Other Stuff
US President Joe Biden met with Chinese president-for-life (aka dictator) Xi Jinping yesterday in California. A lot of conservative media were badgering Biden for having the meeting and saying that would just be Xi "sizing up" Biden to figure out how badly he (Xi) could abuse the US. I don't see it that way. I mean, I'm sure Xi already sees Biden as weak; it was unlikely that meeting with Biden would make him seem even weaker. And there was upside, at least in theory. For example, Xi said he'd work to reduce the flow of fentanyl (or its precursors) from China to Mexico. Will he actually do it? 50/50 at best, probably, but there's no downside in trying to get him to do it. (Of course, fentanyl is fairly easy for a chemist to make and isn't dependent on access to opium poppies or any other plant.) Anything that improves communication between the countries is good as long as we're not naive enough to believe they're always (or even often) telling the truth. It's just as important for them to hear "our truth".
Xi Jinping is still a dictator, Biden says after meeting with Chinese leader | CNN Politics
Biden-Xi meeting: Takeaways from the long-awaited gathering | AP News
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Nikki backs off, but we know what she said: Nikki Haley tweaks 'verify everybody' social media stance, suggests Americans should be able to post anonymously (msn.com)
Start at :11 here to see what she said the first time, which she didn't back off from at first: Ron DeSantis on X: "You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers. They were not "national security threats," nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional…" / X (twitter.com)
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This is why there cannot be a 2-state solution for many many years: https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1724448506344100309
And... Pretty sure nobody is surprised: WATCH: Israel finds weapons, military equipment used by Hamas in key Gaza hospital after raid, IDF says | Fox News
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When do you do most of your holiday shopping? When is the most popular time for Denver holiday shopping? | FOX31 (kdvr.com)
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You might not be surprised at either the most obese state or the least obese state: Most Overweight & Obese States in America in 2023 (wallethub.com)
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There's one born every minute...or maybe she really can? Lawyer quit her $75k-a-year job to become pet psychic (nypost.com)
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We should get an answer soon here in Colorado. It would be shocking (and wrong) for Trump to lose any of these cases: Denver judge hears closing arguments in lawsuit aimed at blocking Trump from Colorado’s 2024 GOP primary ballot (coloradosun.com)
(And I say that while also believing that his behavior on January 6 means that nobody should vote for him.)
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I think this experiment is worth a try. The headline is slightly misleading due to its incompleteness: No Bar Exam Required to Practice Law in Oregon Starting Next Year (legal.io)
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I can't help but think that this mindset demotivates kids from doing as well as they could in school, thus setting them up for exactly the opposite future from the "easy money" that they imagine: 57% of Gen Zers think they 'can easily make a career in influencing' (nypost.com)
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Hey, United, I REALLY don't care about or want your virtue signaling:
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