Overcorrection in policy is not uncommon in authoritarian regimes. I'd imagine because policy carries the threat of imprisonment, not just guidance.

"The Chinese government wants to promote traditional family values and liking danmei novels is seen as a factor in making women less willing to have children," Dr Ge explains.

You skipped the "mass market" part.

Those advancements were made possible by the Roadster, which was the true pioneering product that made EVs cool again. A car that was dreamed up and invented by Martin Eberhard, and would go on to be built by someone else that gave him the shittiest end of the most shit-covered stick there ever was.

All credit due to Eberhard and Tarpenning for the idea and some of the initial development of the BMS, but its not like they had a full car ready to sell and before Musk came in. Tesla was established as a company in 2003, Musk was brought in (with his money) in 2004. The first Roadster sold in 2008. Now stop making me say anything positive about Musk just to set the record straight. Its making me sick to talk about him positively after what he's become and how much harm he has caused human society.

It’s not rare for the first company to bring a product to market to not be the top dog once other companies get involved.

Except Tesla wasn't the first mass market EV. It wasn't even the second. The first would be the GM EV1 in 1997:

Many would argue that the EV1 doesn't count because it was on old technology. Fine then, the Nissan Leaf from 2009 then sporting its lithium battery:

Tesla Model S brought performance, range and styling that both of those were missing. However, we don't need Tesla anymore in the world if Musk is still benefiting from it.

I'd trade Ukraine getting NATO membership if it means Hungary loses it.

If I understand the explanation, its like when an author (or their proxies) buys thousands (millions) of copies of their own book to make them "sold" so that they can raise their standing on the "Best Seller's List".

No, I wouldn’t call that diplomacy.

This is why you and I aren't diplomats.

If the head of NATO is dependent upon the USA for lots of support to NATO, then it is in NATO's interest for the head of the USA to like NATO. If you know the head of the USA is incredibly shallow and you can achieve that support simply by sending an email/text message which requires zero dollars, and at best, a bit of political capital, then its a good deal for the NATO head to do that.

This is what is both fascinating and horrible about diplomacy and geopolitics. Its not about being "right" or "moral" in the moment. Its about getting what you want hopefully in service of the overall goal of of your interests. Sometimes that overall goal is "right" and "moral" in the case of NATO usually.

Iran, take a good look at the amount of military support Armenia received when reached out to Putin after an attack by Azerbaijan:

"Despite Armenia's appeals for assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Russia during Azerbaijan's incursions in May 2021 and September 2022, both entities declined to assist, leaving Armenia on its own.[62][63] "

source

And Armenia was a signatory on a mutual defense agreement CSTO. Iran isn't.

Tangentially, I was chatting with the owner of my local pub in Boston recently, and apparently it’s become something of a game (?!?!?!?!?) to try to slip people mickeys around here.

In some time periods in some places in the world, getting a hand cut off was punishment for theft. While that is a bit extreme, maybe assholes convicted of this should lose the final knuckle of their pinky finger as punishment for drugging people at bars.

I’ve never felt like I’ve been able to “afford” a vacation in my entire adult life.

I'm interested in this thread of conversation if you're willing. If not, no worries.

You have a vision of a vacation in your mind. How much does that theoretical vacation cost? We can even put upper and lower bounds on it. What dollar figure do you think you'd need for the entire vacation (travel, lodging, food, expenses)?

When you remove the "landlords" from your statement, the tourist blame doesn't make much sense:

Think about it: who are all these tourists [snip], and why are they able to afford to outcompete the locals for the properties in the first place?

Because a tourist only need the housing for a few days at exorbitant prices and the locals need it for 365 days?

I depends. How much of a bribe are you willing to pay to trump's personal bank accounts?

However critics complain that while buyers for western markets only want to buy certified tea they rarely offer to pay a premium for it. While UK consumers are happy to splurge on coffee, the same is not true of tea. The average price of a teabag is “just 2 or 3p” despite the fact that the cost to grow and pick tea is increasing, according to a recent Fairtrade Foundation report on the subject.

I'm going to need more info on these' critics argument, because these statements by themselves don't pass the "sniff test". A company buying tea for resale won't pay anything more than they need to. If their customers are demanding certified sourced tea, then the company will source that. The way customer demand this is if they stop buying your tea because it doesn't have certified sources.

If a tea company could make just as much money buying cheaper non-certified tea and they'd retain all their customers and continue with their projected growth, they wouldn't buy certified tea.

Best case scenario with the honest man: he does nothing and I starve to death. Worst case scenario with the lying man: I starve to death anyway. May as well try changing things.

With the lying man, as in my example, you won't starve to death, you'll die from exposure long before you die of starvation. If you're seeing dying much sooner as direct result of his actions as an equal outcome, I'm not sure what to tell you.

At least the lying man admits there’s a fucking problem.

He's not admitting there's a problem, he saying whatever he thinks you want to hear to give him your vote. This man stiffed his own employees and contractors on a regular basis. On what evidence in his entire life, did you arrive at the conclusion that rich donald trump wanted to do anything at all to improve the life of people like us? Not words. Actions.

We don't have to speak in theoreticals though. trump won. Are you glad he got voted in? Is your life better now? Or is this now worse than under Biden?

If I’m starving to death, and the most trustworthy man in the world says “I will do nothing to help you” while the most dishonest man in the world (Donald Trump) says “I will shower you with more food than you have ever seen in your life” I’m going to take my chances with the dishonest man. Maybe the lie is how much but there will still be something. Better than a guaranteed nothing.

Except its not a "better than a guaranteed nothing". The liar didn't just not shower you with food, he stripped you of what little clothing you had left, and threw you out in the desert to die faster, and he even has a history of that, so its not like you didn't know the liar was capable of it.

Is it not the voters fault though?

It’s the fault of the Democrats

...and...

You also cannot tell voters who’ve been getting poorer while you’ve ruled that you won’t change anything,

The opponent promised all kinds of things to voters who had been getting poorer, most of those promises were straight up fantasy, while others were distorted mistruths.

In your mind, do you think voters are free from have any responsibility for critical thinking? If a known liar is lying to you and you take action supporting those lies, should you be responsible when the lies are indeed shown to be lies?

and definitely shouldn’t tell them to be joyful about it.

This is the second time you've used this exact same language. Can you cite the source where you're saying Democrats told people they should be joyful?

I just went to Google maps to see where this was and was surprised and saddened to see that Google maps inserts markers for where the wildfires are, and that there are FOUR ACTIVE RIGHT NOW!

Earlier this year I saw the aftermath of fire devastation in Jasper Alberta. Hundreds of acres left with burned black tree trunks and many homes and businesses lost in Jasper itself. I feel for the Manitobans affected. These fires also look too close for comfort to the Pukatawagan/Mathias Colomb Cree Nation to the northeast. I hope everyone stays safe.