Mantergeistmann
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User ID: 323
Mantergeistmann
4hr ago
I guess an Israeli apologist might say that comparing Gaza to Ukraine is an apple to orange comparison in any case
Yes, but not because of anything you said: the nature of the war environment in Gaza & the methods of Hamas are both significant drivers in the amount of civilian casualties.
Mantergeistmann
6hr ago
Half of American households dont have $200 in savings,
That's one I'd like to see a bit more detail on, in terms of how it's calculated. There was a while where I didn't have "$200 in savings", having only about $25 in my "savings account", but I instead had about $5k in my checking account (at a similar interest rate but more convenient, same credit union), and a bunch more in a Cash Management Account stored in a MMF. Would I have counted as "not having $200 in savings"?
Mantergeistmann
8hr ago
But that’s just not a lot of money to most workers. Like 5-10 a week. It’s copium to say the election swung on a minuscule expense. Gasoline just isn’t a big budget item like it use to be because of fuel efficiency.
It's a visible and ever-changing one, though, in a way that groceries (weekly list might change) or even a daily coffee (which tends to be pretty smooth) isnt. Every day, you drive past the price of gas, and notice when it changes. So it's an obvious sign of "prices are going up" in a way maybe everything else isn't.
Mantergeistmann
11hr ago
Big new phone is really addicting and now I have to bring it to work so my screen time is really on the rise.
In hindsight, I really appreciate my former job where I was literally not allowed to have my cell phone with me. It had its annoyances, sure, but for the most part the benefits outweighed it (especially since I had a corporate cell for any emergencies/minimal family texting).
Mantergeistmann
11hr ago
In revisiting, apparently not? Hence why I don't even try to time the markets.
Mantergeistmann
22hr ago
That's the most predictable thing that could have happened.
Mantergeistmann
22hr ago
October was bad for my 401k. But I'm not retiring any time soon regardless of how the markets do. It's a blip, it'll recover.
Sure, I'd have been happier if it happened before my paycheck auto-deposit rather than after, but hey, you win some, you lose some. I'm sure I won't be lucky enough that the markets will stay down until January when my company's stupid "once a year at the end of the year rather than throughout the year" retirement contribution gets deposited.
Mantergeistmann
22hr ago
Wasn't Friday a worse drop?
Mantergeistmann
23hr ago
Personally? I don't think the Iran war was the wrong decision. Could and should have been prosecuted better, certainly, but I have no objections to the concept. Of course, I also have no objections to the Republican party in general taking a hiding, and Trump specifically, so...
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
As with everything, it depends on the perspective and who's telling the event, doesn't it?
The tall windows that framed the lobby were plastered with people yelling and banging on the glass,” we wrote. “They were trapped. The senators hid under a stairwell, out of view, while the police ordered a city bus to pull up in front of the building. Officers then formed a human wall on the sidewalk, parting the sea of protesters and creating a pathway for the senators to reach the bus.” Once the senators were on board, “the mob on the street began punching the windows and shaking the vehicle. … The police told the senators and staff inside to keep their heads down in case a window shattered.”
Thankfully, no one was killed. But during the course of the occupation, Walker received a steady stream of death threats against him and his wife, including one that promised to “gut her like a deer” and one threatening to kill his sons. Police found dozens of .22-caliber bullets scattered across the Capitol grounds. The occupiers drew chalk outlines of fake dead bodies etched with Walker’s name on the floor, and carried signs that read “Death to tyrants,” “The only good Republican is a dead Republican” and one with picture of him in crosshairs with the words, “Don’t retreat, Reload.”
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
Say we set the definition of “insurrection” at the level of storming the Capitol. Multiple people controlling a location in the hopes of forcing a particular decision. There’s basically zero chance of Democrat voters trying anything like that!
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
I don’t know how you get a religious degree without some genuine faith.
Don't non-denominational schools of theology exist at some universities?
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
Also, maybe don’t make the gnomes working in the bank Jewish stereotypes
Here I thought they were a reference to the Swiss. Personally, I still find it entertaining (and expected) that the most hardcore anti-Rowling folks on the left immediately stopped accusing her of being anti-semitic the moment October 7 happened.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
Less useful than even a standard anecdote, but I've been seeing a decent chunk of "rumours have it that the Republicans have hacked voting machines to change your vote" posts going around Tumblr.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
If the Democrats win the Senate, which I am hopeful they will not, then they will likely refuse to confirm all of Trump's judicial nominees, which will start a constitutional crisis whereby judges will only be confirmed when the same party controls both the Presidency and Senate.
Honestly, that's their prerogative. If he can't/won't send someone acceptable to them, even if they'd find nobody acceptable if he sent them up to and including someone on their own side, so be it. Them's the breaks. Losing an election has consequences.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
why would some wizards not just use their overwhelming strength to rob muggle banks, for example?
My understanding is that the wizarding world a) encourages separation from all things muggle, culturally, and b) has a massive police and surveilance org keeping track of these things and preventing them.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
That's what, not even a single VPS- mod VIRGINIA class submarine? Which, granted, the US needs more of, but the big bottleneck isn't money, it's shipyard capacity and throughput, and for some reason that doesn't seem to be a problem that the US government is able/willing to solve with money.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
Depends on your definition of "significant portion". I'd say there were certainly more than there should have been, but a "significant" portion of UNRWA staff? Unless there's new information, I'd say not.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
Mr. Beast
The YouTuber?
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
I prefer I nice mosey myself.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
Semi-finance-related, but if anyone is having trouble with FT's paywall and wants to read a specific article, let me know -- I get 20 "single non-subscriber shares"/month. I've also got a WSJ and Atlantic subscription for gift articles.
Trying to take advantage of all my complimentary subscriptions, but I just can't seem to be bothered to read the news in depth every day.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
Yes. 10k per individual. There is also a "gift box" loophole, where you can buy an unlimited amount to be gifted, then gift them to yourself.
I've seen that limit be the basis for an argument that they're designed specifically for the upper-middle-class: people for whom 10k/year matters, but who can afford to save 10k/year (or 20k/couple) after 401ks/IRAs. Not sure how well that argument takes into account that the limit hasn't been increased in... a decade? Two?
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
switch from the Stupid Party to vote for the candidate of the Evil Party!
The people who made that ad presumably think that the Stupid Party is also the Evil Party. The old line about one party thinking the other is stupid, the other party thinking the first is evil is obsolete, I feel. Now both sides think the other is both stupid and evil.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
I always forget that peanut butter M&Ms exist. Usually because they don't exist within 10 feet of me for more than 30 seconds.
If any of the nuclear companies could stop futzing around and get cracking, sure.
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