It's rare when you can point to exactly the indicator when a civilization has officially failed.

Amazing to have a PhD and somehow miss the last 300 or so years of history. This is not to say we need to be mindless cheerleaders of every new idea that corporations of Silicon Valley roll out, but geez, get some perspective before you start drafting Walden II.

This hasn't been remotely true since the 1970s. And Reaganomics supercharged the impossibility of this kind of life. I'm a little amazed at the economic illiteracy of someone working for 'The Finance Newsletter.com' Not great advertising.

kevinrkirk 2d @ Threads Why are we bothering with the Strait of Hormuz when we could simply do this? Explain it to me like l'm 5. (Drawing of chopping of part of land) suahuatica 2d MOUNTAIN HARD AND BIG, WATER NO UP. MANY MANY DIG DIG.

Happy Friday. Don’t skip school.

Shameless isn't even close to describing this shit.

I've always said no one hates Americans as much as Americans but it is nice to see polling back that up. There's way too much money and influence involved in dividing Americans in their regular media and social media to see that change. They want you to need to be armed to step outside your house.

Is the ghostly figure Tatyana? Whether yes or no, amazing art!

The use of WAR for politicians needs to be ended immediately. It's already been stretched, mangled and mis-applied to baseball players by casual adopters. Seeing it turned into a bad joke by pundits is even worse.

Also, if you're going to apply it, you need to define if it is bWAR or fWAR.

Because I was asked, the best outcome of the Texas Senate Primary for the Democrats is not the nominee (both are good candidates) but the fact that Paxton and Cornyn are going to a run off and it is unsure how the 13% of Hunt voters will split. Paxton would be by far the likelier candidate to beat.

Now, none of this says anything about who Crocket or Talarico are. It doesn't tell us anything about their policies really or who is the better person to have in Washington. All it does is inform which campaign was better on the ground and with voters eight months out. Let the process play out.

Primaries are the trial run for the general. That's the best place for anything embarrassing or divisive to emerge, because if a candidate can't survive it, you still have another viable candidate. If it happens in the general, you're waiting 2, 4 or 6 years for your next shot.

We know nothing about their abilities to GOTV as a candidate and as an organization and that is one of the most important qualities for a politician. You can have the best resume, the best policies, the best endorsements, but if you can't get people to the polls, you are not a good candidate.

For example, Maine is ground zero for this. If I was a primary voter there, I wouldn't cast a vote for Graham Platner for a number of reasons. But if he beats Mills, he's earned the nomination. And vice versa. The idea that either should just get out of the way isn't just dumb, it is dangerous.

This is why I look at the angst over primaries in other states on this platform to be silly at best and down right disingenuous at worst. The trotting out of the 'Beltway Bogeyman' from the DNC who has the thumb on the scales because of whatever globalist conspiracy du jour that's been cooked up.

What we do know is that Talarico had the ability to win the primary and Crockett didn't. Whether it is candidate quality, name recognition, GOTV, overall operational excellence in the campaign, or a mix of all, he was better. He proved that to the voters in Texas who he is asking to vote in Nov.

This is why it is so important to let primaries play out and not try and coronate one candidate on the basis of nebulous 'electability' concerns. First, voters typically hate handpicked candidates who run opposed. Second, it throws them right into the general warts and all, untested by an opponent.

Second, it showed two different campaign philosophies. Crockett focused on a rally the base style and Talarico's on capturing Independents while maintaining the base. His GOTV operation was clearly better and now has the advantage of being battled tested in real time.

So now that the Texas primary is over (for the Democrats) it is worth noting a couple of takeaways from that race. First and foremost, it wasn't particularly close. The fuck around with polling stations in Dallas cost Crockett some votes, but that was offset with 'ratfucking' votes in deep red areas

You can have my axe!

Wow. It can get worse.

Trump's attack on the ME has bailed Smith out of a budget crisis in Alberta. The jump in oil costs might allow her to narrow the deficit in significant ways which might empower the separatist movement there. It's amazing the stupidest and worst actions empower the stupidest and worst people.

It is amazing how quickly Jennings has beclowned himself into an irrelative mouthpiece for the right.

A good thread on how Alberta Quislings are both treasonous and morons.

Genetically modified tobacco plant produces cocaine in its leaves Researchers have reproduced the entire biochemical pathway for how coca plants make cocaine in another plant, which could help people manufacture the drug for scientific study

Oh yeah now we're talking

Definitely not for me. I was in my late thirties before I finally got to the point I could just stop reading a book I wasn't enjoying. While I also tend to have 3-4 books on the go at any given time and rarely related to each other, I know I'm going to finish them all under most circumstances.

Potentially. I mean, you can make a funnel out of a piece of leather or hide that works for both, but I think grain based agriculture slightly pre-dates brewing or viniculture, so I think it's more likely by a slim amount. Wouldn't be surprised if I was proved wrong though.

Willing to bet it was a farmer back in the earliest civilizations. Likely used a straw mat or something so they could pour grain faster into storage jars or containers. Eventually, someone made it a single implement as opposed to something that needed to be wrapped or folded into the shape.

JK Rowling. Only one I can think of that is of the same level.

Anchovies are one of those things that you get what you pay for. The cheap ones they toss on pizzas are just strips of fishy salt, but good quality anchovies are glorious; one of the best tapas dishes I ever had were lightly charcoal grilled white anchovy filets just mashed into fresh bread.

Classic El Paso box hard shell tacos.