"The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the flagrantly guilty who are in power." --Dragnet 2026

They're a beautiful pair!

Our husky mix is also incredibly fond of cats.

I'm not sure why either. He didn't even say those things can't exist. He just said there is no clear evidence for them yet, which is true enough.

I find Hancock entertaining, and he may even be right, but don't find any of his evidence sufficient to support the claims he is making. That could always change, in either direction. It is fun watching new evidence emerge.

I hope you appreciate your good fortune.

Some years ago I acted as crew on an ultra-low budget film. We didn't have the budget for simulated firearms so we had to use real ones. Everyone involved in the project agreed that extreme care was warranted. We made certain that there was no live ammunition anywhere near the set. Firearms were locked up unless they were being held by a trained crew member or an actor. The actors were all taught the basics of how their firearms operated and how to check the chambers. The prop handlers and actors checked every firearm every time it changed hands, even when they had just watched the person who handed it to them check the chamber.

With all of that in place, we still insisted on following the other rules as well. Trigger discipline was maintained at all times, including while filming scenes. Camera angles were adjusted so that firearms never had to pointed at anyone or anything that we were not willing to damage. Actors were careful to keep their firearms pointed in the safe directions that had been arranged, even when simulating their use.

It was a fair amount of trouble and it added time to a very tight operation, but there were absolutely no incidents, or near incidents, or concerns that there might be an incident. That is how everyone who handles firearms should treat them in real life. It takes a little time and attention, but it isn't difficult. And following even one of the safety rules makes it impossible for anyone to be hurt accidentally.

Learning and following the safety rules is a cheap investment for the benefit of not accidentally killing someone.

I very much appreciate you communicating about this.

I agree that defederating seems like the right solution.

I am also a software developer. The interview process in our industry has become increasingly offensive over the last 30 years. That started out with high-prestige companies who provided exceptional pay and benefits. Some people were willing to put up with that, so they mostly got away with it. Now most companies assume they have all the power and can demand whatever they want from applicants.

Refusing to participate is perfectly legitimate. It may keep you from finding a job, at least in this industry, but that may be better than giving up your self-respect for basic survival. And there are still decent software companies to work for, although they are hard to find. Changing careers is also a viable option.

Our overall economy is so broken in favor of the super rich and their corporations that individuals really do have very little power. Organized actions, of various types, give us some counter-leverage. Collective bargaining, strikes, and political efforts to push for better regulations all have the potential to improve things, at least in the middle- to long-term.

We all need to keep the big picture in mind while we do what we need to get by individually.

This is genius! Deeply disturbed genius, but still genius.

There have already been cases where ICE has disregarded Passports. They really don't care what if you're a citizen, so they don't really care if you have proof of citizenship.

Dogs' intelligence, and perceived intelligence, vary a great deal among individuals. In general, dogs are a lot smarter than we usually give them credit for. I'm sure that all of my dogs have understood the basics of how an elevator works. I've also had three who could probably have repaired an elevator and one who could have invented them.

For a while, I was into Nerfsmithing. I built a lot of different things, but my masterpiece was a heavily modified Stampede with a Strongarm attached to it as a front grip. The Stampede would fire 8 darts per second out to around 100 feet. It was fed from a 35-round drum.

It was also designed to look as silly as possible. It had an attached laser, red dot sight, and tactical light; a folding bipod and an adjustable rifle strap; and side holders for extra darts. All of the accessories were repainted in bright nerf colors to match the original scheme.

My proudest moment was when someone decided to hold an office-wide nerf war. (There were around 300 people in our office.) They sent out an email that ended with "Everyone is invited to participate except Curious Canid ." There is no higher accolade.

The truth is that everyone should be paired with a dog to help them deal with stress.

I have mine. It works wonders.