Miscellaneous Discussion Thread
Speaking of interesting off the wall stuff, been watching this lately. It has some flaws, but worth watching.
Quote: Marcusclark66Quote: jjjooogggQuote: Marcusclark66Quote: jjjooogggHundreds of chinese died building the United States transnational railroad.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/transcontinental-railroad-chinese-immigrants
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But no matter what they were paid or no matter what the conditions were the question is. Were they slaves or did they voluntarily sign on and enter into their own decision what to do with their life and their careers?
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They arent complaining. They volunteered. They want to be remembered.
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Every once in a while we do on my end. Instead of getting PHO or something else Southeast Asian, we go get take out from the Chinese restaurant on the local level, fried rice and egg foo young or something . So kind of patronizing their ancestors, no?
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Okay
Quote: Wellbushas far as i'm aware, bruce lee was primarily an actor. his martial arts skills, whilst good, may NOT have allowed him to beat ANYBODY.
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100% 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆
from the linked ESPN article:
"Contemporary fighters, no doubt overawed by a man they consider the progenitor of their vocations, speak of Lee worshipfully. In 2014, Conor McGregor insisted that Lee would be a world champion in the UFC. And before his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, McGregor cited Lee's philosophy as an inspiration for his crossover attempt into boxing. "That's what a true martial artist can do -- they can adapt under any circumstance," McGregor said. "Bruce Lee said, 'Be like water.' When water enters a cup, it becomes the cup."
And fighters who think of themselves as Lee's fellow travelers aren't limited to MMA. In a 1982 Playboy interview, Sugar Ray Leonard suggested he perfected his jab by watching Lee. And Manny Pacquiao, asked by The New York Times to describe his fighting style, said simply, "Like Bruce Lee."
Polly says everybody he talked to who saw Lee spar or fight rendered the same verdict: He was “very, very, very good.”
Polly listed the reasons why: Lee was a “genius at body movement” who could master any martial arts style. He could read his opponents and know when and how they were going to attack, seemingly before they even moved. And he had otherworldly quickness; Polly says Lee’s body was like “one giant fast-twitch muscle.”
“He fought a lot. He liked to fight. It made him happy,” Polly says.
Lee would often greet other martial artists and street brawlers with the same invitation: “Hit me as hard as you can with either hand whenever you are ready,” Polly writes. He would then brush away their punches “as easily as you would a baby” and counter with strikes that would stop inches away from their target.
The main account of Lee's fight against Noichi Yakachi comes from Jesse Glover's book "Bruce Lee: Between Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do." Glover, who died in 2012, was Lee's first student and later a highly respected martial artist. In Glover's description of the fight, Lee hit Noichi with a double punch that "lifted the man completely off the floor and sent him flying 6 feet through the air."
from the linked CNN article:
Polly says everybody he talked to who saw Lee spar or fight rendered the same verdict: He was “very, very, very good.”
Polly listed the reasons why: Lee was a “genius at body movement” who could master any martial arts style. He could read his opponents and know when and how they were going to attack, seemingly before they even moved. And he had otherworldly quickness; Polly says Lee’s body was like “one giant fast-twitch muscle.”
“He fought a lot. He liked to fight. It made him happy,” Polly says.
Sometimes Lee didn’t hold back. When a Japanese karate expert challenged him, Lee knocked the man out in 11 seconds."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/07/us/bruce-lee-myth-vs-reality/index.html
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/29266542/could-bruce-lee-win-real-fight
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Note the use of nunchucks in lieu of the traditional paddle
table tennis match
Quote: lilredrooster___________
North Korean Supermen flex muscles - pretty amazing stuff - don't think it's fake - source of pride to that country along with nuclear weapons
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quote from Chong Li________________𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙__________𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠
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Quote: OnceDearIf MDawg or his #1 fan
My main man.
really great products - of course, just IMO_________anyway:
Vicks Nyquil___________will beat my cold and allergy symptoms overnight and many times well into the next day - of course, it's not a cure - but still - do feel groggy the next day - but that's a small price to pay
Tums_____________for me, just about always does the trick when the belly acts up
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question for the very knowledgeable computer guys on this site
yesterday, I was spammed by text on my cell from a real estate co. who knew my name and address
I haven't had any contact with any real estate co. for a very long time and my cell and # is fairly new
how in the world did they get my cell # which is unpublished?
I was also spammed by an old sportsbook I used on my new cell # and I have no idea how they could have gotten my # as I haven't used them in about 10 years
thanks
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Well hey we need some stats on post per year of membership.Quote: SOOPOOI can’t wait for Axel’s next post. It will be 20,000! I feel like I post way too much, like all the time! And I’m still not in the top 10!
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Ed Collins ?
I just closed the gap by 2 !
Posts Made: 8,168 View posts made by SOOPOO
Posts Made: 3,548 View posts made by JohnnyQ
If I post 2 today and 4 tomorrow and then 8 and then 16 and then 32..... I will catch up in no time !
I may have gotten that yesterday too, but I would have to look at the details - my cell phone is upstairs and I don't want to risk the ire of my wife if I accidently wake her up while I look for it.Quote: lilredroosteryesterday, I was spammed by text on my cell from a real estate co. who knew my name and address
I haven't had any contact with any real estate co. for a very long time and my cell and # is fairly new
Quote: JohnnyQWell hey we need some stats on post per year of membership.Quote: SOOPOOI can’t wait for Axel’s next post. It will be 20,000! I feel like I post way too much, like all the time! And I’m still not in the top 10!
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Ed Collins ?
I just closed the gap by 2 !
Posts Made: 8,168 View posts made by SOOPOO
Posts Made: 3,548 View posts made by JohnnyQ
If I post 2 today and 4 tomorrow and then 8 and then 16 and then 32..... I will catch up in no time !
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If my posts were instead a reasonable length, I would have 50,000 posts by now and all of you could forget about ever catching me. JK
Quote: Mission146Quote: JohnnyQWell hey we need some stats on post per year of membership.Quote: SOOPOOI can’t wait for Axel’s next post. It will be 20,000! I feel like I post way too much, like all the time! And I’m still not in the top 10!
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Ed Collins ?
I just closed the gap by 2 !
Posts Made: 8,168 View posts made by SOOPOO
Posts Made: 3,548 View posts made by JohnnyQ
If I post 2 today and 4 tomorrow and then 8 and then 16 and then 32..... I will catch up in no time !
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If my posts were instead a reasonable length, I would have 50,000 posts by now and all of you could forget about ever catching me. JK
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I thought greenposts didn't count.
Quote: Dieter
I thought greenposts didn't count.
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Green posts do count, but moderators are ineligible for the Top Posters List. Unless a moderator resigns - clever broken field running by Mission. :)
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Change of subject:
One of my nieces has been engaged to be married for over a year and was planning a wedding in January, and her fiancee made a post on Facebook this week announcing that he was breaking off the engagement. And that's how my niece found out - she read it on facebook. Her fiancee didn't have the courtesy to tell her directly. No infidelity involved, no acrimonious arguement. Just second thoughts.
Quote: gordonm888No infidelity involved, no acrimonious arguement. Just second thoughts.
That might be what he said. I’ll bet you a stout or porter that you find out differently.
Quote: gordonm888And that's how my niece found out - she read it on facebook. Her fiancee didn't have the courtesy to tell her directly.
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If she finds this to be inappropriate behaviour, this is a better time to find out than in February.
Quote: gordonm888Quote: Dieter
I thought greenposts didn't count.
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Green posts do count, but moderators are ineligible for the Top Posters List. Unless a moderator resigns - clever broken field running by Mission. :)
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Change of subject:
One of my nieces has been engaged to be married for over a year and was planning a wedding in January, and her fiancee made a post on Facebook this week announcing that he was breaking off the engagement. And that's how my niece found out - she read it on facebook. Her fiancee didn't have the courtesy to tell her directly. No infidelity involved, no acrimonious arguement. Just second thoughts.
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I'm actually not sure when or why that was changed. Mods used to be included on the list.
Quote: Mission146I'm actually not sure when or why that was changed. Mods used to be included on the list.
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It probably acts to subtly discourage abuse for rankings schemes.
Some greens have 14+ kiloposts; I expect someone noticed that 4 or 5 slots on the rankings tote were going to be green forever and valued the blue entries more.
Quote:A Virginia woman sold $31.8 million worth of counterfeit coupons to thrifty shoppers and used the funds from her racket for high-end home renovations and vacations, according to new information released by the FBI.
Lori Ann Talens, 41, was sentenced to 12 years in prison last month after pleading guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, and health care fraud in April. Her husband, 43-year-old Pacifico Talens Jr., supported the scheme and was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison.
The "criminal couponer" used her graphic design skills to manipulate barcodes and create coupons for almost any store and any product, the FBI said.
With a background in marketing, she was then able to sell the coupons through social media groups for coupon enthusiasts. Talens shielded herself from authorities by using encrypted communication services to deal with her customers and by using cryptocurrencies for payments.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/virginia-beach-criminal-couponers-bilked-stores-out-of-31-8-million-funded-lavish-lifestyle-with-proceeds
used car prices are way up because of a shortage of new cars due to short supplies in computer chips which has hobbled manufacturing
some highlights of the article re a used car auction:
"As a new car, the Civic would have had a sticker price of around $21,000. But within seconds at the wholesale auction, the two-year-old model, with 4,000 miles, sold for $27,200.
Soon after, a Nissan Rogue fetched what it would have cost new in 2018. A three-year old Toyota Camry with large dents and scratches on its hood sold for $14,200, nearly twice what it would have brought just a few years ago. And a 2015 Kia Sorento sold for $12,600, a staggering amount for a six-year-old car with 83,000 miles."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/28/used-car-prices-chip-shortage/
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Quote: lilredrooster__________
used car prices are way up because of a shortage of new cars due to short supplies in computer chips which has hobbled manufacturing
some highlights of the article re a used car auction:
"As a new car, the Civic would have had a sticker price of around $21,000. But within seconds at the wholesale auction, the two-year-old model, with 4,000 miles, sold for $27,200.
Soon after, a Nissan Rogue fetched what it would have cost new in 2018. A three-year old Toyota Camry with large dents and scratches on its hood sold for $14,200, nearly twice what it would have brought just a few years ago. And a 2015 Kia Sorento sold for $12,600, a staggering amount for a six-year-old car with 83,000 miles."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/28/used-car-prices-chip-shortage/
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I plan on selling my wife's car in about two weeks. It is a lease that is over in March but I don't want to ship it to Florida. I am anticipating making about $5k by selling the leased car.
Central Park Tower - a residential building in Manhattan, is the 2nd tallest building in NYC, the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere
a unit on the 109th floor sold in October for just under $48 million
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Quote: DocHow much sway do you get on the 109th floor?
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If you're dropping a cool $48 million for an apartment, I think you've got a fair bit of sway.
The building is constructed with tuned mass dampers, however.
Quote: DocHow much sway do you get on the 109th floor?
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from the article:
There’s also “wind sway”. A 1,000ft building may sway several inches on a day with normal winds. On days with 50mph wind, such a tower may move approximately six inches. In the rare event of 100mph gusts, this height structure could move up to two feet, the New York Times reported.
Chicago’s Willis Tower, with a roof height of 1,450ft, has an average sway of six inches from its “true center”, but is designed to move a maximum of three feet."
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/feb/07/supertall-skyscraper-new-york-432-park-avenue-rich
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We found out that day that the building protocol was that on Sabbath, even if only one elevator is working, it must stop on every floor.
Quote: lilredrooster__________
used car prices are way up because of a shortage of new cars due to short supplies in computer chips which has hobbled manufacturing
some highlights of the article re a used car auction:
"As a new car, the Civic would have had a sticker price of around $21,000. But within seconds at the wholesale auction, the two-year-old model, with 4,000 miles, sold for $27,200.
Soon after, a Nissan Rogue fetched what it would have cost new in 2018. A three-year old Toyota Camry with large dents and scratches on its hood sold for $14,200, nearly twice what it would have brought just a few years ago. And a 2015 Kia Sorento sold for $12,600, a staggering amount for a six-year-old car with 83,000 miles."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/28/used-car-prices-chip-shortage/
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The cargo vans are all gone. I considered buying a passenger van. After my HVAC trailer was stolen and recovered, I'm considered a van. Most of the stuff inside can't be sold on ebay. And the few left are not worth much. No winners.
This causes pretty much all the cars that now go to auction to be the worst of the worst.
I heard some complaining that trash pickup won't be happening and it's all a racket to fine businesses when the trash pickup doesn't happen. Is $85K/yr really enough to live on in NYC, because the trash pickup men help wanted signs should be up real soon. I'm told that's a laughably low sum of money and there will be no takers.
Quote: lilredrooster__________
Central Park Tower - a residential building in Manhattan, is the 2nd tallest building in NYC, the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere
a unit on the 109th floor sold in October for just under $48 million
I wonder what their maintenance assessment fees are?
I'm guessing at least $50K per month
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Essentially there are no windows or natural lighting planned in the residential rooms, fake windows/lighting and entirely mechanical ventilation. The plans were designed by a hobbyist architect who has done a couple other buildings including another mostly windowless student housing building in Michigan, a 97 year old billionaire partner of Buffett, Charles Munger, who donated 200 million to the 1.5 billion project under the stipulation no details could be changed from his plan. The state’s building allows universities to have their own approval for building without having to meet outside approval/inspections from my understanding which would exempt them from typical state building requirements. An architect on a design committee for the University resigned in protest and his scathing assessment of the project was published in an LA Times Op-Ed.
Quote: mcallister3200Anyone else fascinated by this controversial “Munger Hall” dormitory to be built to house 4,500 students at Wiz’s alma mater, UC-Santa Barbara?
Essentially there are no windows or natural lighting planned in the residential rooms, fake windows/lighting and entirely mechanical ventilation. The plans were designed by a hobbyist architect who has done a couple other buildings including another mostly windowless student housing building in Michigan, a 97 year old billionaire partner of Buffett, Charles Munger, who donated 200 million to the 1.5 billion project under the stipulation no details could be changed from his plan. The state’s building allows universities to have their own approval for building without having to meet outside approval/inspections from my understanding which would exempt them from typical state building requirements. An architect on a design committee for the University resigned in protest and his scathing assessment of the project was published in an LA Times Op-Ed.
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It look like the LA Times is paywalled, which is unfortunate, because it's only rarely worth reading for free. I found this:
https://abc7.com/ucsb-dorm-munger-hall-windowless-dorms-charlie/11183852/
From the article:
Quote:UCSB, like other universities, is facing a housing crisis. The Daily Nexus reported in August that UCSB ran out of spaces in university housing and had a waitlist of over 1,000 students who were searching for a place to live.
"One of the reasons, and there are many, for the project is to address the University's substantive housing needs," Banvard said. "Good and affordable housing for students in a very competitive housing market."
Well, there you go. You have a waiting list of 1,000 students, so you get what you get. The architect can resign for whatever reason he wants to, but when he donates 200 million dollars to a project, then he can do so with the stipulation that all rooms have floor to ceiling windows, if he wants.
If you don't want to live in the dorm, then just don't go to school there.
I really don't see the problem, other than occupancy/points of exit, but apparently the status makes that a non-issue. I actually had to Google an image of my old dorm building to remember if I had a window, or not. I did, fairly large one, actually.
Quote: Mission146
I really don't see the problem, other than occupancy/points of exit, but apparently the status makes that a non-issue. I actually had to Google an image of my old dorm building to remember if I had a window, or not. I did, fairly large one, actually.
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I just Googled my dorm. It looks much more vast than I remember.
Quote: DRichI just Googled my dorm. It looks much more vast than I remember.
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Just curious — what does your wife say about your having lived in the women’s dormitory?
Quote: DocQuote: DRichI just Googled my dorm. It looks much more vast than I remember.
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Just curious — what does your wife say about your having lived in the women’s dormitory?
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Unfortunately, it was coed when I was there.
Quote: Mission146Quote: mcallister3200Anyone else fascinated by this controversial “Munger Hall” dormitory to be built to house 4,500 students at Wiz’s alma mater, UC-Santa Barbara?
Essentially there are no windows or natural lighting planned in the residential rooms, fake windows/lighting and entirely mechanical ventilation. The plans were designed by a hobbyist architect who has done a couple other buildings including another mostly windowless student housing building in Michigan, a 97 year old billionaire partner of Buffett, Charles Munger, who donated 200 million to the 1.5 billion project under the stipulation no details could be changed from his plan. The state’s building allows universities to have their own approval for building without having to meet outside approval/inspections from my understanding which would exempt them from typical state building requirements. An architect on a design committee for the University resigned in protest and his scathing assessment of the project was published in an LA Times Op-Ed.
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It look like the LA Times is paywalled, which is unfortunate, because it's only rarely worth reading for free. I found this:
https://abc7.com/ucsb-dorm-munger-hall-windowless-dorms-charlie/11183852/
From the article:Quote:UCSB, like other universities, is facing a housing crisis. The Daily Nexus reported in August that UCSB ran out of spaces in university housing and had a waitlist of over 1,000 students who were searching for a place to live.
"One of the reasons, and there are many, for the project is to address the University's substantive housing needs," Banvard said. "Good and affordable housing for students in a very competitive housing market."
Well, there you go. You have a waiting list of 1,000 students, so you get what you get. The architect can resign for whatever reason he wants to, but when he donates 200 million dollars to a project, then he can do so with the stipulation that all rooms have floor to ceiling windows, if he wants.
If you don't want to live in the dorm, then just don't go to school there.
I really don't see the problem, other than occupancy/points of exit, but apparently the status makes that a non-issue. I actually had to Google an image of my old dorm building to remember if I had a window, or not. I did, fairly large one, actually.
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My writing can be jumbled and unclear, it was the professional architect sitting on the review board who resigned, not the billionaire hobbyist (who did consult architects) that designed and donated towards it.
The major potential problem I see with it is the no natural light and the known correlation with mental health/depression there, I have little doubt that it leads to a non zero number increase in suicides over a more “normal” design. In an era where suicides among young people have already increased substantially often attributed to social media use/abuse and suicide is the #2 cause of death among college students, I think intentionally and abnormally restricting access to natural light is playing with fire, they are actively and willingly increasing the risk there.
The dude’s donation is also less than 1/8th the cost of the project, proportionally you wouldn’t think they’d be unable to do without it if it would mean a more reasonable plan.
Quote: DRich
Unfortunately, it was coed when I was there.
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Why is that unfortunate? My dormitory was also Co-Ed and European females don't see public toplessness as that big of a deal...there were also communal bathrooms that were accessed via the hallways, so yeah, that was pretty awesome.
I didn't go out of my way, or anything...the young women would just be strolling around, from time-to-time, with their towels only around their waists.
I should also mention that I was a college-aged male at that time and do not have any interest in seeing females of traditional college age topless at my current age.
Quote: mcallister3200
My writing can be jumbled and unclear, it was the professional architect sitting on the review board who resigned, not the billionaire hobbyist (who did consult architects) that designed and donated towards it.
The major potential problem I see with it is the no natural light and the known correlation with mental health/depression there, I have little doubt that it leads to a non zero number increase in suicides over a more “normal” design. In an era where suicides among young people have already increased substantially often attributed to social media use/abuse and suicide is the #2 cause of death among college students, I think intentionally and abnormally restricting access to natural light is playing with fire, they are actively and willingly increasing the risk there.
The dude’s donation is also less than 1/8th the cost of the project, proportionally you wouldn’t think they’d be unable to do without it if it would mean a more reasonable plan.
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I understood your writing just fine. The point that I was making was that he's free to resign, but does he think that his resignation is going to change the mind of the guy who shelled out the 200 million dollar donation? I seriously doubt that the architect on the review board is the only architect that can make such a building happen, so his resignation, at worst, is a minor inconvenience.
I understand the potential problem that you see with it and tend to agree with your point as to why such a design might be less than ideal. That being said, nobody is being forced to live there, so they can just go to a different University.
I don't know where the other donations came from, but the article (and your initial post) would lead me to believe that the school is contractually obligated to situate the dorm rooms in such a way, so that falls upon the school for agreeing to such a thing. The school did not have to accept the donation with that caveat, or at all and people do not have to attend the school if they don't want to...so while I agree with you on the natural lighting thing (or have no reason to offer meaningful disagreement) I still don't see the problem.
A guy fresh out of college with loans to pay off saw an ad from the nearby Six Flags park, that for $150 a year, you got a free park pass every day with two free meals a day. It was mostly fast food, but he did it for 7 years saving multi-thousands of dollars.
Quote: rxwineI guess this was an ap move, if you can survive it.
A guy fresh out of college with loans to pay off saw an ad from the nearby Six Flags park, that for $150 a year, you got a free park pass every day with two free meals a day. It was mostly fast food, but he did it for 7 years saving multi-thousands of dollars.
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Did he have to pay for parking every day, if so, how much?
Quote: Mission146Quote: rxwineI guess this was an ap move, if you can survive it.
A guy fresh out of college with loans to pay off saw an ad from the nearby Six Flags park, that for $150 a year, you got a free park pass every day with two free meals a day. It was mostly fast food, but he did it for 7 years saving multi-thousands of dollars.
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Did he have to pay for parking every day, if so, how much?
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Didn't say. Sounded like he was close by. Maybe he rode a bicycle.
Quote: gordonm888I wonder how much you save in construction costs by eliminating hundreds of windows? Savings on heat probably don't amount to much in UC_ Santa Barbara.
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I guess you could let everyone look outside through closed circuit cameras. At least nowadays it could be in HD.
