It would do even more harm if people were more aware of how China is able to make things so inexpensively. Amazon and Walmart have standardized obfuscating slave labor.

In Xinjiang, the government is the trafficker. Authorities use threats of physical violence, forcible drug intake, physical and sexual abuse, and torture to force detainees to work in adjacent or off-site factories or worksites producing garments, footwear, carpets, yarn, food products, holiday decorations, building materials, extractives, materials for solar power equipment and other renewable energy components, consumer electronics, bedding, hair products, cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, face masks, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other goods—and these goods are finding their way into businesses and homes around the world.

https://www.state.gov/forced-labor-in-chinas-xinjiang-region/

Yes, the US also employs slave labor for big food brands. It’s important to be aware of those as well.

https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e

They started using laugh tracks back in the 50s, but they became the standard in the 80s due to the attack on Fran Drescher. At that time, sitcoms were still commonly recorded in front of a live studio audience.

In 1985, she and her husband were brutally attacked in their home by two men who had stalked her from a live taping. In response, the studio went to a closed set for security and hired Central Casting “laughers,” that were eventually replaced by a laugh track. Other sitcoms followed suit when studios saw the ratings and cost benefits to a laugh track over taping in front of a live studio audience.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/how-fran-dreschers-stalker-ordeal-changed-sitcoms-forever/VUD7L6NOIKJIMB5S6GG3KWVXUA/

Assuming rapist/racist is the current turn, then the player who placed sa on the previous turn played an invalid word. It’s possible if the other players didn’t challenge. Sap and sac are both valid words.

You are only allowed to play one direction per turn in Scrabble. It must read left-right or top-down.

Sa is not a word. Every other word played is valid.

You’re neither horrible nor worthless. I think they got the joke and were just listing all of the words made. They read it like a “don’t dead open inside.”

Regardless, it’s brilliant work. I’ve already sent it to several friends. Great post!

It’s already banned in Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Taiwan, Denmark, European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Somalia, and United Kingdom.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/these-countries-have-already-banned-tiktok

Not true. Lobbying disclosure law requires members of Congress to disclose accepted payments from lobbying, but does not restrict the amount they can accept.

http://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov/

Natty Christs

That makes sense. Thanks for the insight!

Try a strap wrench.

Tankies are the left tip of the horseshoe in horseshoe theory. a.k.a. Marxist–Leninists, or authoritarian communists

They were really clever with inside jokes in Arrested Development.

The family eats mustard and Parmesan as a gag meant to refer to his role as Colonel Mustard.

Gene Parmesan also buys a knife from a shop next to a kids play place with a ball pit called “My Little Ballroom.”

These are all very valid points of comparison. It’s a shame they weren’t clearly conveyed by either of them during the debate.

Trump wants Israel to finish what they started and expand into Palestinian territory.

He told Orbán that he intends to pull support from Ukraine if he becomes President again.

He will turn his back on any NATO allies that don’t pay enough.

He’s weak on regulating human rights violations in Chinese trade, and considers Taiwan our primary economic rival.

And I don’t think I need any links to substantiate his ongoing love affair with Putin and Kim.

State constitutional enshrinement is already on the November ballot for Florida, Maryland, South Dakota, Colorado, and now Nevada.

Montana and Missouri aren’t far behind with submitted signatures.

Nebraska, Arkansas, and Arizona are still gathering signatures.

Pennsylvania is awaiting legislative approval.

https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/dashboard/ballot-tracker-status-of-abortion-related-state-constitutional-amendment-measures/

It’s a good thing to see that coming from the most populated city in a swing state.

Strategic votes. Not people. If it were an actual representation of people, then Trump would never have been President, having lost the popular vote in 2016.

I never said humans were numbers. That was your accusation.

I said elections were about numbers. Ask any political scientist.

I’m not a centrist. I’m an informed progressive who leverages my vote to get the closest elector to my ideals that is available. That absolutely results in “settling” to prevent another backslide in policy from a Republican win.

Your assumption is wholly incorrect. I am not behind Biden’s support of Israel, his methods of restricting border crossings, or presentation as an orator. Trump is equally bad or worse in those areas.

The remaining points on actions while in office are as follows:

Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, revoked the Keystone Pipeline permit, created a 13 million acre federal petroleum reserve for Alaskan wildlife, greatly increased oil site lease cost, signed $7B in solar subsidies, invested $66B in passenger rail, enacted the Inflation Reduction act to support clean energy, increased energy efficiency standards on cars, appliances, and industry, created new permitting rules to streamline transmission lines, leveraged the NLRB for an FTC ruling that eliminated non-compete agreements, capped credit card late fees, reduced or outlawed junk fees in several industries, forgave billions in student debt from predatory loans, created the CHIPS Act to improve reliance on domestic technology, reenacted Net Neutrality, repealed Title 42, ended the Muslim Ban, reinstated the law prohibiting Israeli settlement on Palestinian territory, signed the Equality Act for LGBTQ+ rights, restored gay rights to beneficiaries, pardoned thousands of gay veterans from being convicted based on their sexual orientation, reenacted trans care anti-discrimination law, signed the Respect for Marriage Act, enabled unspecified gender on US Passports, rejoined WHO, rescheduled marijuana, banned medical debt from credit reports, actively reducing drug costs with the American Rescue Plan Act…

Trump repealed 112 climate regulations, left the Paris Climate Agreement, disbanded the pandemic response team stalling national pandemic response, left the WHO, repealed trans care anti-discrimination law, repealed gay rights to beneficiaries, enacted Title 42 and the Muslim ban, repealed the law prohibiting Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, repealed Net Neutrality, provided tax cuts to the wealthy that further widened our already exploitative wealth inequality, increased tariffs on goods costing the consumers, seated the conservatives in SCOTUS that repealed Roe v. Wade…

And you seem to think voting is some personal commitment to a candidate and not the simple numbers game that politicians use to gain control.