Topics

1

General Discussion / Photo share: $500 million spent on Formula w/ the military & God's messenger

« on: November 27, 2023, 11:49:24 PM »

..making their presence felt in Sin City  :

F1 hits the jackpot in Las Vegas on its $500 million gamble after many stumbles on the Strip

LAS VEGAS (AP) — There were missteps and mistakes, and a master class in how not to handle customer relations. But by the time Justin Bieber waved the checkered flag on Formula One’s return to Las Vegas, the $500 million Sin City gamble had hit the jackpot. F1 and owner Liberty Media hosted an electrifying event Saturday night that turned out to be both one of the best races of the season and a glitzy international spectacle that can only be pulled off in Las Vegas. It was like a show with poor reviews that suddenly becomes an overnight hit.

Heidi Klum struts topless at F1 in Las Vegas; joins Brad Pitt, Justin Bieber at Grand Prix
Supermodel Heidi Klum turned heads in leather ensemble at Formula One event

I took these photos while I was there:

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General Discussion / California is a high demand state so will not see folks getting paid to live

« on: November 27, 2023, 11:31:00 PM »

..in Cali like this  :

Dreaming of a fresh start? These towns and cities will pay you as much as $15,000 to move there.

Kansas' state capital, Topeka, is teaming up with employers to offer cash to those willing to move there.

Participants of the program, called Choose Topeka, can receive up to $15,000 if they purchase a home in Topeka and secure a job in the area. Remote workers with work outside of the area can earn up to $5,000 toward rental costs or $10,000 toward a home purchase.

As an added bonus, Jimmy John's, the sandwich franchise, will throw in an extra $1,000 for anyone who moves within delivery range of one of its shops.

Tucson, Arizona, is offering remote workers perks and services worth about $7,500.

The University of Arizona campus is located in Tucson, the second-largest city in the state. A local economic-development organization launched Remote Tucson during the pandemic to lure remote workers to the area.

The program offers relocators $1,500 toward moving costs, one year of free internet, free trials at local coworking spaces, membership to a local cultural institution, networking opportunities, and more.

Eligible applicants must be over 18 years old, have full-time remote employment outside of the area, and be able to move to Tucson within six months.

Vermont is offering $7,500 to potential residents looking for a new home and new employment.

Vermont is looking to combat its labor crunch by offering out-of-state movers a grant to relocate.

The new program is offering movers $7,500 to live in Vermont and seek local employment in a role that is listed by the state's Department of Labor as one of the most in demand. Jobs on the list include restaurant work and construction.

Vermont is also rolling out a remote worker grant for new residents that work in the state for an out-of-state employer. That program is for those who relocate on or after February 1, 2022.

West Lafayette, Indiana, is offering a stipend up to $5,000 to remote workers who want to live where Purdue University is.

Purdue University
The campus of Purdue University in October 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. Michael Hickey/Getty Images
A new Purdue University program isn't recruiting students but remote workers.

The school is offering relocators the chance to live near campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, access university resources, and receive a $5,000 stipend that can be applied to anything from housing to moving costs or even co-working space.

Eligible applicants must have full-time remote employment and must be interested in relocating to West Lafayette from outside Indiana immediately.

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General Discussion / What? Just call NtsesHnub, he'll gladly take those mussels off their hands

« on: November 27, 2023, 11:22:22 PM »

 :

Passengers were left on a 'crummy cruise to nowhere' after their ship was turned away from New Zealand because it had 3 mussels and a piece of coral stuck to the hull

P&O's Pacific Adventure was supposed to stop at multiple ports in New Zealand, The Guardian reported. But it was turned away due to invasive species on the hull, and poor diving conditions stopped it being cleaned.

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General Discussion / They've been talking about this lake in Hell so thought I check it out

« on: November 27, 2023, 11:01:28 PM »

Death Valley, a rare lake comes alive

Badwater Basin normally consists of hard-packed earth covered in what is essentially table salt, left behind by water that coursed down from adjacent mountains and hillsides over millenniums and evaporated in the scorching heat. But when Death Valley reopened this fall, visitors were greeted by a miraculous sight: a mirror-smooth body of water. It was the first time a lake had formed here in nearly 20 years — the last time was during the winter of 2005 — and this one is substantially larger.

Took these photos when I was there:

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Marriage & Family Life / Yep, just $15 folks!

« on: November 27, 2023, 02:19:09 PM »

The wedding capitol of the world with average wedding cost of $30,000 but....

How much do weddings cost? This one in Las Vegas is just $15

They say love doesn’t cost a thing.

But that certainly isn’t true of weddings.

In 2022, couples in the United States spent, on average, nearly $30,000 to get married, according to a report from the wedding website The Knot.

But it wasn’t always this way. In the 1950s, the “Complete Guide to Wedding Etiquette” advised couples to earmark £30 ($38, or $482 when adjusted for inflation) for a reception that included the price of alcohol, according to the BBC.

In fact, it’s possible to tie the knot for even less today.

What a $15 wedding gets you
A Las Vegas venue, called the Chapel of the Flowers, is charging just $15 for a wedding package that includes:

The package price — which is normally $500 — is what couples paid to get married in the chapel in 1953, said Cynthia Sharpe, the venue’s director of storytelling.

“Chapel of the Flowers wants to give back and thank all of the amazing couples who have been a part of making Las Vegas the Wedding Capital of the World,” she said, referencing the city’s trademarked name.

The discounted wedding package is part of a celebration commemorating 70 years since Las Vegas was first given that moniker, according to a campaign promoting Las Vegas as the “Wedding Capital of the World.”

The package is available to 70 couples on a first-come-first-serve basis, and does not include the minister’s fee, which is $70. As of today, all packages are still available, Sharpe told CNBC.

According to the U.S. News & World Report, Nevada had the highest marriage rate in the U.S. in 2021. Couples can obtain a license and get married in the same day.

Other inexpensive options
Other venues in Las Vegas are also discounting wedding packages, according to the campaign.

Couples can have an Elvis-themed wedding at The Little Neon Chapel for $470 until Sept. 30, which comes with an ordained minister dressed as Elvis, photos and room for 10 guests.

For $700, couples can exchange vows 900 feet above the city’s famous Strip atop The Strat Hotel, Casino & Tower, the tallest structure in Las Vegas. The package, which comes with a Champagne toast for the couple and 15 guests, is available through Dec. 30.

The danger of wedding debt
A 2019 report by the financial services company LendingTree estimates 45% of newlyweds incur debt to pay for their weddings.

Furthermore, nearly half of those with wedding debt said money issues led them to consider divorce, according to the survey. Only 9% of couples without wedding debt said the same, the report showed.

The survey also asked which wedding expense they deemed the most “worth it.” The most popular response didn’t concern the wedding at all — it was the honeymoon.

LendingTree’s survey included 506 Americans, aged 18 to 53, that had been married in the previous two years.

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Debate Central / Is AA good for Asians?

« on: November 27, 2023, 02:12:26 PM »

Post-affirmative action, Asian American families are more stressed than ever about college admissions. El Segundo High School senior Sam Srikanth has applied to elite East Coast schools like Cornell and Duke and feels anxious about the intense competition.

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General Discussion / True, this invisible killer is still killing folks in Laos 50 yrs later

« on: November 27, 2023, 02:08:19 PM »

Dispatch: The invisible killer haunting Laos 50 years after the Vietnam War
Laos was heavily bombed between 1964 and 1973 and unexploded munitions are littered, dormant but deadly, across much of the country


At first glance, the scene is unremarkable: women in wide-brimmed hats are dotted across a rice paddy field nestled in the Laotian mountains, toiling under the relentless sun.

But instead of sickles, the women are carrying heavy metal detectors. Their buckets aren’t full of the staple crop, but scraps long buried in the ground. And at the edge of the plot, an ominous sign with red skulls screams “DANGER”.

At this site just outside the tiny village of Sop Hun, decontaminatio n technicians are meticulously clearing up the legacy of a “secret war” so intense it earned Laos – then home to fewer than three million people – the grim status of the world’s most bombed nation per capita.

Between 1964 and 1973, as the US attempted to suppress communism in southeast Asia and cut off North Vietnam’s supply lines, American pilots unleashed more than two million tonnes of ordnance on this landlocked county in 580,000 attack sorties. On average, a planeload of bombs was dropped on Laos every eight minutes for almost a decade.

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General Discussion / Reflecting back on the idiot's claim of "Ant vs. Foot"

« on: November 27, 2023, 02:05:22 PM »

UK intelligence says Russia now suffers heaviest losses since beginning of invasion due to offensive on Avdiivka

Losses of Russian occupying forces over the past six weeks have reached the highest level since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UK Defence Intelligence has reported.

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General Discussion / True, I see a lot of Hmong just stick to the basic pho too

« on: November 27, 2023, 02:03:42 PM »

12 Mistakes You Need To Avoid When Dining At A Vietnamese Restaurant

Only ordering phở ...
Not asking for extra sauce and garnishes. ...
Drowning your food in hoisin sauce and sriracha. ...
Skipping the appetizers. ...
Not dressing your chả giò ...
Only ordering one carb base. ...
Forgetting to ask for recommendation s.

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Marriage & Family Life / Hmmm...Twin-Cities made the list? Probably explains why lots of Hmong

« on: November 27, 2023, 12:53:28 AM »

...cheat there  :

Ashley Madison Report Names the U.S. Cities Most Likely to Engage in Adultery

A new survey has determined the 20 U.S. cities where residents are most likely to engage in adultery, and a whopping 20 percent of the results are located in the Midwest.

Controversial dating website Ashley Madison offers discretion for its users to pursue extramarital relationships. Fittingly, their slogan tells people, “Life is Short. Have an Affair.” The company conducted an internal investigation to determine where the majority of its members are based. Using that information, it compiled the top American cities where residents are most likely to seek out affairs. Paul Keable, the site’s chief strategy officer, revealed the results exclusively to Fox News.

Ashley Madison found that Florida is the top state for infidelity in the country, claiming three of the top five spots. Miami and Orlando claim the first two spots, respectively, while Tampa landed in fifth. In between Florida’s hubs are party capitals Atlanta and Las Vegas, coming in third and fourth.

Four midwest cities also made the top 10. Residents of Cincinnati (No. 6), Minneapolis (no. seven), St. Paul (No. , and Pittsburgh (No. 10) were found to be especially likely to seek out an affair, as were those in three Colorado towns—Denver (No. 11), Colorado Springs (No. 14), and Aurora (No. 17).

Perhaps notably, several more-remote outposts ranked on the list. Tucson, AZ (No. 13), Anchorage, AK (No. 15), and Bakersfield, CA (No. 16) were found to be at fairly high odds of engaging in adultery.

"Infidelity is truly universal, and we see people from across the political spectrum joining our site. We have seen research outside of our company that shows that more right-leaning people tend to sign up [for] Ashley Madison. So, [the results] shouldn't come as a surprise," Keable told Fox.

Speaking to Men's Journal about the rapidly changing societal attitudes that are leading people to seek relationships outside of their marriage, Keable explains it ultimately comes down to a variety of people fulfilling a variety of desires. Partners and co-parents cannot always provide the necessary emotional attention for one another, he says.

"People want to be wanted, they want to be desired," Keable says. "We’re told, particularly in Western civilization, that men need to be [the] strong, silent type and they don’t require that emotional component to their lives. But, we do."

You can view the top 10 U.S. cities most likely to engage in adulterous behavior below. The full rankings can be found here.

Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Atlanta, GA
Las Vegas, NV
Tampa, FL
Cincinnati, OH
Minneapolis, MN
St. Paul, MN
Buffalo, NY
Pittsburgh, PA

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General Discussion / Even Trump is wondering why the RNC is wasting money and resource when they know

« on: November 27, 2023, 12:38:41 AM »

...he'll get chosen at the end  :

Trump Demands That The RNC Stop Hosting Debates For His Rivals Or Be Revamped: NOW!!!

WASHINGTON ― Coup-attempting former President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that his party stop hosting debates for his Republican presidential rivals or be “revamped.”

Trump has not attended any of the three debates the Republican National Committee has sponsored since late August and does not intend to attend the fourth one next month.

Yet, as actual voting in primaries and caucuses draws nearer and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has risen steadily in the polls, both he and his campaign have become increasingly vocal about ending the debates entirely.

“RNC must save money on lowest ever ratings debates. Use it against the Democrats to STOP THE STEAL! If not, REVAMP THE RNC, NOW!!!” Trump wrote on his social media website Monday afternoon.

It is unclear why Trump believes that hosting the debates costs the RNC money when the media partners are the ones that bear the expenses. It’s also unclear how, precisely, the RNC should be restructured or what the mechanism for that might be.

Trump’s staff did not respond to HuffPost’s queries.

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General Discussion / Cost more than many homes in the MidWest but beats having a degenerate son just

« on: November 27, 2023, 12:35:02 AM »

...leeching and abusing you while he lives in your basement  :

New York City will pay homeowners up to $395,000 to build an extra dwelling in their garage or basement to help ease the housing shortage

New York City just unveiled its newest effort, which will hand 15 homeowners up to $395,000 to build an additional apartment. This could mean an extra unit in a garage, basement, or attic, or a tiny home in the backyard. The idea is to boost housing density in a city in desperate need of new housing.

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General Discussion / This broken promise gotta suck for those that sold their homes, I see a big

« on: November 27, 2023, 12:29:31 AM »

..lawsuit coming:

3-Year World Cruise Abruptly Canceled 2 Weeks Before It Was Scheduled to Set Sail
"I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing," one would-be passenger told CNN

Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year cruise scheduled to set sail this month has officially been canceled.

Passengers who signed up for the headline-making voyage — which was originally due to depart from Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 1 and visit seven continents, 135 countries and 375 ports — received news of its cancellation on Nov. 17, CNN reported.

According to the outlet, the cruise was postponed to Nov. 11 and relocated from Istanbul to Amsterdam shortly before its original Nov. 1 departure date. It was then pushed back again, this time to Nov. 30.

Finally, less than two weeks before its third and final departure date, the voyage was canceled altogether.

Life at Sea did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

On Nov. 17, Life at Sea revealed to passengers that the inaugural cruise was canceled, and that it had no ship, CNN reported.

The company also vowed to refund those who signed up for the cruise, whose costs ranged from $29,999 a year for a standard interior cabin all the way up to $109,000 per year for a luxurious suite with a large balcony.

On March 1, cruise line Miray International, which owns Life at Sea, officially started accepting bookings for the first-of-its-kind world voyage aboard its MV Gemini ship, but later decided that the vessel was too small for the cruise.

Instead, Life at Sea planned to buy a larger ship, the AIDAaura, which was set to be renamed the MV Lara, per CNN. After telling its passengers that the sale was taking longer than expected, however, news broke that another cruise company, Celestyal Cruises, bought the ship on Nov. 16.

The following day, Life at Sea’s former CEO, Kendra Holmes — who had resigned just days before the sale fell through — informed guests that the cruise was canceled. Holmes relayed the information in a 15-minute video given to passengers, one of whom provided it to CNN.

On Nov. 19, two days after Holmes’ announcement, guests received another message, this time from Vedat Ugurlu, the owner of Miray International, who also stated that the cruise would not be departing, per CNN.

In his message, Ugurlu also confirmed that the cruise was canceled because the company could not afford the ship.

He claimed that Miray is not “big” enough to afford the ship, but the cruise line had “presented the project to investors, and had official approval from some of them to buy the vessel,” and after making a down payment on the ship, the investors “declined to support us further due to unrest in the Middle East,” per CNN.

Some would-be cruise passengers were in Istanbul, where the ship was originally scheduled to depart from, when they received news of the cancellation, per CNN.

Many are stuck in a tough position, having spent tens of thousands of dollars on the now-canceled voyage that may take months to get reimbursed — and, in some cases, having sold or rented out their houses ahead of the cruise.

“There’s a whole lot of people right now with nowhere to go, and some need their refund to even plan a place to go — it’s not good,” one guest told CNN. (The passengers who spoke with the outlet wished to remain anonymous until their cruise refunds are issued.)

“Sad, angry and lost” is how one would-be passenger described their current situation to CNN.

“I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing. I’m having a hard time moving forward,” they continued. “I was proud and feeling brave, now I don’t trust anyone or anything. I know it’ll work out and life will go on, but I’m uncertain of the direction.”

Another told the outlet that they felt “incredibly sad and incredibly betrayed.”

“The company seems to have no consideration about what they’ve done to our lives,” the passenger said, adding, “I never imagined I’d be in this position as a senior citizen.”

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General Discussion / This fish can fish better than some humans

« on: November 27, 2023, 12:18:57 AM »

A Fish That Fishes for Other Fish Lives Its Life Upside Down

Intrigued by the finding, the researchers studied video captured by other ROVs and found observations of anglerfish swimming in an inverted position in eight of them. In studying the imagery, the research team found that it was not a behavior used for a specific activity, such as fishing—it was a full-time behavior.

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General Discussion / Here's a perfect definition of a Squid

« on: November 27, 2023, 12:09:20 AM »

Guy Riding Motorcycle In Flip Flops Runs From Police

We don’t know who needs to hear this, but riding any kind of motorcycle while wearing flip flops is one of the stupidest ideas. Even wearing tennis shoes while riding can be pretty dumb, but flip flops provide not even a semblance of protection, plus can get caught on things and create quite the hazard. We don’t even drive cars wearing them. But we shouldn’t be surprised this guy riding an Indian Scout in Arkansas while wearing a pair of flip flops also thought running from a state trooper was a good idea.