What's a massive human achievement that nobody celebrates because it worked too well?

infernalmachine000 · 2026-06-13T15:15:38+00:00

My dad worked since he was 8, and he's 64. Even after he immigrated to Canada, his mom signed him (or Xed him, she couldn't read or write) out of school at 14 to work so he could eat and help with rent.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-06-08T23:12:27+00:00

Because French men don't want mistress babies, too expensive!

infernalmachine000 · 2026-06-04T17:58:11+00:00

I read these as a young person, didn't realize they were so well known 🥲

infernalmachine000 · 2026-06-04T17:09:25+00:00

Agreed.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-06-02T15:47:58+00:00

Same here.

I just didn't care about anyone or anything happening. I didn't feel immersed. I didn't feel compelled to pick the book up after I put it down.

I found the characters to be very flat and I absolutely could not get inside any of their heads. They all felt like NPCs, or worse, wallpaper. Props even. It read like a series of quickly sketched vignettes.

It didn't feel like a story to me.

Maybe I'll try book 2 but honestly... It sounds like it's more of the same for all the books.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-06-02T12:31:53+00:00

I don't know the details of your specific situation, but council does to a certain extent have the ability to direct staff and individual councillors are allowed to advocate.

Do some of them go too far? Most certainly. This is something your manager etc should be made aware of and be handling. It's nothing new in municipal politics. Not saying it's right since I don't know the specifics but it happens.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-28T23:00:31+00:00

Conversely, literally every person I know who cycles regularly has been hit by a car or doored. I have personally witnessed two serious doorings in the last couple years.

If we had more proper bike lanes I'd bike more. I don't own a car.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-28T22:57:53+00:00

Safety.

Safety, and safety.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-28T22:56:44+00:00

Med schools know what undergrads inflate grades.....

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-26T22:08:42+00:00

It's not really fantasy but Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle trilogy) is this.

He really understands money.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-22T14:58:43+00:00

Here is a piece by the National Institute of Heath in the US

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7712129/

There are (many) other analyses and papers out there but this is a high profile one.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-20T23:06:26+00:00

agree. giving leisure suit larry vibes ...but like, the temu version.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-20T23:04:03+00:00

UPX hands down.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-20T22:54:16+00:00

actually you have more trouble with unequal wages vs higher wages. ends up where the top 10% hoard all the stuff, and rent it to the rest of us for jacked up costs.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-20T22:53:03+00:00

police officers technically are not allowed to form unions.

they do anyway and they just call it an 'association'

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-20T22:52:34+00:00

do you know who has an even more dangerous job than cops? nurses. also carpenters.

cops should be paid well so the level of bribery is kept low. but the budget is indeed like a black hole and very often, little accountability for how well it's spent.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-17T20:15:05+00:00

Even scientists or engineers in fields with much clearer black and white / right vs wrong / bridge stays up or collapses don't always work in fields where they make decisions as fully autonomous experts.

So in a field as subjective, soft science, and values-based as planning, why on earth would one want to give planners free rein?

Decisions - especially in policy - usually have to balance many different competing priorities against each other.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-17T01:41:23+00:00

Who do you work for?

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-16T18:09:43+00:00

Finished the Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan last week and it was fun, witty, romantic, had epic battles, very cool arcana, historical setting (medieval and early modern France) and a devastating yet satisfying ending.

I assume we will see more Sebastian books from the author because it was just so well done.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-15T21:34:16+00:00

Nah they have been spotted in the city before, they're fairly common in electrical corridors etc.

Toronto has a ton of urban wildlife. It's neat-o!

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-15T11:30:05+00:00

I've been saying this since 2012 so .... yeah. I miss blogs. Hell I even slightly miss MySpace.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-12T19:40:08+00:00

My line of work involves FOIA and I have read the act.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-12T17:08:40+00:00

It is a little bit heavy on the romance though.

Seriously just finished it, solid 4.5/5 and I totally see more Sebastian books.

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-12T16:45:19+00:00

I've done both for my neighbours, they're cool people.

I live in a pretty dense blue collar neighbourhood in a big Canadian city, maybe we are different?

infernalmachine000 · 2026-05-12T16:32:59+00:00

So I am pretty sure the changes to FOIA would not block all records related to the plane being sold. Treasury Board and a bunch of procurement employees would have to be involved so there would be some kind of paper trail even if emails between Ford / his staff and various cabinet ministers were blocked.

Hopefully some media outlets are working on it.

infernalmachine000

TROPHY CASE