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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 8th, 2023

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  • To be clear, please continue to enjoy your food the way you want it. Just know what the words that exit your mouth mean. Life shouldn’t be safe, and many of life’s greatest pleasures are not safe.

    Is it a Canadian beef problem? Nah, it’s just a problem with the definition of “safe food”. If the food is not cooked to 165F, then any bacteria, fungi, and parasites that are present could still be alive. There are no guarantees that the beef didn’t have tapeworms, and since ground beef is usually from multiple cuts, there’s a larger chance that a tapeworm has been ground up and spread throughout. It’s a tiny chance, but it’s still a chance. Steaks are less of a risk, because it’s a single cut, and the chef can visually inspect it.

    The waiver is stupid, but it has less to do with capitalism and more to do with the legal system. People sue for anything and everything, and I don’t blame companies for trying to defend themselves from that. They asked the dude to sign a waiver, because they’re afraid he doesn’t understand the risks and might sue if he gets sick.

    Funny thing is: in this case the guy didn’t understand the risks. He thought they were saying their beef is sketchy. What they were really saying is: all ground beef not cooked to 165F could be sketchy. I think he’s dumb, because he doesn’t know that a medium cooked burger involves risk but has been requesting it everywhere he goes. If he had known what a medium burger is, he would’ve just said “yeah yeah yeah”, signed, and ate the burger like an adult.

    I’m not you pal, buddy. (but we might be friends now)



  • Dude is incredibly stupid, because he’s been ordering under-cooked burgers without any conception of what he’s requesting for “Bob”-know-how-long.

    He might like medium-cooked burgers, but he has no idea what that even means. The food at the hotel isn’t less-safe than other places. They just didn’t assume he read the fine-print at the bottom of the menu and were the first to inform him that it’s not safe.

    Yeah, they delivered the waiver at the wrong time, but dude should’ve already known what he was ordering wasn’t safe. I order over-easy, soft-boiled, and sometimes sunny-side-up eggs. I know the risks, and I accept them.

    Unless you put an a ton of effort into it, ground beef is only safe well-done. To get safe under-cooked ground beef, you need to discuss your intentions with your butcher and grind the beef yourself. Even with grinding a single, quality cut of beef, you’re still gambling.

    Also, fuck you, I’m not your friend guy, here’s a rocket ship ().():::::::::::::::::D~~~~~~~







  • The “personal responsibility” re: climate change bullshit is toxic and plays straight into the capitalist narrative.

    I totally agree, but people also need to be careful when they’re trying to place blame in general. My main question is: how could it have possibly been any different? Anger and blame are pointless and unhelpful. Unless it’s like the oil company situation where they knew and then actively deceived. Those fuckers should be beaten to death in front of their families (this is totally a joke, of course, or is it? idk).

    Much of this comes down to human nature and one thing leading to the next like dominoes. The US is setup as a representative democracy & humans can’t see beyond the tip of their noses -> people vote for today and ignore the future -> politicians don’t risk their jobs over something their voters don’t care about -> climate change kills a shitload of people, eliminates snowmelt, and scorches bread baskets -> mass migrations, war, famine, chaos. The most important questions is: what will we do with today to shape the future?



  • Who’s saying “nuh uh”? It could go both ways.

    I’m saying (in winey child voice), “nuh uh! I’m not a communist! I’m an anarcho-blahblahblah, and there are nuanced distinctions between blah blah blah! Nyah!”

    Marsupial is saying, “nuh uh! China doesn’t blame Western capitalism for the opium trade! They only blame the Brits!”

    I have no disagreement that typical “tankies” would call the Five Eyes an empire and Western hegemony, but calling the idea “tankie” is just using a thought-stopper to avoid talking about the idea that empires serve those with power and not the other way around.

    And I just fucking disdain fervent communists, so Marsupial struck a nerve. I’d rather be dismissed for what I actually think.


  • lmao, just to be clear, I think tankies are little CCP dick-sucking bitches, but anyone who throws around a thought-stopper like “tankie” really doesn’t deserve respect. C’mon, you can engage with the merits and flaws of an argument, right?

    If you want to get into a whole ad hominem thing: I’m suspicious of communism (free markets are great for almost everything), and communist revolutions are a joke. I haven’t finished reading Das Kapital, but I’ve heard that the capitalism will inevitably create communism out of the consequences of its own actions, so any revolution is just trying to force the wheel of time forward. I also think it is plain to see that you can’t have a communist government without democracy (preferable direct democracy), because how can everyone be equal otherwise? China’s communism is just capitalism in a trench coat, which is why you see the same effects on its populace as elsewhere. Fundamentally, I’m an Anarcho-syndicalist or Anarcho-socialist. No hierarchies, free association, worker solidarity, and mutual aid.


  • In the US, climate change/global warming has rarely been important to voters.

    Here are the “issues of the day” for the presidential elections since the 60s (scraped from here):

    • 2020: COVID-19 pandemic, racial tensions, deeply polarized electorate
    • 2016: Health care costs, Economic inequality, Terrorism, Foreign policy (Russia, Iran, Syria, Brexit), Gun control, Treatment of minorities, Immigration policy, Shifting media landscape
    • 2012: Role of government, Spending & tax rates, Nuclear Iran, Arab Spring, Global warming, Campaign finance
    • 2008: Great Recession, Financial panic, Bailouts, Iraq War
    • 2004: Terrorism, Iraq War, Job growth
    • 2000: Impeachment, Presidential ethics, Good economy
    • 1996: Waco standoff, Oklahoma City bombing, Good economy
    • 1992: Persian Gulf War, Fall of Berlin Wall and Breakup of Soviet Union, Recession
    • 1988: Stock market crash, Iran-Contra, Progress in US-USSR relations (INF Treaty)
    • 1984: Recession and Subsequent Recovery (start of bull market for stocks), Defense Spending
    • 1980: Iran hostage crisis, USSR invasion of Afghanistan (Summer Olympics boycott), Inflation
    • 1976: Watergate (Impeachment, pardon of Nixon)
    • 1972: Vietnam War, International Relations (Detente with USSR, Visit to China), Watergate
    • 1968: Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Assassinations (Robert Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King)
    • 1964: Great Society (Civil Rights), Vietnam (Gulf of Tonkin), Good Economy
    • 1960: Sputnik/space (keeping up with USSR technologically)

    Regular people aren’t totally innocent here.

    EDIT: fixed some formatting


  • Thanks for pointing that bit out!

    So if this quote is to be believed:

    “This represents a blow to (the cartel’s) financial operations and illicit activities, since the company receives chemical shipments from China,” Salazar said in a statement.

    It looks like China is struggling to enforce their controls. I’m trying to think of a reason that doesn’t boil down to a lack of political will. I don’t blame them, though. They certainly have a bunch of more pressing, complex domestic problems (balancing environment, business, and social welfare). I would certainly shrug as well when Uncle Sam comes whining when those he trampled on are dying from poisons you’ve made illegal and are being produced somewhere else. It’s not like any other nation can perfectly control their imports and exports. They probably are just denying it altogether to save face with their people.

    I’m always surprised at just how capitalist Chinese businesses are.


  • Interesting. Your quote says China controlled fentanyl, but states the precursors were restricted in the Hong Kong SAR, and they may go through the SAR.

    Does China itself restrict the precursors? Or could they be making their way out through other routes?

    China certainly helped get the ball rolling for the 4 years between 2015-2019, and then divested itself to some extent, which is driving the demand for other sources. I doubt India is going to stop exporting precursors anytime soon. Their pharmaceutical industry is insanely unethical.

    Mexico is mostly owned by the narcos, so they’ll “cooperate,” but the fentanyl will continue to flow as long as they can get precursors. It seems the US has quite a pickle on its hands.

    Hopefully, the crisis will die out over time? (oof, that’s a lot of bodies) Unless the US pharmaceutical companies have a new, “non-addictive” pain killer they’re promoting these days.