... as anticipated, we're now in the 'cascading failures owing to the changes we just made' portion of the launch.
What's weird in this day of spin-up/spin-down architecture *and* the fact that they were anticipating 1M logins on day one... is how did they think making database changes 45min before launch was a good idea? Are they hosting their own hardware? In these days?
Someone rudely scheduled a call at 3, so I'll have to pause the slaughter of demons and abominations for that, but other than that?
I thought I had a Gala to attend on Saturday, but that turns out to be *next* Saturday, so more POE2.
Strangely Dec 8 is a holy day... which is also a Sunday (YAY!)...which almost universally means the Obligation for both are fulfilled on the same day! but the Pope said Italy couldn't keep the Holy Day on Sunday, but had to move it to Monday. Which I assure you is not a thing I've seen, like ever. And for unfathomable reasons (well, they are pretty obviously fathomable... but no religion), our Diocese is going to adhere to the Pope's recommendation for Italy. So, Sunday for Sunday and Monday for Sunday too. Lady Marchmaine remindes me this is a good thing; to which I give my intellectual assent; but my passions are a little chuffed at our bishop.
Eh, I'm working on real AI projects in Pharma right now... there are some really interesting developments with Image analysis for Cancer and Alzheimer's. Plus, fine tuned models to search various things from Medical Compliance Specialists, to R&D, to Marketing.
It's definitely legit... I don't work in the Provider Space, but cross-over image analysis and diagnostic recommendations will happen. Just not direct to consumer -- mediated through a Doctor (or similar).
Right... selling cheaper was a reasonable mistake, but it really did uncover the fact that no-one believes the program would be cheaper and it triggered the aversion to loss function.
Politically, I'd go the opposite direction... there are basically 5 insurers -- buy them out and make them regional processors as a large 10-yr merger project. People gets paid, we build on existing tech/efficiencies, and we remodel the policies governing the current market so there's less friction and inefficiency.
But, make no mistake, it will cost $$ and take time. But what doesn't?
Can confirm. Was surprised that the pre-approved procedure from in-network doctor to in-network hospital still managed to fling a $1k out-of-network anesthesiologist fee over the wall when all was done. Like we were going to go shopping for options? Or maybe I might have declined being put-under? What are my options here folks?
Unfortunately Health Care Policy discussions are sooo borked for the foreseeable future. The biggest mistake, IMO, is the focus on cost reductions... No one believes it, no one really cares, and, everyone is more risk averse that they will lose what they have now in chasing cost reductions that won't come.
Honestly, if we want to change Health Care... it has to be a Middle Class benefit that will cost more in the short run -- but which we sell as a QOL on the process side, not a reduction in costs.
I bequeath upon the Republic the Marchmaine Solution for Broad Pardons:
The recipient must declare all the crimes he has committed and for which the Pardon now applies. They get to unburden themselves of all their crimes with impunity; but any crimes they fail to disclose may be prosecuted. After all, we want the Pardon to be fully efficacious!
The Grantor of Pardons may decide that they would rather not learn of all the crimes in this manner, and instead may henceforth require all the crimes from the recipient in advance -- and then can decide which crimes they actually want to pardon.
Sure, but the Russians/Greeks don't think of it as sects -- you're Greek and therefore Orthodox whether you go to church or not. You're either part of the community (by marriage, usually) or not. You can work your way in - like any other community - but being Orthodox by doctrine isn't the same as being Greek Orthodox by birth. That's what I mean by semi-permeable.
It makes perfect sense in Greece or Russia... it has different ramifications in the US.
The 'sect' thing is seen by Orthodox as a particular Catholic failing... we've begotten all the sects from our Reformation.
But to your larger point, yes, the Liturgies are 'proxies' for the commitment to the whole-thing and not some sort of bowdlerized 'current thing' thing.
As a (half)Greek born into Orthodoxy this has been my experience... I wouldn't say 'hostile' I'd say it's selectively permeable and that a very significant aspect of the community life is the ethnic culture that produces the original founding of that specific ethno-centric Orthodox Church (Greek, Russian, Antiochean, etc.). Some local Churches are more open to 'new' folk than others, and even within the Greek Churches there are flavors -- ours in Chicagoland was more 'suburban modern' -- such that my Aunt/Uncle who lived nearby would drive into the city for the OG Ethnic experience.
I don't want to dive too deeply into liturgical wars, but in my ongoing experience with young men/sons is that what young men respond to is the full embrace of the sacred mysteries and do not respond to NGO-like community centers. Not all men, of course... but if you're talking about a trend, that's the trend.
Orthodoxy does the Sacred Mysteries of the Liturgy better than all... and that's a big appeal. In the Catholic Church, Latin Masses and 'High-Church' Novus Ordo also thrive among young families (and men). The Boomer felt-lined circle churches of the 70s? Fading, and almost no attraction to young men (or women).
On a lighter note, as a convert to Catholicism, I like to tweak my Latin Mass friends that the 1570 Tridentine Rite seems idiosyncratically Roman and hopelessly modern to someone raised on the ancient Chrysostom liturgy. It's like having antibodies to a certain sort of traditionalism.
As a final tangent... there's no American Orthodoxy (yet); that's one of the biggest tensions among third and fourth generation 'immigrants' where the community itself becomes selectively alien to these individuals depending on personal circumstances... which is why they see large drops as the diaspora assimilates.
Sure, whatever notional 'plans' were being concocted were obviously pre-empted by Biden's immediate and unexpected endorsement.
But from a simple logistics point of view, it is highly unlikely a state-by-state re-do was going to happen. Maybe a cool 'dancing with the stars' online straw poll or something -- purely to inform the 'judges' at the convention. Or some such.
It's not the laptop. I'd worry about the 2019 New Yorker Magazine article attempting to inoculate us about Biden younger.
Plus the digging of the house oversight committee... plus the banking trails.
It's one thing to prove tit-for-tat bribery, but it's much easier to nail someone for banking $Ms from foreign entities and failing to fill out the proper forms. Ask Flynn, Manafort, etc. etc.
But, now that he's dispensed from filling out the forms, I guess people are free to ask probing questions under oath about his various LLC's 'laundering' money from CCCP, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, etc.
There's even a chance it's all legit. I mean, NYMag didn't really think so, but he was reforming his life and all that...
I don't think the plan was to re-do the primaries state by state, but to have a sort of speed-dating debate/rebuttal followed by the convention delegates exercising their pre-existing duties subject to the by-laws of the Democratic party.
Not exactly a smoke filled room, more like an airy convention scented room with bad coffee, spotty wifi, and snacks.
We may want to revisit the Insurrection Act(s). They offer pretty broad powers, so long as the President doth "by proclamation, immediately order the insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time."
Serious question, does anyone know how S. Korean government works with regards 'checks and balances'?
That is, declaring an 'Emergency' to invoke what I assume are constitutional powers should have some grounding in Emergency status that might be challenged... somewhere?
I think what's coalescing is confusion over the 11-yr blanket pardon.
That is, when I did a little research and found out that Pres. Carter(!) commuted G. Gordon Liddy's sentence to basically time-served plus the $40k fine; there seemed to be a pretty plausible defense for commuting Hunter's sentence and leaving the fines/tax re-payments intact.
Most everyone goes... yeah, the convictions stand, he pays the fines, and it's not like Hunter Biden is going to practice law anymore... and who among us hasn't wanted to avoid paying taxes? And of course everyone would prevent their son from going to prison, if he pays the fines and taxes. Aw, Biden is so cute.
The 11-yrs of crimes he 'may' have committed or been party to? That's just begging the question, besides not paying taxes on the $Ms he received, are we really confident those $M were legally gotten? Did he fill out all of his Foreign Lobbying forms? Seems a lot of folks forget to register as Foreign Lobbyists when funds start landing from abroad.
I think the 'news gathering' portion is also changing, and is ripe for more change.
While it always relied on contractors to a certain extent; I think it's now closer to 90% contractors and the bigger problem right now is that NYT and other news agencies are 'sourcing' the gathering to people with agendas that they either endorse, decode, or don't catch.
But once you're not actually putting Wolfe Blitzer's boots on the ground and are instead relying on NGO's to provide those boots, then it's a matter of screening and money.
We're already seeing close collaboration between the Parties and their Network(s) of choice... there's nothing to stop better 'vertical integration' of gathering, reporting, opining and direct political messaging as just another cost of running campaigns.
Might be slightly easier in an Internet based National news framework -- no need to run Decatur to Syracuse to Waco news desks.
I think we're just returning to broad form advocacy journalism that was the norm before the post-war consensus.
Every outlet will have it's faction; some will be artful and well crafted, others just plain yellow journalism.
It was the pretending that neutrality was still the norm that has been disabused entirely. The interesting question to me is the hour of it's death. It obviously starts with FOX, but when did the virus kill the host? 2012? 2020? Not sure, honestly. But I think it's dead.
I thought he might commute the sentence then issue a broad pardon...
It's complicated because it was the Biden DOJ that eventually secured the indictment and conviction of really egregious Tax Evasion -- like not even fudging, just not paying any taxes on $Ms in 2016, 17, 18 & 19.
I think it's pretty clear that the DOJ attempted to do something like that with their plea deal: almost commuting the sentence with a sort of 'pocket pardon' on the back-end. But that got upended by a judge who questioned the terms forcing the DOJ to say there *wasn't* immunity which HB then rejected.
It's not really a Trump thing.
I mean, I'm hearing rumblings that he's now open to questioning without access to the 5th -- but I'm not exactly sure how that would work. What it might could do is open him up to a *future* crime of lying under oath - assuming the FBI has just enough to catch him in some 'truths' that work at cross purposes.
TLDR: Probably should have commuted the specific convictions and stopped there ... the decade long blanket pardon may be a gift too far.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Recovery and Honeydews”
... as anticipated, we're now in the 'cascading failures owing to the changes we just made' portion of the launch.
What's weird in this day of spin-up/spin-down architecture *and* the fact that they were anticipating 1M logins on day one... is how did they think making database changes 45min before launch was a good idea? Are they hosting their own hardware? In these days?
"
POE2: We're doing some last minute database upgrades to try help handle the overwhelming amount of Exiles getting ready to LOGIN to Path of Exile 2.
...Nooooooooooo
Heh, last time this happened instead of having a queue on the login servers, we broke the login servers trying to login all at once.
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
Definitely a skill-up in the Christmastime battles.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Recovery and Honeydews”
27 minutes and 11 seconds until I login to POE2.
Someone rudely scheduled a call at 3, so I'll have to pause the slaughter of demons and abominations for that, but other than that?
I thought I had a Gala to attend on Saturday, but that turns out to be *next* Saturday, so more POE2.
Strangely Dec 8 is a holy day... which is also a Sunday (YAY!)...which almost universally means the Obligation for both are fulfilled on the same day! but the Pope said Italy couldn't keep the Holy Day on Sunday, but had to move it to Monday. Which I assure you is not a thing I've seen, like ever. And for unfathomable reasons (well, they are pretty obviously fathomable... but no religion), our Diocese is going to adhere to the Pope's recommendation for Italy. So, Sunday for Sunday and Monday for Sunday too. Lady Marchmaine remindes me this is a good thing; to which I give my intellectual assent; but my passions are a little chuffed at our bishop.
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
Eh, I'm working on real AI projects in Pharma right now... there are some really interesting developments with Image analysis for Cancer and Alzheimer's. Plus, fine tuned models to search various things from Medical Compliance Specialists, to R&D, to Marketing.
It's definitely legit... I don't work in the Provider Space, but cross-over image analysis and diagnostic recommendations will happen. Just not direct to consumer -- mediated through a Doctor (or similar).
"
Heh, Christmas rules in effect.
I don't play that way until after Gaudete Sunday... but I'm a big pro-Advent guy.
"
Right... selling cheaper was a reasonable mistake, but it really did uncover the fact that no-one believes the program would be cheaper and it triggered the aversion to loss function.
Politically, I'd go the opposite direction... there are basically 5 insurers -- buy them out and make them regional processors as a large 10-yr merger project. People gets paid, we build on existing tech/efficiencies, and we remodel the policies governing the current market so there's less friction and inefficiency.
But, make no mistake, it will cost $$ and take time. But what doesn't?
"
Since we agree, you are, of course, correct... do you want me to go over to Freddie's blog and let everyone know?
"
Can confirm. Was surprised that the pre-approved procedure from in-network doctor to in-network hospital still managed to fling a $1k out-of-network anesthesiologist fee over the wall when all was done. Like we were going to go shopping for options? Or maybe I might have declined being put-under? What are my options here folks?
Unfortunately Health Care Policy discussions are sooo borked for the foreseeable future. The biggest mistake, IMO, is the focus on cost reductions... No one believes it, no one really cares, and, everyone is more risk averse that they will lose what they have now in chasing cost reductions that won't come.
Honestly, if we want to change Health Care... it has to be a Middle Class benefit that will cost more in the short run -- but which we sell as a QOL on the process side, not a reduction in costs.
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
I bequeath upon the Republic the Marchmaine Solution for Broad Pardons:
The recipient must declare all the crimes he has committed and for which the Pardon now applies. They get to unburden themselves of all their crimes with impunity; but any crimes they fail to disclose may be prosecuted. After all, we want the Pardon to be fully efficacious!
The Grantor of Pardons may decide that they would rather not learn of all the crimes in this manner, and instead may henceforth require all the crimes from the recipient in advance -- and then can decide which crimes they actually want to pardon.
Win-Win.
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
One of these days it's going to turn out to be the dark side of Draftkings...
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
Sure, but the Russians/Greeks don't think of it as sects -- you're Greek and therefore Orthodox whether you go to church or not. You're either part of the community (by marriage, usually) or not. You can work your way in - like any other community - but being Orthodox by doctrine isn't the same as being Greek Orthodox by birth. That's what I mean by semi-permeable.
It makes perfect sense in Greece or Russia... it has different ramifications in the US.
The 'sect' thing is seen by Orthodox as a particular Catholic failing... we've begotten all the sects from our Reformation.
But to your larger point, yes, the Liturgies are 'proxies' for the commitment to the whole-thing and not some sort of bowdlerized 'current thing' thing.
"
As a (half)Greek born into Orthodoxy this has been my experience... I wouldn't say 'hostile' I'd say it's selectively permeable and that a very significant aspect of the community life is the ethnic culture that produces the original founding of that specific ethno-centric Orthodox Church (Greek, Russian, Antiochean, etc.). Some local Churches are more open to 'new' folk than others, and even within the Greek Churches there are flavors -- ours in Chicagoland was more 'suburban modern' -- such that my Aunt/Uncle who lived nearby would drive into the city for the OG Ethnic experience.
I don't want to dive too deeply into liturgical wars, but in my ongoing experience with young men/sons is that what young men respond to is the full embrace of the sacred mysteries and do not respond to NGO-like community centers. Not all men, of course... but if you're talking about a trend, that's the trend.
Orthodoxy does the Sacred Mysteries of the Liturgy better than all... and that's a big appeal. In the Catholic Church, Latin Masses and 'High-Church' Novus Ordo also thrive among young families (and men). The Boomer felt-lined circle churches of the 70s? Fading, and almost no attraction to young men (or women).
On a lighter note, as a convert to Catholicism, I like to tweak my Latin Mass friends that the 1570 Tridentine Rite seems idiosyncratically Roman and hopelessly modern to someone raised on the ancient Chrysostom liturgy. It's like having antibodies to a certain sort of traditionalism.
As a final tangent... there's no American Orthodoxy (yet); that's one of the biggest tensions among third and fourth generation 'immigrants' where the community itself becomes selectively alien to these individuals depending on personal circumstances... which is why they see large drops as the diaspora assimilates.
On “From The Los Angeles Times: Schiff calls on Biden to drop out, citing ‘serious concerns’ he can’t win”
Heh, since we're revisiting (12/3/24)... Harris tallied : 74,772,514 votes.
It was not enough.
On “Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.”
That's like only 80 'Call her Daddy' offsite interviews.
"
Sure, whatever notional 'plans' were being concocted were obviously pre-empted by Biden's immediate and unexpected endorsement.
But from a simple logistics point of view, it is highly unlikely a state-by-state re-do was going to happen. Maybe a cool 'dancing with the stars' online straw poll or something -- purely to inform the 'judges' at the convention. Or some such.
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
It's not the laptop. I'd worry about the 2019 New Yorker Magazine article attempting to inoculate us about Biden younger.
Plus the digging of the house oversight committee... plus the banking trails.
It's one thing to prove tit-for-tat bribery, but it's much easier to nail someone for banking $Ms from foreign entities and failing to fill out the proper forms. Ask Flynn, Manafort, etc. etc.
But, now that he's dispensed from filling out the forms, I guess people are free to ask probing questions under oath about his various LLC's 'laundering' money from CCCP, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, etc.
There's even a chance it's all legit. I mean, NYMag didn't really think so, but he was reforming his life and all that...
On “Huffpo reports that Harris internals *NEVER* had her ahead.”
I don't think the plan was to re-do the primaries state by state, but to have a sort of speed-dating debate/rebuttal followed by the convention delegates exercising their pre-existing duties subject to the by-laws of the Democratic party.
Not exactly a smoke filled room, more like an airy convention scented room with bad coffee, spotty wifi, and snacks.
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
We may want to revisit the Insurrection Act(s). They offer pretty broad powers, so long as the President doth "by proclamation, immediately order the insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time."
"
Serious question, does anyone know how S. Korean government works with regards 'checks and balances'?
That is, declaring an 'Emergency' to invoke what I assume are constitutional powers should have some grounding in Emergency status that might be challenged... somewhere?
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
I think what's coalescing is confusion over the 11-yr blanket pardon.
That is, when I did a little research and found out that Pres. Carter(!) commuted G. Gordon Liddy's sentence to basically time-served plus the $40k fine; there seemed to be a pretty plausible defense for commuting Hunter's sentence and leaving the fines/tax re-payments intact.
Most everyone goes... yeah, the convictions stand, he pays the fines, and it's not like Hunter Biden is going to practice law anymore... and who among us hasn't wanted to avoid paying taxes? And of course everyone would prevent their son from going to prison, if he pays the fines and taxes. Aw, Biden is so cute.
The 11-yrs of crimes he 'may' have committed or been party to? That's just begging the question, besides not paying taxes on the $Ms he received, are we really confident those $M were legally gotten? Did he fill out all of his Foreign Lobbying forms? Seems a lot of folks forget to register as Foreign Lobbyists when funds start landing from abroad.
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
Presumably to make their youngs marry and make babies. Or corruption. Or both.
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
I think the 'news gathering' portion is also changing, and is ripe for more change.
While it always relied on contractors to a certain extent; I think it's now closer to 90% contractors and the bigger problem right now is that NYT and other news agencies are 'sourcing' the gathering to people with agendas that they either endorse, decode, or don't catch.
But once you're not actually putting Wolfe Blitzer's boots on the ground and are instead relying on NGO's to provide those boots, then it's a matter of screening and money.
We're already seeing close collaboration between the Parties and their Network(s) of choice... there's nothing to stop better 'vertical integration' of gathering, reporting, opining and direct political messaging as just another cost of running campaigns.
Might be slightly easier in an Internet based National news framework -- no need to run Decatur to Syracuse to Waco news desks.
"
I think we're just returning to broad form advocacy journalism that was the norm before the post-war consensus.
Every outlet will have it's faction; some will be artful and well crafted, others just plain yellow journalism.
It was the pretending that neutrality was still the norm that has been disabused entirely. The interesting question to me is the hour of it's death. It obviously starts with FOX, but when did the virus kill the host? 2012? 2020? Not sure, honestly. But I think it's dead.
"
I thought he might commute the sentence then issue a broad pardon...
It's complicated because it was the Biden DOJ that eventually secured the indictment and conviction of really egregious Tax Evasion -- like not even fudging, just not paying any taxes on $Ms in 2016, 17, 18 & 19.
I think it's pretty clear that the DOJ attempted to do something like that with their plea deal: almost commuting the sentence with a sort of 'pocket pardon' on the back-end. But that got upended by a judge who questioned the terms forcing the DOJ to say there *wasn't* immunity which HB then rejected.
It's not really a Trump thing.
I mean, I'm hearing rumblings that he's now open to questioning without access to the 5th -- but I'm not exactly sure how that would work. What it might could do is open him up to a *future* crime of lying under oath - assuming the FBI has just enough to catch him in some 'truths' that work at cross purposes.
TLDR: Probably should have commuted the specific convictions and stopped there ... the decade long blanket pardon may be a gift too far.