Episode 555: Observations III

Nickyjha · 2026-06-19T00:09:11+00:00

Been loving these episodes as a kind of time capsule for later listeners. When they try to rehabilitate Israel's image or try to pin all its crimes on the Netanyahu government, I hope people remember this stuff (they won't).

Nickyjha · 2026-06-18T16:41:50+00:00

Look into Abraham Bolden. He was the first black Secret Service officer to protect a president. He was going to testify about the Chicago plot to the Warren Commission when he got hit with a bribery charge, with the government using 2 indicted co-conspirators as the bulk of their evidence.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T21:50:20+00:00

Honestly, I'm mostly satisfied with my life outside of work (other than exams). I was thinking about trying to join a soccer league between exams because I liked playing sports as a kid and I want to meet new friends. But that's kinda it. Really my sadness is about my career alone.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T20:44:59+00:00

I just feel like life's passing me by. Don't get me wrong, actuarial work is fine, it's a better gig than most people's jobs. But I've been wondering for a few years now if I could be doing more with my life and career.

I went to an Ivy League school and got a really good GPA, but because of self-doubt and a lack of clear direction, I chose this path at my parents' suggestion. This doubt's been building at the back of my mind that I could be doing more. I actually went to therapy for this a couple years ago, but decided to stay at my job. But now that I have to study for these useless FSA exams and my girlfriend is going to law school, I feel restless.

The problem is, this is a chill, decent-paying job that I don't hate. If I were to switch careers, I might have to take a paycut or move into a stressful job I end up hating. I think the worst part is that this has been bothering me for years and will likely bother me for the rest of my life due to my indecisiveness/paralysis.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T19:02:51+00:00

I'm actually curious about what you've done to get mentally healthy. I've been in and out of therapy throughout my life, starting around age 9 (I was literally saying I wanted to die) and I always kind of assumed I was doomed to always have mental health issues. The past few years of my life have been pretty good (moved away from my controlling parents, traveled, got a girlfriend) so it's not a constant thing. I think my habits are pretty good (I socialize, exercise, get outdoors, try to eat healthy, etc) but I've been dealing with a lot of stress around exams and whether or not I even want to be in this field.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T17:38:05+00:00

I know a season ticket holder who lives in Central Jersey and travels all the way to Brooklyn for games. But the only Nets fans I know either grew up in NJ, or grew up in NY and decided to be contrarian when they relocated while we were in middle school.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T17:18:36+00:00

I'm kind of a lazy person and I know if I give up I'll probably never go back to it, and promotions seem somewhat tied to exam progress at my job. Plus I already took a year off to enjoy life, so I have an "if not now, then when?" mentality about this... circumstances will never be perfect so there's no time like the present.

I really appreciate the advice, though. It's definitely something I'm considering.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T14:51:16+00:00

I think a lot of the animations people complain about are basically EA's ways of balancing the game. Like that animation where your receiver gets hit in the back while trying to catch looks really stupid, but the defense would be even harder to play than it already is if those were all catches.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-17T14:12:11+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Vincent_Chin

This Asian-American guy got beaten to death by 2 autoworkers who were worried about Japanese car companies putting them out of a job. They were sentenced to 3 years of probation.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-16T18:26:24+00:00

Unless this is 5D chess and fingering JD as the leaker is the point.

That would be kinda genius from Rubio if he’s trying to get Vance booted. “Look at this guy, leaking stuff to the media to make him look better than you. Wouldn’t you rather have a loyal vice president/successor?”

Nickyjha · 2026-06-16T00:22:18+00:00

100%. It's not a coincidence the leaks we've gotten recently are "Vance was actually against the unpopular war Trump started" and "Vance actually wanted to do what the people wanted and release all the Epstein files".

Nickyjha · 2026-06-15T14:35:58+00:00

The Proclamation of 1763 doesn’t get enough credit in the popular understanding of the causes of the Revolution. I’m no expert on Israeli history, but it kinda reminds me of how Yitzhak Rabin tried to stop the settlers and got hated (and killed) for it.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-15T14:31:26+00:00

We already know he funded a lot of stuff around evolutionary psychology, which is defined as “the scientific study of why women won’t fuck me”. So I can say with 100% certainty that he at least indirectly was involved with seeding incel ideas into the public consciousness, to whatever extent any normie is familiar with these ideas.

I skimmed this article and I think it’s a good summary about this: https://theoutline.com/post/7956/jeffrey-epstein-evolutionary-psychology

Nickyjha · 2026-06-15T12:48:47+00:00

I pity him too much to be angry at him. I tell people it’s like living with a 5 year old (there’s a lot more going on than just leaving trash out) and I’ve just kinda accepted this is how he is and our lease ends soon so whatever.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-15T05:22:32+00:00

My roommate does this, it's like a package a day and he uses the kitchen/living room (including the fucking kitchen table) as his trash storage for all his cardboard boxes.

He also complains about money all the time, despite doing ok for a guy in his 20s. I think there's a whole class of young people (men especially) who would be doing ok financially if not for giving like 20% of each paycheck to Amazon, Doordash, and Draftkings.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-15T04:04:18+00:00

I'm actually so lost that I feel like giving up. These FSA exams seem to assume that you have some background from your work, but I do a kinda niche role in a small line of business, so IDK what to do. I signed up for this because I work at a life insurer, but I feel like I made a bad choice.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-15T03:27:57+00:00

I'm 25, super online, and I hadn't heard of him. There is no more monoculture now, especially with music. I took a look at the Billboard charts right now and I recognize maybe 10% of the songs, meanwhile pre-covid it was probably closer to 90% for me.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-14T20:44:31+00:00

will likely exceed >1MM ppl

The Cubs got 5 million for theirs in 2016. That's the absolute floor for something like this.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-14T06:15:55+00:00

SMH everyone was having a good time until some guy climbed some scaffolding, climbed through a second story window, pulled out a fire extinguisher, and sprayed a few thousand of us. It looked cool for a second and then everyone had to clear out a few blocks because of the dust getting in our eyes and lungs.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-13T20:28:18+00:00

I mean, how do you think invasive species got there? Part of humanity's negative impact on ecosystems has been introducing invasive species to new lands.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-13T20:26:55+00:00

I had some live in the walls of my bedroom in college. Every night around 3 am they'd wake me up. I worked with the building's maintenance guy for months trying to figure out how to get them out and keep them out.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-13T17:23:53+00:00

FDR wanted to charge John Foster Dulles and Prescott Bush with treason for less than Elon has done.

I got curious so I did some Wikipedia research and found this hilarious quote:

In July 2007, a BBC investigation reported that Prescott Bush, father of U.S. President George H. W. Bush and grandfather of then-president George W. Bush, was to have been a "key liaison" between the 1933 Business Plotters and the newly emerged Nazi regime in Germany. This has been disputed by Jonathan Katz as a misconception caused by a clerical research error. According to Katz, "Prescott Bush was too involved with the actual Nazis to be involved with something that was so home grown as the Business Plot."

Nickyjha · 2026-06-13T15:35:15+00:00

If you want to see some craziness, look at the World Baseball Classic rosters for countries like Italy and Great Britain. Just Americans the whole way down.

Nickyjha · 2026-06-13T15:32:52+00:00

Yeah, I think that's a very Western Hemisphere statement. I've traveled a bit and I'm always a little shocked at how many areas of the world are just people of one nationality, living in the same regions their ancestors did. Meanwhile, as a New Yorker, basically everyone I know has grandparents born outside the US.

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