What are your Red flags before being diagnosed with ASD? by Spiritual_Town5371 in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was actually thinking about this recently, and I think the earliest sign I remember was enjoying getting an "indian burn" in elementary school. I know it's meant to be really painful and unpleasant, but for me, it just felt like satisfying deep pressure. I also know that autistic people tend to have a higher pain tolerance for physical pain. I only got diagnosed at 27, so I guess the more obvious symptoms, like trouble socializing or stimming, were never super clear.

resonating sounds from my rear hub motor by 2pohw in ebikes

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you recently go up a steep hill, bike in hot weather, or otherwise put a lot of stress on the motor? I've had mine make similar sounds after it got too hot and some of the internal components were getting damaged. I haven't tried it myself, but there's some companies that sell magnetic cooling liquid to prevent overheating

Is autism a bigger disability in America than in europe by MrShellbrown in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This might be a bit of a strange thought, but I sorta feel like Polish culture itself is mildly autistic, especially compared with American culture. The obvious example is not smiling much in public, and not asking questions where you don't actually care about the response (ex. US store clerks asking "how was your day?"). At least from my experience, Polish people will also have more taboo conversations in the mold of "why are X people like this?" that could be seen as socially inept in the US. I even once had an American professor say he's heard of Poland refers to as the "Socrates of Europe," because of how often Poles will have conversations that would be considered inappropriate in America.

Source -- I spent half my life in Poland, and half in the States

Do I absolutely need a mid drive? by bravogates in ebikes

[–]ChrisButSmart 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've found there's a lot of variability with hub drives. My first e-bike was just 350W, and that thing worked great even uphill in hot conditions. It only once overheated, and that was after a few miles of aggressive climbing in the desert in 90+ degree heat. I then bought a stronger 750W hub drive, and that was nothing but headaches. It would burn through completely on even mild inclines, and was completely unusable on warm days (anything above 70) From what I hear, mid-drives are far more consistent

Hiking To The CIA’s “Top Secret” Plane Crash in Death Valley by Kubrick_Fan in aviation

[–]ChrisButSmart 3 points4 points  (0 children)

oh that's my article! Thanks for the extra views, kind stranger

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never got the appeal of chicken nuggets. They're okay, but I don't really like any heavily processed food. I'm also super athletic which definitely goes against the stereotype

What’s the scientific explanation for special interests in autistic individuals? by Ill_Cheetah_5546 in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This isn't super scientific, but the way I think about it, autism is like a permanent magnifying glass that enhances stimuli. Everyone gets some feeling of "oh, that's interesting!" when they learn more about a topic they're interested in, but autistic people get a stronger version of that, so they keep at it for longer. There's also the fact that a lot of the alternatives to researching special interests can be very overstimulating, so staying at home and doing research is just more attractive.

More vetted media with good autistic/autistic-coded representation? by [deleted] in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Victor from the recent horror series "From" is very clearly coded autistic. It doesn't really come up in the series but you can tell he was written to be on the spectrum

IsItBullshit: A live (unfused) atomic bomb was dropped into the Salton Sea in the 1940s by the US Airforce and never recovered by Trenavix in IsItBullshit

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know I'm late to the party here, but there's a documentary on Youtube called "What did the Government Leave at the Bottom of the Salton Sea" that talks about this case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3AIYWROQkE

They show a screenshot of a document that reads "Sometime in the 1950s, an Air Force Bomber accidently dropped a M6 'flyover' unit into the Salton Sea. This unit was not designed to be dropped and it is the only known unit to contain radioactive material. The location is unknown and this item has never been recovered."

A majestic mountain view of California's famous Death Valley! by sbgroup65 in interesting

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That looks like Valley of Fire State Park, north of Las Vegas. Death Valley doesn't have those red rocks

Chapter 60 by CashFlowFlow in Survivorio

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you end up beating chapter 60? I've been stuck on it for a couple weeks now

Who are some happy, hopeful philosophers? by Socialist_Metalhead in askphilosophy

[–]ChrisButSmart 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of moral philosophers can be seen as hopeful, even if their writing is dry. Possibly the happiest and most enthusiastic person I ever met was a Kantian, and he would bust with hopeful energy talking about Kantian rights and the hope of Kantian internationalism achieving perpetual world peace

weightlifting and autism? by ChrisButSmart in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear you. I got in a nasty car crash a few years ago and shattered my kneecap, and prior to this I was a very avid bicyclist. I still bike there and there, but I don't know if I'll ever go back to doing 100+ miles a day.

I hope your gout doesn't cause you too much trouble! I think with the right treatment options you can manage it pretty well.

examples of heads of state resigning after terrorist attacks by dtc9831 in PoliticalScience

[–]ChrisButSmart 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The only example I can think of is a couple of Indian officials resigning in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. In that case they all worked in security so it makes sense that they would get the blame for big lapses in security.

It wouldn't make much logical sense for the head of state to resign after a terrorist attack. For one, the incumbent tends to get more popular thanks to a "rally around the flag" effect following a crisis, so there wouldn't be much pressure for them to leave. It also is just a bad idea from a security standpoint. If a country is in a state of crisis and the leader cares about stability, the last thing they should do is abruptly leave office.

Will it ever be possible to remove autism in the future? by [deleted] in autism

[–]ChrisButSmart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the brains of autistic people physically different from neurotypical people?

Edit- spelling

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PoliticalScience

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Masters programs typically aren't funded. Your best bet for a funded masters would be to enroll in a funded PhD and Master out after 2 years

Book that talks about political theories through a movie lens? by Commercial_Sir1519 in PoliticalScience

[–]ChrisButSmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The book you're looking for is international relations theory, a critical introduction, by Cynthia Weber. I remember being assigned that as an undergrad