I have a wifi switch on a freestanding lamp in my bedroom that comes on every day at 7 am and stays on until I turn it off at night. I have found it really helps to wake me up in the morning without needing to use noisy alarms.

I also have a dog and if I don’t get up right away, he sees the light and starts pestering me to take him outside.

Universal healthcare would reduce car insurance premiums significantly and could eliminate the need for health insurance.

Someone forgot to remove the protective film.

No idea.

Check out “Reign of Fire.” (2002)
Christian Bale and a very bald Mathew McConnahey.

My stance is not anti-Semitic, it is humanistic. I am against any government that insists on murdering and/or marginalizing any group of people. I would boycott my own government right now if I could. My government sucks! China sucks! Israel sucks!

It’s not about identity, it’s about decency. Stop killing other people!

I feel like the real reason for the social media ban is to establish some kind of digital ID program and requiring that ID for everything a person does online. That makes it possible to curate not only where you can go online, but what you see when you get there. It is being sold as a way to “protect the children” but the reality is the children are the target audience. Children don’t have many preconceived notions about privacy, so violating their privacy will be so much easier.

Remember, in just a few years these “children” will be adults and any changes made for them today will eventually become the normal for everyone.

https://maartenbrinkman.nl/My-best-gun-branches

From my perspective, the climate issue is not easy to fix but it is easy to understand.

The planet closest to the sun is Mercury. On Mercury a day is equivalent to 88 days on Earth. In sunlight Mercury can be as hot as 420 °C (790 °F). In darkness Mercury can be as low as −170 °C (−270 °F). The reason for the difference is that Mercury has no atmosphere and is unable to retain heat.

Now lets look at Venus. A day on Venus is 116.75 Earth days. The daytime and nighttime temperatures on Venus are nearly identical and have an average of 464 °C (867 °F). Venus has a very dense atmosphere that is mainly composed of carbon dioxide (96.5%) with the remainder being mostly nitrogen.

The sun may be the source of the heat, but the reason it stays warmer or colder on our planet is directly related to how much carbon dioxide is present in the atmosphere. Increasing carbon dioxide makes us warmer and decreasing carbon dioxide makes us cooler. There are other factors, but those are the basics.

The only practical control we have on carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is controlling and moderating our use of fossil fuel.

It really is that simple.

I don’t see any visible hinges. That door swings out.

Between the picture, your description and the area you saw it, I’m thinking it might be a Lazuli Bunting.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lazuli_Bunting/id

Not a gadget exactly, but I love my chef knife! It’s a Kan core chef knife. I have had it for several years now and enjoy using it every time. It is very sharp and is easy to keep sharp. It was not cheap, but not terribly expensive when compared to other professional quality knives. I use it almost every day and it has never disappointed me.

For actual devices in the kitchen, I would say my Kitchenaid stand mixer is my favorite.

I think it might be simpler than that. I think the people who were already invested in energy heard about the energy needs of AI and started investing there to prop up the cost fossil fuel. Then Trump and friends got involved and killed several renewable energy initiatives. I think it’s all about greed, and not much else.

If you need a second job, both of your bosses are exploiting you.

The fourth frame depicts a man getting arrested for using a stolen credit card at a Chinese restaurant. It takes several officers to arrest him and he is humorously vocal about what the police are doing. The incident is known as Democracy Manifest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Manifest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XebF2cgmFmU

So Miller is mad because the governor won’t protect the invading army of thugs? Is that what this is? He can’t be serious. 🙄

Homeless shelter and soup kitchen! The President is there every other Thursday serving food and drinks to the guests. As is tradition.

Not having good time awareness was my big issue growing up and for a significant part of adulthood. I was always losing track of time and showing up late for just about everything. People often suggested that I set an alarm to remind me. I didn’t know how to explain to them that if two alarms wasn’t enough, how would setting more do any good? (also those alarms needed to be maintained and adjusted, which added to the stress.)

After my diagnosis I made two significant changes. First, I became self-employed. That eliminated the time clock issue. And since I could set my own schedule, it was much harder to actually be late. Second, I decided that I would not longer be upset with myself for being late for appointments. If I was late, that was something I could not go back and fix therefore it wasn’t worth getting upset about.

This had a dramatic effect on my ability to arrive on time. Almost overnight I was almost never late for anything and my stress level about it went down to almost nothing.

I still get lose track of time on occasion. I can begin work on a project in the morning and suddenly realize that it is no longer daytime and several hours have gone by. But now I also have a dog and he reminds me to stop and take a break every two or three hours.

Looks like chia seeds.

Those look like headstones. I’m thinking it’s a cemetery.