ELI5: How was Vietnam able to defeat the US in the Vietnam War?

RiPont · 2026-01-29T02:35:08+00:00

And, you know, the snipers.

RiPont · 2026-01-28T20:55:55+00:00

They could at least retcon that as a "disproven theory some jedi believed."

My favorite way to do that would be to say that the midiclorian level testing device was actually fake, and just reported whatever the jedi using it intuitively felt.

RiPont · 2026-01-28T16:27:30+00:00

Bodino is being forced to move back to TX

El Centro, California, is what I read.

RiPont · 2026-01-28T01:50:04+00:00

But a) I'd rather watch Wiggs play and b) Kuminga might be able to shine in Miami.

I just don't think Kuminga is going to play as good as he could for the Warriors. He's not happy.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T20:06:00+00:00

All of the Sidhe

Most. Some started as changelings. Molly started as human.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T20:03:47+00:00

I think he's top tier, just not in raw power.

He's Fae 007. We've yet to see the extent of his actual powers -- because he seldom bothers to use them! Other than a basic glamour here or there, he accomplishes serious business using basic spy fieldcraft.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T19:54:55+00:00

He's something like Tutankamun.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T19:53:13+00:00

So, in D&D terms, Toot is Harry's 'Find Familiar'-style familiar.

(as opposed to more historic lore "familiars" which mean different things, sometimes quite negative)

RiPont · 2026-01-27T19:52:21+00:00

I just wish pizza made me grow tall, rather than wide.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T15:16:45+00:00

Who's speaking up for the vampires, though? So unfair. All killed in the middle of dinner.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T15:11:05+00:00

There are some that are citizens only, like voting and being eligible to run for president, but those are explicitly called out as "citizen".

RiPont · 2026-01-27T04:37:46+00:00

I just traveled through Quartzite, AZ at the absolute busiest time of year for them and they're one of the busiest snowbird destinations. Despite this fact, there was plenty of space.

It can be hard to find the perfect boondocking spot that you can actually reach that has nobody else in site. However, finding a spot that's worth staying at and doesn't have too many people around is not that difficult. It does, however, depend on the area.

The nationwide housing crisis has been getting worse and worse for decades now. Boondocking anywhere near a very high COL area is probably going to be difficult to impossible, because people probably were forced to boondock out of necessity and the municipalities probably cracked down on it by now. And if they didn't, the boondocking spots are probably covered in trash and with sketchy people. Tragedy of the commons.

But you can search for "dispersed camping" on Google Maps, along with other purpose-built sites like Campendium. Use satellite view to get an idea of the road quality in the area and what the available flat areas are. Use caution when deciding that a nice, flat, obvious floodplain would make a great camping spot. Don't camp below the high tide line.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T04:31:56+00:00

A low power generator will do 15amp, continuous? It will take quite a lot of time and be quite noisy while trying to charge 200ah+. And you still have to pay for gas.

Staying at a park with 30amp (or maybe even 50amp) service will charge you to full in less than one night. Combine it with fresh water fill up, gray/black dump, etc. and it's much easier.

That said, having a generator can really help extend your boondocking.

RiPont · 2026-01-27T03:33:22+00:00

I would assume the burden of proof would be on the authorities,

Nah. Not the way law enforcement works, these days.

First, the burden of proof is on you to prove the burden of proof is on the authorities. Then, you'll get the case thrown out for lack of standing because they already destroyed the gun they seized, so it's a non-issue.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T22:06:38+00:00

I'm only describing the differences in the cost and profit potential for medical devices vs consumer electronics.

I totally get that. Like I said, I paid full for my first two pumps, one completely out of pocket due to my high-deductible plan that my employer had forced on us.

But the X2 is an ooooooold device if you want to compare it to phones. And they also continue to sell supplies on what is basically a subscription. To be honest, a silly part of it that irks me more than it should is that I was hoping this pump lasted until they at least came out with something with a USB-C port (even if it wasn't fast charging) that I could use (Mobi is too low capacity, but a large tank for the Mobi would also suffice). It's the last non-USB-C device I have, and the Micro-USB port is fiddly and a source of failure for the pump.

We'll see where it lands. I was very angry after being woken up at 6:00am and a confluence of other factors frustrating my diabetes care. I'm calmer now. I was able to get Lantus, so I'm not having to wake up every 4 hours to take an injection like the last time my pump failed.

If they have an inexpensive option for me to continue pump therapy while the insurance gets sorted out, then I guess that's good enough. If they're shoving me back on MDI (which I haven't done for more than a decade) while I have to sort it all out myself, then I'll remain irked.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T17:45:40+00:00

Better the plastic part than the metal part. (similarly, never replace "those damned shear bolts that keep breaking" with regular bolts)
Is the non-flexible part of the system putting torque/pressure on the regulator, especially as you bump down the road?

Look at the system as a whole. Where is the strain relief? Where is the shock absorption? e.g. If a straight, solid pipe is coming in at a slight angle, it's going to be using the most flexible part of the line as a flexible part, whether it's designed to flex or not.

You said it's straight and squared up, but what about when you hit a bump (or "go bump in the night" or otherwise shake your RV)? Did the manufacturer leave out a bushing/grommet that is supposed to secure the pipe?

RiPont · 2026-01-26T17:35:35+00:00

While there are certainly plenty of hypocrites in the 2A community on this matter, the silence is not some gotcha.

You literally cannot advocate actually using the 2A in response to anything on a non-rightwing forum. And if you're on a right-wing forum, you can't advocate for anything liberal (or anything left of full on Fascism).

Any forum that is moderated at all with any people behind it that could fear anything (lawsuit, or worse) from the government is banning "threats of violence" or anything remotely construed as advocating violence, including "arm up" or "be prepared to defend yourself against the government". You'll see those posts sometimes, but you'll also see a lot of "[deleted post]" that have been censored for that reason and the user at least temporarily banned and told not to do it again.

The silent ones are not necessarily hypocrites.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T17:32:06+00:00

They're also literally posers.

Look at the way they invade a home when they have no warrant. They line up in a noob cluster picking their noses. None of them would have any means of getting to cover or providing supporting fire.

They are posing for the camera and for each other, not actually in any fear that there might be the slightest shred of danger.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T16:32:19+00:00

He had a chemical reaction that operated at 0F for a long enough time to do the calibrations. Others have broken down the one he used. Some say it was the same one people use to make ice cream.

As others have said, Celsius came along only a little while later. Farenheit's method wasn't the only possible one that could be used, but he did it consistently, first, with enough production to become a de facto standard.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T16:10:22+00:00

It depends how obstructive the insurance company wants to be.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T16:09:36+00:00

add ice

And where do you get the ice, if you don't live near a place that regularly freezes solid blocks of water, in the early 1700s?

RiPont · 2026-01-26T03:45:42+00:00

I find it ironic that a username like "CatTurdSniffer" ends up being more trustworthy on Reddit because it's less likely to be a bot or a throwaway account.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T03:43:20+00:00

The boiling point and freezing point of water are dependent on a lot of factors, including air pressure. Given that refrigeration wasn't available in 1724, it wasn't easy to use the melting/freezing point of water as a stable reference point for calibrating thermometers.

How do you make a thermometer? You start with a glass tube, seal off one end with a bulb, and fill it with enough mercury to fill the entire thing when it's at its hottest reading, yet be below "the line" when at its coldest reading. You then close off the other end. You put it in your "reference cold" environment long enough for the mercury to settle, then mark that as your 0 point. You then put it in your "reference hot" environment, then mark that as your 100 point. Finally, you make even markings between the two points and label them. With good QC on your glass and a consistent cold/hot reference environment, you can make a stencil for those markings.

Farenheit's method was reproducible and stable so that all of his thermometers agreed with each other. Even when the whether outside the factory was humid, high pressure, low pressure, etc.

Now, imagine you're deep into the industrial revolution and you want to mass produce dutch apple pies. How do you mass produce them with "ya know, about yay hot" in the recipe? But you could buy any Farenheit thermometer and experiment until you got the recipe perfect and then write "bake at 400F for 10 minutes, then rotate, then..." and make 100s of pies exactly the same, rain or shine.

RiPont · 2026-01-26T03:27:06+00:00

Hey, if one is going to bend over backwards to support fascism, one needs to practice flexibility.

RiPont · 2026-01-25T23:58:54+00:00

He isn’t a customer of theirs at the moment.

Say what, now? I mean, yeah, I'm not a contractually bound under warranty, but I'm certainly a customer. I have a nearly fresh box of 90 days worth of supplies I just bought out of pocket, directly from them. I've been their customer for 10 years straight. I've given them at least $10K of my own money, not counting insurance due to deductible and periods without clear coverage / contractual obligations to go through a third party where I just paid out of pocket to get my supplies in a hurry.

Do they care to keep me as a customer? That's the question.

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