Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory had several extremely memorable moments. The greasy lipped german dude eating the microphone. Wonka taking a crunchy bite out of an obviously wax buttercup. Cabbage and laundry soup (maybe I just combined those in my developing brain). Scooping whipped cream and jelly with your hands from giant mushrooms. Biting a giant gummy worm in the middle. Charlie scarfing down a scrumdiddlyumptious bar fast enough to choke. Burping up fizzy lifting drink. Few movies had as many memorable food moments.

When I was a kid, so many parodies and comedies had ladies jumping out of giant cakes, I really though that was going to be a thing when I grew up. It was like the opposite of quicksand.

I don’t think you’re wrong, but that’s a different problem, one we aren’t solving with pesticides. People are starving now, and poor people have drastically limited options when it comes to food. Our current subsidy structure encourages corn syrup and soy protein in almost everything we eat.

I wouldn’t oppose a managed transition away from using pesticides over a reasonable amount of time, one that allows farmers to adapt to new strategies and new pricing structures. But catastrophe is upon us. Ecological indicators are all in the red, and we’re experiencing the effects of climate disasters at an unyielding pace. Fires, floods, and famines are coming to a neighborhood near you, and drastic action is required immediately to even hope to slow it down. There’s no avoiding it.

Eh, those things are flexible. If you’re willing to play the game, you can be inside the circle. See: Log Cabin Republicans, Raphael Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Ben Carson, you can be “one of the good ones” as long as you’re willing to toe the line.

It’s not that they are asocial. It’s narcissism, plain and simple.

You can always get credit, the only question is how much will it cost.

If you’re asking why does Best Buy offers credit cards and your dentist doesn’t, it’s because Best Buy might not get your sale. They want you to see the product and buy the product and if you don’t have the money they want you to borrow the money without leaving the store. It’s all about reducing friction between your wallet and their register.

Your dentist doesn’t need to reduce those obstacles to purchasing. You need dental work, and they bill you. If you can’t pay, that’s a you problem.

Conservativism is, and always has been, a misdirect. It isn’t an ideology. It’s something you say so that it sounds like you have principles, but there are no inherently conservative principles.

Check your history books, it’s always been this way.

Conservatives establish their priorities by first drawing a circle on the ground around themselves, and the deciding who is with them inside the circle. Everyone inside the circle is a member of their group, the Self. The Self is good because they are inside the circle, and the circle was drawn to define who is good.

And that’s it. Everything else is a flexible derivation of that decision. Policies that are good for the Self are good because the Self is good. Policies that are bad for the Self are bad. You get the picture. Everything a Conservative does or says is in service of defending and advancing the Self’s interests.

Importantly, anyone outside the circle is the Other. The Other can be bad, or they can be irrelevant. The Other cannot be good, because they aren’t the Self. If the Other tries to oppose the Self, the Other is bad. If the Other does not oppose the Self or even assists the Self, they are irrelevant.

If the Self lies or cheats or murders, then those were necessary acts in service of the Self, and therefore good. If the Other acts heroically or honorably or respectfully, it is irrelevant.

The good news is that you can be inside the circle, as long as you agree to go along with the game. Support everything the Self does, oppose anything the Other does to stop you, and refuse to acknowledge the inherent ridiculousness of your lack of fundamental beliefs.

I’m not advocating for letting anyone die, nor am I suggesting forced veganism. My suggestion would let some people make less profit. Those people are willing to let a lot of people die to increase their profits. The climate crisis has killed people, and will kill far more than expensive corn would.

Our current population levels are going to experience a steep decline because people already cannot afford basic needs like food and rent and so they are not having children. Pesticides are not the only defense against total crop collapse due to blight. In fact, we’re doing more damage to pollinators than pests as a result of overuse of pesticides. Entire food chains rely on the birds and bugs industrial farming is eliminating, and the water runoff is poisoning the fish that keep our streams and rivers clean.

To be clear, RFK is completely wrong in his reasoning, and I don’t believe in doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. We should ban pesticides because pesticide use is a net bad for humans. Pesticides increase profits at the expense of ecosystems, and that in turn impacts humanity.

Sure, but it could be one of the best things for the environment. If crops are suddenly more expensive because of pests, then meat becomes more expensive to produce, then more land is left to re-wild because farming is not as lucrative.

We already grow more than enough food to feed everyone. If we’re worried about people being able to afford food, then let’s subsidize that instead of ethanol and corn syrup.

Slams! Duh duduh duh duduh let boys be boys

Unfreeze me for a week each year. I get to spend a day catching up on what’s happened, mourning the dead, and then a few days exploring what’s new, and then a day planning next year’s excursions.

Yes, but inflation will outpace your interest.

I mean, if we’re being pedantic, geek was a term for a specific circus performer who would eat gross things and hammer nails into their faces. Anything to gross out the audience. The term expanded to mean “weirdo” over time, and became associated with the term “nerd.” It has further evolved with the popularity of the phrase “geek out” to mean someone with strong enthusiasm for a specific topic. That’s the most recent popular definition of the word.

Either way, any legitimate “geek” would already know that they shouldn’t expect Alexa to respect their data privacy.

That’s the beauty of the algorithm. It’s not just time of day, but what you’re doing and where you are. Look for other common threads, like anytime you’re near a gym, or if you’re browsing an online store. Assume they know literally everything about you in the moment.

Of course, there are other plausible explanations. Maybe you are sometimes connected to wifi with a pihole that blocks the ads? Maybe your cellular connection is spotty and the app is compensating with music already on your device? Maybe there’s a quota that they are supposed to hit, and any blocked ads are queued up for later until you connect again? Like I said, I don’t know what’s causing it.

Calling Alexa users “geeks” is like calling McDonald’s diners “foodies.” Like, it might be true, but all current evidence to the contrary. Like if you wrote an article “Foodies are upset that McDonald’s is adding HFCS to their barbeque sauce.”

I don’t know, but if I had to guess, I would say they probably have an algorithm that tells them what time of day people are most likely to buy premium. Like, they want you hooked so they play fewer ads while you’re going to sleep or riding the bus, and you get comfortable with how convenient it all is. But then, you want to play a song for a friend or queue up a playlist for a party, and the AI recognizes that behavior and puts an ad between every song. It’s frustrating and embarrassing and gets you thinking about why don’t you just give them some money already.

I don’t know that they do this. I know that they can do this, and I know that they would do this.

Fuh fuh fuh, hmmmm yes. Jolly good.

Words have meaning. Terrorists are terrorists even after they take power. You’re not wrong, though.

Exactly, and that’s your job. Like, people who think that doctors will murder them for organs also work at a job where they won’t hold the elevator for anyone pushing a mail cart. How long would you keep a job where you intentionally suck at it to help someone else do their job?

Terrorist. There should never be a story with her name without mentioning that she was a terrorist who was killed in defense of the Capitol building.

3d printed material has a lower tensile strength than injection molded or stamped materials. Most prints are weakest between the layers, and it’s not always immediately obvious where the weakened points are. Even the parts that don’t get hot or explode are moving and rubbing against other parts.

Gun parts are subjected to rigorous testing and grading. Not only do they know roughly how many uses before a part will break, but also what to look for on a worn or breaking part.

3d printed guns, you never know which bullet will be the last.