Neat, I’ve never heard of those. Unihertz makes one with a projector in it… that’s wild. I’d be hesitant to buy a phone that’s sold on AliExpress though, I’d assume OS support wouldn’t be that great.

You did say “I love meat, let me assure you”. That’s pretty proud.

Fair enough, I can see how you’d read it that way.

How can you be concerned about growing meat consumption in other countries? “Gee I sure hope people don’t act like me, that’d be concerning!”. Rules for thee.

Yep, it’s hypocritical, and I accept that. But it’s still a cause for concern, considering the broader context.

Over the past decades, we’ve seen a global rise in living standards. Especially in countries like China and India, which represent a significant chunk of our global population.

China’s poverty has fallen dramatically over the past decades. The average Chinese person is now much better off than they used to be. If you look at poverty figures, you’ll see a nice little ski-slope: back in 1990, effectively 98 percent of Chinese wereliving below the current poverty line. In 2019, that was down to below 16 percent.

Same thing for India: a dramatic poverty decline since the 1980’s.

If you’re at least somewhat aware of economics, you’ll understand that an increased standard of living also leads to more consumption: people can now afford cars, they can afford to travel, they can afford more food - which includes meat.

China is already the world’s largest meat consumer - but there’s a catch: they’re lagging in per-capita consumption. Experts predict that with increased urbanization and rising income levels, Chinese people are going to eat more and more meat. Because they can finally afford to do so.

Meat consumption is also on the rise in India. While there’s certainly plenty of Indians who don’t eat meat on religious grounds, actually over 70 percent of the population does eat meat.

So, see why I’m worried? Because they’re going down the same path towards overconsumption that we ware. Is it hypocritical to say to a no-longer-impoverished Indian or Chinese person that they shouldn’t want meat, cars or shiny new phones? Yes. But one can also hope that they learn from our mistakes in that regard. Overconsumption is going to have a profound impact on the scale of those two countries.

That’s not to mention the antibiotic crisis where treatment resistant bacteria are developing in animals due to overuse in livestock. Or the development of animal flus like birdflu, corona virus, swine flu, ebola etc etc, which emerge from consuming animals.

Those are certainly things I’m worried about. Especially considering recent history regarding covid. God only knows what meat production is like in some countries, and I shudder to find out. It’s only going to get worse if producers try to fill that increased demand.

You’re doing so much good, why not do the little extra step of going vegan? It’s so easy nowadays. Good for you, good for the planet, good for the animals. There’s no practical downside?

Well, honestly, at some point it gets really tiring to shoulder the burden of basically everything. I’m using a computer to type this, my previous post was on a phone. They both contain lithium, cobalt, coltan and other materials, a lot of which get mined with either exploited workers or outright slave labor. The clothes I’m wearing were probably made by an exploited worker in a sweatshop. And you can keep going on and on and on. There’s really no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism, as any economics professor will point out.

So on some days, I like to enjoy a nice burger. Even if it might not be good for me or the planet.

God yes. I absolutely HATE that phones got slimmer and slimmer while also consuming more battery - which can’t be swapped like the good old days.

I’ve got giant hands. Give me a phone that’s AT LEAST twice as thick with a battery that lasts at least three days.

I’d absolutely carry a large Motorola brick phone style if those were still viable today. They do make retro gimmick phones like it, but you really do need a smartphone for a lot of specific apps.

Meh, I wouldn’t say proud. I’m just not going to change it. If you don’t want to eat meat, don’t.

I’ve got solar panels, I ride a bicycle, don’t fly, don’t have a car, I recycle everything properly, I conserve water, and generally try to consume less whenever possible.

Is meat bad for the planet? Sure. But by and large, I don’t think me eating meat three times a week is going to have much effect. I’m much more concerned about people elsewhere on the planet discovering the joy of meat, like growing consumption in China.

That’s a perfectly valid question. The answer is very interesting:

https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/gallipoli/drip_rifle

Drip (or “pop off”) rifles were self-firing rifles used at Gallipoli to deceive the Turks during the evacuation of December 1915.

Fire was maintained from the trenches after the withdrawal of the last men, by rifles arranged to fire automatically. This was done by a weight being released which pulled the trigger. Two kerosene tins were placed one above the other, the top one full of water and the bottom one with the trigger string attached to it, empty. At the last minute, small holes would be punched in the upper tin; water would trickle into the lower one, and the rifle would fire as soon as the lower tin had become sufficiently heavy.

Another device ran a string, holding back the trigger, through a candle, which slowly burnt down, severed the string, and released the trigger.

TIL there’s vegan slurs. Don’t think I’ve ever been called something specific for being pro-meat. And I do loooooove my meat-based diet, let me assure you. No vegan slur would ever change that.

F/A-18, not F14 :-)

F14’s are the one you see in Top Gun, and Finland has never used them. They’re all in museums already, except for Iran’s clunkers. At least on paper.

There’s this YouTube channel about aviation that I like. The guy’s name is Ruairidh MacVeigh. The last name is obvious, but his first name is apparently pronounced as ‘Rory’. I would not have gotten that spelling correct in a million years.

Edit: oh and another one that I do know to write and pronounce is Siobhan. That one does NOT sound like what you think it does. Definitely look it up if any readers are not familiar with Irish names.

The roommate and friend sound awesome. I’ve been the ‘emotional support normie’ for a few people on the spectrum over the years. Some do appreciate a bit of handholding in certain situations and I’m happy to oblige. And all love having someone to talk to about specific interests, who won’t slow them down or cut them off.

I also LOVE what I like to call ‘random autistic encounters’.

I like movies for example. I see about three per week at my local theatre, always the early, nearly empty showtimes. Movies are a solo activity for me; something I get to enjoy without it sapping my energy.

Turns out, the almost empty showings also tend to attract autistic people as they’re not as taxing. So the past year, I’ve sat next to a few regulars who’ve struck up post-movie conversations with me after they’d seen me a few times. I’m apparently a very welcoming person to talk to.

They know we share at least movies as an interest, so they’ll walk up and start a conversation about that. But after about 10 minutes, we’re talking about stuff ranging from video games to anime, ancient Roman history, board games, obscure 1990’s German railway trivia or whatever else they or I might be into. And after half an hour of chatting with this complete stranger, they’ll casually mention ‘I’m autistic…’

Usually my reply is ‘well duh, that’s obvious’. I’ll explain that I work with autistic people and that I can pretty much spot one on sight by now :D

It’s always fascinating how people think autistic people are quiet or don’t like talking. They’ll happily talk your ear off for an hour straight if you actually engage with them. I’ve met some wildly interesting folks that way.

As to work: we have a very structured workplace with a very set routine, fixed deadlines, that sort of thing. The people we’ve had really thrive in our line of work. As long as the work gets done on time, they get a LOT of freedom in how they do it. We’re very much hands-off management.

We actually actively hire people on the spectrum for our department through a job placement program. We’re such a good fit for them, they really flourish at our company and leave with more confidence. We’re willing to work with their specific challenges, as they’re overall awesome employees.

That’s gotta suck. At least in my job, our company owner has a daughter with severe autism so he’s very understanding of the specific needs of people who work there and are on the spectrum. We do probably accommodate a bit too much in some things, but if it keeps people happy and productive, I don’t see that as a bad thing.

That’s definitely something that I’ve noticed in other colleagues outside of our department - they tend to see us as ‘different’, based on some of the talk I’ve picked up over the years.

We’re generally a more introverted, quiet writing department. Which is a stark contrast to the extroverted, loud sales department. To us, they are quite different as well…

We’re generally on friendly terms between departments, but outside of purely necessary work interactions, neither group would choose to voluntarily hang out with the other outside of work. I usually try to bridge that gap a bit, but that too takes a bit of effort on my part.

Still, it doesn’t really matter if I’m on the spectrum or not. It’s not going to really change my outlook on work or life in general.

Some people definitely can benefit from a diagnosis, even later in life. Especially if it’s the missing ‘piece of the puzzle’ like you mentioned.

For me, the things that might feed into a specific diagnosis also are just… the way I am. It’s not like I’m suddenly going to work on them because now there’s a label attached. They’re the quirks that make me, me.

I grew up in an era where autism basically didn’t exist. You just were a bit - or a lot - weird. And you had to conform or deal with it on your own. Nobody was ‘on the spectrum’ when I attended school. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a lot of adults out there who have missing puzzle pieces.

I can relate.

At work, I’ve worked with a LOT of autistic people. We had about twenty on staff over the years, all over the spectrum.

People always say how working with autistic people can be difficult and that there might be challenges. There’s even training on ‘how to work with autistic people’. But I found quite the opposite - autistic people are a joy to work with for me. We can talk for ages about interesting things, but we can also enjoy a bit of quiet time.

Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert, but I find dealing with the ‘normal’ people at work much more exhausting. Working with the autistic people is a breeze. Most of the things you read about as ‘challenges’ make perfect sense to me. As a result, we run a VERY productive department.

So either I’m autistic, or autistic-adjacent enough to where I don’t see challenges, but just people.

I’m in my early 40’s so a diagnosis wouldn’t really change things for me anyway. But my sister who works as a psychologist basically told me that I’ve got enough traits of it that she wouldn’t be surprised if I was autistic myself.

This has always been a fascinating topic for me, atomic bunkers. A good book on the topic in general is ‘Raven Rock’ by Garrett Graff.

It goes into excellent detail regarding the US government’s overall ‘Continuity Of Government’ planning. The bunkers are a relatively small part of a very broad set of policies. Definitely worth a read.

Personally, I vote in every election. I’m a very well educated, very well informed voter. I know the issues, I know the candidates, I know their track record. Basically, you couldn’t find a more ideal voter. But, I only have one vote.

And so does every illiterate, uninformed, uninterested person who might stumble into a voting booth by accident.

The only thing I CAN do is show up, and hope an idiot with a different view stays home. And even if they vote as well, I’ll at least have the satisfaction of knowing I negated their vote.

I might not always get what I want, but I’ll damn sure show up just in case more of my guys do. Voting is a team effort and I’m doing my part.

Decisions are made by those who show up; it really just comes down to that.

And if the other side is better at getting people to show the fuck up…. You need to make an effort to do the same. Even if it is a far from ideal choice.

Yep, absolutely loved it. Decent story, excellent action, well acted…. If you like action movies, you’ll love this one. Saw it the day it came out because of how much I liked the trailer.

I honestly don’t mind there not being an audience. At least this way you can focus on the question and answers, without people booing, clapping, shouting, etc. An audience is great for a political rally, but for debates like this… I’d rather focus on the actual content.

I’m a biiiiig fan or ranked-choice voting as a concept. It seems like such a nice way to get a more diverse political landscape which isn’t set in stone like the US has right now. It’d certainly give other candidates an actual shot at the position. You simply don’t even SEE third party candidates these days. They’re not in any debate, they never get talked about… After all, why bother when they’re never, ever going to win with the current setup?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranked_voting

You would think that US voters would’ve had enough of this system by now. The only reason third - or fourth, fifth, etc. - parties don’t really work is because people keep voting for the same two… and expecting different results. The classic definition of insanity.

Now, it’s not going to be easy to sway enough people, but doing nothing surely isn’t going to fix things either. It clearly hasn’t to date.