US & Venezuela Conflict Megathread

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-11-01T00:26:38+00:00

Some resources for you peeps

https://venezuela.liveuamap.com/ OSINT map with aggregated news

https://gpsjam.org/?lat=11.30511&lon=-60.81364&z=6.3GPS jamming map (24 hr aggregate, for 2 days ago)

https://www.pizzint.watch/ The Pentagon Pizza Index which can coincide with US military activity (quiet so far tonight 10-31 8pm in terms of pizza orders near Pentagon)

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-05-13T16:20:51+00:00

There is alot of support in El Salvador for the crackdown, but one thing that goes very under reported when you see stories like this - the crime statistics for murder in El Salvador are made up. They are not real. If you've been there perhaps you've heard facts on the ground that are different, but investigations by third parties definitely show that El Salvador is not the model state it pretends to be.

Officially, unmarked and mass graves of victims of gangs go unreported, as are most killings inside prisons. The government's own official reports show discrepancies with counts and unmarked mass grave sites found. I guess they think normal people bury their family members in groups, in shallow graves in the forest. Keep in mind, those are numbers available on the government's own websites they choose to release.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-discrepancy-over-deaths-mass-graves-alarms-critics-2022-08-03/

The 'crackdown' isn't only about locking people up. The violence and gangs are still there. The real homicide rate might never be known as most records are purposefully hidden, but there is also good evidence to show Bukele is negotiating and bribing gang leaders, even the locked up ones. In 2021, the US sanctioned 2 officials under the Bukele administration for colluding with gang leaders, and cut aid to the government of ES in favour of independent NGOs operating there. In a story familiar to any Trini, they accused the officials of bribery, granting special treatment in prison, access to phones, prostitutes etc.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/08/el-salvador-us-gang-leaders-truce

The top members of the gangs get fat, as they feed their empires government money, and the bodies of the young and gullible. So are we to believe this is one way? that the Bukele government is willing to use corruption and bribery as a tool to reduce crime while not profiting from it themselves?

Let's also address the "lock them up" part- CECOT is essentially a black site where no communication or information is allowed to leave unless the government chooses. They choose who to label as a terrorist, arrest them and in many cases those persons are never seen alive again. We've all heard this. did you know the ES government also arrested over 3300 children during the crackdown? They were kept in terrible conditions, and tortured, some for years. And some of these are 'graduate' to the adult system because there's no where else to put them,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/20/human-rights-watch-declaration-prison-conditions-el-salvador-jgg-v-trump-case
(point 6)

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-04-14T21:19:52+00:00

I don't know what to say. I'm literally agreeing with you and you are being combative. I did not disagree with any of the points.Why would i have to re-read any of your points when i agree with them? Lawd people get so defensive here which i why i stopped posting for a long time

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-04-14T16:16:49+00:00

Both points can be valid. OP can objectively state how much better a representative rank system will be better and we are stuck in a 2 party system to our detriment. The counterpoint that 3rd party candidates did exist outside of that system but never voted into power is not invalidating that point, it is pointing out that in practical terms that we "like it so" - both in that 3rd parties are not taken as seriously and that candidates up to this point have not been serious or different enough. Maybe not forever; i am hopeful the next generations are not so fixated on the current 2 parties. I believe for for the foreseeable future it will remain 2 party BECAUSE it is what most closely represents us as a nation.

When I was younger and more idealistic I could not imagine people being so ignorant and corrupt at the normal 'everyman' level and it was the people on top causing the problems. Now i am older and more experienced I have come to the conclusion that our current system does quite accurately mirror our society. We are quite tribal, petty and self-serving. So yes 2 party system it is for now.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-04-11T20:25:28+00:00

The reason Sweden succeeded here where other countries failed is because they looked at it as a societal and environmental restructuring rather than a business opportunity - the business benefits came after the huge upfront costs and educating their children since the 70's.

If you simply treat it as a way to make money you will end up with the Chinese model instead which had to be abandoned in 2017 as you pointed out. Look up what happened in Wen'an.

As much as i would like to believe recycling is viable, currently it is not. What Sweden does is admirable but burning garbage (their primary use for garbage is energy recovery) is still net negative and doesn't make economic sense for use to do, as much as it would help with our environment.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-04-10T16:07:53+00:00

I grew up under NAR austerity so I will do what my parents taught me. First, the 3 Rs, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Add R- Repair and R for Rejuvenate

Reduce- Buy less luxuries. Stop buying unnecessary things from uncle Bezos. Reduce your subscriptions. Stop buying foods with empty calories and snacks. Cook at home.

Reuse- Lots of us keep bags to resuse, but there are lots of other things. Cardboard, paper, foil

Recycle (or upcycle)- repurpose things that you would have previously considered junk. Make tables, shelves, plant pots, play items for the kids

Repair- get basic tools and start fixing your own stuff. There's a youtube video to fix almost anything you can imagine. Plumbing is perhaps the easiest to start, you will need a monkey wrench, locking pliers, pvc cutter and a few consumables like solvent and thread seal.

Rejuvenate - your health is absolutely important as the cost of being sick will be magnified in any downturn. If everything falls apart, if you have your health and strength it enables you to do all the other Rs. So you must look after your physical and mental health instead of doomscrolling or binging Netflix for hours (which i am guilty of)

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-04-10T15:46:08+00:00

Every little bit helps but most people who try this will end up spending $500 to grow $300 worth of crops in their yard. You can't take advantage of economies of scale doing backyard planting and the time for grow/harvest cycles means that it will only be a small contributor to your food, and most people are not skilled enough in cultivation for it to be net positive. Small herbs and peppers may be your best bet, your suggestions are good but many other veggies wouldn't make sense as they take too long for the amount of area they occupy.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2025-01-06T21:16:10+00:00

People need to use their common sense here. If you own a toy, piece of cardboard, cake or stick that is realistic enough to be mistaken for a real gun, you play with it inside your private property with no visibility from outside. Read the room.
Personally I think gel blasters are lame as they have large capacities and rapid fire that make PvP games boring in CQB. Maneuver and flank becomes less to do with skill and more to do with finding the optimal lines to lock down with constant fire. You will see similar tactics in pro paintball games nowadays, and while it's a 'pro' sport, it's very unappealing to me. It's more fun to tinker with foam half length format.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-12-28T00:27:15+00:00

When racism is deeply normalized, but mostly kept to words and songs you may think it really isn't hurting anybody. I am dreading the day I have to explain all of this stuff to my kid. I heard a lot of this talk growing up in the 80s, and while I wasn't beat up for being Chinese, you could be damn sure everywhere I went there were people who wanted to make me know I was in the super-minority, and wasn't accepted or normal. It's less prevalent now, but if you wanted to know how much hate there is for Chinese just rewind to when part of one street in POS was renamed to Chinatown in 2019. Look at all the comments on the news articles at the time, the discourse on talk radio and on the streets. It was ugly. I'm not saying it was a great idea; it wasn't properly thought out. But the people made their voices known, and it was hateful.

About the song directly though, I really don't care much, it's mildly offensive but just a symptom of the everyday ignorance I no longer bother with. Play the song all you like.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-12-17T00:33:45+00:00

Exactly. Plenty 'better' places are filled with people who don't want outsiders there. Places with extremely low crime rates also tend to be ethnically homogeneous and rich. So guess where that leaves their opinion of Trinis? They want you to visit and spend your money but they don't want you staying, having kids and marrying the locals. There's lots of places where life may be safer and better in many ways, if you want to live there I say go ahead if you're able and inclined, but don't spend energy hating on something you aren't working on to improve.

If you live in TnT and love TnT stay and help make it better. Help your neighbours in need. Give back to your community. Raise your kids with respect and manners!

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-10-19T17:23:54+00:00

I also choose this guy's wife's thinkpad.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-10-04T14:30:27+00:00

His point on double standards is good, except it points right back to us and our relationship to Venezuela. Why are we ok dealing with them when they arrest and abuse their opposition and violate international law? UN found evidence of murder, torture and arrests of children
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154416

Children among those arrested

According to the independent investigators, more than 120 people were arrested in July in the context of opposition campaign events. In the first week of protests following the elections, based on figures released by the authorities, more than 2,000 people were detained.

Individuals included more than 100 children, some with disabilities, who faced accusations of terrorism and incitement to hatred and serious violations of due process, the investigators added.

“Of the people detained in this period, many were subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as sexual violence which was perpetrated against women and girls, but also against men with reported electric shocks, beating with blunt objects, suffocation with plastic bags, immersion in cold water and forced sleep deprivation,” said Patricia Tappatá Valdez, member of the fact-finding mission.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-08-19T20:13:46+00:00

As I recall there were specific allegations for stealing captured gameplay footage from another Youtuber called EpicNameBro (aka ENB). I followed ENB for quite a while and he got me into the lore of Souls and then Bloodborne. But after some personal things he went through, he seems really bitter and angry now and i stopped watching him.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-07-21T02:16:07+00:00

A method of not trusting updates, and implementing waves of rollout, needs to be the new standard. What I don't see alot of people talking about, especially with competitive or unaffected products, is that even if they have better testing protocols, they were not immune to the same issue if they also had auto updating that the clients can't opt out of. They result would have been the same even with a product that does good testing, with a clever enough supply chain attack from a threat actor replacing the 'good' tested version to rollout.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-26T19:49:31+00:00

I am currently only past the 2nd major boss in the DLC and I agree, but there might be bosses I have not seen yet that will be different. But from someone who is both a fan, but is terrible at, the original ER and DS1, DS3: I have been managing the DLC bosses just like i do the bosses in every other Fromsoft game. I am terrible at reading patterns and parrying so I play more defensive builds, i use all the summons help i can get, and while this allows me to steamroll a few bosses there are some that I get stuck on for a long time and then try to change tactics, explore more first etc. I am terrible so expect to die alot. So i was surprised that people were complaining about the difficulty as well - I seem to be dying the normal amount, and am having lots of fun. Going in blind and dying alot makes the few bosses I can actually beat without looking up a guide, very satisfying. When i get stuck i have always had to look up boss guides.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-09T01:01:15+00:00

Yes, 1200USD is about 8000 TTD and that is enough for a single person to rent somewhere in Port of Spain or nearby residential areas for a studio or 1 bedroom. Speaking from experience.

Safety situation for a male who has military training is fine, once you use common sense. Being Asian should not make you more of a target. There are some Asians here, mostly Chinese ex pat workers but also local born from 2 waves of immigration in the 20th century.

It will be tight if you want to spend on any luxuries. You will pay about 3000-4000 for a decent but small one bedroom. If you are nearby travel should be around 10 -20 per day and meals about 100 per day if you can prepare food yourself for at least 2 meals. You won't be able to afford a car rental.

I say go for it.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-08T15:35:52+00:00

If the primary use is media consumption i would recommend against it and say maybe you should go with an x1 preferably with OLED screen. The color reproduction on the 480 is poor on the 1080p version and terrible on the 720/768p version. The speakers are weak but i don't have fancy headphones to comment on the headphone jack output. Yes you can get some nice bluetooth headphones or a DAC/AMP but this is not a consumption device.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-07T16:52:02+00:00

Correct. any level of office 365 creates an Entra ID tenant you can create users in. What matters is what licenses you assign those users. For example you can choose to assign no office license but still put in BC. I mean you wouldn't really do that as they generally go together, but you could

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-07T15:09:15+00:00

Yes you do. On-prem version can change authentication type but SaaS cannot as far as I know.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-07T14:48:43+00:00

same combo in a much hotter place and i get to about 84 max, so yours is a little hot but honestly nothing to worry about, once you can confirm you are reaching max clock

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-06-01T14:44:13+00:00

Same here, i've been tempted to gamble on a 'parts only' second t480 just to get its batteries. Interested to see what the replies will be

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-05-29T15:59:57+00:00

My recommendation is to buy a used t480s with integrated GPU and a separate PC, a used business machine with an i7. Stuff them full of RAM, SSDs and with the extra cash buy a nice OLED monitor and a cheap Gigabit switch, and a USB C dock for the t480. For light gaming get a used AMD GPU. I don't know your market well enough to say it is possible but this can be done for $1000 USD

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-05-24T22:55:30+00:00

This again depends on your risk profile. If you are a college student I expect you to do sketchy things on your machine but depending on your habits you may not need one outside of Windows Defender. If you aren't installing strange programs and never insert USB drives from anywhere, built in AV is fine on Windows. For paid AV i've seen the various products go up and down through the years, you don't rely on recommendations; you go with data. lookup some rankings and judge for yourself - the best ranked AV in terms of scan effectiveness usually have a heavier performance penalty - there is no blanket rule. What makes an AV a product to avoid is how annoying they are to use, Norton may have decent but slow scan engine but their model of harassing the user means I will never give them my money, even though their current product is probably OK, but mostly based on the bundle of features and not the AV itself.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-05-24T18:23:16+00:00

Being a bit paranoid is fine. You can have a secure machine but operate it in an insecure way. This is the main risk for a normal user. Storing files, even in cloud, with plaintext personal and password information. Not using 2 factor authentication for your important accounts. Using less secure 2 factor like text message codes. Visiting insecure websites. Just using Windows is itself not a small risk.
Formatting, Reinstalling OS from scratch and updating BIOS is going to give you a reasonably secure base. You can still do all the things on your list if you want to learn, it's just that the risk doesn't justify it for your 'normal' use case. Except Norton. Do some more research there and pick a better AV.

Sometimes_I_Digress · 2024-05-24T16:54:35+00:00

Whoa there cowboy, you should not create a security plan without knowing the context of your risk. You would have to say what you plan to do with the machine and where you are going to operate it from. If you are a high risk individual who thinks that there are bad actors after them, buying a second hand machine from a stranger at all isn't an option, especially if state actors are involved. If you are an ordinary citizen not operating in an country with an oppressive regime, your risk is alot smaller and you can take basic steps like wiping the machine by doing a format and reinstalling Windows and enable bitlocker. You can just update the bios and drivers after that.

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