QAnon people would go absolutely rabid conspiracy minded.

I don’t know if it would work in Canada, but I just buy a Visa gift card and use that.

Trump may be unable to end the war he started with Iran, even if he wanted to

Yeah, we know. It’s one of the (many) reasons we didn’t want this.

Microsoft, Google, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia, and Oracle’s offices and cloud infrastructure in Israel and some Gulf countries as the new targets.

Because it’s a warning shot. They don’t want to immediately target the US government, large financial or tech companies, or infrastructure - they may attack those later, but not at the start. It’s too quick an escalation.

If and when they do attack the US government sites, expect it to be a “less consequential” agency - Health and Human Services or something. If they have a way into the Pentagon, Department of Energy, or other high-value targets (for them), then the information they can get from those targets is way more valuable than attacking them and losing that access.

he goes on about how people speak English in America and in Germany and Norway, they speak other languages

They do speak other languages. However, 88% of Norwegians seem to be fluent in English. The percentage is less in Germany, I think about 25%, but that’s still enough people that you could get by, particularly in the tourist areas.

Initial thoughts, which shouldn’t cost much if any money:

Check your hard drive: how full is it? Clear out caches and programs you never use. Maybe run a check for bad sectors. Way back in the day, I’d suggest defragging the drive, lol.

Update your definitions and run a virus check on your laptop: you may have picked up a virus or PUP that’s slowing you down.

Take a look at Task Manager at various times: are you close to maxing out RAM, processor, or disk cache? Figure out if there are processes running that you can kill.

Go through everything that’s set up for Quick Start and set it to non-Quick Start if you’re not using it regularly. [I just set everything to non-Quick Start.]

If your browser supports it, install Ublock Origin. If you can do it, install a pi-hole.

While you’re at it, check your router. This is a laptop, so I’m assuming it’s not wired to the internet, but if it is, try switching out the wire in case it’s worn. Check the cables between the router and the wall while you’re at it.

Unplug your router for at least a minute, then start it up again.

Are you running a lot of different devices that may be interfering with your connection, or running against potential high-bandwidth applications (streaming, livestreaming, torrenting)?

Is this problem specific to one or more areas? It’s possible that you’re too far from the router or there are things obstructing the signal.

Are there times that you get better speed (either times of day or times of the month)? Your ISP may be congested or they may be throttling your connection.

Did you leave your wifi open and other people are piggybacking off it? Is it running recent firmware?

Consider contacting your ISP and asking them to run a line test to see if there are issues external to your home. (Be prepared for them to try to upsell you.)

Switch to a lightweight browser like Firefox, Vivaldi, or Cromite.

Things that you can do that will cost money: increase the memory in your laptop (you have 4gb, it can take up to 12gb). If it’s not already on an SSD, switch to an SSD.

What I miss most are the (physically) local communities. On reddit, there was a subreddit for my general locality, and the nearby big city, and several subreddits on different aspects of life (the music scene, the food scene, etc). I miss that - randomly finding an event or something interesting simply because I came across a random post.

I know it’s a function of the fact that it’s still (comparatively) early days, but I do miss it.

It must be scary, living in a world where you’re constantly confronted by the fact that people exist who are “not like you”.

… I think I shall start disregarding you, disregardable. Goodbye.

Might’ve only had to be on the registry for a few years?

Anyway, here: https://web.archive.org/web/20050706062151/http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-molest01.html

We should pretty much assume that all age verification efforts either currently are feeding into surveillance efforts, or will be bought out by surveillance companies.

The guy before me said what she did “was pretty fucked up”; I’m saying there are multiple sides to this story, and we know pretty much none of them. I’m saying that she stayed with him for 20+ years and there’s must’ve been a reason she left when she did.

Back in 2001? I lived in semi-rural Maryland and our grocery stores were open till 10, or midnight if you wanted to drive to the nearest “big town”, and there was a 24-hour Walmart about 45 minutes away. I can’t speak to Kmart - there wasn’t one in my area - but I wouldn’t be surprised if her stores stayed open later as well.

Edit: also, regardless of normal store hours, this was a couple weeks before Christmas, so extended hours could definitely be in play.

I’m wondering what the husband was like.

[some brain-damaged speaker for the Kennedy Center said] “The Democrats have been calling artists urging them to cancel and attacking the Center non-stop.”

Uhh, no, we haven’t.

[And also added] “Commonsense Democrats must speak up before this violence takes a life.”

Someone needs to send them that analysis of where almost all the political violence in the US originates from.

first reported by Fox News

Of course it was …

The USPP Major Crimes Unit is reviewing security footage and investigating

Does the Major Crimes Unit not have, y’know, some actual major crimes to investigate?

It’s not all the tariffs, just the ones he justified using the 1977 Emergency Act. So of course, now he’ll use another justification, and it’ll take SC®OTUS another year to rule on those.

Oh! I had a local mushroom CSA once - it was so good, but I just couldn’t keep up with the mushrooms! I’ve opted into their holiday shares instead :)

We also had a place called Lost Bread Company. They bought a small mill and then were like, “Well, what do we do with this?!” They eventually built up a network of people who were growing various “older” grains on hobby farms or odd bits of land - grains that just aren’t in everyday use these days like spelt, emmer, etc - and they ground their grain for them. But then they were like, “Wait, what do we do with the grain?!” So they started a bakery - and a CSA.

Every month, you got a box focused on the grain of the month. There was a little booklet going over the history of the grain, it’s various traits and uses, and then several tested recipes for what you could do with the grain in it’s various forms. The box would also contain the grain in it’s flour form, the grain in it’s whole-grain or partially hulled form if appropriate (so you might get rolled oats or wheatberries or something), a range of baked goods made from the grain, and usually something else associated with the grain - you might get buckwheat honey, for example, or a small decorative sheaf in October or November. It was a really cool concept, and I really enjoyed it. They eventually backed off the CSA - it was too much work for them - and focused on their hobby mill and bakery. They make these absolutely killer pretzel shortbreads …

They can be expensive, yeah. I’m currently paying $400 for a ten-week share, which used to make me wince when I wrote out the check - $40 a week for veggies? What was I thinking?! And then I put it into context. The food in those boxes filled 80% of my veggie needs for the entire year, plus most of the herbs I use. 80% of a 52-week year is a bit over 41 weeks - and ten dollars a week for a bunch of incredibly fresh produce is a bargain.

One thing I’d suggest, for people who might be interested in CSAs but can’t afford them is to check with all your local CSA farms, as some farms have other options available. Some farms offer work-shares: you agree to work for the farm (it’s usually about 4 hours a week), and you get a free share. Another farm I belonged to offered a distribution-share: a small truck would drop off shares for local people at your place - in front of your garage, or on your porch, or some other agreeable location - and over the next few hours people would come by to pick up their shares. In exchange for hosting the boxes, you got a free share for your family. There are miscellaneous variations on this, and they’re generally offered only by a minority of farms, but they are out there.

You have cool parents null

I’ve belonged to a few different ones (moved a couple times, one wasn’t a great fit, and one farmer retired during the pandemic), and there’s always something new. Not just heirloom tomatoes and different types of hot peppers, but odd varieties of herbs (lemon basil is fantastic!), odd fruits like paw paws, ground cherries and incredibly fresh Asian pears, weird upscale vegetables that you usually only get at higher priced restaurants and groceries, etc.

Between my boxed farm share and the pick your own extras that come with it, it’s probably about 80% of my veggies for the entire year.