Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) (@shadowcat_mst) header
Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) (@shadowcat_mst) profile picture

Lead geek at https://teapawt.net/t.co/kx3gRT3pwe; marmite to leftpondians; worst freenode oper of old; troutifier of decency; shouter of well volunteered; sometimes writes perl

Joined February 2010
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I disagree with this man on ... basically everything ... but this is, even so, a pretty solid piece of analysis, and ignoring it just because of the rest of my opinions would be Incorrect.
These guys don't understand each other. Elon Musk is too guileless. He says exactly what he thinks is true with little regard for how others will react. He alienates allies by airing disputes in public instead of settling them behind closed doors. Because he is a sperg engineer who leads companies of sperg engineers, and to do this, you must be 100% truthful and transparent. Donald Trump is too guileful. He says exactly what will advance his plans with little regard for telling people what he actually thinks. He alienates allies by expecting their unconditional support without sharing any aspect of his strategic plans with them. Because he is a New York real estate developer, who thrives on winning negotiations and gaining advantage from unshared knowledge, and to do this, you must be 100% calculating and opaque. Here's what happened. Musk worked super hard, and took great personal risks, to get a head start on balancing the federal budget. He correctly believes that federal spending is an existential risk to the nation. Trump regards those savings as a political asset. And, since he lacks leverage in congress, he took them and traded them for other things he wanted, apparently dealing with border control, the courts, etc... problems which he correctly believes are an existential threat to the nation. He may have concrete plans for balancing the federal budget in the future, but, frustratingly, he won't tell his own team what they are. Trump could have squared this in advance with Musk, in private, but he appears to either have assumed his loyalty (treating an ally like a subordinate), or been unable to persuade him. Likewise, Musk could have raised his complaints in private, but either he was too upset to try, or was not able to reach an agreement when he did. Trump doesn't understand how to deal with spergs. You have to tell them the truth, not expect them to read subtext. They refuse to read subtext. They want to be spoken to honestly. Musk doesn't understand how to deal with Machiavellians. They think of language as a power tool, and think of those who insist on truth as naive. Both men are used to being in charge, and are used to dealing with subordinates, who must cater to their preferred style of communicating. They are both therefore uniquely unsuited to having both the patience and the capability to speak the other's language. The truth is that both the federal budget and the federal bureaucracy are existential threats to America. Maximum priority. Trump's concerns about the "art of the possible" are probably valid, but Musk's sense of urgency should not be dismissed lightly. It is churlish to leverage the superior strengths and talents of people on the autism spectrum while making zero allowances for their unique needs. That said, spergs can be frustratingly dogmatic, even when they aren't the richest and most successful man in the world. A few other things to notice: The democrats have said nothing. That's because there are no democrats. They have no independent intellectuals, only paid schills. A response will not be forthcoming until the wholly organic grassroots PR committees have met, and the wholly grassroots talking heads have been cut a wholly organic grassroots check. There's also a strong case to be made for Team Nothing Ever Happens. Remember that Musk will sometimes shut up when he calms down, and Trump has no problem calling someone the Antichrist one day and working with him the next.
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
4 could farm the midwest by himself 8 could lay 24 sq of shingles in a day 5 will push a Mack Truck out of a ditch on a muddy day 11 and 12 will crush their skulls headbutting each other in disagreement over the pharaceutical bag
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
What in the actual fuck:
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I wonder how different people's view of the FBI would be today if it had been led by somebody who could write[0] marketing copy to this level earlier. (please don't think I *like* the man, but that's not the point of the thought experiment) [0] or delegate to somebody who could
New from the FBI… I can confirm that this morning at JFK Airport, FBI Agents arrested an individual, Daniel Jongyon Park, on charges related to the bombing of the Palm Springs, CA fertility clinic in May. Park is alleged to have provided material support to the fertility clinic bomber by shipping and paying for significant quantities of an explosive precursor. Park had fled to Poland days after the bombing, where @TheJusticeDept @AGPamBondi led extradition efforts after our partners in Poland had detained him. This morning, the suspect was flown back to New York, where our agents arrested him. He will now face justice. Excellent work from @FBILosAngeles @NewYorkFBI @FBIPortland @FBISeattle in the investigation, as well as our local and federal law enforcement partners around the country. Thank you to our partners in Poland for your coordination. Let this be a reminder: If you harm the American people, or aid and abet those who do, you cannot hide. This FBI will work with our partners to pursue you, find you, and bring you to justice — in any corner of the planet.
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This is ... honestly fair, I think.
eric adams is legitimately insane and literally committed treason in exchange for airline miles. he’s also the only nyc mayor in ~50 years to make progress on two of the biggest issues the city has: trash & housing
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You can disagree with this man's politics (and I do! our entire friendship is based on it!) but ... An amazon review said (paraphrased) "this convinced me to hate libertarianism because of all the problems" and, true, he didn't write libertopia, THAT WAS THE POINT. Recommended.
1/ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Better than 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress' " -Amazon I wrote 2 novels about AI, uplifted dogs, markets, guns, lunar colonization #1 won the Prometheus "best novel" award in 2018 #2 won the same award in 2019 amazon.com/gp/product/B005JP… amazon.com/gp/product/B07B52…
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*wince*
It appears that Ukraine just destoyed ~30% or more of Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers. Shouldn’t be hard for Russia to comply with New START Treaty limits now.
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Russia kept using said forces to launch non-nuclear cruise missiles into Ukraine. If they'd kept them as solely a part of their Nuclear Triad, perhaps this argument would hold water. But they didn't, so it doesn't.
Absolute silence while Russia unleashes on Ukrainian civilian centres and supercharges a new offensive for the past week. But the MOMENT Ukraine defends itself, its somehow Kyiv to blame for sabotaging peace talks.
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
Replying to @TheRickWilson
I only have one question. If this current post execution robot-clone Biden has dementia, who coded the robot? X staff?
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
Trump practices being a tough guy in front of the mirror. Meanwhile, this is how you to talk to Russia.
👀 Zelensky on Russians during today's negotiations: "The Russian delegation, as I was told, behaved a little calmer, but the arrogance, you know, is what it is. Let's see, maybe we need a couple more measures and they'll try to behave like people."
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Trump started this insane wave of misinformation that Biden was giving people like $3 to rebuild their homes after hurricanes and then hired someone who doesn’t even know we have hurricanes. sounds about right.
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... dear amazon, when out of morbid curiosity I search for 'male thong' you do not, in fact, need to annotate the listings that show up with "arrives before father's day"
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them: Got a project on Friday. It's changed scope completely 3 times since then. The consultant helping us with this stuff is having increasingly less hair. me: "This is not what I meant when I said I liked dynamic scoping"
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
If apples were fruits. Then the name "apples" wouldn't need to exist. You'd just call them fruits.
If tariffs were taxes. Then the name "tariffs" wouldn't need to exist. You'd just call them taxes.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
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I am not the person to have an opinion on Syria, but that's some well executed oration.
Replying to @KyleWOrton
Asked what Syrians most need right now, Ahmad al-Shara said, "Dignity through work. Peace through purpose." He is very, very good at this, and I can understand both those who are all-in believing he's the man of the hour, and those who see his rhetoric as too good to be true.
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I am ... not at all a fan, let us say ... of M. Greenwald. But honestly I don't a flying fsck about his kinks; my disagreements with him are over his work. (it is very funny that he hit the wrong button and retweeted it, mind, but I still don't care about the contents thereof)
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
On Utah highways, the speed limit is 70 and everyone goes 80. On Pennsylvania highways, the speed limit is 55 and everyone goes 80.
The problem with speed limits is that, by and large, they’re too low. You should be able to average 70 on all the freeways in the DC area, as I do.
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Matt S "unpredictably hypergolic" Trout (mst) retweeted
Replying to @tracewoodgrains
US grading facinates me. Getting a 1 (on a 1-4 scale of passing) on my .uk university courses was set at 85% (over assignments plus exams). Being able to include some questions that are stretch goals where you don't expect even the best students to get all of them is a feature.
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