Questions That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread

I think that should do just fine. Popcorn is the same, it’s not like it’s a different species or anything. Maybe the seasoning changes/doesn’t stick?

From what I’ve seen, I never seem to season popcorn correctly when I do it in a pan.

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Ok then I’ll try. Thanks :grin:

Why do we call the Russian elite specifically oligarchs and no other, especially since it’s not really an oligarchy with such a prominent despotic absolute ruler?

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Because we equate money with power?
Because we don’t speak Greek?

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Why isn’t the American elite oligarchy?
Or the Chinese one? Which is even closer.

I’m curious how it came to be only about the Russians.

Not etymologically, but how it became the default everyday term.

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Because Russian oligarchs are somehow controlled by Putin, while American billionaires are not controlled by the US president?

However I don’t have any convincing argument about the Chinese elite.

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Also because I have to since I was prompted, in Greek oligarchy actually contrasts with an absolute ruler.

It doesn’t really have the meaning of an imperial court of powerful people beneath a “czar”, but the ruling of a few powerful people instead of a “czar”.

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I think some people do call the Chinese elites “oligarchs” and view their system as an example of oligarchy. Some even use the word “oligarch” to refer to American billionaires.

I think the term being strongly associated with Russia simply arose from the specific discussion about the economic and political developments following the fall of the USSR.

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Sorry, but you are mistaken and out of date. Many people believe and have called our U.S. governance an oligarchy. I believe so, and pundits like Tucker Carlson and Dan Bongino have both explicitly said so. Bongino recently devoted an entire radio program and TV episode to the proposition that the U.S. is an oligarchy and has been so for some time (i.e., not just specific to the current administration).

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I deeply apologize for not filling every waking moment of my life with American media and dared ask a question based on how things are portrayed in the media that reaches me where I am.

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Apology accepted.

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I hadn’t heard of him and I always like to learn new stuff:

I will not comment on the content, but I’ll just note that the choices of images is veeeeery specific though. Just saying. :innocent:
Overall, it was a bit funny to hear a millionaire talking in the channel of a billionaire about oligarchy and “the little guys, us (and he is pointing at himself), who get screwed the most”.

This trend of turning politics into sports is going to get us in very deep trouble down the line.
EVEN FUNNIER?
The sports shows at least offer a “clash of ideas” kind of content, while the “political shows” do not :smiley:

Here’s Skip and Shannon in their show called “Undisputed” (which, ironically, is just unending disputes ):

Skip hates LeBron James and Giannis Antetokoumbo and loves Kevin Durant while Shannon likes LeBron James and doesn’t buy the Kevin Durant stocks, but instead invests on Giannis stocks.
Balance.

Apart from Bill Maher’s “Real Time” is there any other show where you get pundits from multiple sides? I’d honestly like to watch some political debates from over there :slight_smile:

I think there used to be a show called Crossfire (with a young Tucker Carlson and Begala), until they made the mistake of inviting Jon Stewart which roasted them on air and turned them into charcoal and the network a couple of months later cancelled the show after that embarrasment?

Is anything like that on TV today?

When do you switch from “good morning” to “good afternoon/ good evening”?

  • Noon sharp, 12:01 it’s afternoon.
  • After lunch, or as soon as I notice it’s later in the day
  • Whatever, I’m not strict about it

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Personally, I usually switch around noon, but I’m not strict about it or care too much if others don’t.

context

Today I called a public sector office (as my job, not as an individual), said “good morning” at 13:00ish and the lady felt it was of the utmost importance to chastise me for it before moving on to official matters. :roll_eyes:

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One thing we Italians make fun of French people for is that they say “bonjour” even at midnight

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I think in the UK, if you had say, a work meeting or a phone call that started at 12, then by the time the meeting/call started if someone said “good morning” you can guarantee that someone else will say “good afternoon” and prompt an immediate apology from the “good morning” person…

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I had this weird question/idea about AI analysis … could an AI that can defeat a 9-dan pro with its best moves, still win if it consistently chose the second best move?
How much ELO would it lose then?

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It’s morning until I’ve had my lunch. Problem is that sometimes I have breakfast at 13:00…

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I had an uncle who worked a night shift. Once on a visit when I was a kid, I was up at about 6 a.m., came down to get breakfast, and found him reading the newspaper on the couch in the living room. “Good afternoon,” he called out. He was a card—always had a joke, or some adventurous idea.

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I only say good morning as a general greeting after 12 when I mistakenly believe it is still morning. I do say good morning to people regardless of time when they just wake up, or when I just woke up myself.

While having video meetings with my professor for the past year, having a 8 hour time difference, we would start each meeting with him saying “good morning” to me, as it was 11:00 in my area, and me saying “good evening” to him, as it was 19:00 in his.

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In my video meetings with a large time zone difference, it
is customary for us to get mixed up, correct ourselves, and chuckle about it.

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