The large U.S. carriers have plans that are, I think, $20-30 a month and you get the newest phone as soon as it comes out, apple or Samsung. They also partner with manufacturers for discounts and trade-in deals, especially when a new model comes out. My last phone was 2 years old but when they offered me the newest one for something like $120 after trade-in (I think that was almost $1100 off, I don’t remember all the details) I upgraded everyone on my plan. I think they did the same thing this year but even with those discounts the pain in the ass of upgrading plus the price, even though it’s low, wasn’t worth the small year over year change. Probably next year or the year after. Assuming similar deals, that makes it $40-$60 a year to get a new phone every 2-3 years.

Edit: You do have to stay with the carrier though. If you leave in less than 24 months you have to pay back a prorated part of the discount. Or at least the part that comes from the carrier, I think you keep the enhanced trade-in from the manufacturer.

Hopefully the big studios doing shit like this leads to a resurgence of true indie cinema. I won’t hold my breath for it, but I’ll hope.

He didn’t fuck with anything. For them it was money well spent. Think of all the things that used to be coordinated and all the information shared on Twitter. That’s gone, or at least seriously degraded, that’s what they bought.

He’s hated. But in a way that makes you want to see more of him.

Yeah, insta-fail is just lazy design. Becoming undetected again is fun.

A person would only drop a couple points over time. 80s, and especially 70s, would be significantly impaired.

Ban or severely restrict abortion.

Ban or severely restrict porn.

Ban or severely restrict contraception.

Ban or severely restrict divorce.

When do we start hearing them question the concept of marital rape? That shit was legal in every U.S. state until the 70s and not made illegal nationwide until '93.

I apologize in advance for sounding like a dick here, reducing people to dollars and cents. But that’s how the people we’re discussing see us.

It’s not the ones who don’t have 5k and/or marketable skills that would harm the economy by leaving. If you’ve got something to offer and a company to sponsor you immigration is relatively easy. I’ve spent part of my career working in other countries, and I’ve known many others that have as well. What we have in common is we’re all educated professionals with lots of disposable income. We would harm the economy if we left in larger numbers and stayed away en masse. Although some stay, for the most part we come home. It’s nice to go home. If it’s not nice to come home, we’ll take our education and skills and stay somewhere that is nice. That’s why it’s called a brain drain and not a ditchdigger drain.

And then there are refugees. Countries don’t take refugees because they want them. They do it because it would be inhumane to not at least have a process, even if many countries make the process as onerous as they can.

I honestly don’t even think the people who came up with this are thinking about that. Like nifty said, these policies will create a brain drain that will be bad for the U.S. economy, including the assets of the rich.

This is just some christofacist shit. I don’t think they gave a thought to anything else.

Nominal is more than inflation so real is above 0.

Real just has to be above 0 for inflation adjusted wages to be going up.

I still call bullshit though without knowing where the increases are. All the increases could be in the top 10% with everyone else going down and only the average is above 0.

Edit: I was wrong, the growth is actually weighted toward the lower end.

Yeah yeah

How about for an encore you tell us how The Godfather is overrated and Sharknado 3 is actually a good film.

I’m not balking at communicating what I think the line is, either by trying to define it or by listing some things on one side and some on the other, because it’s hard, although it is. I’m not doing it for two main reasons, no one else should give a damn what my line is and I wouldn’t want to list a book that I thought was shallow fun when someone else could have related to it in a profound way. I don’t want to shit on someone else’s experiences.

I think your being dishonest and pretentious when you say the line doesn’t exist. Plenty of books I’ve read lately, and enjoyed enough I’m looking forward to the next things from those authors, are not in the same league as things I would consider art. This is true for all forms of art/media. Jerry Springer is not art like (insert what you think is the best expression of art on the small screen here). Battlefield Earth is not art like (insert whatever you think fits here). Are you seriously going to try and pull some smug insufferable “everything is art” bullshit here?

I never said there is anything wrong with a good translation even though it obviously can’t be perfect and something is almost certainly lost. My French is never going to be good enough to read Camus, so I have to settle for a translation.

But that’s not how this started. Before you started your “the line doesn’t exist”, “Shakespeare is overrated”, “aren’t I just so smart” auto-fellatio session, you defended butchering art with ai in the name of allowing ESL students to read it.

No one who wants anything more than an entertaining read should use this, ESL or otherwise. If you’re going to read something with the hope that it’s more than just entertainment, you should try to avoid any further opinions or analysis on it, avoid TV or movie adaptions, not read the Cliff’s notes, and not use this fucking app. If you’re going to use the app, use it for something you don’t expect to get anything more than a bit of fun out of. And if you think you’ll never have the necessary level of mastery, or just don’t want to wait, find a good translation.

Using this app on anything you would consider art is indefensible. I have a hard time believing this is anything more than you being bored and feeling contrary.

Oops, sorry, I thought I was replying to someone else.

I apologize for coming in so hot. I really do think entertainment and art appreciation ideally go together and didn’t need to be explicitly said. I’m not in the habit of choosing to do anything I don’t think I could enjoy. Forcing something for intellectual enrichment has it’s place for schoolchildren, or if you feel the need for it as an adult, but these days I don’t have the bandwidth. Maybe in retirement when there is more time.

I’m not sure if I said something to offend you or if you just woke up this morning and decided to spend the day being a pedantic twat, but I’ll pretend you’re being genuine.

I thought being entertained by appreciating art would have gone without saying. But if you’re such a sad sack you can’t be entertained by art…well, I guess that goes a long way toward explaining your attitude.

Ultimately, every individual reader I suppose. But don’t be obtuse, when you pick up a book I think you know if it’s just a fun read or if you’re expecting it to be something more. Either due to a particular person’s opinion, or the opinion of society in general.

If someone is reading something they would like to appreciate as art, as opposed to entertainment, I don’t think it’s out of bounds to suggest they might enjoy it more if they waited until they mastered the language enough to appreciate the prose.

Simplified language for learners is great. But I would suggest to learners that they use this on books that are for entertainment and save real literature for after they have the proficiency to enjoy it as it was written.

Sure, they could always reread it unaltered later, but you only get to read something for the first time once.

Yeah, this is fucking bullshit, but it’s not like Cliff’s notes haven’t been a thing for a long time. This is just another way for someone being forced to read something to slack off. No one who actually wants to read the book would ever consider this.

I make a little more than double the cap. I’m in favor of increasing or eliminating the cap but that would double my check in the future. (Not quite, I haven’t made double the cap my entire working life, but it would increase it a lot.) That would still help a bit because not all of our withholdings go to basic social security. Some goes to disability, spousal benefits, etc. Increasing taxes and benefits proportionally, which is the way benefits are structured now, doesn’t solve anything.

I believe social security has a lot of value so I’m in favor of not just fixing the funding, but expanding it as well. But if you want to make it healthier just with payroll taxes they would have to be progressive, like income tax, without increasing benefits.

Waiting for the hexbears to chime in with critical support for Tucker.

Don’t fix the typo, I’m enjoying the mystery.