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Joined 3 months ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2024

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  • Seriously!? A Cinderella team spends a full year working their way to the sweet 16 and perhaps eventually the final four? Then loses by one point. Do you not see the struggle, the passion, the determination and the heartbreak in that?

    Or a champion tennis player, significantly past her prime, coming back to championship after multiple years out and winning the title.

    Or two soccer superstars at the absolute peak of their field going head to head. Can you not sense the tension, and suspense as these two juggernauts battle it out to see who comes out on top?

    Or a man, born without arms, overcoming adversity at all points in his life to become the fastest swimmer and winning the gold.

    Do you not see how sport can be an allegory for the human condition? The struggle, the heartbreak that comes with failure, the celebration of success, the toll of aging.

    If not, I challenge you to take up a sport for a year, just a year. Try to get as good as you can with it. Celebrate your successes. Reflect on your failures. Document your milestones as you progress . Try not to give up. Make friends along the way. Become the true definition of an amateur. Living through your own experiences, you may discover that sport is full of emotion.



  • I feel like we’re starting to paint fascism with too broad a brush.

    The US has been and continues to be one of the most diverse countries in the world. Name another country where the majority race is 60% or less and the largest ethnicity is below 20%? The closest one I can think of is South Africa, but other examples are few and far between.

    So if not by race and ethnicity, then how else could we measure how fascist the US is? Perhaps by nationalism. Well, while most Americans are patriotic, most also believe that nationalism is a serious threat to America - from Statista. Wouldn’t we need the majority to at least believe that nationalism wasn’t a threat to America in order for it to be a “fascist country?”

    I’m all for looking at ways to improve things around here, but I am not for the extreme viewpoints from both sides of the aisle as of late. We don’t need to pigeonhole everyone to effect change. To the contrary, we’d get a lot more done for the American people if we teamed up against those who stand to gain from the gridlock.




  • I visited Panama for an agricultural trip about a decade ago where we focused on coffee agriculture and production. Coincidentally, there are some coffees that blend in beans or peanuts to mellow the flavor. This is usually done for cheaper coffees that use robusto beans instead of arabica. It’s also to relieve some of the acrid taste that can develop during the drying out process if the beans are dried around animal droppings.

    If you’re interested in what a mellowed coffee would taste like, I think chock full of nuts is a brand you can try in the states.

    Edit: ok so I did some more research and it appears that chock full o nuts likely no longer does this, they just have typical coffee nowadays. I’ll leave it to you other internet sleuths to find a brand that does.




  • Right? Why do civilizations fight wars anyway? If not flat out colonialism and dick measuring, then It’s usually for resources, maybe protection for cultural exclaves if it serves the nation’s geopolitical interest.

    All that is to say, Russians are not Chinese. And I don’t think many Eastern Russians would welcome the switch. So, China would be instigating a lot of strife for minimal gains.

    Taiwan on the other hand, I can at least understand. I don’t agree with the stance, not in the least, primarily because I believe democracy is superior to communism. Nevertheless, if I had my adversaries 100 miles off my border and their existence hampered me economically and militarily, then I absolutely would subjugate them in any way possible.



  • Ok, so I am all about working to resolve climate change, very active in the movement even.

    But gosh golly gee, can we talk about that particular websites UI for a moment? I do not need a roll ad every 3 seconds. And I really do not need to know that one weird trick on how to get rats to like me.

    Again, all for the climate. I’m saying this as I just walked 45 minutes to go grab my lunch. Totally on board with more buses and trains. Big advocate of a Citizens Climate Lobby. Doing my part, hope you do too.

    Keep the rats the f away from me!





  • There are some alternatives to cheese that are pretty good. I’m an omnivore but my wife has convinced me that there are some good vegetarian options out there. Might be worth exploring if the low-fat cheese isn’t palatable.

    • Cashew cream on enchiladas is fantastic
    • the fake shredded cheese made out of almond isn’t so bad. We use it on salads, chili, etc. It’s expensive though.
    • TVP gives things that umami flavor, good in chili, but it more so acts like ground beef. Don’t put too much in.
    • Blended tofu with nutritional yeast acts as a very good ricotta substitute (coincidentally tofu also makes for a very good chocolate pie)

    With this, and trimming down my meat consumption to just a few times a week, as well as a little exercise, I’ve kept my LDL numbers below my late 20s highs, which were borderline - I’m nearing two decades older now.