2870 Comments

In the immortal words of Alexander Hamilton as channeled through Lin Manuel Miranda, “Angelica, tell my wife [VP] John Adams doesn’t have a real job.”

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I know, I know ... 👉🏼 😱

𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀’ 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗡𝗟𝗥𝗕 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘀

Amazon hit with NLRB complaint after deriding finding that drivers are employees.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/amazon-illegally-refused-to-bargain-with-drivers-union-nlrb-alleges/

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I just got Prime and was thinking how weird it is that my cheapest option is to have 10 different people drive all over creation to deliver 10 different things to my door while I sit here in my PJs

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You can pick a delivery date about a week out from your order date. All the stuff is delivered at the same time by one driver.

There is usually a day Prime picks for your area.

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They have to drive somewhere. They don't make these things at the big box store. You're just the driver, in that case...

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"If you're stinking rich, they let you do that."

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Fine them a trillion dollars, nothing else seems to work.

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Fine them a trillion dollars that is then turned right over to said drivers.

One way or another, make em pay those guys

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I heard Jeff Bezos has extra money

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I think that's the deal. Except that you and I, not Bezos, are going to pay the shipping difference...

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𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩, 404 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘐, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 "𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺." (𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴: 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 $33 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.)

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝘅 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀

Linking Meta smart glasses to a face search engine can ID strangers in a glance.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/harvard-students-make-auto-doxxing-smart-glasses-to-show-need-for-privacy-regs/

[NOTE: Your smart phone can do exactly the same thing, however, the glasses allow a person to perform this doxxing inconspicuously]

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I am going to stay in my room.

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Even in small town Cheboygan, MI, the local police have contracted with a company to do this for them....

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I cannot see what could possibly go wrong with cops, who are known for their thoughtful restraint, using a tool that has for years been known to misidentify people of color....

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When they finally ban Guy Fawkes masks, I'm gonna be really pissed off.

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Brain and Brain! What is Vice President?

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Hiltzik continues to be one of the best newspaper columnists America has:

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-10-01/column-trumps-glorification-of-the-1890s-in-america-displays-his-dangerous-ignorance-of-economics-and-history

Now let’s take a stroll through the 1890s — the real period, not the one imagined by Trump — and ask whether this is a world to which we would wish to return. Republicans might also wish to acquaint themselves with the electoral consequences of Trumpian policies in the 1890s, which were not pretty for them.

We’ll start with a broad brush. The 1890s brought us the worst stock market crash and one of the deepest depressions up to that point. In retrospect, it was second only to the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s — and by some measures worse than the latter. Americans would remember it as the “Great Depression” until the 1930s economic reversal supplanted it in the economic lexicon.

In the mid-1890s, notes Paul Campos of the University of Colorado Boulder, per-capita gross domestic product shrank from $6,400 to $5,500 (in 2017 dollars). As of the second quarter this year, it was $68,977 (in 2024 dollars). In other words, no one with two brain cells to rub together could think of the 1890s as “the wealthiest America ever was.”

Certainly no one living at that time would wish to relive it. Looking back at the end of December 1893 on the year just coming to a close, the business journal Bradstreet’s Weekly called the losses suffered nationwide in “financial, commercial and industrial circles” worse than at any time in “the past eighty years.” On May 5 that year, the New York Stock Exchange had crashed by more than 24% before recovering, the worst intraday collapse until the great crash of 1929.

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Yeah, it was bad, but right after that was the Gilded Age. Like with the Great Purge of 2025, all we need is one really rough, I mean really bad like nobody's ever seen, one really good crash and depression, and then we'll have riches like never before.

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You only say bankrupting the country is bad because no one's ever done it!

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Let's just do it and be legends, man, etc etc

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Anyone who hates numbers can just read Theodore Dreiser.

Then again, of the few people who do read "Sister Carrie", most think it's about how money doesn't buy you friends or something. 🤮

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Anyone who lived through the 1980's can recall home mortgage rates of 19 -24%. The only difference is that home building costs are now relatively more expensive. Of course, if you build on federal land in Montana or New Mexico, the only real cost is driving 200 miles for groceries...

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Houses are built where there are people with jobs to pay for houses.

The size of houses now is not rational. Two people do not need 3000 sq ft of house. 1500 sq ft is more than enough.

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Weird New Quantum Experiment Sounds Suspiciously Like Time Travel [https://futurism.com/quantum-experiment-negative-time]

No laws of physics are being broken here. What's really happening is that the photons are somehow traveling through the atom cloud faster when they excite the atoms — or when they should be absorbed by them, in other words — than when the atoms remain unaffected.

Even photons know enough to obey the law.

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Physicist here. I am afraid this is typical of the bullshit when mainstream media tries to write on anything quantum. What the paper says is that the simplest interpretation of the delay the wavefront of photons experiences leads to paradoxical results in some situations. As such, there is something else going on.

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On Israel vs. Iran.

"It's like two kids fighting in the schoolyard."

You have one guess as to who said that. GO!

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Vance.

Yeah, it's like too kids fighting in the school yard if one day in early October one of the kids raped the other and cut his arm off, then the victim came back with a US-made bionic arm and slowly choked the life out of the first kid for 12 months.

But yeah, perfectly reasonable comparison.

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Nope. It was our Lord & Savior, King Trump.

I think even Vance isn't dumb enough to utter those words in public.

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The clone of War Marshal Kazan.

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You want to throw a few ads at the beginning of the movie? I'm OK with that. In the middle? Fuck you I'm gone.

𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼

Ecommerce group attempting to win over more brands as it steps up push into ad-funded streaming services in 2025

https://www.ft.com/content/f8112991-820c-4e09-bcf4-23b5e0f190a5

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But it isn't ad funded streaming.

It is paid for streaming, now also with ads.

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Right ... so we were "sold" ad-free ... now with ADS!!

Greedy fucks

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oh I was just commenting on the group attempting to win over brands pushing ad funded streaming thing XD

Mind, I do not mind ads so to speak. I grew up watching TV with ads, it isn't the worst thing in the world. BUT I do object, very highly, to paying for a thing and having the ads anyway

I get inflation happens and to keep those insane profit margins, they gotta up the price or do shit like this. But maybe they could, idk, not keep those insane profit margins.

For the time being, I get prime because I live in the boonies and delivery helps me, personally. The tv is more like a bonus. The cost/benefit level though is getting pretty close already

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Yup. We review every 6 months or so - are we getting our money's worth?

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If I already pay for a service and then they start moving the goalposts and expecting me to pay more for less, they can fuck off and get zero money from me instead.

I'll sign the articles and ship aboard as a... yo ho ho, like what I did when I wuz a penniless youngster instead.

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*sigh*

Back to BT ...

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Ever the digital sea be callin' I feel her in me datastacks...

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There are a few decent things on Prime, but there are already too many ads. Oh well, piracy is fine with me.

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They sold us Cable TV with the promise of no ads.

They sold us Streaming services with the promise of no ads.

You Tube, no ads.

And we paid so we would not have to watch the damn ads.

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"Hey, Fred! I have a great idea!"

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑊𝐸𝐴𝐹 𝑖𝑛 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑏𝑦 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ (𝐴𝑇&𝑇) 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 1922.

.

how far we've come...

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We are consumer units, and we are the product they sell so we get targeted ads and will consume more.

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Their adverts turn me against the advertised products and make me shortlist their services for cancellation.

Prime is toast end of this billing cycle. I don't use it for anything but next-day stuff and even that doesn't always arrive when it says it will. Shame about Fallout, but... we have ways.

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Hubby and his friend, who lives far from us and lives alone, and is 75, play an online game together then watch a movie or a few episodes of a series on Prime. Every night unless we are not home. Prime is included in our very old phone contract.

I do pay for Netflex so our Ukrainian friend can watch movies etc in Poland.

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That one is different though. In the case of most locally run gas stations, they are not getting together and deciding on the price, but playing follow the leader.

The price fixing was done by the oil companies waayyyy before it got to the gas station

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We always get screwed.

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Yep.

I need to do a "Not buy anything" month. Except something will break and I will have to replace whatever it is.

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"Do not buy anything you don't need month" would be more than adequate to shake the parasites really good.

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We as a society are incapable of organizing for our own benefit like that. Sucks, because it would have positive results, but.........

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Our society's incapacity to organize is so absolute that it's almost as if it was designed to be that way.

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We're all kept too tired and poor to organize. Yet another of the reasons why I want to watch capitalism crumble into dust.

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If you have to work three jobs it's hella difficult to get out there and protest.

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February would be a good month for it to happen.

Fix a nice Valentines dinner at home if you must. No cards, no candy, no flowers.

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We can all start posing it where ever we are in cyberspace. See how many people we can get on board.

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The Existential Dread of Canned Beef Stew!

https://boingboing.net/2024/10/02/this-tv-commercial-for-beef-stew-delivers-the-psychological-tension-of-a-kubrick-or-tarkovsky-film.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJjQ6S8xJRw

Man: You now what?

Woman: What?

/oh shit is he gonna hit me look

Man: I even like the carrots.

/the little lady smiles

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top comment: "I think we know what happens when they’re [sic] isn’t enough beef in it and he doesn’t like the carrots…"

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He whips out his wee man and cracks one off while weeping, just to break the awful tension, like a terminally bored chimp in a cage.

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I like this one:

"You can't convince me this is not a ketamine induced trip"

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I also dispute Tarkovsky alongside Kubrick as an example of tension. Tarkovsky's films are quietly beautiful, not tense (go watch Nostalghia for an excellent example, with some of the most beautiful long-take cinematography you've ever seen).

Now David Lynch, however …

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Yeah I would say this is Lynchian.

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P1: "I love this beef stew!" {{{nom nom nom nom}}}

P2: "That's dog food, you idiot."

P1: {{{SPLUT!!!}}}

P2: LOL!!

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With a good enough chef, you can't even tell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMFEbjJY4uc

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To be fair, it's certified minimum 8% beef byproducts!

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It's the genuine sawdust I enjoy!

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Eight percent... Does that include cats?

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Frankly, I don't find cow junk appetizing.

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The One Thing You Should Never, Ever Do Before Getting a Vaccine, According To Infectious Disease Experts [https://parade.com/health/what-to-avoid-before-vaccine-according-to-infectious-disease-experts]

□ visit Florida Surgeon General's website?

□ wait until you're sick?

□ attend an orgy unmasked? (certain masks are OK)

Nope! It's lie to the provider about your health

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Lying to your doctors is dumb, I've never understood why people would do that

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Not to divert you from the shenanigans between Israel, Iran, and its proxies, but here's the latest assessment of the Russo-Ukrainian War: https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-2-2024

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Meh. No biblical underpinnings.

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The mom and brother of our Ukrainian friend are here. The son, age 15 will stay here with his sister. She will adopt him. This is the only way he cannot end up in the military. Her mom will go back to Ukraine, where dad and her young daughter are.

I can't imagine leaving a war zone where they have so little, coming here where we have too much of everything, and then going back.

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In an election year where abortion rights are the problem that won’t go away, not just for dt but the whole gop, Melania releases a ghost written “memoir” where she reveals she is fervently pro choice? Yeah right. But for 4 years while he stacked the court and threatened to end Roe not a freaking peep out of her. Shut up Melania

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Well, I suppose she has made the decision not to let political differences with Cheetolini interfere with their commercial arrangement.

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She also reveals that she wanted to keep her maiden name but then the press hounded her about making cookies....

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She was as surprised to read that as you were!

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Mèléna is black tarry stool.

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Mr. Hanky says, "Hey!"

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Sorry Mel, I know you want to go back to living in New York City, but trying to rewrite your past, isn’t going to cut it.

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Green Acres, we are there!

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She is an arm ornament. What she might think holds no weight.

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I came downstairs this morning to find that Mr Cakes had left the bag of catnip out where Smaug could get to it.

Said catnip is now all over the floor, and Smaug is as high as a kite.

Cats can't OD on nip, can they?

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I think you need another cat named Shelob.

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Or other cat is named Diego. If we ever get another one I might consider a black kitty named Shelob.

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No, they can't OD. Smaug will fall asleep and wake up just fine.

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More like he'll fall asleep, wake up, hoover up more spilled nip, fall asleep, wake up, hoover up even more nip... rinse and repeat.

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This reminds me of Quinn Cummings story about accidentally storing catnip in the linen closet. The duvet came out catnip infused, and the cat kept trying to bite her through it! Poor toes.

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We don't need a catnip infused duvet for that. Both of our cats are brutal.

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The only way to stop it, is to sweep it all up.

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And spoil his fun? Do I dare risk the wrath of the dragon?

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You could administer Narcan. Talk about some wrath.

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“𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.

-----

Two people aboard a single-engine plane that ran out of gas and was forced to land on a highway in Oceanside last week were arrested after narcotics were found in the plane, police said. The aircraft, a 1976 Piper

PA-28-235, made an emergency landing near Canyon Drive on Highway 76 — a popular route that runs east-west through the North County region of San Diego County — about 1:45 a.m. Thursday, Oceanside police said. When officers searched

the aircraft, they found a

large quantity of narcotics, police said, although they did not disclose what type of drugs. The pilot and a passenger, who are both Oceanside residents, were arrested on suspicion of illegal transportation of narcotics, police said. Authorities did not

immediately release their names. The plane departed from

an airport in Mesa, Ariz., just after 11 p.m. and was expected to land at the Bob Maxwell Memorial Airfield in Oceanside just after 2 a.m., according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. The pilot reported engine issues just before landing on the highway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. But the plane’s owner said the issue was actually much simpler. Thomas Fries, whose aviation and consulting company Lead Turn owns the plane, told The Times that the aircraft had run out of

gas.

the left and the left tank was bone dry,” he said

his company owns the plane, it is leased to a flying club called Plus One Flyers, whose members can use the aircraft. The goal of owning the plane is for young people

to learn how to fly, Fries said. “If you’re doing something nefarious, you better not run out of fuel,” he said

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The "narcotics" on board may have been catnip.

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Twelve hours from bottle to throttle (the type of bottle is immaterial).

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Just more dumb fools.

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D'oh!

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Morning spuggers, cool and dull here in the Athens of the North. We were up at six to go rowing which is no way to go about retirement but it was a lovely row, flat calm and good company. Just had second breakfast and am now contemplating a nap.

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Sounds great, but sadly I have Things To Do.

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Counting flowers on the wall?

Playing solitaire til dawn, with a deck of 51?

(edited 'cos I got the lyric wrong. oopsie)

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Smokin' cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

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I need doobies for Cap Kangaroo. Mr. Green Jeans is hawt--that's the acid talking.

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Easier if you microdose on acid.

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Muahahaha.

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Woke up at midnight. The Crew and I enjoyed our 2AM Thursday fish tacos. Life is good.

85F at 2:34 in Phoenix. Too cold to go out.

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I haven't slept yet. There is a housework list to be done when it gets light outside. And Hubby is asleep, don't want to wake him up.

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Finally sweater weather!

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It'll be back up to 105F in twelve hours, I'm sure.

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Looks like they’re saying it’s gonna get to 108 today. I guess we’re gonna make some more weather records.

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I want it to cool off so I can take my pup for a walk.

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I'm so happy with my brand new A/C. The Crew are happy as shit also too.

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Food, exercise, food, nap. Sounds like the right order of things.

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And then after the nap I'll have lunch.

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Don't forget alcoholic beverages as one of the major food groups.

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