It might also be for a radiator to cool the battery and/or act as a heat pump for the AC/heat. At least, I hope they are using a heatpump.

Vote blue for congress this November. We need to get Dejoy out, he’s a fucking traitor.

He did not, the president cannot remove him because of the board that controls the position. It requires congress to change, and congress is not majority blue, so we just have traitors still installed who are actively doing damage to the US.

A lot of the bike routes are mapped using car data. If you are biking on a one way street and have to turn around, maps will route you around the block (uphill) like a car, even if there’s a sidewalk you coukd bike or walk down instead.

It’s not super great for biking data, but it works. It tends to miss protected bike lanes, though.

Really depends on where you go! Certain parts feel safer, other parts feel less safe (or less comfortable to walk through safely). I’m not going to name names, as I’ve only been to various countries for a bit at a time, it would be unfair to pass judgement on entire nations based off a small experience.

The public transit is usually a cut above. Some of the driving feels dangerous. The food prices are somewhat expensive, but the food is generally less UPF-laced.

The more relaxed culture around nudity is refreshing. The lack of large, wild parks is a bit disappointing (or perhaps we missed these entirely), but various nations seem to be catching on to rewilding. The history is fascinating, and europeans generally think much more long-term than Americans, but the bad blood also runs deep, which is a little worrying. I’m glad the EU keeps everyone together.

Overall, it’s fun to visit, it generally feels safe, cultured, and the transit is very great, particularly the train systems. It has it’s problems just like other places in Africa, North America, and Central America.

If I had to live in a non-english speaking country, I’d probably pick Spain. Wonderful people, great transit, a relaxed culture, and excellent food, though France and Germany give Spain a run for their money on several of these points.

Just do what I do and put it in that deep cupboard above the fridge. Then forget about it for literal years by mistake. It’s doing wonders for my health. Just wish I could do a version of that for my bad sleep schedule.

It was really nice. We went prior to the Olympics, but Paris and other parts of France are beautiful and lovely each in their own way. It feels very much like home, yet foreign at the same time.

I will never forget how immaculately well kept the American graves were at the beaches of Normandy. They treat them with such respect, and it brought tears to my eyes. The people of France will always have a spot in my heart for what they’ve done for us in our time of need and for the utmost respect they have shown our ancestors in both world wars.

Russia has kinda shitty land afaik. Not a ton of resources either, iirc. I believe a decent chunk of it is tagia forests and (soon to be) swampy permafrost zone. Not that much of china’s land is great for stuff like farming either. Bragging rights, I guess, but other than the people, I think most land is of little use.

“Forbidden carnal knowledge” is my favorite

That boat sailed with Murdoch buying out all the news companies and beaming his rags and “news” channels around the western world after he conquered Australia. He used his power to weaken laws that used to hedge against this kind of nonsense.

Lmfao, the russian military is using telegram? That is insane. We use it for furry groups. Can’t believe they’d trust it for life or death situations. Develop your own secure communication, morons, haha.

I just finished the original yesterday, after 20 years of playing it! It was quite good, somewhat surreal to finally beat a childhood game.

Everyone around Trump seems to either end up in prison, a convicted felon, or in rare cases, dead. Funny how assholes and weirdos seem to gravitate to him.

I think it could work here! My US city does concrete bike lane berms. Cars have to park in designated areas because they can’t cross the concrete blocks or planters. My city has been putting in some speedhumps, too. The only complaint is that the infrastructure needs to be going in even faster to make it safe and approachable to whole families!

415k troops vs 1,000,000 troops. Holy shit.

Neither was great, as written about by David K. Johnson in The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government. That said, having read much about this time period and the history of the early gay rights movement in the US, I would pick the US any day of the week over the nonexistent gay rights movement in Russia and many other communist countries, who still give people like me the cold shoulder.

Still, forming a gay civil rights group in 1948 was a progressive step in the right direction (the Mattachine Society), and the leaders paved the way for the more well known gay rights movement in the 1970s. They walked so our ancestors could run.

I hope changes like this make them taxable. I want a fat cut of all that cash they are hoarding.

I agree!

Bro, there are people in a local groupchat that think the great leap forward was a good thing and are self-proclaimed history buffs obsessed with the years 1939-1945, specifically in Russia and China.

They harken back to it as a better time, not realizing the irony of it while being a queer American. It’s exquisitely painful to watch 💀

Heh, the first step in a long series of steps towards orbital shipyards and coriolis-class space stations.

The future is looking bright.