Mannerheim was, to put it mildly, a pretty extraordinary character. Among other things, he met the 13th Dalai-Lama in Tibet while the Dalai-lama was in exile - to whom he gifted a pistol and instructed how to operate it.
To anyone interested in learning more about the man I recommend Jonathan Clements' book Mannerheim: President, Soldier, Spy. As a Finn it was very fascinating how there was so much more adventure in his life than WWII, presidency or any Finland related wars/politics
His trip thru Tibet was ostensibly to gather plant samples and such, but he conveniently was also rather well placed to gather information for the Tsar.
"The SS guards demanded the tape be destroyed, but YLE was allowed to keep the tape in a sealed container with the promise that it never be opened again"
Pretty interesting historical document for the content. And interesting to hear Hitler speak normally. He accent is little funny but he does not sound significantly Austrian or strange to me.
Mannerheims german is excellent. Outside of a few strange things he speaks perfect high german.
Calm down. Yes, some things are shit in Portugal. €0.2246 per kWh is not cheap but it is not crazy high.
"Renewables account for 72% of Portugal's consumption in 5-mo 2021" May be important for the future
I know real estate prices in Portugal are crazy. 500k in a city and you get a golden visa. Hence every decent apartment is 500k or more. In a country were the minimum salary is around 500 euros.
Look the the future. Portugal can and is attracting an nearly infinite supply of young people from Brazil, Angola, Mozambique. The future is good. Likely better than Italy.
Property prices aren't so crazy - a friend of mine pays €400 a month in a nice part of Costa da Caparica for a 2 bed, another bought a great place for under €200k in Cacilhas.
For under €500k you can get something like this https://www.idealista.pt/imovel/31578168/ more than decent in such a desirable location in the centre of the capital..
The minimum wage is so low because more than 50% of the workforce didn't finish school https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/50-of-portuguese-betwee...
There are plenty of Portuguese people smarter than I commanding nice salaries, yes not as high as elsewhere in Europe but the quality of life and cost of living I believe make up for it.
"In my line of work I meet plenty of lapsed physicists. These are people with physics degrees, even physics Ph.D's, who don't do physics. Instead they're usually some sort of programmer, or occasionally some version of a quant."
I now PhDs that became High School teachers and they were some of the most gifted. I know PhDs that wait tables to make ends meet.
I think if the guy has fundamentally not understood what Peter Turchin was talking about. They are getting priced out of the housing market, won't ever be able to afford to buy a house. Even raising a family might be difficult. At the same time you pay for services for the boomers and a retirement and social security that yourself might never see.
As somebody who's about to finish a CS dissertation, I sometimes think the best way to do CS research is to get a somewhat interesting software engineering job that allows for a 4-day week and to do research as a side project. Most likely, this gives one more research time than staying in academia (with the exception of the first Post Doc, perhaps).
Edit: This works for most of CS, but not for most of Physics, I assume.
Historically, i tried to get software dev jobs that maximized my free time to do whatever i what on the side (also helped that i've been working remotely for ~6 years).
"until this point, we didn't even talk about money"
Big mistake. For years I was desperate for a job (STEM PhD). Now it would be my first question to ask. And I ask this on the phone before I would even bother to go for an interview. But again, now I don't need your shitty job. Chances are, you need me more than I need you.
I remember when I talk to a company once on the phone. Besides that I did not really like the salary, I realized I would not be able to do the job since it was basically two jobs and their chances of success were much slimmer then they were assuming. Didn't bother to go on. But the HR guy said, please apply, worst thing that can happen is that we don't hire you. WRONG. Worst thing that can happen is that I get treated disrespectful in an interview and that I waste time. Most companies value your time with zero.
And if you applied already you ask in the first phone interview why they think you are suited for the job. You would be surprised how many people have you come in without ever having looked at your resume and then tell you that you are not a good fit based on your resume in the interview. It is basically the first time they look at it.
> WRONG. Worst thing that can happen is that I get treated disrespectful in an interview and that I waste time. Most companies value your time with zero.
which can hurt your self-esteem / motivation for the next interview.
Worst thing that can happen is that you get hired by a terrible company with a toxic work environment that doesn't respect its employees. That's wasting way more time and energy than any wasted interview.
So if you see red flags and have other options that look more promising, walk away.
I find the market for lemons analogy to be unconvincing.
It makes sense if employers sold employees to other employers, but it falls apart in the standard labor market.
If I am currently employed and job searching, it is because my current employer is a lemon, not me. The prospective employer should be focused on determining my value to them. Everyone has some value (possibly negative, in extreme cases) and if we both agree then we should both be happy.
In this context, an employer could be a lemon for a million different reasons.
But the market for lemons does not describe the labor market. Good companies grow and need more employees. Good employees do not get market-competitive salary adjustments and thus look for different jobs. It's the complete opposite!
There are exceptions, without a doubt.
EDIT - and let me also say that if the market for lemons accurately describes the labor market, why is it that tech is the only industry with such broken hiring practices?
Yes. But it is incredibly hard to get into a good company.
"and let me also say that if the market for lemons accurately describes the labor market, why is it that tech is the only industry with such broken hiring practices? "
In other "tech" industries it is the same. How do you get into a blue chip company?
1. contacts of your parents
2. contacts of your professor at University
3. you work for a start-up that they buy
In my experience this is true for 9/10 people I know.
I did my PhD in NYC and I once was asked in an interview for a med-sized medical company what the street name in Brooklyn is with all the hipsters. Think deeply what could be the reason for such a question.
I don't understand the question. But regarding the street in Brooklyn (this interview as in Europe), obviously they did not believe I really got a PhD there and lived there. Totally insane. Today I would walk out in such a situation. At that time I answered like a diligent student.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9AVu6KupNg
(English subs are very very bad)