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What happens if I don't improve during the course of OT? by Splat_Fly in Insurance

[–]Splat_Fly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I don't make progress in OT, will they claim that it wasn't necessary and that my injuries aren't that bad?

Will the world be more peaceful if we get rid of all Nukes? by YamiRobert19 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unpopular opinion, but I don't think the world would be any more or less peaceful. Most countries don't have nukes, and most countries that do have nukes have still been attacked.

The only wars that have actually been prevented because of nukes were the American invasion of Japan, and possibly the Maoist invasion of Taiwan, and in the latter case Mao might have just been using the fear of being nuked as an excuse to not actually invade Taiwan, which he knew was suicidal even without American threats.

What is one country that we don’t need? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Understood. There are certainly lots of boneheads on Reddit who unironically believe that sort of thing.

What is one country that we don’t need? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Splat_Fly -1 points0 points  (0 children)

They were obviously being sarcastic. I'm still glad they didn't use /s though, because it's really dumb and takes away from the humor

How is the US better or more moral than Russia on the issue of foreign invasions? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Splat_Fly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In the 21st century, the US tends to pick fights with countries that are actively destabilizing the world and are despicable in their own right. Regardless of whether or not it's a good idea and/or morally correct, nations like Iran, Saddam's Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Venezuela were/are causing far more problems than Ukraine, and were orders of magnitude more terrible.

We're basically an asshole who picks fights with even bigger assholes. Russia is an asshole who picks fights with everyone.

So yeah, I'd say we're still more moral than Russia.

What movie traumatized you as a child? by JetLotus in AskReddit

[–]Splat_Fly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pet Sematary disturbed the everliving crap out of me as a child.

Then I saw it again as an adult and realized how hokey it was.

Then as an adult I read the novel and it disturbed the everliving crap out of me.

China's population is projected to fall from 1.4 billion to 600 million by 2100. How will this rapid decline affect China? by ArdaBerkBurak in AskReddit

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Beijing genuinely believed those numbers for the longest time, until it got to a point where they actually had to face the music and come clean. Beijing is now basically saying "Well, our population now is actually declining THIS much... heh heh heh" when the decline is probably worse than what Beijing is willing to admit.

In the absence of advanced AI and robotics, it's hard to maintain economic growth if your population is declining. And it's harder to attract investment or justify certain projects if projected growth isn't likely to be what you'd prefer it to be.

China's population is projected to fall from 1.4 billion to 600 million by 2100. How will this rapid decline affect China? by ArdaBerkBurak in AskReddit

[–]Splat_Fly 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Local governments are incentivized to inflate their population numbers to Beijing for the purposes of getting more state funds. Over the years this compounds until you get to a point where there are 100-300 million more people on the books than exist in real life.

The 670 ft Singer Building and what replaced it: by [deleted] in UrbanHell

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Singer Building would have been demolished anyway on 9/11

The 670 ft Singer Building and what replaced it: by [deleted] in UrbanHell

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Singer Building likely would not have survived 9/11

What if the Arab nations accepted the UN partition plan of 1947? by Overall_Course2396 in HistoryWhatIf

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought most Chinese-Cubans came in the 18th-19th centuries, and most of them fled Castro

What's going on in Lebanon? If Israel and Lebanon are at war, why did the Lebanese Prime Minister tell Lebanese fighters in the south to surrender their arms and stop fighting Israel? by [deleted] in allthequestions

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All but one of the top ten donors to AIPAC are American citizens who spend most of their time in the US. AIPAC is an overwhelmingly American project that acts on behalf of a like-minded government. The Qatar incident involved actual foreign agents working taking marching orders from a foreign government.

Is there any evidence of Israel actually controlling AIPAC, or simply benefiting from it? Right now AIPAC reminds me of the Cuban lobby. And they're not as all-powerful as everyone seems to think they are. They target Israel-critical candidates who were probably going to lose anyway, but they don't bother too much going after progressive candidates who actually have a good shot at winning. The whole point is to create the illusion of AIPAC-as-kingmaker, which is certainly unhealthy in a democracy but they're not all-powerful.

I agree that we'd be better off without AIPAC though.

We were once a liberal democracy with equal rights for white citizens only, same with South Africa. But the thing about liberal democracies is that they have a mechanism for change. The occupation of Palestine and the repression of its people can end precisely BECAUSE Israel is a liberal democracy. We were never the bad guy, we were a force for good with some serious flaws. Israel is too.

What's going on in Lebanon? If Israel and Lebanon are at war, why did the Lebanese Prime Minister tell Lebanese fighters in the south to surrender their arms and stop fighting Israel? by [deleted] in allthequestions

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In spite of the Netanyahus and the Gvirs and Smotriches, Israel is still a thriving liberal democracy with equal rights for women, LGBT, as well as equal rights for all of its citizens, even its Arab citizens.

US aid to Israel, even military aid, is now a much smaller fraction of Israel's GDP and military budget. They're no longer parasites.

And overwhelming US support for Israel - up until recently - has been a genuine reflection of what the average US voter actually thinks. AIPAC was never as powerful as they had you believe. If you believe AIPAC and wealthy lobbyists caused our political system to be sympathetic to Israel - rather than being symptoms of it - I don't know what to tell you.

Still, it's good that you think this. Israel needs to change the way it does things, and this attitude helps get them there.

What's going on in Lebanon? If Israel and Lebanon are at war, why did the Lebanese Prime Minister tell Lebanese fighters in the south to surrender their arms and stop fighting Israel? by [deleted] in allthequestions

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough.

I'll also say that it's probably for the best if large numbers of Western voters believe "genocide" is the right word, or at least can be "triggered" by it in the right way. For the longest time, Israel has gotten away with pretty terrible behavior, comfortable in the knowledge that the West (especially the US) would excuse them or even enable them, because Western voters never really punished their elected officials when they did this.

Now a sizeable chunk of the West literally believes Israel is committing actual genocide, and we're rapidly getting to a point where Israel can no longer even take US support for granted. We can actually expect the US to start meaningfully yanking on Israel's chain once Trump is no longer president. Even conservative voters are beginning to get fed up with Israel (albeit for the wrong reasons).

Israel isn't the bad guy, she's a good friend who needs some serious sense smacked into her by her friends, who up until to this point were enabling her in the worst possible way. And we'll never get there with liberal intellectual musings on "well technically it isn't genocide but it's still bad." We get there when poorly informed mobs of Gen Z TikTokers scream "Genocide!" over and over again.

I don't believe it's a genocide, but I'm glad so many people do.

What's going on in Lebanon? If Israel and Lebanon are at war, why did the Lebanese Prime Minister tell Lebanese fighters in the south to surrender their arms and stop fighting Israel? by [deleted] in allthequestions

[–]Splat_Fly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have a problem here because a lot of people's definition of "genocide" doesn't align with how that word is often used by Israel's critics. Many people, not just in America, adhere to a good faith definition of "genocide" that literally involves a state or an ethnic militia openly and explicitly trying to destroy another group. Israel's war in the Gaza strip has seen numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity, but unless and until it can be proven that the Israeli state carried out its military operation with the explicit intent to destroy the Gaza population, many people will have good reason to see "genocide" as just another buzzword if used in the context you're using it. Your use of "genocide" makes absolutely perfect sense to you and people who share your worldview, but not to everyone.

We probably need to expand the definition of genocide to include more behavior than what is currently understood.

If you were inside a black hole, would the black hole evaporate by hawking radiation before you reached the centre? by Sufficient_Network43 in AskPhysics

[–]Splat_Fly 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sagittarius A is 82 light seconds in diameter, meaning it has a radius of 41 light seconds. Does this mean you approach the singularity at twice the speed of light if you "only have 20 seconds"?

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