FWIW, you can order a V6 regular cab F150 work truck with an 8-foot bed. Still costs $40k, but it exists.
Ranger and Maverick can both haul plywood sheets with a few 2x4 slats in the stamped slots on the side of the bed and some tiedowns.
This is very specifically how Oklahoma’s AG sold their case against the religious charter school.
[Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond] said allowing a school like St. Isidore would open the door for state-funded schools to teach other religious beliefs, such as Sharia law or Satanism.
“While I understand that the Governor and other politicians are disappointed with this outcome, I hope that the people of Oklahoma can rejoice that they will not be compelled to fund radical religious schools that violate their faith,” Drummond said.
This poster is a bot or troll or something, operating from a tiny instance and mixing banal local “news” with low-effort right-wing garbage. Block 'em.
I actually watched the trailer, and this one looks… okay? It is trying to mash up Fast & Furious with Elf, and it could work, I guess. I would likely smile at the high-concept nonsense while sitting in a Doctor’s waiting room.
At $250M budget, though that’s gonna be a tough one. The pre-COVID rule of thumb was double to the budget with ticket sales to break even in the sense of “powers that be will be content and no one’s career gets derailed.” I have my doubts this is a half-billion-dollar movie.
I wish the Dems had felt more confident in 2020, or that Kamala Harris had proven to be a more vibrant personality able to take the reins in 2024. I wish the Overton window in the US were farther to the left. But that’s not the fight in front of us; we are where we are.
I don’t think anybody denies that Biden is in physical and a sort of general mental decline. He’s old AF. I tend to think “turning it on” just takes a lot out of him and maybe requires a couple of days of R&R which you don’t normally get as president, but I would hardly be surprised if they give him a little chemical helper sometimes. If taking a stimulant just makes you feisty and articulate and able to pop off a solid State of the Union speech then, again, that just speaks to your being old. Someone who literally doesn’t know what they’re doing will be the same idiot, but higher energy…
You know, like Trump.
Decipher #9
deciphered in ⏱️ 3m 7s
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https://decipher.wtf
This game-type really benefits from being on a screen. I always hated them in newspapers.
You need to read it in the context of the other strips. Normally, someone in the first panel defies Everett’s sense of decorum and general decent behavior (e.g. describing a way they took advantage of another person, or being unecessarily), and in the second panel Everett cartoonishly attacks them in a fit of righteous rage. It’s all meant to be a wish fulfillment for someone struggling with the stresses of “modern” urban living. I feel like Larry David would probably have been a fan if he were around during its run, if that helps; just imagine the Seinfeld gang if they looked and acted like Kingpin from the Marvel stuff. I think the audience is invited to sympathize with Everett’s sensibilities and to laugh at the catharsis of someone actually indulging their rage.
This one subverts the trope. It invites the audience to suppose the beggar will be destroyed, especially with the foreshadowing. However, simply existing and hoping for a little generosity does not violate Everett’s personal code, so going against the perceived rational choice, he listens to his better angels, leaves a coin, and moves on. I can almost imagine the cartoonist starting to become a little troubled at how sincerely people, possibly total assholes, professed to admire Everett and so wanted to turn things around a bit.
So whether a charter school can be religious wasn’t really considered.
If it wasn’t considered thoroughly, it was only because the court decided it was obvious. The school tried to say that they didn’t count as a public school, because they’re a private entity contracting with the state, but the court said, “No, you only exist as a school because you pursued a contract to use state funding. You are a charter school, and in OK charter schools are public schools, and public schools are not to be explicitly religious.”
This case was so beyond the pale that it wasn’t even enough to cite state caselaw saying it was okay for the state to pay a Baptist orphanage to house native American kids because the orphanage didn’t make them go to church or convert. The case very clearly confirms that charter schools, as they are structured in Oklahoma, have to at least put on a pretense of nonsectarianism. Otherwise, they need to be private schools and try to leverage less direct ways to extract money from the state. This is harder because the funds are not guaranteed upon enrollment.
Now all THAT said, I assume the school will appeal and find out just how much Clarence Thomas hates reading other people’s court decisions when he can simply skim a pocket copy and decide he knows best and his first instinct is always right.
Jumblie #267
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4 guesses in 40s
https://jumblie.com
Almost twinsies.
That much is fair, but one of things I like is that while introducing some moral ambiguity and more nuanced storytelling, it doesn’t go too far and “un-Star-Wars” itself by drawing too close a comparison between the Rebellion and the Empire.
I don’t want all my literature to be morally didactic, but I do think Star Wars in particular is a set of themes and tones in addition to being a setting, and you can’t just go full House of Dragons and have everybody be awful.
This show is going to benefit a lot from binge re-watching. Episode 5 was the most fun so far, and really dials up the stakes for most of the characters, but ultimately it’s a long action set piece with a predictable reveal in the middle of it. Nothing much happens.
And while the reveal was predictable, it was also fine. If those motherfuckers had denied me DARTH BORTLES(!!!) I would have set the building on fire. Best acting and best character in the show so far, and really getting to chew the scenery with Sith philosophy that would be absolutely fanboy-friendly catnip if it were being delivered by a white male with a name they recognized.
I don’t love everything about this show, not by a long shot, but beyond our villain, Sol is likeable, Jecki and Yord grew on me just enough I was mildly sad they killed them, and also surprised. There has also now been lightsaber combat that’s better than anything in TV Star Wars. I actually want to find out what really happened and what the exact nature of the stain on the 4 Jedi souls is, so I guess that makes a show like this a success.
I do wish they’d offered a bit more of a lore dump to remind me about Cortosis, though. I really thought Jason Mendoza was permanently breaking lightsabers and was very confused when they started working again.
Looks like Cobb Vanth to me.
“Facilitated open computing initiatives and exercised independent judgment and mastery of social engineering techniques and forum software.”
Strands #115
“Looking good”
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Theme word had a little sibling that also crossed the whole board. Otherwise would have made it through clean.
Wordle 1,102 4/6*
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Strands #114
“Frame game”
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Good luck, non-Americans.
Fair; I guess I should have run some data. I just used gasbuddy.com to run a similar track for what would have been my rather lengthy commute if my employer had asked us to return to office (and kept the lease on that building). Apart from a couple of outliers just outside the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, I’m only getting an 8% variance (about USD 0.23/gallon, versus your 25% and AUD 0.55/litre – is that right?).
That said, Iwill admit that $0.10/gallon suboptimal average price is probably more likely than I thought, though with a less intense driving situation one would still be well under the $260/year “convenience premium.” Outside the US and other oil-subsidizing countries, the numbers clearly work out very differently.
I might also add that some people forget about the “repetitive” in Repetitive Stress Injury. Adjustable is your friend because it allows you to find a really good posture, and also because it allows you to accommodate multiple postures through a day or month or whatever.
Strands #116 “Better together” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵🔵