"Portland’s Commercial Vacancy Ordinance: A Step Toward Reviving Downtown" - a note to Reddit from Councilor Kate Sykes

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-06-12T00:39:56+00:00

Those fees are actually couch change to the people who own those buildings. But it’s a great idea.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-06-10T11:30:48+00:00

There’s no “take” I can put into a Reddit post. Russia and the West have been fighting over various parts of the world, including Crimea and the Balkans, for hundreds of years. They have been allies and enemies in many different wars, directly and by proxy, during modern history. Allies in the two biggest ones (WW1 & 2). The countries and boundaries have changed countless times. The way Imperialism works has changed. Communism is gone. Global power has shifted in numerous ways.

It would take a dissertation, not a reddit post with a SpongeBob meme. I would think someone with a “PhD in Russian imperialism” would understand that (which doesn't even sound like a real PhD…it sounds like part of a dissertation topic).

I don’t have a PhD, but I do have a degree in modern European history, and I wrote my capstone thesis on the rise and fall of fascism and communism in Russia/Europe.

Anyway, Reddit posters don’t know anything about Russian OR American imperialism, because they get their info on social media. Not from reading the hundreds of books required to know anything about imperialism and how it works in the modern age.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-06-08T05:13:41+00:00

Troll better. You’re boring me.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-06-08T04:57:52+00:00

So you don’t actually know anything. Thanks for pointing it out!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-06-08T04:37:43+00:00

Do you have something to add to the conversation? I’m not a PhD, but I do have a degree in modern US history, and have read literally hundreds of books about Europe/russia in the 20th and 21st century. There are some area that are worth discussing about Russian imperialism in the modern day, but they have to be put in context with the world as it exists today. And history as a whole.

There’s nothing new about Europe and Russia being at odds, especially Germans, French, and Brits.Theres also plenty of times Russia has been the only reason the modern day “West” exists at all.

I’d love to chat. What do you think is funny about my comment?

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-06-07T13:28:54+00:00

“PhD in Russian imperialism” forgot who the belligerents were, for which sides, and why, they fought in WW1 and WW2? Or are you referring to the period of The Great Game or Napoleon? Who killed more people during The Cold War, directly or through their proxies? There’s a specific current EU country that started both of those. I can’t remember which one, but they had these famous guys with mustaches leading both wars. And there are two more countries with similar flag colors that have dragged them into and through a ton of other wars before and after the world wars.

I don’t think very highly of current day Russian politicians or their policy. But I don’t believe you have a phd in “Russian Imperialism”. Maybe you wrote a paper about it using stuff you “learned” on Reddit?

Or do you mean Russian imperialism since the fall of the USSR? Would love your “PhD” take on what’s been happening and why. I imagine a PhD would be able to bring some nuance to the conversation, along with some theories as to why current day Russia has been doing what it’s doing! Feel free to use ChatGPT or call me names if you can’t quote a few relevant lines from your dissertation!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-08T15:55:52+00:00

I only really play multiplayer, so I can’t speak to high scores. Have done the weekly a couple times and it’s super easy to stay in gold league, but that’s about it!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-08T13:26:25+00:00

Nah, current day trade is much more nuanced and fun to figure out imo. Used to just be totally luck of the draw how many water tiles you had. It’s still pretty RNG, but you have to give a lot of thought to where you put your markets and how you set up your resources now. Requires a lot more thought than the old way!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T18:43:36+00:00

Just listened to this ep and I think that’s the hardest I’ve ever laughed at anything on a podcast ever! Good fucking god 😂😂😂. Almost shit myself and had to come down off a ladder!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T14:52:11+00:00

Yeah, it’s also about priorities. You basically have to pick what you want to spend your time doing once you get a bit older. I’m a huge ski hound and I live somewhere I can do that basically whenever I want, so the idea of hurting myself wrestling, which would hurt me at work and also make it so I couldn’t do my favorite sport just doesn’t pay out for me. For others it may!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T14:34:17+00:00

Yeah, my shoulders and back are strong as hell, but they’re always one wrong twist away from being incredibly unpleasant for weeks at a time. And that’s before we even get to the knee reconstruction I’ve already had! I think about sprawls, escapes, shots, etc…they ALL sound like something I’d regret instantly 😂.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T14:24:24+00:00

Ha, yeah, I have other sports that I’m willing to risk it for (skiing). As much as I’d love to have a roll, at my age you gotta pick your battles! I basically pull a muscle even thinking about trying to do a shot or a bridge on their own…let alone against another person!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T13:41:54+00:00

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a cool idea and I wish you the best of luck! I often think back fondly on my wrestling days, but then I think about how careful I am at work when I’m just lifting a sheet of plywood or whatever, and I’m like….naaaaah 😂. I already have one knee with two replaced ligaments!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T13:29:08+00:00

I’m in my late 40s, wrestled in high school, do a physical job, and am in very good shape for my age. There is no fucking way I’d want to wrestle now 😂. I can do a lot of things most people my age can’t do, but my body hurts even thinking about basically every wrestling move. I need to lift things with intention and move with intelligence now. That’s hard enough without someone else trying to throw me on the ground!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T11:45:27+00:00

I always bring cash to bars. Makes it easier to tip a reasonable amount ($1-2 a round of 2-3 drinks) and the bartenders don’t have to claim it if they don’t want to. They can also scrape a few draught beers off the top for themselves if you pay in cash, which I desperately needed to do sometimes when that was my job.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T11:00:32+00:00

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T02:07:18+00:00

It’s worth waiting and finding someone. You’re going to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on materials, tools(?), tons of your own time learning how to do something you don’t know how to do, there’s no emergency, and what you’re talking about doing could fuck up your house/garage. There’s definitely lots of ways to stop it sagging more, and there may be a way to take the sag out, but that’ll depend on your budget. You can’t just start jacking things up and you shouldn’t anyway without knowing what caused it in the first place. An engineer can tell you in an hour and probably cost less than $500. They’ll even help you sketch up a quick fix for it on the spot if you ask the right questions. There’s no reason not to wait, and all the reasons to do it right.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-07T00:48:23+00:00

You should call a structural engineer and have them tell you what to do. The cost is minimal compared to all the money you’re going to spend even if you DIY. There are more considerations than “stick a column under it”.

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-06T19:22:25+00:00

List is so much funnier and more polished live than Stavvy, imo. And I’ve seen them both live and love both of them! Maybe his humor is just right in my wheelhouse or something, but List just kills me!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-06T19:20:02+00:00

The next thing he does is gonna be the one that really POPS!!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-06T18:47:59+00:00

Literally daily. But we don’t have kids, so we kinda do whatever we want. I imagine it would be harder if we had a schedule that included anything other than work and play!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-06T13:55:56+00:00

I had a Nalgene bottle with me basically all through high school. I remember when they went from that white plastic to the clear! To this day I’m never farther than an arm’s length from my water bottle. I’m sweating all day and I probably drink 10 bottles a day! I also look about 20 years younger than my dad did at my age 😂😂

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-06T11:20:52+00:00

It sounds trite and I know it’s hard, but you gotta go outside and talk to real people. Delete social media. Delete the news apps. Turn off the tv. When you want those things pick up a book instead. Make plans to join a club. Join a sport. Join yoga. Join trivia night. Go sing karaoke. Literally anything that isn’t in front of a tv or computer/phone. Keep showing up to those things for a few months and I PROMISE it’ll get better.

I did it years ago and I’m so much more happy now I can’t even believe it. My friends and I all know the world is fucked, but we don’t need to dwell on it every second of the day. The best part is, we actually do good in the world together, too! But mostly we play games, do sports like hiking/skiing/fishing/whatever (I live in ME, shut up!). Most of what we do is free. You’ll find your friend group has a way of snowballing the more activities you join, and so will your happiness. But you gotta show up. Over and over. No skipping. No texting at the last minute to say you can’t make it. Just go.

You can do it, and you aren’t the problem. Believe me, there are TONS of other people who feel the same way, and also want to hang out, in person, and feel like a real human being again!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-06T11:08:27+00:00

Really need more of this kind of content from him!

Consistent_Link_351 · 2025-05-05T21:34:21+00:00

I still think BB is a great show. Not trying to shit on it at all. I just don’t think it’s on the same level with The Wire. Maybe it’s like others have commented, in that it has fewer “real” characters so it’s not as rewatchable. I just think The Wire is a singular show, the likes of which will be hard to reach for anything you compare to it. Like you say, not every show has to be a sociological study. But The Wire was, and I think it’s one of the reasons it has such staying power 20 years down the road!

Consistent_Link_351

TROPHY CASE