• 44 Posts
  • 360 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 29th, 2023

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  • In the link comment I provided I did state it was a far off miracle. But, my focus was less on 3rd parties or electoral reform, it was directly related to the “National Committees” that exists. I’m all for state parties, reminds me of when Bell was split into it’s different areas. But on a national level I wonder if it can be argued that it’s so far removed from focusing on “political ideologies of it’s group” to becoming a service provider for selected candidates. You could look at the committee’s structures, are they even following their own political ideologies, what type of controlling power they have, etc etc.


  • This question was less about electoral practices are more about a single entity controlling the national level of it’s party. I feel the function of these at a national level, can be argued as an organization/company which controls the market for their party. What “political party” protections are there and what distinguishes them from any other organization that could be regulated by the anti-competitive laws. I feel they are political in name only, and can truly be academically and legally viewed as a business (which supports mainly political clients).


  • Looking at an entire political spectrum and there being only a Duopoly is heart breaking. But I meant more like each one is a true “business monopoly” for it’s own perspective market/party. Controlling exposure, funding, data, candidate selection, being generally a lobbying middleman group, at what point does this become less a “political ideological group” and more a business organization that focuses heavily on political candidates? (like a sign manufacturer is technically making political content, but they’re still just a business, they’re both providing a service or product to individuals).

    This is not so much a focus on political parties or ideologies, but more the NC (national committee) portion of it. I understand state political parties. But when expanded to the national committee’s of those parties, how are those organizations not considered a monopoly for their parties centralizing and controlling the state level and have completely overtaken national decisions which can effect the state level as well.


  • I definitely wouldn’t suggest that people need to run out with friends and drink copious amounts of alcohol. A night at the bar can be fun, but keeping that as an activity that a friend group commits to repeatedly isn’t a healthy setting (for instance alcoholism effects 10% of the population).

    That being said, there are a lot of constructive uses with alcoholic beverages such as cooking and really unique flavor profiles. Some of the mixtures that are 90%+ non-alcoholic have interesting tastes that you just can’t recreate without the alcohol changing subtle differences in what’s present. Definitely respect your choice not to drink though, just throwing this out there as a healthier alternative than binge drinking for those who do want to try.



  • NNOO!!! Matrix was a documentary though!! /s But seriously though, if I were Keanu I would steer really wide and far from anything like this because of the semi-cult following he got from the movies. There was borderline problems with people conflicting the metaphors of the movie to actually say it’s reality and we are trapped. Like it’s a cool hypothesis and explains some things easily like religion, but takes all the fun out of actually researching or discovering something universe shattering like that.




  • Well of course you’re not going to see anything negative on a show recorded and produced by the person you’re talking about. Historical sites aren’t just about the infrastructure/items, it’s about honoring the memories and past lives/accomplishments of our ancestors. In regards to the “snake” banning, that site already was embarrassed by a previous recording of ancient aliens, and historical sites have learned not to let organizations and promoters take over and misrepresent the cause and importance of those sites. From my understand they don’t even let in people like NPR, they are there as an educational resource and not to be hijacked as proof for a theory they don’t represent.

    Now if it was an actual scientist working on a scientific research paper? Sure, be outraged. A guy trying to film a show looking for evidence to prove a hypothesis? (not how the scientific method works) Completely delusional to get upset about it.


  • huh, this is the first time I’ve ran across this idea on here. I mean, it would be fucking crazy and to pull it off would take a miracle of a life time… but I think this has merit.

    You could file this under Anti-trust/monopoly competition law.

    Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. In economics, competition is a scenario where different economic firms[Note 1] are in contention to obtain goods that are limited by varying the elements of the marketing mix: price, product, promotion and place. In classical economic thought, competition causes commercial firms to develop new products, services and technologies, which would give consumers greater selection and better products.

    This is largely how both the DNC and RNC are defined

    According to Boris Heersink, “political scientists have traditionally described the parties’ national committees as inconsequential but impartial service providers.”

    So if you look at both the RNC and DNC as an organization or company that provides a service (which they’ve argued themselves in court, that they’re not a true democratic function), you could consider them a national monopoly on a service provided to political prospects (think ticketmaster-livenation). If you break up the national level to only have individual organizations in states that aren’t allowed to unlawfully co-operate with eachother, you would have better chances of people getting their state representatives to actuallly listen to their constituents.

    National elections would become like an All-Star Jam or the Olympics basketball team. It would be much the same players but having to form their own services eliminating the “political pipeline” that the DNC/RNC currently has a market on, on a national level. Which, the overwhelming power they have, trickles down into state elections with vast resources and political sway disrupting a democratic process.

    You could do all of this in a courtroom, no legislation required to be passed for enforcement. I have faith in each side having enough disgruntled members and judges tired of playing politics that you might get some headway.


  • I’ll just throw mine in to help confirm some of the general consensus coming from the states. Before 9/11, nothing really. A few brief mentions in history class etc, our education is horrible about human history but shoves American history down your throat. During the wars? Absolutely fucking horrific that any country is just allowed to attack an area like that. Every time I heard about some new operation I thought about how my family (if they were in that situation) would be huddle in the corner of a room just hoping to survive the night. Something that would make me want to lash out at anything because of the danger to my family, I never got why ANYONE thought this would “stop the terrorizing” by making more radicalized citizens.

    After and currently, I’m completely blown away by the historical and cultural context of Iraq. In school there was never an emphasis on how important that country was to the civilization that we have now. Every documentary or book I read that touches on ancient history includes that area. I think if it was better taught in schools, the general consensus would’ve been more honorable towards finding a solution that worked for both countries.


  • I did hear a segment yesterday (I think npr) on the radio talking about the “Gold standard” which was used in the 18th century with a more stable system that I think you’d be interested in.

    I can’t condone or support your suggestion because I believe inflation has more contributing factors than just minimum wage hikes and population increases (such things as greed, climate change cost impacts, etc). Your statement might be valid if prices were regulated and investigated for the causes of any type of increase.

    I also believe companies and owners will NOT provide adequate compensation for the work/profit being performed. A stable regulation system where companies are only able to “fee” out the cost of running the company (and slight profit %) but the rest is given to the worker for his productivity might pan out. But, at the moment, companies can and will only give the lowest amount they can get away with. If you lower that amount they will happily comply (look at how delivery drivers got screwed over with hourly wages being diminished).


  • You know, it’s comments like this that make me laugh and realize how much of a privileged life someone has. Anyone saying, “Oh, it only takes 10 mins to make bread crumbs!”, has never actually been required to make all of their food homemade. Let’s take a journey and use a generic recipe.

    • bake at 275 degrees until dry, about 10-to-15 minutes

    ok so maybe 15 mins, preheat oven, getting it all ready, maybe like 30 mins but very relaxed. Lowest priced loaf of bread is $1.39 at a local grocer (it’s a horrible brand that’s more airpockets and made from the cheapest ingredients possible but it’s still counts as bread).

    • Add them to the food processor, and process them until coarsely crumbed.

    Oh shit, now I need a food processor (cheapest is 40 on amazon and walmart), or I could stand at a blender for 2 hours doing one handfull at a time (if I have a blender). Wait, wasn’t this only suppose to take 10 mins?


    Ok let’s just chop the bread by hand, now we’re about an hour into the process after it cools and is chopped. But I wanted shake n’ bake, so let’s head over to this recipe.

    • Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until evenly mixed and the bread crumbs are no longer ‘clumpy’ from the oil.

    Let’s see here, Vegetable oil ($2.99), Salt ($0.79), Dried onion flakes ($2.19), Paprika ($1.29), Sugar ($3.19), Garlic powder ($1.29), Ground black Pepper ($2.29), Cayenne ($2.49), Parsley ($2.19), Basil ($2.59), Oregano ($2.49). (all cheapest prices listed from local grocer, nothing premium)


    So now we’re at over 25$ for the homemade shake and bake ingredients. 65$ if I want a food processor to keep this under an hour. Oh yeah, I hope I have foil, baking sheets, sanitary plastic bags to “shake” it, a long term storage container for the amount I’m making. I’m over $100 as a fresh person starting life to make bread crumbs. 2 hours between prep and time spent getting ingredients… and I have bread crumbs, guess I’ll start actually cooking the meal!

    You can make excuses for people that already have some of the required items, but generically you can’t make that statement unless they’re privileged and have hand me downs or time to bargain shop for cheaper appliances. It all costs in the long run and with homemade you’re paying with your time that no one has. The whole point of the shake and bake was a convenience for overworked families trying to continue to participate in society in a “healthy” way. If you can’t afford “convenience” as a worker, then you’re not getting paid enough.

    edit: formatting


  • ok wait, your goal is income equality and you don’t believe too low of a minimum wage is a problem but only maximum wage should be a focus? I’m just trying to understand this ideology. You seem to disfavor the rich in your comments, so you don’t believe in wealth hording but you might believe their message of “pull yourself up by the bootstraps?” I can see it, just not understanding what you’re getting at completely.


  • Idk, our crops can’t survive extreme heat and drought but certainly there is life in a desert. The ol’ Carlin bit of the world will be just fine and all. But, you have to consider the fact that we have always migrated in the past during extreme climate changes and will have to do so in the future if it continues. There is plenty of places like Canada where the climate change will boost some sectors. Same with the fact Antarctica used to be tropical, we’ll just huddle around the proverbial fires of our community wherever they need to go to survive.




  • They’re unfortunately eating all the pecans, the property has large pecan and acorn trees everywhere from one of the previous owners so they’re always well fed. Looks to me like I have eastern fox squirrels after researching into it further, they can grow up to 30 inches in length and the claws look about right. Seems like my area is one of the few places in the state they reside, really glad I looked into it further and finding out so much more about them.

    I will say, I absolutely love the guys and want to do more with the property to support them. The property around us was recently clear cut so our trees are the only vestige of a habitat that they have left around here. I’ve always thought about setting up a webcam of some sort because they love sun bathing on our bricks during the cool hours and will sit on our window sills under the awning when it gets really hot out. That’s how I’ve been able to observe them so closely and realized they’re not so cute and cuddly so wouldn’t want to be trapped in an enclosed space with a frightened one.


  • I’m guessing most people in here haven’t had to interact with a tense squirrel in a confined area before. Squirrels look cute when they’re sitting with their twitchy fluffy tails and extremities tucked in or jumping/climbing around gracefully.

    The reality, squirrels are huge up close (cat sized), have extremely muscular physiques, and fucking claws like a Velociraptor. I’ll admit though with trying to find pictures online that it turns out my local breed is just a larger species of the family but there’s really no photography I’m finding out there of them. Guess it’s time to learn some new skills and post up the group that lives around the house.


  • I remember growing up in the 90’s and being acutely aware of the growing minimum wage. I knew no matter what that when I was able to get a job I would be guaranteed “this” amount and always thought about prices and how long I had to work to get something I wanted when I was an adult. Every small bump made it a little mini-celebration like I was getting a future raise that would allow me to have a better life.

    Now? Shake and bake costs over 5$, I have to literally work over an hour to buy half a cup of “convenient” seasoned bread crumbs. I could buy the flour, make the bread, and process it to make my own… but now I’m out of time in the day to work enough to actually afford the meat or any other side item. Oh yeah, and at some point I should pay my bills and save for retirement -_-