Rant 1260 / In A Society Where Free Speech Is Truly Allowed, Lies Must Be Allowed To Be Told As Much As The Truth Is.

06th Aug 2020

But we don't really want that, do we? Ergo, we don't really want free speech.

There are few things that really trigger me, but the line "even if I don't do it, someone else would" usually does.

It's an excuse some people, particularly among the successful and wealthy, seem to use as a legit reason.

But... you could say that about pretty much anything that is lucrative and unethical/immoral/illegal, like human/drug trafficking and child prostitution. You don't have to be the guy doing the actual work - you could simply invest in it. You think they don't have a business structure like most legal companies?

So even if you don't invest in child prostitution rings, someone else would, and there probably are many. What's stopping you?

14th Aug 2020

So I was watching some discussion on Youtube where they touched on post-secondary education, and students find it not worth their money to attend nothing but online classes, but from the school's perspective, if they charge anywhere close to what online courses typically cost these days on sites like Udemy, they are going to go broke immediately.

Isn't this going to be similar for work? Like, employers will find that if you're working all day at home, it no longer justifies your current pay. For one, employees are now saving so much time and money by not having to go to the office and back.

Will this translate to general downward trend in salaries which then translates to deflationary pressure?

At the same time, commercial real estate and transport prices will go down, and these too should lead to deflation.

Yet at the same time, because of the low interest rates, loans should increase as people are either taking advantage of them or businesses needing capital for adapting or surviving. This should result in pushing inflation up.

Which will win?

And if Russia's vaccine works, these will still go on, but at a slower pace.

17th Aug 2020

Finished Grim Dawn without any DLC as a conjurer. The ending was... underwhelming, as if they called an incomplete game a finished product. Even the final boss, the Loghorrean, was easy beyond belief; there were hero class monsters which got closer to killing me than it did! To make it even less satisfying as an ending, the victory resulted in a bit of quest reward and congratulations from the NPC - no cut scenes, no special event.

Pretty good game though, as a Diablo clone.

18th Aug 2020

It's a foggy day!

21st Aug 2020

How information can be skewed while still appearing objective:

"California has the highest death rate among the homeless in the US."

This is objectively true, simultaneously painting a bleak picture in the Democrat state.

What isn't mentioned is that California, on top of having a very comfortable climate, is also one of the wealthiest states in the US with some of the highest numbers of homeless shelters and soup kitchens due to its extremely liberal policies, so of course it would attract homeless people from other states, particularly from those that would try to remove them from the streets or even the states entirely. With more than half of all homeless people residing there, naturally it would also have the highest death rate among the homeless in the entire country.

What I take from this is that no media can avoid being biased in some way because to avoid that, every single article would have to explain every minute detail mentioned, sometimes with arguments and counter-arguments if it cannot be objectively explained, like an opinion.

In fact, it would be easier to present all the numerical data instead of writing words.

22nd Aug 2020

Recently started looking at home reno articles after seeing someone's new home. My friend's new place is nice with plenty of personal touches everywhere, so it's different from what's being presented repeatedly in those articles.

What I see are very pretty spacious homes, but nothing beyond that. Where did everything with sentimental value go? Did they simply pop into existence yesterday?

Did they pull a major league Marie Kondo just before moving in? Or did they simply leave everything with their parents?

These articles feel nonsensical tbh. 

 

On top of the lack of identity, they're also a pain in the butt to maintain. These people are young couples moving into HDB flats, ie subsidized government housing, clearly they aren't going to have a domestic helper till some years down the road when they have a baby, unless the writer is also suggesting that everyone can afford such a helper at any time? So if you have leaves on vines growing from pots hanging right under the ceiling forming some kind of veil for half the length of the living room, yes it is going to be absolutely beautiful, but who's keeping them dust-free if they're fake, and who's watering the bloody high pots regularly and making sure they stay healthy if they're real? If you have pebbles in the bathroom, who's keeping them algae-free and making sure nothing grows in the gaps?

 

Yeah if you aren't having guests coming regularly, chances are you aren't going to be motivated to keep all those parts clean. I'd give you three years before your home loses that glow and becomes a complete OCD-trigger trap.