Beautiful stuff, y’all. Keep hope alive!
Considering how under-funded and understaffed the IRS has been/is, they do a pretty amazing job with what they have to work with. Simplifying or redoing our tax codes again is a huge task that will take time. There does need to be some sort of progress though! We’ll see what type of government we’ll have shortly.
I could see the point being to spread the information on what is happening so that (hopefully) we could elect more people who would do something about it. There are some elections coming up where, theoretically, the power could shift. There’s also lobbying our congresspeople, which can have an effect if enough people do it. The power of incumbency, uninformed voters, etc… make this a shitty situation, to be sure. I’m still trying to have hope that enough people pushing for change can find success. If not, I’ll just be cynical at the bleak prospects of life.
I say all that to say, we should fight however we can, but definitely keep pushing forward!
IIRC, the reason sodium batteries would be better is we have abundant stocks of sodium, whereas the raw materials for most other batteries are limited and require more destructive mining. John Oliver just covered some of this on his show last Sunday. If that tech can be improved, hopefully there won’t be any deep sea mining for more raw materials!
Do you mean philistines?? And wtf are “sea people”? I’m thoroughly confused by all of your comments, as they make no sense.
You can sail the high seas for Fallout. It’s worth it!
Anything could have enough significance to warrant further study. If it has societal implications or environmental concerns, it could be deemed worthy. I’ve read some guidelines on how to read scientific papers, but don’t have the link on me. The scientists are supposed to list their biases, but it’s kind of on the honor system, I think.
On your last question, while changing reps to at-large would certainly help with gerrymandering, that would make it more difficult for reps to have solid relationships with their constituents. It benefits both the constituents who don’t have to travel as far(although phone calls and emails would still theoretically work) to connect with their rep, but also allows the rep to tour their area more frequently and be able to handle specific, local issues more effectively. There are tradeoffs with everything though, so it might work better overall. It’s just so hard to change the status quo, which goes for most things that people have listed here.
Great list overall but I’m wondering what you mean by reasonable behaviors in regards to having kids or not? I understand the notion of encouraging and discouraging behaviors by legislation, but that can be difficult to negotiate/implement.
In addition to the veto power mentioned above, there’s also the power to issue executive orders and to nominate judges, including supreme justices. Those are fairly significant. There’s also the influence they have over foreign policy.
Mmm, had to look up sultanas but they sound like a great addition! My kids like it sweeter of course, but I love the mix of dried fruit and crunch. Will have to play around with it some, but thanks for sharing!
I aspire to be like your wife and be able throw it all together. My family loves granola with yogurt, so I need to practice. I have everything but the cranberries on hand. Sounds delicious, thank you!
I know it’s fairly simple to make but I haven’t taken a stab yet. Do you mind sharing your recipe for the granola?
Just my 2 cents, but the logistics part is substantial. Our jails and prisons are already overflowing (with the highest incarceration rate of the global north) so there’s no quick process that is feasible. We should have plenty of warning as to what’s coming down the works… as for having the means and ability to do anything about it? We shall see.
You’re not helpless unless you don’t take action. Build your community and celebrate the small wins. Find meaningful work(even volunteering) and build more connections to others. Having some of that to fall back on has kept me saner lately, and now I’m driven to focus more on that, least for the short term.