You can say fuck on TV, it just increases the age rating. Same with showing nipples. Freedom of speech isn’t freedom from _any_ consequences of speech…
> People in the US are protesting against what the same organization, despite doing the same job under previous presidencies didn’t get protested as much if at all. If I recall correctly last year the current admin just beat the Obama admin on people deported in a single year.
This is not what people are protesting in the US, though it is a convenient talking point used by MAGA to dodge the issue of ICE deporting US citizens without due process, or straight up murdering them.
They are all over the place, especially small businesses. A cash only (paper money) price is typically less than debit card or other electronic “cash” discounts because tax evasion is assumed.
Next time you have an independent contractor do some work, after they give a price, ask them if they will accept 90% or even less if you pay cash.
My barber has a sign with a cash price, a Zelle/Venmo price, and a credit card price.
Like I said, I don't think I've ever seen them. For instance, you can't go into a Walmart or Best Buy and ask for a cash discount. Maybe a small business offers them, but I live in a small town (pop < 4k) and our grocery store and hardware store don't offer a cash discount. Neither do our gas stations offer a discount for paying for gas with cash, as the other reply mentions.
I'm not disputing they exist, just that it's exceedingly rare and not the norm.
> My barber has a sign with a cash price, a Zelle/Venmo price, and a credit card price.
I'm half joking and half serious, is he intentionally trying to confuse customers? Why do Zelle/Venmo have their own prices, and what price do I pay if I just want to pay with the debit card on my phone?
From someone who lives in bay area (so not <4k), this is exceedingly common. Of course Walmart does not have a small business owner on-site who can oversee such adjustments, but think mom and pop / single owner stores. They do it all the time.
Think contractors. They also do it all the time. When I did a remodel a couple of years back, he asked for cash. It was a small amount so I did not think much until my accountant told me I will need receipts if I wanted them added to my house's capital /cost. I asked the contractor and he stalled me for weeks while also saying I will need to pay more for receipts, until one day I forgot chasing (and am thinking of it now) and just let it go I guess.
>I'm half joking and half serious, is he intentionally trying to confuse customers?
He is sharing some of the savings from tax evasion with the customer.
I do not know if he can accept electronic payments from a debit card on the phone. I presume Zelle/Venmo is simpler than figuring out a system to separate debit cards and credit cards.
>just that it's exceedingly rare
Discounts for non credit card payment methods (such as ACH/debit card/Zelle/Venmo/paper cash) seem more and more common to me. Bigger businesses likely won't engage in tax evasion allowing for bigger discounts for paper cash, but fewer and fewer of my expenses are worth paying with a credit card.
I'm seeing it more often. They don't say cash discount, they say they're charging a fee for using a credit card.
What annoys me is debit card fees are supposed to be capped in the U.S. But for unclear reasons many payment processors don't honor this, even large processors like PayPal and Square. Merchants tell me the debit card fee is same as a credit card.
My local government charges a 2.9% fee for use of credit or debit card as well.
> I am sorry, but the damage is already done. It cannot be repaired. NEVER!
I hate to invoke Godwin's law, but Germany was once the most reviled country in the world and is now, arguably, the most influential country in the European Union. Clearly, damage much worse than what the US has done over Trump's two terms can be repaired over time.
Unfortunately, that path back for Germany required holding those responsible accountable, in some cases fatally so. I don't see that happening here. Nothing will prevent or dissuade Trump's political allies from continuing his movement. Yes they may lose an election here or there, but I don't see any indication that MAGA is anywhere close to becoming politically toxic. Until a post-WWII style reckoning can be had, I am not optimistic that reputational repair can happen.
> Yes they may lose an election here or there, but I don't see any indication that MAGA is anywhere close to becoming politically toxic.
I think we're on the cusp of it right now. The ICE murders make it more and more untenable and indefensible for the average American to defend without sounding crazy. But even if this doesn't do it, or an invasion of Greenland somehow doesn't do it, the big question will be: can MAGA even survive as a movement without Trump?
> Until a post-WWII style reckoning can be had, I am not optimistic that reputational repair can happen.
I fully agree. A third Reconstruction is needed in this country.
I watch movies and tv shows where fictional people die all the time, and I don't have a problem with it. But I make it a point not to watch videos of real people or animals dying. The difference (to me) is that I can sleep happily knowing that the actors in the films went home to their families after filming, but the people in real life didn't. It's much more profound to know that a real human lost their life, and I don't want to lessen the gravitas of these situations by watching it as casually as I watch fictional characters die.
> Recently I snapped a photo of an obscure instrument screen after taking a test and was able to get more useful information than what my doctor eventually provided (“nothing to worry about”, etc.) ChatGPT was able to reference papers and do data analysis which was pretty amazing, right from my phone (e.g fitting my data to a model from a paper and spitting out a plot).
If you don't mind sharing, what kind of useful information is ChatGPT giving you based off of a photo that your doctor didn't give you? Could you have asked the doctor about the data on the instrument and gotten the same info?
I'm mildly interested in this kind of thing, but I have a severe health anxiety and do not need a walking hypochondria-sycophant in my pocket. My system prompts tell the LLMs not to give me medical advice or indulge in diagnosis roulette.
In one case it was a urinary flow test (uroflowmetry). The results go to a lab and then the doctor gets the summary. Was able to diagnose the issue, prevalence, etc. and educate myself about treatment and risks before seeing a doctor. Papers gave me distributions of flow by age, sex, etc. so I knew it was out of range.
In another case I uploaded a CSV of CGM data, analyzed it and identified trends (e.g. Saturday morning blood sugar spikes). All in five minutes on my phone.
reply