Agreed. If someone can’t be bothered to write two sentences, they really have no business being on a discussion platform. Because clearly they won’t be contributing much if anything to the conversation.

That’s a slap on the wrist if they only impose the fine. That should be a five year jail sentence at least.

You cannot act like a dick like this in other countries. Defacing a religious site no less.

This really feels insane, even for this day and age. Which makes me think we’re probably not getting the entire story.

If true, it’s downright silly. Back in the 80’s, we were out of the house unsupervised for hours. Parents just about encouraged you take candy from friendly strangers or to hitch a ride in their cool white van with ‘Free Puppies’ written on it. As long as you made it home without broken bones, they didn’t care. Ask anyone from my generation.

At that point I’d just go full legal mononym like Cher and Teller.

I really enjoyed my helicopter ride as well - a sightseeing flight on vacation. That was on a Schweitzer S300; a small helicopter with a bench seat in the front. So you’re sitting right next to the pilot with an almost unobstructed forward vision. So cool. Definitely not something for people with a fear of heights.

Flown in, as a passenger. I’d have said ‘piloted’ if I was the pilot.

And yes, that’s an odd trio of aircraft, considering most people only really fly on airliners. I’ve been on a Boeing 747 in a museum, but have never flown in an airliner.

It’s magical, right? It’s what got me interested in aviation - the physics, the science, the engineering to make it work. And we’ve gotten so good at it, air travel is now available to most people, it’s safe and convenient.

I’ve flown exactly three times in my life: a hot air balloon, a helicopter and a DC3. Each was magical in its own way. I’ve also done a fair bit of plane spotting. Seeing an Airbus A380 landing right in front of you is amazing. It really is the size of a large apartment block with wings. Truly awe inspiring.

Aviation is fucking awesome!

All of this is stressing me out… i’m going to Starbucks.

Dutch guy here. I definitely knew he was a terrible clown when it came to business, well before he ever ran for office.

I mean… he’s so bad at running a business, he had several casinos go bankrupt. And those are pretty much a license to print money if you run them halfway decent. He also failed at stuff like running his own airline and a host of other ventures. I also knew he was at one time involved with the WWE, I knew about The Apprentice, Home Alone…

Basically, if you were alive in the 90’s, you had plenty of opportunity to know about this clown of a ‘businessman’. When he ran, I figured it was a joke - a publicity stunt. Imagine my surprise when Americans actually voted for him!

Yep, I’ve worn contacts since I was three years old. In my nearly 40 years of wearing them, it’s happened maybe five times that they slid to the side. There’s no reason to freak out when it happens; I usually just close my eye and gently nudge the lens back with my finger on my eyelid.

Of course, it helps to know that it can’t physically get ‘behind your eye’ even though it certainly feels that way.

I know, right? This sort of thing would get you a neat title like ‘enemy of democracy’ and a suitably unpleasant execution method. Like getting dropped from an aircraft into the ocean.

It’s… probably… good the US doesn’t do it. But that’s definitely the sort of crime you should avoid anywhere outside of the US and Europe.

Yep, pretty much this. I grew up with computers. The first one I used was a C64 in school. We got our first family PC in 1996. I was 14 back then.

If you wanted to do basically anything, you had to figure it out or read an actual manual. We had to fight with drivers and such in order to get any game or device working. It was part of the fun; you had to be nerdy to want to do that.

Nowadays, even my completely tech illiterate dad can use an iPad to browse, e-mail, stream stuff and connect on social media.

To be clear: my dad phoned me this morning asking how he could set the time on his digital Casio watch. And he’s using an iPad!! That’s how easy we were able to make tech, so even a toddler can use it.

I feel very lucky that I grew up with tech and can solve most problems on my own.

There’s a few reasons why that can be relevant.

In the US, a lot of dentists use nitrous oxide for pain management and/or sedation. Taking a blood pressure is one of the safety precautions for pretty much any sort of sedation. In Europe we usually use local anaesthetic; it’s less invasive.

There are also certain complications that can arise from a high BP. It can result in more bleeding, which is not ideal especially if the patient is taking medication like blood thinners.

And on a general note: a lot of people don’t know they have a high blood pressure. It’s a good thing to check occasionally if you don’t. High BP can have a wide range of health concerns.

Abso-friggin-lutely. Shoot them twice to be sure.

It’s such an annoying, disrespectful thing to do in public. If you do it, you’re either a giant asshat or too dumb to keep around.

Decisions are made by those who show up. That’s what it boils down to. I always see it like this: even if I don’t get the result I want, I’ll at least have the satisfaction that my vote cancelled out someone else’s who’s voting against my interests.

So make sure you show up, or someone else who DOES gets to decide for you.

I’m amazed they even go to that much trouble, or that condemned have a choice in the matter. Just a single bullet to the back of the head should suffice. No need to get creative or prolong any suffering.

If the state feels like it must kill someone, do it with a quick and effective method. This just feels needlessly cruel.

I get it; the entire system sucks. Even here in the Netherlands with a dozen political parties, you rarely get the government you want. But there’s still things you can do even if you really don’t want to vote in this particular election.

You can support groups that promote voting reform, like ranked choice voting. You can and should vote in all local elections. You can even RUN in many local elections, since candidates frequently run unopposed. You can help inform others about the voting process and get poorly represented groups to vote. If all else fails, there’s always the option of shooting your least favorite politician or doing an Oklahoma City. But try those other things first, OK?

Decisions are made by those who show up, it’s as simple as that.

You may hate it, but the Republicans are definitely better at getting people in line, both literally and figuratively. They turn up and vote even if they don’t like the candidate because… that’s their party. And it’s the only one that they feel represents them.

Meanwhile a lot of Democrats stay home because the candidate isn’t the one they wanted, doesn’t support everything they want, is too old/young, etc. There’s this attitude of ‘if I can’t have my perfect candidate, I’m staying home out of protest.’

I get it. Every voter wants a perfect candidate. But perfect is the enemy of good, as the saying goes.

I always look at it like this: if I vote, I might not always get the outcome that I want, but at the very least I’m nullifying the vote of a person on the other side.

If the other guy shows up and you don’t? That’s how you lose rights.

Be someone who shows the fuck up.

Absolutely disgusting chocolate in my opinion. Chalky and bland. It’s nice that they claim to be about equality, but the product itself just isn’t to my taste. And yes, the dumb way they make these bars also really puts me off.

I just want a normal, boring bar that tastes nice. And this is not the brand for me.

I recently purchased a new computer monitor; an LG Ultragear OLED. It’s as dumb as a bag of rocks - which is why I bought it.

And let me tell you: it’s quite the search to find a monitor that DOESN’T have smart bullshit features built in. Most of them are now set up as if they were a TV first instead of a monitor - as in, you need to go deep into menus to find actual monitor settings.

I’m glad I was able to find a dumb monitor, but I fear it might not be possible anymore when this needs replacement…