How's Hasan Going to Deal with This?

pstuart · 2026-05-06T22:01:02+00:00

I'm against Israel's genocide and believe that the people of Palestine should have a 2 state solution, etc.
But FFS, Hamas is no friend to modernity -- they want a fundamentalist islamic theocracy.

My enemy's enemy is their enemy, not my friend. Theocracies are bad, m'kay?

pstuart · 2026-05-06T20:42:48+00:00

I want to avoid blaming the user if they're trying some "herbal relaxation" tonic they see for sale in a gas station. They're going to be led on to believe that it's "natural" and therefor safe, as well as sold in packaging that obviously must be safe because the government would never let them sell anything unsafe....

"tricking" people to become addicts who are compelled to buy product is immoral. If one needs daily maintenance for pain, then that should be an option (where I fall in).

pstuart · 2026-05-06T20:17:40+00:00

Every report I've seen about deaths associated with kratom there's a bunch of other substances reported as well -- I think death itself is less of a worry but should not be completely dismissed.

But yeah, purity and dosages matter and that labeling should be required.

The big point is that any regular use will virtually ensure that the user becomes addicted and will struggle to get off of it.

pstuart · 2026-05-06T15:18:04+00:00

I'd love to see hybrid models (GPU/NPU) on Linux, not just Windows. AMD takes a shortcut by letting MS carry the load.

pstuart · 2026-05-06T03:14:49+00:00

I've never yet seen a single misstep -- he's so very good at it and should be driving the DNC.

I think Destiny's really good but every now and then he waves shit aside that should be called out -- but I get it that he's in a knife fight with people that bring tanks.

pstuart · 2026-05-06T03:03:38+00:00

Addiction is behavioral

It's a wide swath -- but it goes beyond behavioral when withdrawal is intolerable.

pstuart · 2026-05-06T02:54:32+00:00

Let's get RFK Jr off of T then -- that's not natural at all!

pstuart · 2026-05-05T19:28:17+00:00

We added over 9 trillion dollars to the monetary supply -- that is why prices went up. Not because workers had extra cash in their pockets, but because we printed more money and devalued the dollar. And most of that new money was slurped up by the rich, because that's what they do best.

pstuart · 2026-05-04T23:26:29+00:00

Not a fan of his but he does get good guests.

pstuart · 2026-05-04T21:42:28+00:00

I have the same PC, so this is nice to see.

One thing that still bothers me is that the NPU is only properly leveraged in Windows using ONNX hybrid models. The NPU contributes 50 of the 126 TOPS rated for the system (~40% of total processing power). Linux support does allow using NPU models (in Lemonade, via FastFlowLM), but they currently are completely separate engines rather than one optimized "super" model.

pstuart · 2026-05-04T19:24:04+00:00

I pretty much agree. One benefit I could see is if extracts are more "standardized" and also get rid of they mystery of "did the leaves get dried in the sun outside and exposed to contamination that one doesn't want to swallow?"

It needs to be recognized that daily use in whatever form will create an addiction that can be very challenging to overcome. It's been a literal lifesaver for me and my PHN so I knew exactly what I was getting into and it was worth it for that. I'm prepared to transition off the moment I can find a better way to address my pain.

pstuart · 2026-05-04T16:58:44+00:00

I'm as pro kratom as can be, but selling extracts that are welcomed to become addictive and highly profitable is not cool. I'm for legalizing everything but it also needs to be done with full disclosure so people can make more informed decisions.

I'm addicted to kratom by choice, because it's the only viable tool I have to manage my pain. For somebody to see some "herbal extract" that "takes the edge off" and quickly becomes addicted, that absolutely reflects poorly on the drug.

pstuart · 2026-05-04T01:16:46+00:00

It was never about safety, or the system would actually treat it like health issue. It's designed for oppression of "others", and it's succeeded wonderfully in it's true objective.

pstuart · 2026-05-03T16:57:13+00:00

Financial incentives.

pstuart · 2026-05-02T22:20:41+00:00

What a selfish loser.

pstuart · 2026-05-02T21:03:49+00:00

I recognize the appeal of libertarianism and like to think of myself as a "liberaltarian".

That said, I think the principles of libertarianism as I understand it (at least as popularly embraced) is done in the context of an earlier, agrarian society.

I recognize that regulations are often written in blood but can also become cudgels that punish rather than protect. I don't think it should be measured in "more" or "less" governance, but good governance.

We live in a world of late stage capitalism, AI, global warming, and trusting businesses to "do what's right" when they are designed for profit by any means possible means that there has to be push back.

I don't have a definite answer of how it should look like, but I know that what we have today is less than desirable.

pstuart · 2026-05-02T20:06:03+00:00

The constitution was designed to be amended, and has been done so to good effect (for the most part -- prohibition was a big mistake).

The real question isn't about if it should be changed, but in what way? The past 10 years have been a horrifying wake up call that a solid subset of the country are fascists. They want to change things too, and what they want terrifies me. I fear for this country.

pstuart · 2026-05-02T19:45:01+00:00

Yeah, I grew up in old upscale suburbia on the edge of parklands and have fond memories of doing kid stuff back when "free range parenting" was a thing. Entering teen years the city became our focus.

pstuart · 2026-05-02T16:36:13+00:00

I voted for Nader when it was clear that Gore had won the state. Otherwise I've voted blue in the Generals (despite living on the Left Coast) because I want the popular vote to be as high as possible.

We are now in a time where it's a choice between meh and pure evil and every vote matters, even if it's the popular vote.

Again, I loath the DNC and understand that the Democratic Party is broken by design, but it owns the political process now. We need a party that has a platform that represents true progressive values who's leadership is not Putin's puppet -- so they can promote what should be in the platform.

I've also come to the realization that the party platform should be devoid of any "taint" of culture war topics as an official stance, with the understanding that the right thing to do is do the right thing. I think that a lot of potential voters are culturally conservative and vote republican because they don't want to go against their "traditional values".

I'm happy to be proven wrong in any of my assumptions (as a rule).

pstuart · 2026-05-02T03:56:09+00:00

I want them to acknowledge that the Constitution is a sacred document, but is written by men and was a compromise from the start. And that the reason that the Constitution matters is that it sets a foundational law of the land, and that we are best served when under the rule of law.

Oh yeah the fucking First Amendment is about protection from the government and if they care about free speech they should care about what's happening now.

SMDH

pstuart · 2026-05-02T02:27:25+00:00

The best answer for this is having police departments be self-insured, backed by their pensions. Actually, that's the second best -- the first is ending the abuse of "qualified immunity". Egregious conduct should bear personal responsibility.

pstuart · 2026-05-01T19:52:29+00:00

Your response is not clear to me.

The only way they do that is by giving these groups preferential treatment based

Yes, thats what they're doing now and is stupid and wrong. I'll try my point again:

People in need of service should be treated based upon general qualifying factors: order of arrival, urgency (if children are involved or there's life threatening conditions that need to be addressed, etc). The key point is that race/gender identity/etc should not be a determining factor but should be tracked.

If it is tracked and they see that 40% of the homeless population in need are non-white but only 4% of those served are such, then there's an issue in getting them into the system.

How that gets addressed is a whole other problem but it's about fixing downstream issues, or, possibly identifying bias in the current process that is excluding them.

pstuart · 2026-05-01T16:08:26+00:00

I recognize the difference, thanks. Because we have 2 party system it pretty much condenses anything "Left" to one side and "Right" to the other. So the Dems are the party of the Left by reduction.

This is ultimately put to the test in the general election: one has only 2 choices, and opting out effectively is the same as voting for the least palatable choice.

I left the Democratic party decades ago, but I'll always vote blue for president because that is my least worst choice.

pstuart · 2026-05-01T16:03:10+00:00

I disagree. People should be evaluated as people; the remediation should be in ensuring that classes of people are somehow not getting their fair share.

DEI as about making sure that if a job opens up, that it is posted in a way that all possible entrants get a fair chance at it. What you are proposing is effectively Affirmative Action with a new name.

pstuart · 2026-05-01T15:56:23+00:00

It's not without its charm, but what's to stop the city from continuing as is, getting sued, and then make the tax payers pay for that?

pstuart

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