Among the wealthy there will always be the search for the rare and exotic. I’m not surprised that this has become some kind of distorted 'destination"

I had hope that this would be a blip of an assault and a ceasefire would be brokered. Now, it feels almost certain that one of the most cursed regions in the world is going to be plunged into a civil war without a clear justification, and where everyone loses.

Climate change has been particularly unsettling this summer because it has felt like a constant reminder that it can’t be escaped. Even if you aren’t in Florida or Arizona or Greenland, even if you feel like you’re insulated up in Vermont or Canada – bam, 11 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Fascinating. This is way more buttoned up and controlled than I thought it would be.

Great article. If Morocco’s claim is rejected, what’s stopping Algeria from trying to step into that power vacuum? Does Western Sahara have any sort of organized military that could resist against armed conflict over its resources?

I wouldn’t be surprised if we just saw the region become a capitalism pseudo-country, with US/China coming in to buy off the resources.

Hilariously, this fine is probably not even large enough for them to spin off a shell company and declare bankruptcy on the debts. They’ll just shrug and move on. Toothless.

Yep. And it worked all the way up to the Stanford presidency. Even now he is “only” a tenured professor.

Surprisingly melancholy comic.

Quite a few. I grew up in a conservative, racist family. It took me a long time to unwind the problematic casual phrases I grew up with. I’m not proud of it, and I occasionally cringe looking backwards. I realize now the tremendous weight and damage those phrases could do. Now I just try to be better day by day, and to make sure I don’t perpetuate those damaging habits in my own children.

It feels like the war has ground to a halt, where the only progress is in bodycount. Russia has failed to make meaningful advances lately, but Ukraine’s successes on the counteroffensive have also been extremely quiet.

You say “used to”. Has it been overfished?

Great question. A lot of government agencies consider Kentucky as part of the southeast, but I would say that culturally Kentucky falls squarely into Appalachia, along with West Virginia, Tennessee, western NC, southwestern Virginia, and southern Ohio. I would also say that Kentucky has a pretty wide metro/rural split, with Lexington and Berea being very different places.

Likely a direct response to the Crimean bridge, yes?

We are fortunate enough to have a large bank barn that has been a barn swallow nesting ground for years. Although we use the top floor and seal it off, we leave a gate open for the swallows in the ground level every year. It’s a joy to see 50+ of them on the telephone line in late summer.

This year our flock is significantly smaller, and two of them didn’t make it. Hopefully just a one-year anomaly, but deep down I doubt it.

I’m a fan of Connect. It goes a good job with the material you design language. Once the Sync for Lemmy is released, I’ll bounce over to that app. Overall, I’ve been very pleased with Lemmy. It doesn’t have the volume of content to the more niche fringes, but it scratches the itch all the same, and I don’t have to feel as gross doing it.

Smart on KIA, then.

Does this help qualify them for some of the Inflation Reduction Act credits, or is that tied specifically to where the battery materials are sourced from?

Pretty easy to see that this will lead to immediate short-term gains but long-term pain. I can’t tell you the amount of infinite loops I’ve found myself in with AI chat, even among the most simplistic questions.

Since China (with the US) is one of the major offenders of fossil fuels, I am curious as to whether we see more dramatic climate change impacts in China specifically, or if that impact is going to be diffused across the world. China is a big country.

My wife got me a fitbit. I resisted a little bit because I didn’t want to have yet another device to monitor, charge, and maintain etc. I’ve been really surprised and impressed and how effective it has been in subtly encouraging me to make some small improvements in my habits. Not a bad deal for $100.