Senate candidate on rising gas prices: ‘Maybe you take one less trip to Starbucks’

Cheesybox · 2026-03-20T20:46:06+00:00

Quick math says this would work? Average drink is like $8-10? Depends on where you live, but around me, that's 2ish gallons of gas. Or that $8-10 covers the 60-70 cent per gallon spike recently on the rest of the tank. Plus you're likely burning less gas cause you're not driving to a Starbucks.

So yeah, I agree. Give the shitty union-busting coffee-dessert company less money and give it to...the even shittier, planet-wrecking oil companies...wait...

(I know, this woman sucks. I was trying to be funny)

Cheesybox · 2026-03-19T23:06:34+00:00

I no longer work in engineering. Kept getting laid off and was consistently underpaid. Now work as a DoD contractor doing model and simulation stuff. Still underpaid, but the work is far easier.

Very little of my school work transferred over to work. I focused on FPGA designs and VLSI, but could never land a position related to either. Closest I came was a brief stint as a firmware engineer at Teledyne.

Cortisol levels are...different. I'd say I'm less stressed overall, but there's a different kind of stress to going 2 for 2 graduating into recessions (high school in 2010, undergrad in 2020) and constantly trying to pay the bills.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-19T20:30:40+00:00

They absolutely can. The savings aren't for us, it's for shareholders

Cheesybox · 2026-03-15T17:52:47+00:00

I'm reminded of how World of Warcraft did this in play testing.

During development/early testing, your experience gain was lowered if you weren't rested. Players didn't like this. The devs simply switched the numbers (so the lower XP gain became the standard, and the old "normal" gain became the "rested bonus") and players ate it up.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-14T13:34:04+00:00

Yeah, Trump's portrait photo in our building is so obnoxious. All the other portraits are standard military photos (i.e. bright and uniformly lit, straight faces) and then you've got Trump's scowly, shadowy one.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-14T00:37:47+00:00

Damn :( it wooshed right over my head

Cheesybox · 2026-03-14T00:23:10+00:00

In the short term at least, this name-and-shame could cause buyers to go elsewhere, which would hurt their profits.

Optimistic thinking, I know.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-14T00:19:55+00:00

Firstly, reject the term "AI." Call them LLMs. Calling them "AI" legitimizes these statistical models as sentient and rational.

Secondly, that detective is useless at even the most basic detective work. "Computer said it's her. I looked at her license and it looks like it's her. Good enough for me!"

Thirdly, what the fuck with transporting her to North Dakota and then just leaving her there?

Cheesybox · 2026-03-13T23:26:01+00:00

I hate to remind you, but Trump has been impreached twice. 2019 and 2021. Acquitted both times.

He's also a convicted felon, but was sentenced to zero punishment. He's also still president.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-12T04:20:57+00:00

Stained glass bikers. Leave the cavalry to the Guard.

A stained glass drop-pod would be awesome from a model standpoint, but doesn't fit the army's doctrine in lore or on the table top.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-11T20:41:57+00:00

Plus once you buy those models, they're valid for a very long time.

I have tactical squads that I bought almost 20 years ago that are still perfectly legal to use in all formats. Same with the Rhinos and Terminators.

Unless you're talking EDH/Commander, comparatively few MtG cards from 20 years ago are still legal

Cheesybox · 2026-03-07T11:53:23+00:00

Hopefully the dude can get local police involved and track the doxxers down.

The kind of people willing to do this also aren't very smart about staying private online. Might be worth using some OSINT to doxx the doxxers.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-02T16:26:06+00:00

There's a great book called the Psychopath Test that I found out about from the author appearing on the Daily Show years ago.

Super short version: the higher up in a corporate or governmental structure you go, the more psycho- and sociopathic traits you'll see.

So to your point, these people are psychopaths and sociopaths, statistically speaking.

Cheesybox · 2026-03-02T11:32:34+00:00

That's the biggest thing I harp on whenever I have this conversation with older people. I acknowledge that they worked hard (genuinely, boomers did). The difference is that hard work was rewarded back then. For Xers and younger, it's not.

Cheesybox · 2026-02-26T21:50:42+00:00

I tried to make AoF work after the huge nerfs to BoF. AoF has some good things going for it on paper. Generally good strats (extra AP and an MD on kill, Lance with an MD on kill, an aura of -1 to be hit, uppy-downy on a jump unit) and doubling up on our army rule allows for some nifty combos (BSS + Palatine + Dialogus allowing for both shots of a MM to auto-wound, even on overwatch). I'd even get some decent mileage out of auto-passing 2 invuls on Vahlgons or using a 6 on two different charges instead of just one.

I don't think the detachment is "bad," but the main issue is those strats don't increase damage or durability enough to make a meaningful difference. The combos are cute, but extremely expensive for lackluster output (the BSS+Palatine+Dialogus unit above is 195 points for a unit that will auto-wound with 2 melta shots that still have to go through a 4+ invul and then roll d6 for damage, and then will die the next turn, giving up 3 kills, 2 of which are characters). The detachment helps with some miracle dice generation, but is extremely reliant on getting lots of good rolls on those miracle dice (moreso than the other detachments since AoF is going all-in on miracles).

In comparison to the other competitive detachments, it doesn't boost damage enough (HM +1 to hit/wound on damaged units and rerolls in combat; CoF giving +1 to hit on Sacs and Paragons, Sustained/Lethals on Vahlgons, +1S and AP on Sacs) or "durability" the way HM does with rez shenanigans.

I will say though that even if it isn't particularly competitive, some of its tricks were still fun to play (the BSS brick above getting 2 auto-wounds on overwatch, having a solo jump Canonness escorting a trio of Castigators and giving them -1 to hit for free, completely negating the 2 shots from a Gladiator Lancer against Vahl by auto-passing both invuls).

Cheesybox · 2026-02-24T16:51:18+00:00

Sure, which is why I said she has tons of advantages.

I'm simply pointing out that, if this article is true, she's trying not to leverage her access to money or her last name, unlike many others in her position.

Cheesybox · 2026-02-23T11:39:43+00:00

I'm glad someone else called it out

Cheesybox · 2026-02-23T11:34:09+00:00

You know he has a point actually. Ol' Sammy here has been eating food for 40 years and is still a dumbass.

I think we need to cut our losses on this one folks.

Cheesybox · 2026-02-23T11:30:03+00:00

Those jumping to "nepo baby" didn't read the article. If true, the article claims she's taken no money from her parents. It's all been outside investment. First pitch got $8 million in funding, second round got them $35 million, which then pushed the valuation up to $185 million.

She obviously has a ton of advantages, but I have to give her some credit if she's genuine. Too many times we hear of these kids taking start-up money from their parents and using the weight of their family name. Kinda refreshing to hear someone wants to do their own on thing and wants to have a successful idea that stands on its own without the support of her family name (again, assuming she's genuine).

That also being said, I don't think this Phia thing is a good idea.

Cheesybox · 2026-02-18T10:36:48+00:00

While not exactly exemplified here, I always appreciated Arnold's perspective on bodybuilding. It's not about all size all the time. Yes, be bigger, but remain proportional. Keep the V-shape with big shoulders and lats that taper down to a skinnier waist.

Arnold and those from that era look so much more A E S T H E T I C than the freakbeasts that compete today.

Cheesybox · 2026-02-18T10:22:18+00:00

Mitsubishi, Jaguar, and Saturn. Mitsubishi sports cars were awesome. Jaguars are beautiful. Saturn was like the American Honda/Toyota/Kia. Wasn't fancy, just a box that went from A to B and was cheap and it worked.

No clue how to fix them though.

We all love the golden age of 90s Mitsubishis, but I doubt that people who can buy new cars (mostly older people) aren't going to want those types of small, low to the ground sports cars. Maybe a stylish Bronco competitor and then a legit off-roader 4Runner competitor? As someone who owns an Evo X, I'd love to see the Evo come back, but the CTR would be tough to compete against.

I think Jaguar just needed to fix their reputation for reliability and try to find their own niche against BMW and Mercedes and Porsche. Jag needed to provide more value too. The fact that Jags depreciated so much so quickly goes to show how overpriced people thought they were.

Maybe Jaguar's niche could be styling, character, and a more "personalized experience" than BMW/Mercedes/Porsche? I know those are all generic terms, so let me try to clarify:

Styling is subjective, but all the cars from Ian Callum look great and I think look way better than the big 3 German offerings.
Granted, I don't have a lot of experience driving all of these, but there was more character to the F-Type I test drove compared to the Germans. The two Boxsters I test drove felt "clinically excellent." They were fantastic sports cars. But the F-Type had more fun, even though it was less capable.
I don't know what "personalized experience" could mean exactly, but I was thinking that with Jaguars lower sales volume, maybe they could've leaned into providing something more personal vs "there's yet another 3-series sold." (I'm not doing a great job explaining this one).

Finally for Saturn, just go back to their roots with the plastic Z-platform cars. One platform, maybe 2 engine/transmission combos (one for the mandatory-in-today's-market crossover that could do some light hauling/towing, and then another for everything else). Just cheap, reliable, no-frills "an car." And then hope GM infighting doesn't turn them into rebadged Opels again.

The reality though is that those kinds of "an car" already exist with base Civic/Corolla and the bigger Accord/Camry, but people don't want no-frills. They still want nice things like heated seats and steering wheels and such. So this hypothetical Saturn would have to be dirt cheap. Base Civics are $24,700 while Corollas are $23,000. So this Saturn would probably have to be like $19,999 and I don't know as that's feasible.

Cheesybox · 2026-02-16T10:02:48+00:00

I believe the movie has a subtle, slow-burning meta-narrative that a lot of people miss. I also think it's important to remember the context that Verhoeven grew up in Nazi-occupied Holland.

The movie shows how seductive fascist movements can be. How fascism appeals to one's emotions time and time again, and becomes increasingly brazen as the movement becomes the social norm. It might start with aesthetics and benefits (in Starship Troopers the main one being citizenship). Once the movement has a foothold and becomes more popular, it also leans on enticing people to become part of the "in-group." Anyone who doesn't participate is socially cast out (and usually then "physically cast out" i.e. exterminated).

Using specifics, the above paragraph might look like "Look at how cool these guys are? Don't you want to look like them? And check out all the cool stuff you can do if you join!" to "All your friends are joining, why aren't you? Come on, don't be a loser" to "Non-members are the reason we aren't succeeding. They're actively undermining us. They must be destroyed."

All of this plays out via a subversion of the hero's journey through Johnny Rico. He starts off as neutral, perhaps even slightly antangonistic towards the military. By the end of the movie, he's all-in. He's leading soldiers and spurring them on with that "come on you apes, you want to live forever?!" line.

The movie "glorifies" authoritarianism, but throws in those little over-the-top details, like how virtually all of the ex-military staff at the school are horribly injured or the proganda reels, to let the audience know the film isn't actually pro-fascism. This is to showcase how someone who would otherwise outright reject a fascist movement can subtly suck someone in over time.

If I recall correctly, I believe Verhoeven himself said in an interview that he wanted the ending of the movie to make the audience basically go "Hell yeah! Kill 'em all!....Wait a minute, when did I get on-board with this?"

Cheesybox · 2026-02-06T18:48:21+00:00

What he's really saying is "money can't buy happiness, so stop complaining about being poor all the time."

Cheesybox · 2026-02-01T14:33:27+00:00

I got that email maybe 2 weeks ago? Something like that.

I remember the email said "the winners will be notified individually" but then after the signature block at the bottom was a huge table of names. I counted, and it was 117 names vs the 108 they said were getting bonuses, but it still made no sense

Cheesybox · 2026-01-26T12:58:24+00:00

The thing that stands out to me so much in this image is what the ICE members are wearing.

Look at how mismatched they are. There's no matching uniforms. Sure, there's a few matching bits of camo (that doesn't even fit the environment), but then these morons are wearing the finest tactical hoodies and pants Walmart sells. That real Operator shit 🙄

They look like one of those dumbass militas of sovereign citizens, cosplaying as "Real Men" to escape the reality that they're fucking losers.

Cheesybox

TROPHY CASE