Am I the only one who gets a little annoyed when every use of the word “and” is replaced by an ampersand?

That’s cool, and I’d love to see it. “wage” means hourly payment for time worked. Anything else is a benefit or whatever - but not wage. Wage theft is not getting paid wages due.

Vacation time is not the same as hourly wage.

I don’t think we really disagree here. You’re focusing on what people are. I’m focusing on how they see themselves. They’re not necessarily the same things.

Doesn’t mean you don’t call yourself middle class, because at least you’re not homeless. At the very least, “lower-middle class”

20-something years ago PBS had an excellent documentary called “People Like Us: Social Class in America” to show, well, social class in America. If you can find it, or at least clips of it, I’d recommend it. There was one cutscene with a bunch of people being asked which class they see themselves as, and pretty much everyone felt they were “middle class” - but you could tell by the way they presented themselves (clothes, jewelry, etc) that they were all over the place.

Pretty much everyone calls themselves middle class. Outside of the extremes one would expect, there will always be richer and poorer people among you, meaning you’re in the “middle” - whether you’re struggling to make rent or debating whether or not to go to the vacation home this weekend.

Use it or lose it is very common, even in (US) government employment.

For what it’s worth, I picked up Radio Australia on shortwave from Denver on a recently-restored tube radio (albeit a higher-end one). It was surprisingly clear too!

How is “collateral in major purchases” and “secure billions in loans” supposed to be any different?

The FBI is flagged (notified) as Elon Musk does something stupid.

Well you see, it was the state that let her die. That’s what everyone wanted all along!

Replace ‘major government contractor’ with Elon Musk.

It is a shit headline though.

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Lotsa misinformation coming from that general area.

Assuming the words themselves are accurate, there is still a difference between wanting to “engage more” with Beijing and wanting them to swallow your country whole. Not to mention all the other issues one may vote over

“I couldn’t possibly compete with other businesses who would also be required to do the same thing in the same way that I would! It just wouldn’t be fair!”

Screenshot taken at 18:07, which puts you at GMT+2. Curious what makes you such an expert in American and Asian secessionist politics from Eastern Europe 🤔

Hi, it’s now 2024. To the best of my knowledge the independence movements of Puerto Rico and Hawaii are currently minimal (not non-existent, but even Texas has some weirdo secessionists). While the circumstances of those territories becoming a part of the US may be dicey, “our ancestors made a mistake” isn’t really a good reason to cut those places away entirely if modern-day people generally wish to keep the current arrangement.

Taiwan, on the other hand, generally wishes to remain independent from China. False equivalence.

Welcome to the Internet. You can swear here.

I live near Aurora. One of those city councilperson’s background is in owning a restaurant of all things. Totes an expert in international gang activity.

President Trump thanks you.