Posts by crimsonorca42

Noah Diaz said:Is GDP actually a meaningful metric when you're in the middle of a war?😁

In my opinion, it’s arguably the most critical factor. I mean, at the end of the day, whoever has the capital has the means to fund their military. If you run out of money, you lose the war pretty quickly. It’s just how things work, I guess. Just watch.

lonetrucker4 said:Look, Faraday and Maxwell were working way after the Holy Inquisition lost its teeth. Plus, they were in the United Kingdom, where that whole Inquisition thing was dead and buried long before they could even touch Newton a century earlier.

But hey, even in the 1800s, those old-school reactionary types still basically banned atheism at universities.

Seriously, you should be embarrassed for throwing out such half-baked arguments.

Now, I happen to know history quite well—specifically where and when Maxwell and Faraday actually lived.

Perhaps you might consider reading the actual post I was referencing before you start handing out moral lectures by pulling my words out of context and twisting them to suit your needs, all in the spirit of that 19th-century philosophy you seem to enjoy so much.

If you had done that, maybe you would have caught the sarcasm in my response.

But I suppose it was more important for you to defend your ideological comrade, whom I was merely quoting, by ignoring and failing to point out his ignorance, opting instead to immediately attack the "class (or what they call 'ideological' now) enemy." 🤔 ☕

Anthony Perez9 said:Funny how there weren't any outspokenly atheist scientists back during the days of the Holy Inquisition and when churches ran everything. ☕
Nowadays, you see fewer and fewer followers of the Blessed Virgin among the top-tier scientists...

I suppose you're suggesting that Faraday and Maxwell really felt the heat from the Holy Inquisition, and maybe even Kepler did too...

Honestly, your claims are so wild they might actually make an FBI interrogator blush.

Charles Ross3 said:You were listening to Marxism because it was a mandatory requirement (even if they called it something else), but you were studying Marxism within an engineering program, not "Engineering Marxism" or "Marxist Mechanical Engineering."

The reality is that under the socialist system, subjects like Marxism or sociology were integrated into almost every major. It's also true that, for the most part, they served as tools for indoctrination. However, people weren't sitting in "Sociology of Mechanical Engineering" or "Marxism for Electrical Engineering"; rather, the idea was that students of engineering, electrical tech, or agriculture needed to grasp the broader social landscape they lived in. Of course, that brings us right back to the question of how much of that was genuine social insight versus pure indoctrination.

But regardless, when we are talking about the hard sciences, these were two entirely separate spheres: you studied your engineering because you had to, and you sat through some Marxism or sociology just to check a box—likely doing the bare minimum to pass—but it existed as a distinct entity. You wouldn't go looking for electrical schematics inside Marx's *Capital* or Engels' *The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State*.

What we are seeing now, with this supposed 'introduction of the Bible into engineering,' is a completely different beast. The Bible, as a collection of texts with diverse origins and eras, can certainly be analyzed through the lens of the humanities—looking at historical context, literary merit, dramatic structure, or its inherent messaging. But it simply cannot serve as the foundation for exact, empirical research. A collection of texts that claims to be dogma and eternal truth cannot be the basis for the hard sciences and rigorous scientific inquiry—which is precisely what an original, technical engineering paper ought to be.

I mean, what follows this: Catholic Dentistry?

We are talking about a single thesis here, wrapped up in some witty attempt at "honesty" by someone like Vučetić, and you've already decided to rename the entire field of Mechanical Engineering based on his whims?! 🤔

And since when did a theologian like Vučetić become an expert in mechanical engineering?

Regarding higher education in general, theology was actually one of the foundational disciplines at Universities when they first emerged, alongside philosophy and law. There wasn't really anything else.

Maybe we should just strike the early history of higher education in Europe from the record altogether, since they mostly just studied dogmas and legal loopholes anyway. It didn't have much to do with actual science. 🤔 😉

Karen Doyle72 said:Because machines don't run on stupidity.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. 👍

It’s probably why the humanities keeps peddling all sorts of nonsense to us—right from the top levels of the Department of Education. 😬

gentlestag15 said:There's zero chance they get in with Canada and Turkey sitting right there.
Those two haven't even greenlit Finland and Sweden yet, let alone bringing Ukraine into the fold.

I suppose Biden will pull the necessary strings if he really has to.

It shouldn't be too hard to lean on the Canadians; after all, the USA isn't some indecisive entity like the EU is. As for the Turks, they probably realize they might be one of the next targets for Russia.
Russia has always had its eyes on Constantinople and access to warm waters. ☕

brightheron64 said:How do you even begin to explain the concept of war to a rational human being?

I feel like the closest comparison might be Dr. Louise Banks from the movie Arrival... if I may paraphrase: The Sanskrit word for "war" (Gavisti): "the desire for more cows."

And that seems to be the pattern throughout all of history; as long as there are powerful fools out there who value "more cows" more than actual human lives, searching for any shred of reason or logic in this wartime madness is simply a futile exercise...

It all starts looking pretty insane once you really dig into the analysis.

But, to get back to the point, it isn't just Putin signing things today:

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/stat...55142590873600

Zelenskyy is signing the request for Ukraine to join NATO.

It’s quite a move, essentially giving Putin the middle finger.🙏

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/stat...23216217538560

"Russia will declare war on Ukraine"

Following the " referendum, they’re apparently going to issue an ultimatum to Ukraine demanding their military withdraw from the occupied territories (Lugandonija, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia). If Ukraine refuses, Russia says they'll officially declare war on Ukraine!

So, was this all just some kind of game until now? Honestly, I can't even wrap my head around how delusional these people are. 😵

I suppose any attempt at having a rational conversation with folks like this is probably just a complete waste of time.

Gregory Ramos3 said:Honestly, looking at the absolute mess of moves they've been making lately, it might actually be a pretty smart move for them to start asking for a little guidance every now and then. ☕

😬

It really is a shame we aren't making better use of our current Secretary's intellectual talents 😬

James Phillips92 said:Are you saying an NGO can criticize whoever they want, but nobody is allowed to question them? That just moves us toward the same centralized, dictatorial mindset—where the NGO, or whoever the NGO is serving, becomes untouchable.

It’s almost as if their dogmas are considered sacred, because questioning them might somehow jeopardize the very existence and purpose of the organization itself! 🙂

And I guess that ultimately results in even higher unemployment rates for the highly specialized experts who end up leading these organizations. 😬

Sandra Harris2 said:I really hope Israel interprets this exactly that way.
☕ In the meantime...

Finland greets Russian tourists with the Ukrainian anthem
. I might just try wishing my noisy Russian neighbors goodnight the same way tonight...

🕺

My little contribution to the "Russian" concert. 👍

I really hope they don't find it too enjoyable. 😁

If what was mentioned in the previous post holds water, then maybe there’s still some hope left for Russia 👍

Lawrence Booth2 said:We have this old saying back home.
If two people tell you that you're drunk,
just lie down and roll around.
But when dozens, maybe even hundreds of people tell you that you're doing a poor job as a moderator... you just keep doing exactly what you were doing.
I suppose there isn't much logic in that, is there?

Well, I guess you just tie the horse where the boss tells you to. A moderator is really just following orders.

Do you think they'll see a drop in Russian tourists this year?

There are 11 candidates running for president this time around. It feels to me like Tomislav Pupovac is just trying to worm his way into the camps of the frontrunners.

Maria Wells14 said:Given everything going down over the last few days, I’m starting to feel like America is sliding straight into an Ochlocracy.

(Ochlocracy—basically mob rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochlocracy

For those who aren't political science nerds—and look, no offense intended, I don't pretend to know anything about nuclear physics, so it's perfectly normal that most people aren't experts in political theory—there's a real difference between this and a true democracy. In a democracy, the government responds to the *demos*—the political body that actually functions through established institutions and reaches conclusions based on actual arguments.

We’re seeing it now with the teacher strikes, we saw it recently with the Madonna drama, and before that with Caesar... you name it. It’s like faith in our institutions and in basic logic has just evaporated. Everything is being driven by raw emotion. The people winning the arguments are the ones who are the loudest and most aggressive, not the ones who actually have a point.
Our institutions are weak—most people don't trust them, which basically makes it impossible for them to do their jobs.
Anyone who’s unhappy with a decision can just rally a mob or find a powerful connection, and the officials will fold because they don't want to deal with a public lynching or the wrath of some big-shot politician.

At its core, society is built on economics—the whole system of how we produce, distribute, and consume stuff.
Right now, the tax share of our GDP is around 47%, though if you factor in the shadow economy, it’s realistically closer to 36%.
The shadow economy is inherently immoral; people dodge their obligations to society while still reaping all the benefits. Then you have the "white" economy—that 47% goes to the budget, but when you add in at least another 19% of business activity that relies on corruption-riddled government contracts, you end up with a situation where only about a third of reported income isn't tied back to state influence.
If you crunch all the numbers, it drops to maybe 25%.
The bottom line is that this 66% within the formal economy is all about distribution.
In a society like this, the most important thing isn't producing goods or services on a free market—it's making sure you're positioned correctly within the distribution chain.

And when institutions are weak, massive corruption sets in. It eats away at the social fabric, and the people with less power band together in groups to try and force their interests through non-institutional pressure.

Sorry for the lecture; I'm just genuinely worried about the country I love.
I remember the grand ideals we held when we were first building this nation, dreaming of creating something successful and truly democratic. We haven't hit that mark, and now it feels like we're drifting even further away from democracy itself.

Question for you guys.
Which way is America heading? Toward true democracy, toward Ochlocracy, or some other kind of social arrangement entirely?

I feel like I’ve spent over twenty years listening to everyone drone on about how we shouldn't suppress our feelings, how vital "emotional intelligence" is, and how we should always "follow our hearts." It eventually paved the way for this era of political correctness, where we're all walking on eggshells just to make sure nobody's feelings get bruised...

And now, somehow, we’re acting surprised that everything is being run by sentimentality. We look around and wonder where common sense went. The thing is, emotions are incredibly easy to manipulate, and I suspect some people are taking full advantage of that. We've reached a point where ignorance is shouting from the rooftops while intelligence stays quiet while the loudmouths get rich.

gentlemoose57 said:Look, it’s rare for politicians to be truly detached from the public. The issue isn't corruption for the sake of being corrupt—it's that the average person isn't part of the "inner circle" getting the perks.

I mean, think about it—how many people would actually turn down a "connection" at a hospital to skip the line, even if it meant taking a bigger health risk? It’s hard to blame someone for being suspicious of corruption when they're practically incentivized to participate in it just to get by.

Bingo. Especially that first point you made. I think I've felt that frustration firsthand myself.

As for the second part, what can I say? Everyone starts shouting the moment someone else cuts in front of them. And it’s not just at the doctor's office. People act outraged when others skip the line, yet they rarely notice themselves doing the exact same thing. To them, it feels perfectly fine. Don't even get me started on people ignoring traffic laws.

I suppose, as a society, maybe we just have expectations that are a bit too high. In everything, really. I think we could all benefit from a little dose of reality. It might be better if we lowered our expectations ourselves before we hit the ground hard.

It feels as though that society lacks a cohesive identity, and in even more extreme cases, I suppose they lack any real sense of character altogether.

Nancy Chavez29 said:Maybe they're calculating things based on the Arabic lunar calendar or something. That whole crew from Luxembourg eats way too much GMO junk, so eventually, it’s gonna hit them...

lol 🙏

dustyraven14 said:No, it’s not that. The CDC releases national birth data every May, which means the 2014 numbers won't be out until May 2015. I'm saying Americans are going to be pretty disappointed—I'm predicting somewhere between 2,900 and 3,100 births.

So, when exactly does this May 2015 arrive?