#amhist

[kontextmaschine]

As of today, October 27, 2024, we are now as far from Ronald Reagan's presidency as his was from FDR's

[hamletthedane]

[utilitymonstermash]

“Since 1977, U.S. states have passed laws steadily raising the age for which a child must ride in a car safety seat. These laws significantly raise the cost of having a third child, as many regular-sized cars cannot fit three child seats in the back. Using census data and state-year variation in laws, we estimate that when women have two children of ages requiring mandated car seats, they have a lower annual probability of giving birth by 0.73 percentage points. Consistent with a causal channel, this effect is limited to third child births, is concentrated in households with access to a car, and is larger when a male is present (when both front seats are likely to be occupied). We estimate that these laws prevented only 57 car crash fatalities of children nationwide in 2017. Simultaneously, they led to a permanent reduction of approximately 8,000 births in the same year, and 145,000 fewer births since 1980, with 90% of this decline being since 2000.”

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

If Star Wars really wanted to go meta with Lucas's idea of Palpatine as Nixon, they could've explained Somehow Palpatine Returned in Rise of Skywalker with exactly eighteen and a half minutes of deleted scenes showing how he came back

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

who are you rooting for to win the stanley cup, and why is it the leafs?

I'm not that invested in sports, but I have a specific emotional investment in the Maple Leafs as a team I have longstanding affection for (I remember when they had to start making banners for other teams because they hadn't won in so long) and since they are still winless in the 21st century -- imagine how you'd feel if the Wright brothers had kept trying to fly after 1903! -- the idea of them suddenly going on an epic unbeaten streak is appealing.

Also I don't have as much sympathy for teams that have already won a Cup and all the history that goes with that, because the sport is probably cyclical? Like, the 80s Detroit Red Wings were awesome but they all had to retire and die before they could be as awesome again, and the Leafs probably deserve to be once-and-done, too, at least in the next 30 years or so.

Also I'm resentful because they keep getting rid of really good players with huge potential because they "don't fit the Leafs' culture," and because everyone I know who follows the NHL knows that much more about it than I do and is willing to talk about it way more, and they won't shut up about it. ("It's when the hockey stops being fun and turns into a commercial for the NHL and the League and the GODS OF BETRAYAL" -- really, I'm not making this up)

Also, they're undefeated. That's cool. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA, you can't beat us, Vancouver!" "Oh, you can? Huh. OK, you can." "You can't! We're undefeated." "Yeah, well, you see, undefeated doesn't mean unbeaten and—" "GET THE FUCK OUT OF TOWN, YOU GOODS HAVE TRIED TO RUIN HOCKEY AS MUCH AS ANYONE AND YOU DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE A WINNING TEAM . . . EVER AGAIN" "Yeah, well, whatever."

[hamletthedane]

(edit by @archaeos)

the image “george washington welcomes abraham lincoln into heaven” is so homosexual

[asagi-asagiri]

The US military hasn't won a war since the spanish-american so what's the point of having a military that's larger than say 100,000 people and a few nukes?

[kontextmaschine]

There are many canards about that generation, but the most persistent is that the boomers were central to the social and cultural events of the nineteen-sixties. Apart from being alive, baby boomers had almost nothing to do with the nineteen-sixties.

[utilitymonstermash]

when we think of the protestant reformation, we think of: martin luther, calvin, those guys, vs. the catholic church. however in reality, there was a third group, that they both disliked. if we imagine europe as a small video game, basically martin luther and calvin broke away, and locked down a bunch of territory pretty quickly.

so, in those realms, but mostly in places they didnt swiftly lock down, there were other groups who they themselves disagreed with. a lot. martin luther and calvin were fine using state power to enforce their views in territory we might casually say they "secured". so if you disagreed with them, who were you? you were a third group of sectarians - meaning, mostly a coalition of the fringes. you were just part of a third folder, and lots of people in this folder had nothing to do with each other, except this odd position they were now in.

...

so, what did these groups believe in? well, lots of stuff. there isnt one thing they all had. some had a few of these, some had only one or two. just going off the top of my head, heres some things, some major and common, some really fringe and weird: (just to be clear no one group had all these, some may be just one weird random group. DYOR) not doing infant baptism (i.e. believers baptism) not using state power to enforce their beliefs pacifism sabbatarianism (i.e. hardcore doing the sabbath, sometimes on saturday) ...

getting revelation themselves keeping property in common or hyper communal stuff mega apocalypticism unitarianism universalism (no hell) could just keep going on here. but, lets get to the point. theres two points: A) the descendants of these groups, which range from full on, "yeah thats my grandfather" to "retaining a slighlt influence thats hard to spot" get lumped in with the magisterial protestant reformers

...

i went on a long quest to understand american christianity. i suppose understanding such a large phenomena in full is basically impossible. but this was a huge piece of the puzzle. if i was going to come out the gate with an explosive attention grabbing statement, it would be: it kind of seems like america isnt a protestant country. america is a radical reformation country. everything just makes sense after realizing this.

[kontextmaschine]

New England was heavily forested, its major utility on behalf of Britain was producing wood (incl. large old-growth trees for unspliced masts) and sap-derived tar for sealing ships (also ashes for lye production!) it was essentially a EUIV Naval Supplies province.

if i ever write something set in the united states im just going to do zero research whatsoever and make stuff up to sound cool it’s equality

[andweart]

What makes a good graphic designer?

Let us discuss

A good logo is one that stands out and represents the brand.

The primary goal of a logo is to represent the brand, standing out doesn’t mean you should exaggerate the logo, it can be simple.

In simpler words, A good logo is which uniquely identifies the brand.

Ok let me give you examples

Coca-Cola and Apple, are some of the biggest brands out there another can be Nike.

Most people know the above-mentioned company logo, now ask the question why.

Because they are simple yet unique, the logo also should be simple so a customer can remember it for a longer period of time.

Another example and these are the biggest companies in the world, so they must be doing that right.

Facebook - Simple and Unique

Google - Simple and Unique

Microsoft - Simple and Unique

Disney- Simple and Unique

McDonald’s- Simple and Unique

IBM- Simple and Unique

If you see their logos carefully they all have one thing in common they all have a simple design.

Now, I think you know what makes a good logo.

(Simple, Unique, Must Represent Brand )

Be sure to Upvote, if you like the answer thank you.

[asagi-asagiri]

Allowing real property owners or business owners to vote or run for office is a recipe to get economic/technological stagnation. The fact we've stagnated since the 70s, I suspect is due to the US's pursuing mass home ownership after the 30s and influencing everyone else.

[kontextmaschine]

The "a Black sheriff?!" conceit of Blazing Saddles (1974) was really about how race interacted with the sort of postwar American identity mythologized in cowboy movies, the actual Western frontier was the most likely place in American history to find a Black man in a respected position of authority over whites until the post-Vietnam military.

[kontextmaschine]

The American Reagan 1980s represented a successful reactionary reconstruction and anything that originated before them but retained a presence in American culture through to the other side had been largely reinterpreted to fit; I remember in the 1990s Springsteen was understood as a tribune of the (Eastern seaboard) white working class and the tribulations they endured as industrial Keynesianism failed (and Democrats substituted Blacks for The Working Man as the beneficiaries of their efforts)

when two musicians sing into the same microphone and lean in very close to each other… like omg are you guys gonna kiss now to relieve the homoerotic tension?😳

[utilitymonstermash]

[kontextmaschine]

So if we're all doing our retrospective takes on the Iraq War, mine was… it wasn't that big a deal? In scale, direction, and costs borne and imposed it was basically well within norms for what the country might get distracted with over a two-decade period.

Already within my lifetime the specter of the Vietnam War, once much more significant in national affairs, looms not nearly as large as I remember it doing in the '80s (indeed, the easy victories of the "Desert Shield/Storm" Iraq excursion of the early '90s were specifically hailed for dispelling this "Vietnam Syndrome"), as a colorful but not particularly important chapter of 20th Century American history.

While the action did not serve to renew America's post-Cold War unipolar "hyperpower" moment, I honestly don't think it accelerated its end any, which looks to be more a product of the development of China and reassertion of Russia than any "Clash of Civilizations".