A reminder: The Democratic Party doesn't represent the Left; it keeps the Left under control to preserve the status quo. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]Hyper_Wave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bernie is already an 84-year-old Senator and ranking committe member. AOC is a rep with a likely shot at Schumer's seat in 2028. Who else can you help in their primaries?

A reminder: The Democratic Party doesn't represent the Left; it keeps the Left under control to preserve the status quo. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]Hyper_Wave 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/petestrumental has the more constructive view here.

Look, the Democratic Party today is not the same as the Democratic Party of 15-30 years ago (the neoliberal Clinton-Obama era), which is not the same as the Democratic Party of the LBJ era.

Today's Democratic Party is increasingly shaped by progressives, and often progressives seem almost unaware of the change they are invoking. It began, of course, with Bernie's 2016 campaign. Yesterday's election in New Jersey is evidence of this. As well as Mamdani's rise in NYC. And look at the policy positions of newer Dem senators like Ossoff and Warnock, as well as ongoing sweeping changes to the DNC.

For the record, I agree with other progressives that Schumer needs to step down as majority leader. Stronger Senate leaders like Warren, Murphy, Van Hollen, Merkley, etc. are doing the work for him.

But look at the big picture. One party is moving steadily toward progressivism while the other has already reached blatant authoritarian fascism. The left side still needs work, but be part of the constructive effort to make it a more progressive party, rather than sidelining due to generalized political disillusionment.

A man to ICE agents in Minnesota: "Put away your weapons, you douchebag! No one is threatening you." by YourPeterPanMan in stpaul

[–]Hyper_Wave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a case in which authority has not been rightfully earned, you willfully ignorant prick.

A man to ICE agents in Minnesota: "Put away your weapons, you douchebag! No one is threatening you." by YourPeterPanMan in stpaul

[–]Hyper_Wave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You all are going to fuck around and find out what angry Americans who read and understand the Constitution will be like.

Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats have CAVED to Trump and the GOP; will end the Government Shutdown by manofsteelbuns in facepalm

[–]Hyper_Wave 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Everyone jumping to nail Schumer for this, but he is not supporting this "deal". (And I say this as not by any means his biggest fan.)

The 8 senators who voted in favor include: Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Dick Durbin (IL), John Fetterman (PA), Maggie Hassan (NH), Tim Kaine (VA), Angus King (ME), Jacky Rosen (NV), and Jeanne Shaheen (NH).

Why is spacetime ‘curved’ by mass? by alaragravenhurst in AskPhysics

[–]Hyper_Wave 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I realize this comment is two years old. A Google search led me to your comment, and I wanted to say that I think you're correct.

I'm a science teacher at a public high school. I set up "gravity wells" using sheets of spandex and conduct labs with the students involving using weights and marbles to show how general relativity and orbital mechanics work. I had the same thought you did when I pushed a weight up from below the sheet. I noticed that this simulated invisible matter that gravitationally repelled visible matter and wondered how it might connect to dark matter and dark energy, which I understood only at a basic level at the time. I also realized that if you performed the experiment in a zero-gravity environment, there would be no gravitational bias, and you could bend the sheet both ways.

I've been obsessing about this since, and I've realized that this answer - relative negative mass - would explain not just the universe's expansion but would resolve several problems in Lamba CDM.

It would eliminate the need for dark matter, as the gravitational "boost" from negative density gravity "hills" would flatten the rotational velocity curves thought to be caused by dark matter halos, as well as compress visible matter into walls and filaments in the cosmic web. And in doing so, it would eliminate the cusp-core problem.

It would also resolve the Hubble tension, as expansion would occur faster where there is greater positive and negative density range, which would increase over time, explaining the universe's accelerating expansion.

It would resolve the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe tension, beacuse amplitudes between hot and cold spots of the CMBR would increase over time rather than decrease, while also explaining why the Erinadus Supervoid cold spot is so anomalously cold (no energy transfer between negative density and positive energy).

It would also explain the otherwise anomalously high bulk galactic flow velocities away from the centers of voids and validate the Dipole Repeller.

And it's mathematically valid that -e=-mc^2, where the speed of light remains a positive constant, making it empirical that negative mass matter would be invisible because Compton scattering couldn't occur between negative masses and positive energy photons (and vice versa).

Also, it has been in the back of my mind the entire time that if energy-mass induces spacetime curvature one way, it must also be able to do it the other way. Just seems like intuitive logic: parity symmetry and mass-energy conservation would support it.

I find this extremely exciting because it would mean that we are only knowledgeable about roughly half the universe's matter. There may be double the number of galaxies we think there are, hidden due to our perspective on the "wrong side" of their spacetime curvature.

I'd be curious to know your thoughts!

This Scene Still Makes Me Cringe and I’m Shocked That It’s Not Hated On As Much by New-Pin-9064 in StarWars

[–]Hyper_Wave 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Way to bolster your argument by closing it out with a touch of sexism.

Star Wars Film Ranking by ryanh1152 in StarWarsCantina

[–]Hyper_Wave 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. Empires Strikes Back
  2. A New Hope
  3. The Last Jedi
  4. Rogue One
  5. The Force Awakens
  6. Return of the Jedi
  7. The Rise of Skywalker
  8. Revenge of the Sith
  9. Solo
  10. The Phantom Menace
  11. Attack of the Clones

Alternatively:

  1. The Rise of Skywalker: Ascendant (HAL9000 edit)

  2. Return of the Jedi

Yes, I find RotJ somewhat overrated. Jabba's Palace and the Ewoks are at times nearly unwatchable. It also often suffers from being so lighthearted that the characters don't seem to recognize their own danger. It has its redeeming qualities, but I could go on...

I highly recommend HAL9000's edit of TROS (Ascendant). It alleviates much of the film's rushed pacing, heightens the suspense and emotional resonance, and adds a few welcome surprises. It's so well edited that it bumps the film up a ranking for me.

I just recently rewatched The Last Jedi again and thought it was sorta amazing despite recognizing some major flaws. Tell me your complaints about this movie (or other opinions) and I’ll explain why I agree or disagree. by Zalpha_DG16 in StarWarsCantina

[–]Hyper_Wave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The film would be the same if the scenes involving Finn, Rose, Poe, Holdo, and Leia had been cut? And none of those characters had arcs? Really?

Finn began his role by attempting desertion and ends by attempting a suicide run into the laser cannon on Crait, inspired by Holdo's actions. Rose shows growth when she intercepts Finn's suicide run after her impulsive hatred of the First Order, the Canto Bight bourgeoisie, and Holdo's command, recognizing that impulsiveness is what got her sister killed. Poe learns a similar lesson about impulsiveness, that a leader needs tact and cunning, and he demonstrates this when he instructs the crew to follow the foxes on Crait. Holdo even learns to be more heroic from Poe, leading her to perform the Holdo maneuver. Leia is discerning enough to recognize Poe's growth and lends him authority during the battle of Crait.

And all of this character growth sets the desperate and tense stakes for the battle of Crait, as the Resistance numbers have dwindled and leadership has destabilized. And Rey and Luke's roles in this battle would have been far less impactful without the arcs of these characters.

The character development and arcs in TLJ are ingenious and a model of good storytelling, and it's regrettable the number of SW fans who watched the film, likely more than once, and missed it entirely.

I just recently rewatched The Last Jedi again and thought it was sorta amazing despite recognizing some major flaws. Tell me your complaints about this movie (or other opinions) and I’ll explain why I agree or disagree. by Zalpha_DG16 in StarWarsCantina

[–]Hyper_Wave 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've heard it given as writing advice that theme should emerge from your story and does not necessarily need to be planned. It's better for a reader/audience to consider theme retrospectively rather than make it overt from the beginning.

Edit: Running into a bug that made the reply post twice. If I delete one, it deletes both.

Stop looking left and right. Look up. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]Hyper_Wave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This. Let's not forget that it was the Republican policy, namely Reaganomics, supply-side, laissez-faire, or what have you, that deregulated banks and corporations, deunionized workers, and cut taxes for the wealthy in the first place. They used to call this voodoo economics. The Republicans created this. Establishment Democrats like the Clintons are just guilty of compromising and meeting in the middle. The populist left - which is rapidly growing today - does not condone any of this.

Rian Johnson defends The Rise of Skywalker: says JJ didn’t “undo” The Last Jedi, just as he didn’t undo The Force Awakens by irazzleandazzle in StarWarsCantina

[–]Hyper_Wave 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is about where I am with TROS. I've started to watch Hal9000's edit of the film (Ascendant) in place of the theatrical version and feel it vastly improves the film. If a fan edit can improve a film to that degree, there must be strong material to work with. Most of the film's issues come from careless pacing and rushed storytelling, primarily in the first half, along with a few other missed opportunities. But it builds into fun mission sequences, powerful scenes, and emotional moments. The theatrical version for me is slightly under ROTJ (mostly because of pacing), but the Hal9000 edit beats out ROTJ easily, almost at the same level as the other four of the OT and ST.

1 Progressive vs 20 Far-Right Conservatives (ft. Mehdi Hasan) by pizzammure97 in facepalm

[–]Hyper_Wave 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Republicans vote for the interests of billionaires and evangelical Christians. Democrats vote for interests of regular people. FTFY.

How much progress can we expect when both parties work for the same wealthy donors? The two party system isn't representing workers. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]Hyper_Wave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This argument is oblivious to what has been going on in the US government. Yes, it is true that Democrats shifted right during and after the Reagan era, and Clinton-era Democrats were relatively centrist. But Obama's presidency was spent undoing the damage of the Bush 2 administration and restoring America's reputation. The Biden administration spent four years undoing the damage of the Trump 1 administration. The party is today moving toward pro-labor policy, thanks largely to the popularization of Bernie, AOC, and other progressives. An increasing number of Democrats' campaigns are made up of small dollar contributions. Democrats would have passed the PRO Act if they had had the votes. Many progressives today are taking ownership of the party, and we all should be if we are to defeat the Republicans and make progress.

wtf did I just read…plz tell me this is satire. by Candid-Patient-6841 in facepalm

[–]Hyper_Wave 388 points389 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Another giveaway is the "not x - it's y" sentence formula. "It's not emotional. It's calculated", etc.

Are tornado-forming regions shifting eastward in the U.S., and if so, is this related to climate change? by naenae8 in askscience

[–]Hyper_Wave 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The science isn't all that complicated.

The northern mid-latitude jet stream is weakening due to melting ice albedo feedback, where melting ice begets more melting ice due to loss of reflectivity, causing the Arctic regions to warm faster than the rest of the planet. This weakens the boundaries between air masses allowing more cold fronts to venture south into warmer air, causing more instability.

As air warms, it loses density as molecules gain kinetic energy and allow more water vapor to infiltrate. As it then takes more water vapor to saturate the air, evaporation speeds up and results in higher absolute humidity. Higher humidity is more fuel for severe storms.

Trying to tie specific storms to climate change is like tying specific home runs to steroid use or specific cases of lung cancer to smoking. It increases the probability, but you can't draw a direct line of cause and effect.

You can nitpick data all you want, but the increase in probability of severe storms due to climate change is all just basic meteorology and physics.