TranscendentalEmpire

A small and noble sacrifice that Californians are more than willing to make so a few billionaires can turn a profit from growing almonds and pomegranates........

I mean..... He did popularize third way politics in America, which has paved the way for fascism in America. That being said, it's hilarious that a publication like foreign policy would attempt to blame it on changes to how welfare works without actually alluding to why.

When I was a youth the library was a magical place where poor kids could read books and disadvantaged old men could watch porn in public. Now that everyone has smart phones half of that culture has been lost. Now that drugs and actual sex have filled that gap...... they're trying to take that from us? When will everyday Americans stand up to this cultural decay?

I notice their idea of a "weighted" voting system isn't based on percent of income tax compared to their wealth........ convenient for a billionaire.

Yeah, a lot of the cats that only end up being with us for a short time had been mostly feral all their lives. For the most part the only reason they end up tolerating us at first is because they are just too old or sick to put up a fight.

By the end though they almost unanimously end up really enjoying their stay. Prob doesn't hurt that once we've decided it's reached end of life care they get to have as much rotisserie chicken or mackle they can handle. Even if they had a rough life, the least we can do is give them a good ending.

Yeah... My house serves as a depot for the local cat distribution network. Our neighborhood has a lot of strays and we consistently put out food in an effort to build up enough trust to get them spayed, neutered, or provide some much needed wound/healthcare.

It's a catch and release program, but sometimes they decide the release aspect is optional. The old or sick cats usually decide that being pampered indoors makes a lot of sense, so we've gotten to show some love to some rough old-timers before they pass.

I think it was more of a metaphor of getting them to subvert roman expectations. Romans thought of the Jewish people as very stubborn and independent, so when forcing them to do manual labor they would usually expect it to lead to confrontation.

Christ was a leader in a workers rebellion against colonial rule, who imbued it with a spiritual angle so profound that it very arguably destroyed or completely reformed the colonizer centuries after his execution.

Eh.... Tbh Jesus wasn't much of a political revolutionary, more of a cultural one. He did condemn the tyranny of gentiles, but also urged his followers to pay their taxes to rome and to obey their demands. Saying if a Roman asks you to carry something one mile, carry it for two instead.

It seems like he was just trying to keep under the Roman radar and worked more to change the culture of local Jewish communities.

Jesus would have probably digged FOSS

Probably wouldn't really care about technology very much unless it was being used to feed the poor. He'd probably be horrified how far we have progressed with technology, but are still failing to provide basic care for the needy.

I put everything I owned into a 2x gold ETF back in June 2024

I think the largest moving etf associated with gold was Jnug with a 3 year return at around 54%. If you're okay with yoloing your entire portfolio into a volatile etf you could have put in the shipping etf Bwet and gotten a 97% return.

Gold ETF are crazy when it comes to volatility, JNug went from a market cap of $356 per share to $121 a share in the last 6 months......

While it may not be readily apparent to everyone, the U.S. is teetering on the brink of insolvency itself, and when it goes, the dollar will go with it and destroy it's status as the world's reserve currency.

This is the part of your plan that makes zero sense....... Yes, market instability usually increases the price of physical gold. However people who believe in gold as a currency alternative typically buy actual gold, not an ETF. If the dollar crashes how are you going to turn your ETF into liquidity?

Ignoring the dozens of inherent flaws in gold as a currency alternative, how does your investment even protect you from the crisis you predict?

Most vehicles today have aluminum sub frames

A unibody frame is a bit different than a subframe. You can't reinforce stress points with steel in a unibody frame like you can with a subframe . And no, most (63%) vehicles still use steel for subframes.

Aluminum only fatigues if stresses are beyond the design threshold.

What are you talking about? Cast aluminum lacks any distinct fatigue limit, so any cycle load causes microscopic damage at stress points.

planes fly millions of miles, and are really only retired because of fuel efficiency.

Again..... Where are you pulling this from? Even aircraft grade Aluminum is about 50% more susceptible to metal fatigue than steel. All aircraft have to have routine inspections specifically for metal fatigue and part of regular maintenance is to replace what they can.

engineering knowledge needs some work

Right back at ya....... I'm guessing you don't work with metals in your job? Anyone working in practical engineering or metal fabrication knows aluminum has a big problem with cyclical loads.

You guys are looking at the wrong thing. Airports have their own set of bullshit rules. According to the government choosing to fly automatically implies consent to be searched. Domestic flights have more protections, but international flights basically wave your right to privacy under the 4th.

They only require explicit consent or probable cause if they want to do an advanced or forensic search of your phone. You can deny the search if you're a citizen, but if you choose that option they can take your phone into custody for several weeks to attempt to crack it if they choose to do so.

Unfortunately according to the federal government you automatically consent to limited 4th amendment protections when you choose to fly. Domestic flights have more legal protections, but international flights basically wave your right to privacy.

They are allowed to ask for your phone's password and do a "non-forensic" search of your phone for just about any reason. A more extensive "forensic" search where they plug your phone into another device can be made if they present reasonable suspicion. If you refuse a search they can hold onto your phone for several weeks.

The smarter move would have been to just refuse to give the password and trust that they wont want to go through the hassle of cracking your phone once it's in custody.

Basically the only real way to protect yourself is to not keep any incriminating information on your phone. The courts have ruled that these searches only extend to data that can be physically accessed on your device and things like social media and cloud storage are not subject to the search. So it's just best to save everything on the cloud and then restore it once you are done traveling.