When I first started hearing people talking about Andrew Yang, I didn’t pay them much mind. Every election cycle there’s always some fringe Democrat candidate that never goes anywhere but gets a fanatical following—the first election my high school classmates were eligible to vote in, I knew a number of Deaniacs.
But a few things about Yang caught my attention over the last couple weeks. The first was when the DNC cut his microphone during the debates. But while that’s unsurprising, what caught my attention more was seeing a number of my libertarian friends being more pissed off about that than the leftists I know. And then I realized, You know, the leftists aren’t really the ones who are into Yang. It’s the more libertarian-ish ones.
After seeing this video from shoe0nhead’s alt channel combined with Yang voicing support for Andy Ngo and then Justin Amash all over the span of just a couple days, I decided to give his website a look. While Tulsi Gabbard, another centrist/libertarian Democrat favorite, seems to have absolutely zero policy suggestions on her website whatsoever, ANDREW YANG HAS O V E R 9 0 0 0.
Well, okay. He has 106. But that is still fucking insane.
So guess what I did? I took a couple days and read them all, so you don’t have to!
The Unexpected
It didn’t take long for me to find why the DNC was so desperate to cut this dude’s microphone off. Frankly, I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t wind up dying in a mysterious accident or suddenly committing suicide for no reason within the next couple years. Some of his suggestions don’t just buck Democrat party line, they’re downright heretical.
The primary platform he’s running on is Universal Basic Income. I’ll let you guys argue that one out in the comments—even though it seems antithetical, I’ve seen enough libertarians arguing in favor of UBI that I’ve come to accept that the argument can be made, whether you agree with it or not. Generally when I see libertarians argue for UBI, they’re arguing for it to replace all other forms of welfare, and believe it or not, that’s what Yang seems to be doing. He says he’ll offer a “choice” for people currently receiving benefits, but it’s pretty clear that his intention is to phase welfare out in favor of UBI, particularly because his platform is that people would only be eligible for EITHER welfare OR UBI, and he’s confident that UBI will be more appealing to everyone because it doesn’t have the strings attached that welfare does.
But my favorite part of his UBI platform is the absolute fuck you he gives to people complaining about the 1%.
Why would you give Universal Basic Income to the rich?
By giving everyone UBI, the stigma for accepting cash transfers from the government disappears. Additionally, it removes the incentive for anyone to remain within certain income brackets to receive benefits. If it’s paid for by a Value-Added Tax as in Andrew’s plan, a wealthy person will likely pay more into the system than he or she gets out of it.
“Why are you giving money to the rich?” “Because fuck you, that’s why”
And then there’s his response to “but $1000 doesn’t stretch as far in cities as it does in rural areas”:
What about variations in the cost of living? Wouldn’t major cities need much more money than rural areas?
Every eligible UBI recipient, regardless of location, would receive $1,000 a month. Varying the dollar amount by location would add expensive layers of bureaucracy. Plus, UBI would actually help many more Americans live where they want to. The Census Bureau shows Americans are moving between states at the lowest levels on record, contributing to a stagnant economy and labor market. Moving requires a lot of money up-front, and Americans are increasingly strapped for cash. UBI would make people and families much more mobile and improve the dynamism of the labor market as people seek out new environments and opportunities.
$1,000 a month goes farther in some places than others. A UBI would lead to a revitalization of many communities as people take advantage of lower costs of living in certain areas instead of piling into expensive metro areas.
“B-b-but it’s more expensive to live in San Francisco than Kentucky!” “Maybe you shouldn’t live in San Francisco then”
Another element of his UBI proposal that had me in absolute stitches is that one of the key parts of his plan is that it highlights his stance on immigration, which is definitely not toeing the DNC line.
Will this lead to mass immigration to the United States?
America has been the world’s most desired immigration destination for 250 years. High demand for citizenship is not new. It’s true, that with UBI in place, the demand for citizenship may rise. However, only citizens can receive UBI, and the US already has one of the longest paths to citizenship in the world. UBI would make citizenship all the more meaningful.
“Immigrants from third world countries are going to want to come in and take our bennies!” “Well, that’s true, but lucky for us, THEY’RE NOT GETTING IN”
He mentions immigration several times throughout his 1001 policies, and every single time it’s about strictly enforcing our current immigration policies and more tightly policing the border to prevent people from coming in and trying to mooch off his great new society. I love this page, because the subtext is so fantastic. “Now look, I’m not saying we build a wall, which is an icky Republican thing to do. But I may be saying that if someone else were to have already built a wall by the time I hypothetically take office, I won’t be trying to tear it down.”
Additionally, while he supports the DREAM Act, on his page about “what to do about current illegal immigrants,” he’s basically like, “Yes. Them. Well, deporting them would be too expensive. But that doesn’t mean WE CAN’T MAKE THEIR LIVES A LIVING HELL! STARTING WITH NO UBI FOR YOU, BITCHES!”
MAKE ’EM POLISH MONOCLES, ANDREW!
It’s Not All Perfect, Though
The way he was describing Value Added Tax on his primary “What is UBI?” page kind of confused me and had me thinking that he was possibly proposing a flat tax that he was calling a VAT. However, after browsing ALL HIS OTHER MILLIONS OF GODDAMN PROPOSALS, it becomes clear that he is definitely not suggesting that. The VAT would be in addition to all the other taxes we regularly pay. While the UBI might offset that to an extent… I’m not even going to finish this sentence because what am I talking about, there is absolutely ZERO chance that any of his policies would make it through intact so it’s a moot point. But if Yang were to become emperor and implement all his policies whole cloth, it’s possible that UBI might essentially function as an up-front tax refund, depending on how much you typically already pay in taxes + the extra money spent on VAT transactions. That combined with his streamlined automatic tax filing system could theoretically make life a little less miserable than it is currently, albeit while still forcibly taking our money.
Anyway, UBI is just one of OVER ONE HUNDRED policy proposals Yang has on his website, so let’s not waste any more time on it. There’s so much more to Yang than UBI! Let me break it all down for you.
The Actually Decent
There are some policies that Yang suggests that aren’t just “I could live with that,” they’re actually BLOODY HELL ANDREW, GOOD JOB. For example:
- Term limits!
- Term limits for everyone!
- Tort reform!
- Nuclear energy!
- Automatically sunsetting legislation!
- Legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing other drugs!
- Making it easier to destroy robo-callers!
- Taking the environmental lobby to task for the current state of forestry in the US!
- Public high schools should focus on steering students toward vocational studies rather than solely traditional university!
- Public high schools should also be teaching their students some goddamn life skills!
And of course, this beauty:
He also has some ideas that I honestly wouldn’t have considered before but aren’t half bad. He has a major focus on decentralizing power from out-of-touch urban hubs, and proposes relocating certain federal agencies from Washington, D.C. to other parts of the country to essentially drain the swamp. He suggests ranked choice voting, which is an idea I personally like. His idea about requiring a second person’s approval for a nuclear weapon’s launch is a good one in my view as it adds some checks and balances. And while you probably can’t make a libertarian argument in favor of this, I like the idea of forcing Americans to get out of their goddamn bubbles. I’ve always said making every American spend a year in Stockton, California would cut back on a good deal of the bitching.
The WTF
Andrew Yang for a Cyberpunk Future
Perusing Yang’s website, it becomes very clear very quickly that Yang is envisioning a future of automation, robots, and artificial intelligence, and he thinks it’s coming fast. Like, now. I mean, like, now. He makes clear multiple times that his reasoning behind UBI is that automation is going to very soon leave us with more able-bodied, working-age adults than there are jobs, and that this isn’t something that’s undoable. I’m not here to make the argument one way or the other, I’m just here to report the facts. Fight it out in the comments.
Rather, the thing that’s so amusing to me is the fact that so many of his policies have that reasoning built into them. He literally has “use AI” as a major facet for implementation of no less than four of his policies. I swear to God, this man is going to have us in (self-driving) flying cars by the end of the decade.
Examples of policies taken straight out of a sci-fi novel:
- Regulating artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies
- Prosecuting algorithmic trading
- Implementing quantum computing and encryption standards
- AI doctors (regulated, of course)
- THE LEGION OF BUILDERS AND DESTROYERS
Very Specific Policies
Some of his policy proposals are so off-the-wall that I can’t help but think that this is personal. Whether someone personally affronted him (I have a feeling that he was kicked off a plane at one point and he’s not happy about it) or he just personally thinks something is dumb, some of his policy suggestions are so random that you know the only person they matter to is Yang himself.
But there is one policy so random, so absolutely WTF, that it deserves special recognition:
Wat.
The Human Resources Department Came Up With This, Didn’t They?
He’s got some… interesting ideas on what will encourage people to become more civic-minded.
- Making taxation Fast, Fun, and Friendly®
- (No, seriously, read that one, he wants to make Tax Day a holiday with games and contests so Paying Your Taxes Is Fun)
- Mandatory AmazonSmile donations
- I WILL BRIBE YOU TO CARE ABOUT ELECTIONS
Etc.
There are also some policy proposals that are just weird. I mean, not as weird as Empowering MMA Fighters, but still weird. Like turning the Post Office into a bank and turning local newspapers into PBS.
The Expected
He’s got a (D) after his name, so of course no one will be surprised by:
- Medicare for All
- Muh Wage Gap
- Cap and Trade
- Gun Control
- Regulate Dat Bitcoin
- Lower the Voting Age to 16 Because Reasons
Overall
At the end of the day, Andrew Yang is a candidate that’s a bit hard to put in a box. He has some good libertarian ideas, he has some Oh No leftist ideas, and he has a whole lot of ideas that honestly no one has really suggested before and thus kind of hard to categorize. It’s clear that Yang’s policies aren’t really realistic proposals that could ever be implemented by a president, because mainstream political parties would never go for them (at least, not right now), and since Yang isn’t running for Emperor, he can’t just do what he wants without congressional approval. It seems like his platform is less one about realistic policies and more Ideas For Engineering Social Change. But kind of like how Bernie’s surprise success in 2016 has led to every mainstream candidate this cycle trying to out-Bernie Bernie, maybe Yang’s long game here is to get his ideas in front of a larger audience and get more people thinking and talking about them so at some point in the future, they won’t sound so off-the-wall after all. While some of his policy ideas need to go to the incinerator ASAP, several of them I honestly wouldn’t mind becoming more a part of the American discourse.
Regardless, this article honestly kind of only scratches the surface of Yang. He has SO MANY policy proposals on his website that just in the time it took for me to read them and then try to summarize them here, I was already forgetting things. So I do recommend if you’ve got some time to kill, checking out all of Yang’s policies here. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cheer, and you’ll want to bash your head into the wall. Andrew Yang contains multitudes.
All I know is that I donated to the dude’s campaign because he entertains me. I’m trying to imagine what 2020 would be like if it was Trump vs. this guy, and I think this would be the most fun outcome for me. I know he’s more than a long shot—there’s no way in hell the DNC are going to let him anywhere near that stage for the fall debates, and like I said earlier, there’s always the “Ladies and Gentlemen, Andrew Yang suddenly died” option whenever we’re talking about these people—but nevertheless, I’d like to keep him in this circus as long as possible. And TBH, if by some miracle of God he actually won, I don’t think I’d be that mad.
Comments
377 responses to “Andrew Yang’s One Thousand and One Policies”
hmm, sound interesting, Hi MLW!
???
Doesn’t sound very Charmed.
I know, I know
He’s an odd duck. But when you’re a bazillionaire, you can be whatever you want.
Quack! Quack!
THE LEGION OF BUILDERS AND DESTROYERS
I’d be ok with having my own squadron of destroyers.
I’ll take the Builders
You sure?
My nickname is Bob the Builder, so yes, after all someone has to BUILD those Jets, yes?
But if you had a squadron of Destroyers at your disposal, you could follow behind them re-building and making BANK!
+1
broken windowleveled buildingYeah!
“I took a couple days and read them all, so you don’t have to!”
I. Can’t. Even.
*soldiers on*
MLW, you truly are a martyr for our cause. No one should expect another person to actually read and attempt to understand Mr Yang’s mental incapacity but you did just that, for us, a group on derelicts that only have one another. Thank you, I think.
I AM NOT A DERELICT, I Am a derelicte’
I can deralick my own balls, thank you very much!
*Blue Steel
So you’re saying…?
Is that you Mao or Kamala Harris?
One is a chubby, pant-suit wearing maniac who would torch the world so long as they gained ultimate power.
And the other is Mao.
Also, one had a better personality, that one would also be named Mao.
Leaving Denver, South on I-25, I spot a Black Tesla, the cool looking one and as usual I start checking the plates, by far the best I’ve seen on a
Thanks,
COLBRNR
Wut? Tesla not thanks, fucking otto correct, hate that guy…
You’re welcome.
*scratches head*
I do have an addendum to the “getting kicked off a plane thing”: I actually forgot about this incident. I only remembered it because I was trying to remember which airline uses the “fly the friendly skies” slogan and when I googled that news story popped up. The news cycle spins so fast that things have a tendency to slip out of the public consciousness, so I’m actually impressed at Yang for actually remembering this one. (I’m assuming that’s what the policy is about, anyway.)
Of U nite Edddd!
LOL. Good luck with that.
Gate Guard at Area 51
<—- Single issue voter
Gun control? Gun grabbers can fuck off.
^^
But a close second is freedom of speech and taxes.
I could go on. There is a lot of fruitloopy nonsense in there and to his credit, some not so fruitloopy, but I don’t need to go on. Gun control is a deal-breaker.
Non-sarcastic question: Has Trump proven to be sucky on this front, or has it just been words? I know he was making some graspy motions after one of the more recent shootings.
He gave in on bump stocks.
^This^
I was deeply disappointed.
*adjusts tin foil hat*
I also don’t think it is coincidence that the Vegas shooting happened in the midst of a flurry of attacks by gun controllers on bump stocks. I think he was painted into a corner by that.
It was dumb to fold. He got exactly zero new fans from the left and pissed off the gun nuts.
That. And he once made Difi giddy, which prompted an impulse purchase on my part. But I suppose that limits him mostly to occasional rhetoric with little meaningful action on the matter.
I believe they had ATF redefine bump stocks to ban them. He said he is interested in banning suppressors, but as far as I know nothing has come of it.
Preach on. Still on vacation tomorrow, but visiting (foreign) local gun stores looking for fun stuff.
Cold Creek Outfitters in Bedford. Lock Stock and Barrel in nearby Everett. Juniata Trade in nearby Breezewood. If you feel like taking a 30-40 minute drive to Altoona, you MUST check out Pioneer gun shop….it is as much a museum as a store.
*Cove Creek Outfitters*
Same. If civilians disarm it’s game over.
I thought Single Issue Voters were only interested in cockfighting.
Another single-issue deal breaker. Yang’s stance on guns won’t fly with me. He may as well be telling me “Hey, a lot of people are gay so we want to make them feel included by making everybody participate. But look at the up side – free knee pads!”
How about the argument that we need UBI because the robots will make us all unemployed? Pretty sure Yang thinks that.
Read the article, Winston! I already enacted labor for you, how much do you want from me
He makes clear multiple times that his reasoning behind UBI is that automation is going to very soon leave us with more able-bodied, working-age adults than there are jobs, and that this isn’t something that’s undoable. I’m not here to make the argument one way or the other, I’m just here to report the facts. Fight it out in the comments.
*pokes with stick* Go on, fight!
*grabs stick* don’t tell me what to do.
FINISH HIM!
I do find interesting that this line of argument is being made when libertarians say that automation won’t cause mass unemployment.
The new Terminator film is actually a bunch of robots come back from the future to steal all the good manufacturing jobs.
Don’t you mean Green Jobs? This is James Cameron after all.
I couldn’t come up something both so simple and so destructive myself. What a loon.
Yeah that prospect alone is terrifying to me as a high-school teacher. The amount of weapons-grade political gibberish that comes out of their mouths is incredible.
It’s not just him~
Repeal the 26th amendment and raise the voting age.
?
“Pressley cited teen activists pushing for gun control as a reason to give 16-year-olds the right to vote, which she compared to having a driver’s license.
“Young people are at the forefront of some of our most existential crises,” she said in her remarks Tuesday. “The time has come. Our young people deserve to have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.”
Something something Cultural Revolution
That’s funny. Over the last twenty years, there’s a push to restrict drivers licenses for teens.
Oh I know, and that IS terrifying.
Ok…let’s see. 16 year olds aren’t mature enough to:
– use tobacco
– use alcohol
– engage in any games of chance
– choose who they have sex with (some?many? states)
– join the military
– drive without restriction (some?many? states)
– rent a car
– get a credit card
– get a loan
– work unrestricted
– purchase spray paint
– some other shit I’m forgetting
But they are definitely mature enough to pick our political leaders. Sure.
TBF, nobody is. Some are just really not mature enough.
And, most “leaders” aren’t mature enough to lead.
We’re fucked, regardless.
I barely understood what I was voting for at 21. I absolutely did not understand at all at 18. So let’s try for 16, what could go wrong?
It’s such a blatant attempt to pad the Democrat voter rolls they would be embarrassed for even suggesting it if they had any shame.
I voted for GHB. No idea why, but someone told it was important that I vote.
Were you on GHB?
I voted for W in 2000. Last time I voted republican.
The present voters don’t have such a hot record either.
About half of those also or soon will apply to adults 20 years old. Or older.
“Lower the Voting Age to 16 Because Reasons”
It’s easy. If there is no one stupid enough to vote for you, import millions of uneducated 3rd world peasants. In case that doesn’t work, legalize your own idiots to vote.
How hard it is to cut natural sod (as in wil field or meadow) such that it can be laid back down again? I was thinking of an army disguising pitfalls dug to break up a cavalry charge, but I don’t know how easily the wild fields can be cut and put back on a twig platform.
That depends on soil type and water content. I have cut sod before. If the ground is wet, grass roots thick and the soil is loamy it isn’t difficult. Change any one of those and it turns out to be very difficult.
Is there not a special machine that cuts and rolls sod? A few sod farms around but I never paid any attention to what they are doing. Its tough as hell to try to run a tiller through sod, that I know.
Look at you trying to automate humans out of their jobs
Well, these days, I’m sure there is, but the story I’m writing is at a less advanced technology level, so they’d be digging by hand.
I would think that the much more likely and feasible method would be to craft some sort of thatch camouflage to resemble the sod rather than literally cutting up and replacing the sod.
Yes, there is. We have a sod farm here on an unusual geological formation. A bend in the ancient Red river deposited over 300 feet of sediment and then moved over. We have a few spots like that. That sediment is excellent top soil. One of those spots is the site of a sod farm. They are able to plant and harvest the same spot nearly endlessly. They have a tractor that pulls a scoop that creates long lengths of sod and then a roller that rolls it up. It can create rolls as big as round bales of hay and it does it very quickly. It is very impressive.
We visited the farm in an ecology class in college but I cant remember where it is. they produce the majority of sod for the whole state. It is somewhere north of Natchitoches, La but I could not drive to it today.
Photos
http://turpinfarms.squarespace.com/new-gallery
That’s some serious equipment. Nice neat rolls, etc
Similar operatioin outside our town. Looks like they use the same equipment.
http://www.bestsod.com/
In case you didn’t already despise Jim Acosta.
TW: Mark Dice
I despised everyone in that. Dice managed to out-asshole Acosta.
This.
Hence the TW.
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2019/07/16/report-ousted-planned-parenthood-president-refused-to-use-trans-inclusive-language/
Head of PP may have kicked out in part due to transphobia.
Nice
Very nice
We live in the strangest of all possible timelines.
What I heard – she wanted to make their core mission healthcare for women and not eugenics and political activism which it currently is. That is a mortal sin.
Currently? Pretty sure it was always about eugenics and political activism?
She wanted to change that. Sanger paused her checkers game with Hitler and gave them a call.
“Axe that bitch”
And the PP receptionist responded “Axe her what?”
That one was right over the plate, wasn’t it?
This is why I come on here, I need a laugh before I head for bed
The Democratic Presidential candidates should be asked to raise hands if men can get pregnant at the next debate. The debate moderators love to ask questions that require raising hands given that the number of candidates is so high. The Dems are afraid that Fox News would do something like this to them–that’s why they don’t want Fox News to host any debate. They don’t realize that Fox News has no one but cucks who would never ask a question like this.
The hosts already said no more hands-raised questions next time. I wonder where that order came from.
“ANDREW YANG HAS O V E R 9 0 0 0”
I hear what you’re saiyan.
First the obligatory, “Fine work!” But it really is, and made me want to read it all the way through, something I don’t even do with my own stuff. Great subject, great exposition.
Examples of policies taken straight out of a sci-fi novel
One of those novels where a benevolent world government makes sure we have happy, productive, and safe lives.
+1 Carrousel
+G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate
I’m glad you enjoyed!
Your piece will represent all the knowledge I will ever have about his campaign. That’s a compliment, BTW.
#metoo
Yes, great report, thanks!
Enable the U.S. Postal Service to offer basic financial services at low rates in communities around the country.
Basic meaning like check cashing? Savings accounts? The PO here offers everything from insurance to CDs. They’ve had quite a few scandals over the years as a result.
Yes. Like Japan and the Euros do. It’s been a dream for a while. USPS being a paragon of financial competency.
Eight days without TV or internet access.
I come back to Trump insulting the odd squad. I guess nothing important happened while I was gone.
No minds were changed.
“Eight days without TV or internet access”
Sometimes you get lucky….
“https://www.yang2020.com/policies/robo-calling-text-line/”
That doesn’t go far enough. Telemarketers will be tortured death, financed by a pay-per-view TV channel.
meh. I just don’t answer the phone.
I’m here for the Yang Gang Bang.
In seriousness, the Medicare for All and gun-grabbing make him a non-starter. Still an interesting character though.
Also he’s fucking retarded and thinks there are a fixed supply of jobs that will eventually be stolen by robots.
Yang? Dang! Sweet poontang!
He’s a tranny?
Yang Gang Bang
Part of the 1973 ABC Saturday Morning Kids Cartoon Lineup
Kmele Foster proves that you need almost no economic or historical education to know that Yang’s crap won’t work
I am amused by his understanding that bureaucracy leads to waste and graft: he gives UBI to everyone because it’s, get this, universal, and it’s cheaper to give $1,000 to billionaires than it is to means-test billionaires. Anyway, it’s a fun chat that you can share with that nephew who thinks he knows everything and who doesn’t trust anyone over 40.
MLW, between this and Charmed, you are amazing. I don’t know how your liver tolerates it.
Another online dating question: I have a number of men where we chat, they ask to meet for coffee, I say ok, what day works and they disappear. I get when they disappear sooner, but they are the ones asking to meet.
So, glibbies, what’s up with that?
I have no idea. I’d at least meet someone who answered me.
Actually, since I’ve met any Glib I could logistically visit, that doesn’t say much.
What corner of the country are you in? I’ll meet you for coffee if it’s within travelling distance.
I thought you didn’t drink coffee? Or you just didn’t want to drink mine. OK, I understand
Runs to corner and sulks
I don’t drink coffee, but most places that sell coffee have other options on the menu.
Pssst, “coffee” doesn’t really mean “coffee”. I learned that from Seinfeld.
Alexandria VA
Aww, That is a bit of a drive. I’m not sure when I’ll next be able to get to Virginia.
Oh, 6-6.5 hours, but only about two hours from my father’s house.
So I could stop in the next time I pay him a visit.
You would be welcome
Heh, I’ll make pretzel rolls.
ooo, now I have to find and excuse to make a trip down to the area.
“Alexandria VA”
In my past experience, I think this may be a key factor. When I lived up that way, I found the dating scene to be incredibly frustrating as most of the people I met were absolute flakes. Not entirely convinced I wouldn’t have been included in that count myself.
That said, if I asked a woman to meet up, I damn sure would have followed through, just out of common courtesy. If for whatever reason I was no longer interested, I would let them know. Just going silent is a coward’s way out.
They are trying to bait you into dirty talk so they can wank? I dunno, they are trying to use you in some fashion. I am not sure why but I am sure I would never have anything to do with someone like that. That behavior is a bit disturbing.
I block the guys that are all ‘show me ur tits by hyuk hyuk. They haven’t done that. Decent text conversation, ask to meet, I say ok and they’re gone. I don’t get it.
I mean, obviously better to know now.
Yes, better to know now. You aren’t looking for someone to make your life worse.
I am so glad I am not in the dating game. I remember it. I could tell some horror stories.
*thousand yard stare*
People are weird. That’s all I’ve got.
AFAICT that behavior is not like some special man-secret.
Unmarried guys in your age range are more likely to be flakes than average.
True
This is the first time I have missed my 20s. It used to be so easy. Just put on lipstick and drinks magically appeared.
I hear ya.
Wait, what?
…that’s one that I don’t understand. If I show interest in a woman and she reciprocates, I’m definitely going to follow through. Then again, I’m not into game playing. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
If you had said “No” they would’ve shown up. Woody Allen club thingy.
They had another “lead” and it it was heating up and they figured it was easier to ghost you than be honest about it?
My best guess
Hang in there. From your posts and comments here, I think you’re a pretty cool gal. You’ll find someone.
Despite the creeps, the no personality types and these flakes, I’ve met 3 guys with 4 and 5 scheduled for the weekend. Another guy is traveling to Chicago this weekend and we may meet when he gets back.
I’m kinda goal oriented.
Excellent!
Ha! The only song I’ve ever done as karaoke!
Also, the one and only time I have done karaoke. I was drunk, with 3 other women. It was fun
Maybe they expected you to say no, then freaked out when you said yes.
I think this is closest to the mark. When a meetup goes from hypothetical to concrete, that’s when the anxiety kicks in.
Maybe they said this to everyone that responded and picked the one the thought they liked the most?
It’s a volume thing?
Don’t listen to me. I was married before social networking and met my wife at a rockabilly show.
FWIW: coffee doesn’t work
Think about all the couples you’ve seen on pre-dates and the great time they were having at Starbucks: zero persons ever. Unless your Starbucks has a mysteriously lit balcony over a ripply section of the Potomac, it’s not happening.
Folks think the coffee date takes the pressure off, but it’s the other way around: no one ever much engages and then I’ve gotta get home and help with homework. Dates hafta put the fun back in fun, so that’s a wine bar minimum.
I don’t know your town, but I’d go for later, not earlier. Maybe the bar at the Capital Grille at 9: split the espresso cake. You’re a milestone event, not a workaround or a fit-in; so is he.
I actually suggest going to a bar and grill where we can watch sailboats and planes. All 3 have been interested in meeting again (and we have been able to laugh while chatting), I think the atmosphere helps. Plus, for me, lots of people around.
I think it’s going quite well. Much better than I expected, just also a lot more creepy crap than I expected.
General age group?
I’m 50, so I look for men 45-55
Huh. I wouldn’t have expected that much flakiness.
Well, it does make sense, the stable ones are likely to be married, since it’s before the genral widowing age. So the general unattached population skews flaky.
exactly this
finding the reasonable guy who happens to be single or divorced for no particular fault of his own is a steep prospect
Hence my focus on meeting many soon. My goal is one a week. Meeting it so far.
There could be the rare find of the one who did screw up and then learned from it.
Exactly, Dino. Many people change as life goes on. At 47, I’m a fairly different person than I was at 30. And I don’t think that is so rare.
Those guys didn’t show because they don’t look a goddamn thing like their profile pics.
Lawyer One taught me this about online dating:
a/ guys over six foot state their actual height
b/ guys under six foot understate how short (pardon the pun) they are of six foot by 50% (eg: 5-8 is 4 shy, so he’ll state 5-10 = 2 shy)
Yep. Guy 2 claimed to be 5’6″. He’s shorter than me and I am 5’3″. I think it’s guys need 5’10” that lie. Being shorter than me isn’t a problem for me (remembers Travis fondly)
I’m short. I’m only 6’3″
beats me: I’m 5-14
FWIW, I can’t imagine lying like that.
How do they expect to get away with it? Their sparkling personality?
Counter-datum:
I accurate listed my height – 5’7″.
As I’ve relayed before, I didn’t pass the filters of my now wife (we met randomly IRL) – too old (fair cop) and too short – she’s 5’3″.
She had 5’10” or taller.
I never did see her in 7″ heels….
Why, Adler Elevator Shoes of course. “Now You Can Be Taller Than She Is!“™
They’re idiots?
They don’t want to belong to any club that would have them as members.
…YOU get marriage counseling! and YOU get marriage counseling! and YOU get marriage counseling!…
Oh yeah, that was another one of the WTF policies, there were SO MANY damn policies my head was spinning by the time I got through them and I couldn’t remember what all I had read.
Evidently, he’s a member of The Reform church. Has he spoken on their positions towards the death penalty, homosexuality, euthanasia?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Church_in_America
So what does Yang think about Charmed?
Well I know how he feels about Disney remakes
I actually agree with that.
Also, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan were much more likable before they completely lost their mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyAcda-SSls
If he’s elected will his term be known as the Yang Dynasty?
Too late. Clinton got elected twice.
Shouldn’t that be Wang dynasty?
But he was black, not Chinese.
https://www.yang2020.com/policies/democracydollars/
He should put his policies into two columns. So you can order one from Column A and one from Column B.
lol
Now that is funny.
Sorry for being OT but this seems like an appropriate place to rant about this. My son is in cub scouts, and he really likes it. Every summer for the past several years we’ve sent him (and his sister) to a daycamp that they run at a local sportsman club. It’s always been a benefit that it is there because it makes it easy for them to shoot bb guns and do archery etc. My wife volunteered there last year, and was prepared to volunteer again this year except…
Apparently two days before the camp was to start, a new health inspector from the town decided that he had to take a tour. He then proceeded to hold an emergency meeting to shut the camp down. The club offered to close any ranges that were even remotely near the camp (nobody uses the ranges on weekdays during the day anyways), but that was apparently not enough. They would have had to shut the whole club down without notice to their members in order to accommodate. It’s very clear to everyone involved that this was executed the way it was so that there would be no time to make arrangements to address any concerns that they came up with. All because guns are icky.
Fuck that guy.
Nothing surprises me anymore. If you are near MN I can accomodate you with a private range and a cabin to stay in.
No, we’re in MA. That’s appreciated though (even if half kidding).
I’ve never been much of a shooter myself, but I really liked the sense of independence that my kids got out of shooting sports. Someone explains how to do things safely, and then let’s them participate as long as they follow all of the rules carefully. If nothing else, it’s a great way for them to develop confidence and discipline.
There was no way to get permits to have the camp at another venue either. The week would have been 1/2 over before the permit went through. It wouldn’t bother me if it were cancelled because of an actual issue or emergency. It’s the fact that it got shut down so that some townie asshole could grandstand and show how tough he is about guns.
I do not miss that place even a little. I’m not a shooter but I like living in a place where a local civic club has a monthly gun raffle. Hell, last year at the town festival the local Democratic party had a shotgun raffle.
I’ve been daydreaming about moving south, but I don’t think Mrs. Dinosaur would go along with it.
You’re not by any chance referring to a club near the intersection of I-93 and 128? I’m a member there. And there is a scout group affiliated with it.
No. I’m out in western MA. The club is in Granby.
MN is a blue state but no outstate pol runs on gun grabbing. In any case, if you are in the area stop in and drink the coffee that UCS wouldn’t. You won’t need a gun, I have one that wasn’t in the boat when it tipped over.
Even a pellet rifle for the youngsters
It would be a shame if that health inspector tripped into a dirty chipper.
With a rusty chainsaw up his ass.
I took gun safety training at 12 ,in October. In northern Minnesota, it’s cold in October, so it was held in the elementary school gym. Perfect time, just before hunting season. I bet they can’t do that now, and so kids are less safe.
https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/culture-worriers-wetzler
I like parts where she complains that CATO is not woke on the cops or immigration.
The other Yang gang:
http://www.popanimecomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/rwby-volume-3-still.jpg
Marianne Williamson on Rubin. Must. Not. Click. *Mouse hovers over play button, hand twitching*
Oh go ahead
I never learned how to love properly. I’m scared.
I’m pretty sure she likes ropes, ropes of love. Like Creosote, but maybe not exactly.
Peter North approves.
https://www.aemind.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/our-deepest-fear-poem.pdf
She calling STEVE SMITH inadequate?
She goes on and on about ropes. She must have done some Bdsm stuff, unless there’s another tie-in?
the thing you did . . . .
I did knot.
brilliant!
Yang is a loon but more importantly he’s a butta-face. (Sorry, Andrew, it’s true.)
I feel butter face is really tragic. There’s nothing you can do about it. If your belly needs work, eat less move more, but that don’t work if you’ve got a mug no one wants to chug.
I understand the woes of this, being a potato head myself. My body looks fine but you’d never know it from photos that only show my face.
“My body looks fine”
Pics or it didn’t happen.
Well, the three eyes are kinda . . . breathtaking?
Plastic surgery?
Even so, I am 100% guaranteed to vote for him if he gets a running mate named Yin. Preferably with polar opposite positions on every major issue.
Well, there goes the all-important gay libertarian vote 😉
A Solomonic choice is required.
Credit when due. Lol.
How parts will they have to split you?
Depending on how you count, 4 or 5.
Yo, I heard you eat ass, so I put ass in your popcorn, so you can eat ass while eat popcorn.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_ckRBbWwAAdT83.jpg
Nice.
Maybe the Thai’s can throw your half to crocs like in that old Cecil B. DeMille movie that I saw…
Sounds like a technocrat who watched way too much Star Trek to me.
I hear there is an opening at Niskanen…
Is it $1000 for each person or for each adult? Monthly? If you pay each citizen, that totals roughly $3.92 trillion a year(I think I did the math right). Given the federal government only spends an estimated $1 trillion on welfare every year, that is gonna take a big tax hike to cover it.
How about $1000/person tax to cover it.
*paid monthly.
You forgot the overhead.
And graft.
Like Artic Ice Worms.
they live in the Actic ice and survive by eating eachother’s tails.
(According to a poem by Robert Service)
Assuming the higher incomes would be taxed more. If you do the math right you might be able to take a pay cut into a lower tax bracket and end up making more money.
Only if you’re close to a shift
Right, but everyone will be able to pay more taxes because the government will be giving them more money in order to do so.
What?
He wears a hat that reads “MATH”.
Made in China.
I got a pop-up on the site that says the MATH hats are back in stock and I’m seriously considering getting one.
We’ll just mint 3 one trillion dollar coins and give them to China to make change so we can spread it out. Problem solved.
Naw, the $13,000 UBI Tax will cover it.
Let’s let the AI decide.
HIs UBI is instead of other benefits, not in addition to . . . or some such similar argument.
Your math is good enough for government work !
I was going on the assumption the UBi would replace all welfare spending.
Yeah, it’s dicey math, but the assumption is that essentially cutting all other entitlement programs, cutting out as much bureaucracy as physically possible, decreasing the budget for things like the military, decreasing spending wherever possible, and adding in a VAT would cover it. Every single one of those is going to have someone REEEEEEEEEing, so you know this would never happen anyway. But that’s the general idea.
“cutting out as much bureaucracy as physically possible”
Never gonna happen. The creation of a bloated bureaucracy is the whole reason that federal agencies exist.
NONE of it is ever going to happen, let’s be real
Almost forgot how do they plan to handle the influx of perpetually unemployed people pumping out kids for checks?
Abortions become mandatory after the second child.
Only adults get it, so they’d be on the hook for paying for those kids until adulthood. And no more food stamps. *cackles deviously* Erm, anyway, so I think the assumption is that that wouldn’t be cost effective, especially since once the kid’s an adult you won’t be able to take that money from them.
I know my gun budget will be getting a boost.
Well if Yang gets his way, it will be your black market gun budget. If anyone asks you lost them while fishing.
God, I can’t believe I’m sitting here Yanging all night.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER I AM NOT ADVOCATING THIS POLICY MERELY EXPLAINING IT DON’T @ ME
He actually doesn’t want to ban guns, he wants to implement a licensing program. Basic hunting rifles and pistols are a tier 1 and require you to pass a safety class and provide proof of gun locker ownership. No age restriction for tier 1. Semi-automatics are a tier 2 license, qualifications to get it are to be 21 and have the tier 1 license for a year. Automatics are a tier 3 and require the same as a tier 2 + annual storage inspections and registration with federal agencies.
So I mean Suthenboy could use his UBI to boost his gun budget as long as he has his loicense.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER REPEAT I AM NOT ADVOCATING THIS POLICY MERELY EXPLAINING IT DON’T @ ME
Now I must go wash my mouth and brain out with Listerine.
Look at the gun grabber, here.
The problem here is less the policy itself, and more that the policy indicates that Yang knows nothing about guns or gun laws. I know, I know, par for the course…
The Sheriff at the end of Stranger Things is definitely in the Russian prison, right?
No. He’s dead.
I don’t want to believe that.
So I won’t.
Not to worry, I don’t actually watch the show. I’m just fucking with you. ?
Bastard.
He’s the best part of the show, I won’t watch it anymore if he’s gone.
Internet sleuthing just now reveals he’s under contract for next season.
So if he’s dead that’s a shitload of flashbacks.
Isn’t he a Vietnam vet? Flashbacks might be interesting.
No I mean…’
Ah shit.
No one’s ever really gone.
Of course not. They’re just reborn as a different caste.
But I mean on the show.
Umm…. wut?
Rather than trim down to a few soundbites, Yang’s campaign threw the entire brainstorming board at the wall.
It’s interesting that the Youth Vote is all over Warren because she has so many plans but not this guy and all his plans.
I think that’s why libertarians are drawn to him. He’s not presenting sound bits. He’s presenting a whole view of how his world would work. Like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, it draws in all of us aspie types. Too bad his world is equally plausible as Star Wars.
YES I think you hit the nail on the head. Because what he’s proposing is a ground-up overhaul of all of society, not just minor policy changes. He’s proposing building something new like someone constructing a fictional world.
I think this thought is also lurking in the background for all of the people who are trying to undo all of the institutions of western civilization. They believe that they’ll be the ones who get to reconstruct the world according to some rational plan. Even though that sort of thing always ends in disaster. The fatal conceit is alive and well.
hope that worked: my preview isn’t working
Justice John Paul Stevens has died at the age of 99.
my post with the cool linx is in moderation, of course
There’s a vacancy for a retired justice, one of the elderly incumbents should fill it.
Fairly certain the Democrats are pulling a Weekend at Bernies with RBG.
One of these days RBG’s arm is going to snap off with a big poof of dust from in the hollow husk and the game will be up.
0h shit, Trump is getting another pick. Any guesses…
Wasn’t Stevens already retired and replaced?
He retired in 2010 and Obama appointed Kagan instead.
Maybe he can drag her soul to hell with him.
https://mises.org/wire/why-progressives-wanted-less-democracy-and-lower-voter-turnout
My how things have changed but in certain ways remain the same. For example Immigrants voting for Democrats and Republicans not liking like that but this time the elites are the ones who want those immigrant votes.
Also this low voter turnout in urban areas is a major factor in why Urban Democrats are so terrible.
I clicked. Took Marianne 11 minutes before she literally compares Trump to Hitler. Only a sympathizer would take that long.
A mixed blessing. It does help prevent amassing power, but it also results in ever more radical newbies over time.
If the NYC Council is anything to go by.
It just reallocates power to different places: the civil service, non elected staffers, lobbyists, etc.
In other news, here’s a cosplayer with huge boobs:
https://twitter.com/OfficialRinnieR/status/1150231800087605250
But can I buy her bathwater?
https://mises.org/wire/are-india-and-china-booming-much-they-claim
Hmm….
I think this has been widely suspected for a long time.
What is it when you factor in the inflation from the potemkin cities and roads to nowhere?
That is correct. Also this is like the Great Leap Forward except with actual economic growth…
https://twitter.com/marcus_ac_/status/1150960199869464581
Que?
I got it.
Made a splattoon rebuttal.
over my head, but I’m willing to learn ?
Here.
Is Peach Booty Smash your twitter name?
Yes.
I saw an old movie in which the Siamese had a “Living Sacrifices to the Sacred Reptiles” involving feeding lambs to crocodiles. Something tells me that was something some Hollywood screenwriter made up, LOL!
Umm. Yeah. Buddhism frowns heavily on animal sacrifice.
But there are sacred catfish! And you can feed bread to them!
It’s a good first date.
You Mean Hollywood lied to me? 😛
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_giant_catfish
Giant is right!
Never underestimate HM…
I clicked and live to tell
Do we need to organize a Twitter intervention for you?
“? NEW VIDEO: 300,000 Weebs (now over 1 million) have pledged to storm area 51. is this just clever population control? is this just a weeb purge? ?”
https://twitter.com/shoe0nhead/status/1151178373974114304
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLhnzs4lm0U
Isn’t Area 51 abandoned now?
I hate to blow people’s minds but I heard they make planes there.
I heard they used to test planes there. Making them, never heard that one.
Oh. Oh yeah.
Planes, dude. Like, other planes of reality. Fifth, sixth dimensional shit. They kinda intersect our dimensions, but not all four, or not all at once.
Also plains. Like amber waves of grain and all that shit. The Midwest just ain’t all that fertile without government-harvested Allen technology.
Yep, checks out.
Once, while returning from Bonneville, A buddy and I were riding right next to area 51. We left around 9 a.m. from Wendover and were well rested. All of the sudden I was overcome with exhaustion. I considered pulling over and sleeping, but I pushed on. It was very strong and dramatic. Just a desperate desire to sleep. I thought it was some kinda health thing. When we stopped for gas, before I could even mention it, my buddy told me HE got incredibly tired. Dunno why or what it means, but that’s what happened. Around 2009 or so.
On a scale of 1-10 how high were you?
Narrator: they both were inhaling carbon monoxide.
“Wendover”
You sure you were near Area 51?
The old guy sitting across from me looks exactly like an Asian Christopher Walken.
Just don’t talk to his guy all wrong. Wouldn’t want him to stab you in the face with a soldering iron.
It would be the wrong tone for sure.
https://youtu.be/51lFmdChOA0
What’s a good rule of thumb for how much an animal needs to be fed per day? Dug FitzHelen has about 190 tons of cargo capacity for his homeward trip, and would be trying to bring some exotic animals with him.
*ahem*
I am going to give you a straight answer. It depends on the animal. You’ll have to research each animal, or type(large cats, for instance) to get your answer.
That was very not easy for me.
Well, the types I currently know he’s going to pick up are Pygmy dragons (housecat sized dragons) and Auroch Beetles (bugs the size of cows.)
Well, cow winter forage goes from 1.5% to 2.5% of body weight per day. So that’s an easy value to work with.
I don’t know the data, but the consumption curve will favor the large. The proportion will be include two factors: a linear one with weight for operations, and a quadratic function for heat loss. Cows and elephants require little because of small surface area (skin) per unit mass; conversely, shrews must eat constantly or freeze to death.
Whew…
I would look up house cat nutritional quantities, figure out what works for dragons, as far as food sources, and extrapolate.
For the beetle, pick the beetle that you’re basing yours on, and do the conversion math.
And then for both, take whatever poetic license you need to, to make it work.
15 pound cats should have ~0.2 pounds of wet cat food per day. So 4/3% of body weight.
Do your dragons have a similar metabolism to cats? A couple of rats instead of a can of Purina maybe?
Yeah, I would think that reptiles have much slower metabolisms than warm blooded animals. They might require far less food than cats of the same size.
Well, if they breathe fire that might require lots of fuel.
Unless they’re magical in which case all bets are off.
Reptiles might need live food, though, which requires it’s own care and feeding.
From previous stories where I’m using the existing worldbuilding, Pygmy dragons favor ovivory, prdating small animals, and scavenging. They don’t need live prey, and are too small for elemental breath.
They might have a higher caloric requirement than housecats.
Turns out that the space required to keep the animals in eats up more cargo capacity than the beasts or the food. (Since the volume is unavailable regardless of remaining bouyancy)
I want one.
Exactly the reaction he’s hoping for from nobles with a lot of cash to throw at him.
Fucking house cats are scary enough. If mine was 4-5 times her size, she’d have already eaten me.
Yeah, they do get that look in their eyes from time to time.
Don’t forget that a 15lb. dragon would be able to take off your twig and berries with a twitch of the head. Even the big ones are fast.
So there is going to be a sequel?
Your book ?is queued up as next after vacation.
I finished Cthulhu Armageddon before leaving. Was ok ?, though chapter 1 was so meh, I almost stopped reading. It got better and I ended up enjoying it.
Yes. I’ve already paid for the cover art, and Dug still needs to get home from where he reached at the end of “Beyond the Edge of the Map”.
“Boobs transcend sexuality. Guys like boobs. Girls like boobs. Gays like boobs. Everyone likes boobs.”
https://twitter.com/MsBlaireWhite/status/1151275252837580800
Looks like Q hacked Blaire’s account.
Cats are out in their catio watching a coon kit’s technique emptying out the bird feeder.
No one seems perturbed by the others.
That doesn’t mean they like them like them.
^^Preach it.
“Boobs are like pizza, when they are good, they are really good. When they are bad, eh, they are still pretty good!”
Blaire _is_ Q
And you’re Brooks?
My secret is out.
I feel like this needs a caption of some sort.
“Christ, what an asshole.”
Who’s saying it?
The viewer.
https://archive.li/2cLVe/1be02ff4966a04d5b867d4e5be18cbeeed669da9.jpeg
NSFW.
https://archive.li/KjhsI/71a0a36196e344f55062e8a42477fe1c5d08e5b2.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.li/msx0o/9cd9fffef79ebc6bff25b8b848fd5a07b879e322
NSFW.
He has 99 policies but bitches ain’t one? He must be some kind of misogynist.
Thanks for bringing Andrew Yang onto the radar!
Hear, hear!
Good evening, Sit Digby.
Looks like we are the last Glibs standing tonight
Or does that make us FIRsT!!!
Whichever makes you happier.
🙂 yay!
Pursuit of happiness! Options!!
Best timeline.
https://whdh.com/news/police-warn-flushing-drugs-down-toilet-could-create-meth-gators/
Meth gators ?
That is SouthPark worthy
“Ducks, geese and other fowl frequent the treatment ponds and police say they “shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do.””
Feared for muh life!
And out of the blue, a shachou (company president) I’ve done translation work for on a contract basis for over a decade drops this on me. “You know, we really appreciate the work you do for us. Our customers really like you.” First compliment of any sort I’ve gotten from him. “Uh. Okay. Uh, thanks.”
I expected that to end with a terrible twist.
Me too. I hate compliments. Pay me and we’re even.
Lol
I have no idea what time zone you could possibly be in.
He just paid you, with a compliment.
“For a Gaijin, you’re not half bad.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”