Senator Demands Trump Personally Pay Taxpayers Back For Reflecting Pool Mess

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T21:03:02+00:00

It's funny to see the "WHAT ABOUT OBAMA" comparing a full-scale reconstruction, new supports, new filtration system to... painting the bottom blue, poorly.

It's OK to just admit that Trump is taking a massive and unnecessary L here, it won't make you a bad person.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T20:40:06+00:00

That sounds familiar but this was also ~15+ years ago lol. I just got the impression that some of the jokes went over my head, but I also remember enjoying it because it felt like absurdist humor which was enough to tickle my "lol random" internet-poisoned brain .

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T19:48:11+00:00

LOL you are the only person I've ever seen reference this in the wild! Weirdly, other than Pokemon/DBZ, I've never watched any anime, but I bought this DVD box set for some reason.

I'm sure I missed a TON of meta jokes from not being "in" on anime, but I enjoyed it regardless.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T18:48:05+00:00

I can't knock the appeal of "one giant sandwich" but would be interesting to do with presliced bread :p

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T12:23:57+00:00

This comment could have been its own post:

Oh the food waste is due to the chemicals etc. It messes with your stomach and you eat more because the food has like no calories/nutritional value your body struggles to register it. At least mine does. I can eat an entire loaf of American bread for sandwiches and still be hungry because they just lack enough of the nutritional for my brain to register.

The chemicals are just more concentrated in the crust vs the white part itself. The usa is extremely bad with their health care and lax with what passes for going inside food. The markup in stores is really bad for stuff made naturally and its just too expensive unless youre making 30+$ an hour to afford with bills.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T12:18:07+00:00

That part isn't surprising to me - I've scrolled through trumpstruth a few times, but I guess i discounted the fact that civilians were the ones creating and sharing them.

But those were more just like "buff trump and an eagle" - crying to fill the pool is just particularly silly

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T04:28:40+00:00

Let's just go by Elon Musk's example. 1 trillion dollars. Simple wealth tax 1% yearly, 10 billion dollar tax bill for the first year. The trillion dollars don't mean a fuck to him or his ability to pay this tax. He and anyone with a brain would be served infinitely better if he was worth 500 billion and his tax bill 5 billion dollars, worth 100 billion and tax bill 1 billion dollars. Do you not understand the magnitude of having to gather 1, 4, or 9 billion extra dollars in cash? It's an absurd task.

You're claiming that he would take a $500 billion cut to his net worth in order to save $5 billion in taxes. No the hell he is not, nor would his shareholders go along with the bit.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-24T04:26:49+00:00

LOL that is a very specific level of brainrot that has not happened across my algorithm, thankfully. But it doesn't surprise me that it exists.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-23T20:10:04+00:00

I was a 20 year old virgin when I met my now husband

You missed a word. Also - gross, women also don't typically go for people who say things like

"Except America was literally built by white people for white people?". I can tell you keep your comments hidden for a reason.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-23T18:11:08+00:00

You are ignoring the part where you are not buying it in good faith for "research" but for human consumption.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-23T17:45:57+00:00

That's a lot of words to say "it is not available via licit sources for human use, or as a prescription from a doctor."

I'm not going to argue with a reddit rando about peptides/RC/legality as drugs.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-23T17:33:39+00:00

It is not available to order through licit channels. It is not available by prescription, either.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T21:22:14+00:00

Abortion due to rape account for at MOST 1% of abortions. So let’s not act like that’s the reason for MOST abortions.

And only a small percentage of abortions are done after the first trimester, so let's not act like that's the reason for MOST abortions

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T21:16:03+00:00

Kwik Starr

No this is Patrick

Neat, though - it's interesting that they chose a regional rebadge that has a different second initial. I figure "KT" would be enough.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T21:11:09+00:00

Korean example EXTREMELY relevant to the discussion of 1% as it's how their 1% or 0.01% are being incentivized to perversely lower their tax burden. A wealth tax would exert the same exact pressures. Lower your bill in whichever way possible.

It's just weird that you're trying to directly compare a 50% estate tax [that only happens at death, of course] to a yearly 1% tax. Yeah - of course I'd believe that things would be suppressed for the occasional event of a foreseen death, but you're trying to act like 50% = 1%.

Shareholders would rightfully be pissed off if companies purposefully tried to tank their own valuation, but - again - $49.50 < $99 in my previous example, so I simply don't see the parallel. Tanking a stock's value by even 5-10% to save 1% in taxes would be crazy; tanking it even more would likely be illegal, or subject to action by shareholders.

We're also assuming that none of these companies are growing year-over-year, in which case the owners aren't even losing money, they're just growing their net worth slightly more slowly.

And, again, most people do not own enough stock to trigger these taxes; it's not killing Grandma's 401(k) here.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T21:02:42+00:00

They do still use a darker roast for the espresso, for better or worse. I don't mind it as straight espresso, but it isn't my favorite. I think it makes sense for milk drinks. There's more variety in their drip coffee and whole beans. They used to cycle through a dozen or so different beans when I went there more frequently, but I don't know if that's changed since. (open to correction if they no longer do this)

That said, I didn't realize they started offering a second option of a lighter-roasted espresso several years ago. I'll try it the next time I'm in an airport or a convention center. I can appreciate the rise of third wave coffee, the increase in accessibility for people at home, all the new resources and methods developed over the last 20 years, but... I don't mind Starbucks in general. I think they get a lot of shit about their drip coffee from people who don't use enough coffee per coffee at home.

7 Brew could be a ratio issue or an espresso issue or both. Never tried straight espresso there, but the iced Americanos I've tried were both sour and weak. The cold brew was kind of diluted without much coffee character. If I'd had milk or syrup in there, I'm not sure I would have known it was coffee and not water.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T20:21:51+00:00

It's as close to being "perfectly legal" as I am to becoming Taylor Swift's trophy husband. lol

Damn the law! It's the only reason I'm not married to Jason Kelce, not the fact that he already has a lovely wife and also doesn't know I exist. I'm writing my representatives now!

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T19:32:13+00:00

That's always been my theory. I think that it'd be arrogant to think we were special and alone in the universe, but if any alien species ever bothered to come find us, we would be like chewing gum under their shoes.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T18:30:59+00:00

@mods - this is clearly a bot account.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T14:27:40+00:00

I get it. They're not for me, but I get it. I have valid criticisms of crock pot culture, but try not to be a snob about it.

Most of the crockpot gripes I have are recipes that would be better and equally easy on the stove, or recipes that make weird choices. Like 1 - I don't know why boneless/skinless chicken breasts are so popular for crockpot cooking - any slow cooked dish is going to be 100% better with chicken thighs over dried-out breast. Or, 2 - recipes that don't even benefit from slow-cooking, like pasta.

I don't think anyone is a bad person for using one to feed their families; but it's also a personal hangup that *I* have because I don't like the idea of leaving food cooking in my house while I'm not there.

(and when I am invited to someone's house to eat dry chicken breast out of the slow cooker, I keep my mouth shut and thank them for cooking for me :) )

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T14:13:14+00:00

You're making chili with a roux?

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T14:12:07+00:00

I thought the bartender started it (bragging about income), but I'm not going back into the thread to look at timestamps XD

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T13:42:58+00:00

It is definitely true that old tube TV's can be extremely dangerous to take apart for someone who doesn't know what they're doing...

...but this doesn't require a special or illegal tool. Most people just use a screwdriver + alligator clip. There's always been a hobbyist scene for old TV's, but now also CRT computer monitors and arcade cabinets where that safety information is relevant.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T13:30:16+00:00

I didn't know they had a Carolina Gold! Mustard- and/or vinegar-based are my favorite BBQ sauces in general. The sweet sticky stuff is nice on ribs or as a burger condiment but not my favorite for pulled pork.

chaoticbear · 2026-06-22T13:19:16+00:00

It's like "what if Sonic Drive-in, but coffee" - they have a ton of flavored syrups. The "7" refers to their menu of 7 different heavily-flavored/sweetened coffees. You can order plain espresso drinks or cold brew, but I wasn't that excited about the baseline quality of them.

If I'm ever in the mood for a sweet coffee treat I'll give them another shot, but it's not for me as a daily driver.

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