Zelensky is indeed very courageous. The logical and easy move for him would’ve been to flee to Berlin or Brussels and let Ukraine fall to destruction and genocide. Instead, he has spent three years with a target on his back fighting for his country and the survival of his people.
I’m fairly brave, but I’m not sure I would’ve done as much. People hate anyone who in the face of great risk stands up for something resolutely, because most of them know they would not.
Netflix’s Extraordinary Parental Leave Was Part of Its Culture. That’s Over.
Once the MBAs take over a company, it becomes about control and cruelty even over and above profit. The conventional story is that MBAs do what they do for profit. But that’s not really true at all. In large companies especially, profit is anywhere from third to tenth priority on the list. The top of the list is about status, power and control.
And yes, I have worked for large companies so I know and have experienced this directly.
Noah Smith really, really does not understand how health insurance works or that insurance is a tug-of-war between providers and insurers. He sees insurers as a blameless mediators caught between costs and providers, principally because they do not make much obvious profit. In reality, they are a source of inflationary pressure in a continual arms race between how much money required insurance drives up de facto costs, how much providers attempt to grab, and how much they are bilked and can bilk.
It’s a multi-layered fraud combined with financial conflict and beset with huge inflationary pressures, mostly caused by insurance itself.
In other words, they are all villains and none are blameless. I’d say providers and insurance companies are about 40/40 villain, with other 20% being various other health care parasites.
The entire US medical system is a scam and insurance companies are no less evil and no less crooked than any other component.
I love this fight scene; one of the more realistic ever put to film. She’s absolutely getting trounced by a guy twice as big and strong as she is (and who is equally well-trained) until she gets some help and then gets the upper hand.
That’s from Soderbergh’s Haywire — an underrated film that is endlessly entertaining.
What a Bloomingdale’s Lingerie Catalog Taught Me. Good story. So weird how so much of the left attempted to ban being attracted to people. Like, what?
Recent Immigration Surge Has Been Largest in U.S. History.
Albertsons Backs Out of Merger Deal and Sues Kroger After Court Rulings.
The western myth of the ‘guy we can do business with.’
Casino shocked, SHOCKED that gambling addict lost $30M after they bombarded him with texts.
I bought this for us recently:
Home Gym SCM-1148L 148LB Multifunctional Full Body Home Gym Equipment.
Free weights are great and we use them all the time, but exercise machines allow you to concentrate on a specific muscle or small muscle group in a way that’s difficult or impossible with free weights. Also, with a machine you can do lower-intensity exercises when desired or required; both are tools in your belt to stay fit and to keep interested in staying fit by being able to change up your routine.
That said, it’s pretty good for the price. I was not expecting a $5,000 machine as found in a commercial gym. I got it for about 1/10 that much and for that, it’s about 60% as good as one of those much-hardier bits of equipment. The motion is smooth when doing exercises and though it moves a little, it does not feel rickety or on the verge of collapse.
It is what I expected, but some limitations:
I do recommend it at that price, but I wish it tried to do just a bit less. I think it’d be more effective with fewer features. I am glad we have it, though.
It’s bad enough us surveilling our own citizens. But letting the CCP do it with near-impunity…are we just trying to lose or what?
How the fuck did the belief that we should have wild-eyed crazy people roaming our streets, harassing and attacking at will, become a tenet of progressive politics? And they wonder why they lose elections.
It was so damn bizarre watching them transition from #MeToo to “Everyone needs to enjoy a little harassment on the bus or train. It really spices life up! Anyone gets a free grope or two, don’t worry about it. And if you don’t like it, you must be MAGA!” And I’m barely even exaggerating there.
Dang that was wild.
I think Steven Spielberg’s best movie is Munich. Just such a tense nasty little beast.
I’m not sure how to put this exactly without sounding dismissive as I think Spielberg is a great director, but Munich is his only film that feels fully adult.
That scene really speaks to how closely delusion and aspiration dwell together in the human heart. The entire film is just as good.
I barely have a dog in this fight as I do not listen to albums and pretty much never have. In fact, I think I have only listened to (maybe) three of those albums in their entirety, though I’ve heard songs from all of them.
Albums to me have always felt a bit outmoded; I just do not consume music that way and never have. It’s all about the song for me.
Good song. When I found this band a while ago, at first I wondered why they were named “Six Foot Blonde.” And then I realized they indeed do have a six foot blonde, and all made sense.
Non-Infringing Sites As Collateral Damage In Music Industry’s War On Stream Ripping Sites.
Insiders Tell How IT Giant Favored Indian H-1B Workers Over US Employees. Clownish libs told me this never happens, when it is in fact the common case.
Inside Ukraine’s Battle for the Skies as Russian Bombardments Hit Records.
Ukraine’s Drone Boats Are Now Shooting Machine Guns At Russian Helicopters, Boats.
Thompson’s murder is one symptom of the American appetite for violence; his line of work is another. Damn that’s a good sentence.
Wall Street’s complex debt bonanza hits fastest pace since 2007.
How Elon Musk backed away from his climate crusade. It’s denied now, but I remember when Musk used to be pretty firmly on the left.
Could Trump end birthright citizenship? Probably not, legal scholars say.
The Shooting That Was Inevitable.
What Doctors Like Me Know About Americans’ Health Care Anger.
My daughter could have died. I blame US insurance companies.
It’s just fucking absurd that anyone can believe this. And anyway, what Noah claims that graph is portraying isn’t actually what those numbers really are. As Ellie points out, it’s this:
Which is a completely different thing. In reality, Americans pay far more out of pocket for far worse outcomes. Why does Noah seem to enjoy lying about stuff like this? What does it get him? I mean, what is the point?
It’s not just the MAGA right. It’s a lot of left and even many “soft” liberals. For some inexplicable reason they hate Ukraine with the fire of a thousand suns, believe the Ukrainian people should be exterminated, and that Putin is a figure to be worshipped (and it’s all NATO’s fault, somehow).
I will never understand.
