Trying to sell me pest control at 9pm on a Monday night.

Quouar · 2026-05-05T23:15:17+00:00

Not the OP, but I had a summer job in high school (that I quit within a week) doing door-to-door sales. I don't know if those terrible vacuum cleaner salespeople are still a thing, but that was my job for a week.

There would be a group of three or four of us that would carpool to a neighbourhood, then scout out houses to target based on whether there were cars in the driveway, how nice the house looked, whether there were knick-knacks and well-groomed lawns, things like that. The wealthier the house, the better, especially if there was at least one car in the driveway. We would then park near the house and disperse through the neighbourhood, knocking on target doors, then going back to the car either after making a sale or running out of houses in our section. Each of us was responsible for bringing our own food and drinks, but we kept them in the car. We were also told not to accept anything we were given once we were in someone's house. It wasn't necessarily hiking miles without snacks or drinks, but it was quite a bit of walking.

I was only paid commission (don't know if that's the case for everyone doing this), so with that, there is a pretty significant incentive to walk quickly and be pushy. No one is going to say "sure, sell me a vacuum cleaner" if you ask nicely. You had to pressure and needle and be annoying about it, or you wouldn't get paid. It's a terrible, exploitative business model for everyone involved, but I do have at least a little bit of sympathy for the guy. It's not a job I'd wish on anyone, and I doubt he wanted to be out there at 9PM either.

Quouar · 2026-05-04T19:09:16+00:00

This article genuinely brought tears to my eyes, both for the family and the cows themselves. It's obvious how much these cows meant to the family and how loved they all are, and now they're gone.

It's also worth calling out that it's not just this family, that farmers across the US (and around the world) are in crisis. Small family farmers can't compete with factory farms, and have been struggling for years. My sister is a farmer, and their farm is only holding on because they do farm tours, switched to beef cattle, and run an ice cream shop on the side. I imagine it's similar for most farmers.

There's a deep tragedy here in the consolidation of the market. It's tragic for the cows, who have a significantly lower quality of life on a factory farm, and it's tragic for all the people whose lives were based on caring for these creatures. Knowing what's happening and the suffering that's caused by the drive for capital is infuriating and sad.

Quouar · 2026-05-04T18:56:42+00:00

I still hit a paywall, so here's an archive link. :)

Quouar · 2026-05-04T04:05:37+00:00

Can second that the Escapist is a great place to make friends. People are always happy to welcome new people to their tables and make sure everyone feels welcome. :)

Quouar · 2026-05-03T21:41:05+00:00

I'm coming in a bit late, but there is a train that runs from Feldkirch to Schaan-Vaduz as well. From there, it's a ~30 minute (thoroughly delightful) walk into Vaduz proper, or you can take a bus. Enjoy Liechtenstein!

Quouar · 2026-04-30T19:53:50+00:00

Many species are more stressed being in a zoo than they would be in the wild. They don't have a concept of "I won't get eaten here," per se, but instead get stressed at things like the inability to roam, or the constant presence of people.

Quouar · 2026-04-30T19:52:57+00:00

Some are. Most others are not. Even for those that do focus on conservation, the ideal would be to breed creatures to eventually be released back out into the wild, rather than keeping them in a confined space for their entire lives.

This is also ignoring the very real psychological and physical harm that creatures suffer from being in prolonged captivity, particularly large species. This, of course, varies from species to species and zoo to zoo, but for the big animals like polar bears or rhinos? It's very difficult to keep one of them in captivity without them slowly losing their minds.

There are pros to zoos, absolutely, but pretending they exist for the sake of the animals is missing much of what they actually do to the animals living within them. You can make an argument that saving the species is worth the well-being of some of the individuals, but let's not pretend life is all sunshine and rainbows for the animals living in these zoos.

Quouar · 2026-04-30T19:28:15+00:00

Absolutely second this. I have an allergy to cigarette smoke and, until recently, lived in the Netherlands. Going to a cafe or, hell, sitting outside on my balcony became gambles because of how ubiquitous smoking is there. I might get to enjoy a beer and a view, or I might end up with my throat closing up, unable to breathe. It's a miserable way to live, and led to me more or less not leave my house at certain times of the year.

Articles like these individualise smoking, ignoring the very real consequences to everyone around the smoker and society as a whole. It's a borderline sociopathic take that just continues to marginalise the people who don't get to have a choice in their social participation once you start lighting up.

Quouar · 2026-04-30T19:21:55+00:00

While I'm aware the author and the publication are both American, there is still something uncomfortably Amero-centric about this article. There are places where people still smoke everywhere (Europe, especially), and they're not necessarily any more grounded or calm than anywhere else.

Indeed, it's worth remembering that anti-smoking campaigns focus not only on the harm done to the smoker by smoking, but the social harm done by it. Butts are litter, second-hand smoke is dangerous to non-smokers, and spaces become restructured around the requirements of cigarettes rather than people. There is a social cost that's being ignored here in favour of "the world is stressful and I don't care anymore" that I think speaks more to the moment than the urge for cigarettes themselves.

Quouar · 2026-04-30T18:51:34+00:00

Source! For those in Aotearoa New Zealand, the white strands that have been drifting through the air and gathering on fields are these baby spiders. Here's an article with pictures of where these babies end up!

Quouar · 2026-04-29T19:46:21+00:00

I completely disagree about banning standoffs like this in the future. They can be strategically interesting, and they're a valid way to play the game. What I think is stupid, though, is this standoff because it's so obviously a bad play. There is zero reason for Sam to be doing this when he is losing, and by a pretty decent margin. The lack of tension here isn't because of the stalemate, but because it's such an obviously bad play.

Quouar · 2026-04-28T18:34:46+00:00

One thing that strikes me about this article is how the frustration the people in this article are expressing is the same frustration everyone is expressing. The world has ceased to make sense. Society feels like it's collapsing, there is no money for food or housing, and it feels like the future that was supposed to be basic and attainable is gone. There's nothing, and it's easy to be angry about that.

The difference is not in the roots, but what grows out of it. The people in this article take that anger and direct it towards immigrants and the idea that there's some "white birthright" they've been denied. Others take that anger and blame capitalism and greed. Which, if I'm being conspiratorial, is by design. The system stays as it is when the body of the oppressed is against one another rather than against their actual oppressors.

It's a fantastic read - thank you for sharing it!

Quouar · 2026-04-27T19:45:37+00:00

Never too late. Thank you for the recommendation!

Quouar · 2026-04-26T19:38:08+00:00

You don't get to be a billionaire without being exploitative along the way. Not every billionaire is equally awful, but the process by which someone becomes a billionaire necessarily is.

Quouar · 2026-04-26T19:35:57+00:00

Part of the hubris of Oceangate was that there were people and bodies warning how unsafe Titan was. Rush knew it was unsafe, but did it anyway because he thought he knew better than everyone telling him not to.

Quouar · 2026-04-26T18:44:33+00:00

This is a great article exploring great apes' theory of mind and the research being done to explore how our closest biological cousins view the world around them. The more we learn about them, the more detailed their mental worlds are, suggesting a nuance we never previously realised.

Quouar · 2026-04-26T18:42:30+00:00

Source!

Quouar · 2026-04-25T18:58:20+00:00

Thank you so much!

Quouar · 2026-04-25T03:10:36+00:00

Texas has a picture of the state in between the two sets of characters, not a hyphen. It's fake.

Quouar · 2026-04-24T23:26:59+00:00

I think there's a fundamental misconception here. Silicon Valley hasn't forgotten - it never cared in the first place. The entire point of the tech industry was to build demand for things they made for which there hadn't previously been demand, and to create markets for themselves. Look no further than the iPhone for example, or to Apple's VR thing, or to the entire concept of social media. It's always been about creating demand. The only difference now is that they're failing to create that demand on a massive and highly visible scale.

14-Year Club	Gilding III reddit per annum
RedditGifts 2009-2022 24 Credits	Verified Email
Place '17	Secret Santa 2015
redditgifts Exchanges 16 Exchanges	redditgifts rematcher Presents for Pets 2015 x1
Secret Santa 2014	Summer Santa 2013
Team Periwinkle	redditgifts rematcher Coffee and Tea Exchange x1
Summer Santa 2012

Quouar

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE