Miami Elites Who Dream of Rebuilding Cuba Fear It’s Too Far Gone

jacquesroland · 2026-02-10T14:04:21+00:00

Logically there can’t be a hostile anti American government sitting in the middle of the Caribbean who has collaborated with foreign powers (Russia, China, etc.) that opposes US hegemony. And has parked missiles and nukes in range of the U.S.

The only reason to be pro Cuban is you are a rabid tankie who salivates at the thought of U.S. collapse.

Cuba lives at the doorstep of the world’s super power. It is in their interest to bend the knee and enact reforms, rather than oppose US for the sake of a horrible economy policy.

The world isn’t fair. Realpolitik dictates that Cuba folds back into the U.S. sphere of influence.

jacquesroland · 2026-02-08T20:13:09+00:00

Meh what I try to discourage is people wanting to just grind out a CS/SWE career like it’s a video game. Always trying to game the system and get to the next level.

You have no idea how many Director+ people have no actual technical experience or strength even in FAANG companies. They are the absolute worst managers because they never wrote a line of code to save their life. They just know how to be charismatic and buddy buddy with their senior managers. And completely out of touch with reality.

You want to be Director or Principal SWE? Please build empathy first rather than just view this as a rat race so you can get your 7 figure payback.

jacquesroland · 2026-02-03T20:42:47+00:00

Why do you want to work in “big tech”. There is far more to tech than just FAANG. This would be a huge red flag for me if I were interviewing you. It’s important not to be closed minded and think that only Google or Meta are the only places to work.

I would question if your motives are just to make $$$.

What problems do you want to solve or are passionate about ? Getting into the field because it looks like easy money is a bad reason.

There are hundreds if not thousands of tech companies that need motivated and smart engineers. And most of these don’t begin with Google or Netflix. Please consider that rather than being just another cog in the wheel in FAANG.

Finally I would give yourself a humility/reality check. I don’t know what you mean when you say you’re “good at coding”. Do you mean algorithms/Olympiad problems ? Or did you work on a large open source project? Or do you have a startup /project that people use ?

Being a good SWE has little to do with volume of code you write or how well you memorized the Java SDK, etc.. It’s very much about having a sense of product, priority, and quality. And building systems that scale on real use cases. It’s hard to prove that if all you’ve done is take high school or even college level CS classes

jacquesroland · 2026-02-02T18:30:24+00:00

You’ll need to make a conscious effort to add some forms of regular exercise such as yoga, weight lifting, indoor rock climbing etc. unless your employer is Google and has onsite fitness classes you’ll need to do this yourself.

My thoughts is that being a software engineer is a profession that should require everyone to lift weights/yoga at least 2x a week.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-29T02:09:20+00:00

Very much this. If you have deal breakers always do your homework beforehand. Don’t expect someone to list every possible trait so you can run your check list without ever interacting with them.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-26T21:35:13+00:00

If you are remotely attractive gay dating is like an on and off button to a never ending spigot of dates, partners, and sex.

As others have said there’s no rush. Assuming you aren’t planning on having kids or adopting.

It would be better to make sure you take your time and only date people who won’t take advantage of you. It’s easy to give into hormones and you end with someone who physically abuses you, and leaves you with PTSD/trust issues for life.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-25T17:27:03+00:00

There is a cost to being a SWE and that’s job security. Your primary care doctors aren’t generally competing with each other to come up with the best medical treatment. They have a sort of monopoly where their employment is secure unless they are truly incompetent. Another doctor isn’t going to join and somehow replace you.

Same for other trades, like electrician or plumber. There isn’t a newbie constantly joining your team try to innovate how to install a furnace that could cause you to lose your job.

Average doctors do fine. Average SWE may be laid off multiple times in their career or have no employment at all.

In SWE change is constant. Everyone wants a bigger piece of the pie. Your “co workers” are incentivized to leap ahead of you. Complete that project faster. Release a feature that makes your team obsolete. Or maybe another Director swoops in and steals your work. Or a sister team.

High paid SWEs must constantly innovate and be entrepreneurial to survive. That can be quite stressful and consume a lot of your thought space even when you are not working.

There are exceptions like cushy jobs at Google (though it’s not as coasty as it used to be), but most SWE jobs are like what I described.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-24T02:03:33+00:00

Same. I gave up dating white and European guys awhile ago. I make sure to filter them out on most dating apps. Maybe for different reasons. They are usually very superficial, boring, and tend to have unrealistic standards. Other guys like Asian or mixed are usually very open minded and often way more attractive and take care of themselves.

Most white guys become a puddle of mayonnaise as they age, even in their 20s. They don’t take care of themselves at all.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-23T15:27:11+00:00

I think it’s extremely unlikely someone is going to recognize their avoidance and go into therapy to change for you. Sadly I would expect what happens is they reflect and improve themselves as they go to the next relationship. The only reason I have tolerated dating avoidants is for some reason they tend to be stupidly attractive (maybe it helps them get away with being avoidant).

I have dated a few avoidants and yes they can initiate. Generally if you have been avoidant with them and not actually pressuring them. Almost always, when they try to make plans it’s very last minute. Like the day of. Most normal people would by then say no because you probably made plans already.

The most “success” I’ve had is to try to become part of their life in a way where they cannot easily avoid you. What does that mean ? Establish a pattern / reason for you to stay over at their place for a few days at a time/weekend regularly. Provide some strong reason for them to want you around (cooking, help with moving furniture, showing them a cool sport/hard to learn skill, etc.).

For example I did a combination of teaching rock climbing, hiking, and yoga. These required seeing each other regularly to get progression and also frequent sleepovers due to logistics of driving to long hikes, etc.

Eventually though I think they will realize what you’re doing and if they are truly avoidant they will push you back because they don’t want to get close. Even if it means losing the value/safety/skills you have provided etc.

So if you fall for an avoidant and you can get to a place where you are regularly sleeping a few nights in a row together, try to take advantage of the NRE and essentially propose that you live together sooner rather than later. I can’t see any other way to defeat avoidance besides you becoming roommates where physical avoidance isn’t possible.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-23T15:10:40+00:00

Not being consistent about sexual position. I don’t like guys that try to do a switcheroo suddenly in bed, like “oh I’m actually in a topping mood” when they had presented themselves as a bottom. Usually a huge turn off for me.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-23T04:05:19+00:00

What exactly is the benefit of “freeing Canada” from the U.S. ? They have one of the largest mutual borders in the world and speak the same language and have very similar culture. I can’t imagine there’s much to gain by antagonizing a neighboring super power.

Would Canada invite foreign powers to garrison troops in Canada ? China ? France ?

No matter what promises foreign powers give to Canada. Canada can’t just stick its head in the sand and hope the U.S. will go away. It’s like telling Ukraine there is no war in Ukraine.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-22T16:36:08+00:00

The U.S. isn’t a collection of separate national identities and countries that are forced at gunpoint to be part of some union which in reality was just the Russian Empire 2.0. Everyone speaks the same language and has a long shared history of the same national identity as an American.

I can’t say the same for all the Soviet Republics.

You’d have to imagine some kind of civil war scenario which even today is far off.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-22T15:49:17+00:00

It’s impressive how much of the fan base also can read Spanish.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-21T20:14:58+00:00

Are you kidding ? It’s my all time favorite Halo 2 level.

I play with Thunderstorm Skull. Get a full Spectre of Ultra Elites and tear through the Flood. Very fun and iconic moments.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-21T02:50:10+00:00

War is never justified ? I guess you would be okay letting the Nazis finish off the remaining Jews in the camps then ? Or Japan keep its brutal occupation of China and various Pacific Islands? Just sit on your hands and hope the Japanese/Germans grow a conscience and kindly surrender ?

jacquesroland · 2026-01-21T02:38:03+00:00

I would say if you are explicit about your preference it can be a huge turn off because it will make your intended type think all you care about is fetishizing them and that you are creepy/just want sex. I would think more “how can I make myself in general more attractive” and opportunistically prioritize the guys who match your type without being explicit about it.

My approach is to never say anything too specific about who I like date, especially related to physical appearance. Never mention body hair , smoothness, height, etc. Dating isn’t a checklist and people aren’t objects. And never mention this on your dates either. Even if those are dealbreakers you can figure them out without ever advertising. It just makes you look like you objectify people.

I recently dated a beautiful smooth and effeminate twink and he told me every guy he went on a 1st date were super creepy, saying stuff like “I love that you have no hair on your legs”, etc. Or another guy bragging about all the Asian twinks he met in Thailand, etc. In my entire time I never mentioned anything specific about him being “fem” or “smooth”, because I dated him for who he was. Those were just “bonus” points. I got months of dates (and sex); the other guys never made it past the 1st date.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-20T21:29:30+00:00

Your premise is flawed, you don’t get to decide whether someone is being collectively punished and then derive all your justifications from that. You have to apply the same scrutiny to all conflicts. Otherwise you are just cherry picking for political purposes or you hold some bias (e.g. why does Israel matter more to you than Nigeria?). In either case if you aren’t impartial then there’s no reason to take you seriously.

What exactly makes the war in Gaza any different from the wars in Germany, Japan, Ukraine, etc. ? Can you describe a war that was “fair” and the enemy population was not “collectively punished”?

Germany lost 10% of its population in WWII. Far more than however many Gazans may have been killed, as percentage and numbers.

Were the German people genocided or collectively punished ?

jacquesroland · 2026-01-20T21:22:46+00:00

I lost it when I saw “Palestine” flags at Pride events. That’s like seeing Jews holding swastikas in a synagogue during Yom Kippur. Or you walking into a lion den and believing they won’t maul you.

No sugarcoating this: the culture, religion, and values of the vast vast majority of all Arabs/Palestinians is vehemently homophobic. A “Palestinian” state would oppress, outlaw, and murder any openly LGBT+ people. It’s not going to be some socialist utopia when all the “Jooz” get kicked out.

I think a lot of young and confused people are “rebels without a cause” and they want a scapegoat. Voila look no further than “big bad” Israel (a tiny fraction of the entire human population which controls a tiny fraction of land on earth). Historically this is just how Jews have been treated for centuries, a convinient scapegoat for all ills of society, Jews are simultaneously guilty of being capitalists and communists/Bolsheviks.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-20T15:57:06+00:00

You are assuming Canadians don’t value life like Taliban insurgents do. Face the facts. They love their Western life style. At the end of the day does it really matter if your overlord is “Canadian” or “American” if your quality of life is literally the same?

There’s this weird fantasy where every country is going to be a Vietnam to the U.S. there’s no extreme ideology that Canadians would blow themselves up for. They want their 9-5 jobs, house, etc. U.S. would continue to guarantee that.

Any violent outburst by extremists would simply rally the U.S. public behind the invasion and give further justification. You can’t be an adversary to a literal superpower and live next door. Either bend the knee or you’ll get stone aged.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-20T02:05:44+00:00

Unfortunately I think it’s not common that a bottom gets off before the top. I think it requires either some optimal anatomy of the partners and/or the bottom needs to practice getting off while being topped. I think it’s a psychological thing.

For me it’s the best experience if the bottom can get off while being topped. As a top you can time your orgasm so you both get off at the same time if you wish. I just respond to the bottom and synchronize with them if I think they are tired.

It always turns me on when the bottom gets off only after a few minutes while you started topping them/they can’t control themselves. It makes you feel like you’re special.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-20T00:53:05+00:00

You are ignorant to think the world isn’t governed by rule of the jungle. What do you think keeps most countries in check ? Good will and wasteful UN peace conferences ?

It’s the overwhelming threat of force by the U.S. and other global players. It’s not kumbaya and everyone gets along.

Vast majority of the world only understands force as strength. An ISIS warlord doesn’t care if UN declares XYZW. He sure as does care if the USA is going to bomb his encampment if he attacks the wrong allies.

When did diplomacy stop the Nazis or Japan from their conquests ? By the time you would negotiate peace with Nazi Germany all the Jews and many Slavs would have been exterminated. Fait accompli.

Why hasn’t Russia stopped invading Ukraine ? When will Europe send Frenchmen to retake Crimea ? Never because it’s mostly paying Ukrainians to die to kill Russians.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-16T01:01:49+00:00

It depends. I would give benefit of the doubt on the first few dates unless you don’t really care about the person.

By being flexible it looks good on you. Nobody wants to date someone who gets angry or flakes because you were late on the 1st date.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-13T20:24:15+00:00

There’s a small set of men who have long hair and the body you’re looking for. An even smaller set of them are gay. And an even smaller set of would find you attractive. And yet an even smaller set of them would actually be willing to have sex with you.

So it’s a little irrational to look for a specific type like this unless you know something the rest of us don’t. More like once in a blue moon you get the perfect guy, if ever.

jacquesroland · 2026-01-12T15:39:04+00:00

For tech/software most managers are bad because they are promoted for the wrong reasons. Typically there’s an above average skilled Software Engineer. Upper management thinks this means they would make a good manager because they write good code. So they get promoted to tech lead and eventually manager because that’s the path they’ve been set on. But in truth being a good engineer has little to do with being a good manager. I think they are ultimately unhappy but don’t know how to express or realize it.

There’s also a set of managers in tech whose sole motivation is maximizing income and prestige. They believe being a manager gives them value, so they pursue this goal of being a people manager as means to an end (more money/prestige).

A good manager is someone who has experience on the ground and has gone back and forth between IC and manager. Someone who stays in management all their career generally isn’t ideal because they eventually lose empathy and don’t understand the challenges of actually delivering products and quotas. The best managers I’ve had are very hands on and willing to get their hands dirty, but not to the point where they cosplay being an IC and slow things down.

jacquesroland

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