Have y’all seen the pictures of chimney rock?

There have been some responses: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1153656 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/experts-hail-icj-declaration-illegality-israels-presence-occupied

No thanks, I’ll take it without the butter.

Lime? Don’t see a lot of lime candy all by themselves.

Butter too. So many candies include butter, but it’s rarely hyped as the star flavor.

I’ve heard that Kamala needs roughly a 3.5% advantage nationwide to break even in the electoral college. It’s not a direct correlation of course, but it stands as a good indicator.

It’s insane if you think about it though, that we give the republicans 3.5% house odds. That’s more than we give casinos in blackjack. We don’t even give most one arm bandits that much.

20 of us were out canvassing in my local county today. It was super enjoyable. Even the two folks that were voting for the other party were decent and respectable.

But I guarantee, not a one of us was out there for that orange guy.

And I replied to you, specifically, regarding sports not being a hack on our emotions.

I suppose this begs the question, do you burn couches when a movie takes an emotional turn?

I have no contribution to why certain people do so around sports, other than to say 20% of the population also believes that the earth is flat, that is to say, they’re morons.

The difference is that movies and TV shows are often specifically made to elicit those reactions. Storytelling is essentially a hack that uses our emotions to implant lessons.

The same can’t be said for sports events.

What part of this did I miss?

Way to completely miss my point.

Hmm, gonna try and narrow this down further. Did you climb any light poles as part of your celebration festivities?

Seriously!? A Cinderella team spends a full year working their way to the sweet 16 and perhaps eventually the final four? Then loses by one point. Do you not see the struggle, the passion, the determination and the heartbreak in that?

Or a champion tennis player, significantly past her prime, coming back to championship after multiple years out and winning the title.

Or two soccer superstars at the absolute peak of their field going head to head. Can you not sense the tension, and suspense as these two juggernauts battle it out to see who comes out on top?

Or a man, born without arms, overcoming adversity at all points in his life to become the fastest swimmer and winning the gold.

Do you not see how sport can be an allegory for the human condition? The struggle, the heartbreak that comes with failure, the celebration of success, the toll of aging.

If not, I challenge you to take up a sport for a year, just a year. Try to get as good as you can with it. Celebrate your successes. Reflect on your failures. Document your milestones as you progress . Try not to give up. Make friends along the way. Become the true definition of an amateur. Living through your own experiences, you may discover that sport is full of emotion.

My local uni pulled this shit with “sustainability.” It became so inclusive of a term that it lost all meaning. And then guess what? Solar panels stopped getting put on buildings, no windmills were put up. They added more gas turbines and steam tunnels.

They did convert to LED lighting though, so that’s a plus.

It’s been 10 years and I’m still pissed about the misappropriation of the term. When you focus on everything, you focus on nothing.

I feel like we’re starting to paint fascism with too broad a brush.

The US has been and continues to be one of the most diverse countries in the world. Name another country where the majority race is 60% or less and the largest ethnicity is below 20%? The closest one I can think of is South Africa, but other examples are few and far between.

So if not by race and ethnicity, then how else could we measure how fascist the US is? Perhaps by nationalism. Well, while most Americans are patriotic, most also believe that nationalism is a serious threat to America - from Statista. Wouldn’t we need the majority to at least believe that nationalism wasn’t a threat to America in order for it to be a “fascist country?”

I’m all for looking at ways to improve things around here, but I am not for the extreme viewpoints from both sides of the aisle as of late. We don’t need to pigeonhole everyone to effect change. To the contrary, we’d get a lot more done for the American people if we teamed up against those who stand to gain from the gridlock.

Right? I get that some of middle America feels slighted, and I’m all for preventing the hollowing out of small town America, but I don’t see lying xenophobic scapegoating being the answer here. That’s how you get nationalist parties and paramilitary “cultural enforcement” groups.

Instead, I see a need to foster and fund community organizations and civil engagement. Improved infrastructure and green spaces. More affordable housing - bring people back into the towns rather than the outskirts of it. But unfortunately, oddly, for some reason, that’s not as easy of a sell as the “people be eating your pets” trope.

TIL, thanks. Makes a bit more sense now why the band chose the name.

Could have done the right thing one last time for people who actually experienced it.

Instead, it’ll remain a black mark on the state and now doubly so. We’ll have to wait for the epilogue 100 years from now.

But I suppose you couldn’t have expected much more from a folk who takes pride in stealing land, and doubling down by cheating when doing so.

I don’t visit Twitter, how do I stop hearing about every little toxic bullshit line Elon has to say?

I disagree with your having kids sentiment. I didn’t find the right woman until I was 33 and didn’t have kids til 39. I worked hard, got promoted and accumulated wealth before then. I started from nearly nothing. Now, my kid (hopefully) won’t have to struggle as much as I did.

And I chase that kid for 30 minutes until she gets worn out.

…

My advice, in your 20s: travel, make friends, make mistakes.

Get a job that has growth potential or become a rockstar in a small pond.

Find some hobbies, work out. Even better, find a hobby that also is a workout. Sock away 5% of your income towards retirement if you can handle it. Volunteer. Habits are formative in your 20s, you’ll find them easier to maintain (or avoid) in your 40s.

Don’t spend all of your time chasing tail or trying to find a mate. That’s a trap. instead, open yourself up to experiences, events and places where those things can naturally happen. And make memories along the way so you have fun things to share with that person when you do find them.

Get out of your comfort zone, get off of your comfort phone. Read a bit, learn to weld or sculpt or play an instrument. Take a dancing class, even if you go alone, there are usually people around to partner up.

Learn 5 or 10 jokes. Don’t be embarrassed to tell them often. Anyone from politicians to public speakers to hey, even comedians, will tell the same jokes over and over and over.

Get an Education, even if it’s a community college or a few professional certifications. It will demonstrate that you can learn. Absorb as much as you can while you’re young, because it’s true, learning does get harder as you age.

Take a course or two in psychology. Avoid people who bring you down, find people who build you up but are honest enough to keep you grounded when you need it.

Don’t live for anyone else, live for you. That isn’t to say be selfish, you’ll need people in your corner. But know that, no one else can experience how can experience. No one else lives through your eyes; no one else loves through your heart; no one else dreams how you dream. We have so few precious years on this tiny rock, so make them tell the story of you.

There’s a saying, around here people know it…some people over there may know it too… the enemy of my friend is my enemy, the enemy of my enemy is my contractually non-binding Diplomacy partner.

They used to say that about Ohio. …before that Florida …before that Iowa …before that California ….way before that, Pennsylvania

Queue that XKCD.

Soon it’s going to be Georgia or Arizona And then Texas

I for one, can’t wait for the chili cook offs, and when all the candidates start wearing cowboy hats. The y’all’s will truly have it!