The Open Thread is a place for open discussion among my readers. Post anything you feel like sharing! From now on, the Open Thread will no longer be monthly. Instead, there will be a new Open Thread whenever it is adequate. The stage is yours. Go ahead!
The latest Open Thread is made ‘sticky’ to improve access.
Please consider throwing a few coins into the tip jar, and buy my books! They are great. Your support is greatly appreciated.
A paraplegic Chad makes the most out of his tough circumstances and is likely to become a Congressman. His story is inspiring.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NoQuSvRHisQ
On the flipside, look at how losers try to tear him down:
https://theslot.jezebel.com/my-dark-journey-into-the-soul-of-a-model-young-republic-1844324325
And of course, some ugly toad “journalist” calls him a racist for standing up and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
https://amp.thepostmillennial.com/pbs-journalist-suggests-that-a-paralyzed-man-standing-up-is-racist/?__twitter_impression=true
Yes, in Clown World cutting off your genitals and dressing like a woman (Caitlin Jenner) is considered “stunning and brave” while a 24-year-old white heterosexual paraplegic running for Congress is called racist for respecting our country.
This blog stiffens my hatred for feminism and far left. I am not into right or far right either.
Gosh…an undergraduate Singaporean couple talk about each other and their relationship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMGQisk_-o
In a nutshell the guy is meek, naive, and an eager-to-please beta. His girlfriend is unattracted to him, disrespectful (says things compromising to his image/rebuffs him), and entitled. He needs to realise that she’s not worth it.
I concur. She is openly advertising that she will monkey branch to a better looking man at the first opportunity.
Also, I’ve observed there seems to be an inverse correlation between the size of a woman’s earrings and the obnoxiousness of her personality.
Unrelated question, but how did the Singaporean accent sound like to you? Also if you’ve heard how Hong Kongers sound when speaking English, any thoughts on how they differ and which sounds more pleasant to your ears?
My experience has been that Hong Kongers tend to take care to enunciate their words properly, and as a result they tend to speak more slowly which can sometimes sound unnatural. There is also a hint of a British accent too, which is understandable given Hong Kong’s history.
Singaporeans tend to just go along with the natural flow of conversation. However, it can be a source of irritation, at least for me, to be constantly hearing “dat” and “dey” when it should be “that” and “they”. Additionally, and it’s hard to explain, but the people in the general region (i.e. Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.) have a distinctive accent that almost sounds Indian.
Of course, I am painting with a broad brush here, so to speak. It is incredibly difficult for Asians to speak English without any accent. The only ones who are successful at it. in my experience. have been the ones who have spoken English on a daily basis since childhood and have since adopted English as their primary language.
By the way, regarding your statement that the guy “needs to realize that she’s not worth it.”
It’s probably safe to say that he knows that she is the best he can do in terms of sleeping with a physically attractive woman (thus her jab at him when she recalled he was asking for many girls’ numbers; she accurately points out to his face that he is a desperate simp). In fact, I would say that he’s punching above his weight with her.
Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if he were aware of her disdain and only sought to keep banging her as long as possible until she monkey branched to a new guy.
Interesting. I’ve heard Singaporeans make fun of the HK accent but the Singaporean accent is probably no better to foreign ears. We’re prone to using mono-syllabic stresses and a sing-song lilt, on top of the problems with enunciation. And to be honest…all Singaporeans are conversant in Singlish but only some are in proper English. When I make the effort to speak proper English I don’t only have my thoughts to process, I also have to think about grammar to counter the influence of Singlish on my psyche. Even if I don’t make mistakes, I think my speech comes out sounding choppier than I would like. Aaron occasionally corrects me for using imprecise speech and likes to tease me as he only learnt English as a 2nd language.
Then there’re people around me who speak neither English nor their mother tongue (Chinese/Malay/Tamil) well. That’s a very sad state of affairs. Lately I’ve also been thinking about the impact of English adoption by those not of the Anglosphere. There’ll probably always be an inferiority complex as a result of this, even if only subconsciously. Unless you grew up in the Anglosphere, you’ll never sound like them. The realistic aim would be to cultivate a relatively neutral, clear and pleasant accent and cadence. Lee Kuan Yew and Khong Yuen Foong (a Singaporean academic specialising in China) are good examples in this regard.
I think Singapore is also suffering from the adverse effects of Western leftism as a result of this heavy use of English. China, Japan and South Korea have a higher chance of preserving their cultures as they live and breathe their own unique and native language. Singapore…not so much (then again, it’s tricky to even define the culture we had in the first place). The leftist lexicon has been imported to such a large degree, although it sometimes takes on a slightly different local flavour to the Western equivalent.
I browse the Yale-NUS student journalism site once in a while to see how far the poison has spread (https://theoctant.org/), and it’s quite the leftist cesspool. I don’t even know why the govt thought it a good idea to create a liberal arts bubble with Yale as the partner, even as certain containment measures are in place to keep it so.
Any of you guys know women who frighten very easily? I’m talking about when they are preoccupied, deep in thought, etc and all you say is “hi” or call there name, or say “excuse me” and they freak out as if they are gonna die? Sometimes I even soften my voice for them and they still flip.
WTF is up with these kind of women? I’ve noticed that it’s only women who do this and only specific women. I wonder if they have been assaulted, sexually or otherwise. Maybe just neurotic?
One time I was walking behind a girl at work and she was on her phone going slow as fuck. Then she just stopped. I said “fuck it” and walked around her. As I passed her she said “you scared me.”. I laughed at her and continued my duties.
Side note: a girl deliberately slowing down when she is aware of your presence signals sexual interest. That’s one of the subtle signals you pick up if you spend hundreds of hours in night clubs.
From an evolutionary perspective, it arguably makes sense that women are more fearful than men. There are studies that show that women are higher in “neuroticism”, which is geek-speak for that. The use of that term in psychology differs somewhat from common parlance.
To tell u the truth the girl I mentioned was quite attractive. I was really bad at picking up on signals back then. I mean this girl was staring at me one day while another guy was talking to her. She was smiling at me the whole time. I thought it was more “alpha” to not smile back. Needless to say, stupid move.
I tried to avoid telling more anti-game stories. But it seems I tell them by accident now. Oh well, I’m working on it.
Not smiling is actually not necessarily a problem. Again, imagine a guy like Lisbon. If he smiled, women would be a lot less sexually attracted to him because that would be incongruent with his killer look.
“I thought it was more “alpha” to not smile back. Needless to say, stupid move.”
Man, do you read lots of PUA literature? I think they fuck you up badly. They ask you to suppress your healthy natural instincts, and in place, instill in you antisocial behaviours.
I didn’t really read much PUA bullshit. But unfortunately it used to permeate society. Making its way into pop culture, men’s magazines etc. I remember reading in Maxim magazine this rigid way of line by line getting a girl. Just some autistic fucking shit. Maxim gave the worst fucking advice. Like Aaron has mentioned, you can hook up with a girl without even talking to her.
Don’t smile, just look like me.
https://ibb.co/g4TvYxd
A genuine serial killer. A predator. Thank you Aaron.
Or smile?
https://ibb.co/rG4qFZd
https://ibb.co/9tQWbL3
Does someone know what happened to moneymademan? When I try to visit the site, I get redirect to a domain-for-sale site.
Assanova recently left a comment on my blog, telling us that he has decided to shut down his blog.
I shut it down. It was too much of a career risk. With how easy it is to get canceled, and having a family to consider, it just wasn’t worth leaving up. There are a few people that know my real identity and where I work, so it just wasn’t worth it. Always get out while you’re ahead. I’ll still be commenting here from time to time.
That’s a shame about Assanova and his MMM site.
But you got to do what’s best for you – not worth getting cancelled based on your blog. Crazy world as you weren’t really saying anything super controversial.
Then again…to some… your blog is alt-far-right, lol.
I hope to see you pop in here and comment, Assanova!
To some The Atlantic is far-right. The problem is that the Overton window has shifted so far to the left that you’re considered far-right if you’re not a loony lefty.
Let assanova do guest posts! ;D
It’s all up to him. I’d be happy to have him as an occasional guest writer.
Wayback Machine did archive his blog, not for the year 2020. Get up there if you want to read some posts.
I can no longer tell if an article is satire. Look at this one:
https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/30/froze-eggs-outdated-10-year-limit-13037350/
The author writes, “I knew that if I froze my eggs at 28 I would have to be ready to use them before I turned 38, or they would be destroyed. But would I be ready before I was 38? It takes time to meet someone you love and want to have a family with, and who wants to have a family with you. There are so many other factors to consider too, like job, finances, and home.”
How can this be real? How can a woman witness that there are fewer and fewer suitors yet still fantasize about Prince Charming?
Another incident was a recent forum post on NeoGAF. Someone made a thread with the title “First New Game Running on [Xbox Series X]”: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/first-new-game-running-on-xsx.1563443/
It’s seemingly about a new game for that game console, but I can’t tell if this is a joke because the first screenshot shows an interracial lesbian anime couple in bed with a watermark that reads, “Captured on Xbox Series X”. It’s probably real but I still can’t wrap my head around it because it makes a lot more sense as a satirical Babylon Bee-style post where someone just slapped that watermark on to make fun of contemporary Western video games with their incessant push of “progressive” issues. Also, recall that one of the games shown during the PlayStation 5 reveal was about transsexual anthropomorphic lizards, so why not make a game about lesbian anime chicks?
Two more utterly bizarre news articles:
https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/30/adult-baby-struggles-find-job-employers-dont-like-wearing-nappies-work-13117422/
https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/11/sex-face-mask-will-reduce-risk-covid-19-advises-charity-13112330/?ico=more_text_links
Regarding the egg freezing: I think it’s great that this movement to extend the 10-year frozen egg deadline is taking place. With more attention comes more scientific research and improvement, and a longer deadline will allow men to have more options to choose from.
Imagine a world in which men know for a fact that their children are really theirs because they paid x amount of money to have their sperm injected into a petri dish with their egg of choice. You could even start cucking women by using IVF and having your girl bear the child.
Eggs from 28-year-olds are shit anyway, you have to freeze them as soon as possible. It’s idiotic in my opinion, they pay 30-40k for this whole thing that you are supposed to get for free and then they complain that having children is “sooo expensive”. It’s only expensive for idiots. And most still fail to get pregnant. It’s the equivalent to the college fee scams, those Americans really know how to rip off idiots. First the college degree, then the egg freezing, then a mortgage for an overpriced house.
Oh, I forgot: soon they will start to tax your farts with carbon dioxide tax, too.
The majority if society are too stupid to understand satire, let alone write it.
“It’s the equivalent to the college fee scams, those Americans really know how to rip off idiots. First the college degree, then the egg freezing, then a mortgage for an overpriced house.”
College fee is indeed rising, not just in the US, but in other countries. Yet why is it a scam? As long as you wisely deliver a good strategy for repaying the debts, choosing the right major, and aside from that, have certain inclination for academic success, you are good to go.
It has become a common sense in the US.
As for mortgage, can you specify on “overpriced”?
Compare median annual household incomes to median mortgage amount in the 1970s and in the current year, and you’ll have your answer. Regarding college, yes it is massively overpriced in the US. The pay-off isn’t really there anymore. It doesn’t matter how you justify it, fact of the matter is that students graduate with debt that may take them years or even decades to pay off. You start post-college life by having to dig yourself out of a hole. It’s a generational problem when there aren’t enough well-paying jobs around anymore.
Re: the diaper/nappies guy, the article says:
“But he says that others within the ABDL community have welcomed him and helped him feel at home.”
This is one of the big problems with the Internet. It used to be that reality would knock some sense into weirdos like this. Like this guy who lost several jobs, friends, and is being mocked regularly. He would have shaped up soon enough.
But now he goes on the Internet and finds others who support him in his weird habits.
Seems like a lot of games keep trying to shove this whole movement down our throats. I get that game makers want to be inclusive, but it seems like they are forgetting that most gamers are kids and teenagers. If my kids grow into one of these alternative lifestyles, then so be it, but I refuse to have it constantly shoved in their faces at every turn at such young ages. Any game that has this stuff is an instant no-buy from me, no matter how good it is.
I have looked into the causes of the rise of education cost. It is not hiring swarms of administrators. It is majorly due to the cut of federal and state subsidies. Why do they reduce their supports for education? I haven’t been able to find out.
Considering universities now one-up another in constructing new facilities, new dorms, new labs, it seems that the expectation of students when they go to college is massive compared to the 1950s. Could it be that their expectations are built on college marketing and propaganda.
Basically, students who wish to go to college in Vietnam will only expect to soak up as much knowledge as possible, and to gain an entry level job. US students, on the other hand, need to consider party scenes, student clubs, foreign school trips, football scenes.
Dorms in US college are almost like a two bed room hotel room, whereas dorms in Vietnam or China include double, triple, or even quadruple levels bed.
Aaron,
“That’s one of the subtle signals you pick up if you spend hundreds of hours in night clubs.”
With your current knowledge and experience with women, what percentage would you say what you learned from women stems from infield experience vs text books?
I learned essentially 0% from PUA literature.
Aaron made a comment here already about crazy headlines.
In a weird one, I saw (ugh) some actress (?) named Bella Thorne joined OnlyFans. Caused some furor. I think she cheated some people by offering nudes but not delivering. Anyhow, she made $2M.
Now the “exploited” (and entitled) “sex workers” of OnlyFans are furious. And Bella Thorne is grovelling for their forgiveness.
Sample story: https://archive.is/weQCE
Only in a clown world does someone have to apologize to hurting the feelings and incomes of “sex workers”.
We truly are pushing a degenerate society and degenerate agenda.
Ever noticed how Hollyweird is pushing girl girl crap?
Charlize Theron has pivoted to being an “action” star (she was in some recent Netflix movie).
And then, Aaron’s crush, Megan Fox is the lead in some action movie where she plays a mercenary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_(2020_film)
Now we are seeing Hollyweird pumping a film called “Ammonite”. Here, apparently, the film is about the lesbian love affair between to womyn rock hunters in the 1800s. WTF? Apparently based on a real life? Fittingly, it premiers on 9/11, lol.
(I wonder if the same people who detract the age differences in Male/Female romance roles will note the same age difference for the actresses in Ammonite.)
Will skip viewing this, regardless.
When did I fawn over Megan Fox? That must have been ten years ago or so.
“And then, Aaron’s crush, Megan Fox…”
Heh heh, Aaron, I was poop-posting / trolling although it wasn’t conveyed well!
I do recall you posting about Megan Fox (or commenting) and saying she was “meh”.
Just interesting that she’s suddenly in a lead film with decent distribution after all these years.
Maybe she’s got some pedophile “Me Too” ace card up her butt to blackmail producers into giving her movies. (After all, she did become a star as a teen, I think…who knows what happened back then…)
I moved a little over a year ago and no longer have my copy of Aaron’s meditation book, but if I remember correctly it says to try not to control your breathing.
I’ve noticed that when I catch myself thinking, my breathing often gets disrupted in that moment.
I’ve also noticed that when I enter that meditative state, I often “forget” to breathe as a result of trying to maintain that state.
Is this normal?
There are schools of thought that teach mindful deliberate breaths. For instance, poker coach Tommy Angelo, who is an advocate of meditation, teaches mindful and intentional breaths. Have you ever experimented with controlled breathing?
I’ve tried controlled breathing but it is not part of my meditative practice. I have tried a lot of different approaches, as a matter of fact.
@Aaron when meditating, do you ever notice that the act of letting the thought go causes a disruption in you breathing pattern?
I can’t say I do. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen, just that I’m not aware of it. However, I can enter a meditative state more or less at will, so all the various crutches in this area are of no use for me anyway.
With all of the craziness happening in the US right now I was reminded of an incident that happened when I was in high school. My friend and I were sitting at the bleachers watching our football team play and about 6 Mexican gangsters approached us. They said, “move, we’re sitting here.”. We told them that we were there first. They said, “this is our spot, move!” Well…..six on two, so we reluctantly moved. Then one said, “show some respect, this isn’t Mexico.”
I had no idea what he meant by that at the time. But here is what meant. In Mexico there is a caste system. The lighter you are, the more entitled. Whites at the top, Indians at the bottom, Mestizos in the middle depending on the shade of brown. They must have loved telling two good looking white boys to beat it. My friend was actually Mexican, but of European heritage (perhaps they knew this). California’s system is the opposite of that of Mexico. The non-whites push the whites around. That’s what he meant.
It’s also a common theme worldwide. Look at the Asians and Africans: lighter skin is preferred while darker skin is shunned.
How important is it to wake up when the sun rises? The sun comes up early where I live. Roughly 5:30am. In order to rise with the sun, I’d have to be in bed rather early. Although maybe I’d get more restful sleep on a different sleep schedule. I’m not sure.
The last time I recall waking up feeling refreshed and ready to face the day was one morning last October-December. Can’t remember the exact day or even which of those months the day happened. Maybe going to bed earlier will help with that?
Getting up at 530 may not be my style, but maybe setting some boundaries for myself like it or not with staying out late would help. On 2-4 nights a week I get off work at 9pm. It’s hard to pass out immediately after driving home, and I’m usually pretty hungry. Might be in a tricky spot. If I could give up nighttime drinking, and therefore, drinking in general, it would help.
Also, trying to get off caffeine. Hopefully that helps. I gave it up 5-6 days ago. I had an order of food delivered to my work and they fucked up my drink order, and gave me a small coke, which I drank. However, I’m basically off it. This will be an adjustment I suppose.
Just wanted to share this excellent thread titled: “What is conservatism and why am I a conservative.”
https://twitter.com/EPoe187/status/1300836114752774145
Copy/pasted it below:
1. What is conservatism and why am I a conservative.
In my view, a conservative is a person who believes (1) in original sin; (2) there are no solutions, only trade offs; and (3) the challenge of order is the greatest, most pressing social challenge.
2. What is original sin? Original sin is not necessarily a religious doctrine, but a belief about the frailness and fallibility of humans. We are flawed. But relative to what? Relative to our imagination. We can imagine all kinds of peaceful, cooperative, utopian societies.
3. But in the real world human nature painfully intrudes. So, in a sense original sin is about the shadow that falls between the ideal and the real, the painful gap between imaginary excellence and fleshy failure. This has crucial consequences for one’s political philosophy.
4. According to the conservative, philosophies such as communism and radical progressivism that are premised on the notion that human nature is almost infinitely malleable and that humans are largely good are doomed to failure. Reject original sin and one rejects reality.
5. Humans are tribal and competitive. Any ideology that posits a world free from competition is fanciful and quite possibly dangerous, because it will attempt to create its beautiful future by disfiguring the present, justifying current pain with future bliss.
6. Why are there no solutions? Solution suggests a problem is solved without trade offs. When one puts a puzzle piece into place to complete a puzzle, there were no alternative options and there are no costs. But in the social world, there are always alternative and costs.
7. A political philosophy that denies trade offs is more propagandistic than it is realistic. It is snake oil. Honest thinkers should admit that there is no perfect world, no perfect solution, no perfect course of action. There are often only bad and slightly worse options.
8. Order. The foundation of society is order. Without order, nothing is secure and all of the blessings of civilization are imperiled. Hobbes put this as pointedly as anybody, calling life in such a state “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
9. When disorder reigns, people will gravitate to authority; they will trade freedom for safety. And society will descend into a dictatorship. The conservative fears this as much as anything. Civilization is as precious as it is precarious. Preservation requires order.
10. That all sounds very abstract. Let’s consider a concrete case. Policing and protesting/rioting. The conservative starts from original sin. Humans can be cruel and exploitative. And some more than others. Education, social work, et cetera, will never eradicate crime.
11. Crime is not caused by poverty; nor is it largely the product of noble people trying to pay their bills. Thus, society will always require some kind of system of laws, enforcement, and punishment. They are necessary for order. Abolish the police is fanciful and dangerous.
12. But the conservative must be honest about this. Police are not a perfect solution. There are trade offs. More policing means more coercion. It means more chances for unjustified arrests, brutality, and even deaths. And that is a real cost of supporting a robust police force.
13. Furthermore, incarceration has real consequences. It costs money; it stunts people’s development; it takes fathers from children. This means that the conservative has to balance the costs of enforcement with the costs of crime. It’s not an easy balance.
14. The same holds for protests and riots. Protests are an important part of a free society. But riots…riots breed chaos and undermine trust. Furthermore, protests that are propelled by naive beliefs and idealism can easily lead to riots.
15. People who believe that a kind of cooperative utopia is possible *see* the status quo as the enemy because it is the force that is thwarting a much better, much more harmonious society. Therefore, they feel more justified looting and rioting than those who are more skeptical.
16. Rioting and signs of chaos and disorder should be ended as quickly as possible. And we should educated people about human nature and the limitations of social progress. People should understand that the status quo is not an intolerable enemy, but an imperfect friend.
17. Ultimately, though, conservatism is an attitude, a desire to preserve order, more than it is a system of dogmas. In different societies, conservatives must promote different ideas and policies. Because the challenges of order depend upon context.
18. There isn’t any one perfect solution to the problem of civilization. What worked in Ancient Greece, we would consider barbaric. And what works for us, Ancient Greeks would have considered hopelessly indulgent and decadent.
19. Before concluding, let me comment about an amusing quip: “Conservatism is the worship of dead radicals.” In a sense, this *is* true. But it’s worth noting that conservatism isn’t opposed to change. Change is inevitable. Instead, conservatism is opposed to bad change.
20. Radicals often promote *rapid* change, and that is what conservatives worry about. Rapid change leads to disorder. And disorder to all kinds of social ailments. Change should be prudent and judicious. The conservative, though, believes very much in progress.
21. It is, in fact, the radical progressive who often denies progress and denigrates civilization for corrupting man. The conservative views things the opposite way: Civilization has helped to guide and channel man’s instincts in productive directions.
22. Civilization is humankind’s greatest achievement, and the conservative wants to help preserve it for the next generation. Disorder is the greatest threat. And disorder is often caused by seductive theories that ignore or deny original sin.
Have you guys seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Jack Nicholson? I’ve never seen it, but I’ve seen parts of it. It’s a very frightening concept that the nuts are running the nut house.
I read the book this movie is based on. Of course, the premise is completely implausible. That could never happen in reality.
I find that Vietnamese speak French better than English. Vietnamese is a language that is rich in both vowels and consonants, as well as diphthongs and consonant clusters. Yet there are at least 2 consonants that do not exist in Vietnamese, but exist in English, those are [θ] like in (thigh) and [ð] like in (this). Exacerbating this difficulty is the fact that English is a stress-timed language. In order to speak well, you have to learn proper intonation.