I have a vague memory of a $10B cash shipment going missing in Afghanistan.

Historically, American millionaires had a much higher rate of prior bankruptcies than the general population. A good way to squelch entrepreneurship is to make failure so onerous that it’s not worth the risk.

Yuri Gagarin was rumored to be drunk when he took the famous flight.

I’m older than dirt and have seen lots o’ presidential elections. Polls this far out, for the general election, are utterly meaningless.

I was reading several months ago that there was a time in the mid ‘90s that there were a few gay clubs in Russia that were relatively unmolested by the cops, as long as the local “roof” was paid off.

What about the Dutch?

In 7th grade, many years ago, my school had an excited young teacher who convinced management to let them teach a Logic class. I can’t even remember if the teacher was male or female, but I use the shit I learned in that class constantly, particularly the fallacies and biases we memorized (and then promptly weaponized against teachers, parents, and pastors).

When billionaires attribute their success entirely to their own virtues, skills, or talents, and blame others or external circumstances for their failings, they are demonstrating a self-serving bias, a specific form of the fundamental attribution error. They fail to acknowledge external factors like market conditions, socio-economic advantages, or the efforts of their teams that may have contributed to their success. Conversely, they externalize blame for failures, ignoring any personal shortcomings or misjudgments.

I hate to admit this, but I’ve started using Reddit again. It pains me, but there is stuff I just can’t get here.

I hate that we’re so petro-bigoted.

I may have an outdated sense of what a potlatch was. I was using the term in the sense of destroying value, per this kind of definition:

“A potlatch involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader’s wealth and power. “

This stuck with me: Years ago, someone on Reddit described their middle school in the ‘70s having to have an assembly to stop a potlatch/arms race between kids stacking Izod/Lacoste shirts. There were well-off kids wearing three or more stacked Lacoste shirts every day, and poorer kids wearing cheap generic polo shirts under real alligator shirts to try to keep up.

It was the spirit of Homer Davenport. Rejoice and have another slice of marionberry pie.

We have pretty much the same expression in English!

I never hear that show mentioned, but it’s excellent.

No idea, but the greatest predictor of whether someone will believe a conspiracy theory is if they already believe another conspiracy theory.

Cue Michael Buffer: “Let’s get ready to get ready!”

Huh, The Oatmeal still exists. And, his art style has changed.

That was the joke, but I trust it’s much improved by the explication.

It’s what a manchild thinks is sci-fi.

Dixon.