High risk high reward I guess. And it varies a lot because some are super hard core with latin and all, and some are pretty relaxed with it

In theory you’re not supposed to have pre-marital sex (it probably happens all the time) and dating would tend to be more serious than casual. Going steady vs hooking up. So yeah I imagine having a relationship not work out carries more weight

But once you get past that you get a long lasting marriage, a family and all the positives that come with that

This guy knows what he’s talking about

Personally I get more of a reaction from smelling diesel exhaust and smoke at the same time

I’ve never associated dead people smells with food though.

Say what you want about their morals but the music is a vibe

Most cell towers have generators but only about 2-3 days of fuel. So you might have ways to charge your phone but it might not have a network to connect to

You don’t need a cell signal to get a GPS location so having some offline maps like OrganicMaps or OSMand can still be useful

Thanks! To be fair I glossed over a LOT

Metal Gear Solid 2 plays out like this. Spoilers below but it came out in 2001 so whatever

The bad guy is a former President that knew his job was just as a figurehead, nothing more. He found out the hard way that even his orders came from a cutout.

He recruited “terrorists” to take the sitting President “hostage” so they could “force him” to detonate an EMP over the east coast. The plan is to dismantle the shadow government (actually AI) running the government/censoring public opinion and hopefully free the country

You play as the wide eyed idealistic special forces infiltrator, trained heavily through VR and sent to “rescue” the sitting President from the “terrorist leader” and learn that everything you know is wrong and you were given orders by the AI all along

I mean, yeah

I like them

Nope! Watching a movie about Thor or something is fine. It only doesn’t work when you begin to worship Thor over God, which breaks the first commandment

Yep, and all US Citizens have the same rights and access to the same stuff.

Like anything else you can’t expect your political opponents to do the hard work for you.

If people suddenly want to get into 2A stuff, good! They unironically should to go buy a rifle and/or pistol, some related equipment, learn and get good. From there you are free to do what you’re willing to live with.

The US mil will certainly be negatively effected in the short term if China were to cut/be cut from manufacturing. This substack article is by a retired US navy/NATO officer who explains it better than I can, but the short answer is a LOT of very important munitions, vessels and equipment have chinese semiconductors in them

https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/p/you-cant-go-to-war-with-your-factory

And that system is AWESOME and I wish some highways in the US did the same. I fear it would devolve into a regulations nightmare after bubba in his rusted dodge rattles to peices trying to break 80mph.

Flat open highway in between cities in Kansas? Go for it!

But it’s kind of like the US and guns. It’s a cultural ability that is statistically proven to be dangerous and can be seen as too big of a risk for even the most responsible ordinary people to enjoy, and reckless people put the whole activity in question.

That is the kind of speed it takes to get a 747 into the air on takeoff.

Say you rolled down a back window of a car and stuck your head out (not recommended) you would feel wind so strong it would max out typhoon and hurricane scales, similar to an EF4 Tornado. The skin of your face flaps like fabric and seeing and breathing is very difficult, as seen here

Structure doesn’t mean authoritarian by default but I see what you mean. Maybe like a reserve/volunteer fire department deal?

You have a normal life but you have some equipment you keep at home or in a car. Rifle, pistol, armor, drones, medical, packs etc, but the heavy equipment is in a dedicated area. Most equipment is self bought but with standardized calibers, mags etc for simplified logistics. Routine training and maintenance is done weekly, larger more objective focused training every quarter or so.

The key would be having armed people outside of that group, not only to boost defensive capability of the community in an emergency but to provide a deterrent to misuse of the defense force for anything but countering external threats. If you don’t have that, in the words of a Clint Eastwood movie, “there are two types of people, those with loaded guns and those who dig”

You’re right the cold plate sucks out a lot of heat! I sit them in hot water and dry them off before putting the food on

Only if they hit his dog first

The US is a massive place. Yes the federal govt can suck but state and local governments are where you see the real day to day effects like roads, local businesses, utilities and parks.

Sit in on a meeting (a lot of stuff is streamed thanks to covid). Get to know the people in office in your area and what they stand for. If you want make your voice heard however you choose and give them some perspective on how an upcoming decision effects you. You can vote wisely and build a community with them from the bottom up.

You can have a surprising level of influence just by reminding people that voters exist and care enough to give input now and then.

And you get the characters’ mental commentary that a show usually has trouble getting across

Right and I’m sure it would work but technically Tesla advises responders not to. Idk why or what their recommended alternative might be