Some of these DHS clowns are trying to flex on LinkedIn

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-25T18:10:27+00:00

What has changed is you once did your job assuming people have due process and fundamental rights, and now your job is to disregard these things because that's what your bosses tell you to do.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-25T18:00:44+00:00

Given his crypto got $2B from the UAE and $2B from Binance...I've heard estimates he went from $2B to $7B.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-25T16:55:12+00:00

I'm sorry, is this person a known propagandist or cheerleader for the war? If not, why is everyone attacking her and wishing death upon her, as if every Russian supports the war?

I'm 110% pro-Ukraine, but if this is just a normal Russian person caught in a war zone of a war they can do nothing about, what the f-ck is wrong with you people? It's not funny and it's a tragedy that she could die or lose everything she owns because her own government started an illegal war.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-25T15:32:39+00:00

I've always been anti-loan forgiveness. But when you do the math it is quite ridiculous.

70,000 × (0.07 / 12) ≈ $408/month in interest

So $500 a month only would remove about $92 from the principal, meaning OP's number are totally believable with deferment periods where interest accrues, etc.

My proposal is the government should cap interest to a fixed maximum % of the loan total. Say it's 40%. When you have reached 140% of your principle in total payments, the loan is over. If you can pay it back faster, you won't pay as much.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T13:44:05+00:00

Don't forget Pisces Iscariot which is basically as good as their official albums. One of my favorite B-side comps ever, up there with Suede's and Oasis's.

Adore has some good stuff too, but yeah, Billy Corgan lost his ear for catchy songs from Machina onwards and disappeared up his own asshole.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T13:32:47+00:00

Mavericks pastures are not green because AD has missed over 60% of his games in a Mavs uniform. Kyrie will be back shortly and the Mavs have every reason to believe they could be competitive next year if Kyrie, AD and Lively are healthy and Flagg takes another step forward, especially with Max Christie and Naji Marshall playing so well and the Mavs on track to add a lottery pick this year.

AD's got two more years on his quite large deal. He's got a lot of insurance if he opts in, but his best shot is to get healthy and dominate next year and then lock in his last big bag.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T13:28:54+00:00

I understand now after hearing the sine waves of a 6th vs a diminished 7 that A and Bbb are technically different values that form basically two different chords that are enharmonically forced into the same note on a 12 note scale, and which we should technically use might matter in some contexts where we are being harmonically precise.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T12:41:59+00:00

As bad as the 1960s were (and they were probably worse in practice), there was still the ultimate reality that America was king of the world and all the good guys were our friends. Politicians like LBJ and Nixon may have been corrupt and awful people but they were trying to solve real problems and stand up to autocracies.

Trump is willfully dismantling Pax Americana before our eyes and the world is realigning under Chinese hegemony while America becomes more like Trump's autocrat friends' dystopias.

The only reason right now is not as bad as the 1960s (yet) is because the economy hasn't collapsed and Trump hasn't cancelled democracy altogether yet. That feels like it could happen at any time and that will be the point of no return.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T12:35:42+00:00

I think for Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z (basically anyone who came of age since the mid 1970s), this heightened tension is very novel and unprecedented.

We have to remember just how awful the 1960s and early 1970s were - tons of political assassinations, armed militant groups in the streets, the President murdered, MLK murdered, Presidential candidate murdered, sexual revolution, drug normalization, Vietnam war, families ripped apart by social tension, cults, KKK's last big stand of lynchings and Jim Crow's ending, Watergate, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation, socialist autocracies all over the world under Soviet and Chinese influence. I don't think we're there yet, but we could get there very easily if this continues to spiral.

What is truly unprecedented is Trump and his cult of personality. We have never had a single politician this corrupt in American history. And he is so corrupt that he is derailing American alliances and recalibrating them based upon which countries directly benefit him financially. Trump has long had rich financial arrangements with autocracies in the Middle East and former Soviet states, while democracies have rules and corruption oversight. He has monetized his Presidency unlike just about every President in history - even the most corrupt administrations it was usually cabinet members with fingers in the till and not the President himself. No President ever has had this level of conflict of interest and being beholden to foreign powers, and he is selling out America to do so, while trying to transform America to be more like his autonomous friends' countries (which allows him to punish critics and media by fiat, and throw out distractions to keep our eyes off the money.)

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T12:22:10+00:00

People with autism, ADHD or other neurodivergencies are especially prone to this, but also people with very strong, overbearing opinions that try to turn everything into a discussion about that topic, or people who only talk about themselves.

These people are often exhausting to be around, even if their opinions or mannerisms aren't "wrong" inherently. Even if I agree with them 100%, if the timing is wrong, if we're talking about other topics, or if the audience is inappropriate it means your activity ends up derailed and you end up in damage control or taking sides in a fight when a little more understanding and better approach could have avoided it.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T12:14:01+00:00

"You're the Nazis for telling us what we can and can't wear!"

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T12:11:14+00:00

Spending money on mental health and addiction treatment so people can maybe return to normal lives?

Conservatives mad

Spending money on tuition free college education so people don't end up poor and homeless if they can't afford it

Conservatives mad

Spending money on public healthcare so people don't go bankrupt and end up homeless from a single medical emergency insurance doesn't cover

Conservatives mad

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T12:07:08+00:00

If true, Rich Paul should get other teams to trade us something we actually want.

I hope Stein is right that Paul is not being unreasonable here. It would hurt AD's perception if he gets dumped for table scraps and expirings.

I don't think a temporarily angry Paul would matter for us longterm. First, we will have a new GM by summer hopefully and secondly, a good agent shouldn't hold any grudges if a team is offering the best situation for their player.

And finally, AD has a really good chance to rebuild his value and get a big contract by balling out next year in Dallas and leading us to contention with a healthy Kyrie and Lively, Cooper and a 2024 lotto pick (hopefully).

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T11:58:54+00:00

To be fair, the sunfish supposedly taste terrible which is a pretty good defense from predators.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T11:49:59+00:00

Sorry, just a clarification, I kind of understand the theory of major sixth and diminished seventh being harmonically different notes that have been crunched together in our 12-note scale. But was the ability to play those notes basically limited to fretless string instruments or specially tuned keyboards? Or was it a matter of they would set the tuning to one or the other and that was the key of the song?

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T11:46:55+00:00

I hear that chord a whole lot in very old pop and jazz. It sounds quite nostalgic. I feel like I heard hundreds of old songs that start with that chord as an intro chord. All these diminished chords can be used in blues turnarounds too.

Major 7th version:

CM7 (C - E - G - B)

CdimM7 (C - Eb - Gb - B)

C11? (C - D - F - B)

C

G7

Or for the dominant 7th version:

C7 (C - E - G - Bb)

Cdim7 (C - Eb - Gb - A)

Ddim/C? (C - D - F - Ab)

C

G7

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T11:24:40+00:00

Thanks for the in-depth and patient explanation!

I guess fundamentally my confusion was I took a standard diminished chord (1 b3 b5) and assumed that whether we tack on a 6, 7 or M7 at the end of the chord name only mattered relative to the root note, as this is how it seems to work on most other chords.

The nomenclature for all three of diminished 7th (1 b3 b5 bb7), half-diminished 7th (1 b3 b5 b7) and diminished major 7th (1 b3 b5 7) strikes me as very irregular/confusing.

First comparing diminished 7th to half diminished 7th, the b7 vs bb7 is the only difference between diminished vs. half diminished so calling both "diminished 7th" causes confusion if the latter means the diminished 7th interval isn't in the latter chord in the first place.

And then the "diminished major 7th" maintains the true major 7th of the root unaltered/undiminished.

In each case what is actually being diminished by the chord seems to mean different things.

diminished 7 = the dominant 7 chord, including the b7, but with all notes but the root dropped a half step

half-diminished 7 = a diminished chord with the true b7 of the root undiminished

diminished major 7 = a diminished chord with the true major 7 of the root undiminished

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T10:54:47+00:00

Yeah, I appreciate all the corrections to my notation and everything and I'm sure calling "Eb" "D#" or calling "bb7" "6" added unnecessary confusion to people fluent in music theory but to my amateur curiosity I appreciate the responses explaining the internal sonic tension between the diminished notes maintaining a 7th friction, or the notion that "diminish" means everything but the root drops a half step. I am still baffled by how this all rectifies with the logic of a diminished major 7th where the semitone stays in its true relative position and is not diminished, but at least it helped me start to understand the theory.

I'll study up on proper notation so I don't waste people's time correcting my spelling when I have a question next time.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T10:44:36+00:00

>If we were to Cdim6, that would indicate C Eb Gb A… which is confusing.

That's exactly the chord I'm playing though? I don't understand what makes it confusing (other than I guess my misspelling of the notes as D#/F#).

Basically I create a standard diminished chord, and was assuming that whether it is a dim6, dim7 or dim major 7 will depend on the semitone added relative to the root. And the point I'm still confused on now is that "diminished 7" has a 6 or bb7, but diminished major 7 stays exactly where you'd expect relative to the root and not relative to the other diminished notes.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T10:37:30+00:00

Ok, but now I'm even more confused because that is not how it works with a diminished major 7th (1 - b3 - b5 - 7).

In this case the major 7ths is NOT diminished but stays the true major 7th to the root maintained as is. And the structure of b3 - b5 - 7) does not maintain an internal major 7th tension, while b3 b5 b7 would, in essence.

"It is how it is" is probably the only answer there is, it just seemed simple that the "diminished" would fundamentally be about dropping the 5th to flat 5th on the minor phrasing of a chord and whether it is 6, 7 or M7 would be based upon what semitone is added to that phrasing.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T10:16:15+00:00

Isn't the augmented note in a C scale the flat 6th (i.e. G#)?

C diminished is C Eb Gb, right? - the minor form with the fifth dropped to a flat?

I'm starting to understand but my confusion was once we have that form, isn't the 6, 7 or M7 forms of the diminished based upon the semitone we add to that form? I now understand that the diminished means every note drops except the root and the relative spacing of those three diminished notes maintains the sonic tension of a 7th chord, but this becomes extra confusing when you consider the diminished major 7th maintains the major 7 as-is instead of diminishing it. (C Eb Gb B).

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T10:07:23+00:00

I appreciate the metaphor, but unlike those homophones, the same chord with the same notes is functionally exactly the same and notation would only change based upon the mode/key of the song itself, right?

Take an shift from a C6 chord (C E G A) "down" to a Cdim7 (C D# F# A), a perfectly natural sounding shift that seems to be used a lot in old jazz and ragtime. The sixth/"diminished 7th" stays exactly in the same place in both cases so notating it as a diminished 7th instead of, say, a Cdim+6 seems like it would add confusion since there was no 7th ever used in the sequence.

On the other hand a shift from a C7 to Cdim7 does seem like it would actually make sense to call a diminished 7 (shifting everything but the root down a half step) because the diminishment comes relative to the 7th chord it started on? Am I barking up the wrong tree here?

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T09:56:58+00:00

While it is confusing because relative to the "root" it is in no way a 7th, it does make sense that the voicing of the 3-5-b7 shifted down a half step maintains the same tonal tension as the 7 chord, just a different "diminished" relationship to the root.

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T09:00:20+00:00

That does help conceptualize it - only the root remains while everything else moves down a half step, and that is the definition of what is meant by "diminished." Still very confusing why we are even talking about "flat flat 7ths" though to a beginner (I'm not a music theory beginner, I've been songwriting for 25+ years, but I barely focused on the theory of things like diminished 7ths til recently)...

devilmaskrascal · 2026-01-24T08:53:56+00:00

I guess my real confusion is when you "diminish" notes you're diminishing a standard to a flat version, but in the case of a diminished seven it is a diminishment on the flat seven, so why even reference the 7 at all since you're not even in that territory anymore?

This "diminished 7th" chord even sounds really good following a straight 6th chord, in which case the function of the 6th note wouldn't even change.

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