I think one factor is that Democrats and Republicans actually hardly differ in many fundamental positions. I think the fact that an unscrupulous business man like Trump, who was once a member of the Democratic Party, can switch party affiliation just like that illustrates what I mean: there are no real alternatives, which is why election campaigns in the US need to be emotional rather than rational. That favors baseless fear mongering and empty finger-pointing that misses the real problems. I supect that many US citizens have become so accustomed to these empty election campaigns that they lost the ability to identify the lesser evil in this charade of mutual accusations far away from rational discourse. So in short I think Trump was just the better demagogue which is pretty much all that matters when reason or actual arguments are not part of the “election show”.

The PACs. I think this practice should be considered blatant corruption in any democratic system as it enables large corporations and wealthy individuals to predetermine which candidate or party has even the slightest chance in elections. In my home country, of course, there are private political funds as well but those are not nearly as important in our system as there is solid public funding for political parties based on past election results. I might be wrong but I always thought that the insane amount of private money that fuels US elections boils down to the US being a plutocracy rather than a democracy.

Probably not too many, but she seems to have landed a good job with this degree regardless.

Idk, but Disaster Girl has apparently made a good deal including a 10 percent cut on any future sales. Not that I think that this NFT has sold again for even near the original price but she will still get “royalties” from any additional sale for the looks of it. Good for her that she used this bubble in time.

I was wondering about that as well. We’ll probably never know. Anyway, I’m glad that her unwanted internet fame in this timeline hasn’t ruined her life and that she seems to have benefited from it instead - at least financially. That’s nice, because she really deserves to be compensated for the joy she brought to the internet over the years.

How time flies. Sorry to break it to you, but Disaster Girl is now 24 and apparently working as a Smart Cities & IoT Analyst at S&P Global. Somehow even Side-Eyeing Chloe is 13 by now…

What do you mean by religion? Halloween is a pagan festival according to Christian standards. Of course, I’d be right there with you when it comes to the fun festivals of pagans, but is that what you mean?

I realize that Halloween is a commercial event, but I think there are other outlets for criticism of capitalism. Things where you can make a difference and at the same time let the children have fun. I don’t think you can change much if you dwell on trivialities that bring people together despite all the commerce. That doesn’t seem to me to be the right approach.

That sounds fun, I imagine it like this:

Dentist in tooth disguise and surrounded by tooth fairies: Please open your mouth.

Patient Jack Sparrow: Arr!

I know that I know nothing, said Socrates thousands of years ago. So I’d say it’s beyond clever to teach yourself things and learn from your experiences. That is very smart in my book.

It could easily have been the same for me, as my father is a Protestant pastor. Fortunately, my family has always been very tolerant and open-minded. That’s how my parents brought me up, for which I’m still very grateful to them today. It’s good to hear that you’ve found your own path, which certainly wasn’t easy. Respect, my friend.

I’m sorry. I hope you are alright.

Again: Til

Til

M.C. Escher would appreciate this.

Yes, and while Charles Darrow, who became the first millionaire game inventor due to the game’s success, profited substantially from royalties, Lizzie Magie, the original creator of the game’s concept, sold her patent for just $500 and received no royalties.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I myself worked for a social media company for some time (although more in IT, not in their core business). The success metrics for this company were exclusively followers, likes and so on. There were no other metrics whatsoever.

ChatGPT and basically any other powerful LLM is very likely trained on lots and lots of pirated data.

What about OpenAI?

Maybe the downvote counter maxed out and that’s the way it is displayed.