No. This is extremely abnormal. I grew up in the 80s and elections were boring. Something happened in 2000, where Al Gore should have won but Bush was favored in court. That was the start of a sense of wrongness with our political system, that has manifested into what we have today.

I feel like the U.S. is becoming similar to Russia. For example, we are seeing an autocratic strongman holding the highest office and only vaguely behaving within the democratic system, with a clear intent to rule unilaterally with a congress and Supreme Court that are less checks and more support for maintaining the power base. And as generations continue to experience this way of life, America as a society will forget what it was like for the past 250 years where both parties respected the system with peaceful transfer of power.

It’s sad, but fascinating in a kind of slow motion train crash to be alive for.

Yes. It’s different, but good.

Probably should have changed the subject or said goodbye. Arguing with conservatives is exhausting and usually in bad faith. It’s about winning, not exploring a topic together.

Samsung DEX.

Which side is committing genocide? That’s the side to oppose in any fight.

Do you consider three donuts from the local QT “substances?” Because pound three in short succession and you’re not going to stay awake for long.

Made an update to my post.

I recommend drinking coffee or tea.

Edit: just in case someone sees this, making an update in bold.

Stopped eating breakfast. No eating after 8 pm. Ate 4 ounces of meat, a cup of veggies and a 1/4 cup of some kind of nuts for lunch at noon and dinner at 7 pm every day except Saturdays. For energy/appetite control, I keep a 1/4 of nuts and a cup of baby carrots that I sometimes eat around 5 pm, but not always.

On Saturdays, ate whatever I wanted from 4:30-8 pm which motivated me to get back on diet the next day.

Walk or ran an hour a day. At first during the evenings, then woke up an hour early and did it in peace. Started causing me to go to bed earlier, a good thing.

Lost 70 pounds from March to October of last year. Stopped dieting and gained 40 back to date. Started back on diet this week. We just had our cheat meal and I could already tell the difference in where it felt more special than eating badly all the time. Going to shoot for 80 pounds total.

I’ve been back on diet for almost a week and lost 6 pounds. Likely water weight, not normal rate, but nice to see nonetheless. I’m already feeling better too.

I’m sorry for your loss. Thank you for giving your cat a good life, and I hope they gave you memories to cherish too.

I usually find violence abhorrent.

Knowing what I know, I’m not. Mastodon is good, but not the same. There needs to be a publicly run version of Twitter, with same algorithms.

In terms of cost, the cost of doing business likely rose due to inflation over the past few years. Those costs have supposedly plateaued but costs for consumption continue to rise. My two cents are markets will continue to increase prices until demand goes down. Eventually they will lower their prices out of necessity as they compete for those who can still afford their products and services.

I run. Once I get about a mile in, I can think about these kinds of interactions or generally anything stressful without emotion. It’s like thinking in the shower, but I’m channeling negativity toward a healthy activity. It helps a lot.

Saw a few episodes. Seemed witty but not for me.

Why would it suggest no free will? To a certain extent, we’re reacting to events that we encounter, and how we react is based on our own physiology, which drives us to make choices. Whether those events happen in the past, present, or future, elsewhere, it’s when we encounter them now that matters. I think. I don’t know. 🤕🤯💥

Previously, NYT, Washington Post, NPR. Now, I avoid it. I’m happier.

For someone else it will. I’ll stick with Apple Arcade.

For me it’s scanning vs. reading. Too often I’ll think I’ve read something, react to it, only to see after the fact that I missed something because I was in fact -not- reading but scanning. Email is an example. I get so much of it, I scan and skim, and inevitably get bit by this bad habit, often more than once a day. It’s a disservice to the person e-mailing me, I know, but there are a LOT of people and I suppose the (poor) rationale is that at least everyone is getting some attention. I know it’s better to get to what I can and things that I can’t just need to wait.