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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 2nd, 2023

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  • That is completely true and also unlikely to matter.

    I was born 3 decades after the end of WWII. By that point Germany and Austria had gone through great lengths to repudiate the policies of the Nazis. They had paid massive reparations. They had issued numerous official and unofficial apologies. The monuments of the Nazis were torn down in favor of memorials for their victims. That didn’t stop other kids from calling me a Nazi as soon as they found out I spoke German. To this day people are comfortable making Nazi jokes about random Germans (see Oliver Zeidler).

    Similarly, we have evidence that the vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by a small number of repeat offenders. That doesn’t stop the repeated mantra of, “Not all men but always a man.”

    Many people, particularly in Asia, are offended that the Nazis turned the Swastika into a symbol of hatred. Most people are aware that the Nazis stole the symbol but you really can’t wear one without risking a fight, even if you have the little dots in it.

    It doesn’t matter if they should or shouldn’t be assumed to be complicit; they will. People around the world will see the Star of David as a symbol of death and destruction for generations.





  • Mustard will make it better but you don’t need it.
    You won’t get as good an emulsion and it will separate faster. Once you pour it on some salad it will be pretty hard to notice that.

    If someone is at the point in their cooking journey where they’re asking how to make vinaigrette, I keep it as simple as possible. TBH even the pepper isn’t strictly necessary. Many people don’t have pepper grinders and preground pepper doesn’t add much flavor.

    Salt is the only one that I’d say is absolutely necessary.





  • That’s an incredibly frustrating problem.

    I have a fairly technical background. How technical? When you mention Black-Scholes to people you get a variety of responses.
    Most people just say, “WTF are you talking about? Why doesn’t that guy just wipe his feet?”
    Finance-curious people may have looked it up on Wikipedia.
    Actual finance professionals may get excited and talk about, “the Greeks”.
    I’m the kind of nerd who went through the entire derivation from fundamental concepts like the stochastic discount factor and then had to compare the calculated and observed convexity of utility functions to rediscover the equity premium puzzle.

    Many Democrats are happy to listen to me shred the economic “theories” that Trump blathers on about and are very satisfied to see proofs that their numbers don’t actually work in real math. Many of those same people absolutely loose their shit at the implication that Democratic policies are anything less than perfect.

    Don’t get me wrong. Trumps economic and foreign relations policies are absolute monkey turds and I’ll never get tired of throwing them in the toilet, where they belong. At the same time, hypocrisy doesn’t do Democrats any favors.