IIRC, the reason sodium batteries would be better is we have abundant stocks of sodium, whereas the raw materials for most other batteries are limited and require more destructive mining. John Oliver just covered some of this on his show last Sunday. If that tech can be improved, hopefully there won’t be any deep sea mining for more raw materials!

Tbf, they do have similar faces. They both did a solid job in their roles imho, just the occasional over-acting.

Do you mean philistines?? And wtf are “sea people”? I’m thoroughly confused by all of your comments, as they make no sense.

You can sail the high seas for Fallout. It’s worth it!

Anything could have enough significance to warrant further study. If it has societal implications or environmental concerns, it could be deemed worthy. I’ve read some guidelines on how to read scientific papers, but don’t have the link on me. The scientists are supposed to list their biases, but it’s kind of on the honor system, I think.

On your last question, while changing reps to at-large would certainly help with gerrymandering, that would make it more difficult for reps to have solid relationships with their constituents. It benefits both the constituents who don’t have to travel as far(although phone calls and emails would still theoretically work) to connect with their rep, but also allows the rep to tour their area more frequently and be able to handle specific, local issues more effectively. There are tradeoffs with everything though, so it might work better overall. It’s just so hard to change the status quo, which goes for most things that people have listed here.

Great list overall but I’m wondering what you mean by reasonable behaviors in regards to having kids or not? I understand the notion of encouraging and discouraging behaviors by legislation, but that can be difficult to negotiate/implement.

Sign me up, too. This looks and sounds fantastic!

I’m sure that there’s a decent chunk of corruption with inspections, but there are also states like Arkansas where we don’t ever have to get our vehicles inspected… It’s absurd how shitty some of the cars and trucks are that I see regularly.

I think you’re on the right track with focusing on the local things you can change. And keeping hope alive is important! I mean, I may not have a choice in being fucked and miserable later, so if I can avoid that now, then that’s great.

I liked Spider’s point about means testing for voting. It wouldn’t work, although it does seem like it would be a step forward. We can’t even means test our politicians which has seemed necessary more and more recently… those pesky legalities, lol.

I saw that Mr. Roger’s quote “look to the helpers” recently on here and that keeps bouncing back in my head when I get negative thoughts. I know it’s not completely sustainable, but I keep seeing the impact of positivity on my life and the people around me, which is a nice change from the norm.

In addition to the veto power mentioned above, there’s also the power to issue executive orders and to nominate judges, including supreme justices. Those are fairly significant. There’s also the influence they have over foreign policy.

The vanilla flavored one was a bit sweet, but that’s how I generally prefer it. I usually am throwing berries and granola in there too so admittedly can’t give you an unbiased recommendation! I think there are plain flavored ones either almond or coconut milk based, which might be more of what you’re looking for.

I’ve tried a few types of coconut-based yogurts that were tasty. I’m not a fan of almond milk, so didn’t like those varieties as much. On the cheeses though, completely agree! I had one that was tolerable, but definitely falls in the “not good” category.

Thanks for writing all of that, it’s very interesting! I can see how that would be an effective system, but as you said, very difficult to implement in the U.S. anytime soon. Even making some incremental changes would help, as I would think there would be good evidence from systems like yours. We shall see I guess!

Sorry to hear that, man. It’s definitely a sad situation all around. The apathy of so many is hard to overcome, then there are those like you mentioned who cling to cults of personality or are just looking for a savior. Democracy is still hanging on, but it’s in a rough spot.

But how long would those appointments be? Many justices have written about how long it took to adjust sitting on Scotus, even if they had plenty of experience on the court of appeals(Sotomayor I think?). So like a 10 year period might work. Scalia and RBG voted together a surprising number of times… So there is something to the experience brought to the table. Thomas’s corruption is just nuts and Alito is frustrating, but the other justices at least have substantiating arguments mostly.

Mmm, had to look up sultanas but they sound like a great addition! My kids like it sweeter of course, but I love the mix of dried fruit and crunch. Will have to play around with it some, but thanks for sharing!

I aspire to be like your wife and be able throw it all together. My family loves granola with yogurt, so I need to practice. I have everything but the cranberries on hand. Sounds delicious, thank you!

I know it’s fairly simple to make but I haven’t taken a stab yet. Do you mind sharing your recipe for the granola?