TheDoozer

I have made the argument to the "think of the economy" Republicans I have known for years, and come at it from a relatively heartless angle:

With automation (and now AI), it takes less and less humans to do the work. Not everybody can "start their own business," obviously, and when self-driving vehicles that don't require a human driver become effective and accepted, about 70 million jobs will disappear in a blink. And those won't be shifted to another industry, because it doesn't take 70 million people to code and maintain self-driving vehicles. And that is just the people who drive for a living. So either a significant chunk of the population is unemployed and can't buy things or live anymore without significant help from the government anyway, or everybody works less hours (and still paid a living wage) to spread out the available work hours.

If there is a UBI that effectively covers shelter and food, then people would need to work less to pay for other necessities and what luxuries they can afford. If everybody gets it, it is completely fair.

And you do this by taxing the shit out any automation (enough that the business still gets a benefit, but so does the society they are taking jobs from), and taxing billionaires.

This isn't about taking care of the sick or poor, or providing handouts, it's about maintaining society with the rise of automation, and it not being possible without it.

Those I spoke to were remarkably receptive to that argument.

I was one of the "gifted" kids. Went to the special school and everything. And I am. Gifted at taking tests and collecting information.

What humbled me was getting into adulthood and realizing how little that counted for anything. My organization skills were atrocious. My creativity is virtually non-existent. It has been the biggest struggle of my life just being able to keep my life together without some huge issue that came from me failing to address a small, easily handled issue.

It's not burnout. And if there's mental illness, it's undiagnosed ADD or Executive Dysfunction. I just realized I wasn't that special once I left school.

I can absolutely crush a written test (and only, written) though, so that's.... great.

That's hilarious, I worked with the guy in the video who bro-ed out with a wrench in his pocket.

Edit: watched more of the video, I worked with the guy doing the rap at the beginning as well. Small world.

I work in helicopter maintenance, so reading this I was thinking, "yeah, and?"

It makes any task so much faster when you know exactly where the thing you need is.

The metallurgy is important, too, because different things corrode at different rates, and in contact with different metals.

Incidentally, that part in Big Hero 6 when Wasabi has his tools lined out, with every part and tool accounted for, I thought his shop area was well maintained and appropriate, especially working with such dangerous technology. Then they tried to portray him as mildly OCD or something, and I just thought everyone else was wrong. And Go-Go just grabbing a tool without checking it out was completely inappropriate and poor tool control.

It's the horn of a goat that Zeus broke off when he was a... child? God-child? Whatever. It was magical and provided an endless supply of food.

I imagine they'd want to give her something for the pain, and potential pregnancy might be a factor? I don't know, I'm not a doctor, and this is a comic.

I'll do a lot, but I'll often start with Wagon Wheel, because it gets people singing along, and once they're singing, they're signing up to sing.

Sometimes people need encouragement.

That sounds excellent... i might pitch that to my wife for next year.

I gotta say...

This was a triumph.

Go way back. Legend.

I think, and this may be a wild concept that bothers both sides of the discussion, that individual sports governing bodies (specific leagues, NCAA, etc) should be making the decisions and absolutely nobody in government should be involved.

People should be allowed to compete in sports, but it should be up to the individual sports governing body to decide how they slot people. And if there is an absolute ban in the league against use of hormones (aimed at preventing performance enhancing effects), then so be it. Those bans were in place prior to the trans people in sports discussion, I wouldn't say they are inherently biased. Take up the language of the rule with your local league to allow for medically necessary hormones for specific issues (including gender dysmorphia), but it is ultimately their prerogative on rules for their league. A senator doesn't need to weigh in.

But any poltician who so much as brings up trans people in sports should be immediately told to stay in their fucking lane.

I had someone straight-faced say that Jeff Bezos should be able to buy a nuke (you can imagine the trajectory of the conversation that led to this, it wasn't a non-sequitor).