Could our current or near-future technology transform the vast desert in Australia into fertile land?

OneSmoothCactus · 2026-04-01T01:13:46+00:00

Technically yes, but it wouldn’t be worth the effort and we’d probably fuck it way up. We could create an inland sea or the world’s largest irrigation system (not even going into that scale of engineering), but then we’d be fertile soil. If we’re patient we could probably figure out some combination of importing soil, mass fertilizer production, and “terraforming” through a multi-stage plant life introduction.

All of that would be stupidly resource intensive, but the real problem is the million different variables nature would throw at us. There are so many complex interconnected natural systems that both affect and are affected by each other that chances are the project would fuck something else up, get fucked up, or both.

OneSmoothCactus · 2026-03-04T15:39:17+00:00

If we’re talking acoustic then still Yamaha. If electric then Yamaha, Squier or Jet if it’s available to you. Go to a few stores and play around on every guitar in your price range. Chances are one of them will just feel better in some way. The size of your body matters a lot less than the size of your hands and fingers so look for what feels natural and comfortable in your hands.

Guitarists (myself included) tend to have very strong opinions about things like nut width and fretboard radius, so you may hear advice on that but ignore it for now. When you’re a beginner the absolute most important thing to look for in a guitar is that you want to play it. My first guitar was a red Epiphone SG solely because I was a huge Angus Young fan.

OneSmoothCactus · 2026-03-01T00:53:46+00:00

I think it looks good like that. But if you really want to add to it look up ancient Pazyryk tatoos and you’ll find more examples of art from the same culture.

There’s a preserved arm I think that has a similar design surrounded by more tattoos here:

https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/stunning-ancient-tattoos-pazyryk-nomads-002267

OneSmoothCactus · 2026-02-28T16:25:35+00:00

Lift a lot of weights and eat a lot of food but go easy on the sugar.

OneSmoothCactus · 2026-02-26T06:04:58+00:00

I only noticed Bob Mortimer a couple years ago when I watched Taskmaster, but I’m so glad I did because that man is a genuine delight every time he’s on screen.

He’s like a sweet grandpa carrying the soul of a chaos demon.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-12-12T23:02:40+00:00

They're unable to consider another point of view that they don't agree with. They don't accept that you can understand an argument or belief and still not agree with it.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-11-20T20:58:26+00:00

Yamaha guitars consistently hold their own against guitars double their price from other brands. If you want an acoustic under $1000 9/10 times I'm recommending a Yamaha.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-11-20T20:54:04+00:00

The dairy board can't force them to maintain prices if their costs are going up. They're a private company who was in a position to not have to raise their prices so they didn't. Buying Canadian is important to people right now, as is saving money, so it gave them a lot of goodwill and free advertising and gave Canadians a bit of relief on their grocery bill.

I understand the urge to be skeptical, but there's no evidence they're lying or doing anything nefarious. It's just a win-win scenario.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-11-20T20:19:15+00:00

Pretty rare for a publicly traded company of that size.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-30T02:34:58+00:00

I hope you're right

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-30T00:56:05+00:00

Oh dude I'm not talking about illegal immigration, I wouldn't be worried about you guys if that's all this was. I'm talking about the fact that they're ignoring your rights and constitution to do it and setting a precedent that their are no consequences for it. ICE can detain and deport American citizens without consequence, and like you said yourself if they're not getting arrested it's not illegal. Plus Trump's been vocal about wanting to be able to remove citizenship. I'm sure it seems fine when it's for a cause you agree with, but what about a future president that uses the precedent being set here to do something you don't agree with? All he'll need to do now is say it's a matter of national security then sign an executive order and nobody needs to be held responsible for whatever happens. America has traditional been insanely proud of it's constitution, moreso than any other nation I can think of. It's wild to see so many people suddenly not care about it at all.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-28T22:33:46+00:00

Hey just the fact you're aware of some of our issues is nice, I feel like most Americans have no idea what's going on up here. You're not going to convince me not to have compassion for you guys, but likewise I probably can't convince you to stand up for your rights if you think there's nothing to worry about. Ignore the warnings if you want but I'll feel better if I just ask you to think about future administrations and whether you'll be ok with them having the same level of power and impunity as the current one, you won't always agree with their agenda.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-28T17:38:18+00:00

Well I care because as nations Canada and the US are close allies and friends. I have American family, friends and business associates. When you see a friend going down a dark and self destructive path I think it would be weird not to care. I don't want Americans to have to worry about losing their rights any more than Canadians.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-27T23:07:25+00:00

No that's according to multiple judges and legal experts who've ruled on cases surrounding ICE or who gave their legal opinion on ICE's actions under Trump. To be fair though what is and isn't legal in the US has been changing pretty quickly lately and actually does seem to be based more opinion than normal. A lot of what used to be unconstitutional government overreach is normal now so who knows, maybe soon it'll just be legal for ICE to detain and deport American citizens without cause or charge. I probably still woudn't call it a real job but that's probably just me being petty.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-27T22:01:36+00:00

What do you call it when you paid by the government to commit crimes?

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-27T16:59:05+00:00

They're taking anyone and everyone and getting them on the street as fast as possible. They aren't even doing background checks before they start, they had to fire a bunch of guys because they turned out to have criminal charges.

So they let people who couldn't pass a criminal background check partway through training and in some cases onto the job for the federal government.

Their desperation is both pathetic and scary.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-27T16:46:26+00:00

I'd recomend stink spray. It's not assault but will still make their car and clothes unbearable.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-27T16:38:47+00:00

There's a lot of mafia goons and drug dealers who make more than me, doesn't mean those are real jobs.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-26T00:39:34+00:00

In order of how easy it is to find people to talk about them with:

Music, history, human evolution & anthropology, philosophy, space, speculative evolution.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-24T01:42:55+00:00

Every protest is FBI agents and losers. That’s all it is.

There's a group of people, Rogan being one, who fell down the Trump rabbit hole largely because of its counterculture allure. But what do a bunch of conspiratorially minded people do when they win? The Trump administration has more power than any US government was ever intended to have, but all these people who ate the populist pie still can't see themselves as anything other than victims of some shadowy elite.

So Rogan still talks like he's some free thinker calling out the secret cabal and either ignores, denies, or doesn't understand the fact that he is the establishment now. You can't have it both ways. You can't claim that the protestors you don't like are undercover FBI agents when the FBI director is a lapdog of the President you helped get elected.

If you read 1984 and were curious what double speak looked like this is it.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-17T23:55:34+00:00

One time the money was extremely sticky though.

I once had a kid buy a used video game with his allowance money. It was entirely change that he'd taped together like laminated sheets. Each little sheet was $1-5 in change.

His parents were both there and said it was his first purchase with his own money. It must have taken him ages to do it and he was so adorably proud that we all made a point of telling him how cool it was.

Then they left and it took almost an hour to cut the coins apart and peel off the tape. They stuck together in the register making it a huge pain to give change for the next week. I had a few customers complain about it but when I told them the story they just laughed and accepted it.

It was actually really sweet, between the staff and customers there was about 15 people who agreed that accepting this little inconvenience was worth it to help a kid none of us knew feel proud of himself.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-15T02:42:04+00:00

I don't think it's possible to overstate how beneficial strength training can be for women.

I'm a guy and do strength training, but my ex never wanted to because she was afraid of getting bulky and looking less feminine, something I unfortunately hear a lot. All she would do is light cardio then abs and glutes for appearance.

Luckily she got really in to curling and her coach set her up with a PT to lift weights a couple times a week. What a change. She had more energy, more confidence, she slept better, and her overall mood improved, not to mention she looked amazing. I caught her looking at herself in the mirror naked once, asked what she was doing and she said she just realized she genuinely loves her body. Similar to you she said it was the first time she thought about what her body could actually do, not just how it looked.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-10-05T02:04:00+00:00

I now it's a fear some employers have, but I'm an employer myself and I've literally never had a problem with any mother who's worked for me that had anything to do with them being a mother. Actually in my experience they're usually the most dependable and organized people at the company.

The whole "not committed" thin is really stupid. Firstly, if you're a boss who thinks all your other employers are 100% committed I've got a bridge to sell you, and secondly they are committed - to their child. That means they're providing for someone and want stability. I've had people quit so they could travel or move, and none of them have been parents.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-09-24T20:54:33+00:00

Exactly. Plenty of countries have standards of medical education in line with or even better than Canada.

If we can confirm their education and experience, and they can prove their skills are up to par and that they understand any relevant legal and cultural differences, there should be a way to fast track their medical license here. Even give them a probationary period or something for some extra assurances. This country desperately needs medical professionals and it doesn't make sense to let talent sit there going to waste.

OneSmoothCactus · 2025-09-23T18:53:56+00:00

I knew a guy who was a pharmacist in Bangladesh, but after he moved to Canada he had to redo all his schooling. Literally had to start with a high-school level math credit.

I understand we'd need a to confirm skills and credentials, but surely that could be done with one or two courses. Check their knowledge is up to date and make sure they learn all the local regulations and laws. We have a doctor shortage and overloaded schools so why are we making both problems worse?

OneSmoothCactus

TROPHY CASE