When we think cost of living we mostly think about rent and cost of food. The rich don’t pay rent and food is a tiny fraction of their budget, so obviously they don’t complain.

The death penalty has not been executed in NY/federal court for decades right? Doesn’t seem like an actual threat. What they want to achieve is a good negotiating position for a plea bargain because they known a trial will be a shitshow.

Unfortunately I am identifying more and more with the Russians. It’s becoming increasingly clear that most of my fellow citizens are not interested in the fact that we are slipping into autocracy/idiocracy, and it is also affecting my motivation to do something about it. Maybe in 20 years I will be so resigned to the situation that I allow them to send my son for slaughter.

Sorry, really depressed in the moment. Also, Slavs Ukraine for setting the best example possible at the moment.

I don’t know details, but the nr 2 and 3 were extremely close. Since there will be a runoff between the nr1 and 2, a recount makes sense.

I can simultaneously lend support and analyze why the probability of success is quite small. Anyway, this is an anonymous forum. Start a petition and I will sign it with my name.

Sorry I did not mean to both-side it. I am well aware that a union push will never come from the GOP. The main point was that because everything has become politicized there are no independent voices that can call for a national strike. If you want to dive deeper into why all is politicised you obviously come back to the conservative sphere (FOX, etc), so this is definitely not a both sides are bad argument.

The first problem is the polarisation. If people that are perceived to be Democrats call out a general strike, 50 percent won’t participate. Vice versa if perceived GOP does this. The polarisation and politicisation of every topic is what stops you from organising effectively.

I do! I usually buy an annual supply in the Netherlands because it is much cheaper than in other European countries. No alarms were ever raised (obviously since otc pharmacies are entirely anonymous). Again, the price difference between countries gives a strong indication of the profit motive involved.

The argument about blisters sounds ridiculous. Do you really believe you will stop an addict from his addiction because he has to push a bit harder.

How exactly do small packages limit use? There is no limit to the amount of packages you can buy. However, those small packages are severely overpriced. I think it’s safe to say that profit considerations played a role in their design.

I have never heard of this in the context of ibuprofen. I know it’s bad on the stomach which means you shouldn’t take it for long periods of time (unless prescribed by a doctor). However, when the source of the pain disappears it’s pretty easy to kick the habit. Very different from opioids that are addictive beyond their painkilling ability.

Also between European countries the price of otc painkillers differs tremendously, and my impression is that European pharmacies generally only sell small packages in an effort to maximise profits.

I really really hope that they will enact their economic agenda before their racist agenda. When they denaturalize and deport citizens, half of us will be cheering (unfortunately). When the price of electronics/ cars increases it distributes harm to all.

Ironically I think policy support would have been much easier had we put boots on the ground right away. There was initially enormous support for Ukraine, and sending out own soldiers would have given voters a continued vested interest in the war.

Not saying the outcome would have been better, and there is always the threat of nuclear war. However, it would totally changed the course and focus of elections, and my impression is that voters like it when politicians take risks, even if it doesn’t pan out (and even if it’s suicidally stupid).

If men only date women below 30 (or 27 apparently??) for their youthful appearance, what incentive do those women have to take dating seriously? Those men won’t stay anyway. This is the main contradiction in incel rhetoric. If you don’t like to look at women past 30, women shouldn’t date you “seriously “ while in their 20s.

I know my way around the Jolly Roger myself. At the same time using copyrighted materials in a commercial setting (as OpenAI does) shouldn’t be free.

I am also not really getting the argument. If I as a human want to learn a subject from a book I buy it ( or I go to a library who paid for it). If it’s similar to how humans learn, it should cost equally much.

The issue is of course that it’s not at all similar to how humans learn. It needs VASTLY more data to produce something even remotely sensible. Develop AI that’s truly transformative, by making it as efficient as humans are in learning, and the cost of paying for copyright will be negligible.

This is just such a false narrative. The issue is not a lack of funds to help our own citizens and refugees. The issue is that those funds are concentrated among very few very wealthy people. Those wealthy people would very much like us to blame the refugees.

Yeah blame the left which is in power in…. Oh right, nowhere. Essentially the voter has tried out all (somewhat) reasonable right politicians and since nothing works they now decided to try the crazy right wingers.

The problem in Belgium is that the Dutch speaking part swings far-right whereas the French speaking part swings far-left. Without common ground they probably will not be able to form a government.

I am pretty sure my kids would love this, and 35 dollar for a 3day camp is a bargain.

Not (frequently) mowing your lawn is one of the best things you can do for your local bee population. Dandelions and other meadow flowers are great sources of nutrition for them. Obviously, don’t use pesticides either.