I’ve always thought the hippie protests in 1968 are what guaranteed Nixon his second term. It provided an “other” whose appearance to the majority was so off putting/repulsive that, even during an unpopular war, they were willing to re-elect Nixon just to attempt to purge the National consciousness of the buffoonery presented as the Left (and actually was, to some extent). The Democratic Party was only able to reclaim leadership when they found an anti-hippie (Jimmy Carter, Navy nuclear sub guy) as a spokesperson. Democrats who continue, and who will continue, to struggle under the anti-woke backlash should take note.
Readit Newsonecommentman commented on Liberals have to reckon with the limits of protests bostonglobe.com/2026/01/2... · Posted by u/throw0101c
onecommentman commented on Neutral stances on hot topics can damage your reputation phys.org/news/2026-01-neu... · Posted by u/bikenaga
“Damage your reputation”…for a very narrow definition of reputation over a subset of people whose “positive” opinion and influence may actually be detrimental to your goals, your nation’s goals, and the world’s well-being, both long-term and even short-term. Meh.
onecommentman commented on Why the Tech World Thinks the American Dream Is Dying wsj.com/tech/ai/why-the-t... · Posted by u/Brajeshwar
Point of clarification: Silicon Valley is not the entirety of the “tech world”. Not even the majority of the tech world. It’s a significant, very noisy minority, focused on Information Tech World.
Even on HN, that distinction needs to be made…maybe especially on HN. That sort of conflation will eventually lead to inane arguments that waste everybody’s time.
onecommentman commented on The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café candost.blog/the-unbearab... · Posted by u/mooreds
Alpha types might appreciate sitting alone in a café more if they realize that it is the ultimate power flex. I remember a quote from many years ago: standing on a street corner, waiting for no one, is power. I appreciate that much more in retirement.
onecommentman commented on How the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex Inspired 'Severance' atlasobscura.com/articles... · Posted by u/SerCe
“So by the ’70s or the ’80s, Bell is not doing so well business-wise. There aren’t as many people that are working there.”
Assuming she’s referring to “Holmdel” when she refers to “there”, this is not correct. She’s off by a decade. In 1985, they were tripling up in two person offices at Holmdel. Shrink started at Holmdel and other Bell Labs locations in the mid 1990s. Imagine seeing your favorite Silicon Valley location totally empty with grass growing in the cracks of the parking lot. That was Holmdel in the mid 2000s.
onecommentman commented on Ebooks vs. Paper books: The final showdown jonathanpincas.com/p/eboo... · Posted by u/poleprediction
Opposite for me, I read more physical books, primarily >50 years old. Reading more for pleasure now, I find the physicality of books deeply satisfying. Also prefer paper magazines for hobbyist content.
I still refer back to ebooks I had bought primarily for the novelty value, and especially PDFs of public domain works that of which I purchase paper copies when I have the chance. For staying current, it’s predominantly electronic media.
onecommentman commented on Ask HN: What was the most humble living situation you had in your early days? · Posted by u/rblion
Condemned out of my first undergraduate apartment, first grad student apartment was the basement of an old former church that had been flooded with sewage too few months prior. But none of us can match the lurid pasts of the Four Yorkshiremen.
Somewhat concerned that the only options considered were sharing track with the existing freight/passenger trains. This section is notoriously slow and unreliable already. I’d much prefer some new metal laid down that is specifically dedicated to high speed travel. Anyone know if that was considered and subsequently shot down elsewhere?
Full report is here: https://hsr.ca.gov/programs/environmental-planning/project-s...
Do you really want CHSR to revisit anything at this point? Planning started with the CA High Speed Rail Act in 1996, and it currently has zero ridership.
The NM Rail Runner planning started in 2003 and has had a functioning system starting in 2006, 100 miles growing to 15 stations, with the entire system operating for over ten years at this point. At a cost of <$400M dollars, or $.4B dollars in CHSR-speak.
CHSR is less about rolling stock and more about laughing stock. Maybe CA should formal cede jurisdiction of the ROW, actual ownership and governance of the land, to NM so something could get done outside of the morass of CA political processes.
onecommentman commented on All praise to the lunch ladies bittersoutherner.com/issu... · Posted by u/gmays
Embarrassed by the HN comments here. Lunch ladies, along with other low-status government workers, are as close to an Absolute Good as you can get. Co-opting the warranted praise for these heroes to attempt to score political points for any side is pathetic. Such commenters should be forced to prepare and serve lunches for hundreds of hungry children while also being forced to listen to screaming political rants through taped-on headphones. The lower middle class, my native land, gets too little applause for their contributions.
Perhaps the high excessive drinking rate in WI means more residents need to be reminded in which State they actually are, other than the State of Inebriation.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/alcohol-con...