LIMTI
Last night I was able to finally fix my admin UI search functionality. It had been broken for a while. And the answer for why it was broken was disappointingly stupid. I had typoed the MySQL query, writing 'LIMTI' rather than 'LIMIT."
But its fixed now and my life is measurably better. While writing yesterday's post about adulting, I used it to search my original Anthony Bourdain post and replace some now-missing embedded tweets which shared a nice story about a person's meeting of Bourdain. I ended up going to the Internet Archive and snagging screenshots of the tweets to embed in the post.
"Can BRICS Take On The West"
The article itself is not particularly a must-read, but it did remind me of a conversation a few years ago. Coming out of COVID, a family member was lamenting global politics and how they were worried China was about to take the US economy. I had to talk them into understanding that that isn't something that just happens and China, despite it's importance to the US, isn't in a position to just do it.
The press' vilification of both China and Russia as enemies of the US don't do enough to actually explain how things work. And the fact that now, you have this growing alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, as well as now Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, shows truly how powerful the US is politically. On paper, population-wise and according to the news, for oil and other things the US is "dependent" on, this alliance would seem terrifying.
It's undoubtedly something the US cares about politically, but also, there's a reason it isn't headline news - yet.
The expanded BRICS is indeed a diverse bunch. It includes a Marxist-Leninist superpower and a revanchist authoritarian state. It includes the world's biggest democracy as well as Latin America's largest. New members include countries under the U.S. security umbrella and countries under U.S. sanctions. Prospective members could even include NATO countries such as Turkey and global pariahs such as North Korea and Syria.
The West, when it pays attention to BRICS at all, tends to dismiss the grouping as an incoherent grab bag. But there is a common thread, as durable as that behind the Bandung Conference in 1955 that kick-started the global south's efforts to create a brave new world.
Outside of Washington, and the G-7 and the European Union, it is hard to appreciate just how much resentment there is of Western hypocrisy and hegemony, all mortar helping to bond the loose membership of BRICS. That has become especially evident over issues such as the conflict in the Middle East, the hyperweaponization of U.S. sanctions, and the outsized cost for middle-income countries of the dollar's exorbitant privilege.
"It is not a cohesive bloc, but it is a cohesive message, about the desire for an alternate global order, and it is coming from sizable economies," said Asli Aydintasbas of the Brookings Institution.
Election Time, Endorsements, and Washington State Blue
We got our ballots this past weekend and tonight will be the night we fill them out, ahead of me leaving for a work trip. So they are done and counted well ahead of election day. Along with reading the pamphlet Washington State sends out, I always review the endorsements of the Seattle Times and The Stranger.
For those not in Seattle, The Stranger is our local small newspaper. Saying it is Independent is factually correct, but unfair as a comparison to the Seattle Times, which is also independent in that it is not part of any larger news organization such as the Tribune etc. The Seattle Times does trend comparatively conservative to The Stranger's much more liberal leaning.
To be clear, I don't strictly follow either set of endorsements, but I do read them as additional insights as I'm making my decision on how to vote.
When it comes to national elections, Washington is one of the states which is not up for question. When the polls close on election day, the news teams will immediately announce Washington (and presumably, California and Oregon) as Harris states.
Why? As of this morning polls have Harris with a very solid +15 over Trump for Washington, well outside a margin of error.
That said, I am growing to hate the narrative of "These seven states will decide the election." The feeling of voters that their vote doesn't matter here because the outcome is decided is understandable, but also not true. Without those votes, the outcome changes, or could change. It's like saying, "I work on a factory line and my spot isn't the last one in the line, so the car coming off the line isn't something I want to contribute to."
I get the psychology of it, and I get the clickbaity headlines are what the internet is geared towards. But I find it disappointing all the same.
How to Disagree
Found via futilitycloset, I remember reading this essay when he posted it. These days the shine on Paul Graham has definitely worn for me, but I do find this framework for disagreement interesting.
The post on futilitycloset included the following visualtion, which was not part of Graham's original essay:
I Voted!
Wife and I sat down and filled out our ballots tonight. I'll drop them off on the way to work tomorrow morning.
Automated Archives for October, 21st 2024
This post was automatically generated
Articles To Read
The following are articles that I saved today. Substance and quality will vary drastically.
- The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
- The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife
Chess For the Day
Record: 0-0-1
Net Elo Change: 0
Games Played
Blog Posts On This Day
- 1 year ago (1 post)