I have never been to Osaka, and I have never eaten fugu, but for whatever reason, the only thing I want is for that giant paper fish to go back to its home. I hope the bathhouse can get it.

Interesting take. I haven’t spent enough time in LA to really make a comparison (lots of time in Dallas; sitting there right now), but I will say it would’ve been nice if someone had thought to install an ocean on one side of Dallas. Or any nice, useful body of water (not a lake person).

I suspect he was talking about the presidential race...

The sprawl is a big part of why Houston floods so much. They paved over a lot of water-absorbing grasslands without adequately planning for all the water they would have to redirect.

artistic drive, and the waxing and waning of same.

Gatekeeping is only bad when people you don’t like do it. Actually when it comes to The Root, just leave that first word blank. Their motto seems to be “_______: it’s only bad when someone else does it”.

True enough. Normally king and cal king mattresses take two part bases/box springs/foundations for that reason. The mattress itself is less of a problem since they bend, but they can still be really damn heavy.

Two twin XL mattresses together make a split king, which definitely is something some people like. As you say it let’s you have different firmnesses, and it allows independent operation of adjustable bases. It also gives you the flexibility to split them if you need/want that for whatever reason.

Something I miss that we used to have in America was civil debate. Some dude could believe the craziest stuff in the world and I could talk to him and not believe any thing he said, but enjoy talking to him anyway. He could try to convince me of his beliefs, I could try to convince him and we woulds till get along…

re: artistic drive, and the waxing and waning of same.
Yup.
Annie Dillard described that urge as being like a well, that there was no point in saving creativity up, that it’s better to spend it all, as long as you can, to keep at making and doing.
But.
Even using her own analogy, the well, must, as times, go through…

Telescopes are like boats that way. Got a 24' boat? You want a 26' boat. Then a 28' boat.

Cool pictures!

The leading cause of death is being born.

I have said of antivaxxers that “if it were just their children dying, we could point and laugh and say ‘fuck you, serves you right, harsh way to learn a lesson but nobody said life is Disney World.’ It’s the fact that they’re killing other people’s children that crosses the line to the point where if someone shot one…

A couple months ago, I read a report in the local paper about warnings from the local DoT that traffic crashes, with related injuries and deaths, were up on a rate basis. Basically, with fewer people crowding the roads, the ones who were out felt like they could get away with less-safe driving.

What kind of ACTUAL fucking dipshit ARE you. Are you the kind of dipshit who can’t read statistics? Or the kind that ignores the burgeoning body of evidence that this is an extremely complex virus that is leaving people with serious health problems for MONTHS after they’ve allegedly “recovered”? And that we still do…

Woops, I completely misread who you were directing your comment at, my bad!  I think the OP has since dismissed.

even if we assume minimal risk for young, healthy people, they may act as spreaders. whether or not the young, healthy people would be harmed, they’d be making things like basic errands or even accepting deliveries even more dangerous for higher-risk people.

Yeah, the first clue it’s misleading is that it’s being trotted out in service of an argument (“reopen everything!”) that people feel really motivated about. Always look extra hard at those, whether your gut reaction is to immediately agree or immediately disagree.

Every word of that is true. Far too many Americans are ignorant, motherfucking selfish assholes.