I agree with everything you are saying. What I’m saying is actually living under fascism has made Portugal and Spain more resistant to fascism and other right wing non-sense than other countries in Europe. Not perfectly immune, and this will not last forever in the face of limitless digital propaganda, but for now resistant enough.

It helps that millions of voters here actually grew up under fascism and still clearly remember how much it sucks.

My dog is afraid of trains which is occasionally inconvenient for traveling somewhere far as we live car free.

If I had just paired his vaccines with Tylenol he would have instead been able to identify the year and model of every locamotive 🚂 and seek them out like he does now with french fries. 🍟

That’s wonderful you are a data engineer, but in a normal business setting most people are not. I’m the only one at my company who knows SQL exists. But everyone knows what Excel is, everyone knows at least the basics of using it. Even if I got my coworkers familiar with and writing SQL (which is a laughable thought) there are still clients.

Data is everywhere, and Excel has been the default program for light data analysis for decades. I hate it as much as the next person, but right now it’s inescapable and irreplaceable.

Excel/Access is literally the only reason I ever boot to Windows anymore.

Power Query

They keep saying “both sides have to make sacrifices”, what exactly is Russia giving up? Why isn’t the size of the Russian military being severely limited as well, especially given they are the aggressor in multiple conflicts…

Generations of conservative politicians have sold Americans the idea that government can and should be run like a business. That if it were run like a business it would be sunshine and rainbows with low taxes, and high quality services. Many people do genuinely believe this.

They already get lots of money without admitting their system sucks.

You assume those in charge are interested in helping out the average citizen, they aren’t.

https://www.nknews.org/2025/04/north-korea-has-earned-estimated-20b-from-military-support-for-russia-report/

https://www.nknews.org/2025/07/north-korea-to-receive-2-38m-in-humanitarian-assistance-this-year-un-data/

I get what you’re saying and agree with the basic premise, “economies are extremely complicated and it’s hard to ascribe x caused y, when so many other things can go sideways”. It drives me nuts when people think the US president controls oil prices, if they did it would just be perpetually free!

Where I wholeheartedly disagree with your message is because Milei promised quick and easy solutions to Argentina’s economy. He sold the story that 100 years of economic turmoil was due to corruption and gross incompetence. He promised he was not corrupt (which was a lie), and applying some basic economic principals would lead to a roaring economy (which never materialized and never will because economists already know the policies he’s proposing don’t work in the long run).

Yes his austerity measures led to inflation going down which his foreign apologists immediately point to, but the exchange rate skyrocketed offsetting any gains for a typical Argentine (most everything financial in Argentina is measured in USD, even ironically government fees).

If today you go ask typical Argentines “are you better off financially now than 3 years ago” the answer is going to usually be no.

I do! My religious mother said it was certain because her church Facebook group said there was an upcoming blood moon and quoted some ambiguous bible verses. She wanted me to go buy a dozen cheap tents at K-mart’s store closing sale. I refused and she bore witness to me that it was the end of days.

I reminded her about the “prophesies” she spouted to me on inauguration day and she rolled her eyes and asked why I was holding onto the past.

I don’t live in America, and many people here actually do use MAGA or Trumpism to describe the local right wing people and parties because they are largely just copying America…

The part few people seem to be mentioning is that visa fees are a source of funding for ICE, if companies actually end up paying these fees at current visa rates it would be $6.5 Billion annual funding for ICE

Speed running us towards the Dune timeline, nice

I think it’s about depressing wages more than anything. Companies know WFH works just as well. But they also know people like it quite a bit. They have it away for free, by making in office default they can negotiate lower wages for people who really want to work from home.

I know several (small) companies that give you 8 hours PTO on your birthday. You can use it immediately or save it for later.

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Think of other topics and questions than work, Americans care too much about work outside of work.

Switch your phone apps to celsius and start your brain switching ASAP.

Knowing what country or region you’re going to would help

I once worked in a division of ~3500 employees, every year the division produced two profit forecasts one called “pessimistic” and another called “optimistic”. My first year the division made $335 million MORE than the optimistic forecast so the division CEO approved every employee a $335 bonus.

The next year it happened again but only $285 million, so $285 bonuses that year.

Both times I scoffed and quietly pointed out to the delighted Boomers I trusted that it was less than one third of a percent of the total money.

The next year apparently the corporate office found out, fired said CEO and quashed the bonuses forever. Apparently the distribution of the crumbs was more than they could handle.

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