Nope! None of those situations should be motivated by profit imo. Basically, nothing that is necessary for life should be for profit, in my opinion, as long as the state can handle the administrative burden.
But like… if the people demand some random, superfluous thing and the state doesn’t have the will or resources to produce it, maybe that’s where markets come in.
All they have to do is effectively use the public funds alloted to do the things they’re tasked with doing. Not everything should generate profit.
For so many services, profit-seeking creates perverse incentives. Well… all services. But maybe it’s tolerable in some circumstances.
“West African” Peanut Stew, which is an Americanized version of various groundnut stews/maafe, is super nutritious and cheap. It is quick if you put in 1hr in advance to make like 3kg of soup, ~8 servings, for ~10 bucks. I think it’d freeze OK too.
Look up a recipe, but basically: 1 onion, garlic, 6c broth (vegetable in your case), 2lbs sweet potatoes (maybe 3lbs if vegetarian), 1 bunch greens (collards, kale, mustard greens, whichever you have/like/are ceapest), can diced tomatoes, peanut butter, 2-3tbsp vinegar, optional spices (cumin, turmeric, bay leaves, chili powder, paprika, cayenne pepper/red pepper flakes, oregano, minced ginger, msg, etc), optional garnishes: peanuts, cilantro.
Sautee 1 diced onion in a pot until translucent, add garlic and spices & sautee 30s more, add 6c broth, 2lbs cubed sweet potatoes, chopped greens, can of diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20mins. Take off the heat and add 1c peanut butter and 2tbsp of vinegar (recommend adding 1tbsp at a time and tasting so as not to add too much), stir to combine. Serve.
I add 1lb chicken to mine and it makes like 3kgs of soup. Calorie dense, nutritious, very tasty. I also add a small amount of soy sauce, fish sauce, and/or worcesteshire when adding the liquid - imo this mimics some of the fermented sauces used in West African foods. Apple cider vinegar added at same time as the peanut butter really improves the dish. Salt and pepper throughout cooking, of course - but even without spices this is a tasty soup. Spices do help though.
+1 for smart launcher. I got it back when the paid version was like 5 bucks. It’s more now, but I’ve been very happy with it overall.
Lawnchair also looks great. I’d consider switching if Smart Launcher becomes enshittified or if Lawnchair has better features.
I’m not saying that it’s true, it’d just be extremely funny.
What if Chomsky was the only one ACTUALLY associated with Epstein for tax advice. He was too autistic to get the whole wink wink nudge nudge routine and was just like “Jeff I have a real nightmare of a tax situation I need help with, but I don’t see why I’d need to take a trip to the Bahamas: can I just email my documents to you?”
是很漂亮！It looks like a font. Extremely neat. Though, the “tails” on some of your letters are so short that they might be mistaken for other letters.
Like your P could be mistaken for a D
Handmaids tale but less whimsical. No red robes or any of the other trimmings. Just the stupidest people imagineable running a declining empire while governing in the most racist and cruel way while still supporting business, just increasingly kkkristian coded.
Thats the result anyway. But an actual civil war? No shot. This happens without significant opposition.
We have the benefit of hindsight. It is possible Chomsky didn’t know about that. Possible. Epstein knew lots of people - only some of them went to the island and not all of those went to assault kids.
It’s correct to be suspicious. Even very suspicious. It is not correct to draw definite conclusions without more information. The information that we have does not implicate him in illegal stuff, so far.
I will read it. Regardless, though, he is associated with the left and him going down for this would be bad PR for the left broadly, which sucks - that’s my only point other than we don’t know he’s done anything untoward here.
If you look at his emails with Epstein, it’s literally Epstein asking him about his academic work, Epstein toying with various little theories and asking Chomsky about them, etc. All above board so far. Him being on the plane is not great, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a pedo. It opens up that possibility, but there is not proof of him doing anything wrong. Yet. I really hope he didn’t do anything wrong, but it’s obviously a possibility.
No matter what you think about Chomsky, he’s an extremely important intellectual figure and is associated with the left. Him going down would be bad for all of us - so I hope he’s not a bastard.
US does mulled wine, but it’s more of a general winter thing. More common up north in areas with more northern european influence, I think. Mince pies aren’t really a thing, though, which is a shame.
很酷！很多的人也很多的我的朋友 from my hometown & childhood 和你一样来自中国。我喜欢能看到 the etymology in a 汉字。
I wish 我的中文是足够好 to understand 中文 TV. 老师小猪佩奇不是有趣的。
我正在学习中文。中文很难！
I took a break from learning Chinese for a while due to personal stuff being busy and am trying to get back into it. Chinese is a very logical language, I think, and learning it is fun and interesting but challenging. I was just about HSK1 level, I think, before I stopped. I gotta boot up peppa pig in mandarin again - 你好小猪佩奇老师，我是你的学生！
I know several working class folks who grew up in the USSR who, while they admit it wasn’t perfect, were very happy with how things were then and - although some of them are now onboard the Pravda train to looneyville & love Putin and believe the Russian Orthodox church line that Ukraine is led by baby-eating, devil-worshipping, Nazi Pedophiles (not an exaggeration) - they admit things are much worse than they were then and place the blame squarely on moving away from communism & planned economy.
Because of strong social programs, they had access to good education, work & a high quality of life, and a level of recreation and leisure that seems wild to me as an American.
Communism is not a monolith. There are many tendencies. And YMMV depending on the folks in power, just like any system. Additionally, despots love to call themselves socialist/communist while doing nothing relating to seizing the means of production - look at Cambodia (Khmer Rouge) as an example.
Imagine if we asked folks “What’s your experience been like living in a capitalist regime”. Most people would think thats a weird question because of how many types of capitalist regimes exist - it’sa general economic framework, not a system of government. Your experience will vary wildly if you are from like rural Kenya vs the US vs Scandinavia.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They are the ones playing defense against fascism and violations of civil liberties by the US government. This includes immigration, freedom of religion/expression, lgbtq rights, abortion rights, you name it they’ve done it.they are responsible for getting nunerous illegal bills/acts/laws rescinded. They do great work. The sort of work that is foundational to getting the US government on track.
Scar Jo. She’s just not a good actor. Same with Gal Gadot. Also Jack Black and Seth Rogen and the Rock, they don’t act - they’re just themselves in every movie.
~100mg - 300mg/day. That is 1 cup of coffee (espresso-based drink) to 3 max.
I try to limit myself to 1 now unless I am really tired or am having trouble focusing/thinking clearly. I was up to 2-3 every day, but it was messing with my anxiety more than I realized at first.