Nailed it on the head. I think also that you need to include that Canada’s relationship vis-a-vis trade with China will be affected by tariffs the US is placing on Canada, and same with Mexico. I think much of everything is from the viewpoint that China is a bigger problem than Russia at the moment. China is also recovering from some economic turmoil, and one way to do so includes expanding their reach, and so the intent is to limit China in other areas.

Ha, I should’ve mentioned that you definitely won’t. It seems to paint this damned if we do damned if we don’t picture. But it at least paints a picture, versus what can at times feel like this great big unknown. It may also shed some light on some of the motivations for what’s happening. I dunno.

My brother sent this to me the other day and I gave it a watch. It feels pretty unbiased (although I’m uneducated), and seems to have a more macro, zoomed-out view of America and just nations on the whole. I thought it was pretty interesting and it helped to put some things in perspective.

Hope you like CUSTOM LABELS.

My wife has gone all in for the past month or two.

You won’t hear me disagree.

I think MAGA represents to Republicans what progressives like Bernie and AOC represent to Democrats. Republicans were able to reimagine their party into a form that isn’t just going to follow the status quo that, like you said, has led to a stagnant existence for average Americans over the last 50+ years. And stagnant is probably a nice way of putting it, since buying power has essentially disappeared, on top of wages barely moving.

So Trump comes in, he says drain the swamp, and you hear that to mean the whole machine, everyone who, for the last 50 years (and some folks have been involved in that government for a good chunk of that 50 years, just perpetuating that status quo) has allowed the rich to get richer at the expense of the working middle class.

And so you toss on your blinders. You’re not necessarily a bigot, but you believe social issues are a distraction from actual problems (i.e., ones that affect you directly), and you vote in a way that you hope will better your life. It’s hard to blame someone, especially someone just exhausted from grinding through their shitty life, for thinking about themselves. It’s not the right way to think, but I get it.

Neither is easy.

Only thing I’ll disagree with is they’re not ripping off the rich, because it doesn’t matter to the rich. They’re killing the middle class though, but that is the way it’s been and the way it will continue to be. You will either be rich (haha, jk) or poor, and that’s the end game.

I think they’re downvoting the Squid, not the content of the post. I imagine a poster like Flying Squid has made some enemies along the way, the kind of people who literally go and downvote all their posts.

I’ll take what I said on Reddit and bring it here: Don’t comment on downvotes, they don’t matter.

I pirate first, and when I’ve really enjoyed a book I add a physical copy to the collection. I just can’t get behind paying for digital shit, for the reasons enumerated in this thread here. I just wish there was more direct-to-creator payments. Music and literature are perfect mediums to give directly to the artists who create it. I don’t give a fuck about whoever paid fir the digital ink. Maybe the record people get a little money.

My wife is big on library, and I need to, but I grew up just pirating stuff, so here we are. But she has a book club, and she’ll place a request for the book, and in the event it’s not yet available, she maintains the request but I get it for her. And for me personally, when I like a book or a series, I go and snag them later. I just prefer reading in Kindle anymore.

We get this butter substitute (green lid, can’t remember the name, I’d make a terrible shill) and it is phenomenal and 100% replaced spread butter. Cooking, I still use the regular most of the time though.

Glad to hear t-pose is the way to go. I’m beginning to think it’s the solution to the world’s problems.

Wait, you can secure SSDs and not just kinda push em in there?!

Yeah, I remember when they started rolling out data plans and they were hefty and the Internet on phones was useless. Then GPS on your phone was an add-on, also hefty. So it’s definitely improved.

This was certainly in the US at one point. I remember having 500 per month, which was an absolute joke for 16 year old me with a girlfriend the next town over, and paying 25 send and 5 receive afterwards. Old cell plans were absolute trash.

I am American. I’ll watch subbed movies, but sometimes I prefer dubbed. Miyazaki movies, for example, I don’t want to look away from the art to read, so we do subs. I generally prefer subs though, one reason being I can’t stand when mouths don’t match up. And dubs always seem bored, or something.

And Europeans make fun of Americans for plenty more than subtitled movies.

I went to sleep away lacrosse camp when I was 11-12, and one night they had boogie nights on, but you needed to be 14 or up before they’d let you watch. I regarded it at the time as less movie and more pornographic spectacle. Obviously ended up watching it as I got older, and while yes, it’s a bit pornographic spectacle, it’s also a very well made film. Great story, great pacing, well directed.

Yes, that’s all I have to offer.

Playing with my six year old daughter on switch. We just finished the community center. I’d played several times before but always fizzled out, as I tend to do with games, but the couch coop is great, although part of it is the company for sure. If this was me in my youth playing with my brother, the game would be much more hostile, as they all were.

I tell people I will work til I die, partly as a tongue in cheek jab at how bleak the future looks, but also because I find my job to be a good way to occupy my time.