Spitefire

Rick Scott is the senator of.... Which state was it again?

Powerful lobbies are surpressing the number of doctors practicing in the US. If a foreign doctor wants to emigrate and practice here they cannot until they pass TOEFL (reasonable) AND finish US-based residencies, of which there are few. I know a Russian dermatologist who has been a receptionist for years because she cannot get ECFMG certification. Some states are wising up and waiving the residencies, but way more need to do it.

Jesus, the shudder this comment just elicited gave me a crick in my neck... Someone distract the mango before he gets the astronauts killed...

People's health is the textbook definition of inelastic demand. It should never have been allowed to be a free market and we should require health insurance providers to be registered non-profits at the BARE minimum.

Woodworking. I want to refinish my dining set and build a Murphy bed in the basement. These things seem well within my theoretical abilities but the tools are expensive and I'm afraid those items will look bad. I put some chair rail up and there's one spot I joined poorly and I can never unsee it.

I honestly think it's because in measures of distance, a US American could be considered well-traveled without ever having left the United States. Living in DC and visiting Florida or California is a big trip logistically. I love to travel and have moved a LOT and I have just barely been to every state in the US (some I only drove through, fuck rural Nebraska). While I disagree personally, I think that most Americans just don't see the immediate utility in learning other languages.

Not learning Spanish in school as a requirement at this point is just racism, though.

I think if the decision had been going forward instead of backward, I would have felt better about it. Saying any descendents born after 2025 will not have assumed citizenship is very different than saying "Lol, your citizenship wasn't real."

Now I feel like the fact that I decided to learn Italian and work out an emigration plan before applying bit me in the ass. I should have started the process 15 years ago when I was as you say.

Salt Lake County's voting process is straight up fire, Sherrie Swensen was amazing. One of the only things I miss about Utah.

Do you just hit an age where you stop being able to comprehend you're out of touch? Is that going to happen to all of us? I feel out of touch all the time already and I'm nowhere near the Congressional average...

I am of Italian descent but also Italian-American. Those are different things in my mind. Like, I am learning Italian and learning about Italian culture today (my father and I are trying to get our Italian citizenship although it's a long road). That is separate from the Italian diaspora that my father's family settled into as immigrants in the US. That community has it's own cultural practices and nuances that may be roughly sourced from the same place as my ancestors from Italy, but they aren't the same. I am proud of both, I see no reason to discard the Italian-American label just because Italians might make fun of me. I don't pretend being Italian-American makes me Italian or able to speak for Italians or Italy.

That said, my mother's side of the family is decidedly more WASPy and while I am no less accepting of that heritage, I see no real reason to deliberately celebrate it. It's the dominant "culture" in the US and in no danger of being assimilated away. It may just be that those of us who came from a minority community (no matter how distant that status is from the present) feel driven to protect it on some level.

In my personal experience, it's not junior devs becoming senior with time. It's much cheaper business analysts who are being expected to do our own coding now because AI makes it "so easy". Thanks, I hate it. I'm a pretty great analyst but a pretty mediocre developer...and my salary continues to reflect that truth (which is exactly why companies are doing it). Someday I'll probably be an ok developer if the trend continues, all for a BA salary.

I thought Sheetz used it for bonuses though (not base pay and not for firing), which I would still not personally like but doesn't seem as weird and stupid as this. I'm legitimately wondering if BK has enough potential employees to fire people for not being friendly enough. Seems like a self-own... but I haven't been to a BK in probably two decades.