This reminds me of the age when the egregiousness of home Internet data overage charges in Canada reached their zenith, with some back of the napkin math, I realized it would be more cost effectuvd to buy and fill a solid state drive (which had only begun to come down in price) with stuff, ship it overnight international, and then destroy it after downloading its contents, than to hit the overage charge limit with my provider.

Sometimes I think we get caught up in this notion that somehow the people presenting the problem or the cause should be capable of providing us with solutions. These people have basically dedicated their lives to documenting nature, they're not going to have solutions that the researchers who basically just try to answer the climate change question somehow missed. It kinda feels like we're mad at the ad guys for Chevy for not knowing how to build a car. That's not their job. People act like "raising awareness" is some futile notion, but like, you won't force change if people don't care, and they won't care if the don't know. Obviously there are plenty who know and don't care, but knowing is still at least a prerequisite for caring. And regardless of whether you think it's a "noble" calling or not, it is still a task which requires a team of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals in a host of fields, and a serious time commitment from all involved parties. When exactly are they supposed to find the time to solve global warming?

anyone hitting an individual with private security is going to do surveillance first and account for weapons anyhow.

Unless they're surveilling with the intent of knocking out the bodyguards so they can give the target a stern talking to free of prying eyes, I'd imagine their only thoughts on the matter will be either "they don't have guns, we should bring guns" or "they have guns, we should bring guns." And for the firearms being barred portion, that's going to vary a lot by locale and venue, but there's always the option of locking firearms up in vehicles.

I think the most compelling reason not to have firearms is that if someone isn't armed you don't want them to suddenly become armed thanks to you. I'm just not so sure about the rest.

I have one of their cheapest desktops with like third from the bottom tier legs and it's been going strong for about 8 years because it's in a low traffic area and only used for a laptop and a few desktop items. Is it made of cardboard and tin and good intentions? Yes. Will it crumble like a stale cookie if I ever damage it in any way whatsoever? Also yes. But so far so good, and for $40, it's already lasted like 5 years longer thsn i thought it would when i bought it.

On the other end of the spectrum, I used to have their ALEX desk and it was sturdy as hell, and my old JERKER was a fucking tank. Only reason I don't still have them is I needed to downsize.

You spend bottom dollar, you get junk. But, Ikea's "junk" will still outlast damn near anything else you can find at the same price point. Like shit, I have some of those cheapass LACK side tables I got in college that are nearly through their teens now and still hanging in there. Not everything has fared as well, and I'm much more discriminating and scrutinous in my purchases because of that, but overall I'd say I've been generally satisfied with the longevity:price ratio, and often pleasantly surprised. There are very few stores about which I would say that.

The hyperfocus line drives me nuts because if I could do that I wouldn't have a disorder. In fact I would be particularly "ordered" wouldn't I? Hyperfocus but I can control it? Sigh me the fuck up! I get hyperfocused because certain activities trigger a hella sweet dopamine rush that my brain is craving. Unfortunately, I can't control which activities will trigger that reaction, and no amount of self-discipline or willpower will compel my brain to "want" to give me a hit while doing something i find tedious or uninteresting. I can still do stuff I don't want to do, usually... sometimes... ish... but the odds of me falling into a hyperfocal state while doing so are naught.

There is absolutely no situation where reducing a conversation on gender to basic algebra isn't stupid

Except this one. If you're going to be so fundamentally wrong that you can be refuted by elementary arithmetic, why should anyone bother putting any more thought into it than that? No, you can't reduce gender relations to a basic math question, but you can reduce thst guy's take without missing anything important.