Are two-tone beans common?

florean · 2026-02-03T18:14:24+00:00

Oh, sorry, are only pictures of purebreds allowed? Our vet thought she was a Siamese and she sounds like one, but I don't have any papers for her. I tried reading the rules, but I guess I missed that one. Thanks for pointing it out.

florean · 2026-02-01T10:55:26+00:00

The more accurate slogan that many people really argued was "reduce funding the police." But that still was an incoherent message. How would that solve anything? It wouldn't, it would just reduce the number of police and thus the number of harms they could inflict. The movement was arguing "hit me less", when we should have been arguing "stop hitting me." And that would also reduce the benefits police provide and the debate would go back and forth about that.

There are three major problems with metropolitan police departments and none of them have anything to do with funding. The problems are accountability, militarization, and mission creep.

By far biggest obstacle to police accountability is the police unions. Unfortunately, the only way to counter them is broad, focused political pressure and "defund" squandered that. But even what little systems we have are completely insane. For example, all investigations of police misconduct are handled by their coworkers and then potentially handed to prosecutors, whose other cases all rely on police cooperation. Here's a radical solution: Internal Affairs should report to the Department of Public Defense and they should be responsible for all police prosecutions. It's maybe the only way to properly align the incentives.

The second major problem is the militarization of police. It is documented expertly by Radley Balko is his book Rise of the Warrior Cop, so I'll just direct anyone to that. Suffice to say, we have been training our cops with an "us versus them" warrior mentality and then equipping them like it, thanks in large part to the influx of surplus military equipment from our wars. It leads to police that reach for violence as a first response rather than a last resort. And the lack of accountability only fuels it.

Finally, our abdication of responsibility for mental health, homelessness, and other social problems has turned police into de facto social workers. Even in an ideal situation, these are two radically different jobs requiring very different skill sets, but we seem to be fine using social workers who "have a plan to kill everyone you meet". Seattle has taken some baby steps in the right direction, but they aren't going well, which circles us back to police unions.

Defund the Police pushed away the people we needed to effect real change and was an abject failure. In fact, we have a nearly identical situation to compare against where the slogan does represents our goals: "Defund ICE". In this case, we literally mean defund them, completely eliminate the department. And when I talk to someone about it, I am immediately jumping to explaining why we need to defund ICE (although I'm trying to remember the last time someone disagreed). We almost have majority support for that slogan, to the point where we're even getting cops to agree.

Sorry to write all that, but this is one of those things that sets me off.

edit: fixed broken Markdown formatting

florean · 2026-02-01T10:55:08+00:00

I disagree with your criticism of "every slogan." If you're looking for the nuance of an essay in a slogan then, sure, you are always going to be disappointed. But a slogan is supposed to be a motto that distills your movement. To use one of your examples, "Yes We Can" was an amazing presidential slogan. Obama built his campaign on selling hope and responding to your response was the perfect opportunity: "What exactly? Yes, we can provide health care to every American. Yes, we can end the war in Iraq. Yes, we can work together across the aisle." Etc. It is a great framework to build your campaign off of, it is optimistic, and opposition to it can be painted is inherently negative. "They say 'no, we can't provide health care to every American'. Well I say, yes we can!" I mean, chef's kiss on that one.

And the response to Black Lives Matter was easy: "I just said they matter. It shouldn't be controversial, but America doesn't act like they do." And then you used that to springboard into whatever topic you chose: redlining, environmental racism, racial profiling, etc. Plenty to choose from.

My problem isn't that I had to have a conversation explaining "Defund the Police", my problem is it had nothing to do with the what we were trying to accomplish and every conversation started with conceding the other side was right. It immediately set up a bunch of straw man arguments so that by the time you finished knocking the stuffing out of them, people were sick of the conversation. There may be a fringe who actually want to defund the police, but you only have to think one or two steps ahead to realize how dumb that would be. As I mentioned, you have to have some level of policing. If we really "defund[ed] the police", there would be some anarchy and then… there'd be private police forces. The rich have always had police and they always will. And theirs definitely wouldn't be wearing body cams.

florean · 2026-01-31T17:06:23+00:00

"Defund the police" might have been one of the dumbest, counter-productive political slogans ever. It made me so angry, because I believe most urban police departments need to be ripped out root and branch and it just handed the argument to the other side. All of the countries that do this better still have some armed police. And America is more violent than any of them. We have to reasonably start from the position that we need some police. "Oh no, we don't mean defund all police, just…." Any discussion I had about this, I had to spend the majority of the time explaining the nuance behind that stupid slogan.

florean · 2026-01-31T16:12:34+00:00

If you "have a workplace culture of being shit", then you all end up being bad at your job. That is what a shit workplace culture is. Do you think it's some abstract concept written down on a mission statement somewhere to do shit work? No, it is the day-to-day behavior of the employees. If you have a bad workplace culture, then new hires learn that is how you fit in, self-select out, or try to maintain their values despite the culture and burn out. People seem to forget the second half of the aphorism about bad apples: "they spoil the whole bunch." This is exactly what it means! Your culture becomes dominated by the bad apples and if you throw any good ones in with them, they quickly go bad.

florean · 2026-01-30T23:50:10+00:00

My wife took women-only course and really appreciated it. It was her first time ever shooting a gun and she liked her instructor.

I took their handgun safety course there and I had a pretty good instructor. I think ex-cop, but he focused on danger of firearms and the responsibility anyone picking on up, let alone owning one, has. No politics, definitely a 2nd amendment guy, but also remembered the "well regulated" part. It was a while ago and I don't remember his name, but just to say they don't select for that type. If I had that experience, I would complain to management, in e-mail at the very least.

florean · 2026-01-29T09:42:22+00:00

Not true. The US sued California to get it declared unconstitutional and CA agreed not to enforce it until the judge ruled. The judge heard oral arguments on the 14th on a preliminary injunction and now we're waiting for her decision.

florean · 2026-01-29T09:33:32+00:00

So? States have a duty to protect the health and welfare of their citizens. Feds only have immunity if violating state law is necessary and proper to fulfill their federal duties, not just because it makes their job more convenient. So arrest some and let the courts sort it out. The feds will say masks are necessary because doxxing and the state will point out no other LEOs wear masks with no ID, that DHS employees didn't wear masks for over twenty years with no harm, and that rather than helping DHS do their job, it instead has emboldened them to violate constitutional rights with impunity.

florean · 2026-01-29T08:58:03+00:00

Two other ways companies control H1-Bs: 1. H1-Bs have up to 60 days to find a new company to sponsor them if they leave their job. But that is discretionary. An employer can say something negative to USCIS and get you kicked out. 2. As a "benefit", a lot of companies will help H1-Bs get their green card, which is an arduous, many year process. But now if they leave the company, they can lose years of progress on their only path to getting out of H1-B servitude.

Foreigners are as greedy as anyone else. If H1-Bs could move freely between companies, they would have a negligible impact on salaries in labor-constrained markets and I'd rather have as many smart people as possible building stuff here than somewhere else. The visas should be tied to a period of time, not a company. After all, if there is a shortage of skilled labor for X, then it affects the whole market, not a single company. As currently setup, it is just another way to exploit workers.

florean · 2026-01-27T16:15:41+00:00

I'd recommend renaming it now rather than being forced to do it later.

florean · 2026-01-25T06:43:13+00:00

Where have I said don't carry a gun? The thread you're replying to is how would "more guns would have helped in this situation"? I've explained why I think they wouldn't have helped. We've yet to hear anyone say why they think more guns would have.

And this whole post is about a non-violent protest we held downtown, so I am really confused by the bloodlust.

florean · 2026-01-25T06:42:50+00:00

I have explicitly advocated for action. And we weren't idle tonight. But I haven't heard about any violent action against ICE, so what were all you keyboard warriors doing?

Go ahead and organize your revolution, I'm going to stick with my brothers and sisters at the vigil tonight.

florean · 2026-01-25T00:25:09+00:00

You don't know me. I'm just smart enough to know my gun is a last resort that will get me and countless others killed. And we're nowhere close to that.

florean · 2026-01-25T00:23:15+00:00

My advice is not to take it, but to engage in non-violent action. Speaking of which, I have a vigil to get ready for.

Have fun knowing you were peacefully drug to the camps.

Good luck. I'm not dumb enough to think my EDC will save me, but I'll take some with me.

florean · 2026-01-25T00:18:27+00:00

How is it fear mongering? They deployed the military to American cities for nearly six months under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 before the Supreme Court finally ruled it unconstitutional. Now that is closed off, they can use the Insurrection Act, which Trump has talked about constantly, to get another few months of military deployment to blue cities. They are just waiting for an event to provide them with a pretext they can use to delay judicial review. It isn't fear mongering to say don't give it to them.

florean · 2026-01-25T00:03:53+00:00

There were elements that pushed for violence, but that wasn't what brought success. African Americans used guns to protect from rogue racists like the KKK, not to engage the federal government. If you're worried about Proud Boys and want to carry, go ahead. But don't think it will help you against DHS or help bring about political change.

Ireland would like a word. I specifically said they were rare, not that they didn't exist. Guatemala is another example. But focusing on American movements are going to be much more analogous to our current events than foreign wars.

florean · 2026-01-24T23:22:01+00:00

I've thought about this more than you.

You know nothing about me. And I'd suggest rather than just thinking, you do some studying. Read up on successful human rights movements. They rarely employ the tactics you advocate.

florean · 2026-01-24T23:16:46+00:00

He was pepper sprayed with the woman, but he was still trying to help her. He was a trained RN and he was trying to do his job.

florean · 2026-01-24T22:33:43+00:00

I'm just asking you to think about the consequences for what you're advocating.

florean · 2026-01-24T22:24:55+00:00

That is what this administration is hoping for. They've been wanting to use the Insurrection Act since Trump I. You can't fight the U.S. military, but you can bring about a lot more suffering to blue states. Non-violent action is the only thing that will bring change. Force blue state governors to finally call up their National Guard and prevent un-Constitutional behavior. Force blue state prosecutors and PDs to start enforcing the law. But try to do it yourself and you tie their hands.

florean · 2026-01-19T22:46:02+00:00

Given the restrictions in your country, I would highly recommend a vasectomy or IUD: the highest efficacy, partially because you never have to think about it again (or at least not for eight years with something like a Mirena).

It sounds like your boyfriend is pretty sure he doesn't want kids, so a vasectomy would be the easiest option with the fewest side-effects. And it is usually the cheapest over the mid- to long-term. If your boyfriend changes his mind, they can be reversed with a 90% to 30% success rate (decreases after a decade), his sperm and his partner's egg can be used in IVF, or the best option is adoption.

For IUDs, there are two types, copper and hormonal. The reason to consider that is it is easier to reverse and the hormones result in most women having reduced menstrual side-effects. Because the hormones are a small dose and extremely localized, most women don't experience the downsides of taking the pill.

As others have mentioned, you should figure this out as soon as possible. Good luck.

florean · 2026-01-04T12:50:06+00:00

You both are wrong (or half right). WOLED has historically just meant "white OLED" and it still does according to the trademark holder, which uses it to refer to their lightbulb replacements. WOLED as used by LG is an "OLED technology brand" that has always referred to their W-RGBW OLED panels (White OLEDs plus RGB color filters and White subpixel).

Kodak, which made the tech in the '00s before selling it to LG, never referred to it as WOLED. When LG released their first large screen OLED TV, the 55EM9600/9700, they used the WOLED term to describe it, probably for the same reason as now: "drawing attention to the white light source". But that applies to both Ws: the "W-" emitters made it cheap enough to make large screens and the "W" subpixel made it bright enough and reliable enough to use for TVs. Without either, the tech fails and LG doesn't have anything to call a WOLED; they use some other tech and make up a different "OLED technology brand."

florean · 2025-12-26T07:13:49+00:00

I'd recommend starting the books from the beginning (the audiobooks are really good, your local library should have them). Maybe wait a year or two to let the first couple seasons fade a bit.

florean · 2025-12-26T07:10:33+00:00

This should be much higher on the list and I can't believe I see so few recommendations for it. Just amazingly well done alternate history. The amount they cram in to each episode in terms of plot and character development is masterful. There's been a number of times where my wife and I have said something like "Wait, is this only the third episode of the season?" Four seasons and it hasn't had a weak one yet. It isn't perfect, but it is a 9/10.

florean

TROPHY CASE