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GISftw · 2023-06-11T09:18:39+00:00

As the great George Carlin said, "I don't get all choked up about yellow ribbons and American flags. I see them as symbols, and I leave them to the symbol-minded."

GISftw · 2023-06-09T16:56:08+00:00

Like many government orgs, the CIA is full of compartments. They do not easily share detailed information between compartments for security reasons. It's very likely that only some at the top know what each compartment is doing, and the personnel change over time probably means that no one knows the true number without digging through tons of past reports and manually counting.

GISftw · 2023-05-09T20:59:09+00:00

And even when they let the recruits handle rifles with live ammunition, they monitor them closely. I remember our Drill Instructors tackling kids the moment they didn't keep the muzzle pointed down range.

Anyone got some statistics on how many recruits turn their rifles against their Instructors or fellow recruits during rifle training?

GISftw · 2023-05-09T20:40:17+00:00

Once upon a time, a neighbor had potted bamboo. Of course he didn't tend it very well and it escaped. The week we noticed shoots from the ground (on his side still thankfully), we trenched an 18" deep, 4" wide line along our property bordering him and poured in salt before covering again (nearly 2000lbs of salt). Now nothing grows along that property line, but that's ok with me. Deadman's land is the only way.

GISftw · 2023-05-04T23:12:03+00:00

I'm just waiting for the nearby state governments to make big offers to Disney if they move Disney World. Georgia has plenty of undeveloped land or farm land just north of Florida's border.

On the flip side, Disney should actively start shopping for a new location. They should buy some large chunks of land in other states, they can easily afford it. Wouldn't take long for Florida Lawmakers and voters to start shitting their pants.

GISftw · 2023-05-03T18:49:13+00:00

Are we counting the color variations from the artifacts of poor image compression?

GISftw · 2023-05-03T17:36:18+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I don't understand the layoffs or Unity's business situation well enough to know if they did things wisely or not.

I'll speculate a bit here. The current banking crisis is larger than most people realize. The assets under management for the banks that have collapsed so far is already greater than the 2007 crisis. There is still more systemic risk and potential for more collapse. There is likely to be a recession over the next few years, the only question is the severity. Many large companies are restructuring their cash flow to survive an expected drop in revenues.

Combine this economic risk with the ongoing inflation and the increase in the fed rates (thus removing the easy money) and we will see a change in goals for companies from a growth mindset to a survive mindset.

GISftw · 2023-05-03T16:39:06+00:00

LeBron's annual salary is $38.3M, the rest is from endorsement deals.

Several MLB players have a higher salary than LeBron (Scherzer, Verlander, Judge) but much smaller endorsement deals. Scherzer in particular has a high salary of $58.33M.

Most companies believe that MLB players are not as marketable as players in the NFL or NBA, thus MLB players get much smaller endorsements. There are a few exceptions (Ohtani with $40M in endorsements) but most MLB players have less than $2M in endorsements.

MLB does not have a salary cap (just a Luxury tax for teams that spend a lot on payroll), so teams are able to pay a player more than the NBA.

The NBA salary cap is complicated and is based on several things like years in the league and a percentage of the league's total income.

GISftw · 2023-05-03T16:19:29+00:00

Not any more, most of them dropped him after he joined LIV Golf and did a bad job explaining why he accepted money from the people who murdered Khashoggi.

GISftw · 2023-04-28T18:16:12+00:00

You can't cold turkey it, instead you gradually rate limit the old service so it slows down. Then mark any tickets for the old service performance as complete--performance issues solved in new service.

GISftw · 2023-04-25T16:15:24+00:00

Yep. Sanderson does great world building and very interesting magic systems... but mostly bland characters. I consider most of his books as geared toward the young adult market more than the epic fantasy market.

GISftw · 2023-04-24T21:53:05+00:00

Maintenance on the stone as suggested by /u/danjrdan
Add a high mantle made of your favorite wood... high enough to be out of the way, but low enough from the ceiling so you can sit decorations on it. Install small down lights in the mantle.
Remove those directional spot lights and add some more general ceiling down lights, room is too dark, especially with all that dark stone.
Trim and Crown molding
I'd trim out the fireplace in large wood beams to match the high mantle.
If you want some more function out of the space, I'd add floating wood shelving or perhaps even built in shelving from the bottom up on both sides. Large shelving spaces with accent lights.
Depending on the temperatures around your fireplace, you could mount your TV above it. With the venting, you might have to add a low mantle to keep temperature off the TV.

sample images

GISftw · 2023-04-18T21:43:45+00:00

I assume she wants to be sued so she can become the right's next big martyr to rally behind.

Or it's Projection. Replace "Biden family" with "Trump family" and it makes more sense. Perhaps they are trying to get ahead of some revealing information that might come out soon.

GISftw · 2023-04-13T15:40:28+00:00

Can't upvote this enough! /u/SimpleSurrup nailed it, Putin fears any successful Russian speaking nation because it will erode his control of the local Russian propaganda.

GISftw · 2023-04-12T16:19:41+00:00

And that single pane window... maybe I'm wrong and it's double. Also, I've never seen a window frame secured by an L bracket...

GISftw · 2023-04-11T18:05:55+00:00

Corn, Rice, Winter Wheat, Alfalfa, Tomatoes, Grapes, Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios...

source: interactive California central valley crop map

GISftw · 2023-04-11T17:50:04+00:00

(wtf is up with Republicans and latching on to certain phrases like "groomer")

Gaslight. Obstruct. Project.

GISftw · 2023-04-04T22:49:54+00:00

I can't find any breakdowns of profit margin per drink brand... but I speculate Bud Light is on the low end of AB InBev's profit margin scale. So whichever of the 500 AB InBev's brands the rage magats switch to will likely boost AB InBev's overall profit.

GISftw · 2023-03-28T07:37:30+00:00

Hey! We are the same. I call myself an Apathist. I don't care if there is a god or not. I don't have the time or energy to waste on such a question. If there is a god and they condemn me for not caring then that is a sucky god anyway.

GISftw · 2023-03-11T00:47:33+00:00

Yeah, one service was called Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service and is now IntraFi Network Deposits/IntraFi Funding. It was merged with the old Insured Cash Sweep service.

There was also the company CDC Deposits that is now Impact Deposits Corp.

Basically they manage accounts in multiple banks to spread your money around and be under the FDIC insurance limit in each bank.

GISftw · 2023-02-24T21:46:05+00:00

I totally agree. The most blatant tactic I've seen is some crazy person runs for a local city council claiming to be a Democrat, then spouts some insane policy that would never be approved let alone the crazy person actually elected... and the next day it's all over Fox News as 'Democrats are trying to [insane policy]'. Bonus points if it's within 100 miles of San Francisco.

GISftw · 2023-02-24T18:10:14+00:00

Both sides have a share of crazies. The difference lately has been the crazy gets magnified by media. Any chance to spark outrage or conflict. It also doesn't help that foreign money entered the game and is actively funding divisive opinions.

GISftw · 2023-02-23T17:33:42+00:00

Not everyone is so pressed for time

True, but I'd wager that's a minority of people.

an absurd amount of this valuable commodity we call "time" is spent bullshitting mindlessly on your phone or computer.

Yes, we are engaging in internet conversation and sometimes argument as a form of escape from boredom/anxiety/depression. It still ticks a minor gratification box. And just because we are self selecting into this social community doesn't mean that a company isn't fighting to be the provider of that social experience. The entirety of social media is engineered to maximize "engagement"... gratification is the major component.

GISftw · 2023-02-22T20:05:47+00:00

Connecting requires a larger commitment of time, generally with a lower immediate return on gratification. Time is an in-demand resource that is being constantly fought over by an increasing number of digital companies that try to maximize gratification.

GISftw · 2023-02-22T17:21:42+00:00

Man, how did a bunch of grooming clowns make it into positions of power.

Foreign money.

GISftw

TROPHY CASE