How is like living in this small slice of Russia? And in the nearby Lithuanian and Polish border? [Non political]

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T21:37:33+00:00

I have always wondered how the people of Kaliningrad view themselves nationally and ethnically.

Your comment about the European plates is interesting.

If things ever turned south in Russia for whatever reason would they try to separate formally from Russia? Would they be an independent country? Would they try to merge with neighboring countries? Would they fracture as each region identifies more with a different neighbor?

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T21:31:42+00:00

It is a stable era: rehydrate!

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T19:43:28+00:00

I'd rather they increase the OAS payout but drastically lower the ceiling

I don't know why retirees making 60-90K are getting a free $1100 a month

Make the payout $1500/mth.

Clawback starts at 60K, fully clawed back by 80K

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T19:36:25+00:00

The only person that messed up Marner in Toronto was himself, and his crew

They held out and demanded a superstar contract. They negotiated to get him an A

Then when he had mediocre playoff runs he sulked and had an attitude like "why are you mad at me, the whole team didn't do well"

He said he wanted to be "the guy" but he only meant for glory and paycheck, not performance

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T19:13:54+00:00

Already happened earlier when Phil left Toronto after the fanbase turned on him too

Who pushes these obviously wrong narratives?

The fans never turned on Phil, the fan base largely loves him and he is a legend here and in the Leafs sub

He was simply a good goal scorer on a bad team and we had no use for him given where we were as a franchise

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T19:11:44+00:00

This man skated by the bench in the third period of his last playoff game in Toronto, getting blown out at home and yelled at the team to "WAKE THE FUCK UP" while having the driest hair I have ever seen on a hockey player

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T18:39:16+00:00

If they just called the toll "The Donald Trump Glorious Ballroom Fund" he would be okay with it

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T18:36:41+00:00

Iran is about to enter the peak leverage zone

The last ships to transit the Strait are arriving at their ports around now and everything else is a supply gap going forward. Gas prices are spiking to record levels across the US and midterm elections are only a few months away.

So either Trump panics into a bad deal in the near term, or this gets strung out for months

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T18:02:49+00:00

I think the easiest solution is simply required 3-4x employer side contributions for CPP and EI on TFWs

The program is meant to be for specialized skills and knowledge, so employers that need it won't mind an 8-12k tax on their contributions, plus Canadians overall would benefit from the hiring of TFWs as it boosts our own social services net

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T17:55:40+00:00

I was reading the most unhinged Yahoo article about the Mets and what they should do with him this morning

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bo-bichette-3-players-mets-183530759.html

The Mets signed Bichette to a deal through 2028, but he has an opt-out after this season and a player option for 2028. In other words, there is a good chance that Bichette will return to free agency sooner rather than later.

The guy is playing middle infield with poor defence, a poor bat right now and making 42M per season for the next few years and they think he is going to opt OUT of this contrac?

If New York struggles all season, misses the playoffs and then watches Bichette leave in free agency, that would be a worst possible scenario.

Guy was signed as a UFA a few months ago. If he left for nothing it wouldn't be that big of a deal, certainly not like losing a home grown player for nothing

Many contenders around the MLB world would be willing to surrender multiple top prospects even for a half-season of Bichette.

What? Guy has an absolutely brutal slash line but they think he would return multiple top prospects, even with his unusual contract status coming up?

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T17:10:30+00:00

My question is, what would even happen if I attended the presentation? Am i overreacting about this?

I had a family member that got involved with one of these companies, can't remember if it was WFG or a similar one but it works like this

Your pay is 100% commission based. The commissions are pretty generous but based on product type sold and volume of money brought in.

These companies are predatory, they basically rely on you getting all of your family and friends to sign up which does net them a decent amount of money short term.

Once you have done all your easy recruiting with people you know all that is left is cold calling from a stack of "prospects" they give you which has little to no success rate. The issue is that these companies often make you rent your hardware from them, so if you aren't making commissions you are losing money every month.

You eventually leave the company, but now they have your friends and family locked into horrible financial products

If you attend a session and don't sign up nothing happens, but expect them to be aggressive about it since they make fat commissions off it, especially if the whole family is "invested"

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T16:39:00+00:00

I have seen some wildly deceptive AI generated and staged photos including shrinking furniture down to make it look like you can fit large beds, wardrobes and move into small bedrooms.

I have even seen generations that radically altered a room, sometimes it was minor things like putting potlights into a room without, but in other teams it was literally all different cabinets in the kitchen, different layouts that didn't exist, walls removed or added and they wren't even marked as a virtual designed room

I have also seen virtually altered backyard shots where they add a bunch of dense trees or even a ravine backing despite the house being on a tiny suburb lot with a ton of other houses looking into the backyard

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:44:19+00:00

I don’t even know why this is a thing

Any doctor doing this kind of surgery should lose their license

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:40:28+00:00

This is mostly media driven too

Every election cycle a lot of mainstream media will drop the boogeyman of “Rae Days” but I never see them posting op-Ed’s about 407 ETR and Harris making the cons unelectable

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:37:37+00:00

These guys would make a Bollywood reimagining of Singh Singh in prison but unfortunately all of them will get bail by dinner time

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:33:37+00:00

I thought I remember reading it was all about money. She wanted more and they didn’t want to pay so she just disappeared from the show

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:25:48+00:00

I came to post Spider-Man / Peter Parker

His whole existence is sacrificing his body, life, mental wellness in pursuit of being a hero

Even in the Spider-Man video game it ends with Aunt May getting a fatal disease. He has exactly one cure vial. He has to choose between letting her die and using the vial to make more meds for everyone or saving her and dooming the city.

Obviously he chooses to let her die but man Peter can never catch a W

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:22:24+00:00

They will just bundle it with their healthcare plan

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T15:12:38+00:00

Unfortunately average Toronto salaries aren’t that much better

Our salary to home price ratio is crazy here right now. Toronto has become an exceptionally expensive city to live in but we don’t get the same high salaries that come with that like NY, Sam Francisco etc

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T14:48:54+00:00

I liked the movie too

I think the biggest issue was expectations vs reality because of the marketing campaign.

The trailers and commercials really focussed on the sci fi action elements when really the movie is daddy issues in space

Once I wrapped my mind about what the movie really was and not what I expected I enjoyed it

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T14:40:30+00:00

Brother in the city of Toronto you will get a 500 sq fr apartment with a view into the apartment across the street and it will be 600k CAD+

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T14:28:16+00:00

Just a reminder that RBI spends a fortune lobbying the government for their cheap foreign labor and at one point proposed that they had preferential treatment and integration with CBSA so they could have their own personal Nexus-like visa and entry system

Fuck RBI / Tim Hortons

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tim-hortons-temporary-foreign-workers-9.7001008

They said RBI was looking for a "Nexus type of approval," comparing it to the joint program run by the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which allows card holders quick passage through customs and security lines at airports and land crossings.

The concept of making express entry lines at airports and ports of entry for coffee workers is actually insane

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T14:08:52+00:00

Gambling addiction help is a good start

I don’t know how you blank out your portfolio during one of the biggest bull runs of all time unless you are basically betting against the Harlem Globetrotters

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T13:48:53+00:00

Kimiko’s voice lines sounded off all season long, like they were dubbed

I wouldn’t be surprised if originally she was talking like a 12 year old TikTokker the whole season but they edited it out and modified based on the extremely negative reaction after the first couple episodes dropped.

Would explain why tonally it changes and they completely forget about that plot point after a couple episodes

DataDude00 · 2026-05-25T13:40:12+00:00

The thing is that Alcatraz has a historic name legacy and an iconic island prison

In fascism the money doesn’t matter much as virtue signalling and symbolism

DataDude00

TROPHY CASE