Sploosh!!!

This is true of nearly every topic.

I am a nerd with many computers. That helps.

As a frequent reader of Ars comments, I’ve noticed that those idiots are always down voted to oblivion.

You know, I’ve always wondered if local sexpot was thrown from that balcony for his anti-establishment and “eat the rich” positions. I think he was too dangerous to them. Tragic loss for the rest of us.

Those common people are the clay of the land…

In a previous life I was a mortgage loan officer at a broker. I bent over backwards helping folks get into those programs whenever possible. I was impressed with how little was needed when everything slotted in place in some cases. Glad it worked for you too!

Speaking to the post, I feel like there is a tipping point between OP and your points and the post is showing that. If you can convince the bank to loan you the money somehow you then start to build more capital which can pull you out of being “poor”. There are many variables and wildly varying degrees of this scenario, but once you start your ownership experience, some people can work it quite hard and build enough capital to own multiple residences and rent them out. (Those already in possession of capital are out of scope of OPs post.)

Rent is paying the landlord for everything every month. No repairs lately? Too bad, you’ll still pay for the possibility. The exchange is that you should never worry about repairs (or taxes) as the landlord handles everything. Once the landlord figures his margins are too tight, they raise the rent. Lots of variables here too and that makes blanket statements about which is better more difficult. I advocate home ownership, but I feel terrible for young people. Runaway greed by those that already had the capital has changed things. The young folks I know that are able to manage it all had help from relatives.

The act of convincing the bank and owning a home is getting more and more difficult. Impossible in many places and improbable in others without Herculean efforts. OPs post expresses this perspective.

Startpage has been decent for me. I find results and move on with life as a search engine should be.

I accidentally used the googs on a system last week and holy hell was it awful. The results looked so weird and unhelpful and then I noticed the default SE on the browser and fixed it straight away.

I remember the hand-wringing about Cassini prior to its launch. The probe survived launch from Earth fine, but Saturn got the materials in the end (I also remember people stating that we polluted Saturn without the Saturnian’s consent).

I believe several RTGs have been recovered from failed launches intact and without leakage, so I agree it can be done.

Last time I checked on that one, the opposition to the idea was focused on the risks of nuclear fallout from a failed launch.

ICE: Approved. Off to Angola!

Good point, thanks. Since this caused me to look that up, here’s an interesting study on Australian firefighters and plasmapheresis:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8994130/

Yah, I’m not really prepared for the post-mortem check just yet. The blood test at least gives an idea of where one is at that moment. One could then do all the blood-letting, or leaches needed to bring the numbers down (only to be re-ingested, ofc). Not sure if it lessens any that might be lodged in the skull, but holy hell I did not have this on my bingo card of health issues to watch for.

Veritasium has a video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC2eSujzrUY

I think the PFAS blood test runs ~$350. I have no idea if my insurance would cover it, but it is a cost I am nearly willing to bear just to find out what “gains” I’ve made in the world of plastics.

“It’s a trap!”

Immediately stripped of office for dereliction of duty to the American people. That’s the first step. Fines or jail after, scaled appropriately to the attempted damage they’re trying to cause.

Sure, at least. I remember reading “champing” in the phrase (in books that were at least decades old by then) as a yout and questioning whether that was a typo or a mistake because I was certain I’d heard it as “chomping” when someone spoke it. My english teacher stated more and more people used “chomping” and it wasn’t necessarily wrong. That was in the late 70’s. I am olde and get offa my lawn.

Champing was the standard (even if you’d never heard it) and now it isn’t. Chomping is an accepted version of the phrase now. Language in the act of changing.

We need more happy helpers like you.