There, you see? The Catholic Church was simply about saving the children.

No, I wouldn't be, because I was talking about a random location which was indeed pretty unique. That said, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, I'm a big fan.

I understand that's the theory, but these situations were specifically not something that could be easily gleaned. We're talking like reminiscing about things that happened in our pre internet youth that there's no record of anywhere and that came up randomly in conversation. I'm definitely aware of the dynamic, even before ubiquity of the internet, it's true that sometimes companies would know people were pregnant before the person did based on their purchasing profile. This wasn't that though, there's just no possible connection.

That happened a few times now, so pretty much nothing is going to convince me it's not the case.

This was my understanding, but I just don't believe it anymore. There have been way, way too many time my wife and I were talking about an incredibly niche thing that didn't come up through the internet in any way, and lo and behold the algorithm presented those key words. Nobody will ever convince me it isn't being done to some extent.

Everyone else tackled primaries, I think... yes, it's where the parties select who will run in the general. Some parties have open primaries were any registered voter can vote in them, others have closed primaries where only registered party members may vote. In the past Democrats have usually been open and Republicans closed, but I'm not sure how that is today.

Why does there seem to be such disparity in the views of candidates from the same party?

True of most systems that use winner take all voting as it leads to two big parties. Parliamentary systems ease this somewhat, but even in England, for example, it's historically been common to have Corbyn-types and Blairites under the same roof, which is a pretty big disparity.

In the end, it isn't as big of a difference as some people make it out to be. The difference is that where a parliamentary system with ranked voting usually sees coalitions form between parties to govern, the same thing happens in systems like the American one within each party. So the Democrats might need to appease the Progressive Caucus, or the Black Caucus, or whatever... Republicans same thing with the Tea Party types vs the old school conservatives vs the alt right, etc. It's just whether these coalitions form within each party or between different ones.

(to be clear, I do think the parliamentary + ranked choice system is better for representation, I'm just pointing out the difference isn't quite as stark as some suggest... the idea is the same).

Agreed, there are definitely exceptions I could think of, just speaking generally.

I really wonder if there is any place outside of a concert venue that these folks find music on speakers acceptable? I kind of get it if they're solo, just use headphones, but... hanging out in a group and listening to music together at the beach is about the most normal use of a beach trip I can think of.

No worries, dude, I'm with ya... I completely understand the disillusionment, but people touting the death of electoralism that think they're really being revolutionary, IMO are being useful idiots for the elite. And its definitely rampant here... I'm back and forth on whether to stick around, honestly.

My friend, you are very much barking up the wrong tree here. And I don't blame you one bit, there is a ton of what you're describing here and it is very frustrating, but you've misunderstood me to be saying something I'm not. I think it's helpful to know historical context to know that even more leftism is not only possible, but has happened... but I think Mamdani is still a huge win in this current political climate and I think attempts to tear him down are almost laughably self-defeating from anyone considering themselves on the left.

Fully agree with you man, we should take the W here as a much needed shift left of the Overton window....

Yeah, but Windows is no easier to install... most people just don't experience it because it is the usual pre installed OS. I don't think it's really fair to count that against Linux... in terms of the installation process, I found them to be similar, which is to say a pain in the butt. I wouldn't recommend a non tech person try to install WIndows either.

Aside from that, no, it did not need any further set up aside from installing Steam via the repository. Arguably easier than in WIndows, certainly not harder. I did also install VLC but probably wasn't necessary, there was a pre installed media player I don't remember the name of...

It's funny you mention drivers as that's what made me switch it over. A Windows update inexplicably borked some video card drivers. I didn't need to install any drivers manually for the Linux setup, it all worked out of the box without any issues so far. Driver pains used to be a big issue years ago, but I think for 90% of PCs it's a non issue today.

No, it was a very vanilla Windows setup. At least I can't think of anything... what kind of workarounds did you have in mind?

I didn't say it's a wild assumption, just pointing out this is why it's probably a better idea to just... not make such an assumption in the first place. 4 million Americans live abroad, it isn't exactly unheard of. But with this clarification, it is now clear the point is just to personally find justification to dismiss dissenting opinion. Which I'm not particularly interested in engaging with, so I'm going to just put an end to it here. Have a good one, though.

Way too many people in here speaking for "Europe". I live in Europe as well, and here tipping at a restaurant or a delivery driver is 100% expected. It isn't usually as much as the US, but tipping exists here as well.

Also, when in Rome... plenty of people here get upset at Americans for not following cultural norms, seems fair to get upset at people visiting America for not doing the same.