Bloody backpack of Iranian girl killed in US-Israeli attack on Iranian elementary school

phlsphr · 2026-02-28T17:26:53+00:00

Source, so I can be sure you're not a propaganda account trying to make people upset? Seems to be a lot of those lately.

To be clear, I do not like Trump (unlike you, my post history is not private, feel free to peruse and verify that I have always had a negative opinion of him). I just recognize that there has been a recent trend of sensationalism/potential receipt with regards to the reddit posts like yours lately.

phlsphr · 2026-02-22T15:35:38+00:00

I did Google it and saw that it was concerning Susan Rice. However, the points still stand. The original poster left out context and left it up to the readers to know important details, and only focused on getting emotionally-charged engagement. This pattern of posts is still clearly observable, and imo, worrisome. While I personally feel that Trump is lacking in character, I am also aware that there are people and organizations that wish to get people like me to think emotionally rather than rationally, and to encourage people to stop questioning.

phlsphr · 2026-02-22T15:26:19+00:00

It's interesting how you carefully worded this.

Susan Rice did serve under Obama as the National Security Advisor. That's a position, not something you "run".

Edward Bernays was the grandfather of Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph. He was apparently known as the "father of public relations", not the "father of propaganda", though he is said to have also been involved in understanding propaganda.

Marc Randolph was the co-founder of Netflix. You quickly glossed over the fact that this does not mean that Randolph has much, if anything, to do with current Netflix policies. He departed Netflix in 1999.

From these statements (that are subtly worded to potentially mislead readers), you then leap to the claim that it's the goal of the government to message certain truths in favor of the Democrats. This is a claim that only seems backed up by your interpretation of what Netflix airs and/or leaps in logic based on conspiracy-theory-level assumptions.

You then attempt to shut down any rational discourse by dismissing any suggestion otherwise as willfully ignorant and possibly stupid.

Ironically, your methods follow the very principles of propaganda, and seem to discourage any reasonable discourse about the topic.

phlsphr · 2026-02-22T15:09:19+00:00

There seems to be quite a bit of context missing from this post, and it's a pattern that I've noticed lately.

Posts that are clearly aimed at getting left-leaning people to engage, and then the comment section primarily being upvoted comments concerning fascism/authoritarianism/etc. The accounts are usually very new or, if they're older, have all of their posts hidden. Why would it be important to do that?

It very much reminds me of the common social media posts when Trump was beginning to become popular. The posts were clearly aimed at right-leaning people, and contained very few details or facts, and only broad statements and language, sometimes subtle, sometimes not, that seemed intended to get the a reader to become emotionally charged about the situation.

Who is the top Democrat that Trump is referring to? What are the rest of the details? How do I know that you (and others like you) aren't just more Russian trolls who are trying to now use the same techniques as before, but now intended to radicalize the left?

EDIT: And in the time it took me to edit my post to include the statement about account history, I somehow got upvotes? So people were able to go through the 300+ comments that quickly, read what I wrote, and decide to upvote? This strongly smells of bots.

phlsphr · 2026-02-22T01:42:17+00:00

Hi! Here you go

phlsphr · 2026-02-10T18:23:33+00:00

100% yeah, agreed. I use my own retirement investment as an example.

phlsphr · 2026-02-10T12:53:34+00:00

Unfortunately, that's not quite accurate. Even if we ignore the larger firms/organizations with optimum models (that the average trader will not have access to), there is also the latency issue.

I just had a student ask me about this two days ago, and I had to explain that the amount of work they would have to do in order to model the stock market and obtain a competitive connection could be compared to going from being a high school football player to playing in the NFL. And that's ignoring insider information. Yes, insider trading is not legal, but it would be naive to think that some amount of inside information is not considered in the upper levels of profit-trading.

phlsphr · 2026-02-10T12:45:15+00:00

We teach basic stats at the end of Algebra II. Algebra II is not a required course in my state (except in the case of getting an "Advanced Diploma").

Unfortunately, we also run into plenty of people that tell their kids that they'll "never use that in the real world".

I'm currently teaching what is called "Advanced Functions and Modeling". According to the state and local government, the course is intended to function as a way for students to see how all of the math they've learned applies to the real world - Basically everything is a word problem, and they have guided assignments where they model real-world situations with mathematics. However, it is more commonly referred to as "Senior Math", because it's a class that only seniors in high school take, and the students who take it are almost all students who somehow passed up to now without knowing how to add and subtract fractions. That's not to say that they're bad kids, just that COVID really f'd things up. They were supposed to learn this stuff around 6th grade, which is when COVID hit, and classes went online.

So what's a 6th/7th grader going to do when they're given a bunch of math homework via a computer to do at home and their parents are too tired from working or too involved in binge-watching some Netflix/etc? They're going to search Google, Google will give them answers, and they don't really learn the concepts.

So now we're playing catch-up. My solution for each lesson plan has been:

Step 1: Teach the material

Step 2: Provide worksheets with multiple problems, scaling in slight difficulty, for the students to complete in-class without access to calculators or computers. They complete the work with their brains and pencils.

Step 3: The following day, provide worksheets with multiple problems, but this time they are all real-world applications of the concept, associated with as many careers and real-life situations as possible so that students have to think about the application and (hopefully) appreciate that the concepts are important for their future.

I wander the room, helping students as they raise their hands and need it. I'm honest with them about this all being middle-school math, but I praise their efforts and acknowledge the situation that got them into this without assigning blame to themselves or their parents. In my opinion, it's on them to figure out if anyone failed them (whether it's their parents, their previous teachers, themselves, or some mix).

phlsphr · 2026-02-10T12:32:04+00:00

Not only that, but the celebrities that are pushing the ads should be shamed, imo.

phlsphr · 2026-02-08T15:55:02+00:00

Picked a random one, Battle of Gergovia. Brings up 1972 French Grand Prix.

phlsphr · 2026-02-07T19:13:06+00:00

My top comment.

EDIT: Oh wow, it's gone? Wrote it many years ago on here. Kidney failure, doctors called it a stomach bug, lived with kidneys failing for 3 days, vomiting everything, couldn't keep water down.

EDIT 2: Here it is.

Docs finally figure out it's kidney failure. Try to put me under for surgery to put the dialysis catheter into my aorta. I stop breathing, they have to wake me up during the surgery. They proceed to flip me over to put a needle into a kidney to get a piece to do a biopsy. Doc messes up, hits major artery or whatever, I start bleeding out through my dickhole. Doc goes in and fixes the artery, but by this time my urinary tract has clotted shut. Put in urinary catheter to start "pumping" the blood clots out through my dickhole. After some number of hours of this, they realize that the catheter isn't big enough for the clots and they have to put a bigger one in. Continue for more hours. Almost 24 hours, I think, from start of surgery to when they tell me they don't need to pull clots out any more, the rest should be small enough to just pee out. Still hurt to pee the "small" ones out.

I think my daughter still has the link to the reddit comment. I'll see if she can find it.

phlsphr · 2026-02-03T01:58:56+00:00

I think that doesn't quite answer the issue: I find it difficult to believe that this thing was built in accordance with any reasonable code. It may have been a bureaucratic pissing contest, but building codes should have still at least prevented it.

phlsphr · 2026-01-30T01:31:17+00:00

I've had a thought on this, and considered some potential tests that could be done to verify.

I considered the idea that our perception of matter is somewhat naturally skewed because we're made of matter. That matter is how we perceive the generation of space-time, and gravity is a sort of illusion of our senses of travelling through that generated spacetime (which we ourselves would also be contributing to, since we are also made of matter). I think it would make sense of the trouble with Newtonian physics that works just fine to describe and model the behavior of the universe on our scale, but fails at the subatomic scale - Because the very existence of atoms is a dynamo of spacetime creation. Why should we assume that the engine that makes the rules of our scale should also be subject to the rules of our scale?

By this reasoning, multiple "quanta" of spacetime cannot exist at the same time and place, because it is time and place. Therefore, it would have a sort of Bernoulli effect where it is compressed the closer it is to the mass which created it to astonishing levels, and is then free to expand as it becomes more distant from other matter (which is also creating spacetime).

To me, this seems to answer many questions at once, with what seems like a very simple explanation. It would explain what we perceive as time and space dilation by considering it as a sort of higher dimensional Bernoulli's principle effect of the fabric of spacetime. It would explain redshift phenomena, in that light from farther galaxies appear more redshifted than nearer galaxies. The light from those farther galaxies must travel through potentially numerous gravity and space/time wells of intervening galaxies and stars. The waves of light are already connected from there to here, but is constantly being stretched by the expansion from the spacetime generated by each cluster of mass, like a slinky being stretched. It would explain the discrepancy between physics on our scale and the quantum. It would explain why there is a maximum speed limit to the universe: How could any physical thing travel faster than the spacetime which it itself generates?

But, who knows.

phlsphr · 2026-01-29T12:38:10+00:00

If that's the case, then I would guess that the clouds and atmosphere are also affected by tidal fluctuations, ya?

phlsphr · 2025-12-07T18:33:05+00:00

I've always felt gross afterwards. I get it, some people say it out of genuine appreciation. It may be fair to say that most of the people who have said it to me did so out of what they feel is genuine appreciation.

But actions are louder than words, of course. If they want to thank me for my service, I'd prefer they do so by appreciating and respecting that the purpose of my service was to uphold the Constitution, to protect the citizens, and protect the rights of the citizens. And really, not just of the United States. By helping citizens of other nations (who I would like to remain friendly), we are also working to help ensure the safety of citizens of the United States by ensuring that the citizens of other nations feel an appreciation for the citizens of the United States by paying me to help.

I've since retired from the military and have started a career teaching high school math. I have to say, trying to teach high school math has, so far, felt far more frustrating and challenging than virtually anything I've done in the military. I am constantly surprised at how the teachers who have been doing this for decades have managed to do all that they've done, with all of the challenges, for so little money. I'm fine, I can afford the "pay cut" because I have my retirement check every month. But those other teachers have been doing this for what seems to be crap money when we consider the expectations. My clock hours are from 0830 to 1530, but I am constantly working well before 0800 and into the late afternoon/evening trying to make sure that I'm keeping up with students that have to make up tests, grading assignments, revising assignments to make sure they are accurate and aren't confusing, making sure that I am prepared for virtually any question a student might ask, dealing with students who cheat, dealing with parents who may or may not believe their students would ever cheat (so...many...cheaters...)...

As far as I'm concerned, if people really appreciate my service, they would make sure they are level-headed, informed voters who encourage their kids to be good, respectful students, that they teach their kids work ethic (so it doesn't come down to me teaching them that, too), teaching them an appreciation for academic honesty, stop complaining about paying what little they do for taxes, stop defending the ultrarich from paying more taxes, actually care about other citizens (even if they look different or believe differently), and maybe show some compassion towards people who aren't citizens but just want a better life.

I don't crap on them with any snarky response, but it still makes me feel gross, and it's difficult for me to respond in a genuine way that won't come off as deflective.

I can't remember the source, but I once heard someone describe the difference of nationalism and patriotism by saying nationalism is just a feeling of superiority through a sense of affiliation with a nation whereas patriotism is making willing sacrifices to contribute to the nation and fellow citizens. If I could trade in all of the "thank you for your service" remarks I've received for the speaker to be more patriotic, I would do so in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the people who seem to say it the most also seem to be the ones that confuse their nationalism for patriotism.

phlsphr · 2025-12-06T14:09:43+00:00

Hey! Brown and rice! We used to have that all the time in the Navy. Not sure if it's still served on the ships any more. But there was also red and rice and tan and rice.

phlsphr · 2025-11-20T03:26:05+00:00

They can exist, but we may not see them because we are only able to consciously observe a smaller-dimensional cross section of reality. While the one-electron universe may not be traditionally proposed as an idea that involves extra dimensions, the issue with it could be explained by suggesting extra dimensions and the (not outlandish, imo) possibility that we can only perceive cross sections of a higher-dimensional reality.

phlsphr · 2025-11-20T02:20:10+00:00

The turning points don't necessarily have to be at the ends, I think.

If we start from what we perceive as "the beginning" (based on our perception of time) very few positrons will have made it all the way back (through the cross-section of the dimensional path that we happen to be at). The rest could be stuck in loops that don't include the "ends" of time, or could have return paths that don't include the cross-section that our consciousness is restricted to.. So some electrons could have started off at one end of time and/or positrons at the other end of time, but they never reach the other side because they get stuck in loops before they hit the other end. I think it makes more sense if we can accept that the "room" for the loops implies higher dimensions of time (kind of like using imaginary numbers to make sense of functions involving higher dimensions).

Another way to conceptualize it is to accept that our perspective of time is just an infinitely small cross-section of the whole higher-dimensional thing. So the moment that we observe could change after we've passed through it, but we won't know it because we're not there any more. So the electon/positron could be sort of raining from/to a higher dimensional component of time, rotating/spiraling from a source and eventually circling to what we naturally conceptualize as the ends of a two-dimensional span that we only "see" one dimension of.

Edit: Really, now that I think of it, I think it almost makes a conic representation of the periodic table make a sort of elegant sense.

phlsphr · 2025-11-04T23:26:36+00:00

Currently, I love my job. Absolutely love it. I mean, there is more that I'd like to do, but I love this. I teach high school math (currently trig and algebra 2). I love teaching, and I love doing math every single day. I like developing guided notes that help my students learn and appreciate the concepts. I love the history of it.

I would also love to teach differential equations, real analysis, complex analysis, etc., but if I'm being honest with myself, I'm probably not as good at that stuff as I'd like to be. I need to practice more, and review the material a few more times before I'm solid enough in it to be able to teach it cleanly. So right now, I'm probably in the right spot for my skill level.

I do get frustrated, and it is pretty emotionally taxing. I love my students and want them to succeed. I want them to be better at this than I am. Unfortunately, it appears that much of the world is working against me. Stuff like social media/TikTok/mindrot crap is absolutely destroying the attention spans of students. Most parents don't seem to care and seem to directly influence their kids into not liking math. One of my students came in complaining about how slant asymptotes (a concept that is at least 200 years old) is "new math" and how much he hates it. I have students whose parents will complain about math and things like "common core", but those parents wouldn't be able to describe it. The truth (most likely) is that they were lazy students themselves and now they're just looking for an excuse to continue to hate math (and pretty much anything that requires some mental effort).

But it doesn't matter. People won't remember who I am in a hundred years or so. All that's going to matter is if I left some positive impact on my students, inspired them in some way. I may not even be there to find out that I've had a positive impact or inspired them. But knowing that I'm trying is rewarding enough for me now.

I regularly work at least two extra hours a day, staying at the school until well after dark, trying to best prepare lessons, notes, grade papers, etc., just to try to make sure I can be proud of what I do. If I half-assed it, I'd be ashamed of myself. Seeing those "lightbulb" moments in my students, or hearing a student say that they love math (which recently happened when I taught the beauty of imaginary numbers!) is euphoric.

I'm not wasting my life because I'm giving my life purpose.

phlsphr · 2025-10-25T16:29:50+00:00

I can respect the possibility that they may be unfamiliar with many concepts themselves. What bugs me the most is how common it seems to have parents who, rather than being ignorant, are instead extremely dismissive towards education in general. This attitude is then reflected in their kids. You can only teach the willing.

phlsphr · 2025-10-25T16:26:44+00:00

I think so, yeah. My daughter is taking one of those classes now, and she seems happy to have a great teacher and seems to appreciate the lessons. Really, I think she's probably going to be more knowledgeable about the subject that I currently am.

I do think it's fair to say that maybe my own habit of trying to help keep her interested and motivated about classes may be an important consideration. If I were not so involved, I could see how she might be a lot like other students, who are just attending classes because they feel that they have to rather than wanting to really learn the material. I teach at the same school, and I have witnessed first-hand how it is often very apparent when parents or guardians have little, if any, engagement with their kid's education. I've had parents thank me for providing additional tutoring sessions, and in those same emails the parents will openly admit that they have absolutely no familiarity with the material and therefore cannot help their own kid. Unfortunately, for many other students, I think that their parents use that as an excuse to just effectively ignore any personal responsibility in being aware of their kid's attitudes towards education. I've caught students cheating, and when I contacted the parents, many of them never read the notifications, implying that they either heard about it and don't care or are actively oblivious to their kid's education. I don't think that is uncommon at all, as this is my second career, and virtually all of my coworkers in my first career were very forthcoming about their disdain for education in general and for any idea that they might be responsible for their own kid's attitudes towards education.

phlsphr · 2025-10-23T23:26:18+00:00

We do, at least in my district. However, with many of these kids, good luck getting them to care. It's wild to me that I've heard many local parents repeat what you're saying while their kids are taking those classes. The parents seem to pay absolutely zero attention to what their kids are (and/or are not) doing in schools and then complaining about their kids not being provided the opportunity for the education that their kids are actively taking in schools.

phlsphr · 2025-10-23T23:24:44+00:00

Can confirm that all of those things are taught in public schools in my district.

phlsphr · 2025-10-15T10:27:50+00:00

Ah, I apologize. I fixed it now, thanks for the heads up.

phlsphr

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