I mean, sure, you could argue we’re already there.

These kinds of vague titles are not helpful. Every article is just the same fear mongering speculation.

What people misunderstand about the tax brackets is that your entire income doesn’t get moved to a higher bracket. It’s only the income in excess of it.

So for example, let’s say you had $50,000 of taxable income in 2024 as a single filer, you’d pay 10% on that first $11,600 and 12% on the chunk of income between $11,601 and $47,150. Then you’d pay 22% on the remaining $2,850 that falls into the next tax bracket. The total bill would be about $6,053 — about 12% of your taxable income — even though your highest bracket is 22%. And this example doesn’t take into account the standard deduction.

Bottom line, this won’t save people as much as they think it will. Usually the person in the example simply complains “I’m paying 22%” because it always feels like the paycheck isn’t enough.

Mormons have three tiers of heaven. According to some, even Hitler would make it into the lowest tier. I’m not sure what you’d have to do to actually go to hell, which is supposedly just lonely infinite darkness away from the presence of God.

There’s a $4000 credit for qualifying used EVs.

Where did I say you should roll over and accept it or do nothing? The only thing I said was that protest won’t change anything, specifically right now. There are plenty of other things you can do besides protest.

Personally, if we get to a point where there’s an organized multi-state secessionist movement, I’ll join that army in a heartbeat to try to take back at least part of our country. We’re not at that point yet.

I understand wanting to protest, but what could it possibly accomplish? If you are protesting the incoming administration, they’re certainly not going to care. If you’re protesting the current administration, there’s nothing they can do. If you’re protesting the people who didn’t vote, I’m pretty sure they already know we’re mad at them. As of yet there’s no evidence of outright cheating (if it turns out there is, that would be a better time to protest). But protesting just because you don’t like the results of a race is a bit like throwing a tantrum.

Your premise is flawed. A question doesn’t beg an emotion, it begs a response. The response could be completely devoid of emotion.

Russia wants to pit the US and China against each other to distract and destabilize them both. So all of this is great for Russia’s bottom line.

I grew up with people who talked like this. It’s all “just a joke” until suddenly it isn’t.

Democrats have to cater to like three different and mostly separate agendas to win. Republicans only have to cater to one. I think the problem is we’ve been expecting Dems to pull off what is essentially impossible.

Corps have been complaining for years already that people aren’t buying enough. Millenials are killing this industry and that industry because we don’t consume enough - “enough” being whatever level they’ve decided we should consume. They feel entitled to our dollars, whether or not their product or service is any good.

If they were smart, companies would lower prices to be more competitive and incentivize people to buy more. Instead they’ve doubled down and posted armed guards at the store exits to intimidate the customers they have left. They’ve slipped data collection into every interaction. It’s pretty obvious they’re not playing the long game anymore.

I first read that as “sheep medication” and… wasn’t even that surprised.

There’s a bit of a sugar replacement movement, which isn’t necessarily healthier. Most of the sugar replacements have been linked with stuff like dementia if consumed regularly for a long period. And most of them taste a bit off. The other part of the problem is that when you eat something sweet, your body expects sugar. When it doesn’t get the sugar it’s expecting, it will feel like you are still hungry even though you just ate something.

JubilantJaguar was telling you how it is, not how it should be. They didn’t say any of it was good or right or that they were happy about it in any way. You jumped to thinking they agreed with the poli-sci academics who said the parties were too democratic.

That’s why you flash your lights on and off at them, to get them to unfreeze before you get too close.

I hate to break it to you but almost every major corporation has a person whose entire job is to translate corporate copy into easy-to-parse, casual, friendly “conversation,” because they do want you to think of the brand as your trusted friend. They’re trying to manipulate us at every level, every interaction.

At 1.2 million, it’s overpriced. They’ve likely priced it that way because it’s now an Airbnb - “look at all the income you’ll make by buying this property!” But what really changed in the two years they owned it? Did they remodel the whole place? Possibly, but probably not enough to warrant adding $550k to the price. This house is now an investment, not a place to live.

I have noticed a particular attitude with a lot of sellers, though. They think because other sellers have been having great windfalls that they can just list for any high amount and it’ll work for them too. Those are the ones that sit, and they’re usually priced at 1m or more.

The homes flying off the shelves, so to speak, are the starter homes. You have both younger and older generations fighting for the same small affordable homes, and developers generally aren’t building as many of those.

When I am amazed by a piece of art, it’s because a person was able to conceive of a scene and then use techniques they’ve learned to bring that scene from their mind into reality. I think, “Wow, how did they decide to blend those colors together in such a way, and why? I wonder how hard it is to get that right? How long might it take me to learn the same technique?”

But when I look at a piece of art made by AI, I think, disappointedly, “Oh, they didn’t. Nobody leaned the technique to paint this, there may not be any feeling behind it, or any point at all, other than ‘it looks good.’” It’s just not impressive.

And I’m pretty sure that most people could learn how to prompt successfully in a matter of days or weeks. Real artists practice their craft for years, learning and perfecting techniques and often developing their own unique style.

Your first sentence, yes I agree. The next two, not so much. In my town in 2020 we had groups of these chuds roaming around downtown, armed, hunting for “antifa,” meaning anyone wearing black or looking slightly punk. Some of them really do want to shoot us with impunity.

But yeah, it’s also my parents, who probably wouldn’t turn me into the gestapo, but the cognitive dissonance where they simultaneously believe I’m their family but I’m also “the enemy within” doesn’t seem sustainable. At some point, it’s got to be one or the other. Getting them to agree on small things hasn’t changed their overall loyalty to the party, their disdain for Dems, or our relationship.