Agreed, but his bit about scrubber wire coming off and getting swallowed has made me strongly consider buying one of these.

Destin from the YouTube channel Smarter Every Day had a hand in the creation of this. Is a great video highlighting the dire situation of US manufacturing.

https://youtu.be/3ZTGwcHQfLY

I think you’re missing my point. It’s not that “people don’t buy American, even though it’s more expensive.” I’m saying that when done in a heads-up way, Americans will nearly unanimously choose the lower cost option instead of buying American; not because it’s American, but because it’s cheaper. Out of the examples of Redwing boots and Lodge cookware, how much cheap, disposable trash is purchased instead of the highly durable, more expensive goods?

I understand this is “hand-wavy” and I do not intend it with snark: my sources are literally every big-box and online retailer inventory sheet in the US, especially at America’s largest retailers; Walmart and Amazon to name a few.

Also, I would say that companies in nearly all cases benefit financially by offshoring of production. Their sales may take a short term hit, but any decrease in sales is vastly outweighed by hysterically larger profit margins.

My point is that cost is the driver, not moral stance. I’m also not judging. Looking at the average income in the US vs GDP, it’s entirely understandable behavior.

I also don’t want to piss you off, but you seem upset. Is it fair to say that you prefer to buy American? If so, good for you. We should pay all workers what they’re worth, Americans included. This comment is on a cartoon, brother. I’m just saying “yes, and…”

Certain companies have tried this in a heads-up fashion: offer both the USA made option and one made overseas. The catch is the one made in the USA is 3x more expensive.

0% of people bought the USA-made one.

Source

Deadsy

Tap to pay

Lifestyle brands, amiright 🤷‍♂️

Worth a read if anyone is interested: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/16/what-is-claude-anthropic-doesnt-know-either

My favorite part is Anthropic has a bot in the cafeteria that orders what staff request and if the bank balance goes to zero or negative, then it loses and has to close up shop.

This far, nearly all employees have a 1” tungsten cube on their desk that some managed to get for free with a fake 100% off coupon.

It’s a fun experiment in what happens when these agents start doing things in the real world and I commend Anthropic for putting it on display. A real hype train killer.

As a technologist, I work with them all day, every day. I wouldn’t trust them to do my laundry without oversight, let alone run a business.

Not leveraging solar energy, which abundant , decentralized, and is the cheapest unit of energy there is.

Not at all. You get to say what happens with your body. The fact that he took offense to it is on him. It’s also a smart move.

Personally, I can’t stand condoms, but I wouldn’t hook up without one. “This is a strange car, in a foreign dense highway; why would I need a seat belt?”

Also, if I heard a woman say “it was a fine night” in a meh tone, I’d be gutted lol.

Gentleman reading this, remember the golden rule: women always come first.

Travel. Ignore him. I’ve had the pleasure visiting 7 countries, 5 non English native. Top of the list are Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Canada (Montreal). I’d travel more if I had more money and time to. It’s been one of the most impactful things on me as a human.

The US has no national language by design. We’re a melting pot; a country of immigrants. That is our greatest strength. Taking the often humble, mixing it, mutating it, and making it our own.

I don’t speak any other languages, but I try. Only on very rare occasions was language a barrier. I understand I’m a guest in other people’s countries so I mind my p’s & q’s. You’re representing your country, so be kind. Approach other cultures with genuine curiosity. At least learn basic phrases like hello, goodbye, please, thank you, and anything else you can manage, but you don’t need to fluent.

IMO, US born tourist are the worst. Loud, entitled, obnoxious, ignorant. They expect everywhere to be just perfect for them and how they like to live, like it’s Disney World. Those people won’t get a whole lot out of travel and just make us look worse than we already do on the international stage. Oh and the “influencers”… In Venice, they were like locusts.

I’ve also traveled all over the US and it can be beautiful, but you live here; you’ll get much more of a perspective shift going somewhere completely different. Also, by comparison of other countries, the US is pretty mid. Traveling help you see the US for what it is, not for what we’re told it is.

Definitely go with your instinct here. Foster that curiosity. I promise it will pay dividends you can’t imagine now.

This! I think twice before commenting because of blowback. And everything is _ so_ dramatic. Also, consistently, if my world view and lived experience doesn’t align with the group think of the post and comments, then I’m automatically disqualified as a “bot” or “fedposting”. In all honesty, it’s not the most welcoming community. Diverse discourse is discouraged.

Yakkety Sax

The law does not require photo ID uploadsor facial recognition, with users instead simply self-reporting their age, setting AB 1043 apart from similar laws passed in Texas and Utah that require “commercially reasonable” verification methods, such as government-issued ID checks.

Seems toothless. Good.

100%

I reply with “yes and”.

If someone tells me I’m an idiot, NEXT! It immediately invalidates their argument.

“A Splendid Torch” by George Bernard Shaw

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

Exactly this. If I had to chose between hundreds of third party websites having my ID and my phone, I’ll take my phone.

We already have very sophisticated ways of validating payment and passport information with our devices. Validating age could be as simple as a registration procedure between the device and the identity issuer , validating the device is held by a person “of age” and then that’s it. If that user successfully completes a biometric challenge, then allow the activity.

So web browsing goes from “I’m John Doe and here’s my ID proving it” to every site (which has HUUUUUGE PRIVACY ISSUES) to “This anonymous user is over 18; this one is over 21, this one’s not”.

Also, if this behavior of forcing websites to ID you continues, it will enable a renaissance in data mining. Right now companies see “actor is in ZIP code 90210; rain in the forecast “ and put the two together to show “maybe they need a new slicker”. That’s simplified of course, but that’s basically the trick. You can use hundreds or thousands of these data points to paint an ever clearer picture of the person, but you never know exactly who they are. These ID laws are changing this rapidly.

This also has the potential to be used for some very dark purposes. Example: said something on Instagram critical of the US President? You don’t get to vote because of some label.

My position is still if the site or service requires my ID, then I don’t need it that badly.

The book “Sapiens” does a good job framing this. Humans are social creatures. Our social groups define their own norms, mores, values, etc. To be “good” is to align with those values. Clashes happen when groups with vastly different values interact. The old adage “if you were born where they were born, and you were raised how they were raised, then you would believe what they believe” applies here, even though this isn’t always true.

The Internet makes this problem more stark. Our groups aren’t based on location anymore; our neighborhood, our school, our church. We can find our group(s) that align with and reinforce us any time we want. It’s also upset the typical way we define our values, and our society is struggling to catch up.

So long way of saying, good or bad relies on context and the values of those you’re close with.

But fuck people who don’t return their shopping cart. They’re just plain bad.

In not in favor of providing ID for anything. If a service requires it, I won’t use that service. Also, I can’t think of a verification system like this that hasn’t been bypassed or exploited, so it’s largely an exercise in futility.

However, a compelling argument is to use your phone’s biometrics to perform a challenge and verification. Basically, your device acts as your ID so sites never have it. I think this way better than all websites to keep a copy of the identity.