There are 2 things.
Inflation.
Biden.
Correlation is not causation.

There are also only two things that can safely be done to combat inflation - raise interest rates (not Bidens job), and actually govern well, make sure public spending is going to the right places instead of fuelling the spiral. That is difficult to evaluate from a distance and at this time, but Biden still has a chance there. Unfortunately the results will only come in over a period of years if not decades. The good thing is that Biden is less ideologically bound than Trump. Trump just lowered taxes for rich people, that was his only economic plan.

Implying current inflation is Bidens fault is like blaming covid on Trump. Its the covid response that can be pinned on Trump based on numbers we have now, after the fact.

How Bidens administration does when challenged will be evaluated in a couple of years time. I am curious why the fed is reluctant to raise the rate at the moment.

Just dont blame the mountain rescuers for the avalanche.

Unless they have intent to use them, or have knowledge that that’s what they’re made for, no? That’s what it says in the law, isn’t it?

“ Every person having upon him or her in his or her possession a picklock, crow, keybit, crowbar, screwdriver, vise grip pliers, water-pump pliers, slidehammer, slim jim, tension bar, lock pick gun, tubular lock pick, bump key, floor-safe door puller, master key, ceramic or porcelain spark plug chips or pieces, or other instrument or tool with intent feloniously to break or enter into any building, railroad car, aircraft, or vessel, trailer coach, or vehicle as defined in the Vehicle Code, or who shall knowingly make or alter, or shall attempt to make or alter, any key or other instrument named above so that the same will fit or open the lock of a building, railroad car, aircraft, vessel, trailer coach, or vehicle as defined in the Vehicle Code, without being requested to do so by some person having the right to open the same, or who shall make, alter, or repair any instrument or thing, knowing or having reason to believe that it is intended to be used in committing a misdemeanor or felony, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ”

I have this opinion, (that police (and some prosecutors) will ascribe intent to anyone in possession of any tools, even those with other uses, so they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for tools that are clearly purpose built breaking and entering tools having been advertised as such and with no other use,) because I watched a friend be arrested in the 80’s for having a screwdriver and pliers in their backpack that the police called “burglary tools”. He did not have a history of burglary. The case was dropped when they instead charged him with <.5 grams of marijuana for some crumbs found loose in the bottom in his backpack and sent him juvie for 6 months. (I think he was on probation, I know the police wanted to charge him with anything….and did.). I was accused of having lockpicks once because I had picked up a few metal brush bits from a street sweeper in a parking lot and police saw me pick them up, arrested, then released me on site when the supervisor showed up and heard their story.

I think the last sentence of that paragraph puts him in danger, since he clearly has reason to believe at least some of the burglary tools he sells to the public are going to be used criminally.

I don’t want to see you give someone advice that could get them in serious trouble, I know you would feel terrible. You might be correct, technically without intent to commit a crime they’re legal to own, but in reality police and prosecutors decide your intent and I don’t trust them one whit.

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No problem whatsoever with waivers. Are you worried that too many brain dead slugs will Darwin themselves? Why? Do you foresee some future shortage of morons?
The problem is trying to make everything safe for morons….how are we supposed to cull them if you remove ALL evolutionary pressures.
Idiocracy was a documentary from the near future.

Besides, if they’re dumb enough for all that, they’re dumb enough to know that if they can’t see the danger, the danger can’t see them, so just walk the cliff edge with your towel wrapped around your head, for safety.

If I want to risk my life climbing an active rock slide, that should be my and the recovery team my estate hires’s business. The idea that suicide is against the law is moronic to me….the only crime that is prosecuted only against those who fail at committing it. Suicide by overt stupidity or intentional high risk lifestyles not only doesn’t bother me, I fully support it as long as it doesn’t involuntarily endanger others.

BTW, the skier death doesn’t sound sad one bit to me, she died doing what she loved, and part of that love was undoubtedly of the danger level of skiing out of bounds, the rush of skiing with a 1000ft drop as the punishment for crashing (or stepping too far). I would think she probably really enjoyed 99% of her last day. Definitely the kind of horrific, quick death I hope for. Way better than prolonged disease or decline.

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Can we not try to make EVERYTHING “safe” please!?

I would bet half the climbers went for the risk and danger. There are plenty of hikes that are safe…if people want a safe climb, go to one.

Rate the daily danger level, sure, and allow adults to choose their acceptable risk level. Inform visitors that rescue workers will not put themselves in danger to save you, and even list the average cost of a rescue/recovery that you will be billed for. Require liability waivers.

Don’t lowest common denominator nature, you will fail even if you succeed.

Yeah, if each ball is ~$0.33 and that reservoir needed 96 million, would have cost them $32M. (they say they last about 10 years and can recover some of cost via recycling, but also it saved them a lot of money on chlorine, because less of it was needed to keep algae down).
So, even if they need fewer balls and they last 20 years at the copper mine, I highly doubt it costs them $1M a year in staff+drones+bullets.

But I bet there's other materials that are cheaper that aren't food-safe like they need for drinking water reservoirs... another re-use for floating-ocean-trash? In that case they could actually charge by the ton like other waste-management companies.

There’s this thing about bribing people that I think you’re well aware of….they don’t stay bought. Just look at Trump. He and his family personally took tens-hundreds of millions from China, talked them up for years, then turned on them when his trade talks failed.
For Biden to be under their control, he would have to be fed a constant stream of illicit money….like the Trumps all were. There is absolutely zero evidence Biden has taken a dime from the Chinese, unlike every single Trump that were all bribed publicly with millions in “gifts” from the Chinese government.

Trump didn’t nod, he outright told China they could expand in every direction, and they did under Trump….not under Biden.

Worse for the anti democracy, domestic terrorist crowd, that’s a good thing for Americans, Bobski.

Not one of those things is worse under Biden.
Inflation, happened under Trump.
Backed up ports, a red herring, Oakland port has no backup at all and is asking those stuck in LA to go there. The backup is planned. The appearance of shortages lead to rushes on goods….it’s marketing, not logistics.
Green energy is cheaper, cleaner, and a path to PERMANENT energy independence…something we absolutely did not have under Trump, we imported SO much oil, and spilled plenty.
Cost me an extra $.50- $.75 to fill my car, which happens EVERY SINGLE SUMMER Bob. Last year it didn’t because no one could go anywhere thanks to moronic Covid response that made us the absolute worst per capita for developed nations….Australian territories only closed for 8 days and had 0 deaths….did you know that Bob? They had leadership from adults, not denial from an infant.
Not higher food prices here, must be a you thing….or maybe a failed red state problem.
Empty shelves. Now I know it’s a red state thing….you’re on the east coast, so you can’t blame it on the fake shipping backup….what happened to NC that it’s fallen to shit? You know the second major factor in the shipping issues in LA are due to a much better economy and more people buying goods than last year, don’t you?
Also, do you even remember last year? Probably not. Those were empty shelves, Bob. Shortages on EVERYTHING from cars to meat to TP, even water. Literally empty shelves, not just in your fantasy world.

California has none of your problems, sounds like a red state leadership issue.

Know what else we've lost? Pandemic misinformation that's led to over 1/2 million dead Americans that need not have died and untold trillions in economic losses that need not have happened. That alone vastly outweighs every whine you've cried even if they were real and Biden's fault....which they aren't.



Let’s go Brendon….you really are proud of that cowardly whining aren’t you. You don’t even have the balls to say fuck you Biden, which we all know is what you’re saying. Sad little coward, throwing tantrums like a two year old. Nothing ever changes with you. 4 year olds have more honesty and spine than your entire failing political party combined. Cowards.


Republicans do not want Democrats to succeed, they want them expelled, or burned to death, or shot en masse. You’re such a bare faced liar and coward. You want enforced mask and vaccine mandates, free school lunches, and access to legal safe abortions? No? Then you don’t want everyone to succeed.

My portfolio has gone up more under Biden in 6 months than it lost under 4 years of Trump. He made the nation a constant victim, Biden rescued us from an abusive brain damaged parent….the kind you like. The kind I fear you likely are.

Looking up at speed, especially if there was a curve could derail the train. That train was at speed and even if the engineer locked it up it would have been the same result. Another reason why the brakes might not be engaged is that the engineer ducked down into a part of his cab that is a bit more safe... remember those guys take the brunt of these types of collisions sometimes. I really feel for the poor truck driver... he sounds like his livelihood just vanished and he is realizing it.

Howdy - I don't know if "addressed" is the right word. Commented on, but not given sufficient perspective. Having said that, the problem is incredibly complex, so there should be no expectation that Mr. Oliver's video or any other single thesis on the topic could possibly suffice.

Your "one chemical bond difference" is an appropriate consideration, but with recognition that once we reach on the order of C20-C40 length dispersable or emulsifiable molecules as surfactants / surface energy modifiers, the insoluble polymers come into play, with not 30'ish bonds growing one at a time, but leaping to 20,000 or more. No doubt the pool has already been irreversibly pissed into by the irresponsible producers that convert small molecules into very, very large ones, but with some control, responsibility, and integrity in our industrial process owners (yes, hell just froze over) there is no reason why we could not safely continue to produce the polymeric forms of PFAS. We do so for substantially more toxic chemical conversion processes today.

It's interesting to note the (usual) examples brought forward by others in this post (Teflon cookware), just waiting for someone to mention Gore-Tex, but by far the biggest impact won't be on consumer goods that we all touch regularly and recognize the name brands of, but will be on the industrial / commercial uses of these polymeric families that are pervasive in the systems / processes that we all derive benefit from every day. Ironies exist, that perhaps confuse the "all PFAS are bad" premise ... consider - effectively every seal, gasket and control valve in a water purification plant is most commonly made of a PFAS polymeric compound, PTFE included, all tested to rigorous specifications and compliance by specific agencies that do nothing other than deal with potable water (thankfully not the EPA - it's National Sanitation Foundation (the other NSF), or Water Research Advisory Scheme (WRAS) in the UK etc.) .

So my contention and the view of many in the end user community is that it's not the final form of some of these compounds that are bad, it's the horrendous messes we leave producing them. We can't unwind our Clock of Dumb, but killing the entire crop just to get rid of the long ago seeded weeds doesn't solve the actual problem, it makes it much, much larger.

Thanks for your comments.

To be fair, most of your complaints were addressed in the piece.

For instance, medical implants, fairly stable, yes, but not in extreme heat like cremation, so as used they’re toxic to the environment despite being considered stable and inert.

The reason to ban them all was also explained, banning one toxic substance at a time means one chemical bond difference and the company can go ahead with Cancer causer 2.0 for a decade until it’s banned for being toxic, and then repeat. It’s how they’ve operated for decades.

I’m fine with outlawing the entire class and putting the onus on the chemical companies to prove any new variants are safe instead of forcing the hamstrung epa to prove they’re unsafe. I also think any company that dumped it into waterways should be instantly and completely forfeited to pay for cleanup. No company has the funds to pay for cleanup, but their assets are at least a start.

Right after Jackass came out, a couple of friends-of-a-friend decided to stage their own version of the movie -- with a hornet's nest. They found the thing hanging from a tree at the edge of a field and it was not remotely on the small size. Also, this was in late August and the queen had already flown away, leaving the drones to slowly starve to death. Thus, the enormous number of stripey-stripey sting-stings were already good 'n' pissed-off.

They were about to get moreso.

So chowderhead A and chowderhead B have a brilliant plan: they're going to shoot this enormous ball full of astoundingly-irate murderous insects with a shotgun while they're filming it. If you're hearing banjos playing and luke-warm cheap beers being cracked open, you're about in the right frame of mind.

Places, everybody!

The stage is set: on one end, at what's decided to be "minimum safe distance", are our erstwhile David Attenborough/Jonny Knoxville knock-offs. At a decidedly NOT minimum safe distance away is the arthropod version of the T'sar Bomba. All we're missing now is a Mossberg, enough idiocy to think this can end any way but badly, and a camera. With far too much alacrity for what's about to happen, all three are provided.

Aaaaaand, ACTION!

* BOOOM! *

At first, surprisingly, nothing happens. This period of stasis lasts roughly a picosecond. Then, unsurprisingly, things start to happen and they happen far more quickly than the Chuckle Brothers planned on. This plays out in three acts:

Act 1: "Hey, uh, why is the nest still there?"
Act 2: "Uh-oh..."
Act 3: "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!"

Hubris takes many forms, and schadenfreude takes twice as many, but both combined were statistically zero compared to the number of hornets involved in this fiasco. Had the two Mensa escapees who irked said hornets thought this thing through -- stop laughing -- perhaps they would have arrived at the conclusion that 1. a shotgun slug is not the preferred load-out when dealing with a ball made out of wasp puke and 2. being the only two things visible within a 20 mile radius of the ball made out of wasp puke pretty much negates the mystery of who the hornets are going to sting the ever-loving fuck out of.

With their plans in ruins and the nest not, our heroes decide to quit the field. This is the first smart thing they've done since looking at that big ball of wasps and deciding it was redolent with untapped hilarity. The hornets are having none of this white flag nonsense, however, and they decide to quit screwing around and really inflict some pain. It's a quarter mile back to the car and the hornets are going to make them pay for every inch of it.

The final score:
Hornet losses: meh, they were all going to die in a few weeks anyway.
The chucklenuts: 23 stings, a dropped shotgun, and three minutes of footage that they took in the pre-YouTube era and thus is lost to time.

Moral:
Hornets are not toys.

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Being against the vaccine?

At ░5░9░ you should remember the AIDS epidemic?

Think about how people were worried about it? How they had to learn about it? That it was, for a while, a real fear amongst the unknowing? But after a while, most people understood the risk. After all that, shouldn't you've learned?

When those nurses came back from Africa, caring for Ebola victims, then they got treatment also - which group was most vocal? The changes of them contracting it were even more remote than AIDS!

Being ░5░9░ , should remember living under the threats of Herpes, Hepatitis, AIDS, West Nile, Lyme, Ebola, Hunta...all those viruses...having to learn the what it is, what it does, how it's caught, and the risks of ignoring sound medical advice - why has it changed?

Remember seat belts and helmet laws? Child seats? Live with it and had no choice about it. Those help keep people alive.

Why is having a SAFE - EFFECTIVE - and F R E E vaccine such a misery?