Bingo! That’s the one.

[“always was” meme]

I wish I could remember. It was definitely on YT. I think it was in German with subtitles. It wasn’t long. Possibly was someone’s film school project.

report of a “person with a gun” just after 9 p.m.

Walking around outside, in the US, at night, with something other people would easily think is a gun. At best, this guy lacks basic common sense.

ordered to pay restitution of $386.59 to a person whose car window he broke with a pellet

And reckless to boot.

the individual was unaware that he lived next to, and was shooting his BB gun next to, a synagogue

I call horseshit. We’ve got several Jewish community gathering places near us, and subtle they are not. You’d have to be completely ignorant of Judaism to not instantly recognize them for what they are. You can’t live next to one and not know it.

and his affinities, including family ties, to the Jewish community.

So, yeah, he knew. Not saying the guy was being antisemitic, but something sure isn’t adding up. At best he’s a fucking idiot.

I saw a pretty good short sci-fi film a year or so ago about a woman accidentally finding out that she’s a bot.

peppering my comments with inane remarks to draw a reaction

They’re here, too.

I occasionally see comments to the effect of, “Oh, really? Can you tell me more about that?” That seem pretty likely to just be bots trying to generate data on certain topics for AI training. Thankfully, most people seem to ignore them.

or they’ll stay home.

Good enough for me.

Someone I follow on another platform pointed out that this looks suspiciously like a setup to stoke outrage and media attention.

Every time this kind of thing makes the news, this is a safe assumption to operate under until you get more details. Time and time again, this is what’s going on.

sold in 31 states

Such as?

sold under private store-brand labels at several retailers, including Target, Walmart and Aldi.

And the rest are?

$50/yr for wallpapers?!?! That’s some asshat seeing the enshitification train and thinking, “Man I gotta get on THAT!”

$50/yr?!?!

For WALLPAPERS?!?!

If that video was sedition, then so is this post. They’re saying the exact same thing.

I recall a podcast I listened to years ago talking about some schools trying out a new model that worked something like…

Instead of taking out a loan, you just enter into a contract with the school that x% of your paycheck for the first z years after graduation go to the school. Kinda like child support.

Get an unemployable degree and now your making burgers for minimum wage? Then you don’t owe anything.

Get an amazing job that pays a ton? That degree is going to cost you.

Now it’s in the school’s best interest to A) offer degrees that are actually worth something instead of misleading students down a dead end path, and B) help students find and keep good positions after graduation.

It sounded awesome. But what I found infuriating were the people they interviewed that benefitted from the program, now had fantastic high salary jobs, and were whining about how much they were having to pay for the education and program that got them into that high paying job in the first place.

Trump defended Witkoff on Tuesday night. “That’s what a dealmaker does. You’ve got to say look, they want this, you’ve got to convince them of this,” Trump said while onboard Air Force One. “That’s a very standard form of negotiation.” He added that he imagined Witkoff “is saying the same thing to Ukraine”.

That’s not negotiation! That’s not deal making! That’s outright capitulation to the aggressor in a war that should never have been started.

You’ve got to say look, they want this, you’ve got to convince them of this

But that’s not what he was saying. He was coaching them on how to convince YOU, Mr. Trump, on how to manipulate YOU, Mr Trump, to get you to help them to get everything they want.

Will the Democratic Party go for it? Party moderates might be skeptical, considering that in 2016 and 2020, the current system produced their preferred presidential nominees in Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

This is exactly the problem. We need current politicians to pass RCV to fix the current broken system. But they don’t see the current system as broken, because the current system is what got them elected, so it must work, right? Also, they may recognized that, in a system where voters have a real choice and aren’t forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, they might have a harder time getting elected (or maybe don’t even stand a chance), so… “that can’t be good.”