Wendover Productions | Why West Virginia is so Poor the place sounds almost like Norway. most of it is mountains and isn't good for farms and factories. what saves Norway is the vast coastline. before Norway had roads and before it struck oil in the 70s, the sea was the main way of moving people and goods around the country. seafood was also the main source of protein for many. fur farming was really big at one point. just like in West Virginia, we lack farmland, so it's much easier to farm animals such as mink or pig. here's Norway's trade balance. the exports are crude oil, natural gas, ships and oil platforms, and the final item is seafood. "fastland" is mainland - stuff that isn't offshore. our trade balance is negative if you get rid of the oil and gas. we're importing for 22 million NOK more than we could afford without the offshore industry. that's why it's so unpopular to talk about decarbonisation here. nobody wants a thinner wallet.

today's word game: try to define the word "responsible". no synonyms such as "accountable" are allowed.

there's a big difference between a "psychotherapist" and a "psycho therapist"

i call this Twinkle Twinkle Little Swing

putting all your eggs in one basket will occasionally succeed the people who tell you to do that are the ones that got lucky there. this is why all advice is bad. it only works for the person who gives it.

told myself i would not talk to her again. slipped up the other day. just one message though.

i think this is a pretty good song - considering that i made it

some municipalities in Norway only really survive because there are government jobs and subsidies there. in these municipalities, conservatives simply don't have a chance, since they want small government. much of North Norway is like that, for example. why are people living in places without jobs? well, originally, a lot of them were fishing and farming, but hardly anyone has that as a lifestyle anymore. a job in the government is more comfortable, so that's what people go for. fishing and farming are done on an industrial scale these days by people who run it like a business. why does the government keep these services up in places with such poor self-sustenance? to fight rural depopulation. this is paired with efforts to create industries out there. it isn't working well.

...and i guess i'm awake now. i always wake up at 04:00 and have a siesta later in the day.

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no clue when to go out, exactly, but probably not any sooner than 8.

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roasting school

death by Basset's

theory: people do this to the opposite sex so they can get intimate without forming an emotional attachment. i say people and not men, because many chick flicks portray the male characters in a very two-dimensional way, almost like they're props in the main character's life and not human beings. almost like a Ken doll in a Barbie house.

if the documentary i watched about Russia after the war in Ukraine is accurate, what the government has done over there is to use classic terror and propaganda tactics on the population to intimidate it into submission. it's not that a Russian won't agree that Russia is the aggressor in that war - it's that he doesn't have the option to. if most authority figures in a community say that dissent is bad, then it will be socially unacceptable to dissent. have you ever pretended to not know somebody because they're being extremely embarrassing in public? same dynamic with dissenters. it's both socially and legally risky to associate with them or defend them. compare to this taboo in Western culture: it's completely unacceptable to befriend known pedophiles or speak in even vaguely positive terms about them. now imagine if it was also illegal to do so. being accepted by your family, friends and community is a very strong instinct. most people would rather shut up than risk having their reputations tarnished, losing their jobs or going to prison. these tactics are old and familiar, but even if you understand how they work, there isn't much you can do to resist if you want to stay safe and stay a member of your community. you'd have to be very bold or even crazy to try it. this is how easy it is to oppress people.

discussing people or ideas is not the point, really. actions are the point.