A professor noted that on the occasions when a student in his office needed to use his old rotary desk phone, they had no idea what to do. Not just knowing that the phone had to be off of the hook *before* dialing, but not knowing how to use the dial itself.

Also, because typing instead of handwriting, cursive writing may now be older adults' secret communication method now.

"...Naked Nutrition's Vegan *Mass Gainer* powder..." Well, I guess *LEAD* has a lot of mass, so that could be a win??

"... inflating user numbers before the bank's $175 million acquisition. "
Sounds vaguely familiar.
I'd imagine a certain high-ranking government employee would look kindly on such behavior.
Perhaps enough to offer a pardon and job offer??

The pay being offered to new ICE agents seems awfully high to me -- almost certainly a lot more than police officers make. However... Throughout history, the one thing dictators and emperors have all known is that the armed group keeping them in power must have a visibly better standard of living than the general populace, thereby guaranteeing (mostly) their loyalty.

If the House is going to be the only legislative body, then gerrymandering needs to be made impossible. Even a 'non-partisan' body can be co-opted -- see the current Supreme "Court" as example 1. I think some kind of algorithm, simple enough to be implemented by a 6th grader, would be best. If it can go wrong, it will ==> If it can be corrupted profitably, it will be.

Pointing a finger at a foreign gov for attacks on US personnel, with *that* person about to be sworn in, could lead to a major incident, possibly way, with a near-peer adversary. Agencies really have to be careful when the most powerful part of their audience may not be very stable.

I recall seeing a documentary, or posting, that a tower built by the ancient Greeks in an area subject to earthquakes lasted quite a long time, due to lead being used between layers to provide some give. I doubt we have enough lead, at low enough price for that to be practical, not to mention health hazards, but perhaps materials research could find some substitute?

Given the dry nature of the areas in question, I wonder if adobe would be feasible? Add a spray-on waterproof layer in case of occasional rain and should be good to go?

I wonder why houses in such areas aren't being made exclusively of brick, stone, or maybe adobe with a waterproof covering sprayed on? Enough clay in the adobe, maybe a fire turns walls into ceramic?

Now THAT's a contract termination clause!

UPVOTE!!! Damn, why couldn't this have come out when I had active mod points??