In other news today, Yum Brands, of Taco Bell fame, purchased Grok along with its subsidiary, The Pentagon, which it has renamed “The Five-Layered Burrito” or “FLB” for short. Yum Brands celebrated its acquisition by using the FLB to launch a new ad campaign by bombing the words “Live Más” across ISIS-controlled territory in Iraq. The death toll was significant, with collateral damage involving several schools, mosques, hospitals and one orphanage, but investor confidence is high as share prices rose 10% for the day, reflecting increased sales in the region.

This is how I feel about certain expensive meal replacement supplements.

Soon:

More propaganda from Big Library. I know you have that book, Linda!

“The 911 JFK Flat Moon Landing at Area 51: How the Reptilian CIA Used the Fake Holocaust to Create the COVID Delusion for Autism, and You’re the Smartest Goodest Boy for Being Correct about Having Secret Knowledge Despite the Fact that It’s Based on Information that Everyone in the Whole World Has Access to.”

If by domestic, you mean cats that live indoors, agreed. Otherwise there’s an extensive amount of evidence:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife

Agreed. I generally think of “Indoors” as meaning “within the home” in this case.

Right? I’m trying to imagine a similar but even less popular one.

Maybe, “People should have to earn a PhD in Veterinary Medicine and have published post doctoral work in the particular species they keep as pets.”

Local wildlife are healthier and live longer when cats are kept indoors, too.

Upvoted for the opinion being unpopular.

Cats don’t belong outside. They will kill local wildlife and have contributed to the extinction of dozens of species.

I don’t think fish care either way as long as they get the space and care they need. That is, a tiny pond outside isn’t any better than a tank of the same volume indoors, all other things being equal.

Rodents definitely belong inside, if having a rodent as a pet is allowed at all in this scenario. I feel like this doesn’t require further explanation.

I could see rabbits liking being outside, as long as they’re adequately protected from predators. They do well inside, too. I’d call this one 50:50.

If reptiles and amphibians should be kept as pets at all, indoors is way better.

I imagine almost all invertebrate pets would have to be indoors.

Pets that are livestock species go outside, yeah. No argument here.

Some animals shouldn’t be pets at all. Some belong inside. Some belong outside. Some go in and out. It’s a mixed bag.

I like some of Henry George’s ideas about property tax. I believe a national property tax could be helpful under certain conditions. It’s generally considered to be a more regressive tax than income tax, and on It’s own, would disproportionately burden lower-income families.

A few ways around this might include:

• Adding a deduction for a fraction of the local, average property value on one primary residence. This would essentially mean no new taxes for the lower class.

• Allowing landlords to claim the deduction for tenants (Ugh, I know, but hear me out). This essentially imposes a penalty on empty housing, making hoarding a liability rather than an asset.

• Adding the deduction for privately owned businesses that are worth a fraction of the national average. That is, no new taxes on very small businesses, “mom and pop shops.”

• Adding a separate deduction for publicly owned businesses to the extent they are employee-owned with a weight factor for the standard deviation of the distribution. That is, if the CEO owns 99% and the other employees share the remaining 1, yes, that’s technically employee-owned and should get a very, very, tiny deduction. If everybody gets an equal share, maximum deduction/minimized (nonzero) tax.

• Creating a sovereign wealth fund into which this property tax goes directly and exclusively, overseen by an independent board. Board positions are one-time, 16-year terms, nominated by the head of government, and appointed or refused by a legislative majority within 120 days or else the appointment is automatic. Terms are staggered/overlapping among members so, one new member is appointed every 8 years. Removal procedure is by the standard legislative process used to remove the head of government. The board is tasked with investing and distributing funds.

• Using the board to distribute funds. One third goes into traditional welfare programs like Healthcare, unemployment, pensions, etc. One third goes into a basic income for the lower quartile of income, and one third goes into an income tax deduction for the lower 2 income quintiles. Hopefully this forms a conveyor belt for most recipients straight into the middle class, without abandoning those who just aren’t going to make it, for whatever reason.

I could go on for a few hundred more words, but you get the idea.

In conclusion, I like Henry George’s work, and I would like to see a modernized, progressive implementation. Property should not enjoy superior rights and privileges than people, especially not parking lots.

See? We can have a society in which some people have 10 homes and some have none.

“#BothSides”

But…but…banana.

In all seriousness, I still feel like there are limited use cases for AI. I don’t think it was smart to go all in on it with our energy and natural resources, especially for implementations in which nobody knows exactly what it’s doing, how, and there’s not a human in the loop. Unfortunately, I think that describes the majority. I kinda wish research for AI had been treated more like nuclear energy research.

If I sincerly thought a single person were capable of bringing down entire civilizations in less than a human lifespan, I would not be taunting them on Twitter.

I for one welcome our new overlord, MacKenzie Scott. Anyone know if she’s interested in adding fascist oligarchies to her list of future conquests?

True, but there are ways to get out pretty easily.

I hope a news outlet has the boldness to run this story after one showing DHS brutality, including the taxpayer costs, and before one about SNAP, healthcare and the shutdown. This administration is well past the point of pissing on Americans while telling them it’s raining.

That’s a really good point. I hope he gets a medal for injury in the line of duty with a big, televised ceremony and lots of sandwich puns.

A salt and buttery with a weapon for mass consumption.

Yeah, off topic, but it really seems like the court system has adapted over time to disincentivize the lower class from serving on juries.

I relish this joke.