Use a computer that you bought off the shelf at a big box store. Don’t add any hardware, software, fonts, or change any settings. Use MS Edge with no extensions, and clear your cookies and cache after each session.

That will make you about as generic as possible.

Focal length makes a real difference. Cell phone cameras have a really hard time with that; that’s why photos from a selfie stick look better than just holding the camera, even at arms length.

After not being able to find a job with a 401(k), and knowing that the incoming administration is gonna gut social security… Yup.

Just want to point out the irony that the same people saying that Jordan Neely was not a threat are quite often in the same camp of people saying that it’s fair game to shoot men that say, “you body, my choice” because that’s a credible threat of sexual violence.

They do, and you don’t need to be a member to use their pharmacy. You also don’t need to be a member to see the optician that they usually have there, and in at least some states, if they sell liquor, you don’t need to be a member to buy liquor.

Oh, I wouldn’t use them to buy medication. I’m just using them to check the retail prices.

I know that their Costco prices aren’t correct though; if you’re a member and paying out of pocket, Costco will enroll you in a prescription savings plan.

$800 out of pocket for a three month supply

My brother in Christ, where the FUCK are you buying your testosterone that it’s $270/mo. without insurance? When I look on GoodRX right now, the average price for a 10ml vial of 200mg/ml testosterone cypionate is about $50. Assuming that you need about 200mg EW, that’s a 2.5 month supply right there. Even if you follow the recommended guidelines and discard the unused contents of the vial at the end of every month and buy a new vial, that’s $150 for a full three months.

Heretic. In theaters, I think opening weekend.

It was, BTW, absolutely fantastic. They absolutely nailed Mormon doctrine and dogma, as well as the practices of missionaries. I highly recommend it.

So that they can process forms 1 and forms 4 faster, right? Because everything is electronic now, and there’s no reason that it should take between a month and a year and a half to process the paperwork for getting a short barrel rifle or a silencer.

It’s been years since I had glög; I should make that again since it’s starting to get chilly.

Unfortunately, part of living in the US is that most people aren’t exposed to other languages to any significant degree. If you are a native American English speaker, and grow up in a large city, you might hear enough Spanish to learn it, but that’s about it. I learned Spanish in school, but there was no opportunity to practice until I moved to a large city close to the Mexican border.

I watch one season of some show in a language I don’t understand

I wish my brain worked that way; I’d be watching Finnish television and movies all day, every day.

I watch a fair number of shows in Swedish or Norwegian, and I’ve never picked up anything from what they’re saying. I always have to have subtitles.

You should try looking up at the stars with night vision some day. It’s spectacular.

…Or so I’ve heard. I’m one of the poors that can’t afford unfilmed gen III white phosphor tubes.

The gun charge was a sham. Yes, lying on form 4473 (firearm transaction record) is a federal crime. It’s also one that has historically never been prosecuted on it’s own; it’s always used as part of another prosecution, such as bank robbery, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and so on. You can count the number of times where that’s been prosecuted on it’s own on the fingers of one hand, in part because it really doesn’t come to light unless you’re caught committing another crime while also possessing a firearm that you can’t legally have. The justice dept. was originally going to drop that charge altogether, until pressure was applied from the political right. (Also, maybe don’t write a memoir where you admit to crimes, unless you’re past the statute of limitation on those crimes.)

The tax charges were pretty legit though. Depending on sentencing guidelines–which are quite complicated–the odds are pretty good that he would have ended up with large fines and penalties, in addition to having to pay the back taxes with interest that he owed.

Oh, absolutely. Electrocution is very low on my list of ways to kill myself. Nitrogen asphyxiation is definitely number one, hemlock tea is number two (both water hemlock and poison hemlock are fairly common in the US). Electrocution is probably slightly above hanging, but just below standing in front of an express train.

If you really want to electrocute yourself, pop the cover off your breaker panel, and grab the main line coming in to the breaker box. Home service is 200A in most cases, and the individual circuits are going to be less than that before the breaker pops. 200A at 240v (I think?) without a breaker or fuse to blow is more than enough to electrocute you.

A lot of people voted based purely on their economic feelz; they think that they’re struggling economically, and so they voted for a person that took over from Obama. (…After Obama had presided over rebuilding the economy that crashed under Dubya.) If Trump goes through with his tariffs and deportation schemes, then we’re going to have record inflation, and everything is going to get so much more expensive. In 2026, will these same people be looking at 2021-2025 and be saying, wow, I was doing so much better then, I should vote for someone that isn’t a Republican this time? Or will they think that maybe we need more of the same?

It’s not that any one person can gridlock Congress, but that the more people you have, the more difficult it is to get enough of them pointing in the same direction to get anything accomplished.

It isn’t legal to own hand grenades in the US

Not correct. It’s an ‘other destructive device’, and is covered under the National Firearms Act of 1934. Each one would require completing a transfer form, waiting for approval from the ATF, and cost $200 for the tax stamp. …And would then be usable exactly once.

You might be able to manufacture a grenade with an ATF Form 1 approval, but I’m not positive. And, again, it’s a single-use item that requires a $200 tax stamp.

How have you forgotten Remedy, with Alan Wake, Control, and Quantum Break?

I feel like Finland might be where I belong. If only I could realistically learn Suomi…

Lots of weirdly emo ballads, TBH. The metal is good, but it’s still pretty niche from what I understand.