Tinks

If everyone ate more plant-based food, they’d probably be getting their protein in anyway. Beans, legumes and lentils are all full of protein, and that’s without even considering processed plant-based products like tofu or even meat-like products (Beyond or Impossible products for example.)

That said, while I absolutely champion people eating more plants, I’m far from vegan or even vegetarian. My diet includes meat, cheese and eggs. Not every meal needs to include meat though. I just think most Americans at least would be better off with a more well rounded diet with less processed food and less sugar.

Agreed. Went backpacking with my dog last weekend, who is on Simparica AND was treated with permethrin 2 weeks prior, and that little shit STILL ended up with 3-4 dozen ticks on him. He’s a golden, so meticulously going through his fur removing them was a long annoying process for both of us. Thankfully they were all dead because of the insecticides. There is zero chance I’m not using bug sprays. Ticks are out in full force and I have zero sympathy for them. With as many diseases as they carry, it’s a me or them scenario, and it’s not going to be me.

As someone who works from home with an office job, and is also on a health journey, I’m firmly on the side of team protein. I’m working on losing weight, and am watching my protein and fiber intake closely so that my body doesn’t eat muscle instead of fat. Also protein and fiber keep you satiated longer, so you’re less likely to overeat at your sedentary desk job. While the protein craze IS a bit overboard, I think most office workers would be better off if they got more protein, especially from plant-based sources which also contain fiber. Most Americans at least aren’t getting enough fiber, and beans are fucking delicious, versatile and cheap!

This is honestly not surprising information to me. Many dogs these days are kept mostly indoors or in their owner’s private spaces, only leaving for an occasional walk or a vet visit. Most owners either don’t know or don’t care to properly socialize their dogs to the world and show them that things aren’t scary. When I got my golden the breeder warned me he had developed some anxiety and skittishness in the past week, and it was likely going to be a long-term trait. She was correct, but because of that I’ve spent his entire life showing him new situations, places, people and things, and working with a trainer occasionally for guidance. 5 years ago walking past a large dumpster would freak him out to the point of running away, but now if he spooks it’s just a quick startle reaction before he cautiously investigates. He was taught and learned to overcome his initial fear reactions to new or startling things, and with gentle encouragement he quickly gets over it.

More dog owners should spend time actively working on this with their dog, and responsible breeders play a role by trying to breed healthy confident puppies. Some fears are harder to overcome than others, but working with a dog to overcome their tendency to be fearful helps overall.

This depends entirely on the vape. I quit smoking by switching to vaping, but this was before the current craze of nic salts. I switched using PG/VG flavored blends with much less dosage of nicotine than even the lightest cigarettes. It absolutely changed my life, and I will advocate for it being legal because of it. The Juul and other crazy high nicotine devices are very addictive though, and I’m of the opinion those need to be controlled better. Lumping all vaping together is very misleading though. I was able to quit vaping by reducing the nicotine blend amount in the juice I was buying, and that’s not really an option for a lot of these mass-market devices. This is part of the problem though - people legislating with a broad brush on a topic they know little about.

I go hiking a lot and I always carry pepper spray and a knife, specifically for dogs. My dog is usually with me and I have no qualms with pepper spraying an aggressive dog, or even hitting mine in the mix, to save his or my life. I hadn’t even considered strays, I’m mainly worried about the assholes who let their dogs off leash. That number of strays is a whole other nightmare scenario.

One of my favorites is Black Sails

I am of the opinion that space exploration and settlement is the single most important thing humanity should be doing. Currently humanity exists only on this planet, which through the course of its existence has had numerous mass extinction events. It is hubris to believe that we will never be affected by one. Right now all of humanity’s eggs are in this single basket, and if that basket gets kicked over, humanity could cease to exist.

Now I will grant you that there are lots of things down here on earth that we should be spending money on to better the lives of humans generally, but these things are not mutually exclusive. Right now we’re spending orders of magnitude more money and resources waging war on one another than space exploration. In the US in 2025, the US military budget was around $920b, whereas NASA’s was $25b. The military budget was 36 times higher than the space budget. It’s not even close. Space is not where dollars are being wasted.

Studies have also shown that NASA’s impact is a net positive on the economy, consistently generating more economic impact than is put into it. It creates well paying jobs that employees find fulfilling and satisfying, generates public interest in the sciences, and benefits society as a whole as new technologies are developed that we all get to enjoy.

I would argue that what we NEED to do is stop needlessly murdering each other over religious and social disagreements, and spend our resources on feeding, clothing and taking care of one another such that we all have the time, security and ability to watch humans go out into space with wonder in our hearts.

See the fun thing is we have passenger rail from my city all over the country…but dogs aren’t allowed on it if they’re over 20lbs. I’ve even written the company pleading for them to review their policy and citing the crazy amount of dog sport participants that could use their service, and even suggesting they require an easily verifiable 3rd party obedience certificate and was effectively told to go pound sand.

Almost half of households in the US have dogs, so it’s frustrating that travel with them is limited to personal cars (there’s only one commercial airline that flies large dogs in the US and it has very limited destinations.) I would LOVE to take a train to a backpacking trip in the mountains, but then we’re back to leaving my pup at home. This country needs a major culture shift on a great many things, not the least of which is public transit.

To some extent I think you’re right, but for outdoor recreation that somewhat depends on where you live and what type of terrain your hobby requires. Switzerland as a country is full of beautiful hiking scenery and opportunities so I imagine the travel to get to it even by public transit isn’t an arduous one. In places where the terrain and landscape are more flat, barren or boring, the travel time to get to good hiking opportunities can be significant. For instance, the closest mountains to me are a 10hr drive by car; I could cross your entire country in about half that time. Unfortunately location plays a large role in the viability of using public transit for certain hobbies.

Yep same. Work from home, have my groceries delivered and most other things I can do online. As it currently stands my car is used to take my dogs to an enrichment program twice a week, and for recreation. Without my car my hobbies would essentially completely end. There may be some places where public transit would work for hiking and backpacking, but where I live options are limited and the closest place I can legally backpack is an hour away by car, and it’s a small 4 mile loop. Anything more significant requires a multi-hour trip. Even IF public transit existed for it, I don’t want to go and leave my dog at home, bored all weekend, because he’s not allowed on a bus or train. Part of my joy in hiking and backpacking is sharing the experience with him. Right now his world is huge and full of adventures. Without a car his world becomes the size of my neighborhood, and that’s just depressing.

For me personally, the loss of a car means potentially the loss of certain hobbies. I like to go camping and backpacking, and that means taking a certain amount of gear out into remote areas. While I might be able to minimize the amount of gear needed, there’s no getting around the remoteness of the hobby, and that necessitates a car for transportation.

The other hobby is dog related. I enjoy doing things, including sports, with my dog. Transporting the dog, at least as it currently stands in America, requires a car. Large dogs are not allowed on public transit pretty much anywhere here. When you also consider that I may be taking jumps or poles or other larger equipment with me to train in new places, losing access to a car makes that a near impossibility.

I’d go so far as to say many outdoor recreation hobbies either require or are made easier by having a car or larger personal transport. Kayaks, boats, skis and snowboards, fishing poles and the list goes on and on. Sure you could setup rental places, but if you do a hobby a lot you ultimately want to own your gear so you can get something that suits your preferences and needs.

I’m not opposed to a less car-centric society, but eliminating personal vehicles would make many hobbies problematic or impossible.

Nothing crazy, but my dog fractured a tooth and I was very worried he would either have to have it pulled or have a big ugly titanium crown put on, at great expense. He went to the vet today for it and it turns out the fracture wasn’t as bad as I thought. No root canal and crown necessary. They shaved down the sharp parts, sealed it with resin and he’s good to go now! I’m unbelievably relieved and it cost less than expected. Easily the best thing that’s happened this week.

And tomorrow I’m going camping with my dog and some friends too! That should be a fun time. It’s unseasonably warm and while I wish it were cold, I’m going to enjoy the nice weather while we have it!

Because people can buy stuff off your wishlist and have it shipped to you. In its current form, it doesn’t expose your address to the buyer, but apparently the change may do that.

Seriously! Anyone who thinks about this for half a second realizes the repercussions of only allowing US citizens bank accounts. Are we just eliminating immigration entirely now? Immigrants have to prove that they are financially self-sufficient and doing that without a bank account is… effectively impossible. Every legal permanent resident would be immediately unable to function in society. Most jobs require direct deposit into a bank account these days and won’t issue paper checks. How do you even pay rent or a mortgage without a bank account.

It would be absolute chaos.

Based on the article it appears they’re targeting naturalized citizens, but as someone who was born in Germany because my dad was in the Army, this is still concerning. Here I was just thinking I only had to fear for my permanent resident husband… I really hate this timeline.

I work in procurement and the last week and a half at work has been hell. Buying anything that contains RAM, Hard drives or GPUs right now is a circus. Pricing changing after orders placed, 6+ month lead times, insanely expensive pricing and any other problem you can imagine. It’s not just a problem for consumers, but businesses that need hardware refreshes, startups that are trying to launch, and replacements for defective units are all just really hard to get right now. I know this will pass eventually, but it’s a tough time to be in procurement for IT hardware.

My younger brother and I never really got along. My parents, but especially my mother, always treated him as if he could do no wrong. If we were both being loud, I got yelled at because I was the older sibling and should know better, if he broke something, I got yelled at because “why weren’t you watching him”, and just on and on. He knew he could get away with anything with them and used it as a weapon, purposely getting me in trouble. I have nothing but resentment for him. As an adult he’s almost 38, still lives with my parents, has never had a full time job, has never had a license or a car (he’s afraid to drive), and is effectively a leech on them. Over the years my parents have run into financial troubles a few times and my husband and I have bailed them out, all while watching my useless brother continue to be a drain.

And the worst part? My mom constantly lectures me about not having a better relationship with my brother. She doesn’t seem to understand the damage she did, and thinks blood is more important. I love her so I just nod along and try not to argue with her about it. After my parents pass I doubt I will have any contact with him. I expect him to be homeless and on the streets eventually, and honestly I don’t have any sympathy for him. He could be using his time right now to make a life, but instead he’s playing video games and shit-posting.

I wish I had a sibling relationship like I see some of my friends and family have. I LOVE my sister in law, and I wish she lived closer. My brother and I are just never going to get along though. We might have gotten past it if he’d ever moved out and became a real adult, but at this point it’s too late and I just don’t care.

So cute! My Maine removed played fetch too. He preferred the shiny little balls of tinsel, but would also play with toy mice. I never taught him, he just brought me a toy one day and stood on my chest so I threw it to get him off me (he was big) and he brought it back. After a few times doing this I realized I was playing fetch with him and we did it his whole life 😊

What a cutie!