Much like book bans in school libraries that have moved to city libraries and all the other bans that started in schools, this will soon move from bans on children getting healthcare, to bans on adults getting healthcare once they use the “save the children” rhetoric to make their followers comfortable with the prejudices in general.

That’s just how microwave popcorn is. I just put the microwave on for 9 min or whatever large number is easy to start and wait until the popping slows to a second or two between pops. There’s no way to have a perfect amount of time for all brands and packages of popcorn. Not to mention shrink-flation has made the time need to be shorter and different altitude changes how long it takes among other things. I have heard that some microwaves actually have been made with a microphone to listen for the time between pops, but I’ve never used one. But since they can’t be adjusted for your preferences, I’ve heard they usually burn it anyway. It’s always better to have it a little under popped than a little burnt IMHO. Once you do it a few times for a particular brand you’ll find the right amount of time if you need to walk away.

Don’t worry, in a couple of months, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division will be going away since it’s considered too “woke” and the attorney general will be too busy with shoving immigrants into makeshift concentration camps, making sure that women die when their pregnancies go wrong, jailing Trump’s “enemies”, and gutting the justice system to "break down legal restrictions and traditional protections against political interference” since that’s what Trump and Gaetz have said are the priorities. Problem solved. /s

Deciding to ignore something that causes people to suffer because it doesn’t affect you is wrong. Not having a set opinion on how to fix it is perfectly normal. Not everyone can understand the details enough to form an informed opinion. Just don’t decide something isn’t a problem because one group says it’s not without real evidence, especially if they’re the ones who created and/or benefit from the problem.

Assuming it’s not just using body doubles which is the easiest way, usually you film the same actor twice with the camera left in place and then splice the two films together either by physically cutting and pasting the film or more recently with software. The software also has the advantage that it can blend things better, and fix lighting differences, and differences in film exposure which isn’t as big of an issue now with film quality being more consistent. Often in older films you can often see an obvious difference between the two shots.

There’s also some films where they take a much easier approach where they film one scene and then use a green screen for the second take. This allows for doing the takes at different times since the camera might get moved or other small changes that are difficult to work around in a single day and allows for multiple camera angles to be used more easily, but it can be difficult to get the aspect ratios and depth just right, so it often looks less natural if the first take has the character along the same or too similar of a plane of depth as the second.

Not give up. Just move away from corporate owned social media which generally has biases baked in and allows for easy manipulation by the company. The one we’re on right now is not one of those and there are lots of other alternatives. Not that they’re perfect, just that money and especially wealthy individuals aren’t able to easily and singlehandedly manipulate millions of people by purging factual but dissenting information.

"Woke"just means logic- and fact-based now. So it’s as much a “cult” as scientists were called a “cult” by religions in the past.

Jan 1 my out of pocket maximum resets so I’m going to hurry and start getting some medical stuff done hopefully that I can fit into a single year. If not then it won’t get done. Sucks that we have to ration medical care in the US, even when we pay thousands per year for insurance.

Unless you have in depth knowledge of the company operations or at least the very specific industry a company is in and all of their major investors, most stock investing is gambling these days. And with options, shorting, etc., even moreso. It’s more about knowing when a stock will make large changes and taking advantage of those changes than actually investing in a company that you believe in. And the value of companies has little to do with actual viability of the company or it’s assets, only the short term estimation by major investors of their profit. A single wealthy investor or investment firm can easily manipulate the price simply by buy or selling in large enough amounts and automated investment platforms cause a lot of fluctuations. It only works because retirement funds now are used to keep the market stable because no one wealthy and powerful has them, so they’re good for sacrifice.

Thanks, guess I missed that. No man for the LE to deal with, so they can flex. And no man there to raise the child other than the elderly, so it hurts their “family values”.

OK, then look at cable TV. Or any other industry where a tax or regulatory fee was added and a customer gets a detailed bill with charges other than the product cost. They just add line items and pass it on, but of course most of the time those line items aren’t directly connected to the cost itself since the consumer wasn’t the direct target. So the companies add a little extra for “processing” (i.e. profit). It’s a common practice and likely to be the same with the tariffs.

I don’t watch many things that have commercials. Only if I really want to see something and nothing else is more convenient or it’s just for background noise while working on a project.

But since so many streaming sites let the ads be super loud compared to the content, yes, I usually mute it a couple of seconds ahead of time to avoid the jump scare.

They’ll do the same thing big restaurant chains did where they couldn’t pay their tipped employees less than minimum wage anymore. They’ll add a new “service charge” so they don’t have to increase the product price directly. They’ll make it much higher than the actual tariff costs, but say “hey look we’re not charging you a full 20% more.” Even though the tariff isn’t 20% of the retail price but people who support the tariffs are dumb and will think they’re doing good.

Most garbage disposals just cause more trouble that they’re worth since they turn small chunks of food into paste and that’s more likely to stick to the insides of drains and cause more clogs than the small chunks, as long as your drains are properly maintained. And a halfway decent strainer will keep out the larger pieces. It’s also not good for your city drains and makes sewage processing more expensive. Better to use composting for your food scraps if you can.

I’d be willing to bet she’s a single mother and these people are just going after her for that sin and to flaunt their power over someone they perceive as weak and evil. Otherwise, it makes no sense at all. I was forced to walk to the store alone many times starting at like 6 or 7, and I rode my bike all over the place from like 8 and up, way more than a mile from the house. And the crime rates are way lower now in most of the country. And there weren’t cell phones.

Because most of the people in power actually want Trump to push things too far. That way when he leaves, they can push things almost that far and look like a good guy. Remember, the Democratic party is conservative centrist, not leftist. There are very few left centrists like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in office and no one is truly very far left at all. But compared to Trump, they appear to be extremely leftist.

Yeah they may not cooperate with authorities, but I’m sure they’d be happy to sell it to contractors working on behalf of the government to the same ends. They already sell the info as it is.

Also grew up poor. But, wow, I wish earning over $100k was enough for vacations and hobbies in Seattle… I make around $150k, have a tiny home, and have only had one vacation since before COVID. I mean owning a home at all is pretty significant here, I guess.

I could probably do better if I moved far enough out of the city, but I’d lose a lot of conveniences that would cost me lots of time and money mostly around transportation, parking, shopping, etc. I do have a few hobbies, but most of my hobby time is used in home maintenance because it’s a 118 year old home… These days it takes about $250k around here to really start to have extra money for nice vacations and hobbies.

Protecting my privacy. I am gender nonconforming and on HRT. So with the current political atmosphere and the fact that it has enabled and encouraged hate speech and attacks, I’ll new to be more careful on platforms that my identity is more prevalent.

I’m not going to hide, as I’m not hiding by posting here. But I’m going to remove my data from corporate platforms that have connections to law enforcement and have poor security that insist on keeping my personal details. Can’t trust the federal government or any company, starting next year if the Project 2025 or Trump’s plan are truly put in place.

If there were death threats against people working for me, I’d tell them to avoid those people, too. It’s not discrimination. It’s a safety issue. A lot of them were threatening to shoot FEMA workers if they violated their property.