In other news
In the current news climate we see that some figures and events tend to dominate the front-pages heavily. Still, there are important, interesting or just plain weird things happening out there and a group of people can find these better than one.
I thought I would test with a thread for linking general news articles about "other news" and discussion. Perhaps it goes into the abyss that is page 2 and beyond, but it is worth a try.
Some guidelines:
- Try to find the "clean link", so that links to the news site directly and not a social media site. Avoid "amp-links" (google).
- Write some cliff notes on what it is about, especially if it is a video.
- It's not an excuse to make outlandish claims via proxy or link extremist content.
- If it's an editorial or opinion piece, it is polite to mark it as such.
- Note the language if it is not in English.
- There is no demand that such things be posted here, if you think a piece merits its own thread, then make one.
Which is just another way of saying "whatever makes it work". You collect data, find the constant that fits the data, call it a day.
But in econ you don't need to claim that's a constant that works throughout the universe necessarily.
You simply say that for the period of time examined, it looks like that relationship or quantity or causal effect is constant.
But in econ you don't need to claim that's a constant that works throughout the universe necessarily.
You simply say that for the period of time examined, it looks like that relationship or quantity or causal effect is constant.
In both cases, you collect data, find a constant that makes your equation fit the data, and call it a day.
There are good reasons why econ is a "soft science" but "they pick constants to make the equations fit the data" is not one of those reasons.
Oh but all the discourse about that is just preparation toward my own personal conclusion which is that if the best and only way to assess tradeoffs is that (which I think it is), other approaches are even less defensible (naked power grabs), THEN IT FOLLOWS that we simply should never regulate stuff at that scale at all, we should completely give up on attempts at playing the planning god role, and so on.
Exactly because our best tools are not enough for the job, and because utilitarian is moral
What a tricky trickster you are. I should have understood that all this discussion of economics was an elaborate exercise in pedagogy. And now you've trapped me! What am I to do!
In other news, it took 1000 agents to arrest the president in south Korea, weeks after a mandate for his arrest was issued.
Tom Goldstein, who is the publisher of SCOTUSblog and a very prominent appellate lawyer who has argued dozens of cases before the SCOTUS, was indicted this afternoon:
Tom Goldstein, a publisher of SCOTUSblog and one of the most experienced U.S. Supreme Court lawyers in the country, was indicted Thursday in Maryland federal court on charges he schemed to evade taxes for years and used funds from his boutique law firm to cover gambling debts.
The indictment — which describes Goldstein as an "ultrahigh-stakes poker player" whose games involved "stakes totaling millions, and even ten of millions of dollars" — alleges that between 2016 and 2022 he carried out a scheme to "evade the assessment of taxes, file false tax returns and fail to pay his tax obligations when they were due."
Goldstein allegedly used millions of dollars in funds from Goldstein & Russell PC — a boutique law firm in Bethesda, Maryland, that he solely owned — to cover gambling debts and other personal debts and falsely understated his gambling winnings by millions of dollars in tax filings, according to the indictment.
This is a pretty shocking story. It's been quite some time since I played regularly in private games, but I have to assume that this guy was a known whale if he was using firm funds to cover gambling debts in games at these stakes.
And we thought the juicy judge's games were only myths made up by Hollywood.
In other news, it's now clear that *the entire increase in prison population in the USA* is fully explained by the closing of asylums.
People that society previously identified as incompatible with life in civil society were released, started breaking the law systematically, and then got interned back in with normal application of the rule of law
Note that the small phase before the catch up in imprisonment, but after the violent crazy were liberated from asylums, was that era in the USA where crime skyrocketed
Tom Goldstein, who is the publisher of SCOTUSblog and a very prominent appellate lawyer who has argued dozens of cases before the SCOTUS, was indicted this afternoon:
This is a pretty shocking story. It's been quite some time since I played regularly in private games, but I have to assume that this guy was a known whale if he was using firm funds to cover gambling debts in games at these stakes.
waaat, i spent countless hours on his blog
People that society previously identified as incompatible with life in civil society were released, started breaking the law systematically, and then got interned back in with normal application of the rule of law
More nonsense. Not everyone in mental hospitals are "violent crazy". Stop smearing people with poor mental health like this, it's very scummy.
More nonsense. Not everyone in mental hospitals are "violent crazy". Stop smearing people with poor mental health like this, it's very scummy.
"after the violent crazy were liberated" doesn't imply every single one who was liberated was a violent, crazy, person. But many were, and that massively increased crime rates until they got caught, found guilty, and sent in prison.
And it was all done by the left of course, which unleashed those violent people upon innocent civilians, only to then lament it was fascist when many of them got caught and arrested.
I'm not all the way there yet, but I think that I am entering a post-political phase of my life, especially if we are talking about domestic policy, and especially if we are talking about Western democracies. With respect to the U.S., I say that not because I think both parties are the same. (They aren't.) I say that not because I believe all politicians are evil or sociopathic. (They aren't.)
I say that mainly for two reasons. First, I think our politics are fundamentally broken in a way that will never be fixed in my lifetime. Governing for the long term is effectively impossible and certainly incompatible with remaining in office. Some amount of public trust--not blind trust, but some trust--is required for good government. For a variety of reasons, only some of which the political class bears responsibility for, I don't believe public trust in government can be restored.
Second, and more fundamentally, I think we have entered an era in which in other forces, mainly technological forces, are much more responsible for shaping the world than our politicians are. As chez has pointed out, our technology and our politics are related in complicated ways. But our technology seems like the priime mover here.
Well if you agree that technology is accelerating fast enough toward a dichotomic future where we either have basically solved material scarcity, or we destroy ourselves with no recourse, then it would actually be wrong to care about the long term, right?
Things like fixing the direction of the debt, or climate change in 2100 become a waste of time and effort. We will either be able to fix everything (and much more than what we even consider possible today) with extreme ease, efforless, or be extinct.
Either case, it's utterly irrelevant to sacrifice present day quality of life for anything 50+ years down the line (society-wise).
It would actually be the one case in history where short termism is the rational, wise, approach.
That + of course doing whatever we can (if anything) to increase the chance of the bright future being the one that happens.
I am not sure how much you believe 50 years from now we are almost sure to have changed forever in one of those 2 irrecognizable ways.
But if you do believe AGI will be here within 2040 (actual AGI, >= than the best human at every single intellectual task), then that dichotomic future is basically guaranteed.
Either case, it's utterly irrelevant to sacrifice present day quality of life for anything 50+ years down the line (society-wise).
A point missed by so many.
All things contributing to quality of life break down to two fundamental elements:
-abundant fresh water;
- cheap clean energy.
Everything else is simply noise and a diversion toward acheiving quality of life for all.
Without those two elements quality of life is impossible.
With those two elements quality of life is not assured, but the path to achieve quality of life for all becomes quite clear.
In other news residents near a large lithium power storage facility near Monterey CA are advised to keep doors and windows as a toxic fire has engulfed 300 MW of lithium batteries.
Lithium batteries != cheap clean energy btw.
Also, a google search "Tesla battery fire" returns MSM news related to the storage facility fire, but Elon Musk is quoted:
To reiterate, the legacy news headlines are false. This fire has nothing to do with Tesla and our Megapacks are operating well.
And this:
Safety concerns fueled a ballot measure last year further down the coast in Morro Bay aimed at blocking Vistra from getting local permits to construct a battery facility near a power plant there. The measure passed in November, but will do little to stop the project, which is instead going through a fast-tracked state permitting process.
"after the violent crazy were liberated" doesn't imply every single one who was liberated was a violent, crazy, person. But many were, and that massively increased crime rates until they got caught, found guilty, and sent in prison.
And it was all done by the left of course, which unleashed those violent people upon innocent civilians, only to then lament it was fascist when many of them got caught and arrested.
Far too simplistic as usual. It doesn’t take much to end up in jail in the US and people being released prematurely from mental hospitals when they were unable to fend for themselves would lead to a range of such behaviours, none of which could be described as violent or crazy.
maybe i wrote society-wise exactly because private incentives to have kids, care for them and so on don't stop existing.
What stops making sense (if you believe that immense technological-driven change is necessarily behind the corner) is working hard to fix long term trends.
Or saving for your pension if you are 23
Well if you agree that technology is accelerating fast enough toward a dichotomic future where we either have basically solved material scarcity, or we destroy ourselves with no recourse, then it would actually be wrong to care about the long term, right?
Things like fixing the direction of the debt, or climate change in 2100 become a waste of time and effort. We will either be able to fix everything (and much more than what we even consider possible today) with extreme ease, efforless, or be ext
There is more to life than solving material scarcity.
ok and? if material scarcity is solved climate change is irrelevant and previously accumulated public debt is irrelevant, do you agree? which political topic that requires long term planning wouldn't be solved if we solve material scarcity?
ok and? if material scarcity is solved climate change is irrelevant and previously accumulated public debt is irrelevant, do you agree? which political topic that requires long term planning wouldn't be solved if we solve material scarcity?
There are ample supplies of essential materials in the world. But without abundant fresh water and clean cheap energy all of it doesn't matter.
In other news, it's now clear that *the entire increase in prison population in the USA* is fully explained by the closing of asylums.
People that society previously identified as incompatible with life in civil society were released, started breaking the law systematically, and then got interned back in with normal application of the rule of law
Note that the small phase before the catch up in imprisonment, but after the violent crazy were liberated from asylums, was that era in the USA where cr
See homelessness
