I hope they put our Dutch rifles and bullets to good use. Let’s take off some zeroes.

‘Serving sizes’ are absolute nonsense. They are always wildly out of step with reality. Only reason they put it on there is so manufacturers can claim “our product isn’t bad, it only contains X calories per serving”.

Meanwhile, they put serving sizes fit for ants on packages that clearly aren’t meant to be shared and don’t reflect reasonable consumption. For example, a serving size of three jelly beans is silly by any stretch of the imagination. So is putting ‘serving sizes’ on a soda can. And a sleeve of Oreos? One cookie is a serving. Yeah, we all know that’s not how you eat Oreos…

Re: Gladio: no, not the bad bits that cropped up eventually, but the original purpose of fighting an oppressive regime that’s taken hold within your own borders. Don’t take it TOO seriously :D

I’d love to see a bloodless political revolution. But past history leads me to believe there’s gonna be guns involved somewhere down the line for there to be actual change.

With respect to The Internationale, that’s just not a banger like Bella Ciao is. If I’m thinking of ‘let’s oppose a fascist regime and/or do some Operation Gladio shit in 1970’s Italy while carrying submachineguns, dressed in leather jackets and balaclavas’, Bella Ciao is a much more appropriate choice for a modern era.

A lot of the versions of The Internationale that I’ve heard sound more like school plays. It’s not something one would describe as ‘rousing’.

Sooooo… better start learning the words to Bella Ciao huh?

I really enjoyed my helicopter ride as well - a sightseeing flight on vacation. That was on a Schweitzer S300; a small helicopter with a bench seat in the front. So you’re sitting right next to the pilot with an almost unobstructed forward vision. So cool. Definitely not something for people with a fear of heights.

Flown in, as a passenger. I’d have said ‘piloted’ if I was the pilot.

And yes, that’s an odd trio of aircraft, considering most people only really fly on airliners. I’ve been on a Boeing 747 in a museum, but have never flown in an airliner.

It’s magical, right? It’s what got me interested in aviation - the physics, the science, the engineering to make it work. And we’ve gotten so good at it, air travel is now available to most people, it’s safe and convenient.

I’ve flown exactly three times in my life: a hot air balloon, a helicopter and a DC3. Each was magical in its own way. I’ve also done a fair bit of plane spotting. Seeing an Airbus A380 landing right in front of you is amazing. It really is the size of a large apartment block with wings. Truly awe inspiring.

Aviation is fucking awesome!

All of this is stressing me out… i’m going to Starbucks.

Preferably out the back of a C130 just off the coast of Florida.

Dutch guy here. I definitely knew he was a terrible clown when it came to business, well before he ever ran for office.

I mean… he’s so bad at running a business, he had several casinos go bankrupt. And those are pretty much a license to print money if you run them halfway decent. He also failed at stuff like running his own airline and a host of other ventures. I also knew he was at one time involved with the WWE, I knew about The Apprentice, Home Alone…

Basically, if you were alive in the 90’s, you had plenty of opportunity to know about this clown of a ‘businessman’. When he ran, I figured it was a joke - a publicity stunt. Imagine my surprise when Americans actually voted for him!

Yep, I’ve worn contacts since I was three years old. In my nearly 40 years of wearing them, it’s happened maybe five times that they slid to the side. There’s no reason to freak out when it happens; I usually just close my eye and gently nudge the lens back with my finger on my eyelid.

Of course, it helps to know that it can’t physically get ‘behind your eye’ even though it certainly feels that way.

Look at history. The 2003 Iraq war and subsequent occupation resulted in at least 150.000 deaths, at the absolute lowest estimate. The biggest estimate is over a million.

Afghanistan? 176.000

Gulf War? 50.000

Yugoslav war? 130.000

Vietnam War? 970.000 to 3 million.

And those are conflicts that the US was directly involved in with boots on the ground. Few people lost sleep over any of those civilian casualties. Could you even point to Kosovo on a map?

What’s another 50.000 dead Palestinians you ask? A rounding error on a footnote of history. It’s a statistic. And that’s ignoring the fact that this is happening in another country with only indirect US support.

People SHOULD care about the Palestinians. But it’s just not relevant to the day to day lives of average Americans.

I know, right? This sort of thing would get you a neat title like ‘enemy of democracy’ and a suitably unpleasant execution method. Like getting dropped from an aircraft into the ocean.

It’s… probably… good the US doesn’t do it. But that’s definitely the sort of crime you should avoid anywhere outside of the US and Europe.

Unfortunately I don’t have it anymore or I’d post it for sure :D I took it years ago on an ancient iPod Touch that now has a spicy pillow for a battery and is completely dead.

You’re not far off. My basic outfit since 2020 is a pair of blue jeans and a burgundy polo shirt. I picked red because the previous series was blue, and also because I’m a Tom Scott fan.

I’m probably going to transition to green polo shirts for a while as it’s been red since the pandemic. But the next color usually is determined by whatever polo shirt I can find in my size, and in stock so I can buy five to seven of them.

I am a wildly boring person when it comes to fashion.

No no - I’m saying that’s usually the longest uninterrupted stretch of me wearing identical outfits. I might throw on a sweater if it’s a REALLY cold day, or a T-shirt if it’s way too hot, but otherwise I’m rocking a plain burgundy polo shirt and jeans all seasons.

The clothes themselves obviously last much longer.

Clothes really don’t interest me much beyond being functional and fitting OK. I also don’t wear expensive brands. I do spend good money on good shoes though, as those are important for your feet health.

Sounds reasonable if you’re comparing suits for sure. Especially since you can tailor it yourself and no doubt get a better fit than something off the rack.

I’m thinking more general like for example a regular shirt or pants. The jeans I’m wearing cost 35 euros, and I imagine I’d end up spending way more on material alone.

Now that you mentioned that suit twice, I’m just gonna ask: got a pic? I’m picturing something like what the Joker wears, but I imagine your suit is probably a bit less tacky :D

As a guy, I definitely don’t give two shits about anyone wearing the same outfit. Heck, I dress like a cartoon character: I buy seven identical shirts, seven identical pants and just wear that until things need replacing.

To an outside observer, it would look like I literally have one outfit that I wear for two months straight. I very rarely switch up a shirt when it’s either too hot or cold, but other than that, I like to keep it really simple.

Huge respect to people who can do that. I do like watching some sewing channels on YouTube occasionally as it looks relaxing. But I’m definitely way too busy and clumsy for that. I’d end up sewing two fingers together.

It also looks like an expensive thing, right? Whenever I see someone buying cloth it’s always wildly expensive. Not to mention the other stuff you need to make things properly.