RustyShackleford

In most restrooms, I make a conscious effort to avoid touching every surface.

Morons… cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.

Much like the rancid toilet bowl it is.

The most significant issue with an idiot is that they will always assume that everyone around them is less intelligent than they are.

You’re not wrong about the conditions that historically lead to unrest, material desperation, fear, and breakdown of basic stability tend to be the tipping points. The U.S. government isn’t there for most citizens, and that’s not accidental.

But what’s worth pointing out is that this “just stable enough” environment didn’t emerge naturally, it’s been actively managed over decades. And a strong case can be made that this is less about general governance and more about a long-term political strategy, particularly on the Republican side.

You’ve had a pattern where social safety nets are publicly criticized, underfunded, or slowly eroded but rarely eliminated outright. Why? Because removing them completely would create exactly the kind of instability you’re describing. Instead, they’re kept barely functional. Enough to prevent collapse, not enough to meaningfully improve mobility or reduce inequality.

At the same time, there’s been consistent resistance to policies that would shift people from “barely stable” to genuinely secure, things like stronger labor protections, universal healthcare, or aggressive wage growth. That keeps a large portion of the population economically stressed, but not desperate enough to unify or revolt. It fragments people using base animal instincts, keeps them focused on short-term survival, and limits collective action.

Add in cultural and political polarization, and it further diffuses pressure. People incorrectly channel frustration horizontally, at each other, instead of vertically at faceless institutions.

So yes, you’re right about the threshold for unrest. The uncomfortable part is recognizing that a lot of political strategy has been about keeping the country just below that threshold, stable enough to barely function, and strained enough to control.

No.

I was arguing against it being an intelligence because it lacked the suffering and past experiences that define intelligence. Without pain and suffering, what are we? Not for it being intelligent.

As a psychiatrist, I have a theory about what’s missing in AI. First, it lacks childhood dependency and attachments. Second, it struggles to overcome repeated pain and suffering. Third, it lacks regular eating and restroom breaks. Fourth, it struggles to accept loss in everyday situations. Finally, it lacks the concept of our inevitable death. Without these nagging memories and concepts, machines will simply revert to the simpler concepts we use them for in our recent times, such as stealing cryptocurrency. After all, we live in a world run by capitalism, so it’s only logical. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Agreed, instaban’s are a tad heavy handed. As not everyone understands how the system works.

I can neither confirm nor deny baked goods preferences without counsel present.

And if time really is a flat circle, then one of us should remember this conversation already.

I don’t.

Which means you’re early… or I’m late. 🤔

This certainly couldn’t go awry…

This is cool to see, are there any examples in the Los Angeles City/County areas? Not sure how common place backups like this are, but it’s a smart idea.

Several victims have reported receiving death threats after their own banking information and email addresses were accidentally left visible in the same batch of files.

Before they claim to have smelled smoke and valiantly battled the fire with a hail of bullets.

In my mind, I rewrote the episode’s script. Essentially, Elon laid himself down feet first in front of a steam roller, after giving away everything he owned to fund Universal Healthcare.

So, they named a local elementary school after him, as it was literally the very least they could do after he was squeezed out like a tube of toothpaste.