Obama overcame the sunset provisions and made the tax cuts permanent for single people earning less than $400,000 per year and couples making less than $450,000 per year, but did not stop the sunset provisions from applying to higher incomes, under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.
As a heathen Yank, I don’t have an actual stake in the whole thing. However, I can’t escape the following, as my considered opinion:
EU Proponent: “Hey, you know how it’s really easy to govern, fund, and defend nations and empires?”
Skeptical European: “Ummm…are you joking?”
EU Proponent: “Well, some of us were thinking.: what if we carve out a nebulous, constantly shifting middle-ground between a single nation, a group of nations, and an empire. Ya know, some kind of cobbled-together, mutated entity, possessing some characteristics of all those things, but never truly being any of them. That might be EVEN EASIER to manage.”
EU Proponent: “We figure the most important aspect would be a constant vagueness, regarding the enforcement of laws, standards, and regulations that all the nations in the semi-pseudo-super-nation group would have to follow.”
Skeptical European: “Come again?”
EU Proponent: “Well, it’s simple: maybe all the countries in the quasi-ultra-state would be bound to obey laws passed by the mega-parliament. But also, maybe they would still be sovereign states, and they wouldn’t have to obey those laws. But, then again, maybe they ARE supposed to obey them, technically, but there isn’t an effective method of enforcement. If everyone has to keep guessing, that will make sure everyone pays attention, and everything will go really smoothly.”
Skeptical European: “Ohhhhhkay. But we’ll still bully the shit out of Greece if they have financial problems, right?”
EU Proponent: “Oh, fuck yes. That’s 90 percent of why we’re even doing this.”
That’ll be the night you can’t fall sleep til 4am, alarm clock doesn’t go off, and traffic is fucked everywhere along your commute. Just do your future self a solid and get it done the night before. Future You will thank Past You.
The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as the correct, appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it. No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will fine you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart, you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct.
A person who is unable to do this is no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with a law and the force that stands behind it. The Shopping Cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society.
Aldi’s deal is more about getting people to return carts all the way to the front entrance so that they don’t have to pay employees to retrieve them from the corrals.
Of course, with their parking lots being small to begin with, I’m not so sure it’d make much of a difference (see also: Lidl, with the same size parking lot but no 25¢ locking carts).
If your cart catches a breeze and dents my car then you’re now providing profit to a body shop. Putting your cart away is about not costing random people hundreds of dollars. And it saves the teen making minimum wage from chasing it down in the snow.
Fuck the grocery store, of course. But if you want to screw them over then there are better ways to do it, and with less collateral damage.
Your misguided attempt at rebellion against capitalism in reality only hurts the grunt that has to pick up after your inconsiderate ass. You think your behavior actually costs the company anything? You think they hire an extra person because of people like you? No. You just make some poor sap at the bottom of the pecking order that much more miserable
Congratulations on making yourself feel righteous at the expense of your fellow plebs
Sounds like they need to unionize and get paid enough to make it worth it then. There’s no moral obligation to do labor for corporations for free or under paid.
Lol “moral obligation”. You don’t do it because you’re obligated. You do it because it’s nice for the worker, and for the other customers who don’t want to navigate around your abandoned cart
No, it’s a job and you’re an entitled prick who thinks it magically happens. Supermarkets where I live make billions. They can definitely afford to pay low skilled workers, of which there are plenty, to do this work.
you’re entirely correct, but what people are also missing is: if the weather’s nice, getting outside and pushing carts is a welcome break to the fluorescent lights and other drudgery of the store…
anyone who’s ever actually worked a retail job will tell you that going outside every once in a while is pretty nice.
picking up trash in the rain sucks, but pushing a cart is leisurely compared to whatever else they’ll have you do.
We’re definitely on the same side. What many people see as an inconvenience is a job for many. I once had a boss who’s first company was a trolley collection company, he started from nothing, worked hard and sold it for $1m in Australia.
Sorry, I’ve become confused about what you mean by “here” or “there”, and where you are based.
You mean coins are required in America? Because not in Sweden. They used to be, like 20-15 years ago. But they removed that. Not sure if there was a law that came into effect or something but… not anymore with the coins. Carts are free to take into the store without coins. Still, everyone returns them.
I still do it without coins because that’s what I’ve done in my entire life. Like, not returning the cart never even entered my mind as a possibility (it’s still not one).
I’ve seen some un returned carts sporadically, but I’ve always assumed that there was some emergency.
On the Internet however? I’ve seen people argue that not returning carts is good for the economy because there’s people whose job is to return those, and if we did return the carts they would lose their job. Which is… Stupid to say the least.
We have absolutely enormous parking lots, and yeah, Americans are lazy and have an abundance of food. Maybe not more inconsiderate, but Hanlon’s Razor comes into play here. If you don’t believe me, just go to any Golden Corral. There absolutely will be multiple families in there where every single person weighs over 250 pounds, even the 8 year old kid.
I remember a girl in highschool that was an exchange student from Botswana(?) was a bit upset that she was too fat to go home after living here for a school year. She’d gained like maybe 5 pounds. As far as all us Americans were concerned she finally didn’t look anorexic.
My brothers and I would run around the parking lots gathering up all the carts rather than go into the store. This was especially fun at Aldi’s cause we got a quarter for each cart, and could get some candy.
Hanlon’s Razor comes into play here. If you don’t believe me
No no, I already believe that. I think that’s one of the most soothing and comforting adages ever. I suppose it’s just not in many Americans’ culture to think in terms of “what good can I be to society during my lifetime/today/in this situation,” rather than “how can I help myself/make the smallest burden for myself, right now”. I dunno.
I remember when I came to America for a few months, twice. I would gain a lot of weight both times. I thought it was quite frustrating. But cheap food really is bad for you.
Mostly Americans who don’t travel say this because they haven’t experienced lazy people in other countries. I’ve seen plenty of dumping of trash, destruction of natural places, etc in other countries.
Probably more in the continental Europe, right? Or further east? I feel like Scandinavian people are quite clean and take responsibility for trash. We have a good community system as well I think. Garbage is collected and disposed.
I dunno. Sometimes it bothers me how people don’t sort their trash correctly in the correct bins, like how hard is that? But at least they bring it there, right? 🤷♂️
HA! The Norwegians have terrible air quality because their mountains clog smoke in valleys. I noticed this when looking up the UKs and spotted my English city had better air quality than lots of Norway. Swedish hobgoblin motherfuckers.
What you get when no one is in charge. There are always people who will abuse a common trust. People will litter within feet of a trashcan or leave a cart a few spaces from a cart corral.
Personally I think shopping carts are the penultimate litmus test. Returning a shopping cart requires effort, albeit a miniscule amount of effort. The ultimate litmus test is litering. It requires exactly zero effort to not throw your trash on the ground or out your car window. To me, littering practically screams, “I don’t give a shit about anyone but myself. I have the self control of a toddler at bed time and I want everyone to know it which is why I throw my shit on the ground like a total fucktard.”
I’m not really a confrontational person but I have rolled down my window and yelled at people for throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. You would think some people were raised in a goddamn barn.
But there is a penalty for littering. Some people might refrain from littering not because it’s the right thing to do, but because they don’t want a fine.
The lack of repercussions for being a scumbag and abandoning your cart is what makes it a good test.
Most babies turn head down in the last few weeks- a typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. At 30 weeks like in the picture the baby would probably still be in a head up position.
When I was a kid, my mom was usually pretty laid back. But, if we were being smart asses, I’m pretty sure she could have reached us from halfway across the room.
All the soup is made in house, broccoli is blanched and then microwaved to order, Alfredo is made in house, red sauce has a base in a can but is finished in house, meat is cooked on a grill or sautéed. People are there chopping shit at like 7 or 8 AM.
Applebees and chili’s are probably better candidates.
-spent too much time working at OG
Pro tip: order a fried lasagna with a kids Mac and cheese on top
I used to love Olive Garden as a kid. In particular, I liked how the lasagna was light and fresh-tasting with a bright-red marinara sauce, cut in a square and served on a plate. It was a stark contrast to the typical kind found at other Italian-American restaurants, where it’s heavy, drowned in a brick-colored sauce with long-cooked flavors, and served in an oval baking dish that’s spent too much time under the broiler.
I went there a few days ago for the first time in decades, specifically to try that lasagna and figure out how to replicate it at home, but I was served something a lot closer to the typical lasagna instead of the one I remember. Is my memory faulty, or did they change the recipe at some point? And if they did change the recipe, do you remember the old one well enough to give me any tips about making it?
I didn’t cook so I can’t help with a recipe but I think they used to hit it with a fresh scoop of sauce before it went out. I can’t remember if it was a standard though.
Some scenarios that might get you a less than stellar lasagna:
Someone plates it early and it sits under the warmer while the order is being cooked.
Someone in your party eats salad really slow or orders more than average of salad or soup. Servers put a “hold” on food so the ticket floats until a predetermined time they select or until they manually push it. So if I expect your chicken to take 8 minutes and set a hold for 7 but get busy and a third salad bowl is ordered, my float might have expired while I was greeting another table. Now I have to either bring your food early and risk you feeling rushed or leave it under the warmer until you’re done with salad. It’s tricky!
Serving is hard y’all, the difference between 20% and no tip can happen in minutes, and it can totally not even be something you have control over. Time feels different when you’re sitting there waiting for me to finish my mandatory greeting talking points so you can ask for more bread. I’m glad I found my way out of doing it and I still get uncomfortable when I can see my server struggling anywhere I eat.
I hate the weird power imbalance that tipping culture creates in American restaurants. I don’t go out to eat that often, but I always try to be super chill with the server and tip well. I can’t begin to imagine having to do that job.
It is really bizarre. I worked at a wannabe-Chili’s restaurant in the Midwest for a while. The most unexpected thing I learned was that college-aged couples understood the struggle. Different people on different occasions, they’d be super easy-going, and they tipped me $20 on a bill of like $18.
This made such a huge difference when I was making literally $2.13 an hour.
Bigger families with kids or stuffy "business meeting " people usually ran you ragged and tipped like garbage, also while leaving the surrounding area absolutely demolished after camping around long after their meal.
Life is easier if you just always tip 20% no matter what. I go to restaurants to eat. It’s not my job to judge the waiter, and who am I to judge someone I don’t know on a job I’ve never done?
Tipping is stupid, yes, but that’s the culture and people need it to live. Only exception I make is if a restaurant has a required gratuity (usually 18%), I don’t tip any additional.
I love watching Youtube videos of native Italians eating at Olive Garden. It’s not just that they hate the food because of course they do, it’s that they get so incredibly angry at the very concept of someone daring to call that food “Italian”.
Used to work at chilli’s. Was about the same. Stuff brought in warmed/cooked in house. Half way through my time there they changed some cook tops for those conveyer belt machines similar to the pizza ones. Mostly for seafood and other easy timed foods. Prep guys were also there at like 9 am. Chips were made in house. Most meat also cooked to order. Most sauced were brought in bags and just warmed. All veggies and the like were fresh daily.
Olive garden is always a great experience for me. Never had the impression that the food was microwaved. Probably best not to pay a meme that much attention
You mean he actually boiled the pasta and tossed the salad?
I’m exaggerating but when you think about the things that Olive Garden are known for (unlimited bread sticks, and their soup and salad deals), they’re all essentially premade. I don’t know many people who go there for the steak, for example.
When I was a teen, my older brother told me how he got trapped in a cycle of buying candles for light when his electricity was shut off. He thought, “I could pay this damn power bill if I didn’t have to buy so many candles!”
I got trapped in a similar poverty cycle years ago. I couldn’t replace broken dish-ware because I kept having to buy disposable plates for my meals. My mother bought me some cheap plates for xmas that year to break the cycle.
It’s the fallacy of the cheap boots. A rich person can buy nice boots that last ten years. A poor person has to buy cheap boots that need to be replaced every few years. In the end, the poor person spends more on boots with less to show for it.
For all my broke homies, target has some incredibly cheap plastic plateware. a single bowl plate and cup are only like $3 total. You will be cleaning a lot of dishes but still cheaper than disposable.
having been through this exact situation, I get the point of the meme, and realize their intent was that “doctor” should be read as “healthcare industry”. Just poor word choice. Other side of the story, the healthcare professionals that cared for him where wonderful and did everything they could for him and I am totally OK with them getting paid for their efforts.
They were faking it. When I was 12, I was pretty smart with tech, but I was not allowed to touch my grandpa’s projector. (It’s because if you didn’t turn it off properly, the bulb would burn out).
He also did some work with ibm back in the 80s, and he didn’t really like kids, so that might have something to do with it.
There Lemmy goes inciting violence again. Why is it considered okay if it is the right kind of subversion? 99.9% of people are rational but that leaves millions that take this as a calling.
So maybe don’t advocate for murder. Additionally, don’t suggest it as a solution if your views do not represent the majority opinion. That’s literally called radical extremism.
The deaths from people starving, becoming homeless, being denied medical care, or devastated by climate change, all so that wealthy capitalists don’t risk becoming workers again, are also premeditated.
Well, everyone is entitled to a fair trial. They are not guilty or eligible for capital punishment until that’s completed and found guilty by a jury of their peers. Try again, extremist.
It wouldn’t be fair, they’re billionaires. This is the whole problem, and why people start talking about eating them (which I don’t really understand) or chopping their heads off. If we were civilised, we wouldn’t have billionaires, so let’s not be too coy about this.
It isn’t like billionaires constantly ruin the life’s of people and are only in the position they are by stepping over the corpses and suffering of others OH WAIT
Just FYI: Elon musk inherited his wealth literally from an emerald mine. Jeff Bezos is known for his current atrocities against his employees. Bernard Anault is in kahoots with genocidal dictators. You don’t become a billionaire without violating human rights.
I usually like everything, but Olive Garden is the one restaurant I won’t even go to if someone else is paying. Absolutely God awful what they do to pasta there.
When I was 8 or so I watched three old ladies one of whom was my great aunt try to figure out how to connect a DVD player to a tv and just couldnt. I even told them to stick to the same row for all the cables but noooo I was a kid and they knew better, I was sent to my room. Twenty minutes later they figured it out, im 24 and still fucking annoyed at that shit.
It may well have been that his crime was acting like he knew how to do it while being 8. I had old people like that around when I was a kid. And I was a very respectful kid
I’m envious! They at least try. My mom usually buys something new, continues to use the old one till it breaks or not at all (if I don’t intervene). Because attaching a hdmi cable and power cord is too much hassle to even start thinking about. I’ve only last week connected her old cd player and amplifier that was still standing there after she moved 3 years ago. I would do it sooner but she even hates it when I start doing. Oh and not like she’s actually going to use the audio equipment… Radio on the TV sounds just as good, obviously… Ah when she was moving I discovered she had a whole new stereo set still in boxes that she never bothered to even unpack! You know, in case the one she wasn’t already using died or something…
This is why I treat kids with respect and understanding. Everyone I meet may know something I’ve never even considered, and it’s worth the time to at least hear them out. It also means that kids tend to trust and respect me without me needing to try to assert any authority, so that’s good.
And every component cord I’ve used had some way of separating the two audio cords from the three video cords. I’ve struggled more trying to figure out which way is up on an HDMI.
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