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Cake day: July 25th, 2023

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  • Higher octane fuel shouldn’t give you any more power; it just prevents pre-ignition. If your engine is very high compression and needs high octane fuels, then usually something like an anti-knock sensor is going to be present to cut engine performance–retard timing, I think?–if you have the wrong fuel in your car.

    OTOH, a less energy-dense fuel like pure alcohol can increase power because you can increase compression in the engine even more than you could with high grade gasoline. That means that you can get more benefit from turbo- or super-charging.

    IIRC, most fuel injected cars can now make some kind of adjustment to the fuel:air mix if you’re at high altitude so that it shouldn’t be an issue (unless you’re at altitudes outside of their range of adjustment). Carbureted engines can not do that.




  • A bouncer isn’t usually going to be fighting to survive; they’re throwing some dude the fuck out of a venue, or subduing them until cops show up.

    As far as my comment about Shiv Works - I stand by that 100%. Look them up. They train with bare hands, knives, and guns (firing non-lethal training munitions), and in awkward spaces (such as you might experience in a car jacking).

    Any discipline that forces you to act while under pressure is going to improve your odds if you end up in a situation where fighting is your only real option. If you get sucked-punched on a subway, experience in e.g. boxing is going to be far, far better than nothing at all, despite the fact that boxing has rules. IDPA/USPSA will not, contrary to claims, get you kilt in da streets, because practice moving and shooting is better than not.

    The idea that there’s a real distinction between self-defense and martial arts in general is nonsense. If you’re good in MMA, this is going to translate almost 1:1 to self defense. Here’s the blunt truth: most of the people that are going to attack a person have a LOT of experience fighting. If you want to defend yourself, you’re going to need to give yourself a lot of the same experiences, even if it’s in a more controlled setting, and “self-defense” classes aren’t going to do that.

    And, BTW, I know a guy that teaches wu shu (Eagle Claw, I think?) that also works as a bouncer. He is very, very effective, and uses the things he teaches as a bouncer. He’s small–like, 5’5", 150#–and he punches well above his weight.


  • This is a difficult question.

    If you’re a bouncer, then yeah, mixed martial arts is definitely useful (e…g., something like both muay thai and Brazilian juijitsu). For a typical person that’s unlikely to ever need to defend their life, probably not.

    As far as which martial art you should take, if you’re going to take one… It depends on what you want. If you want a physical activity that doesn’t have to be practical, then take up something like kyudo, kenjutsu, or aikido. If you want something that’s practical, then look into juijitsu and things based more in grappling. If you seriously worry about getting into a confrontation with someone that’s armed, then look up Shiv Works, and see what they have in your area.

    A concealed carry permit can be useful, yes, but it’s very, very situational, and requires practice. Moreover, ever single bullet you fire outside of a range has to be accounted for.



  • Ah! Got it.

    I can’t say for certain that it will be hotter than regular hair, but it seems likely, because there’s a ‘cap’ built into them that the hair is tied to. Many wigs are also made with synthetic materials that can absorb and retain more heat than human hair. He best bet is likely going to be finding someone that specializes in wigs made of human hair, and talking to them about it. Be warned that wigs made from human hair costs quite a bit more than fashion items; they can easily be several hundred dollars each.

    I have a lot more freedom in this area because of my gender; it’s socially acceptable for me to simply shave my head. If you mom doesn’t like the appearance of patchy or thinning hair, would she consider that option?


  • Any covering on the head is going to hold heat to one degree or another. If she wants to minimize that, then something like a shemagh or a keffiyeh is likely her best bet (although a keffiyeh is considered menswear). They’re both fairly light weaves, almost gauzy, and should allow air to circulate.

    Hair in general is just hot, and the more you have, the hotter it is. If you’ve every gotten a crew cut or shaved your head in the summer, you’ll know that the difference is stark.

    Why does she need a wig or hat though? Is this a religious issue, where she’s not allowed to show her own hair?


  • Mostly to avoid having infrastructure and social safety networks overwhelmed. Yes, you will also see wages be depressed by large-scale immigration, but that’s something that could–in theory–be controlled by strengthening unions and labor regulations. That’s not where we are though; right now, unions and labor regulations are fairly weak, and are being gutted by courts even as the NLRB tries to strengthen them.

    Housing takes time to build, and good city planning is necessary to ensure that cities are sustainable rather than being sprawls. (Not many cities do that, BTW; it’s usually, “oh, we’ll just add another lane to the existing 20 lane interstate”). Given that we’re currently in a situation where there’s insufficient low- and middle-income high density housing, and few companies are willing to build any more, competition for most of the immigrants that we’re seeing–people that are trying to get away from deep economic woes–would be fierce for housing.








  • Giving off information that he was planning some kind of mass murder or assassination attempt. Many people that plan that kind of thing ‘leak’ information about it before hand, through things like Facebook posts, or remarks to people they know, etc. Very few people are good at keeping that kind of thing truly secret.

    The first rule of Successful Secret Assassin Club is zero your rifle, but the second rule is don’t talk about Successful Secret Assassin Club.