Don't have to worry about your friend's motives if you honestly want to help them.

Travel a little bit. Spend most of your time at home, either enjoying the simple pleasures, or with friends and family.

So what if they are taking advantage of you? You are rich! What's the downside?

Sure, you have to be vigilant against con artists, grifters, and addicts. You have to draw a line somewhere. Maybe don't fund their casino trips, drug trips, or Candy Crush high score.

Extravagant birthday gifts? College tuition for your niblings? Why not?

If someone is lying to you, you will find out eventually. I'd rather have friends now and let future me deal with the fallout from the grifters.

Inns like that existed during the enlightenment up through the invention of the railroad. In the medieval era you slept in a church or maybe someone's home.

I just figured the hole is that deep.

Growing up my family could pile into a van for a 2 week road trip or Disney vacation every summer. My grandparents were still working at that time, grandfather was a small business owner mechanic. Grandmother was a part time bookkeeper for a non profit.

To have that financial independence today, I would need triple my income, or my wife and I would need to double our income.

I figure a decade+ of real wage gains across the economy would approximate that. Maybe not for me personally, but for the average.

The article is real and "shit still sucks" can both be true.

My thought upon reading the headline was "gonna need another 12 years before people start thinking we have turned the corner for the better."

I respectfully disagree.

This both sides narrative is FUD, and it's dangerous for Americans, Ukrainians, even Palestinians.

Withholding your vote from Biden is peak virtue signalling. It does nothing for Palestinians, they are even more screwed with Trump than they are now. Trump already screwed them over moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and becoming the only nation to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli Capital.

Protest, boycott, form a union or convince yours to strike, by all means, electoral politics is not the only or the most important political arena.

But complaining about Biden online to people that already don't like him is worse than useless.

I have not been so sure in my vote in any prior election. 2020 I had no doubts, but then trump launched a coup and Biden turned out to actually have a few progressive bones in his body. Biden has straight up impressed me with his accomplishments with the inflation reduction act, chips act, infrastructure bill, and various other accomplishments.

Trump is scarier now than he was in the last 2 elections. He has a roadmap to dismantle our democracy and leave us rocking from crisis to crisis like Argentina or Brazil. I think there would still be elections, but the corruption would blow off the charts and millions will suffer needlessly.

Sandy Hook survivors are in high school now and some are getting into activism.

I think Johnson got into briefing rooms with the white house, the CIA, and the Joint Chiefs, and realized that the maga games have the potential to spiral into world war 3. Death and destruction beyond anything humanity has ever seen.

And he started figuring out how to givern like an adult. McCarthy had already burned too many bridges with Dems. They hated him. Johnson was a fresh face and Dems were desperate for someone they could cut deals with.

It is fucking insane, but it's nonsense to punish him by handing power the guy that wants to genocide harder.

He will get another stern talking to and he will definitely shut up this time.

Or else the legal system will coddle him even softer. He can't possibly get away with it this time!

Prosecutor said it's not their responsibility to ensure he faces consequences for crimes committed.