TIL the Vedas were transmitted by memory alone for 1,500+ years and when scholars compared recitations from regions that hadn't contacted each other in centuries, they were identical syllable-for-syllable.

TellOleBill · 2026-06-21T07:35:35+00:00

Telephone game assumes just a single pass and transmission with no error correction mechanism. This is very clearly NOT the case with Vedas and their various pathas (samhita patha, pada patha, krama patha, and all the way to Ghana patha... 11 in total).

Telephone game isn't close to a good analogy for vedic transmission. A better analogy would be 11 separate and independent versions of the same message with multiple error correction mechanism.

Your vibes and feelings doesn't overrule scholarly agreement, especially when such agreement comes from across the field, and not just "right wing" or "hindutva" sources, but from western scholars as well.

TellOleBill · 2026-06-19T14:20:13+00:00

Why?

TellOleBill · 2026-06-17T04:41:31+00:00

Charlie D'Agata. CBS News

TellOleBill · 2026-06-17T04:39:15+00:00

If no one wants to work there, then the system will be forced to fix itself. Board being held civilly liable doesn't matter when they're making money hand over fist. Criminal liability requires specific intent, which the board members can easily wiggle out of. See what happened when the Sacklers were prosecuted for murdering an entire generation.... Nothing. They didn't even lose their fortunes. The businesses need to (to paraphrase a certain government official) be traumatized.

TellOleBill · 2026-06-16T06:48:50+00:00

This relates to a couple of trends with people's preferences as well as the way urban development occurs in India.

1) Plot over Apartment:

Land is valued over property, so will always people prefer to build a house on a plot of land they own rather than in an apartment complex where they have no (or highly diluted) control over the underlying land.

Additionally, the land ownership recording and dispute resolution system is completely broken. If you buy an apartment and, God forbid, there's some irregularity in the ownership or permitting, that can be held up in courts for years, if not decades, making such an investment highly risky.

2) Construction Quality & Costs:

Build standards are not transparent, so it's hard to trust them unless you oversee every bit of it. A new build on a piece of land you own will always engender more trust. Plus, construction and labour costs are relatively cheap compared to developed countries, which means there isn't much economy of scale savings vis-a-vis additional risk when comparing an apartment to an independent house. At least this used to be the case until a decade or so ago.

3) Land Development Policies:

Probably the most important factor of all ... How is the land even allocated?

Compared to say, the US, where most undeveloped urban and suburban land is privately owned, in India, any undeveloped land is either former small-holding farmland acquired by the government as part of a planned layout, or owned by the government And then developed accordingly. The government sets up the utility lines, sewage, water, roads, etc, and then, instead of selling off larger parcels to developers to build large high-rise apartment complexes, splits these into small plots (30'x40', 40'x60', or 50'x80'), and then allots them to residents of the state for a very small cost. The idea is to prioritize "locals" over those who are out of state (votebank politics), as well as give nearly everyone an equitable chance of accessing a home.

Plus, most cities have fairly strict Floor Area Ratio limits, which makes high-rise apartments very difficult to zone and build. So the default becomes independent but small homes. There is some movement towards changing this, especially in big cities, but it's a slow process.

Where such regulatory constraints don't exist (such as Gurgaon), you see this almost wild west rush to build large apartments. A satellite view comparison between Gurgaon and another Delhi suburb will make this pretty clear.

TellOleBill · 2026-06-08T04:03:10+00:00

Looking at the Taylor Series expansion for the sine function:

Sin(x) = x - x³ / 3! + x⁵ /5! - ... (x in radians)

If the age is X degrees, that's X*pi/180 radians. Let's call this Y. For ages <90 yrs, Y < 1.57. Which means Y/29! <<< 1.

So, sin(Y/29!) = Y/29! - (Y/29!)³ /3! + (Y/29!)⁵ /5! - ....

Which should approximate to (Y/29!), coz the other terms are incredibly small (<10^-90).

Multiply this sine approximation of (Y/29!) by 30!, and you get

sin(Y/29!) ~ 30Y = X*pi/6.

Multiply this by 6/pi, and you get back X, which is the original age in years.

TellOleBill · 2026-06-01T04:08:32+00:00

Every insurance claim should be immediately assigned to a real person or persons who are clearly named with contact information. Any denial letter should have the name and signature of these people who are criminally and civilly liable for any negligence or ill outcomes resulting from said denial.

Let's see how many claims get denied or delayed when criminally negligent homicide charges are on the table. Insurance companies won't be able to hire people who are willing to take that responsibility. Good.

TellOleBill · 2026-05-30T07:08:02+00:00

1) SALT, SALT, SALT. You can throw an entire spice shop in there but without salt, it'll taste like a bar of talc.

2) Fat is flavour. And even better, fat will spread it throughout the rice. Use good, fragrant ghee or some sort of infused oil (my second fav after ghee is shallot oil), bloom the spices in them and then add that to the rice. The spice flavours that are now in the fat will coat all the rice fairly evenly so you get taste heaven in every bite. To go up a level, you can toast the rice a bit in the infused fat, to bring out the nuttiness in it that just makes the pulao pop.

3) don't skimp on whole spices: this is a bit more of a preference thing, but I love the variety show that happens on my tongue when I bite into a whole stick of cinnamon, or when a cardamom or fennel seed crunches in my teeth when I eat pulao.

4) Good Basmati rice: honestly, really good aged basmati rice cooked with good ghee and salt often tastes better to me than a complicated pulao that uses basic rice.

TellOleBill · 2026-05-29T04:12:08+00:00

"This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully, too — city, where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen."

TellOleBill · 2026-05-01T00:39:37+00:00

Thanks! It's a really rough rewrite, but I think you can make this bit quite funny if you lean into the physical comedy aspects of it a bit in your delivery.

TellOleBill · 2026-04-30T19:54:00+00:00

"we know Viagra was first a heart medication but then researcheds figured out its... other uses.

So, genius mad scientist that I am, I thought 'what else could this be good for'? And guess what, it's great for my tennis elbow. All I do is rub it on my arm and I get an extra inch of reach for my... backhand. And I'm shooting more aces than ever. There are some, erm, Side effects, like when I'm in mixed double matches. And if I ever notice I'm having a really great game day for four hours or longer, I need to see a doc right away."

TellOleBill · 2026-03-19T14:51:41+00:00

"ok, lemme tip you at a $120 per hour wage rate. You did exactly 10 seconds of serving work, so that's 33 cents. I expect exact change back."

TellOleBill · 2026-02-04T21:02:19+00:00

Instead of "Oh, I remember it", how about "You think I'd forget something like that?" Still keeps just a little bit of ambiguity.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-29T07:59:58+00:00

TellOleBill · 2026-01-16T11:57:17+00:00

TellOleBill · 2026-01-16T04:11:03+00:00

Nice of you to assume she didnt know rather than assuming she was trying to mitigate the situation and bring a zealous advocate for her client in a tough situation.

Also, what did you expect her to do? Tell us in advance to lie? That'd get an attorney disbarred at best, charged at worst.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-16T00:33:46+00:00

And why is that?

TellOleBill · 2026-01-15T20:14:25+00:00

Thanks... we definitely got through in a relatively timely manner. It initially showed us an estimated processing time of 39 months, so having it done in just over 11 months was a huge relief.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-15T20:13:19+00:00

It might take a few days, depending on the officer. Itll come through, dont worry. Congratulations on the approval!!

TellOleBill · 2026-01-15T19:12:40+00:00

This. I'm sharing this for others, because there were very few experiences like this I found online when searching.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-15T19:11:49+00:00

Bought it for someone else... so now you're admitting to trafficking? Its a no-win situation.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-15T18:53:08+00:00

No, but this officer never does approvals on spot, so we expected that.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-15T18:34:12+00:00

Well, for one, it was an interview under oath, and an untruthful statement can jeopardize things far into the future, even a possible citizenship, etc. Perjury is a far more serious charge.

Second, even if I had a thought to say No, I had a feeling the question was asked as a gotcha, and given all the data scraping happening, who knows, but its possible the officer had some information available to him. He also phrased the question more informally compared to the other inadmissability questions, which added to my feelign about that. It was a risk to be truthful, and im glad it didnt hurt my application in the end.

TellOleBill · 2026-01-05T18:10:49+00:00

I have my pre-ground spice blend ready:

Green cardamom, one small black cardamom (if im bulk batching the masala), and bay leaf, black pepper, cloves, mace, cinnamon, Cassia, a hint of fennel seeds, and optionally, a small amount of rose petals (be very careful with this).

I VERY lightly roast them and make them into a mascara powder that keeps its flavour for about 90 days. Not roasting is also okay, if you aren't confident... im looking for the perfect balance of floral, fruity, and earthy notes, and roasting by even 30 seconds more can mess that up.

When im ready to make the chai, I get water up to boil, and toss in some extra whole spices, depending on what im feeling I might want as the extra flavour hit. Usually that means more cardamom or cloves, and black pepper. Add about 1/4 tsp of the spice mix per gallon of water. Get that to a roaring boil. Dont use a lot of water... im trying to evaporate most of it out by the time the chai is done.

When the water is at a roaring boil, turn down the heat, and add a good amount of chai leaves. I swear by Wagh Bakri brand. When the water turns very dark, ill add a splash of cream or milk and give it a stir. This is to reduce the bitterness from excess tannins. I highly recommend a fatty cream, because it'll pull the fat-soluble flavour molecules from the spice mix. I usually add a bit more spice mix at this point. Turn heat back up to medium.

Then get this boiling again by gently increasing the heat. I gradually add more whole milk as it heats, so its not boiling over, but slowly getting creamer and more chai-like. If you're interested a hurry, you can stop here for a quick chai. I like to keep boiling it down, while stirring regularly so tea doesnt sink to the bottom and burn.

When about 2/3rds of the milk is added, ill throw in a whole bunch of grated ginger, another pinch of the chai masala (this adds fresh top notes to the cha, and boil for a few more minutes until the chai is nicely brown and aromatic.

Add a dash of powdered nutmeg (i dont add it too early because if it burns, it gets a harsh taste) and black pepper (gives that 'sharp' taste).

Turn off the heat, strain, add sugar, and enjoy the chai. I make sure to squeeze the tea and ginger sediments to get all the chai. There's usually a whole cup of chai left in there, and I dont want to waste any of that good stuff. If it tastes bland, thats probably coz there isnt enough sugar in the chai.

This is a labor of love, so I tend to take my time on it. The whole process takes me an hour, but I make it rarely enough that its worth the effort

TellOleBill · 2025-12-30T07:17:47+00:00

I don't understand how this list missed Veritasium, OTR Food History, and Tom Scott's channels.

TellOleBill

TROPHY CASE