Listening to the Jan 6 referrals and then reading the twitter files #7 afterwards, not so much.
I think what disturbs me more than anything else is seeing how many people are so quick to justify any means for the sake of desired ends.
Devouring every mention of the sins of opponents and discarding any mention of the sins of allies.
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that we're down to eating each other's garbage now.
This shit is so gonna come back to bite us all in the ass someday.

but I can't think of a show that does better when it comes to demonstrating practical economics.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say it does for Economics and History what Mythbusters did for Science.
Rick's insistence that he's a businessman and needs to make a profit could be repetitive and annoying. But instead it grounds the show in pointing out the limits of reality, no matter what the age, rarity, or cool factor of the macguffin of the moment is. It's interesting without being harsh or ugly. It's not mundane and boring like a trip to get groceries, but it doesn't have the desperation of a payday loan or something of that nature. It's a neat thing for currency exchange every time, and the audience gets to see the neat thing no matter how the deal goes or even if it happens.
The fact that their guest experts all look like they were doing a panel at a Steampunk con when Rick gave them the call just adds to the fun.

In most social medias, the users are the product. That's why it's free. The algorithm is ostensibly designed to sell ad space targeted to users most likely to purchase the product. A long-term goal would be to show enough of what the users want to keep them coming back, but enough targeted ads to continue being profitable.

Most of the time, this only irritates the users, who want to see the people they want to see first and foremost, and have never liked ads anywhere, ever.

Occasionally they hit it out of the park.

There's an ad for a prop house with the tagline "Throw this at an actor" for their latest line of breakaway stuff, and I swear the algorithm can tell I'm still laughing at it.

Then there's tiktok.

Tiktok's algorithm is light-years ahead of any other social because it keeps giving you what you, the user, want. I noticed this when a friend of mine (who for lack of a better term, has been an influencer since before the term was coined) noticed that she was on there longer and longer without her noticing. Ads seem almost like an afterthought on tiktok. They're definitely nowhere near the profit-driven algorithms that govern other sites, which is a huge part of tiktok's popularity.

The question is, "why?"

I got the answer when I noticed a release in the national security news that a celebrity visitor to the white house had been tracked while they were there through tiktok when they used the app on the grounds.

Why?

Tiktok may not be owned by the CCP. But they are definitely controlled by the CCP. And the CCp isn't interested in selling ad space.

Ergo, the users aren't tiktok's product.

The real-time location of their users is tiktok's product.

Hence, the CCP has been able to track numerous VIP's, including several high-ranking government officials, through a social media phone app designed to upload real-time location data on a regular basis.

Now, so far, the CCP has only been shown to use this data against their own people. CCP police have set up shop in several American cities, targeting Chinese dissidents and refugees, threatening them and their families back in the PRC. Three were recently convicted in a court case of harassing, threatening, and even assaulting Chinese students here in the U.S.

Is this a danger to ordinary Americans?

Not yet. But imagine the political party you hate the most being able to know where you are within about 100 yards at any given time because the one site all your friends and the people you like are on is telling them.

Take care of yourselves out there.

If you don't have upper-middle-class boomer parents, you most likely know about timeshares from that episode of South Park about the presentation that just won't die.

Well, the presentation is only part of the nightmare.

On the surface, a timeshare is just like buying a condo. Only you're not buying a condo. You're buying access to said condo for a one-week increment of the year. Most of them are in vacation areas. And if you "own" a week near a holiday period, then it's regarded as better (and more expensive) than weeks at other times of the year. Only it has all the closing costs, fees, and taxes of buying a condo, even though you're only getting it one week a year. And of course there's an annual maintenance fee.

Remember the latest round of incels babbling about how a new car loses value the moment you drive it off the lot? They're right about the car, just fucked up comparing a human being to said car.

Anyway, a timeshare goes negative in value the moment the papers are signed. The contract is nigh-impossible to get out of. I swear, the only reason this bullshit is still legal is that the primary victim pool is full of people used to writing checks to make problems go away.

So why am I talking about this now?

Well, a member of my polycule lost a parent earlier this year. And among the various adventures in estates we've had ever since, one thing we found is that they inherited not one but three timeshares in the process.

We're not the first children of boomers to deal with this bullshit, we ain't gonna be the last. So here's some heads-up for my gen x and millennial bretheren, sisteren, and enbyren.

There are, in fact, a small handful of ways you can get rid of a timeshare.

(There are a number of companies that will offer to help you get rid of a timeshare. My only advice is to get rid of these companies first. Preferably before they know you exist. And people wonder why I want dueling to be legal in America. Motherfuckers...)

Almost all of them require two things.

One, the timeshare has to be paid off.

Two, there can't be any outstanding fees or taxes on it.

One way is to try selling it to some other sucker. Heh. Good luck with that.

Another way is asking the timeshare company (because yes there's a company that tracks all up-to-52 of you suckers to buy a week of that particular unit) if they have a buyback program. Most don't, but there's no harm in asking.

If you really believe you haven't done nearly enough sinning in your life, you can try and donate it to a charity. I kinda twitched at the idea at first, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of my generation donate their late parents' timeshares to the salvation army out of sheer spite.

The last method is available in some states, my home of Georgia being one of them. Here, an inheritor can renounce their claim to a timeshare. But it has to happen in less than nine months from the death of the original owner. It just involves writing a declaration to the timeshare company renouncing claim to the unit. Again, it's got to be paid off and outstanding taxes and maintenance have to be paid. But it works.

(Because we've all played Garou, it was quickly declared the rite of renunciation.)

Anyways, like I said, we're not the first to deal with this, we ain't gonna be the last.

If you're an adult, have a fucking will. I've had one since I was 25. It's not nearly as creepy as it sounds.
I know it's uncomfortable talking about death and what comes after, but have the conversation. You have no idea how much extra hassle you'll be saving those left behind.

And never buy a timeshare.

And dueling should be legal.

Take care of yourselves out there.