MC Fresh Breath

I personally have no problem with coming for the AR-15s. But that's one of many reasons I'm happy to be out of Texas. And you made a reasonable post that seems fair. I think after 49 years of living in Texas I just don't see the State ever coming back to a reasonable level. Certainly a bias of mine, but things like Abbot, Cruz, Cornyn, Abortion, e.t.c. reinforce it. It feels to me like decades of being reasonable haven't done much. But again, its my personal opinion and I'm not saying you are wrong. Again, meanwhile in Oregon: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/11/oregon-measure-114-one-of-strictest-gun-control-measures-in-us-too-close-to-call.html Many folks say this one of the most flawed gun control law out there. It puts the onus of decision making on the police. There is a decent chance it gets overturned in a court. But there is a significant percentage of the population willing to try anything to curb gun violence. It is actually still very close so the article title may be premature. But the fact that it is this close is telling. We all know the bill wouldn't get off the ground in Texas.

Meanwhile, in Oregon That amount of people saying 'nah, need to keep slavery' is disturbing.

I'm not saying I disagree with you. But Texans valuing guns more than children's lives or frankly anything else is part of the insanity that we all view as normal. The concept that you can't say anything negative about guns because it will rally the R's causes me to think the populace gets what it deserves.

Yeah. So thanks to another poster I did a quick refresher on Citizens United vs. FEC. Looking at now its pretty easy to see why McConnell gets everything he wants. Corporate rule.

I'm sure I'm helping derail the thread a bit, but plenty of time for doom. I have heard good things about minpins and briefly knew one via a neighbor. I have also heard some people swear that they had great chihhuahas. But I feel like Jimmy and my family's experience with the breed/mix isn't all that rare. Also, I'm biased towards larger breeds but lost the vote on this one.

I am the unlucky owner of a chihuahua/rat terrier mix that has two different vets and even the place we adopted it from suggest behavioral euthanasia as a possibility. Not sure one can be overly critical.

https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/yplvus/15_hour_wait_time_to_vote_just_west_of/ Man am I glad to be in a State that does mail in voting, and has for a pretty long time. Automatically registered when I got my driver's license. Easy to use website that lets me know when my ballot was sent out and when it was received. Of course, that same State is in danger of going Maga from the top, so who knows how long I get to enjoy it.

If Neon is a troll my meter is way off. Pretty sure I agree with most of their posts and in the times I've disagreed it has been civil.

Yeah: https://truthout.org/articles/georgias-governor-deputized-gop-vigilantes-to-challenge-149000-voters/

I have to admit, you got me on this one. Unless you meant January 21, 2010. Which I agree was a major accelerator. But I always personally trace the decay to Nixon. And then on some pessimistic days I trace it to the very roots of who we are as a country. Listening to Ron Chernow's "Washington" doesn't help.

we have ever present optimists even as things go further and further into the dead zone of non-recovery. some of those optimists assured me he'd be facing jail by now, completely broke and desittute.

Well, now I feel duped. I do still like the handle name.

i was trying to be polite, not obtuse. you're the one who dismissed it as garbage and gave one economist who said so then claimed 'most' do the same. it seems to me that there is actually disagreement out there: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/business/economy/price-gouging-inflation.html

do you have more on that?

sorry, thought I pasted it but didn't. https://www.omfif.org/2022/06/corporate-us-making-consumers-pay-for-inflation/

I don't think all economists agree with that one though. Dismissing it as garbage seems reductive.

I'll read that one, thanks.

I'll quickly admit to not being an economist, so you can let me know if I'm being misled. https://archive.ph/NOilY#selection-4705.0-4733.418

Here's another similar take that perhaps you also think is garbage. Dunno. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/04/sanders-says-true-economic-crisis-corporate-greed-and-gop-congress-would-make-it

I like your username. Makes me laugh. Sorry you felt it was garbage. Care to explain?

helobious's ridiculousness cracks me up. it is such an obvious card and yet so many, such as yourself, get all wrapped up and frothing at the mouth about it. which typically cracks me up as well. it reminds of the board you and i met on, so it bemuses me that it riles you up so much you have to project that it is somehow amazing he doesn't kill himself in real life. and the very post i quoted you on was you assessing other's attributes, so don't make me re-quote it. and again, this isn't the 'astros fans only' thread. as to mariners fandom--eh, i've fallen away from just all sports, but i'm glad you noticed. seriously, i miss some of our back and forth. but if i was loyal to a team, sure, it's them. so i tuned in to them getting swept, and still had fun with the novelty of it all--long drought after all. one of the many reasons i've fallen away from sports is when you step back the absolute silliness of someone being a "chickenshit" based on their behavior on an internet forum is just astounding. such serious business over something that lierally has no impact on your life, nor do you have an impact on the outcome. and i think overall chomsky is quite right about sports in general. just mentioning that name is dangerously close to CR, but there you have it. the concepts of people not being 'loyal' to their region is also funny were it not sadly provincial. and i guess stepping away so much just makes me shake my head when i see otherwise rational folks who i personally know are good people go absolutely insane online over someting like someone disappearing instead of 'taking their internet lumps.' its just silly, and robbing of joy for me.

So still the majority, but not as much of one. OK. Even if it was NOT the majority, I would think in a non-Astros based thread some 'haters' are expected.

sidis, I can only hope you're drinking heavily during all of these types of posts. it has been crazy seeing you make personal assessments of people's lives based on their actions in a sports thread of all things. worrying about fans in the supposedly non-Astro fan thread is just flat out joyless and beneath you. The majority of America is rooting against the Astros. I hesitate to point it out, because there's really no need to hash over the same old arguments again (and who knows all the reasons), but that's how it is. While every Astros fan will disagree, blame Manfred, e.t.c., that doesn't mean that everyone posting non-Astros support is somehow a loser in life that enjoys hating more than rooting for their own teams. As you are aware, there are only two teams left. Should every non-fan of those two teams turn off their TV sets and quit posting? Don't most neutral folks root for the underdog? Does picking one team to root for automatically equate to being a hater? Should they all not pick someone to root for? It seems you and Penelope would have it that way. Which is sad to see from posters I otherwise thought were smarter and should recognize the easy correlation between nutty tribalism in sports and elsewhere in our society.

It might. The book covers losing time/hours/focus to all the distractions of the internet. Social media gets its due in it, but so does things like binge watching Netflix. There is a bit of Pollyanna-ishness to it (the author has never used a lot of the social media he critiques) but still caused me to evaluate my relationships with tech and media. There is a 30 digital detox recommendation where you cut out all social media/mindless browsing/binging. After that the recommendation is to re-engage in a more mindful and limited fashion. That worked for me for a while (my book reading increased) but like all addicts I easily slipped back into some bad habits. I should probably try it again. At any rate, it’s an easy read and food for thought.