America - The Official Thread

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Why "oh dear"?
The best way I can describe my issue with it without dragging the thread off topic, is to say that it doesn't know what it doesn't know. Maybe it's a personal thing... like, I'd have no issue taking people's word for something if they seem to be reasonable people - because nobody has the time to cross check every single thing they read on a forum... but, as soon as someone says they used ChatGPT to find out xyz, then it's more like - yeah, I'd trust you, but I don't trust your sources.

I'll perhaps expand on that in a more appropriate thread.
 

Sounds about right.
How do they not have a warning system in a state that gets more tornadoes than any other state? I understand that there aren't as many tornadoes in the Texas Hill Country, but they do occur, and one even happened less than three weeks ago.
 
How do they not have a warning system in a state that gets more tornadoes than any other state? I understand that there aren't as many tornadoes in the Texas Hill Country, but they do occur, and one even happened less than three weeks ago.
When I lived in the hill country outside of austin there were no tornado warning sirens. But also no tornadoes ever came close to my area in over a decade. We did, however, get flash floods. And a friend of mine managed to damned near kill himself in a car accident because of one.
 
How do they not have a warning system in a state that gets more tornadoes than any other state? I understand that there aren't as many tornadoes in the Texas Hill Country, but they do occur, and one even happened less than three weeks ago.
Even if there were to be warning systems: having all power cords above the ground would likely only create more hazards and have the sirens not having power in case of an emergency.

Maybe it would be better to rely on a good old SMS system: emergency -> ping ALL smarthphones with a short warning in an area (as long as signals get through).
 
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Even if there were to be warning systems: having all power cords above the ground would likely only create more hazards and have the sirens not having power in case of an emergency.
If you don't have all the power lines in the air, how would anyone even know they're in Texas?
 
When I lived in the hill country outside of austin there were no tornado warning sirens. But also no tornadoes ever came close to my area in over a decade. We did, however, get flash floods. And a friend of mine managed to damned near kill himself in a car accident because of one.
My town outside of Dallas definitely had Tornado warning sirens. There was also a TV broadcast system that would override anything you were watching. Flash floods in Texas are definitely scary. Come to think of it, I don't miss anything weather/related about Texas. I also don't miss the politics/culture. Trying to think of anything I do miss. Maybe Torchy's & Velvet Tacos.
 
My town outside of Dallas definitely had Tornado warning sirens. There was also a TV broadcast system that would override anything you were watching. Flash floods in Texas are definitely scary. Come to think of it, I don't miss anything weather/related about Texas. I also don't miss the politics/culture. Trying to think of anything I do miss. Maybe Torchy's & Velvet Tacos.
We have torchy's and chuy's in the denver area.

I do miss the food a bit. I have not lived anywhere, or even visited anywhere, that the food was better suited for me than Texas. Otherwise, it's essentially a total loss. There is something magical about the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains, but I assume Trump is trying to shut that down anyway.

107in82in36inTelescopMcDonaldObsFtDavisTexasIII-CC.jpg

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I've hung out on site there, you can see for friggin ever. I can only imagine it's similar to how people talk about being able to see forever from parts of Africa, elephants in the distance looking like ants.
 
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We have torchy's and chuy's in the denver area.

I do miss the food a bit. I have not lived anywhere, or even visited anywhere, that the food was better suited for me than Texas. Otherwise, it's essentially a total loss. There is something magical about the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains, but I assume Trump is trying to shut that down anyway.

107in82in36inTelescopMcDonaldObsFtDavisTexasIII-CC.jpg

tHOOnBYZ59PLHHxPn2RRCTlSU4afDJvXGvTcwpwMv59wEJ25p08-YKsE6lW8awt4RI37QGS9dIfA-6ZlxkHXwhALLfcL6qNs0F6g1mWtls1b3pcQYA


I've hung out on site there, you can see for friggin ever. I can only imagine it's similar to how people talk about being able to see forever from parts of Africa, elephants in the distance looking like ants.
The food is definitely good in the I'm a glutton and I also love medium sized franchises way. Subtle, it ain't.
 
In the past, AG Pam Bondi said that DOJ had the Epstein files with client lists. Now the DOJ is saying they DON'T have these files.

I suspect that both were telling the truth. I men, DOJ no longer has the files. The question is, did Musk's DOGE boys take a copy while they were inside the government computers?

 
In the past, AG Pam Bondi said that DOJ had the Epstein files with client lists. Now the DOJ is saying they DON'T have these files.

I suspect that both were telling the truth. I men, DOJ no longer has the files. The question is, did Musk's DOGE boys take a copy while they were inside the government computers?

Ah, so either they destroyed evidence or Musk stole it. Oh well, the Keystone cops can't do anything about it.
 
Update on the SSA tax story. I figured that replacing Trump's campaign promise with the provisions in his "Big Beautiful Bill" would reduce the total benefit to seniors, I just had no idea by how much.

I got ChatGPT o3 to go digging for professional estimates of the two scenarios and that revealed that the benefit is down by about 80%

EDIT: Numbers are billions of USD

View attachment 1463120
I think it was a mistake on my part to even mention "ChatGPT"
So here are the key sources used to create the chart above. Feel free to check out the links below.

University of Pennsylvania - Wharton
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
 
In the past, AG Pam Bondi said that DOJ had the Epstein files with client lists. Now the DOJ is saying they DON'T have these files.
They'll be tucked behind a toilet at Mar-a-Lago.

...or in a box behind the door. Maybe rolled up and sitting in a window sill. Or somewhere in Saudi Arabia. You never know with Trump.
 
The Trump protection racket...

USA: Hey Brazil, drop the case against Bolsonaro, or else...
Brazil: Or Else What?
USA: The government will take 50% more from Americans, when they buy stuff from Brazil.
Brazi: Err...

Nothing more American than messing around in the leadership of other countries.
 
The Trump protection racket...

USA: Hey Brazil, drop the case against Bolsonaro, or else...
Brazil: Or Else What?
USA: The government will take 50% more from Americans, when they buy stuff from Brazil.
Brazi: Err...

Nothing more American than messing around in the leadership of other countries.
If I was Lula I'd be making sure that everyone knows that my mental health is tip top and that I have absolutely no intention of shooting myself twice in the back of the head.
 
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