Yep. That’s pretty much exactly how I feel. American economics ispl pretty far from capitalism, having too few balanced regulations and allowing extremely one sided (wealthy) dominance of the market. Which is the exact opposite of a free market (one where every party in a transaction has equal and fair power in the negotiation. Free market has absolutely nothing to do with that nonsense about being free from regulations or government interference).

I think it is worth considering that every single b-rated movie has a huge pile of things they had to cut that probably made them cried for days and will regret cutting for the rest of their lives. Movies cost a fortune to make, and every single element costs more than you can imagine. At a certain point it is the choice between shitty sound or abandoning big enough plot points to kill the whole project.

That idea alone is sort of impossible. There is no pure communist or pure capitalist economy. Hell even capitalism is one balanced region between four points of varying qualities: authoritarian vs libertarian, and market driven vs planned economy. Communism is an authoritarian planned economy.

One of the first economic rules is that it is impossible to have a pure economy. Purely market driven or purely planned. The closer an economy gets to it the more it all falls apart. Right wing totalitarianism is the closest thing to an opposite of communism, and it absolutely sucks. Several former Soviet nations went that way after the fall. They became so anti-communist that they had to become totalitarian regimes (pseudo democracy where there is an election, but only one party, with only one candidate, because they illegalized all opposition). RWT is as destructive to economies as communism was. I admit that perceptions of how communism performed is filled with controversy and misinformation on every side. But no matter how you slice it, communism failed mostly because it placed duty to community above basic needs like food and shelter. Or, more correctly, managers of production had no incentive to perform their best, so they performed at lower and lower levels until the whole economy was so depressed that it could not feed everyone while food was spoiling in the fields unharvested.

There is a reason why China switched to a capitalist economy, even though they still call themselves communist the way Burger King calls themselves “King.”

Oh, bum deal.

(I knew a guy who said that to a kid with obvious debilitating hemorrhoids by accident once. I’m sorry for being crass)

I’m down fifty pounds. My mobility and flexibility are steadily improving, as is my strength. And best of all, I have cured my prediabetes, and very possibly my fatty liver disease.

My guess would be your Windows ID. Did you use the same Microsoft account when setting up the new laptop as your old one? I know Brave should eliminate that but from what I’ve heard it just doesn’t. It’s all lies. You mentioned using Edge, and I am thinking that Microsoft and Google are both so heavily intertwined at this point that they are basically the same data cesspool.

Of course that is assuming it was a PC and not an Apple or Linux based device (again, you mentioned Edge). Other options would be a Samsung, HP, Acer, Google, or other manufacturer accounts. Google for sure. If you signed into Google anywhere else on that thing with your ID I would just assume your data was being beamed straight into every computer watching for it in existence.

I would suggest considering completing the licensing before moving. I have seen just way too many times when people jumped the line in similar ways and it ended up biting them in the rear eventually.

You may end up wanting to return in a couple of decades. Or it could streamline something if you move again to another country. Or you could end up being needed while traveling. Or being offered a position that needs that license for some online work without ever moving back. You could have a death or illness in the family that forces you to return. Or any of a million other reasons that you would want that, and not getting it now could mean eliminating options in the future. I knew a guy who’s wife was a doctor in another Mexico for years before immigrating to the US, and she had to start over from scratch. Just something to consider.

I think they need to update the laws regarding light placement. Right now they have to be placed at the top corners of the hood. So trucks and SUVs are forced to have their headlights positioned at eye level with many smaller cars. It’s absolutely bonkers.

As a dad I can say you better think twice kids!

For me, deciding that everyone around me is an incompetent imbecile has been quite freeing. I don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I am always pleasantly surprised when they do a good job. And I am extra vigilant, take responsibility for the safety of those around me at all times.

Hate me all you want. I’ll burn your eye sockets out with my high beams.

I spent an extreme amount of time aligning my low beams so they don’t point up into people’s eyes. And I drive a fairly low to the ground Hyundai Elantra. I am very careful with those high beams.

I knew of someone who had a patent for a device that attached to a forklift to aid in large scale floor remodeling (scraped up old vinyl flooring). The US military used Eminent Domain to steal that patent and use it for military operations (still just remodeling old floors, not even for combat operations).

I don’t know any more specifics about it. (I have a feeling there were more details that would have made that more understandable). Just that they can take a patent if they feel they need to.