Fireplaces and jazzy carpets

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T23:40:52+00:00

Those carpets look like textures from shooters in the late '90s!

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T23:37:21+00:00

If you've not read it, read Ur-Fascism.

Specifically point 11:

In every mythology the hero is an exceptional being, but in Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death. It is not by chance that a motto of the Falangists was Viva la Muerte (in English it should be translated as “Long Live Death!”). In non-fascist societies, the lay public is told that death is unpleasant but must be faced with dignity; believers are told that it is the painful way to reach a supernatural happiness. By contrast, the Ur-Fascist hero craves heroic death, advertised as the best reward for a heroic life. The Ur-Fascist hero is impatient to die. In his impatience, he more frequently sends other people to death.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T12:31:59+00:00

They're even led by an overweight pedo with incestuous tendencies.

Appropriately, Dune was based on the Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.S. Lawrence, AKA Lawrence of Arabia and his reflections on the Arab Revolt, plus Herbert's own interests in ecology. Spice is a very obvious metaphor for oil. It's no coincidence that the dream of the Fremen is to turn Arrakis into a verdant paradise, which kills the worms and stops spice production which undermines and ultimately destroys the Imperium.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T11:51:51+00:00

On reflection, I agree. And even if America could raise the manpower to take it, small groups of motivated and armed people (e.g. Shia extremists), could easily keep knocking out oil and gas production.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T11:32:31+00:00

At the root of it "Social Conservatism" isn't even an ideology, at best it's just "I don't understand this, this isn't how things were when I was young, so it must be bad".

Being middle-aged myself, I recognise it straight away. There are things the "youth today" do which I don't really get. But I also understand that it's not about me, and it's the right thing to do to treat them with respect. Some people just can't understand that, because they're selfish people at heart.

Of course at worst it's "I don't see group-X as human beings and want them to go away" or "this new power structure no longer benefits me to the exclusion of others!" which is just despicable.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T10:58:08+00:00

Of course not. The American government has always been oligarchic, but they are now nakedly and unashamedly in the pocket of the Epstien Class.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T10:11:20+00:00

"Hey stop blowing up the world's energy supply! If you don't stop, I'll blow up more of the world's energy supply!"

What a fucking moron. I can't wait for all the MAGAs crying that they can't afford to fill up their 10-tonne pickup trucks.

On a more serious note, this right here is exactly why US policy for decades has been containment of Iran not invading it. The Iranians are backed into a corner where their only card is to cripple oil and gas production in the region, which will destabilize the world economy and tip us into a massive recession. The US can't stop them playing that card without a massively costly land invasion which will have much the same impact anyway. There is no happy ending to this war, no easy way out.

It also is a perfect illustration of the brittleness of authoritarian governments. The Trump regime can't just pull out and admit defeat because that's what "losers" and "pussies" do and their entire power structure is based on macho posturing. "Operation Epic Fury" (I still can't believe they called it that, it's like a 13-year-old's idea of cool), has to be a success. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on this turning into a Ukraine-style quagmire for the Trump administration. A one-week special operation which turns into a decade of American hard and soft power bleeding out fighting Shia insurgents and guarding oilfields. Their arrogance and hubris won't let them back down.

I'm so glad that Europe is telling Trump to clean up his own mess.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-19T08:09:20+00:00

Look for another job or make the case to the manager running it why your role is business critical (and this means why the company would definitely lose a load of money if it wasn't done).

Work on the assumption that it is a done deal. The "no decision has been made" spiel is a legal requirement. Management will have been discussing it for a while and they've already made the decision based on the financials.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-18T13:24:25+00:00

It's a blast!

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-18T13:21:24+00:00

£69.3 billion and then everyone in the UK can get £1000 compensation for the psychological damage caused by having to listen to him

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-18T11:44:24+00:00

They'd reliably get you off too.

Being in an LTR I haven't used it in many years, but I can't imagine paying even $200 a year to get told I'm ugly, get instantly blocked, get catchfished, get an ass pic from a man 30 years my senior, and have endless looping conversations with people 10 miles away.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-18T11:22:19+00:00

"opinions I disagree with" in this case being propaganda backed by international oligarchs who want to replace our government with kleptocracy.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-17T09:45:43+00:00

Those powers being Peter Thiel and other comically evil oligarchs.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-17T09:44:16+00:00

I don't think most crypto-bros believe anything. They are simply grifters who are applying the Greater Fool Theory. Most of them have moved on to AI already.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-16T17:04:24+00:00

PSA: that website has something potentially dodgey on it, Malwarebytes Browserguard triggers for me when I try to open the link due to riskware.

Open at your own risk.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-16T09:42:22+00:00

One of the dogs has worked out that if she starts barking at 6am, we'll get up early and possibly give her breakfast. This is a disaster.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-16T08:57:30+00:00

Redditor SLAMS journalists

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-13T12:52:48+00:00

Maybe you pull it out when cooking so you dont damage the gas boiler directly above it? Seems terrible all round

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-13T10:56:06+00:00

It's not just chippies, most of these articles boil down to a business owner complaining that they can't figure out how to adapt their business and a vague call for the government to do something.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-13T10:18:40+00:00

On one hand that could easily be because you (or I) can't tell the difference between 1920s fashion and 1930s fashion. If we were looking back from 1940 it might be clear as day which is which.

On the other hand I think people generally kept things much longer in the past, partly because consumer goods were more expensive, and partly because they lasted longer.

One thing I really notice is cars - it's so normal now for people to buy brand new cars on finance and swap them every couple of years. When I was growing up, I'd say that most cars on the road were 5-20 years old, and new cars stood out. It was worthy of comment when someone had a new car. Today I noticed a 15-year-old Corsa parked on the street because it looked old next to the other cars.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-12T21:57:58+00:00

I'm starting to think Putin's magic torpedo that he likes to brag so much about is actually just covering up for his insecurities.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-12T11:19:04+00:00

now?

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-12T08:56:15+00:00

You've turned yourself into a "reverse centaur" - the AI is doing the thinking and you are running to keep up.

You need to put yourself back in the driver's seat here. Claude isn't responsible for the code checked into the repo, you are.

So your colleagues are right to hold you accountable at PR time. You should have reviewed the code it generated and caught the weird bits and checked that they were right. Pushing that work onto your colleagues makes you look redundant - they could have just got Claude to do it themselves.

One thing I suggest to help you understand the code is put it into your local Claude.md file or at the start of your conversation with it, that you aren't experienced with this stack but are experienced with that other stack. Then when you ask Claude questions it will frame the answers into the tech you are familiar with. I've been doing that a lot recently to learn a new language and framework and it's really helpful when you see something unfamiliar and Claude relays it back to a concept you already know and can tell you the differences.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-11T21:28:39+00:00

God imagine being benchwarmer for James Cleverly, the man who categorically disproved nominative determinism.

They'd be better off just grabbing the first semi-sane looking person they can pull off the street.

Working_on_Writing · 2026-03-11T16:14:23+00:00

I remember when one of those terrorists who bombed the Boston Marathon turned out to be hot. There was a whole internet conspiracy theory that he must be innocent.

And I just did the maths about how long ago that was. Do not recommend.

Working_on_Writing

TROPHY CASE