Ask khuzifenq

[Kamala's side hoe]

Officially 5 years since I registered here, and the day my Forum Community post count surpasses my PG&D post count.

Technically not an AMA as certain topics are off-limits to the public. I'm willing to answer questions through PM though.

reference

[Xing]

Favorite place in each region of Oregon?

[Torie]

What about your experience with Atlas have you found most appealing to you, and what not?

[Aurelius]

How is your username meant to be pronounced? In my internal brain-voice I've been treating the vowels as pinyin, but "khu" and "fenq" aren't pinyin syllables AFAIK.

[Kamala's side hoe]

How is your username meant to be pronounced? In my internal brain-voice I've been treating the vowels as pinyin, but "khu" and "fenq" aren't pinyin syllables AFAIK.

My brain says something like "khoo-(d)zee-fehn-k". It's derived from my alter ego NationStates accounts "Jamilkhuze" and "Syfenq", whose names have vaguely Perso-Arabic influenced etymologies. "Jamil" is beautiful in Arabic, Khuzestan is an administrative division in Iran, and "Sy" is a corruption of the Sanskrit honorific "Sri".

Real question is how do you pronounce "khuzifenq" or "ugabug"?

I pronounce them ['xu.dzi.fɛŋk] and ['u.ga.bug] respectively.

I'll answer the other 2 later.

[NOVA Green]

Hey my friend---

Opinion of Intel not expanding fab mfg operations in Silicon Forest and instead spending Hundreds of Millions of dollars to invest in some of the highest global cleanrooms from a global perspective?

Was it better / worse to not have a dramatic expansion in Metro-PDX (Or even building a new facility in the Middle or Lower Valley?

Honestly at many times I have thought about applying for an Intel job as a direct hire, or potentially at least an extremely well compensated IC or MGMT / Specialist for a major business partner / vendor and would love to live in WashCo (Likely much more so than PDX especially since Light Rail makes it so easy to go into the City anytime without dealing with the hassle of driving).

[T'Chenka]

Komrade Khuznetsov, why isn't your avatar burgundy?

[Kamala's side hoe]

Favorite place in each region of Oregon?

I didn't expect this to be the least mentally taxing question to respond to. Not necessarily going with singular favorite places cause that's not how I roll.

Oregon Coast: Haystack Rock, the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and the 101 bridge in Newport are all nice places relatively close to Portland. Haven't really been south of Lincoln City in several years but there are a ton of state parks and scenic views all along the coast.

Portland proper: Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Mt. Tabor, Washington Park/Rose Garden, and Powell Butte are fairly standard touristy recreational spots. An underrated gem is the Leach Botanical Garden. Underrated food/beverage spot that I think you'd like in particular: Xocotl

Portland suburbs: Tualatin Valley Nature Park, Washington Square? The Tryon Creek Natural Area and the Clackamas Town Center are also nice places in Clackamas County but I don't have particularly deep memories of either since I had no reason to visit Clackamas County as a kid. Edit: there’s a scenic view of Willamette Falls near the southern end of I-205.

Gorge: excluding Multnomah Falls, probably Dog Mountain? There are also a bunch of nice hiking trails on the WA side.

Willamette Valley: Woodburn. Have been to Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene but don't have particularly deep memories of those places outside of field trips, college visits, and high school Model UN conferences on the UO campus.

Central Oregon: Sunriver and Mt. Bachelor I guess. Would like to visit Smith Rock State Park again as an adult.

Eastern Oregon: have only passed through I-84 once on a family road trip through the Western US. Would like to visit the Alvord Desert someday.

Southern Oregon: Definitely Crater Lake

[Хahar 🤔]

How would you describe your identity?

[Kamala's side hoe]

Hey my friend---

Opinion of Intel not expanding fab mfg operations in Silicon Forest and instead spending Hundreds of Millions of dollars to invest in some of the highest global cleanrooms from a global perspective?

Was it better / worse to not have a dramatic expansion in Metro-PDX (Or even building a new facility in the Middle or Lower Valley?

Honestly at many times I have thought about applying for an Intel job as a direct hire, or potentially at least an extremely well compensated IC or MGMT / Specialist for a major business partner / vendor and would love to live in WashCo (Likely much more so than PDX especially since Light Rail makes it so easy to go into the City anytime without dealing with the hassle of driving).

The overall social benefit to the US of building a new fab in the Columbus exurbs far outweighs the local benefits it might have for Metro PDX. You could argue that ramping up operations in Washington County would worsen traffic in the area- there are already a ton of rush hour commuters along US 26 and along I-5 and I-205 to/from the WA side of the metro.

Intel building new factories closer to Corvallis or Eugene is an interesting hypothetical. I’m not sure if the locals would be receptive to all the growth and development the facilities would bring, or if small college towns would provide a suitable business environment for a new Intel fab. But regardless, we’d love to have you in the Portland area if you ever feel like moving up!

[FazeRoxy]

Are you ever going to run for a position in the Atlas government?

[GregTheGreat657]

If you had to live in Upstate NY but got to pick where, where would you live?

[TML]

Were you surprised that Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in almost nine decades to win Columbia County?

[Kamala's side hoe]

Too busy with RL stuff to properly respond to the other questions right now (they're all getting their own post at some point) so I'll just respond to TimTurner's 11 point Save America Plan for the lulz.

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

1. Every child in America should watch anime in school.

Attack on Titan should be used to teach civics.

2. Every man, woman, and child should pledge allegiance to Mars before they eat breakfast.

100% on board with that.

3. Being a police officer should be a crime punishable with exile.

How would we determine who to exile, and when would that occur?

4. Pineapple on pizza should be outlawed.

Absolutely not. #pineapplesbelongonpizza

5. Due to climate change, a need now exists to watch Ben-Hur once every Friday.

ehh... sure

6. Americans should switch to pounds and penny sterling, and they should learn the basics of it in school.

Using reverse psychology to make Americans favor switching to metric, excellent.

7. China should get one trillion dollars in order to fund the floating of the Great Wall of China into space.

This would be kind of cool.

8. Atlas should switch to purple for Democrats and orange for Republicans.

110% on board with this, although I'd prefer Atlas Red and Blue.

9. America should outlaw apartments and allow only single-family housing.

Hard pass.

10. Outlaw voting as we know it. Replace it with direct democracy carried out on online platforms. Every single decision should be voted on by the people.

Lean FF measure

11. Harry Potter books should be made a national treasure, and JK Rowling should get honorary American citizenship as a reward for having written them.

120% on board with this

Are you ever going to run for a position in the Atlas government?

I made this account to push Soros' nefarious racial equity and clean energy agenda discuss real-world elections and current events, not to LARP in Atlasia. I will admit that my voting record is influenced by my opinion of candidates' posting style/behavior as well as their personal views.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Amen, brother! I am glad to have your support! Rational people can disagree on pineapple on pizza.

[Kamala's side hoe]

Were you surprised that Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in almost nine decades to win Columbia County?

No. That county is WWC, rural (arguably exurban given how many of its residents commute to Metro Portland for work),  and heavily dependent on resource extraction + manufacturing. It probably would've flipped even in a Kasich vs Sanders matchup.

[Kamala's side hoe]

Using this thread as another opportunity to plug this quiz I made a couple years back using responses from a similar thread as the metrics:

How Far Outside The Overton Window Are You?

How Far Outside the Overton Window Are You?
Your Result: Normie

You don't hold many controversial opinions, or maybe you don't hold any opinions at all. You might consider yourself a centrist. Or maybe you're just really boring. Don't be afraid to show your true colors.
Result Breakdown:
85% Normie
58% Leftist Radical
20% Rightist Radical

Quiz Created on GoTo Quiz

Last time I took this (which was sometime last year?) the breakdown was something like 50s Leftist Radical, 10s Rightist Radical.

[Rand]

I'll be in Oregon next month. When I knock on your door, will you answer?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'll be in Oregon next month. When I knock on your door, will you answer?

There are a bunch of Atlas posters who live in Washington County OR.
Perhaps a meet-up can be organized.

[Rand]

I'll be in Oregon next month. When I knock on your door, will you answer?

There are a bunch of Atlas posters who live in Washington County OR.
Perhaps a meet-up can be organized.

Organized? Or, Oregonized?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'll be in Oregon next month. When I knock on your door, will you answer?

There are a bunch of Atlas posters who live in Washington County OR.
Perhaps a meet-up can be organized.

Organized? Or, Oregonized?

A+ pun.
I'm impressed! Keep up the hard work!

[Kamala's side hoe]

I'll be in Oregon next month. When I knock on your door, will you answer?

There are a bunch of Atlas posters who live in Washington County OR.
Perhaps a meet-up can be organized.

Organized? Or, Oregonized?

Depending on who's down for an in-person meetup, there may be a ex-CIA noodle soup joint crawl and/or oregano tasting in the works.

What about your experience with Atlas have you found most appealing to you, and what not?

TL;DR answer (longer answer coming)-

Pros: indulging my interest in electoral demography and giving me a more substantive online soapbox to channel my inner Greta Thunberg/Lisa Simpson than the NationStates general forum.

Cons: getting sucked into the culture of Atlas from the 1% of most active posters and having my rewards system hijacked by this Leipforsaken message board.

[Kamala's side hoe]

What about your experience with Atlas have you found most appealing to you, and what not?

TL;DR answer (longer answer coming)-

Pros: indulging my interest in electoral demography and giving me a more substantive online soapbox to channel my inner Greta Thunberg/Lisa Simpson than the NationStates general forum.

Cons: getting sucked into the culture of Atlas from the 1% of most active posters and having my rewards system hijacked by this Leipforsaken message board.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this one. It felt more urgent to explain my personal story with Atlas when I made this thread, but I've been busier with life these past few weeks so I haven't had as much time to reflect on what I wanted to say here.

I first heard about the US Elections Atlas forum sometime in high school when I heard about US party realignments. Was curious what people thought a 7th party system would look like, and Google eventually led me to this online forum where posters were known by their state and party affiliation. I ran into amusing threads like this one from 2010 suggesting that I "should" vote R in 2050 based on my demographics and real-life social circle but "aspired" to be a Dem (and probably would still vote D). I also recall stumbling on some history/historical demography post by NC Yankee on why IN was more conservative than neighboring IL and OH. Didn't feel like registering for an account at the time though- until the 2016 election cycle came around, and Don Giovanni was elected #45.

One thing I really appreciate about Atlas is having a safe space to discuss electoral demography and promulgate my NationStates accounts. This is literally my safe space for being an "emerging BIPOC solidarity coalition" hack; I don't feel like I can simultaneously indulge in "own the Trumpists" and "roast the tone-deaf white libs" rhetoric anywhere else lol. I'd like to think my threads and posts have indirectly helped get Democrats elected (and left-of-center policies enacted!) during the Trump era. I prefer not to talk about politics/current events that much on my personal social media, partly because I don't think this would sway very many people within my social media bubble (>90% of what I share on my finsta story is stuff I see from people I know IRL and follow on my personal IG). And I don't see much point in engaging very deeply with political Reddit either. It's nice to be able to go somewhere to learn more about specific elections, candidates, bills, and rulings from people who clearly follow elections, candidates, bills, and rulings much more closely than I do.

I tend to be formal and serious as a poster, partly because this is my safe space to be an amateur pundit, but also because I'm aware that this is a publically visible message board. Some of my friends and family members probably know that I post here because they have followed my finsta at some point and recognize my username. Some of the fictional hypothetical voters I've posted in the PG&D megathread earlier on are loosely based on some of my friends who asked what people thought their political views would be. (My hypothetical voters are generally based on one or more people I've met IRL unless I specify otherwise). But I mostly refrained from posting too much before the 2020 primaries because I wanted my posts to carry some weight, and I was worried that posting too much would dilute the value of my posts.

Aside from being a bigger timesuck than I ever anticipated, my main gripe about Atlas has to do with how young and male this place is. Part of my complaints about how young this palce feels come from a perception that this place was more mature than the NationStates general forums, which I was somewhat active in pre-COVID although never as much as I was on here during the 2020 GE and all of 2021. Don't get me wrong, Atlas has indirectly taught me about the experiences of people who had pretty different formative experiences from my own (or are in different stages of life). Seeing how many posters on here were born after 2000 makes me glad I wasn't posting on here or exposed to the Atlas hivemind when I was in high school or earlier college. Seeing how many trans posters there are has probably made me more sympathetic to the self-identity struggles of trans teens than I otherwise would be.

As much as I like to pretend I'm better off getting election and politics info from Atlas than from Reddit or Twitter, it still feels like an echo chamber in some ways (especially with the recent posts about masks, vaccines, and COVID-19 restrictions at large). This is not only the only place on the Internet where I can have relatively civil and substantive interactions with Republicans and political right-wingers, it's also the only place where I've seen this level of opposition to masks and lockdowns. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's something I feel like I have to mention here.

[Kamala's side hoe]

Komrade Khuznetsov, why isn't your avatar burgundy?

TL;DR- The Road to Wigan Pier. A George Orwell book I've never read but completely agree with.

Short answer: I am a registered Democrat IRL (although I was briefly registered as a Green during Obama's 2nd midterm), and I want my Atlas avatar to reflect that.

Longer answer: My meme avatars are moss green (not burgundy) because my points of departure from mainstream Dems have more to do with environmental concerns and addressing climate change- than with philosophical musings on who should own the means of production or blaming billionaires for every societal problem under the sun. (Not that they shouldn't be held accountable for their actions, or that we shouldn't be concerned about economic inequality in the West and elsewhere).

I don't really have any moral objections to the market as a foundational cornerstone of the modern economy. Capitalism and entrepreneurship are good for society, and small business ownership helps build intergenerational wealth and a sense of ownership that is needed to combat racial inequities in society. As a left-leaning twentysomething voter I'm drawn to progressive candidates like Warren, Sanders, Yang, and AOC because they talk about cost of living issues like reforming healthcare, higher education, housing and public transit. Not because I think billionaires don't deserve to exist or because it isn't possible to advance my personal financial situation through hard work and determination.

And I know I post a lot about the media-activist complex and how out of touch Buzzfeed-ish white "Progressive Leftists" can be from the rest of the Dem coalition, but this tweet sums up where some of that perception is coming from. I'm too David Shor-pilled (or #woke if you wanna put it that way) from my college and post-college experiences to not see the bubble a lot of Twitter media-activist complex types seem to live in.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1469031915768279045

I don't get the quite the same vibe from Atlas S-avatars as a whole. I wouldn't accuse most of you of being armchair champagne socialists either. But I do feel like you guys are collectively edgier than the D-avatars due to either having left-wing economic views (further left than the people whose interests you claim to represent), or from being relatively socially conservative, culturally conservative, anti-woke, anti-PC, extremely anti-interventionism, etc. And whatever desire I might've had to flirt with "socialism" had I joined Atlas in high school is pretty much gone now.

[Kamala's side hoe]

If you had to live in Upstate NY but got to pick where, where would you live?

Maybe Tompkins County or Orange County? I may visit one of my college friends in Ithaca later this year.

If there's anything you've been dying to ask me but don't want to post in this thread, my PM inbox is always open! Still working on a response to Xahar's question