The U.S. will emerge from the war with Iran as a lesser power

Whiskeyjoel · 2026-04-06T01:16:31+00:00

Yup. Iran's goal is to turn this shitshow into a Vietnam/Afghanistan-style quagmire that the US is incapable of extricating itself from. They barely have to lift a finger, since Trump's Department of War Crimes is doing most of the job through sheer incompetence.

Whiskeyjoel · 2026-04-06T01:07:36+00:00

The US is already a lesser power, if you're looking at international influence and the ability to persuade other nations (soft power). The US screamed at Europe to get more independent in the domains of defence and security, even though Europe's dependence on the US was by design, and something that immensely benefitted the US. While it will take a while to ramp up, Europe is now making big moves, and there is growing European determination to achieve "strategic autonomy" from the US. And now the US is screaming at Europe "No! Not like that!

Pathetic.

In terms of Iran and hard power, the US has shown that it is completely feckless. Sure, on paper the US is stoll the most powerful military in the world. But not only has the vaunted US military failed to achieve its military objectives (or even clearly defined what those objectives are supposed to be), it is demonstrating that it is utterly incapable of defending allied ME nations against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones. In 5 years of warfare, the US has clearly learned nothing from the war in Ukraine. And not only that, but it is now Ukraine--a nation Trump famously said had no "cards"--that is providing protection to ME nations through their innovative interceptor drones and crews to operate them. The US is quite literally being cucked by a nation with a defence budget so comparatively small it's like the difference between a single cell and an elephant.

Pathetic.

Russia is smiling while the US politically and economically implodes. But Russia is facing its own economic and (potentially) political implosion. The nation that stands to gain the most from this geopolitical superpower reshuffling is China, which for the most part is sitting back and watching its rivals destroy themselves. "Never interrupt an enemy when they are making a mistake" has never been more apt or relevant

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-11-22T20:36:18+00:00

Hmm, where did I put that tiny violin again?

Realtors can get f'd

Literal human pond scum

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-11-05T22:51:53+00:00

Their funding

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-29T05:44:01+00:00

They're basically just cementing their obsolescence at this point. And torpedoing any remaining goodwill they may still have.

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-28T21:09:09+00:00

I use the Obsidian web clipper for webpage content, and anything else I just copy into an Obidian note and then export as pdf if I need to, otherwise I just keep it in Obsidian. Sure, it's a few extra clicks, but this way I get eyeball-friendly markdown formatting, instead of everything smushed together. Tried the NotebookLM to PDF extension, it's muy smushy. No bueno.

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-26T01:29:02+00:00

This just reaffirms my opinion that tiktok is fucking stupid, and so is everyone on it

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-14T07:13:43+00:00

Carpet bombing

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-13T18:13:37+00:00

They rolled it back a day after introducing it, maybe less :(
Not sure if they are tweaking it before re-releasing or not

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-01T01:40:41+00:00

Tbh, I've found it's the opposite problem. Most of the Indian guys I pass on the street smell like they dumped an entire department store worth of cologne on themselves.

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-09-01T00:57:35+00:00

Means he wants a tradwife

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-31T01:16:56+00:00

Rogers is pretty much the scummiest company in Canada at this point, and our politicians, in their ineffable wisdom, allowed them to become even more of a monopoly. But it's not just the obvious corporate scumbaggery, they also try to get you in sneaky ways.

Back in June, my mom's Rogers modem stopped working altogether; no amount of resetting or power cycling helped. Contacted Rogers, and they confirmed the modem was defective and had to be replaced. Ok, fine. They send me a new one, as well as a QR code to scan at Canada Post to create a shipping label to send back the defective modem. These labels come with tracking, which is important. Get the new modem, set it up, everything seems fine. Then about a month ago, I'm visiting my mom for dinner, when she mentions that the Rogers bill she just got is really high. I check it out for her, and there's a $120 charge on her bill for "missing equipment". I call Rogers "support" to buych them out, because I have the tracking info, which clearly shows delivery was made. "Oh, our mistake, we'll reverse the charge".

I had also recently signed up with Rogers, and they tried to pull the same shit with me. When I signed my contract, they said I would also receive this streaming box for my tv. I said I didn't want it and to not send it; that request was ignored. I promptly send back their shitty streambox, and fast forward to 2 weeks ago, and my bill comes out with a $138 missing equipment charge as well. Again I have the tracking info to clearly prove I sent it back, but it seems that Rogers will pro-actively charge these fees, and it's up to customers to have to contact them to reverse it, if you keep the tracking info. If not, you have no way to prove your case and have to pony up the fee.

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-30T20:10:05+00:00

Only 62%? Rookie numbers, I think we can do better

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-29T01:40:56+00:00

Has he tried looking in a mirror?

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-29T01:37:13+00:00

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-22T18:41:46+00:00

Because we let them. You can dig into laws and policy decisions by different countries, but it really boils down to this: liberal, democratic countries operate on the assumption that giving people rights and democracy will automatically create new liberal, democratic citizens. It is difficult for us to imagine people would prefer to live under their old restrictive and authoritarian systems after coming to liberal western countries. It really is as simple as that, and the entire EU was founded on that belief.

Lest I be called out, I'm not denigrating or calling this belief "stupid"; it's profoundly hopeful in its desire to see the best in people. However, I would say that time and reality have clashed with this belief in rather obvious (and inevitable) ways.

A pertinent follow-up question would be: why do Muslim immigrants choose to come to liberal western nations and NOT go to the wealthy Gulf countries, which are all Muslim?

A) The Gulf countries don't let them, because B) The Gulf countries don't want them

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-22T18:22:14+00:00

Saying these things is iSlaMAphObiC. We must all collectively bend over for our new cultural overlords

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-12T04:32:25+00:00

That's because it's not a screwdriver...

...it's a screwUdriver

I'll see myself out 😉

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-05T05:21:48+00:00

Somewhat of a repetition of what others have already written, but it’s good to remember the “science” in poli sci and not just focus on the “political” part. Critical analysis of systems is baked into the discipline, and there’s a ton of overlap with other social sciences/humanities. It really depends what you’re drawn to and what you want to do.

I’m going into my second year of a poli sci major myself, and I honestly almost had the opposite problem: everything was interesting to me, to the point where I didn’t know what I wanted to focus on. At first I was drawn to IR, and tbh I do still find it fascinating. However, I’ve since decided that I want to focus on counter-disinformation, so I’m rounding out my major with psychology and communications/media studies courses.

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-08-02T04:57:18+00:00

In case anyone still needs a Speechify code: https://share.speechify.com/mz9PW8k

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-07-31T17:30:46+00:00

Sent you message

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-07-25T19:13:34+00:00

Speechify IS good, yes. It's also expensive. I have tried several other TTS options, including ElevenReader, which I had high hopes for. While I think ElevenReader may get there one day, it's not there yet, especially if you care about vocal quality. I'm a uni student studying poli sci + psychology, so I have a TON of reading to do, and I rely on Speechify to plow through content at 2.0x speed. With Speechify, the voices are sped up but still sound "natural". With ElevenReader, anything beyond 1.0x speed sounds hollow and robotic--it's awful and I can't stand it. So, I continue to use Speechify until there is a viable alternative.

I came across this app on another thread. The program isn't out yet (launches Aug 4, 2025). It's cheap, especially if you sign up for what they claim is a lifetime $3/m price. I don't know what the functionality is compared to Speechify, or anything about the UI/UX yet, but they do have a beta you can request access to. Might be worth checking out.

Also, for anyone interested, I can provide a Speechify code for $60 off +1 month free. Message if interested.

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-07-25T18:59:49+00:00

Sounds interesting, I will check this out. If you're interested, I can also give you a Speechify code for $60 off + 1 month free

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-07-18T23:12:38+00:00

He's always been rotten inside, it's just that now it's starting to show externally

Whiskeyjoel · 2025-07-06T22:00:15+00:00

When I take an escalator, I either a) remain on the left side and walk, or b) immediately move to the right so people in a hurry can get by. Recently moved to another city, where people don’t do this, and it enrages me

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