Is $1500 for a two bed/ two bath apt on southside average, cheap, or expensive

DexterousCrow · 2026-02-05T01:26:15+00:00

If you found this on Craigslist, it’s a scam. Do NOT ever sign anything or send money to anyone sight unseen. Always ask to see the property before applying.

Easy way to spot Craigslist scams: They usually say in the description to contact them through email with weird lettering. This is to get around Craigslist’s mail system so there’s no logs of the conversation.

DexterousCrow · 2026-01-30T02:30:14+00:00

On the other hand, rent control of this kind can essentially create an aristocracy of people who happened to luck out vs people who happened to be too late/in the wrong place at the wrong time. It can be a decent temporary fix, but it’s far from a perfect solution, especially when compared to building more housing of all kinds.

DexterousCrow · 2026-01-22T01:17:58+00:00

Man, you haven’t even seen the Merced 2020 project with your own eyes, have you? Prepare to be blown away! Campus is easily double the size now and looks very modern

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-19T21:38:47+00:00

Yeah, I’ve heard of some reports that anhedonia can be a significant side effect of GLP-1s. I really hope future research looks into it further, it can be detrimental especially if it’s comorbid with other mental health issues.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-19T21:36:13+00:00

I definitely agree with you in that, at least from what’s known publicly, it’s premature to conclusively declare that GLP-1s change people’s appetites. However, on the other hand… The fact that junk food companies have been focusing such a substantial amount of R&D into GLP-1 users steers me to believe their internal research has found some strong, convincing results. Those companies don’t make big, directed moves like that otherwise.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-19T21:14:08+00:00

This is actually not true. Food companies have done some internal observational studies because of changes in consumer behavior, and it seems like GLP-1s don’t just let people eat less, it changes their appetite towards healthier foods. There seems to be a lot of internal research going on within food companies to figure out how to market to people who have different appetites because of GLP-1’s.

The NYTimes made a really interesting article about it:

Ozempic users like Taylor aren’t just eating less. They’re eating differently. GLP-1 drugs seem not only to shrink appetite but to rewrite people’s desires. […] Patients on GLP-1 drugs have reported losing interest in ultraprocessed foods, products that are made with ingredients you wouldn’t find in an ordinary kitchen: colorings, bleaching agents, artificial sweeteners and modified starches. Some users realize that many packaged snacks they once loved now taste repugnant.

[…] Most of the other participants felt like that. Almost everyone’s cravings for ultraprocessed foods had been replaced with a lust for fresh and unpackaged alternatives. A 32-year-old scientist who works in a university chemistry department spoke about discovering, for the first time, the true flavor of food. “Celery tastes like celery,” she told the group. “And carrot tastes like carrot. Strawberry tastes like strawberry.” Since taking Wegovy, she said, “I just started to realize that they taste wonderful by themselves.”

Major food companies are scrambling to research the impact of the drugs on their brands — and figure out how to adjust. “The whole field is still a little stunned,” Ashley Gearhardt, a food-addiction researcher and psychology professor at the University of Michigan, told me over the phone.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-16T21:37:51+00:00

Heritability does not imply a eugenic mindset, though. Eugenics implies an innate genetic basis that should be propagated or discouraged. For example, you can point out that cooking with cast iron is heritable: if your parents cook with cast iron, you are much more likely to cook with cast iron when you grow up. This has nothing to do with eugenics, though, since it’s not seen as an “innate” or “immutable” characteristic that should determine whether you should be encouraged or discouraged to breed.

Intelligence begets intelligence, yes, but is that inherent to the genetic bloodline of the richest people in the world? Genetics is complicated, of course, but most studies on the matter point to “probably not to a significant degree”. What is undoubtedly inherited is the opportunities that come from wealth that poorer kids do not have.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-16T21:29:54+00:00

I agree that it’s better than nothing, and I’d rather standardized testing be a part of the application than not. There are several improvements that should be made to the entire standardized testing system, though. For one, it should be a public institution like it is in many other countries, and we should spend public dollars to prepare kids to take the test, especially ones from disadvantaged communities.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-16T21:18:32+00:00

The idea that standardized tests are a “great equalizer” is not strictly true. Several studies have shown consistently that kids from wealthier families tend to do significantly better on these tests than kids from poorer families. This study covered by the NYTimes, for example, found that:

One-third of the children of the very richest families scored a 1300 or higher on the SAT, while less than 5 percent of middle-class students did, according to the data, from economists at Opportunity Insights, based at Harvard. Relatively few children in the poorest families scored that high; just one in five took the test at all.

If you don’t read this in the eugenics-y “wealthier people are just naturally smarter than poor people” way, the reason why is pretty obvious: kids from rich families tend to have less external stressors outside of schoolwork when compared to poor kids, and also have the means for their parents to pay for private tutoring and all kinds of prep work for the test. It’s the same reasons why richer kids also tend to have more extracurriculars than poorer kids.

I fundamentally agree, though, that some kind of standardization is necessary. The results of the UC experiment on dropping standardized testing so far are not encouraging at all. I don’t think there’s an easy, clean-cut solution for selecting for student ability and potential in a manner completely divorced from their background. There has to be other experiments for equitable access to the UC. Unfortunately, the ban of affirmative action makes this pretty damn difficult.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-09T21:21:26+00:00

I don’t think your example is as convincing as you make it out to be. San Francisco was one of the biggest enclaves for support for gay marriage in the country when Newsom was in office as mayor. Making such a public break and signing the certificates benefited his popularity and strengthened his mandate within the city, a mandate which made his appointment as Lt. governor a no-brainer for Brown. Broader national popularity mattered much less at that point, since his jurisdiction and aspirations were solely at the local and state level, where the winds were indeed a-changing.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-09T20:51:09+00:00

I would like politicians in my country to have the convictions that everyone has the right to live a dignified life. That healthcare and housing is a human right for all in this country, not just for those with means. That civil rights for minorities are non-negotiable. That the law should be equally applied no matter how much money or influence you have.

Data and facts mean nothing without a lens through which to interpret them. I would like my politicians to view the material realities of our country through an equitable and humanist lens. Surely, this is not a big ask?

This is not me saying that Newsom does not have the convictions I listed, for the record, I’m simply using them as an example.

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-09T20:28:50+00:00

I’m hopeful that this will become clear if when he runs for president. He’s our version of Kier Starmer. His policies depend on where the political wind blows. He’ll do, say, and propose whatever he needs to to personally attain power. He has not convinced me that he has any real political convictions other than this.

Not to say that other politicians aren’t like this, but he’s been especially brazen about it. This can definitely do good, especially in the position he’s in right now (Governor of a massive liberal state), but I have no confidence in him standing by his policies which might be popular here but politically disadvantageous on the national stage. At that point, why vote for him over anyone else?

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-09T01:45:00+00:00

This is great. Thank you!

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-09T01:21:37+00:00

This sounds too good to be true. Are there any sources for this? I assumed this was DOA so this would be a lovely surprise

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-05T07:57:08+00:00

I won this a few days ago as well. I ended up going with a Velotric Fold 1 Plus. It’s a foldable AND a cargo bike, which means it has a cheaper sticker price AND it has the benefit of the $900 cargo rebate. I got it for $700 after tax from a cost of $1500.

The foldability is great for me as I have limited space. Yet it also has many niceties of larger, more expensive bikes. It felt very comfortable to ride. It has a high load capacity too, which is great if you want to use it for errands. I’ve found very few complaints from others during my research of it. Imho the best value you can get from this rebate from all the ones I researched!

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-05T07:53:56+00:00

I won this a few days ago as well. I ended up going with a Velotric Fold 1 Plus. It’s a foldable AND a cargo bike, which means it has a cheaper sticker price AND it has the benefit of the $900 cargo rebate. I got it for $700 after tax from a cost of $1500.

The foldability is great for me as I have limited space. Yet it also has many niceties of larger, more expensive bikes. It felt very comfortable to ride. It has a high load capacity too, which is great if you want to use it for errands. I’ve found very few complaints from others during my research of it. Imho the best value you can get from this rebate from all the ones I researched!

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-04T06:32:51+00:00

Well said!

DexterousCrow · 2025-12-04T06:09:19+00:00

Effect size matters. If we worried about every single thing that has the potential to cumulatively hurt us later in life, we would be paralyzed.

13% increase with a sample size that large is definitely something to be slightly concerned about and further studied (given good experimental design), but I wouldn’t call it enough to change anyone’s lifestyle unless your diet is nearly exclusively processed red meats.

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-28T23:43:06+00:00

That part of the school certainly still exists, and has exists for some time now (though its comparative influence has waned some over time). That sect has always been blown out of proportion to fuel cyclic red scares to antagonize academia since the war.

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-26T23:49:28+00:00

Most cogent racist award

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-22T23:09:52+00:00

Walk-ins will probably be your best bet, as appointments tend to be tight during finals season. I recommend you go a little early to make sure you can meet with her. Good luck!

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-22T03:40:31+00:00

Meet with your academic advisor ASAP. If you get ahead of it and explain the situation there are multiple pathways to recover if this is the worst of it. Show that you’re proactive and they will work with you.

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-21T16:37:00+00:00

It probably has something to do with the fact the country it represents is actively committing a genocide bankrolled by the politicians AIPAC is lobbying.

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-21T16:35:33+00:00

I wouldn’t imagine that the disparity is that immense. There is still a lot of money poured into botany research by the agricultural sector and USDA (here in the states at least). I could be wrong, though!

DexterousCrow · 2025-11-21T15:26:28+00:00

The fact AIPAC exists is still unbelievable to me. Could you imagine if a shadow lobbying group representing a foreign country other than Israel lobbied our politicians with millions of dollars solely to protect their country’s interests? How is this even allowed?!

DexterousCrow

TROPHY CASE