this is actually an applerankings.com fan site

time is a flat circle. we're doomed to have observant people point obviously and painfully ironic flaws in society, as society just sort of carries on anyway, repeating past stupidities and adding new ones.

AGGGHH. I feel like Mugatu taking crazy pills over here. $120 million in start up funding and a New York Times profile for a company that's literally just a regular private car / limo service. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/business/alto-uber-drivers-alternative.html

"Disrupting" the ride sharing industry by having a staff of drivers that drive people places for a fee. It's totally a tech company too, right???

Capitalism is so egregiously stupid.

That Marx guy... he was really on to something.

the only way to deal with these people is to out-crazy them. I do "yes and", like it's improv.

"yeah, you make a good point Phil. honestly, that gets me thinking, we really gotta protect the sovereignty of our state. you know, this country was founded on important states rights principles, and now we have all this interstate craziness. people from south carolina just coming freely over the border into north carolina. we need to close the border. shoot them on sight. no question about it. I don't pay my north carolina taxes so that some south carolina freeloader can wear down my roads, clog up my beaches, litter, commit crimes..."

"Come on Quimby, you really don't think that if we'd let Putin take Ukraine, China would then take Taiwan?" --an important political figure, to me, sanctimoniously

I'm sitting on the toilet uncontrollably laughing out loud at this comment. I'm sure my significant other is wondering what the hell is going on.

I hate this person so much.

Beyond the possibility of Republicans ultimately caving, there are other efforts lawmakers are working on to try to find a resolution to the shutdown. One is a discharge petition, which can be used to force a vote on a bill without the speaker’s permission. A majority of the House would need to back the petition for that to happen, however, and it takes time to move through the House.

Using a motion to the previous question is another possibility that’s been floated. This motion, if it passes, also allows the minority to force a vote, circumventing the speaker. It requires a simple majority in order to be enacted as well, creating the same concerns as a discharge petition for moderate Republicans contemplating working with Democrats to invoke it.

It's all just Calvinball. this entire country is such a stupid shitshow, in every way.

The media is blaming Republicans for the impending government shutdown, which yes, is mostly true. But the democrats being willing to shut down the government rather than stop sending money to Ukraine is absolutely nuts.

@WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net had a great reply, so consider this merely an add-on too it:

I do have quite a few thoughts about this. But first of all, kudos for you for wanting to get healthy; that's great. And we're absolutely all here for you!

I do think there is an aspect that is similar to other addictions, where there's a bit of a hump that you kind of have to force yourself over, and that part sucks (and it sucks again when you fall off the horse--because nobody gets it first try--and have to get over the hump again.) I personally think it's important to sort of face that head on and just recognize "I'm forcing myself to do something hard, and it's not going to feel good. But I will feel better later." When you're feeling down and are craving food, denying yourself that will absolutely make you feel cranky and even physically uncomfortable. Just like if you were quitting smoking. But, you can also try and take pride in that discomfort. The more uncomfortable you feel (within reason--don't starve yourself!!), the more that means you're accomplishing something impressive in terms of self-discipline and getting healthy.

I think it can be helpful to do something to "cut yourself off", like brush your teeth at 8pm and tell yourself "no food after 8. I already brushed my teeth for the night and I'm already in my pj's and ready for bed and everything. I'm not going to start eating now and do that all over again."

You can try relaxing supplements like CBD (I think that one on its own doesn't tend to give munchies??), chamomile, ashwaganda, etc. Heck, you can even go masturbate or something if that's your thing. Take a bubble bath. Whatever! But doing something else will both take your mind off food and directly address the anxiety that's making you want to stress eat.

Wean yourself off of comfort eating with healthier snacks. rice cakes, plain popcorn, apple slices... Also, eat plenty of fiber and drink plenty of water throughout the day. On that same note, there are some foods you can more or less eat as much of as you want without consequences, including watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.

Finally, diet alone is a really, really hard way to lose weight. Exercise is pretty much essential. But it doesn't have to be hard! Just getting steps in is enough. Move around during the day, or go for a walk after work. etc etc. The other nice thing is that the two go hand in hand--when you exercise, you'll feel better and better about yourself. And dieting will make the exercise easier, which will make you feel better about dieting and make you feel even better!

to be fair, I'm not sure that differs THAT much from extremist movements in other religions. evangelical Christianity probably does have less pretense to it, in terms of like not even having dietary restrictions or anything. but extremists of all faiths use religion as an excuse to do what they want.

Saudi oil wealth fund: 😡

Norwegian oil wealth fund: 😍

Watching morning news while I'm out running an errand. They're hyping up a planned Biden campaign visit to the UAW picket line so hard. zomg, so heckin porgressive!

Ugh. I'm also exhausted from arguing with my family yesterday about Biden and the 3rd consecutive "most important election of our lifetime". I was told "the internet is telling people your vote does matter and it's a big disinformation scheme." I was asked how voting for Biden will fix things. I was told "it doesn't matter. what choice to we have? if Trump wins, we'll never have another election again!"

btw, these people aren't random. they're political elites. and they still believe that. so then like... wtf are you doing about it. they're also part of the political machine, and don't believe there is a political machine that decides candidates, etc. which is fascinating. some amount of political machination in this country is malicious. but I think a large amount, more on the dem side but on both sides, is people collectively acting in a way that produces outcomes beyond what they expect. sort of cascading chains of systems, where the people pulling strings legitimately don't even think they are pulling strings.

automated customer service systems send me into a frothing rage. especially when they send you in loops and keep you from talking to a real person (or remove that option altogether), whilst gaslighting you the entire time.

Critiquing China from the left is ok. And what that looks like is acknowledging that there is racism present in China and there are marginalized groups who aren't being treated fairly. That needs to change, just like it needs to change in nearly every other country in the world. Marginalization of minorities remains a global problem, and China could be doing more.

BUT, there is little credible evidence to suggest that minorities in China are worse off than minorities in the US, or Scandinavia, or Japan, or Isreal, etc etc etc. In some respects, they may even be better off.

So yeah, it would be totally reasonable to take, say, an anarchist perspective, and criticize China as part of a broader concern about power structures. Criticism that paints China as "evil" is not criticism from the left and is, intentionally or otherwise, buying into Western anti-China propaganda.

The National Owners Association said franchisees, suppliers and McDonald’s “must engage to support our California McFamily”

very, very few. interestingly, of the extremely small number of examples I can think of, they're all on the republican side. like, a few of them are legitimately golf buddies, go on vacation together, their kids are friends, etc. on the Democrat side, I really can't think of anyone I've known over the years who has legitimate, non-transactional friendships.

TotK is so damn good

Reposting this because it's still my favorite article this year. If people could just realize this (obviously comrades already know), I feel like we'd immediately be 20% closer to communism.

CEO’s Skill Set Transferable To Any Job That Requires Dumbass To Receive Big Salary