The United States has a lot of problems, but there's one problem that we don't have. You never hear the term "crumbling church infrastructure" used in a serious context here. Back when I lived in North Carolina, I was bored one morning and counted the number of churches and schools on my 13-mile commute. There were thirteen churches and one school, so that's a church every mile. It seems like we have really prioritized the construction and maintenance of churches in that area. So, I think we're good in that regard. We got this.

I do have to wonder though, are we perhaps diverting TOO many resources to this special interest? What if we could divert just a little of that massive pre-tax revenue stream to the schools? Roads? Bridges? Renewable energy? Would a shift towards prioritization of the natural world over the supernatural represent a better overall tradeoff for society?

The Republican Party seems to attract most of the single-issue voters. The big-ticket single-issue voter issues mostly fall under the Three G's.

Democratic voters generally hold a more balanced worldview and weight the issues proportionally. Say what you will about the single-issue simpletons, they are a reliable electorate engine for the MAGA machine requiring very little in the way of maintenance.

The fall of Roe may create an uprising of single-issue voters on the left, but perhaps that is being optimistic?

Pre-COVID-19: You my bro, man!

Post-COVID-19: Nice to meet you. I respect your health and well-being.

This interpretation is possible even when interacting with a Saudi crown prince. Give Biden the benefit of the doubt, NBC.

I think the MSM has failed to characterize what the Big Lie is. CNN has referred to it as a huge fraud, larger than Watergate even. That's not really it though. It's theater for the poorly educated and easily amused Trump voters. True frauds aren't generally committed so brazenly in full daylight. Educated Trump voters see it for what it is: a strategy to herd the useful idiots. The fact that it enrages the left is just icing on the cake. But the true goal is to circle the wagons using this rag-tag consortium, fight the liberals, and secure votes and judicial seats and everybody's special interests.

The trouble with the poorly educated is that they are richly armed.

So, I'm watching House and have made it to Season 5. I have to say the show is, uh, a bit formulaic. Here's the tried-and-true House 12-Step Formula:

1) Rando #1 appears to suffer from a medical condition
2) (variation) Rando #2 collapses nearby and is actually the one with the mysterious condition
3) House pops Vicodin like Pez and is unfazed by symptoms
4) Differential diagnosis meeting fails to produce correct diagnosis
5) (variation) Team members try unsuccessfully to hide personal relationships from House
6) House sexually harasses female members of team
7) (variation) House sexually harasses female supervisor
8) Team unlawfully searches patient's home and applies incorrect treatment to patient
9) Patient appears to improve, then spews blood
10) House has an epiphany about medical mystery entirely on his own from unrelated event
11) House introduces himself to patient in a sardonic way
12) Patient is successfully treated and makes a miraculous full recovery

Feel free to adapt this formula into a drinking game.

If you don't, you are an ILEOD.

Also, the DU spell check dictionary is full of SHOOP.

I see a lot of articles on the subject of unlimited PTO, but most seem optimistic and don't seem to address my concerns.

Full disclaimer: I've never worked for a company with this policy. However, I've been around the block and have good instincts when it comes to some things.

The upsides have been covered ad nauseum. Here are the concerns I have.

1) You hear the talking point that you can take all the vacation you like "as long as the work is done". My concern is that the expected amount of work is poorly defined and/or you may be caught in a cycle of perpetually missed deadlines. I worked for MegaCorp for 15 years where completely unrealistic deadlines were the norm. You'd go from one late project to another where you are behind before even starting. How can you ever claim that the work is done in that environment?

2) Revolving managers. This is another issue I had at MegaCorp. Getting assigned a new manager (very common there) would often mean a complete upheaval of your work/life balance. The new manager may take a closer look at the PTO you are taking, leading to increased anxiety during these transitions. With fixed vacation time, managers can come and go, and they don't have much of a say about that.

3) Competition with coworkers. Your coworkers should primarily be your teammates, but they can also be competitors. You will compete with them for offices, promotions, compensation, fringe benefits, and even keeping your jobs when the pink slips are handed out around Christmas time. Who gets to keep their job...Hank who took four weeks of vacation, or Walter who hasn't taken a vacation in two years?

From Merriam-Webster:

1: the quality or state of being free:
a: the power to do as one pleases
b: freedom from physical restraint
c: freedom from arbitrary or despotic control
d: the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges
e: the power of choice

All of these align completely with women's right to choose. The SCOTUS case is, at its foundation, a struggle for their liberty after the political facades are stripped away.

To prioritize the "liberty" of an embryo over that of its mother is to prioritize the supernatural over the natural world. To cite the Constitution in this incompatible and incongruous way is to defile it.

You have the prestige of being scholarly in the matters of history and Constitutional law. You are tasked with weighing the merits of competing arguments in messy legal cases that couldn't be resolved elsewhere.

Any yet, these days the average layperson can predict with a high degree of accuracy what your "decisions" will be.

Contrast this with the work product from a medical diagnostician or a mathematician or an inventor.

Also, add in lifetime tenure and you get to wear those badass robes. I want that gig!

I haven't been inside a Waffle House in a few years. I love Waffle House. The synchronization between the cook and the waitresses is a wonder to behold. I went inside this week and had two eggs over light with bacon and hash browns scattered covered and smothered. It was glorious.