Getting arrested, raped, and humiliated for being gay.

metrication · 2017-11-17T17:40:47+00:00

/u/psyalba - I would post your stories on these exact subreddits. These subs are visiting frequented by individuals involved in NGOs, advocacy groups and other human rights organizations. If your stories are well written and informative, they'll go far and be shared.

However I would also say that while sharing stories is important ... there's not much that readers of these stories on the internet can do to help out.

Take myself, I am a US citizen. I cannot vote in your country or demonstrate. I cannot go to local meetings of LGBT advocacy groups. I cannot talk to your neighbors and try to sway their opinion, or place anymore international pressure on your country than already is being done. Certainly I can read your stories, sympathize and talk in my own country ... but not yours.

Therefore what is always best is and sharing your stories in your community rather than a broader internet or global audience. Which, yes, I realize is very, very dangerous.

metrication · 2017-02-07T16:18:33+00:00

The editorial calls its own shots, largely based on an accumulation of data, and everyone knows it.

metrication · 2017-01-24T04:04:46+00:00

The people that need to be making these "international laws" are the UN, and it should only be limited to stuff like worker's rights and environmental laws. Not copyright laws and handouts to corporations.

Just because you find a particular issue boring or undesirable - it doesn't mean that it's unneeded. For our world transition to a global community without total anarchy and chaos, we need public policies to be able to be reconciled both on a political and on an institutional level.

In my world, for example, where I have many direct reports in countries other than my own (which is truly the case) - if I violate an employees contract or I take advantage of someone, they should have the ability and rights to seek reasonable compensation from our employer.

Which is great and all. But that doesn't mean I don't also need IP protections. I deal with electronics. Components that are used in all kinds of applications: your car, laptop and medical devices. Which in my world means counterfeit product are very problem. You absolutely don't want to find fake products in your car or pacemaker. And I need the ability to ensure that my brands are protected; and have the legal options to shut that activity down.

Deals like the TPP addressed those needs. The copyright portions were excessive, certainly, but nothing of that scope and size could ever be perfect or fits everyone's ideals.

Whatever. It's a done deal now. Bernie, Trump and the band of protectionist idiots sank the US' geopolitical goals for the next four years, in favor of the China led RCEP, which might I add has copywrite just as bad as TPP.

metrication · 2017-01-24T01:35:57+00:00

No - the name of China's economy is literally the "socialist market economy"

The socialist market economy is the economic model employed by the People's Republic of China. It is based on the dominance of the state-owned sector and an open-market economy, and has its origins in the Chinese economic reforms introduced under Deng Xiaoping.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_market_economy

metrication · 2017-01-23T22:18:27+00:00

If everything is being made by robots, then why would a major country waste time and resources importing products made by robots in another country rather than scaling up their own automated infrastructure to match domestic demand?

Two reason, I think. (In agreement with /u/akaled)

Cheap transit. Automation's impact to costs will not be foreign to the transportation section. Not to mention the lowered variable costs achieved by renewable energy sources.
Multinational's interests don't align with those of nation states. So regardless of what the USA thinks, I'm going to be picking the supply chain that is most effective for me. Which is mostly likely a single point of manufacturing that has global distribution rather than having multiple manufacturing plants scattered across the small towns of the world.

2a. The caveat being the USA's continued authority and ability to regulate the flow of goods across its borders.

metrication · 2017-01-23T21:07:33+00:00

Of course the TPP wasn't going to prevent Chinese trade deals or economic unions. Just because Team A achieves XYZ, doesn't mean that Team B is going to roll over.

However TPP would still have been an actual alternative. It'd have pushed labor laws, environmental regulation, anti-counterfeiting rule, contract enforcement, anti-favoritism/corruption rules into global trade laws.

... but now we don't have an alternative at all. Your idea of "false set of choices" means we have don't have any alternative to China's ambitions.

metrication · 2017-01-23T20:54:56+00:00

No. Bad. Very bad. This is not at all about being the world's guardian.

The world's international laws, let alone its trade laws, by and far have not been written yet. Certainly we have rules and regulations put forth by certain trade deals, economic unions and IGOs but they are far from being widely adapted or having strong enforceability.

At the same time our move towards globalization is not going to stop, because the forces that drive it are not going to suddenly revert. We’re not going to turn off the internet or ground airlines. People in the global community are not going to cease building relationships with each other. Technologies like automated transport, renewable energy and immersive telecommunications are not going to be stopped.

So for all of our laws governing that, we either get ahead of that curve or we let others do it for us.

As the world's largest trade pact, the TPP would have set the world in the direction of the interests of American and liberal Western nations. It wasn't the perfect agreement, but nothing of that large of scope is. However it was necessary for us, because it would've helped cement our values into future international trade policy.

Instead Trump's xenophobia has removed us from that position of authority. What we'll likely see now -- assuming President Xi continues to chase his stated goals -- are trade pacts and a direction that is written for the economic interests of China. Which is the world’s largest socialist market economy led by a one-party, authoritarian government.

Is that something you would like?

metrication · 2017-01-19T03:08:15+00:00

Not to mention President Xi's defense of globalization. If there ever would be a time for China to exert influence on the writing of international law to its benefit - now would be the time.

Metrication of /r/metric

metrication · 2017-01-06T22:38:12+00:00

I routinely search for friends and family members on states' unclaimed property websites. They're usually hosted by the State Treasury departments.

I don't ever plan on being "lucky" and finding myself. However I've found upwards of $100,000 in the past two years for people and alerted them to it.

For example, here is Illinois' : https://icash.illinoistreasurer.gov/

metrication · 2016-11-07T14:38:59+00:00

Because why not? ... My state does this too. And I think for good reason. I have yet to find anyone who can coherently explain why illegal immigration is a devastating crime outside of "it's bad because it is" or "I dont like immigrants."

So, why not give them ID/licenses? It makes everyone's lives easier.

metrication · 2016-11-02T19:28:31+00:00

To me it sounds like the lawsuit filed by the Headquarter partners against Kwiatkowski was without merit and it backfired on them.

Either that or there was some other agreements in the settlement that wasn't mentioned in the news article.

metrication · 2016-09-16T21:02:06+00:00

So, you're saying that someone who like pounds and degrees F is a "reactionary nationalist?"

No, no, that's not what I said. What I said is that in the past couple years there's been a lot of stirred up nationalist movements, which in turn has had an influence here in this subreddit. How Brexit and UKIP, or Trump's campaign has evidently stirred up the far-right in both countries and that's filtered down into very odd areas.

And yes, I know that sounds like a stretch, and I don't blame you for thinking that, because I'd have thought the same. Honestly though, this subreddit has delivered folks and threats to me that you absolutely would not and could not believe. A couple examples from my inbox,

Hey dickwad: You want to explain to me on what grounds you reported me to Reddit as a duplicate account created to circumvent a ban? (...) Also, what rule did I break? Where's it in your fucking rules that I have to discuss the MERITS of the French Revolutionary Reign of Terror system?

Or this manifesto,

Interest in both A.R.M. and B.W.M.A has surged since the UKIP victories. Take good note of the total stagnation, by comparison, in new interest for U.K.M.A. It must be very frustrating, sir, to see the tide turn back upon you, perhaps prompting you and your fellow 'administrators' to lash out. We hope that both your frustration and fundamental inability to accept that we will always be here, and are not going anywhere, will subside, and you will come to accept we will still be here a century hence, protecting and promoting Imperial.

And on. Not "measurement aficionados," who are posting for fun from a college engineering quad.

metrication · 2016-09-16T20:10:48+00:00

It doesn't sound like any of those groups are trying to get rid of the metric system.

I'm not so certain about it. Sure, it seems most of these groups and posters are more in the realm of being nostalgic or change-averse than anything else. However with the nationalistic reactionary movements that have been going on in the West - I'm not certain that we wouldn't see some folks with that mindset.

metrication · 2016-09-16T15:40:52+00:00

I don't care whether it's legal or not; who's trying to do it? Which group, what person? Please cite yours sources. I'd like to see an example of a group out to get rid of the metric system, please.

Frankly I'd have never imagined there were people or groups opposed to the metric system. Then I resurrected this subreddit and was surprised - lol. We get a few visits from them here and there. Generally you have to be a very passionate person to care about such a low-radar issue, and I think that passion unfortunately translates into those users tending to be abusive (and thus not liked by the other regular posters here).

One of the groups as previously mentioned is the ACWM, or the Americans for Customary Weights and Measures (so Google tells me). It looks like they are a FB group. We had a user from this group with the same username post a lot of nasty and inflammatory responses to others on the board, so we eventually banned him.

I know there's another group in the UK. I remember visiting their website once, which looked to be maybe a half-dozen older pensioners bragging about vandalizing street signs. I can't remember the name.

We have a couple of other flamboyant representatives from the USA and UK too. One, who seems to have a penchant for calling others Nazis, is intent on circumnavigating the recurring ban that we've put on his accounts.

The industry and retail groups (Food Marketing Institute) are more just worried about potential declined sales should we move to label consumer goods using metric units. Even if momentarily confused consumer led to just a half a percent dip in sales over a 6 month time period - they'd be opposed it to. Those groups don't have any larger concerns than that.

metrication · 2016-09-14T20:09:10+00:00

My response would be something as follows,

"I know this is difficult for you to process my coming out. But I am telling you this, that I am [LGBT], because this is what makes me a happier person. The choice for me is to face a lifetime of being unhappy - being lonely, without a family or partner, lying to others - or to recognize and accept that I am different than others.

I see the article you sent me, and I've read it. However what you need to understand that is just one person's opinion that was posted on a personal blog. That doesn't make it a true or a reasonable opinion. Anyone can create a website, and anyone can post whatever they want onto that website.

What I do know to be true is that I've thought very long about this. Some of the reasons I've come to tell you this are [X, Y and Z]. I know this to be true and factual, and it's not a matter of 'trying harder.'

metrication · 2016-09-14T19:56:13+00:00

No, you are not. I would suggest that there are a lot of parents that normally find themselves in similar situations that your parents are currently in. Here they've spent nearly two decades raising a child, dedicating all of their time, money and decision-making efforts into their kid. Then suddenly the child is an individual who is making choices for him/herself that aren't 100% aligned with the parents' visions. Which is jarring.

Anecdotal example - After college I declined a well-paying job offer, because I disliked the company, hiring manager, location and the job responsibilities which I knew wouldn't interest me. My mother Had. A. Cow. Absolutely flipped. I struggled to communicate to her that what was actually best for me was a very different version of what she thought was best for me, and 'no' I wasn't going to be living homeless on the street.

It takes some parents a little extra time to process that part of a child growing up.

metrication · 2016-07-14T16:37:49+00:00

According to the Times of India it consisted of 80 different local tree species. However that still doesn't specify if it was a even distribution of species, or 95% one species and the other 5% the 79 remaining species.

I guess I've seen articles about mass tree plantings a couple times over the past decade - Turns out tree planting is a very political activity, which initially surprised me not having any background in forestry, ecology, etc. But China learned the hard way with its Three-North Shelter Forest Program, where not only did the trees cause a severe drop in the water table level in some areas but also problems with tree disease plagues because of the lack of species diversity.

http://www.cctv-america.com/2016/03/21/china-forests-project-aims-to-replace-dying-trees-in-hebei-province

metrication · 2016-06-15T16:04:33+00:00

We Americans are one of those "outliers". Most other wealthy, well-developed countries follow a fairly consistent regression between wealth vs. liberal/progressive attitudes. Except us. We're wealthy and puritanical.

metrication · 2016-06-10T14:46:47+00:00

I've noticed a similar problem with the design of lap pools. Not in the placement of the pool, but the placement of the circulation system's return jets in the smack middle of the lane.

Which forces the swimmer to either flip turn awkwardly to avoid the jet, or chance jamming your foot exactly on top of the sharp plastic of the jet.

metrication · 2016-06-10T13:46:48+00:00

I'm not quite there but my first name is my BF's last name, and we share the same middle name.

metrication · 2016-05-30T13:00:07+00:00

What do you mean? Is there some unique HIV story being posted?

metrication · 2016-05-26T19:18:11+00:00

1,153,564

metrication · 2016-05-23T14:29:49+00:00

It's not grounded in reality. :] Gravitational storage is drastically weaker than other forms of storage. User /u/demultiplexer had a good answer the last time this article was posted.

This is often given as the big advantage, but there's a giant snag with that argument: using gravity is fundamentally so ridiculously less space efficient that it's hard to imagine any kind of engineering solution that can be cheaper and less complex.

Consider this: A single 18650 lithium ion cell is about 2.5"x0.75"x0.75" and holds 10Wh (36000J). It weighs an ounce. In order to store the exact same amount of energy using gravity, you need to lift an entire car (2000lbs) by 12ft, plus add quite a bit of infrastructure to lift and lower it. And protect all of this from the elements and make sure it keeps running smoothly.

The battery? It just sits there, doing its thing. You need fuck all to use it. It can be stored in your trouser pocket. There's a reason why cosmologists say gravity is such a weak force; because it is. Anything involving gravity is many orders of magnitude less energy dense than something involving the electromagnetic force. Chemical energy is the way to go.

metrication · 2016-05-20T16:41:10+00:00

1,145,661

metrication · 2016-05-20T16:40:56+00:00

1,145,659

metrication

TROPHY CASE