mspart

Well at least in Seattle, it has been ruined for the drivers because their service has been made too expensive by the Seattle law requiring a minimum wage. That's why it was called gig work. You get paid by the job. Now that job is too expensive for many that used to use it. So sales are down. It was predictable and was predicted when the Seattle City Council was considering this. Well, those mean people who have a basic understanding of economics were correct. Now the gig workers are making less. mspart

Why was someone filming that by the way? is that a joke or was that a real death we witness there? mspart

https://www.kptv.com/2024/02/19/oregon-sees-highest-fentanyl-overdose-death-increase-nation/ Oregon sees highest fentanyl overdose death increase in the nation PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A new report shows that Oregon’s fentanyl overdose rate has grown 1,500% since before the pandemic, the highest rate of increase in the U.S. The data comes from records held by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Every state that reported fentanyl deaths saw an increase. But, Oregon’s increase of about 1,530% topped the charts, with 1,268 deaths between September 2019 and September 2023. Gee, what changed? Now Oregon is a low population state with much of it concentrated on the west side. Portland, Salem, and Eugene as the biggest cities. 4.2 million total in Oregon. Most of it is very rural and hostile climate wise. So not a lot of population outside of the big cities. For a small state to lead the nation in growth of fentanyl deaths is really something. And those researchers can't figure out why. Let's let it stay static for another 10 years and then maybe those researchers can tell a difference after thousand and thousands of people die of drug overdose. mspart

https://apnews.com/article/oregon-drug-decriminalization-law-3f851183d45e9c29609360b09e996d04 SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers in Oregon on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping new bill that would undo a key part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law, a recognition that public opinion has soured on the measure amid rampant public drug use during the fentanyl crisis. The bill would recriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as a low-level misdemeanor, enabling police to confiscate them and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks, its authors said. It also aims to make it easier to prosecute dealers, to access addiction treatment medication, and to obtain and keep housing without facing discrimination for using that medication. “It’s the compromise path, but also the best policy that we can come up with to make sure that we are continuing to keep communities safe and save lives,” state Sen. Kate Lieber, a Portland Democrat, told The Associated Press. Voters passed the pioneering decriminalization law, Measure 110, with 58% support in 2020. But Democratic legislators who championed it as a way to treat addiction as a public health matter, not a crime, are now contending with one of the nation’s largest spikes in overdose deaths, along with intensifying pressure from Republicans and growing calls from a well-funded campaign group to overhaul it. Researchers say it’s too soon to determine whether the law has contributed to the state’s deadly overdose surge, and supporters of the measure say the decades long approach of arresting people for possessing and using drugs didn’t work. That last paragraph cracks me up. It's too soon? Har har har. https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/28/data-show-overdoses-deaths-rising-in-oregon/ In 2019, 280 people died of a drug overdose in Oregon. Fatalities rose every year after, more than tripling by 2022, when 956 died. And last year, even more people died, according to preliminary data. Each month the number has been higher than the previous year, reaching 628 in June. The state is still compiling data for 2023, but if the trends continue, the total would reach 1,250 deaths from an overdose. Looks to me like the researchers aren't looking hard enough. 2019 drugs were illegal and deaths were at 280. 2020, drugs were legalized and each year from 2020-2023, the number of deaths rose dramatically. 956 died in 2022, and projected 1250 in 2023. "Seems like something happened in 2020 but we just aren't sure what that might have been" they are saying. These are not researchers, they are sycophants for the drug decriminalization cabal. Portland, the city of Roses, the most livable city some years ago is now a cesspool. As bad as Seattle and San Francisco. Just sickening what these politicos have done to once vibrant and beautiful cities. mspart mspart

US participants: 57 kg: Spencer Lee (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC) 61 kg: Nick Suriano (Sunkist Kids) 65 kg: Nick Lee (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC) 70 kg: Alec Pantaleo (Titan Mercury WC/ Cliff Keen WC) 74 kg: Kyle Dake (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC) 79 kg: Alex Facundo (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC) 86 kg: Chance Marsteller (Titan Mercury WC/NYC RTC) 92 kg: Nate Jackson (New York AC/NJRTC) 97 kg: Kyle Snyder (Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC) 125 kg: Mason Parris (Titan Mercury WC/Cliff Keen WC) No surprise - I pick Lee, Lee, Dake, and Snyder to take Gold. Not sure of the rest. What you got? mspart

I really like mine. Almost zero exhaust. When I got mine, it was already with the new software etc so was good to go. All new factory warranties etc. The only trouble I have with the AC system. Doesn't clear the dash of fog very quickly. Other than that, it seems to be a really nice car. mspart

Did he break the law? In his own contract with the bank, he stipulates that the bank should do their own due diligence on the numbers his firm provided. Judge Engoron would not allow that to be admissible in court. Didn't want to hear about it. He had his agenda and we now know what it was. Very clearly. He wanted to punish Trump and did so with an unprecedented gargantuan fine that will be overturned on appeal. The banks had no problem with Trump or the deal they made. They got paid and were whole. Trump did his business with the loans and was whole. But a DA that ran on "getting Trump" did just that. Now we will see how well this will hold up on appeal. mspart

And this is happening right before our eyes. No wonder German citizens felt betrayed by the Nazis who gained control of everything pretty much without notice. https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html "What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing. "What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it. "This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter. mspart

There's a GIF for everything!! mspart

I don't eat fungus. mspart

True story: We were on vacation in DC. This is back in the 60s. I was young and got sick and had to stay at my aunt's house while my family went to downtown. My sister and my Dad went to the top of the Washington Monument. There were hippies in there and my sister told be about the choking body odor. Then while driving around they saw some sort of protest. My dad was unimpressed because of the few number of people in the protest. When he got home and watched the evening news, that protest looked on screen and was described as a huge protest with all these people. It was at that moment my Dad figured out that the news had an agenda other than reporting unbiased news. That would have been 1968. I remember watching a burial and asked why we were watching it and my mom said it was for Robert Kennedy. mspart

SF has totally lost control of itself. Putting a non citizen (especially a Chinese citizen) on a local election board is the definition of self destruction. Now perhaps she is really interested in seeing elections be fair and even. Or perhaps maybe not. mspart

Maybe he can't call them thugs, but I can. Thugs attack police. Thugs attack innocent bystanders. mspart

Lucky for some folks this guy messed up. Only hurt himself. Does he still get 72 virgins? mspart

This fine just handed to Trump is an egregious miscarriage of justice. In the trial, the banks were queried if they were harmed. They said no and that they would do business with Trump again. So no one was harmed. You don't levy a civil fine of this size for no one being harmed. It is a gross miscarriage of justice, weaponizing the justice system to get rid of people you don't want around. Now with this judgement, other business types are on notice that they too could be targeted if this ruling stands. In addition, it was apparent from the beginning that the judge was antagonistic to Trump and did not allow certain evidence Trump wanted to bring up but allowed the state to do so for everything. It was like muzzling the defendant. That should not happen in any judicial case. I'm not talking about outbursts. I'm talking about evidence not allowed, explanations not allowed to be expanded on while on the witness stand. The absolute size of the award to the state (who had no harm done to it either) is the best indication of the attitude of the judge in this case. A Trump hater doing to Trump what he wanted, rather than an impartial judge. Because the banks received no harm, this case should have been thrown out before it started. mspart

They just want a better life by any means possible. At least those 4 and the thugs in NY now in CA. mspart

Your question is essentially asking, Even though the EV is more expensive, worse for the environment, less convenient, less operable in extreme cold or hot weather, is only convenient in a city driving situation, is more expensive to repair, may cause more pedestrian deaths due to low noise, why is there all the push back on them since they are trying to solve a problem? The problem is many fold: How to reduce CO2 emissions, do it economically, do it so it is convenient, do it so it is reliable (talking grid here too). Solution: Hybrids reduce CO2 emissions, do it economically, do it conveniently, do it reliably. Until EVs are like this, they are an albatross on the necks of the car companies. Consumers are not buying that modern day snake oil. Solution: My VW Passat TDI gets around 40mpg and averages higher than 30 just regular driving. That is better than my wife's 18mpg mini van. But both are way more convenient, economic, and reliable than an EV. Solution: As I noted earlier, the solid state battery (which Toyota is also developing) may be an answer to some of those questions as it will charge faster, go farther, and not be so horrible for the environment. This may be a solution that is worth waiting for. We will have to see. mspart

I just heard on the radio that illegal entry has gone down because Biden has quietly gotten the Mexican government to stop them from getting to the border. So apparently he could do something without a new law being passed. mspart

Yep, that's the go to. mspart

What about JB making it to the finals? My heart says yes, but my head says a tough row to hoe. mspart

Page turning definitely the best. mspart

I won't discount that. If I could make a $3000 guitar sound like a $3000 guitar, it might work. Alas, I have a $350 Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top Pro which I love and it sounds like a better guitar than the price. This is a fun song to play and not too difficult except for that beginning part. Fun to play against a youtube backing track. Then I am the guitar. In my head, I sound pretty good. mspart

What does an admiral know about this? He should be thinking about how to annihilate the enemy. Oh wait... mspart

Thanks jross. I have watched that. I have the parts down pretty good. It is finger dexterity for the most part. There is a stretch that my little and old hand just has trouble with without touching the high E string and muting that F# hit. But I'm getting there. And to ionel - I won't dignify that post with a response. mspart

I have not seen those bands. I liked Judas Priest, not Iron Maiden so much. Metallica has some good stuff and I can almost play Nothing Else Matters so that is good. I've got it mostly down except the intro. I have it but cannot play it good consistently. Beginning looks like this!! Fairly easy. mspart