brianary

joined 2 years ago
[–] brianary@startrek.website 4 points 1 year ago

The portion of people that have these vehicles and fit the very narrow use case that it specifically satisfies is observably very small. People that don't need a truck often can rent one. As mentioned by others, many of these trucks aren't particularly good at what they were ostensibly built for. As my grandfather might have said, "those are just for sellin'".

Judgement is fair, partly because these trucks only exist because of the scam legal definition of "light" trucks, partly due to the climate impact, but most immediately because of how dangerous they are to everyone else.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 13 points 1 year ago

There's a whole book about this: # Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly "unskilled," that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/nickel-and-dimed-20th-anniversary-edition-on-not-getting-by-in-america-barbara-ehrenreich/9836607?ean=9781250808318

[–] brianary@startrek.website 13 points 1 year ago

At first I was annoyed, until I realized "drop" is an antagonym.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 4 points 1 year ago

The Aquaman movies were laying some groundwork for the Warlock comics to maybe be included, which is a hollow-earth reality. It's too bad they did such a terrible job.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why simp for American healthcare?

[–] brianary@startrek.website 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The risks of sodium aren't universal (some people appear to have immunity), and were exaggerated by the sugar industry.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 52 points 1 year ago

"Just Kidding" Rowling

[–] brianary@startrek.website 2 points 1 year ago

Hmm, that's a good point. Washington finally relented, they were a hold-out for a long time.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Everyone should also get a procedurally-generated theme song.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 9 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Military, sure, but driver's licenses are state-level, not federal. Health care has been using birthdate like a password (one that is largely publicly available) for way too long now. At least financial institutions can use account numbers and financial history and code words, but even all that isn't great.

It's a messy patchwork, but I think at the time of the creation of the SSA, the US may have still thought of itself as a land of second chances. IBM numbering Holocaust victims probably didn't help the idea of a national ID, nor did the victim narrative of groups like the NRA.

I'm not sure if it's possible not to have a national ID anymore, so denial of it just forces a terribly kludgy implementation from whatever is around.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 12 points 1 year ago (13 children)

Americans explicitly didn't want a national ID.

[–] brianary@startrek.website 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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