US chocolate covers the entire range from shit that can barely be described as chocolate to the highest quality chocolate that can be produced. I find it easy to buy high quality chocolate at the grocery store whenever I want, its just as accessible as shitty chocolate. Trying to paint US chocolate as one thing is disingenuous or ignorant.

I think its actually that most people generally don’t really understand most things beyond the minimal level necessary to get by. Now that the tech industry isn’t just a bunch of nerds you’re increasingly more likely to encounter people who are temperamentally disinclined to seek understanding of those details.

Listen to an audiobook. If my eyes are open I’m not falling asleep so laying there listening to a book works for me.

That has been changing rapidly throughout the region. There’s been enough extreme heat waves over the past decade that AC is becoming normalized. Just about any new build is going to have it now. Especially in the Portland or Seattle areas where most people in the region live, the Summers now often also have smoke from forest fires so opening a window for a breeze may not be ideal.

I am surprised how few people know about the Epstein breeding ranch. From what I’ve seen it was his big project before being arrested, he had a massive facility on thousands of acres of land with its own airstrip all ready to go in New Mexico. If he hadn’t been arrested and died in jail he would probably be raising his first brood by now. Given how much he tried to spread his eugenicist ideas around in the crowd he hung out with I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more deranged assholes out there like him and Musk trying to pull off their own human breeding projects.

Its a useful tool and carrying one is common practice in many parts of the US. I had it on me out of habit at the time and after this incident mostly stopped carrying one in public except when necessary.

We do have organized pickpockets in the US, just not as many and they are mostly concentrated in specific parts of the country where there are dense tourist areas. New Orleans and Las Vegas for example are both pretty well known for having pickpockets.

I was almost pickpocketed in Paris when I was out late at night and stupid drunk to the point I was seeing double. I had sat down on the curb because standing wasn’t great. They came up behind me and crouched down without me noticing until they made their move. I instantly went into fight mode and almost stabbed them. Super dumb but I was very drunk and it was just like instinct that they were trying to steal my knife so the only option was stab them in the face with it before they could use it to stab me. As soon as I got the knife back I had the blade open and they jumped back looking terrified like I was a wild animal about to attack, which is kind of what I felt like. Super weird experience. I think they were really just grabbing what they could and happened to get my knife instead of my wallet but being a drunk American my first instinct was kill or be killed.

I was into it in the early days but got over it quickly. Now I want the opposite and minimize attention my PC draws to itself. Its just pointless and kind of annoying. It was impressive back when it was new and challenging but now its just an element of marketing, and one that I’ve come to strongly dislike in my builds.

It was a collection of Hitler’s speeches, not Mein Kampf.

I don’t think this is honesty because you are only addressing Hamas. Of course any nation would respond to an Oct. 7th type event, but Israel has very obviously gone far beyond that. The pogroms in the West Bank for example, there’s no connection between Hamas and the villages being emptied and seized. Smotrich and his ilk have been very explicit about the intent of Israeli actions.

I had the cops try to pin a bunch of crimes on me and a few coworkers once. Thought my life was over for a few days because they were very serious allegations. Fortunately their police report was so ridiculous as soon as someone competent got involved the whole thing was immediately dropped. The claims they made had literally no evidence and multiple witnesses could prove they were lying. Cops 100% will say anything, it makes their job easier and there’s no consequences.

US goods will be cheaper in Vietnam compared to other countries in the region. US companies will be more likely to invest in Vietnam compared to other countries in the region. If 20% is low relative to where their regional competitors end up it’s not a bad deal. I don’t think a lot of US produced goods compete with local products so its not likely to cause domestic industry much problems.

Interestingly, the phenomenon with economic outlook I’m talking about actually used to be nearly unmeasurable in Democrats. It wasn’t until recent years that it started showing up significantly for them too, and still to a much lesser extent than Republicans.

Your school is likely a resource assuming its anything like a US college. They hopefully have dedicated staff for helping students find employment and/or they may have staff doing the kind of work you want to do. Talking to those people should get you pointed in the right direction.

How Republicans feel about the economy changes depending on who the President is rather than the actual performance of the economy. Its a phenomenon that began picking up a few decades ago but has become very pronounced in recent years. You’re taking the things they say at face value, which is a mistake and the reason you’re confused by them.
What is actually happening is a kind of fascist revolutionary movement has taken over the GOP, Federal government, and many state governments and is now in the process of instantiating their regime. If you’re looking for news sources, AP and Reuters are a starting place but you should be reading as many different sources as you can. I hate to encourage the use of Google but news.google.com can be a useful resource for quickly finding a bunch of different sources covering the same topic.

I remember when I first started feeling like the pledge was creepy so I decided to exercise my rights by not participating. Turns out a lot of people hate our freedoms and don’t like it when people use them.

It’s more than a feeling, it’s a tactic. If you want the masses on side it is another one of the tools in the box.

I think genuine patriotism is a bit more than what you describe. Your lack of pride in being an American is motivated by a desire for an America that is worthy of pride. To me that is still patriotism in essence even if outwardly it seems like the opposite.

They do things like this to send a message and demonstrate power.