Updawg

I’m not sure if the recent fledglings actually are larger or if it’s more of an illusion.

Logically, it doesn’t make sense that their bodies (sans plumage) would actually be substantially larger than the mature adult parents, other than maybe if the juveniles have a lot of “baby fat” or just different body shapes early on. I assume there are other aspects in play, like maybe they have more down feathers that push up on their outer plumage causing it to be more fluffed up and giving the appearance of them being larger than their parents.

Maybe a birdologology expert can weigh in (yes I know the actual term is ornithologist).

No, what I’m saying is $140,000 is not the new poverty line for Americans.

I don’t know the exact species involved here, but if I had a penny, I’d bet the two individuals on the left are mom and dad while the third individual that looks like it is wildly gesturing is probably a juvenile begging its parent to feed it.

In my part of the world, you see this kind of behavior in many different bird species. In some species, the juveniles appear to be larger than the parents and yet will still beg for food.

With less than a week to go before the cut off date to make a decision on my healthcare for 2026, I’m looking at having to make the decision to go without health insurance. Regardless of how things go, putting off a bill like this whether it’s a definitive NO or some concession to extend the tax credits until a few days before the deadline when citizens have to make a decision is just plain wrong.

Unfortunately, no it doesn’t address that point. It’s basically, if you pervert the definition from a century ago and interpret it in one specific way for a way of life that’s hardly anywhere close to the standard/average, then you can maybe make a clickbait case for a super high income that drives engagement. Think of the click through and comments!

My town was inundated with yard signs that said “Trump low prices, Kamala high prices”.

It’s one thing to lie about wearing adult diapers and pooping your pants. It’s another thing to lie about shit like this that affects the entire country.

The answer will be “only 90s kids will remember” but then it’ll totally be something that vast swaths of people from all walks of life and many other generations will remember and/or be familiar with.

Perfect doesn’t exist.

Honestly, isn’t this pretty much the vast majority of movie trailers? Not trying to be edgy or confrontational, but pretty much all of them try to make the movie look an order of magnitude better than it is.

But in the true spirit of what I presume you’re asking: Bug.

A couple decades ago, some friends of mine who were vaguely movie fanatics were convinced that was going to be an amazing horror film. Knowing I liked scary movies, they persuaded me to go with them. That movie was a total bust. It was so far off the mark from what the trailers and ads presented it as being that literally the theater full of people burst out in laughter when the credits started rolling. In truth, it wasn’t the worst movie in the world, but if you’re going in expecting a scary movie based on the trailers, this was not it.

The answer is NO, it’s not. However, to be completely fair, I’ve bookmarked the “supporting materials” to give it a review later when I have a little more time.

As someone who grew up in a family actually straggling the poverty line, there’s simply 0% chance that any family anywhere in this country is living in poverty with that kind of income. It’s well above what most households are bringing in, and while there may be a limited subset of circumstances where that money isn’t sufficient, that’s not what poverty is.

And I read through some of the comments in this thread – Assuming they’ve come from real humans not pushing an agenda, it makes me ashamed to be associated with those people.

Who needs laws when you got four paws. Am I right?

But to some analysts, a rise in wealthier consumers shopping at budget retailers is a red flag.

That was my first assumption and concern as well.

I think the nebulous powers that be (wall street, corporations, federal government, media) have a vested interest in presenting this with as positive a light as possible. But as someone caught up in all this, my anecdotal experience is that things are much worse than any of those powers are letting on.

Walmart and Dollar General ARE the race to the bottom. That historically higher end, higher income families are increasingly spending more at these establishments is absolutely not a good sign. Obviously there are a lot of factors at play, but let’s cut the shit.

People making good money are moving out of high cost of living areas and trying to stretch their money. They’re moving to more remote areas where Amazon doesn’t have same day delivery and the most convenient shopping options are Walmart and Dollar General. These are families that have recognized that even the premium retailers and premium brands have cut back so much on value while increasing prices that they might as well shop at Walmart if they’re getting over priced junk. These are also families who were formerly earning six figure incomes but then suddenly the income earners are being laid off without warning or operating under constant threat of layoffs, so now they’re cutting back.

None of this is a good sign.

Worst drivers in the entire country and some of the worst roads plus Lindsay Graham. Now measles at church, too? God hates South Carolinians.

No, they sound like “Electrocution”

I don’t even care what’s wrong or right. I’m blinded by the flashing lights. A moth to flame I screamed electrocution. Electrocution. Electrocuuuuu-yuuuuuuuuuu-shun.

Oh, come on.

Just be gay and do gay things. Much easier than acquiring wealth for most of us, a lot of fun in its own right, and you still get the desired enemies. Win, win, win!

I’ve only ever had one dog that was smart enough for this to be an issue, and she was incredible. She had an impressive vocabulary of words she understood. She knew most of her toys by name. After she figured out that first spelled out word, probably O-U-T or R-I-D-E, it’s like she also understood the concept that we spell out words to disguise them from dogs so she’d pick up on each new variation of a word and spellings in short period of time. I eventually just stopped trying to stay ahead of her on that game.

Yay I can be a memes!

I was happily and gainfully employed with a federal contractor earlier this year. The Trump administration’s cuts to funding and cancelled contracts were too sudden and too indiscriminate. Businesses like my former employer who could have pivoted to new income streams with minimal impacts on employment were not given the opportunity to adapt.

I’m one of the lucky ones in a way.

A lot of my laid off former coworkers had no financial cushion and quickly found themselves in dire financial circumstances. And pretty much all my friends, family, and acquaintances that still have jobs are stressed out from the threat of more layoffs coming and/or because they over worked. I’ve worked in stressful office environments before, so I’m pretty sure nobody’s giving their best work right now.