Curious_Canid

The rules we have created to govern corporations cause that, in a very direct way. If those positions were officially responsible for the welfare of their employees and customers, and not just their shareholders, the role would not favor sociopaths. We need to change the rules. Otherwise, getting rid of the current crop of awful people will just replace them with others like them.

That’s a fair point. The prosperity gospel came along well after Peale’s time, but he probably would have liked it. He was another sociopath in the same mold.

So far as I know, there is no reason to think that Trump believes in the prosperity gospel. He wants the people who do to follow him, but I would be surprised if he believes in anything at all (including religion, philosophy, physics, and other human beings).

Nugget is awesome! I’m glad the chickens also understand that.

The early estimates were for upward of nine million this time.

I have always admired John Carpenter for working in the opposite direction. He likes to show you a scene where you gradually realize that something is wrong. When you do, you get the same adrenaline jolt as from a jump scare. Or he will show you something terrifying that is going to happen, then make you wait while watching it arrive.

Why does anyone vote for this man to represent them? He never has and he never will. He just does whatever he’s told by whichever Republican leader scares him the most.

It really depends on how you define it. There have always been locations and groups where things were terrible and there have been locations and groups where things were good. Often the locations were the same but the groups were different.

In the US, there was a general sense that things were gradually improving that may have gone back as far as World War II and lasted through the 70’s. Not that there weren’t a lot of problems, just that society seemed to be recognizing and working on them. The conservative resurgence in 1980, lead by Ronald Reagan and Newt Gringrich, pretty much ended that positive trend. Since then we’ve seen active efforts to divide people, to encourage prejudices, and, especially, to destroy the education system. That last is critical, because it makes propaganda and other forms of social manipulation far more effective.

The US is now living with the result of allowing those changes. There are vast disparities in education, wealth, and power across the population. Many people on the low end of those distributions have been convinced to blame other groups that are also on the low end. That has allowed those at the high end to corrupt our political and economic systems to their advantage.

The current situation is not sustainable, but it will do incalculable damage to hundreds of millions of people while it exists. And we don’t know what will follow it.

There is strong evidence that humans became successful as a species because of their ability to put interests of the group before their own. Those instincts have been subverted, but they are not dead. That is what gives me hope for the future.

My big dog understands this principle. He often carries around a stuffed Koala with him and cuddles with it. When anyone, human or animal, is having rough time, he bring it to them and tucks it in next to them.

He is everything a dog should be. Greatness combined with all the of cute.

Orange cats are going to save us from the zombie apocalypse.

My main charities are the Humane Society, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, my local church (which supports all kinds of local needs), a local food bank, and the ACLU. I also donate to various organizations that do serious journalism, including NPR, PBS, ProPublica, Common Dreams, and the Guardian. And finally, I always try to donate to projects that produce things I use, like Fedican, PieFed, Voyager, Signal, Meshtastic firmware and Android app, and Thunderbird. Most of the donations are small, but I do what I can.

Hypocrisy. It’s at the root of refusing to take responsibility for your own words and actions. It used to be considered a serious failure and now we just assume it.

Fair enough.

In England, Pitbulls (known as Staffordshires or Staffies) are often referred to as Nanny Dogs. They are not naturally hostile or aggressive. They tend to see their jobs as looking after people, especially children. The problem is that they were used for dogfighting in the US, which is where the “Pit” in the name came from. That image is what most people here have in their heads.

Dogs are very good at adapting to what is expected of them. If you expect a vicious attack dog you are more likely to end up with that. Bad training or mistreatment can make almost any dog vicious. If you raise a Pitbull like any other dog, you are likely to end up with a personality more like a Golden Retriever.

I much prefer metric, but I live in the US so the Imperial units are what I grew up with and can work with most easily. The rest of the world uses metric, so I end up dealing with metric units quite a lot too. I have gotten to the point where I have a fairly good intuitive grasp of most metric units. I almost always use metric when I’m measuring things for my own use.

I do prefer Celsius to Fahrenheit for temperature. Fahrenheit may have made sense in the era and location where it was created, but in the larger world, where climate change is well underway, it no longer fits. The idea that the normal range of temperature fit into 0 F to 100 F was never true outside of the temperate zones. Just within the lower 48 states in the US we regularly experience temperatures above 110 F in the south and below 0 F in the north.

Also, it has always been true that the temperature that matters most is the freezing point. Putting that at 32 has never made any sense.

It frustrates me that the US came so close to adopting metric, then backed away, while the rest of the world moved forward. Now we’re stuck with the worst of both systems.

It’s unfortunate that Zuckerberg, like Musk, is too wealthy to ever suffer from his own incompetence. He’s doing all the right things to cripple or destroy his company. He may even succeed. It just won’t affect him personally.

That level of wealth should not be allowed to exist.

You understand your cat and you are a good person.

Chocolate is poisonous to dogs! They usually love to eat it, but enough will kill them.

Please, for the sake of your dog, check with your vet for details.

I agree. If that happens, things will change, but there’s no telling in what way. All I can do is cross my fingers and make sure the filters in my painting mask are current.