Eh. The Gen Xers I know all admit they’d be fucked in today’s housing market if they didn’t already have theirs. The are generally very sympathetic and appreciate how lucky they are.

To modify this comic, they sit down for a show and are quickly horrified at the brutality of the spectacle.

1.5 - Everything is simultaneously awesome and unfair at the same time. I.E. childhood.

Rofl, victim complex much? “Punching down” like you’re some repressed minority for having shitty prioritization skills. Jfc

If it makes you feel any better, we’re all actually getting Australianized.

Rupert Murdoch is the cunt largely responsible for the polarizing propaganda passed off as “news” around the western world

Uh huh. So you do your “homework” and call out that Biden forced the workers to take 1 day of sick leave instead of the 7 that they wanted (at that stage in the negotiations).

I present evidence that it was downgraded from 7 to 1 in the Senate because Republicans rejected 7.

I then present evidence that Biden’s administration leaned on the railroad companies until they in fact gave the majority of railworkers 7 sick days. With quotes on the Union heads attributing those gains to the Biden administration.

And then suddenly 7 days isn’t good enough to call that a “win” in your opinion.

And I’m the hypocrite.

7 isn’t 15, which is what the workers were initially going to strike for (and deserved).

Have you ever heard of negotiating? You don’t start at the price you’d be happy with. The Unions have stated they’re happy with the result, why aren’t you?

You do understand that being honest about Biden’s fuck-ups now can’t do any more damage

What fuck up? Biden averted a major breakdown in supply chain, AND got the workers what they wanted. That’s a win, despite the repeated attempts at framing it as a failure.

And no, I’m not going to spend a day digging through your history. If you’re repeating this gross misrepresentation of facts now, chances are high that you have before.

Well, you failed your homework assignment, then.

Further down your own Wikipedia article

In February 2023, CSX announced a deal to provide four days of paid sick leave annually, plus the option of converting three personal days into additional paid sick time with two unions.

Citation from your own linked article

Which also clearly states that the original agreement that included 7 days was shot down by Republican senators, which is why the 1 sick day had to be the first iteration. And also includes details on how Biden’s administration continuing pressure on the railroad companies that led to 7 days paid sick leave for two unions 3 months later, and then ultimately yielded 7 sick days for the majority of railroad union workers by half a year later.

But yeah, keep intentionally misrepresenting recent history. It helped elect the guy who is so anti worker that he habitually stiffs his own workers of overtime, or refuses to pay them at all.

The “fight for $15” (minimum wage increase) has been going on for so long with zero [Federal] success that, due to inflation, it ought to be renamed “fight for $30” by now.

And the side that won has been fighting the minimum wage hike for “so long”. Who’s the enemy of the working class again?

The lip service given in supporting unions was belied by how Biden fucked over the railroad workers.

This is a lie that has been repeated time and time again. He fast followed the end of the strike with helping the workers get exactly what they wanted. He aided their negotiations AND got our supply lines back on line.

Inequality (the gap between the working class and the 1%) is continuing to spiral out of control and the Democrats had very little to say about stopping it. It’s important to remember that “tax the rich” was only supported by the progressive subset of the Democratic Party.

Again, which party is it giving the mega wealthy tax breaks? Who is appointing billionaires to run the government? Who controlled the House and prevented tax reform from going through?

We need zoning reform coupled with switching from property tax to land-value tax, to stop enabling the hoarding of underdeveloped property by protecting it from market forces (i.e. real reforms to make housing affordable again).

That is state level reform. Obviously.

We also need things like vigorous enforcement of anti-trust law and consumer protection laws, so that the public feels (and is) less exploited by corporations.

No argument there, but which party is constantly eroding our current regulations that protect consumers and workers?

Don’t feed the walrus

It seems likely to cause a rift though as they all fight to take the reigns. We saw in the primaries that no one was even up to the task for taking the reigns from an old criminal drowning in legal woes who attempted a violent coup, and also pissed off McConnell, the next most powerful republican.

I still don’t understand Trump’s “charisma”, but there’s no denying that it seems exclusively his. The other candidates tried saying the quiet parts out loud too, and didn’t manage to elicit any hint of fervor.

He may be a symptom, but a political defeat would stall their fascist movement. And only a Dem controlled house/senate/potus combined have much chance at stopping, or at least stalling, this freight train. And they may just eat each other if we can stall them long enough.

There’s miles of difference between the damage that corporate stooges do versus a literal fascist movement. If this were the 2000s, yeah, I’d be with you all the way, both sides pillaging our futures and all that.

But you’re focused on that asshole stealing your catalytic converter down the street, when you’re actively getting mugged and curb stomped, here and now.

There is a very real possibility of this country descending into fascist dictatorship, and/or huge loss of life from an ensuing Civil War.

Right now, the Dems are at least united like they haven’t been in recent memory because they finally understand what’s at stake. It is absolutely infuriating that you guys are still nitpicking over comparatively trivial stuff compared to cataclysm.

This isn’t hyperbole, this is literally what they have been repeatedly caught expressly trying to accomplish. Yes, it seems like it’s crazy to consider that they might actually achieve their goals. But with everything we know, Trump is still very likely to win this election thanks to people like you who can’t seem to prioritize the violent muggers trying to kill you, over the guy stealing your catalytic converter.

because fixing these underlying issues would upset the handful of billionaires that actually control our government

And how exactly are they supposed to do that without a super majority that is impossible with the population continuing to elect MAGA Republicans?

There is no bipartisan possibilities. No one from the right will step across the aisle to make constitutional amendments or impeach corrupt SCOTUS justices or fascist party members. And they’d need 1/3rd of them to do so for the authority to fix anything.

There is no moving on. Nothing can be fixed. Voters should have woken up after Jan 6th, but Republicans still gained seats in the mid term elections.

There is no legal path to fixing this, we can only do our best to bail water and keep them from sinking the ship.

He’s also a major problem. Both can be true

For the first half year, I had to escort my now-wife down my hallway with a broom or towel to fend of my cat who did not like sharing me.

And she had several cats of her own. When I warned her up front about my crazy cat, she was so cocky.

Also a very litigious society. Even if they mean well, going off the page and trying to figure out a “Haus” solution is just putting themselves at risk.

They have to check all the boxes for your insurance. They have to check all the boxes for their own malpractice insurance. Even if they followed procedure, they might get dragged through the legal system to defend themselves if a client feels wronged.

That turns you, the client, into a number in a dispassionated machine.

And I don’t have a solution to it.

Edit - that was a bit too bleak. There are a lot of doctors trying their best to retain humanity in a system aimed at destroying it. The whole med school journey is aimed at weeding the people out who are just in it for the money. It’s designed to gatekeep the industry to require a massive amount of passion to get your foot in the door. But the realities of the industry do their best to squash that.

I have black electrical tape over most led indicators. It’s stupid because now I can’t tell the battery charge on a lot of devices, but I hate the involuntary nightlights everywhere.

Yep, I agree. But Putin has held on this long while he has royally screwed the Russian economy, and exposed their bumbling military for what it is. The oligarchs would have ousted him already if it was easy.

If NATO invades, Russia is doomed. Putin doesn’t care that Russia would still exist after a NATO victory, all he cares about is himself and his legacy. Both of which would be destroyed in a NATO victory.

So he would launch the nukes and watch Russia get wiped off the map, because if he can’t have it, no one can. And at least he would go out with a bang, rather than suiciding in a bunker.

The oligarchs would not be able to prevent it. They might hold the political power, but the military order to launch the nukes comes directly from Putin. The best we could hope for is conscientious officers refusing the order.

Sounds like a Bengal to me!

When modding the syringe, I find it easiest to remove the plunger, and using a drill bit from the inside that is slightly smaller than this inside diameter of the syringe. 1/32" leaves enough of a lip to still stop the plunger in my experience, but YMMV depending on the plunger style.

We had a 5ml syringe with a fully plastic plunger (no rubber) that was amazing. Eventually lost it and haven’t been able to find a replacement yet, but rubber tipped plunger are fine too, just wear out faster.

Looks like a Bengal. I’m surprised he wasn’t snapped up.

BTW as an elder cat caretaker, if he stops eating hit meds willingly (which can easily happen if his condition flares up), we have had amazing success with cutting the tip off a syringe, loading it with canned food and front loading the tip with their pills.

When cutting the tip, leave a tiny bit of material so the plunger still stops, but not so much that the pill gets jammed.

3/4 of our cats actually open their mouths willingly to be pilled because they only taste the food, the pill is swallowed without them noticing.