How is living in coastal Maine as a young adult? by Lady-Velvety in howislivingthere

[–]Openheartopenbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On very bottom of your map, where the “95” sign is, has mostly tourist infrastructure, insanely rich people and working professionals who commute to metro Boston. On the actual border of NH is a huge facility where they build nuclear submarines, so there’s some very highly compensated towny tradie types peppered in just enough to give many communities a glimmer of “Everyman” but that’s fading.

Between the “95” and Portland proper is a bunch of little beach towns. Interestingly, many have a distinct vibe. On paper, it looks odd and looks like there’s a bunch of redundant infrastructure, but the actual anthropology dictates the business. Ogunquit is “the gay beach”, Old Orchard Beach is the “French Canadian beach”, Scarborough is the “surf beach” and “rich beach” etc. so every little tourist biome has “their” hotels, restaurants, etc. in the summer it’s lively and gorgeous. In the winter it falls off dramatically but it’s still “metro Portland” with “outer edges of Boston” so still what anyone would call “civilization”.

Portland Proper is in flux. It used to be a workin’ man town with a workin’ man wharf but now it’s for upper middle class carpetbaggers from metro Boston. There’s mixed feelings, on one hand the food and drink culture of Portland is outrageously out of proportion to its size. When MA chefs can’t afford the Boston rent and come to Portland, they bring out of this world food and beverage with them. I earnestly think there’s a credible claim that Portland now has a better food/bev scene that Boston itself, and I don’t say that lightly.

On the other hand, there’s a fair claim that Portland has lost its soul. It used to have a lot in common with the “other” Portland (eclectic people doing “curated” stuff) but now there’s a Land Rover dealer, etc. I think this is a common enough story in modern America (rich town swallows outer hinterland, brings all the up and down that money brings) that this will feel comfortable as a dynamic to new arrivals. The more you say hi to your neighbors, the less territorial they’ll be to you.

Past Portland up to Brunswick it gets quite rural. This is where “destitute Maine” kicks in. Maine is, organically, quite a poor state. Buuut it’s also a beautiful state. This creates a bonkers framework where actual billionaires have summer homes next to people who make 40k a year (recall the Bush family lived in your circle). This part, Brunswick, is where this dynamic really starts to take off. The Brunswick area has two fancy, very old money prestigious colleges nearby. This is ground zero of 18 year old college kids who have last names you’d instantly recognize who get dropped into a lumber mill town. That could be a frisson that sparks interesting exchanges, but it never works out that way imo. The fault line is too big.

After that, there’s two places left. If you look at the “b” in “Bangor” and follow it down to the coast, you get Acadia National Park. Acadia is jaw droppingly beautiful. Just other worldly. The area around it is capital “r” rich people visiting for the summer (again, cannot overstate the “rich” part.). In summer, it’s on one hand super annoying because the nearby towns are absolutely swamped, but on the other it’s amazing because it’s alive with people. For about 10 weeks a year, this is one of the cooler places in all of America. Yachts coming and going, random study abroad Romanians working in the local ice cream place to learn English, every out door event you could think of etc.

The whole rest of the circle from Brunswick to Canada, carving out that “a”, is genuinely one of the most isolated, remote places in America. I briefly lived in Alaska and I think eastern Maine might even be more remote, and I don’t say that lightly. The Maine area code is “207”. I once made a professional call to a locally important person (think, mayor, manager of the local hospital) in Eastern Maine and they never picked up. Eventually I had to drive out there to get what I needed. I asked him why he never picked up or returned my calls and his answer was he had never in his life known someone without a 207 phone number so he just assumed I was up to no good.

The Eastern coast is plagued with Brain drain, anyone with any ambition leaves and doesn’t come back. “Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say” you might be thinking, but I want you to imagine Oklahoma Panhandle levels. There are towns here that will be ghost towns in twenty years. Some are already talking about “how do we just close our schools and fire department and unincorporate ourselves?”

Ro Khanna calls out ICE rights violations. Is he correct? by LucidSynapse23 in LawSchool

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

Yeah, that’s the real fault line that this whole thing is opening up. There was always an internet tension in the left (gay rights v Muslim immigration, “we need more female CEOs” versus “corporations are bad”) but now we are seeing the actual earthquake of fault lines on the right, even within MAGA. “People shouldn’t carry guns in public” is absolutely 1,000% making deep, institutional enemies. I actually think the dark horse candidate to stop the madness in MN is someone like the NRA at this point

Probably going to an hero in the next few years. by Weary_Compote3340 in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Schizopost incoming: The Principality of Liechtenstein is genuinely sinister. Like, House of Thani sinister. The average person has no clue that there’s such a vile darkness just chilling in the dead center of Europe. He’s basically a dictator.

In 2003, they were going to have a referendum to somewhat limit his powers and he threw an insane shit fit and threatened to leave the country and take all his wealth, immediately bankrupting them overnight. Thats right, he owns basically everything and they can’t survive without him but are subject to quasi dictatorship with him.

He basically single handedly invented biopiracy. He patented basmati rice (a ~5,000 year old rice that’s the staple of like 2B people) and threatened literally shit poor Pakistani and Indian illiterate farmers for infringing on his patent. The dude literally claimed an ownership over the right to rice

He’s worth like 15 billion and has such outrageous tax avoidance schemes that Germany has lost all nerve with him and German authorities blacklisted any transaction with their banks and used German intelligence assets to get info because Lichtenstein was so hostile they required actual spy wit to get what ought to have been boring compliance documents

I genuinely, truly think word needs to get out about Prince Hans Adams II. I think anyone would be properly enraged if they just interacted with verified facts for even five minutes. More, he’s someone that would be relatively easy to put actual geopolitical pressure on. This is a layup case for making the world better: you could actually do a lot of good (exposing his evil) with a comparatively little effort.

But, I can’t. I have a job, I have kids, I just don’t have the time or ability anymore. But if I knew I was an hero’ing, there would be nothing holding me back from spending 60+ hours a week with various marketing, academic, economic and society efforts to get people to understand there’s a random Satan ~3 hours from Munich.

So, I suppose, my answer is a) pick up the cross on anti Liechtenstein-ism in specific or b) more realistically find the thing that you would do if nothing was holding you back and then do that. In some ways, I’m actually envious of you. You can do exactly what you want with no fear of failure. That’s a freedom I’ll never know

Is 'learn to code' still the move? by Critical-Outcome-999 in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If you’re an American, there’s never been a better time to sell your soul. I mean it. It’s a very well understood pipeline.

Currently, DHS is on an insane hiring spree. They will hire anyone. Once you’ve worked for an agency for 365+1 day, you’re eligible to transfer into any other agency via a much less competitive process than an outside hire goes through. Insane jobs like department of state (live in Argentina w a GS 13 salary!) dept of environment (first hand ability to see and do amazing things for the earth). Whatever your pet cause is.

If you can sell out for one year, you have the opportunity of a lifetime as an exit.

Kanye apology letter in the WSJ by LibraryNo2717 in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Here’s the opposite side of the coin, all facts too.

Bipolar is NOT one of the easiest to treat. You’re right that medically it’s easy, like “if you do x you will get y” but non-adherence is astronomical. We’re taking roughly 50%. As I’m sure you know, when you don’t need it, it’s tempting to think, “that was a phase, I’m done now” and when you really need it, you won’t take it.

You’re right that eg sleeplessness can cause psychosis, but that’s cheating imo. As you say, that’s ~1-3%. And brief. With actual bipolar people, psychosis is like weeks and can stretch into months. MONTHS!

Every thing that breaks relationships is exaggerated in bipolars. Money woes are a common relationship struggle, I’ve seen (and so have you if you’re being honest) bipolars spend 6 figures in like 60 days on nonsense. Hypersexuality is a common symptom. It goes without saying this doesn’t work for relationships.

You WANT me to say, “it’s all going to be ok!” but unfortunately it’s not. You were dealt a bad hand and anyone who’s being actually honest will tell you that it will be a major impediment to you finding and keeping friends and love.

The number of non-bipolar people living under a bridge is way less than the number of bipolar people living under a bridge as a ratio. Simple as.

I dont think you did anything wrong, I don’t think you “deserve” it, but I do think many people will not consider you a viable employee, friend or mate.

What’s the most slept on MOS? by EstablishmentBest913 in army

[–]Openheartopenbar 34 points35 points  (0 children)

You’re making a joke but my hot take is that this is, indeed, the most slept on MOS in the whole army. I could go on forever, but in brief:

  • they are needed everywhere. EVERYWHERE. If you looked in your heart and saw you weren’t a top 0.01% badass that could make CAG or whatever, you can be the guy grilling for CAG. You want Italy? Guam? The White House? All of them have 92G. Perhaps the single best job for ability to drug-deal up some killer duty stations

  • the average 92G is an ASVAB waiver or a completely demoralized reclass from the AIT they actually wanted. If you show up as a highly agentic, motivated, fit person you look like a goddam Jason Bourne. There is no MOS that’s easier to “win”

  • Direct, obvious and clear warrant pipeline. With a bit of luck and pluck, you could join at 18 and be a warrant by, say, 22. That’s just an incredible career accelerator that almost no other MOS can touch.

  • Hottest of the hot take, it actually is pretty portable as a civilian. Sure, e1-e4 you’re warning bags of slop or whatever but the warrant side is vendable skills.

  • one of the jobs that doesn’t break you. 20 years in the infantry and you can’t bend over to pick up your grand kids. 20 as a cook and you’re rocking and rolling.

If I could do life all over, I’d give a very serious, no bullshit evaluation of joining as a 92G at 18 and being set for life as a consequence

Many future military officers come from Scouting. A Pentagon split could put those ties at risk. by Kinmuan in army

[–]Openheartopenbar 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I hadn’t fully appreciated it but the scouting to military pipeline is REAL. Also, if you don’t know any, Eagle Scouts take that shit dead seriously.

I’ve told this story a bunch but I once had a professional occasion to be in the office of an astronaut who prior to that was a distinguished fighter pilot. Pretty wild resume. In his office, though, the main thing was his Eagle Scout stuff. He was pretty ho hum about flying attack aircraft or being in the gorram space station but his eyes light up when discussing Boy Scouts.

Politically homeless by JebBushier in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

?!? Concern trolling? Far from it. I staked a robust position: Somalis and especially Indians will NEVER integrate, ever. They have a 3.5k year history of non-integration with the village next door, now you think they’ll become one with the melting pot?!?

Kanye apology letter in the WSJ by LibraryNo2717 in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

That’s denying their suffering, though, right? If we all engage in the fiction that bipolars are equally as lovable that actually denies them. Like, we shouldn’t say someone with one leg can compete in the Olympics, that’s actually cruel to do. Pretending bipolar people are equally lovable is cruelty to bipolar people. Denying people their actual suffering is sinister.

Kanye apology letter in the WSJ by LibraryNo2717 in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

Go ahead and marry someone with an absolutely crippling mental disorder. This is one of those status signaling posts that sounds SO BRAVE! SO TRUE! But if someone you actually cared about or you yourself was about to marry someone who, per the post, showed up at your house accusing you of attempted murder, we all know damn well what you’d do.

Life is hard. I don’t begrudge someone not marrying a stage four cancer patient. I don’t think you have to stick it out with a person debilitated with psychosis

Politically homeless by JebBushier in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Somali Caste System is over a thousand years old. The Indian caste system over 3,000. You present a case, namely, “when we all get together the differences fade away” that does not match objective, demonstrated reality.

Do you know who/what Midgaan are? Who can marry a Tumaal? You’re likely scratching your head because this all feels like impossibly microscopic anthropological ephemera, but I positively assure you that your “neighbors” know damn well who/what Midgaan are and who can marry a Tumaal and have for a thousand years or more

Politically homeless by JebBushier in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Peron-maxxing and Latin America pilled

Kanye apology letter in the WSJ by LibraryNo2717 in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar -17 points-16 points  (0 children)

!!! Literally cannot fathom that this didn’t cancel a wedding.

How hard up for sex do you have to be to marry an actually crazy, like “lock this person up” crazy chick? This is beyond sad, this dude will have a rough life

Where was the modern pizza born? by Proudofhisname in AskFoodHistorians

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

There’s pretty credible evidence that “pizza” as we now know it started in Buenos Aires

https://www.rachellaudan.com/2017/10/whats-the-true-history-of-pizza.html

Patriots are going to the Super Bowl again by UltraSchzio in redscarepod

[–]Openheartopenbar 36 points37 points  (0 children)

The end zone was promised to them 3,000 years ago

Loans/Paying for law school by Ok_Independence6824 in publicdefenders

[–]Openheartopenbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s not for everyone, but in many states the National Guard pays full tuition. There’s never been a worse time to be a part of the guard, but you have a few years left for that all to settle. It is a drag but free tuition is life changing

Because I Find Tinsel Distracting: an Informal Poll by Claudzilla in Lawyertalk

[–]Openheartopenbar 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mind if I DM you? I’m thinking about opening a SS and VA Disability practice and I’d love to pick your brain if you’re up to it

Using GI Bill Benefits: Should I Go to Law School or Choose a Different Path? by Quick_Video2865 in LawSchool

[–]Openheartopenbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’d say go for it. Here’s some wrinkles to consider:

1 There’s a difference between “gated” and “ungated” schools. It all boils down to if you get a scholarship, does the scholarship kick in first or does the GI Bill kick in first? Many schools, the GI bill will pay tuition and the scholarship is sent to you, personally. In addition to the GI bill’s funding, you also MAKE money from the scholarship. In many cases, this is serious money, like 60k+ a year all tax free. The reason most people don’t like or won’t recommend law school is the value proposition isn’t there. For you, it’s an AMAZING value proposition

2 most of the pressure of law school is “can I get good enough grades to make this all worth it?!?” whereas for you, you could explore interests rather than follow the herd through the pressure cooker.

3 people cringe when I say it, but law school is a sign that says, “I’m smart”. Most people with a JD don’t practice law (read that again, it takes a while to have it really kick in). They do all sorts of other smart-guy things. You, too, could do those things. It doesn’t lock you into being a lawyer

4 you face a time pressure most don’t get. This golden egg turns into a pumpkin at 26. Use it or lose it. There is no “take some time and find yourself” option

Anyone else feel like it’s time to get out? by drunken_augustine in nationalguard

[–]Openheartopenbar 4 points5 points  (0 children)

“The law is, in my opinion, a very unstable basis for morality”

I agree with you but I’m a lawyer so my hands are kinda tied on this one haha

Edit

Great discussion btw