I felt that Londo's core drive was saudade..he forever wanted to return.

There's an episode where he says, "My shoes are too tight. But, it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to dance."
So too for his beloved Centauri Republic...a return to glory and respect.

I have relatives that work for that company.

The number of free boxes they get is staggering too.

At their house, I can't get to bathroom without stepping over a pile of cards.

As a single data point from my wife is a simple analyst/regulatory specialist/low level manager in a mid sized city sewer and storm water bureau, and her stories...
There are, but they're kept away from power.

I'll agree to that.

He evidently based some of it on Ibn Khaldun's work? I haven't read Muqaddimah.
Perhaps there's more nuance there.

Can one argue that the writer can write a plausible story and not understand it? Dune has struck me as sociological viable, but Herbert didn't really get why his own story worked.

The Imperium lost because no one could be bothered, not because the Fremen were a bunch of sand Achilleses.

Then I must be missing something Devereux's piece. I interpreted the ending part (least Fremen society...) as suggesting that societies that can marshal the most material resources in a coherent fashion against another tends to win?

I always considered Dune to be an interesting example of being right and not understanding why.

In my assessment, the Fremen won because of massive amounts of group cohesion, and reality focus. In contrast, the broader society was a nest of vipers striking one another over the value of symbols.

Yeah a simple fix. Since he premature, a hole in the abdomen wall where the testies drop didn't close. The intestines can then sneak through and get stuck.

Surgery was simple-- use some sutures and scarring to close the hole. Never think about it again. 2 weeks for a 50 minute procedure

A couple of years ago my newborn had 5 ER trips in 14 days before a hernia surgery to put his guys back in because <checks notes> the surgeons were on vacation.

As a comp, I had the surgery as a newborn in '85. The turnaround was 1 day.

I'd duel you to first hangnail over this claim.

You beat me to a pun. I was going to suggest meteorocracy.

"It rained today. We need a change!"

Fantastic....the real star was the smoked paprika in the sauce

Do you have a favorite board game?

My sense is that this kind of oversight is a part of American culture.

We're raised to hate quitters and non participants

Or, as my father-in-law says, "You have no right to complain if you don't vote."

Immigrants from better off countries tend to earn more than typical receiving country native. Standard Interpretation...
Immigrants from more developed countries tend to be more skilled.

Asymptotically, the most successful would be a person with 0 posts and many followers..

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent

Wittgenstein might approve.

What techniques did they find useful?