oce 🐆

I try to contribute to things getting better, sometimes through polite rational skepticism.
Disagreeing with your comment ≠ supporting the opposite side, I support rationality.
Let’s discuss to refine the arguments that make things better sustainably.
Always happy to question our beliefs.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 7th, 2023

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  • There was a boy in French high school who seemed a bit impaired, in the sense that he seemed way more childish than people are at this age, so he was often mocked, and I don’t remember him having any brilliant grades. Turns out he went into the top of the top of the French scientific universities (École Polytechnique).
    Think Harvard level of prestige (countless top scientists, leaders and CEOs from there), but specialized in science, with way fewer seats, fully paid by the state and an extremely competitive entry exam that the best French students spend 2 to 3 years preparing for after high-school, with the vast majority failing and entering the next schools on the prestige list (still a lot of other prestigious schools under it). I guess he exploded his intellectual potential at this time, when others just implode into depression due to the high pressure.
    I was floored when I learned about it and really happy that he took his revenge this way.







  • The theory was that any other social disqualifications would be handled at the ballot box.

    That theory is now proven to be incorrect, but fixing it takes a constitutional amendment.

    That could be a slippery slope too. Imagine a constitutional amendment making someone ineligible because of a “social disqualification” such as sexual orientation.






  • the cause of Gallant’s firing has little to do with security concerns and everything to do with domestic politics. Gallant’s dismissal centers on his vocal opposition to a planned law formalizing draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men, a measure demanded by Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners. Gallant, a champion of universal military service, had called the law “non-egalitarian and corrupt,” articulating the sentiments of many Israelis who view mandatory service as a fundamental, unifying obligation.

    Gallant also struck a nerve by calling for a national commission of inquiry into the debacle of Oct. 7 — a position that projects integrity, because such a commission is very likely to be harsh with everyone in a position of security responsibility on the day when 1,200 people were massacred in Israel. That stands in extraordinary contrast with Netanyahu, who has been fighting tooth and nail to prevent any accounting for the failure – indeed hoping to drag things out long enough, and complicate matters enough, that somehow his culpability might be forgotten by enough people so as to enable him to cling yet more to power.




  • Electoral college is weird AF

    I think it’s less unique than people think. In France, there is an electoral college specifically for the Sénat, which is a secondary legislative chamber compared to the Assemblée Nationale. They can amend law proposals after they are submitted by the Assemblée, but in case of conflicts, it’s the Assemblée that decides.

    The college is made of people locally elected in various types of previous local elections. I think part of the reasons for this system is to have a representation of every locations that is not only proportional to the population. For example to prevent populated areas from dictating laws to unpopulated areas that don’t make sense for their local circumstances (typically around urbanism and transportation).