Oh no. You should go see a doctor. Friend of mine had an itchy thumb, and six years later his wife left him. It was probably unrelated, but I wouldn’t risk it.

I love seeing crossovers. The cool thing about comics is you could have someone show up in another book, and then you’re interested in that character so you go read those books. The movies and shows should be like that, relatively independent but with occasional references and cameos.

Like the way Matt Murdock appeared in She Hulk was enjoyable. As long as you were aware of the Netflix shows, you didn’t need to have watched all the Defenders episodes to understand it. But maybe seeing him in that show made you want to check out the Netflix series.

What I don’t want is like a full introduction every time a special guest character shows up. Like if Hawk Girl makes an appearance in Peacemaker Season 2, we don’t need a “Hi, I’m from the Justice League and I’m a reincarnated ancient alien wielding Nth Metal, how can I help you?” conversation.

Clicking the link opens a series of uncloseable popups and tries to trick you into downloading viruses.

That website is mobile cancer.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory had several extremely memorable moments. The greasy lipped german dude eating the microphone. Wonka taking a crunchy bite out of an obviously wax buttercup. Cabbage and laundry soup (maybe I just combined those in my developing brain). Scooping whipped cream and jelly with your hands from giant mushrooms. Biting a giant gummy worm in the middle. Charlie scarfing down a scrumdiddlyumptious bar fast enough to choke. Burping up fizzy lifting drink. Few movies had as many memorable food moments.

When I was a kid, so many parodies and comedies had ladies jumping out of giant cakes, I really though that was going to be a thing when I grew up. It was like the opposite of quicksand.

I don’t think you’re wrong, but that’s a different problem, one we aren’t solving with pesticides. People are starving now, and poor people have drastically limited options when it comes to food. Our current subsidy structure encourages corn syrup and soy protein in almost everything we eat.

I wouldn’t oppose a managed transition away from using pesticides over a reasonable amount of time, one that allows farmers to adapt to new strategies and new pricing structures. But catastrophe is upon us. Ecological indicators are all in the red, and we’re experiencing the effects of climate disasters at an unyielding pace. Fires, floods, and famines are coming to a neighborhood near you, and drastic action is required immediately to even hope to slow it down. There’s no avoiding it.

Churches are the mechanism by which people organize and share beliefs. Countries that do not allow freedom of religion use taxes and regulations to shut down religious organizations that either don’t follow the state sanctioned religion or compete with the state sanctioned religion. It is indeed a form of thought control.

Political leaders of faith will seek out ways to favor their own churches and punish the ones they don’t like. The Supreme Court has already created two classes of religions by giving preferential status to their own faiths while denying the rights of faiths they don’t believe should exist. That’s happening already, and we have a constitution that specifically prohibits it.

I agree with you that certain church leaders abuse their status and dramatically cross the line when it comes to political activity. They aren’t really churches, and there really is plenty of proof of that. I think the people running those organizations belong in prison for fraud, but I don’t get to have everything I want. It should be very hard to take away tax exempt status, though, because you know politicians would abuse that worse than church leaders abuse the system now.

If you and me were in charge, we could probably sit down with a list and make some really reasonable decisions about which churches should be taxed. But neither of us has that power, so I’m glad nobody else has it, and I’ll even bet that a lot of other people are glad we don’t have that power.

Yes there is fraud and abuse and corruption of tax-exempt churches. This is the better alternative.

I’m picturing a person panicking and swatting the whole tank off the toilet, breaking the water line and spraying water everywhere.

Turning off the water will stop the tank from refilling. Closing the flapper stops the water in the tank from going into the bowl.

I would imagine most people aren’t fast enough on the draw to think about doing this first step.

If the toilet is actively flushing, water will continue to drain from the tank to the bowl. Closing the flapper stops any additional water from going into the bowl.

Personally, I prefer to make sure the tank only fills enough to fill the bowl, so as long as you don’t double flush, you don’t need to panic and throw the lid off the tank.

Eh, those things are flexible. If you’re willing to play the game, you can be inside the circle. See: Log Cabin Republicans, Raphael Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Ben Carson, you can be “one of the good ones” as long as you’re willing to toe the line.

It’s not that they are asocial. It’s narcissism, plain and simple.

You can always get credit, the only question is how much will it cost.

If you’re asking why does Best Buy offers credit cards and your dentist doesn’t, it’s because Best Buy might not get your sale. They want you to see the product and buy the product and if you don’t have the money they want you to borrow the money without leaving the store. It’s all about reducing friction between your wallet and their register.

Your dentist doesn’t need to reduce those obstacles to purchasing. You need dental work, and they bill you. If you can’t pay, that’s a you problem.

Conservativism is, and always has been, a misdirect. It isn’t an ideology. It’s something you say so that it sounds like you have principles, but there are no inherently conservative principles.

Check your history books, it’s always been this way.

Conservatives establish their priorities by first drawing a circle on the ground around themselves, and the deciding who is with them inside the circle. Everyone inside the circle is a member of their group, the Self. The Self is good because they are inside the circle, and the circle was drawn to define who is good.

And that’s it. Everything else is a flexible derivation of that decision. Policies that are good for the Self are good because the Self is good. Policies that are bad for the Self are bad. You get the picture. Everything a Conservative does or says is in service of defending and advancing the Self’s interests.

Importantly, anyone outside the circle is the Other. The Other can be bad, or they can be irrelevant. The Other cannot be good, because they aren’t the Self. If the Other tries to oppose the Self, the Other is bad. If the Other does not oppose the Self or even assists the Self, they are irrelevant.

If the Self lies or cheats or murders, then those were necessary acts in service of the Self, and therefore good. If the Other acts heroically or honorably or respectfully, it is irrelevant.

The good news is that you can be inside the circle, as long as you agree to go along with the game. Support everything the Self does, oppose anything the Other does to stop you, and refuse to acknowledge the inherent ridiculousness of your lack of fundamental beliefs.

Top of the tank, as in the lid, so you can close the flapper and prevent the bowl from overflowing.

I don’t understand your argument.

It is tough, but I’ve lived this way my entire life. Dating was competitive when I was dating, and I did not compete for women. I know of at least one girlfriend who left me because I wasn’t willing to fight for her attention.

Same with jobs. I’ve had my current role for 3 years. I remember paper resumes, but I haven’t used one since my first job. I’ve worked many jobs, even had my own business for a while, and my lack of competitive drive has certainly shaped the course of my career.

But I’ve never stepped on anyone to get ahead. I’ve never cheated anyone, or taken advantage of a client. I’ve had opportunities to take things I hadn’t earned, and I let those things go. I’ve never missed a baseball game or ballet recital, never chosen work over my kids or my wife. I haven’t always made the right choices, but I’m not ashamed of any of them.

Competition is healthy. Stong winds make strong trees. But a competitive spirit can cause people to compromise their values to win. Success isn’t always winning. Success is being the best person you can be.

Eh, I’m a firm believer that society has no business legislating and regulating thoughts. Regulating and taxing churches, while satisfying, would be a huge step in the wrong direction.

I’m not advocating for letting anyone die, nor am I suggesting forced veganism. My suggestion would let some people make less profit. Those people are willing to let a lot of people die to increase their profits. The climate crisis has killed people, and will kill far more than expensive corn would.

Our current population levels are going to experience a steep decline because people already cannot afford basic needs like food and rent and so they are not having children. Pesticides are not the only defense against total crop collapse due to blight. In fact, we’re doing more damage to pollinators than pests as a result of overuse of pesticides. Entire food chains rely on the birds and bugs industrial farming is eliminating, and the water runoff is poisoning the fish that keep our streams and rivers clean.

To be clear, RFK is completely wrong in his reasoning, and I don’t believe in doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. We should ban pesticides because pesticide use is a net bad for humans. Pesticides increase profits at the expense of ecosystems, and that in turn impacts humanity.

I am not competitive at all. It sucks when I don’t get something I want because I’m not willing to destroy someone else to get it, but I choose to live my life on my terms. If that means I don’t make the sale or get the promotion or get the girl, then those things were never available to me in the first place.

My job is mine because I want it and I’m good at it. I don’t need to be better than my coworkers.

My wife is mine because we love each other and we make each other happy. I don’t need to be handsomer or taller or more athletic than any rivals, because we only have eyes for each other.

I like to do my best in sports, in games, and in life, and I enjoy winning when I deserve it. I won’t compromise my values to win, though, and my success is not measured in wins. If I’m not the best, then I am still proud of my effort and my accomplishments.

It is possible to live this way. It just means you have to be willing to forgo the spoils of victory.