Zompist Bboard Again

In the spirit of moral ambition that we mentioned in the reading thread, let us share ideas of how things could be better. I propose one to start off: Comprehensive public services: offering public services not just for specific important services like schools and hospitals but for basically everyth...

Those are funny indeed. I chuckled most at 'In order to confuse your enemy, you must first confuse yourself'. Not sure about you, but most of my spending is unavoidable for legal or practical reasons. I can hardly refuse to pay rent this month on the assumption that it will cost less next month beca...

The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution – A Groundbreaking Narrative of Galileo, Newton, and the Birth of Modernity by by David Wootton. Dense, but interesting from a conworlding point of view. That sounds interesting for science and for history. A great book I am readi...

BTW, and this is not at all important, but I'm amused that Zemaitis follows proper citation etiquette in giving the publisher for a book published in 1790 . Like, sure, we're gonna call up that publisher in order to score a copy. Citation etiquette was devised for a paper-based world where you aske...

I tried to write the following message but the only contact method I found was directly to the White House: Hello Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, You have long opposed US interventions abroad in Syria, in Iraq and Iran. As Director of National Intelligence, you now have the power st...

Historical situations don't just repeat. Political factions change, even if they themselves don't realize it. The quarrels of one century are not those of the last. If they did, we could expect President Vance declaring war on the EU around 2040 after his Munich speech in 2025, like Putin declaring...

malloc wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2026 8:34 am Considering all that has happened over the past year, I am surprised the department of agriculture hasn't recommended irrigating crops with energy drinks.

The department of agriculture is more interested under Brooke Rollins by building roads in forests and preventing animal welfare.

malloc wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2026 11:33 am

Raphael wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2026 8:24 am First wasp of the year in the apartment today.

How is that a contradictory feeling? Wasps in your house sound like an obvious bad thing.

It's a potentially disagreeable experience but a sign of biodiversity, essential as that is.

Considering the number of AI conferences on Epstein island, is it possible pedophilic images on genAI is the whole point of gen AI? Not sure about that. While the current crop of LLMs is a current thing, discussions about AI have been around since long before computers could construct images better...

Considering the number of AI conferences on Epstein island, is it possible pedophilic images on genAI is the whole point of gen AI?

Emily wrote: ↑Thu Feb 26, 2026 9:47 pm i didn't mean to write that much, i'm sorry. newsom just really fucking sucks and i wish people who weren't so blinded by their allegiance to the democratic party could see what everyone else who's paying attention sees

Is there any reaosn to apologise for going into detail?

This reminds me, Trump loves to rant and rave about how poorly and dysfunctionally the countries of origin of many migrant to the USA are run, and how bad things look like there. You know why those countries are so poorly run, Donald? You know why things are so bad there? Because countries like tha...

There's a fairly serious argument erupting right now between some people who are, well, I don't know them well enough to call them "friends" of mine, but they're acquaintances with whom I've always gotten along well so far, and who, until now, got along well among each other too. Not plea...

You gave the impression that nobody agreed with you, that your ideas were new and that nobody understood them. I tried to underline that the first of this can be true without the other two. I have written long posts partly defending leftist theorists, even contemporary ones, from ZBBers: https://ve...

Is it just me, or does that pyramid look iike it (1) was printed in 1970, judging by that typeface, and (2) it's either upside-down or balancing precariously on one of its corners? (Or maybe RFK Jr. knows something about Egyptology that I don't???) If it isn't based off the inverted pyramid of the ...

No, the Guardian has opposed it. e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/30/israel-gaza-palestine-genocide . Even the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde3eyzdr63o The Guardian is not considered to be a major mainstream outlet, which is why I like it. It is one of the most rep...

I could have asked this in the English Questions thread over in the Languages forum, but I didn't want to derail that thread into a potentially political discussion, so I'm asking it here instead: Where does the habit of using "Empire" as a proper noun come from? That is, the way some aca...

Well, good for you, you've rediscovered what Noam Chomsky was saying 40 years ago. I don't mean to be terribly hard on you, but sometimes it seems like you think you're the only one who's ever thought about this stuff. I am in this forum. No one else has agreed with me so far. That noone has agreed...

How can a government that I admit is genocidal eb the least worst? All major mainstream Western outlets have published opinions in favor of genocide in Palestine. No, the Guardian has opposed it. e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/30/israel-gaza-palestine-genocide . Even the BB...

No shit. Machado, winner of the Quisling Prize, would also be worse. She promised maximum exploitation of Venezuelan national resources by foreign corporations. Trump has also claimed that this will happen under him. It's so much more blatant than Bush Jr. China might actually be the least bad glob...