The thing I love about this, the thing I always find funny whenever this comes up, is that these midwits are just too dumb to make the obvious argument. The argument that is "in their face" and "being shoved down their throats."

There is a rational, coherent argument to make their point. It's one I disagree with. It's one that, in my opinion, can only be made in bad faith with no purpose other than to be a concern troll, but it's there.

They always bring up Adira, Gray, Jett, Stamets, Culber, and anything else that's gone up their ass but never any of the actual social commentary because they're so thick it went over their heads and they didn't even notice it. You can see it in this thread. They mention the characters and people respond with "but they're just existing, how does that bother you?" They just bring up the characters again to a response of "yeah, we heard you the first time, what are they doing that bothers you other than existing?" And it just goes in a circle.

There was never an episode of ToS where Uhura talked about how hard it was to be a black woman as a bridge officer, because it wasn't. That's the whole point. In the future Star Trek wants us to imagine, a black female officer is completely unremarkable. Whenever they wanted to engage in social commentary about race relations in the 60s they had to invent an allegorical race, time travel, or use some other device to make their point.

The same thing is happening in the newer series. All those characters are just existing. Their sexuality and gender identity is completely unremarkable in the future Star Trek shows us. If those dipshits had two brain cells to rub together they would see the new series are full of allegories about not just tolerance, or even acceptance, but appreciation for beings with non-conforming expressions of self. If any of that did manage to trickle through their thick skulls they probably just twisted it into "yeah, people shouldn't make fun of me for having a relationship with a waifu pillow."

If they weren't so stupid they could easily give a half dozen examples and say "it's too much," "I got it the first time," "focus on something else for a change," or whatever other bullshit justification they came up with to oppose these themes. It would be a bad faith argument that I would disagree with but at least they could pretend they're not bigots, instead of their current position which seems to be "I've got no problem with these people, I just don't want to see them."

No one is asking you for an apology, just an example.

Surely you can do that, right? This thing that's so pervasive it's ruined entire seasons for you, you must be able to remember one scene from one episode where it actually happens.

You seemed concerned when you tried to tell me what to do.

Concerned enough to claim a ~~black~~ gay friend to excuse yourself.

Respectfully, no, I'm not going to "try to be less judgemental."

I see a show that continues it's long tradition of inclusiveness and respect for all people by including characters that are sexual and gender minorities. I then see people who claim to be fans, not just of the show, but also of what it has always been trying to do, complaining about it doing what it's always done.

I'm going to judge. I have judged, and I've found you wanting.

The first episode of Trek I ever saw was the ToS episode with aliens that had half-white and half-black faces and were engaged in a race war over which side was which. It has never been subtle, and for good reason. Nuance generally doesn't work well with bigots. If you want to get people to examine their beliefs you need to shove the mirror in their face.

The only thing that's changed is what is getting shoved in your face. ToS doesn't make you uncomfortable? Good for you, you're not a Jim Crow level racist. Some of the new stuff makes you uncomfortable? Maybe you think about why it makes you uncomfortable instead of complaining about it.

A little off the point: I actually think it's less in your face. In the episodic series when they did something along these lines it was usually the main focus of the entire episode. With the newer serialized seasons it's usually a b-plot. They can devote a little more time to the b-plots when they have a whole season to resolve the main story but it's still not the main focus.

Turning off Java script worked when this happened to me. Firefox and ublock origin. It breaks some things but you can do it on a per site basis.

If you want to know how bad we're being fucked, search for the PPI, the producer price index. CPI, the one we always hear about, is the measure of inflation to us, the consumer. The PPI is the measure of inflation to producers, what they pay for goods and services to produce the goods and services we buy.

The PPI has been back to "normal" for a while now. Pretty much as soon as the post COVID logistics issues were mostly ironed out. The difference between PPI and CPI changes is pure profit.

We don't get daily articles on the PPI though, I wonder why.

Edit: tell people about PPI whenever you can, online or off, the more people know, the better. It's easy enough to say inflation is just down to greed but being able to back it up by comparing two simple charts will help people really understand.

Me reading this: Don't be for polio...don't be for polio...don't be for polio...Fuck!

The others are bad enough but depriving kids of polio vaccines should have meant jail time.

It's not too heavy. That's "premium feel and materials."

All the bullshit with tipping on food delivery apps made me stop using them years ago.

First I hear the apps are stealing tips. Then they're not stealing tips anymore. Then maybe they're stealing some of the tips.

To try and avoid all that I tried to use cash. The drivers don't get their base rate reduced and they get the entire, non-reportable cash tip. Then my food started taking twice as long and arriving cold because the drivers thought I was stiffing them.

My theory is the apps do this (pre-tipping) on purpose to discourage cash and after-tipping so they can lower what they pay the driver and they'll still accept the order because they see the higher after tip amount. So now the apps might not be technically stealing tips, but they're using up front tips to allow them to reduce their shitty base rate for everyone.

Now if want delivery it's pizza, Chinese, or one of the few other places with their own drivers. I've had this policy for years now and I don't see myself ever going back unless it's an emergency.

Bonus to me: all my takeout/delivery is now 20-30% cheaper. Everyone should really take a look at the inflated prices they're paying and decide if it's really worth saving a short drive.

My paternal grandmother's KitchenAid model K mixer she bought just after my grandfather returned from WW2. She gave it to my mother in the late 70's because she wanted a new one and the damn thing showed no signs of dying. My mother gave it to my wife about 15 years ago for the same reason.

We've bought some new accessories but that fucking zombie mixer will outlast the roaches.

But there is a penalty for littering. Some people might refrain from littering not because it's the right thing to do, but because they don't want a fine.

The lack of repercussions for being a scumbag and abandoning your cart is what makes it a good test.