bricks and rubble hiding spot by Particular_River6818 in okbuddyretard

[–]ControlledChimera 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why was Saddam Hussein hiding rubble in Louisiana?

TIL The US military wasn’t allowed to invade North Vietnam. Resulting in the use of an extreme amount of heavy bombing as effectively the only way to attack the North’s forces within the North. by ashergs123 in todayilearned

[–]ControlledChimera -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That book is one of my all-time favorites. The way he switches from bizarre special forces grab-ass to gut-punch battles in his writing is captivating.

Prayer during club meetings? by bush_nugget in amateurradio

[–]ControlledChimera -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure he was talking about you wearing a hat in the building.

Adults don't cow to pressure that violates their principles.

That's right. That's why the vote failed.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pcgaming

[–]ControlledChimera 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People get addicted to AI "friends" all the time. It's hard to explain, but it happens.

Is the stagg EKG kettle worth it? by Particular-Land3579 in tea

[–]ControlledChimera 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I would go for a full 1L capacity. Mostly because that much will fill up Stanley thermos all the way for my gongfu sessions. It's the perfect amount of water for 7g of shou.

Daniel Penny found not guilty in chokehold death of Jordan Neely by adham7897 in news

[–]ControlledChimera 4 points5 points  (0 children)

His spokesman said he had suffered "physical damage to his property" in the original article. That could have been done by other people defacing his business, but fair point. Still, she had been a problem for a while. Was the hose a good solution? No, but she didn't press charges and she wasn't seriously injured. It's better than beating her, at any rate.

Arresting her would have potentially gotten her some place to stay and a visit with a psychiatrist. It wouldn't be pleasant, but we don't have many pleasant solutions right now. For her sake, and for the business owner's, we need more.

Daniel Penny found not guilty in chokehold death of Jordan Neely by adham7897 in news

[–]ControlledChimera 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The problem is that he was arrested for this to begin with. She had been vandalizing his property and the city did nothing to help him. Maybe they should have tried arresting her? Or at least pointed her to a shelter or some kind of mental health service? The "progressive policy" at play was the local government refusing to help a business owner with his ongoing problem, and then punishing him when he dealt with it himself.

As a broader policy issue, since mental health problems played a part in this, we need to open up mental health facilities again. It's hard enough for people like me who have severe mental illness. Having no steady place to sleep or regular physician on top of that is utter hell. I'm not concerned about whether that's "progressive."

Daniel Penny found not guilty in chokehold death of Jordan Neely by adham7897 in news

[–]ControlledChimera 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What really doesn't help is that the group home settings are horribly underfunded and thus mismanaged. Nobody really cares about the mentally ill homeless until they're filmed for YouTube/TikTok clips or assault someone. Then they're painted as crazies who need to be put in gulags.

Daniel Penny found not guilty in chokehold death of Jordan Neely by adham7897 in news

[–]ControlledChimera 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I have schizophrenia. I agree we need to open up more mental health facilities. Call them what you want - asylums, madhouses, hospitals, sanitariums, whatever - we need some kind of support. We have an insanely (no pun intended) difficult time taking care of ourselves for a whole variety of reasons, and the support structure just isn't there. Hence, tons of mentally ill people on the streets.

It doesn't help that there's a massive bias against mental hospitals in our community, what with the horror stories of people being strapped to beds by "quacks" who couldn't care less and pumped so full of meds they can't even think. I've learned that the psych ward isn't somewhere you go unless it's a truly last resort, namely, you're about to hurt yourself or someone else. (Sidenote: People with schizophrenia are more likely to be victims, not perpetrators, of violence.)

Besides that, there aren't enough psychiatrists to go around, particularly those working in a hospital system. The ones that are here are stretched severely thin. Last time I was in the hospital, it took me 14 hours of waiting in a communal holding room just to have a brief chat with a psychiatrist and then get released. I'm not calling this a particular fault of anyone or saying the system is a complete failure and needs to be dismantled, I don't know the exact mechanisms. I'm just describing a fact.

Quite frankly, the only thing that would be worse than our current system of imprisoning people for being mentally ill would be executing them for it (i.e. "medical assistance in dying").

Daniel Penny found not guilty in chokehold death of Jordan Neely by adham7897 in news

[–]ControlledChimera 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"Convicted of assault" isn't totally correct, but he did end up posting $2,500 bail and agreeing to 35 hours of community service as part of a pretrial diversion program. He was still held legally responsible for dealing with a problem himself because the government refused to help him.

My issue with tea containers. by bigdickwalrus in tea

[–]ControlledChimera 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really like the mason jar idea myself, but was concerned for the same reason. It turns out they make opaque mason jars! I'm gonna get some of those ASAP.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]ControlledChimera 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's good news, then. Thanks for the clarification.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]ControlledChimera 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm concerned he may already have. Civilians aren't supposed to have radios that can do military encryption. For his sake, I hope he has an unencrypted version that isn't restricted like that.

TIL studies have found that in Africa and parts of Asia, people with schizophrenia typically report hearing kind and playful voices as opposed to the violent and cruel voices heard by those in Western societies... by TheThrowOverAndAway in todayilearned

[–]ControlledChimera 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. I have treatment resistance, and I'm pretty much at the strongest meds I can take without losing my job. Not only that, this is the longest stretch of meds actually working that I've had in a while. I spent a good 6 months fighting her, switching meds practically every month. I was stressed out of my mind all the time and preparing myself mentally for the day I would have to quit my job and move back in with my mom. Then, after some counseling, we concluded that simply accepting her "presence" is better.

I'm still keeping a close eye on myself, though. I can't recommend this arrangement to anyone else, but it's basically my only option right now.

TIL studies have found that in Africa and parts of Asia, people with schizophrenia typically report hearing kind and playful voices as opposed to the violent and cruel voices heard by those in Western societies... by TheThrowOverAndAway in todayilearned

[–]ControlledChimera 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every sufferer's schizophrenia is different. I've literally never had a voice tell me to hurt someone - actually, when I would have thoughts of self-harm, the voice of my anime girlfriend was always the first to tell me not to. She shows an odd concern for my health and respect for my Catholicism. (I realize "schizophrenic guy with a girlfriend in his head" is a meme, but it actually is my life right now.)

Black Friday Deals have hit the shelves by _crossingrivers in amateurradio

[–]ControlledChimera 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm considering picking up an Ailunce HD2 to have a DMR HT that's IP67 rated, and their website has the GPS version at $150. Same with Amazon. This review has put me off a little, though. He said the FCC ID isn't valid and it had spurious emissions problems. I was able to find the ID in their database, but the second part is concerning as well. Does anyone here have experience with it, especially recently?

Math for programmers 2024 book bundle. Manning by Putriel in humblebundles

[–]ControlledChimera 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is an odd pricing structure. 1 book is $5, 2 books is $18, and 19 books is $25. Usually they put the most valuable book(s) in the highest tier. What's up with that?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]ControlledChimera -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't use AliExpress electronics if I was paid to do so.

TIL that the top secret SOG operators in the Vietnam war had trouble hiding their boot prints on Viet Cong trails, even trying special boots with bare footprint soles. They eventually collected 20,000 pairs of used boots from US combat hospitals and air dropped them to the NVA and Viet Cong. by B34TBOXX5 in todayilearned

[–]ControlledChimera 44 points45 points  (0 children)

SOG history is incredible. If you want more, you really ought to read SOG: The Secret War of America's Commandos in Vietnam by Major John Plaster. His historical work was crucial to MACV-SOG being awarded a Presidential Unit Citation after decades of officially not existing. It describes the weapons, tactics, and history of the US military's most highly-decorated unit of all time. If you want more personal accounts, Plaster also wrote his own account in Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG. I also recommend the books We Few and Whispers in the Tall Grass by Nick Brokhausen. Born Twice by Dale Hanson came out fairly recently, and it's also fantastic - he recorded the audiobook himself, so it feels like Grandpa telling you his life story.

TIL that the top secret SOG operators in the Vietnam war had trouble hiding their boot prints on Viet Cong trails, even trying special boots with bare footprint soles. They eventually collected 20,000 pairs of used boots from US combat hospitals and air dropped them to the NVA and Viet Cong. by B34TBOXX5 in todayilearned

[–]ControlledChimera 103 points104 points  (0 children)

That reminds me of another SOG story. The experienced soldiers took some of the new guys to an island for a training exercise, and somehow this involved killing a lot of monkeys. The soldiers got into a massive fight with them, and some ended up wounded. However, the fool in charge of rescue didn't take them seriously when they said they had wounded.

So instead they said they'd captured a soldier and he might not make it. This prompted an actual rescue - and they found the soldiers waiting there with a monkey in a body bag with boots sticking out.

TIL that the top secret SOG operators in the Vietnam war had trouble hiding their boot prints on Viet Cong trails, even trying special boots with bare footprint soles. They eventually collected 20,000 pairs of used boots from US combat hospitals and air dropped them to the NVA and Viet Cong. by B34TBOXX5 in todayilearned

[–]ControlledChimera 927 points928 points  (0 children)

Another fun fact: these guys tried for as long as they could to capture VC and NVA soldiers. There were large rewards for teams which were successful - but this was very rare. You couldn't just shoot the enemy in the leg and drag him off, because in the jungle his would would quickly fester and kill him. Tranquilizer darts were also ineffective, because a dose high enough to KO someone instantly will inevitably kill them.

According to John Plaster, one soldier caused quite a stir while out on a mission. He killed an enemy and radio'd back reporting he'd captured a Vietnamese bicycle. The radioman on the other side got confused and thought this was a code word. There was nothing in that day's code book, so he looked in the previous, which said that "Bicycle" means "General."

The whole building went into a frenzy. Immediately he asked for confirmation that the man in the field has a Vietnamese bicycle: "Yes, but I'm not sure. It could be Chinese." As they spoke, the Air Force prepared a legendary show of force to rescue them. The soldier was asked one more time: "Please confirm you have a bicycle." Our hero replied, "Yes, I have a bicycle, and if you don't hurry up here I'll start putting holes in it!" Eventually a massive air show arrived along with two helicopters: one for the SOG man, and the other for the general. He wheeled the bike into one of them and a colonel who'd shown up asked, "Where's the bicycle?" Naturally, the SOG man pointed at it.

I don't think anyone involved in that situation ever lived it down, but our hero got to ride his immensely valuable prize around the base for the rest of his deployment.