C.<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://realsocial.life/@TerryHancock" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TerryHancock</span></a></span> </p><p>My favourite <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/debunking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>debunking</span></a> of the "government paid $EXCESSIVE for $THING" kind of story was by Jerry <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Pournelle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pournelle</span></a>. It's currently offline, and archive.org is still recovering, so I can't link it. Actual numbers below are made up because I don't remember the exact figures, but the gist is correct.</p><p>It was the "<a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Pentagon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pentagon</span></a> paid $17,000 for a <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/toilet" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>toilet</span></a> seat" one. What actually happened was that the Pentagon needed to procure more toilet seats for the B-52 bomber - the planes were (and still are!) old and stuff wears out or gets damaged. There was no remaining stock of parts.</p><p>The problem was that the <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/manufacturer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>manufacturer</span></a> had long ago junked the tooling used to make the parts (they were metal, requiring tool & die etc). Making that tooling is quite expensive - it's difficult, skilled work. Other costs involved in getting a <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/manufacturing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>manufacturing</span></a> line set up are also expensive. And they couldn't justify buying and storing tons of extra toilet seats.</p><p>So what you get is a high fixed <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/cost" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cost</span></a> to rebuild a line, divided by a relatively small number of finished articles, giving an apparently absurd price per unit. Say, a million dollars to make 60 replacement toilet seats to original spec.</p><p>And that gives... $16,667 per seat. And a great, totally <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/misleading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>misleading</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/headline" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>headline</span></a>.</p><p><a href="https://mindly.social/tags/B52" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>B52</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/B52Bomber" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>B52Bomber</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/ToiletSeat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ToiletSeat</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/GovernmentWaste" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GovernmentWaste</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/waste" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>waste</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/procurement" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>procurement</span></a></p>
Recent searches
No recent searches
Search options
Only available when logged in.
universeodon.com is part of the decentralized social network powered by Mastodon.
Be one with the #fediverse. Join millions of humans building, creating, and collaborating on Mastodon Social Network. Supports 1000 character posts.
Administered by:
Server stats:
3.5Kactive users
Learn more
universeodon.com: About · Status · Profiles directory · Privacy policy
Mastodon: About · Get the app · Keyboard shortcuts · View source code · v4.2.17
#pournelle
0 posts · 0 participants · 0 posts today
C.<p>I don't think you can meaningfully <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/change" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>change</span></a> the views of the extant parties to move them closer to where your beliefs land on the chart.</p><p>Anyone see an easy, direct way of fixing this?</p><p>All I can see at the moment is a possible starting <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/step" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>step</span></a>. Stop <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/talking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>talking</span></a> about "<a href="https://mindly.social/tags/left" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>left</span></a>" vs. "<a href="https://mindly.social/tags/right" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>right</span></a>" politics. <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Help" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Help</span></a> people who are interested in politics <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/understand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>understand</span></a> the <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Pournelle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pournelle</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/chart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chart</span></a>, and how to place their own belief systems on it.</p><p><a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Criticize" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Criticize</span></a> the <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/media" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>media</span></a> for using the left-right shortcut.</p><p>14/x</p>
C.<p><a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Pournelle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pournelle</span></a> - perhaps most widely <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/famous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>famous</span></a> for being a great science-fiction <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a>, frequently in collaboration with Larry <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Niven" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Niven</span></a> and Stephen <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Barnes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Barnes</span></a> - was a bit of a polymath. He invented the 2-axis scale now known as a "Pournelle chart" in his political science Ph. D. dissertation, in 1963.</p><p>See: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pournelle_chart" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pournell</span><span class="invisible">e_chart</span></a></p><p>A 1-axis chart misrepresents views or policies so badly you end up with, for example, <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/communists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>communists</span></a>, <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/socialists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>socialists</span></a>, and <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/liberals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>liberals</span></a> all close together. (edit: thinko)</p><p>2/x</p><p><a href="https://mindly.social/tags/SciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SciFi</span></a></p>
C.<p>Apologies, as this will be a bit <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/rambling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rambling</span></a>, but it will come back to <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Canadian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Canadian</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/politics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>politics</span></a>, I promise.</p><p>First, the <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/categorization" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>categorization</span></a> of <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/political" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>political</span></a> views along a single left-right <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/axis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>axis</span></a> is almost <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/useless" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>useless</span></a>. This has long been known, and alternatives exist that present a much more accurate picture, but the traditional <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/media" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>media</span></a> is <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/addicted" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>addicted</span></a> to "<a href="https://mindly.social/tags/left" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>left</span></a> this" and "<a href="https://mindly.social/tags/right" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>right</span></a> that" and is lazy, so they'll probably never get better.</p><p>One <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/alternative" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>alternative</span></a> was developed by Jerry <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/Pournelle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pournelle</span></a>.</p><p>1/x</p><p><a href="https://mindly.social/tags/celebrity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>celebrity</span></a> <a href="https://mindly.social/tags/polymath" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>polymath</span></a></p>
ExploreLive feeds
Login to follow profiles or hashtags, favorite, share and reply to posts. You can also interact from your account on a different server.
Create accountLoginDrag & drop to upload