I can’t recall where I heard it suggested, but it’s certainly possible that weakening Cuba is at least a strong secondary goal. They’re in a tough spot already, and losing a major trade partner in Venezuela would make things even tougher.

I’m not sure this is a primary goal overall, but I could absolutely see this as Rubio’s personal objective that he just keeps to himself about.

I think it says something that the people of Argentina are in such dire straits, and yet they did not support the opposition in sufficient numbers in the most recent election. I am not blaming the people, but pointing out that the opposition (which my understanding - from this website, largely - is Peronist-ish?) themselves, like the Democrats in the US, Labour in the UK, Greens/SPD in Germany, etc etc) is so firmly entrenched in neoliberalism and refuses to offer real solutions, that the people in Argentina and across the globe rightly do not trust them to help get them out of the situation neoliberalism itself has put them in. It’s opportunity for us (socialists), but we have a very long row to hoe.

Is the “sanctioned” part of the sanctioned oil tankers relevant? Are there tankers that are unsanctioned, and can they deliver oil?

Any tips for helping a kid first learn how to ride a bike after taking off training wheels? I think my oldest is ready but I’m not sure.

The kids have been watching Once Upon A Hamster recently. It’s a Canadian show from the 90s but we watch it on Amazon’s streaming service. It is just about the cutest, coziest show I’ve ever seen, highly recommend.

I feel like I have good diversity of people in my social circle, though leaning towards more educated. I do not know anyone else IRL who regularly reads even one book per year that isn’t the Bible or some Prayer of Jabez type book their church group is reading together.

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We live where it’s warm and never snows, but for Thanksgiving break we went back to my midwestern hometown. We got a couple unexpected snowfalls. The joy my kids had in sledding… it was so good to see. My wife and I had to get our kids back inside eventually because they were on such a high they might not have even felt themselves getting frostbitten.

Looking at his Wikipedia… actually no, he is not. A Zionist and into “effective altruism”.

I don’t doubt the difference between the CPC and UK govt responses will be night and day. With Grenfell, IIRC there weren’t any consequences beyond some slaps on the wrist. With the CPC there will be death penalties.

Apologies for the Reddit link but not sure where else to find it… Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave a nice quick summary of why AI toys are a bad idea:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1p7defc/joseph_gordonlevitt_warns_parents_about_buying/

Even M. Night Shyamalan had a few very good movies (The Village and Signs, and at least everyone else loved The Sixth Sense) before turning into dogshit.

Chappie might be the worst movie I’ve ever paid to see.

I was initially very skeptical of my kindergartner having a school-issued iPad. While I still have my concerns about screen time and all the bright colors and actions burning out her little sensors… now that I’ve done some homework with her on the iPad, I do see the merit in it. The lessons she does do see to fit well with the iPad i.e. showing a word and then sounding it out.

It’s not out of the ordinary where I live (high cost of living)

The remainder of the frozen Russian funds will be invested in a separate US-Russian investment vehicle that will implement joint projects in specific areas. This fund will be aimed at strengthening relations and increasing common interests to create a strong incentive not to return to conflict.

I may be reading far too much into this, but I noticed that nowhere here does it specify that this remainder - I think very roughly $500 billion or so - must be invested in Ukraine. If so, this sounds like what Trump is trying to do with Japan; get a commitment from a foreign government to commit to investing in the US. But again, I am likely reading too much into this, even if it means investment in Ukraine this is a nonstarter for Russia. But it does have Trump and Witkoff’s grubby little fingerprints all over it.

If you only knew about the alternate reality this person lives in. Honestly while they were always classist and reactionary, it was a small part of their overall personality until they got hooked on Facebook a couple years ago. At this family gathering whenever they weren’t spouting this BS they were on Facebook. Like seriously, I would say at least 80% of the day today, they were on Facebook.

Gosh, supply and demand is working as intended? People are operating in their own self-interest? Leave it to a libertarian to complain about their own beliefs.

lol I mentioned this. We live in California where they passed a minimum wage law specifically for fast food, I think at $20 per hour. This person is blaming this law (“BiG gOvErNmEnT iNtErFeReNce!”) for being the reason for all these jobs they think are way beneath them paying “too much”.

I don’t know anyone IRL who hates poor people more than this person. They grew up rich too. They identify as a libertarian.