Heard someone say something similar about folks that display a Confederate flag. It’s a fine marker to identify those that are both mean and stupid.

Yeah. I totally get it. It does take effort to preserve any wonder and stave off cynicism. Especially in these days of ever growing inequality and tougher material conditions for folks in general. When I was growing up there sure seemed more cause for optimism. Now, folks who look squarely at reality find it tough to muster, what with stagnated wages, an erosion of personal ties, a generally lousy work/life balance for most.

Still, I try to look to and look after my friends, my community. It’s not much, but it’s what I can do. I’ve seen hardship, illness, betrayal, personal devaluation, loss. But I’d rather not become a bitter, old bastard like so many I see in this region.

And I’m cracking up at the scammers phoning up my 85 year old father telling him his Windows has been compromised on his Linux desktop.

Sadly, the sociopath/idiotic formula does seem to resonate with the algorithms and/or the public. There is a local creator that I know to be a thoughtful, well-rounded person, yet they had to reduce themselves to a cartoon caricature in order to get traction. But that approach seems to have worked out for them, at least initially through Tik Tok and YouTube. Now I see them taking on increasingly sketchy sponsorships as their 15 minutes fades. And of course audience capture indisputably steers media makers into conspiratorial niches they can’t escape without sacrificing views/payout. Authenticity be damned.

Or you arrive to find the civilization has had time to collapse and given way to the rise of damned dirty apes.

“What’s all this sectarian racket then? We don’t get Buddhists playing bagpipes in our bathroom or Hindus harmonizing in the hall! The Shintoists don’t come here shattering sheet glass in the sh__house and shouting slogans-”

Just assumed he was incognito at a “wizards only fools” sort of place.

I’ve been getting ads for Henson razors -Not an endorsement! I know nothing about safety razors- . But the idea of not buying razor cartridges anymore is attractive, provided I’m not cutting myself all the time. But supposedly this sort is less likely to cut me, even if I’m a klutz?

Started really paying attention when my health imploded some years back. Would add that food content literacy tends to drive me to the outer edges of the grocery, and out of the middle where there’s more junky, processed crap.

Heard someone assert that MBA’s have ruined the world. Seemed a hyperbolic statement at the time. Though casting my eyes around an ever more enpoopified landscape, it’s tough to disagree.

Living in a very economically depressed and propagandized region of the U.S. I really feel this. Have often said, the big problem is that so few people have your back here should you wish to protest in any meaningful way. Ironically, it is a place that once fought hard and bloody battles for labor. If you bring this up, they reckon it is totally unrelated to our present crises.

It’s shocking to see the assault on libraries across Appalachia. Sad to see it’s a broader problem. For as little finding as they require they provide critical services. So many nasty politicos trying to win some points with the lowest common denominators of humanity must see them as an easy target.

I’m ever astonished at the variety of deep fried stuff at Appalachian festivals and fairs. All these stalls trying to one-up the rest with the lengths they are willing to go into hot fat depravity. Grease-boiled confections and savories of every niche. A healthcare nightmare. But this is a region steeped in despair. It’s tough to heap blame on folks giving up.

Needs more grapefruit.

There was a young man that said “damn”

For it certainly seems that I am

A creature that moves in determinate grooves

I’m not even a bus, I’m a tram

The Norwegian Blue prefers kipping on its back -and sometimes taking surveillance photos. Beautiful plumage.

That sounds very cool. I’m totally ignorant of the hardware requirements. What sort of minimum setup would such an install take?

Some of both columns if I think about it. You go though enough that the volume on trivial crap gets turned way down and you don’t sweat so many of the things you really can’t affect substantively. While at the same time you’re likely to be dismissive and not wish to waste time on folks that have demonstrated they’re willfully ignorant dillweeds.

It’s also sometimes used as shorthand for crypto-orchidism -undescended testicles.

Long-time offgridder here. Would love to have a reasonable alternative to lead-acid or lithium. Opted for lead-acid again on the last battery swap around 5 years ago. Squeezed about 12 years out of the last set -though they were pretty degraded by that time. This bank is depreciating faster, probably because of increased use.