simey (original) retweeted
Three years on from the Jan. 6 insurrection, a good time for a reminder that insurrections have always looked like they did on Jan 6 and are only farcical until they work.
And that insurrectionists tend to keep trying until they succeed or are stopped.
thebulwark.com/ancient-insur…
simey (original) retweeted
This is actually a fair question.
The short version is: the USA wrote the rules of the international system after WWII in ways that benefit us, including the average American.
Consequently, defending the system is good for Joe Taxpayer.
The long answer is longer! 1/
This quoted post is unavailable.
simey (original) retweeted
Professional armies should take on risk to protect civilians, the IDF has proven its complete disregard to how many civilians are killed to nominally reduce risk to troops. Hiding behind difficulties operating in Gaza ignores the systematic disregard for civilians we are seeing.
The uncomfortable, ongoing truth is that the battlefield geography of Gaza means that any operation in Gaza, however targeted it may be, would turn into what we see unfolding today, Raphael S. Cohen writes. foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/13…
simey (original) retweeted
4/ But we have seen how this centralised decision making in Russia and China has not led to good outcomes. The tension inherent in democratic civil-military relations can be painful but leads to better (and more creative) long-term solutions if all actors have input.
simey (original) retweeted
KOKO: Koko birkin bag. Practical Koko possession bag
RESEARCHER: No, Koko. You can’t have a Birkin bag.
KOKO: Good Birkin good Koko give beautiful Koko deserve gorilla
RESEARCHER: Koko, we simply can’t afford a Birkin bag. It is an unjustifiable expense.
KOKO: jealousy professor
simey (original) retweeted
And it may seem silly to talk about this in terms of comic book movies, but the stories we tell are how we prepare each generation to manage the transitions in our lives.
A popular culture with nothing but 'eternal heroes' is both a stating and creating a society's values. 7/
simey (original) retweeted
wtf i just heard my boyfriend's leitmotif & it's still incorporating elements from his ex's battle theme 😡😡😡
simey (original) retweeted
If Musk had actually done some reading about WWI - as in even my very basic post on the topic (acoup.blog/2021/09/17/collec…), he'd know that in fact casualty ratios in trench warfare did not always favor the defender. Attackers regularly achieved favorable casualty rations...
simey (original) retweeted
The the Spartans basically suck at war, in no small part because they try too hard to be good at it.
There is simply not that much you can do with only a couple thousand guys, no matter how committed they are to hoplite cosplay. 3/
simey (original) retweeted
I've heard many concerns that GPT will fool us and upset our assessment methods. It won't. GPT essays are bad and there are many obvious tells.
The actual problem is that the bot will unleash a torrent of sewage, and we are the ones who have to clean it up.
simey (original) retweeted
On hold to Telstra for an hour to get my son blocked from the broadband for making AI versions of my books where everything's normal except I look like a dirty great big lizard, only for them to tell me I havent been a customer for years. How the fuck am I supposed to know that!
simey (original) retweeted
This is a real cautionary tale about buying 44 billion dollars worth of silly dipshits.
simey (original) retweeted
So I don't want focus on @samagreene in particular here but I've seen the notion that "wars are almost always fought by the disenfranchised, marginalized and the poor on behalf of the powerful" and as a historical matter that position isn't really sustainable. 1/
simey (original) retweeted
It is 8:45PM on Saturday and this is your reminder that neither you nor your students have a 'learning style' because learning styles are not, as far as actual experiment investigation can find, a real thing.
This has been your reminder.
simey (original) retweeted
Last month, Germany introduced a €9 monthly pass for unlimited travel on all buses, trams, subways and regional trains.
A preliminary analysis has found a clear decrease in car congestion, resulting in improved driving times in 23 of 26 cities examined.
newsingermany.com/less-traff…
ALT Two green trams sit side-by-side on a grass tramway. A row of passengers waits to board one of them.
simey (original) retweeted
Australia has become a major non-NATO supplier of military aid to Ukraine. 🇦🇺 is so far from 🇺🇦, yet is one our closest partners! Our nations share a love of freedom and respect for the environment. Your weapons will help us with pest control of our fields. Thank you!
🇺🇦🤝🇦🇺