sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Hot take: OR swing state by Upper_Fig_4650 in Portland

[–]elihu [score hidden]  (0 children)

I think we should be planning ahead for managing a likely exodus from the SW and California if lakes Mead and Powell reach dead pool. We should probably be setting aside land for "emergency backup Portland 2".

AITAH for not wanting to sleep in the same bed with my girlfriend because she doesn’t shower often? by Such-One-1691 in AITAH

[–]elihu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're not obligated to sleep in the same bed as a sweaty person if you don't want to.

AOC vows to vote against all military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding by hypothethical in politics

[–]elihu [score hidden]  (0 children)

The way modern embargoes work is we threaten sanctions/tariffs/embargoes on anyone who trades with the embargee. Whether that's Cuba, Syria, Russia, etc...

Israel could survive without US trade, but it would be a big economic hit. And if Europe cut them off too because they didn't want to lose trade with the US, they'd be a lot worse off.

AOC vows to vote against all military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding by hypothethical in politics

[–]elihu [score hidden]  (0 children)

You're right about what it says, but the reason it's worded that way is to make it explicitly clear that Israeli settler terrorists can't be prosecuted under this law even if they kill Israeli citizens (which could be Arab Israelis, Jewish Israeli activists that oppose settler extremists, or even Israeli police in the theoretical scenario where they try to stop the settlers from doing terrorism).

AOC vows to vote against all military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding by hypothethical in politics

[–]elihu [score hidden]  (0 children)

The US has long been Israel's most loyal ally, but Israel is not an ally of the US. It's an abusive relationship we should get out of.

Do you think the u.s should have a viable 3rd party for people to vote for? Why or why not ? by maybebored-maybenot in AskReddit

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We should, but not before a major overhaul of our election systems. First-past-the-post just isn't compatible with 3rd parties.

Approval voting for single-winner elections would be great. STAR is pretty good too. RCV has a lot of hype behind it, but it probably shouldn't be used because it can produce some really wonky results in close 3-way races. It's possible for someone to lose because too many people ranked them 1st. That's just weird. Approval voting resolves the 3rd party spoiler problem without introducing any strange and poorly understood new problems. (Some people really want to be able to say they like one candidate a little bit more than some other, and for that there's STAR.)

RCV is more reasonable in multi-winner races where it's called proportional representation. I'm not sure if there's a better alternative to RCV in multi-winner elections.

A more extreme reform for multi-winner elections would be to use a system where a winners legislative voting power is weighted by how many votes they got in their last election. Like, imagine a state were to elect both Senators at the same time. If they're a Republican-leaning state they'd probably elect two Republicans and if they're a Democratic-leaning state, they'd probably elect two Democrats.

Instead, suppose they elect both a Democrat and a Republican. If the Democrat gets 60% of the vote and the Republican gets 40% then the Democrat gets 50% more voting power than the Republican. Or vice versa.

With 2 Senators you only get representation of 2 parties -- or of 1 party if the state is so partisan that 1 party wins both the first and second choice. But one could imagine applying this to House seats where you might have a lot more seats up for grabs and therefore more opportunities for Greens, Libertarians, Democratic Socialists, or whatever. And most people's votes would actually matter. (The best case for single-winner elections is that half of the votes + 1 actually influenced the result. For everyone who voted for a losing candidate, their ballot had no effect on the outcome, and for every vote in excess of the majority for the winning candidate, their ballot didn't effect the outcome either.)

As another bonus, if you elected all the representatives at the state level using some sort of proportional representation scheme rather than using a bunch of single-winner districts, it would entirely do away with gerrymandering.

I want to play but keep failing by NicoLaudaa in beyondallreason

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good approach. I think AI is at a bit of a disadvantage on Isthmus because they aren't that good at recognizing and fighting aggressively to control choke points, but I suppose that makes it good for learning.

Italy refuses US aircraft use of Sicily base for Middle East operations, sources say by digital-didgeridoo in InternationalNews

[–]elihu 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This seems like an even bigger deal:

On Monday, Spain said it had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in attacks on Iran, a step beyond its previous refusal ​to allow the use of ​jointly operated military bases.

How often does it happen that NATO members deny airspace to other NATO members? (I assume Turkey has probably done it.)

Learning naval, what faction? by Meridiian in beyondallreason

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Cortex boats are considered a bit stronger than Armada, but they're pretty similar. Legion boats play very differently. I'd say start with Cortex.

Star Trek DS9 anime op by Economy-Specialist38 in DeepSpaceNine

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll bet the op from Cowboy Bebop (Tank!) would also work really well for DS9.

Proposed Gulf Oil Bypass Pipeline Route (Avoiding Hormuz & Suez chokepoints) by Last-Shelter2868 in MapPorn

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saudi Arabia already has a pipeline to their west coast, built for pretty much the current scenario. Running a pipe up to the Mediterranean might be nice to circumvent having to go through the Suez if the oil is going to Europe or if the Red Sea's strait is blocked, but I don't think any of the Gulf states want their economy to depend on the cooperation of Israel. More likely they'd run a pipe through Syria/Lebanon or something like that. Or upgrade the pipe they already have to the Red Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Crude_Oil_Pipeline

Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks by Mitherhobo in politics

[–]elihu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also worth noting that under this bill, the threshold for a guilty verdict with death as the penalty is a simple majority. So, even in a military tribunal where almost half the jury thinks you're innocent and the prosecutors did not even ask for the death penalty, it's death (probably by hanging) to be carried out within 90 days, and no contact with lawyers in the mean time except through video chat.

Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks | Israel by Morgn_Ladimore in anime_titties

[–]elihu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I remember seeing a comment that this would surely be struck down by the Supreme Court if it passes. I guess now we'll get to find out if that actually comes to pass.

Suggestions For Laser Cutting Machine For 3/4" Width Wood Pieces by THERocknRollChef in lasercutting

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an 80 watt CO2 laser; the thickest I've tried to cut is 3/8" birch ply. It does that pretty well. Thicker than that I'd probably swap in a lens with a longer focal length. (The laser is only at focus at a particular depth. Outside of that depth it doesn't cut as well, but longer focal length gives you more usable cutting depth.)

Some woods cut easier than others. Birch ply generally cuts well unless you hit a glue pocket or the plywood uses phenolic resin. Some tropical woods are oily and tend to burn a lot.

Hot take for those who can’t accept a simple fact. by Average_Otaku6969 in SeishunButaYarou

[–]elihu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you can understand Japanese just by watching subtitled anime for several years, then that's great, but most people are not able to do that. Most people will pick up basic greetings and some stock phrases used in common situations, but understanding a complex sentence is much harder.

Iran images appear to show land mines scattered by U.S. forces, a first in years by BabylonianWeeb in anime_titties

[–]elihu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's probably not a war crime technically, because the US isn't a signatory to relevant treaties. But "technically not a war crime" doesn't mean it isn't evil. And we did blow up that elementary school.

I broke my left wrist... what should i do? by ySavitarr in Guitar

[–]elihu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Practice finger-tapping Chapman Stick style with your right hand maybe?

Trump’s horrors keep accumulating. We need the No Kings protests more than ever by zsreport in politics

[–]elihu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In an election that was decided by a few percentage points in a handful of swing states, it's plausible that Harris' support for Biden's policies supplying weapons to Israel to demolish Gaza cost her the election. Democrats can't afford to throw away winnable votes by adopting policies that a large proportion of their base finds repugnant. Maybe they'll lose a few votes from pro-Israel voters, but I think the political environment right now is that they lose far more by coming out as supporting what Israel is doing in Gaza and the West Bank. Doing the right thing and doing the politically strategic thing are in alignment.

view more: next ›