In their minds, every problem is caused by someone else, and they are never to blame, even if they wholeheartedly support those causing the problems, pass legislation to enable those to blame, and are integrally involved in causing the harm for which they later complain. It is cultural narcissism on a grand scale.

If you want to make it easy, just go to libgen.li, download the books without DRM and it’s off to the races…

I’m no expert, but I do know that dopamine, the reward neurotransmitter, can play a big role in psychological addiction, as opposed to physical addiction to the chemical itself. With respect to physical addiction, your body adapts to having the chemical and craves it, such that you get withdrawal if you cut it out. Some drugs, like cannabis, aren’t physically addictive, but are psychologically addictive. You don’t get physical withdrawal symptoms when you cut out the drug, but you do miss it and your mind refers back to it, which is what makes you want it. I’ve found that smoking weed is far more psychologically addictive than consuming THC gummies, because there is a strong link between the act, smoking, and the effect, getting high, because smoking puts the drug quickly into your bloodstream via your lungs. Conversely, it takes 30-45 minutes for edibles to kick in, so it weakens the link between the action, eating the edible, and the high, which doesn’t come for a while afterwards. Gambling, porn, etc., are psychological addictions that rely on the dopamine (reward) connection.

The lawsuit faulted Jacksonville Beach Police for hiring and putting O’Connell on a sensitive case despite his own legal history.

“O’Connell is an officer with a documented history of volatility and poor judgment, having previously been terminated from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office for threatening to ‘blow up’ the agency, later reinstated, then arrested for domestic battery before resigning under the weight of those charges,” the lawsuit said. “Jacksonville Beach PD hired him anyway, assigned him as lead investigator on a sensitive child-luring case, and later promoted him to corporal after his investigation resulted in the wrongful arrest and prosecution of an innocent man.”

So, a shit cop who has no business having a badge and a gun does a shit job. Who’d have figured? In my opinion, all settlements of claims against improper policing should come from police retirement funds, not public funds. Put the liability on those capable of making the changes necessary to correct the situation.

Nuclear weapons were the holy grail of warfare, a game changer. AI is viewed by some as a similarly revolutionary, powerful tool.

New Zealand

You need to recast that. They broke your will to live in the U.S… There are still some nice places in the world.

Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners including the UK, the EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy.

The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US to respect the tariff deal it entered into last July and arguing that stealth tariffs breached the spirit of that agreement."

This is just one more reason why the U.S. has zero credibility. Who would bother entering into a trade agreement when the other side won’t honor it?

“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said in response to questions at a House hearing on the Justice Department budget.

“Not moving forward, ever?” asked Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.

“Correct,” Blanche answered.

Bullshit. All this means is that it is too politically volatile to take up in advance of the midterms. Make no mistake, this isn’t dead. The settlement agreement is still there, and as soon as it is politically feasible, they’ll say that their concerns have been addressed and pass it.

It’ll be interesting to see how this Alliance of Idiots plays out. Trump is now finally starting to regret the quagmire he bumbled the U.S. into by being Israel’s bitch, as it carries the potential to bring his regime down around him. He’s desperately trying to eke out a “win” and end the blockade with some sort of peace plan that is being negotiated with Iran in the strongest position it’s ever been in, while Israel is fucking it up because they don’t give a shit. Sooner or later, Netanyhahu is going to experience Trump fucking him over, because it is what Trump eventually does to everyone who engages with him.

“You were just a conservative. There was no thought behind it. You listen to Fox News, and you listen to conservative outlets, and you’re spoon-fed,” Chrissey said.

My god, the clarity! Sadly, the people able to see it and recognize their error is vanishingly small. Most just seem to double down on their error and make excuses to justify their position.

The exodus from the dollar is already well underway. There is a reason gold has been on an epic bull run, as central banks have largely been the driver. Gold holdings now exceed U.S. bond holdings by foreign central banks. Moreover, the U.S. insolvency is already barrelling down the tracks at us. I think there is a high probability that the shit hits the fan in the fall. We’re living in interesting times…

I guarantee 100% that Trump & Co. will do everything within their power, including things that are illegal, to lower rates. While Trump appointees are only 3 of 7 Fed governors while Powell remains as a governor, I believe Powell is holding that position to try to negotiate an exit that doesn’t leave him facing retribution, and that he’ll step away from this train wreck when he has sufficient confidence this is the case. However, if he doesn’t strike a deal, Trump will absolutely fire him, or worse, fire up his brownshirts with some stochastic terrorism.

It’s a valuable part of the education…

Just think about how they will manipulate the public as their AI influencer bots become more realistic. It’s a limitless propaganda army. The people around you shape your views and habits, and Meta is making every effort possible to control public discourse. This will not end well.

It’s literally a pillage of the treasury. The U.S. is done.

Castel also noted that government lawyers recently reversed their position, saying they’ve learned that 2025 policies regarding arrests in and around courthouses set by the Trump administration did not apply to immigration courts after all.

The judge, who last year had declined to ban the practice, said the new position by government lawyers meant it was necessary to “correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice.”

So, last year the issue came up, the government represented to the court one set of facts, which resulted in a ruling in favor of the government. Now, a year later, the government concedes that their initial position was wrong (presumably because their bullshit is no longer tenable), which obviously caused a “manifest injustice”, and the court reverses it’s position. However, there is no discussion of sanctions or any consequences whatsoever for the prior misrepresentation. I’m an attorney, and having dealt with mischief many times from opposing counsel, in my opinion the biggest problem with our legal system is that it relies on the participants to act in good faith. When they don’t, there are few consequences, so bad actors gain an advantage from bad conduct, which provides incentive to continue the conduct and undermine justice.

Well, did they accept the kidnapping of their president? Unfortunately, I don’t think this fascist administration gives a shit about how they feel about it, and will do whatever it wants.

I’ll add that while your analogy clearly makes the point, as a practical matter there are plenty of women out there that happily fulfill the mistress role that do not aspire to wifehood.

Yes, and Trump is always straightforward and honest.

Puerto Rico’s representatives are non-voting and have very limited impact on legislation. They could have 100 Congressmen and still have zero votes.