Kepabar

So there is already a thing with Windows 11 where you can, as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription, upgrade your Windows 11 machine from Pro to Enterprise.

The idea of having the base OS be a subscription is really just a stones throw away.

... but the Pro -> Ent activation process is really a PITA and often randomly PC's will revert back to Pro after they've been ugpraded, so I guess we'll have fun with that.

prohibition doesn't work

My first gut response was 'We should outlaw murder, I bet that'd stop murder from happening!'.

But as hilarious as it is, lets ignore the hyperbole.

The fact is that laws never stop all the activity they are intended to prevent. If they did we wouldn't need a court system.

No, the question is does the law do more good than bad for society?

Smoking causes 480,000 extra deaths yearly according to the CDC.

And smoking related illness costs around $300 billion annually in the US.

As we both agree, outlawing the sale will not prevent 100% of usage. But it will almost certainly prevent some usage.

And I agree that a black market will form and that black market will cause some societal damage.

So the question is, will the affects of the black market created by prohibition do more damage to society than the reduction in existing societal damage that we should see from prohibition?

Considering the above statistics, it may be worth the gamble.

I'll note that you have nothing to refute with.

There is no oxymoron.

Smoking is harming oneself.

Selling is harming another.

They are not equivalent.

I would argue that society should reserve the right to punish individuals who harm others for their personal benefit.

And I would argue that selling a physically addictive substance that directly causes harm with no benefit to the user for personal profit is causing harm.

So while I don't support arresting people for smoking, I 100% so support arresting people for selling.

Of these I've watched 8 completely:

• Battlestar Galactica.
• Parks and Rec.
• 30 Rock.
• Chernobyl.
• Game of Thrones.
• Deadwood.
• Halt and Catch Fire.
• Bojack Horseman

6 others I've started and gave up on part way through:

• The Last Airbender.
• Atlanta.
• Better Call Saul.
• Breaking Bad.
• Veep.
• Reservation Dogs.

Of the rest, half of them I've never even heard of.

I guess I don't have good taste in TV?

I do have a fear of something like this happening and do not let my cat into the room when I'm working for this reason though.

I could believe it.

Neelix is all the punchline you need.

The credit is for a full book, regardless of book cost.

So you get one full book and then any other books you buy are discounted.

But the big reason I go with them is they give you DRM free audio files of the books to download and keep. Most books are both in m4a and mp3 format.

Highly unlikely.

Anyone with an R next to their name would be commiting political suicide to cross the isle like that.

We might see one of the more centrist Rs try to broker a power sharing deal if things get too bleak though since it's apparent the freedom caucus does not know what compromise or negotiation means.

I have a subscription to libro.fm for that

Because he can't be trusted to share power.

McCarthy had two choices:
Do what the freedom caucus wanted and never see anything pass the Senate.
Make a deal across the isle and get some work done.

He dragged his feet, hymed and hawed and eventually caved in on option 2 as it's the only reasonable one.

Then he proceeded to attack those who he just made a deal with the very next day.

He could have instead said that real leadership is finding compromises that move things forward but he's lose MAGA voters who see the government burning down as an upside.

So he sold his soul, again, to those crazies and yet again proved he isn't reliable.

Does this benefit the House as an organization?

Absolutely not. But the clown show that will follow in the next few weeks will make the GOP look horrible at least.

And maybe, just maybe, some of the more sensible parts of the GOP will come to the Democrats with a power sharing deal that will completely neuter the freedom caucus once they see how hopeless their situation is.