As an Englishman, the IRA were fairly critical to the political results. They kept the UK government from running roughshod over the Irish political parties.

The IRA proved they were willing to cross critical lines (bombs aimed at large scale civilian damage on English soil etc). They also demonstrated restraint. They often provided warnings ahead of time. They focused on disruption not casualties. The underlying threat was clear however. If you (UK government) escalate too far, it’s simple to switch from a bomb aimed at destroying a high street of shops, to one aimed at killing a high street of Christmas shoppers.

The end result was that Irish politics stayed in the public eye, and the government took the safer path of negotiating in good faith. No-one was particularly happy with the results, but no-one was excessively unhappy with them either. Often the best you can hope for.

In short, the credible threat is required to keep all parties honest. Most smart governments will see an escalating trail of protests as part of that. Unfortunately, the current US leadership doesn’t seem that smart.

I’m not going to knock her putting them to good use! It’s done well by her so far. 👍

Some places do electricity costs in 30 minute periods. If you know cost will spike when everyone gets home, and the sun sets, then running early makes sense. Other times, holding off for an hour might be more useful.

Just most sources of power. Photovoltaic, wind and hydro aren’t steam based.

Be careful with the taking average mindset. It’s a default human one, and it’s being abused. A lot of media outlets (particularly American right wing) are mouthpieces for the same few groups or people.

Instead, try and look at their biases. Do they have a reason to mislead you. What akin do they have in a particular game. E.g. the BBC is still fairly unbiased on a lot of world news. They are far less unbiased on middle eastern politics now.

It’s an annoyingly complex problem to solve, on the fly.

The issue is that it’s become harder and harder to simply exist in a public space, without it costing money. It’s doubly difficult for isolated men. You can’t make new friends without being somewhere to meet people.

Even when you have some money, it can be hard. I help with a charity geared towards this. I’ve met multiple, otherwise decent, men that found themselves isolated. They could go a week or more without seeing another person in the flesh.

Both my wife’s and my stuffed teddies have now been retired. They now sit, cuddled together, overlooking the bedroom. On a shelf, in pride of place. Their tour of service done, but not forgotten.

As an aspie, we still flirt. We just (sometimes) flirt differently.

Data rot is a serious problem.

I suspect that our time period will end up as an information dark age to future historians.

I can’t see it as anything but white and gold. However, other photos clearly show it is black and blue.

Interestingly, if I’m scrolling past, my brain will sometimes perceive it as black and blue for a fraction of a second. I can normally flip optical illusions at will. This one jams me in the wrong viewing mode.

The 2 go hand in hand. The peaceful element provides cover and public cause support for the more militant elements. They also make it harder to concentrate forces to deal with them.

In turn, the militant add teeth to the peaceful element.

An intelligent government acts early, before the militant elements can come to bear. But for best results both (technically all 3, including political) are required.

Another good example are the Irish troubles. The IRA, while prominent, couldn’t “win”. The marches, and Sinn Fein did.

I saw a talk on the subject about a year back. It was discussing tokamak reactors, from an engineer working on them. The small ones can’t sustain a break even state, but they are affected by the inverse square law to a larger degree. I believe China is about to start/has started construction on a power station sized test reactor.

The pellet sort are a different type. They have different pros and cons.

Some companies are still trying.

I’ve got a ulefone 27T. It’s the phone equivalent of a tank. It also includes thermal and night vision, and underwater video modes. I would also give it good odds of surviving being used as a self defence weapon.

Downside is it’s a relatively unknown Chinese brand.

They are down to 2 main problems now. The main one is (the cost of) scaling up. Fusion reactors will be more effective then bigger they are. The tiny test ones are already past break even.

The other is wall material. Apparently the radiation has an annoying ability to transmute the elements making up the wall of the reactor. They are working out a material that can maintain its bulk mechanical properties, even with random elements appearing in its internal structure.

Unpicking your personal maladaptations helps a lot. This is how therapy and medication are so useful, particularly in tandem.

Two of my big maladaptations were using stress to drive me through, and berating myself when I didn’t do as well as I knew I could. It turns out that this is quite corrosive to your wellbeing, and that wellbeing is the foundation supporting your self driven. I was consuming myself for fuel.

I’ve gotten a lot better at redirecting my irritation. I don’t get mad at myself for not doing the washing up. I get mad at the washing up for existing. It’s a subtle, but powerful difference. I still do both, far too much, but I’m getting better at it.

Lastly, remember to bask in your glories. We tend to forget to enjoy the results of our effort. We just move on, and so don’t get the dopamine hit. Set aside at least 10% of the time taken to bask and feel proud of yourself. To show off and enjoy. Suddenly your brain has a positive reason to power through, rather than just avoiding a negative.

Welcome to the future! 🤢

I initially thought this was a satire comment, on a satire product.

The fact it is real makes something feel fundamentally wrong with the world.

Think of it as a medieval army forming up. An army didn’t generally march straight into battle. They took the time to organise and prepare. It also acted as an opportunity to intimidate your opponents into backing down.

The protests are the army forming up. Connections are made, wills reinforced and tied to a more focused cause. In many cases, the powers that be recognise the danger this represents and back down. When they don’t, that’s when things escalate.

Protests like this are a necessary part of reaching the goal. They are a link in the chain. People don’t want violence. It will be accepted, if required, but not joyously.

Just remember, in a blunt head to head fight, the enemy would be the US military. You would need to either defeat them directly, or break their will. What would it take to cause large scale defections within the US army? Are people willing to pay that price?

Failing that, the slower, less drastic methods must be employed. It’s a war of psychological attrition, not a fist fight.

That is one of the biggest powers of a protest. It lets people know they are not alone. When we know we have backup, we are a lot more willing to act. If enough people act together, even giants fall.

Unfortunately, that’s not the type that counts. It’s the government backed/condoned that matters. The sort that even fox news would struggle to spin. The sort that should cause heads to roll within government organisations.

A few " " “lone wolves” " " can be disavowed, no matter how heinous the act they do. Unless you can tie it unambiguously to the powers that rule.

It’s a fucking shitty situation, but that’s the rules we are stuck working within. To change them, we have to win. To win, we need to play (mostly) within the rules.

Fyi, the same could also apply to left wing “lone wolves”. Without the media, it’s harder to spin, but doable. If they happen to meet up and organise at a march, that’s nothing to do with the march. 😇