nvelty

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4 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

I get the feeling electrification of vehicles is going to happen in a geographically similar fashion to the American political divide. EVs work very well in urban areas, but are less ideal for rural use for the reasons you mentioned. There's also the cultural issue of it - working on cars is a classic pastime once you leave the cities and the anti-repair nature of EVs doesn't fit well with this.

4 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

This is a direct result of the (intentionally) punitive nature of vaccine mandates. Broad, heavy-handed actions by the government are the classic spark for societal backlash. A softer approach that focused on positive benefits for having a vax pass versus punishing unvaxxed would probably had better results. Instead, we've pushed (presumably) otherwise law-abiding citizens into using forged documents. This directly undermines the legitimacy of the government - people lose respect for an authority that cannnot enforce its own orders, and these people will be more likely to carry out similar acts of defiance in the future. Considering the political polarization in America, this is not a recipe for success.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

It's interesting to hear you say this, as I hear similar sentiments from friends on the opposite end of the political spectrum from you - though directed at their own leaders (including Trump). It seems everyone is getting rather annoyed at the ineffectiveness of the federal government - I imagine we'll see more political flashpoints at the state level going forward.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

Depends how TEOTWAWKI you wanna get. I think at some point most preppers realize that having a degree of self-sufficiency and a strong community is far better for a collapse scenario than any alternative store of value. I've been splitting the difference between stocks, crypto, and bullion, and I'm looking to buy a home in a smaller community where I hope to try my hand at small scale farming/ homesteading. Ultimately though, having a large number of competent people you can trust with your life is the best thing for any prepper scenario.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

I think there's a disconnect between some of the folks here and the live of the average suburban family. My mother regularly had to drop-off 4 kids at school then pick up groceries for 6 people. You can't do that with a sedan. There'd be a better case against trucks - they're undoubtedly a fashion statement most of the time, but when you need a truck (which is inevitable for someone with a house/land) there's no substitute. It's even more so in rural areas - no one's gonna throw a deer carcass in the trunk of their Tesla.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

This reminds me of a debate that Tucker Carlson was having, wherein he mentioned that, if he were king, he would immediately ban self-driving trucks, reasoning that truck driving is the #1 employer of non-college educated men in the US. I don't think Carlson thinks such a ban would be advisable in the long run, but there's certainly a point to be made that destroying the livelihoods of large swathes of the population is not something to be trifled with. People aren't fungible, truckers don't become software devs overnight, if ever. There's a cultural aspect to it too, which I think UBI will not fix. Take the coal mining industry in Virginia - there are families there that have been miners for generations. At that point it's become a matter of pride and a centerpiece of their culture, not just a source of income. Cash payments from the government cannot replace that. I grew up surrounded by the abandoned mills left after the collapse of the textile industry in the South. Although a few have been converted into lofts and trendy bars, many remain empty and it hollowed out the communities that grew around them. Parents sent their children to the cities to seek other work; when they get there they lost the old support structure of parents, extended family, friends, and Churches. The kids have no friends to rely on, the parents go into nursing homes as they've no one to take care of them, and there is no transfer of culture. These are the issues that conservatism should attempt to address - instead we get wal-mart patriotism, hyper-libertarian off-shoring of jobs, and neocon wars in the name of evangelical democracy.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

>Two years of lockdowns, reckless spending, mandatory vaccinations, extreme media gaslighting. Soon there will be real consequences to these simplistic and heavy-handed authoritarian measures, and they're going to be of much greater significance than covid itself.

I think many people don't realize the levels of resentment growing in the other half of the country. The Marine Corps is about to boot ~10,000 active service members for not getting the shot. [1] The other branches have only slightly better numbers, with the Guard and Reserves far worse. The Oklahoma National Guard has refused to enforce the mandate and is currently in a stand-off with the DoD. [2] This is not a recipe for long term stability.

[1]. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2021...

[2]. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/11/12/oklahoma...

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

Honestly just more transparency regarding them would be fine. Stigma and insults aren't very convincing, especially when the target has a strong community for support. Things like the refusal to shut down travel with China and the about-face on masks early on in the pandemic eroded a lot of people's trust in government. Politicizing the issue didn't help either. I recall reading a report during the early days of the pandemic where the volunteer being interviewed said they had much better receptivity to masks in conservative populations than others. This stopped about the time masks become mandated. Many members of my home community were also early adopters of the vaccine - their support dried up immediately following the series of mandates, with some of them participating in anti-mandate protests. At this point, further stigmatization of unvaxxed will only create more of a bunker mindset. Perhaps it's best for the future of the country we just accept a 100% acceptance rate is not going to happen.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

The big problem is that there's a strong incentive to make UAVs autonomous as doing so would mitigate the risk from jamming to a control signal. Downside is that now we're putting control over weapons into the hands of a (likely) poorly understood amalgamation of algorithms. I'd see this happening with aerial UAVs before the robo-dog, however.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

It depends on the nature of the event and the area you live in. Preppers who plan on "bugging out" are usually concerned with local unrest following the loss of services. They would also (hopefully) already have a destination in mind rather simply going "innawoods". Provided you have a safe community, having a reasonable stockpile of basic supplies and neighbors you can trust, remaining in place is usually a better option. A firearm or two would also be advisable in either case.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

Electronic warfare isn't unbeatable - good operating practice, flexibility, and persistence can still allow communications to get through in a contested spectrum.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

HN seems to forget about this in HAM threads. Obviously the odds of losing internet access suddenly and for extended periods of time seems pretty unlikely in the US, but a few days ago many in Sudan probably thought the same. Radio requires no additional infrastructure between you and the receiver, receivers can be improvised by someone with an undergraduate knowledge of electronics, and HF communications can reach literally across the planet. Yes the internet is superior for the overwhelming majority of use cases, but if it's not available, radio is a very important fallback.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

They may have a right to do so, but given the importance of social media this gives those companies immense power. For right-wing Americans, simply shrugging off blatant targeting like this is politically suicidal. At this point, their only recourse is to use government power to push back, so we shouldn't be surprised if moves like this push red Americans further from libertarianism into more authoritarian views of government. To not do so is untenable.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

In much of red America folks are already living freely like before. Most of the major impacts like job walk-outs and shortages are directly resulting from more heavy-handed covid measures imposed in other states or by the federal government.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

Massed conventional armor didn't fare too well in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. China has a large amount of long-range fires and has invested heavily in UAVs - these were the decisive things for Azerbaijan. Hopefully their planners have been studying that conflict and adjusting accordingly.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

If China can take out CSGs with pretty much no effective counter measures, will the US be willing to send carriers to support Taiwan during/after a Chinese invasion? It's all a game of brinkmanship - might be time for US/China to dig out the old Cold War doctrines on how to win a conventional war without winning so hard the other side feels the need to start slinging nukes.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

Stealth will always be important - it's just a numbers game to try and optimize RCS vs an opponent's radar systems. The big thing going forward will be creating resilient networks of shooters/sensors. This is where drones will make their money - spotting stuff via camera or radar for other manned planes, SAMs, or artillery.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

During the more conventional phase of the 1st Chechen War, the Chechens made good use of hastily dug zig-zag trenches to limit the effects of Russian artillery and air support. The real revolution now is the proliferation of precision weapons and the use of drones to enable targeting for supporting fires. The trench still matters, but now camouflage and deception is equally important to prevent accurate targeting of a position. The marines did some testing in a drone-saturated environment and had to reshuffle their tactical doctrine to put a much higher emphasis on immediately camouflaging their position.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

>Gun owners are substantially more likely to die of gun violence than non-gun owners.

I'd imagine that people living in areas more prone to gun violence are also more likely to arm themselves.

>the cop's advice to someone facing substantial psychological stress was to "get a gun."

I don't think it's the worst advice, probably could have been delivered with more tact. Having the means of defense gives one agency and can be reassuring. Instead of lying awake hoping no one breaks in, you now focus on how you'd most effectively detect and stop someone breaking in - you're now a player instead of a victim. That said, responsible gun ownership requires knowledge and training, so probably not the best time to suggest gun ownership for the author.

5 ปีที่แล้วdiscuss

The real advantage of HAM radio is that you own all the associated infrastructure. Everything you need to send a message across the planet can be packed up and carried with you. The same cannot be said of the satellite - though it's certainly a easier option in most cases.