I believe that it is illegal, yes (I’m not a lawyer). But that is the point. They can “buy” a bunch of cheap useless stuff from him instead of giving him money. That’s the essence of money laundering. Do something that superficially looks legitimate so that you can move a bunch of money that would otherwise be illegal.

For sure. But of course dude tried a coup on live tv and we are having trouble getting the justice system to hold him to account. So getting proof of the NFT scheme that I outlined as a hypothetical is probably going to be harder.

A lot of his value is tied up in assets that aren’t liquid (real estate). Also he is probably not worth as much as he says.

But the main reason is that these “cheap crap” things you mention are probably vehicles for money laundering from foreign actors. The best example are the NFTs he was hawking for awhile. Costs next to nothing to make and foreign states can buy a ton of them to give him money without it being easy to detect. Even if it is detected it is still legal to buy silly NFTs, right? Certainly more so than a foreign government giving a candidate bags of cash for nothing.

TIL, thanks for the explanation!

He’s not a robot though, right? I though replicants were genetically engineered humans?

Even if it ends up NOT being ankylosing spondylitis exactly - you should know that there are some hereditary factors that predispose to AS but also to other, similar conditions which are collectively called “inflammatory spondyloarthropathies.” Given your brother’s diagnosis you probably have a higher chance of one of these conditions because of your shared genetics. So yeah absolutely ask another physician until someone investigates your symptoms!

It’s really interesting to me that you have provided this additional clue because ankylosing spondylitis was literally the first thing that popped into my head reading your story. I agree with others that your story sounds much more than typical aging symptoms and you should seek the opinion of another physician.

I don’t “want” my backhaul going over WiFi but I’m in a house where it is quite challenging to run Ethernet cable. It’s on the list to get to but it’s a big project. In the meantime I have a functioning network. People have different situations that call for different tools.

I’m trying but I’m in a new place and the past few years every time I start to make a friend….

Not sure if this is a joke. For years my phone was the only one paired with the Bluetooth on my wife’s car as I like to play music when I drive it but she couldn’t be bothered to mess with it and listens to the radio. That doesn’t mean that I am usually the driver in the car though as she usually drives it. It was paired for the few times she wasn’t in the car and I had to use it.

making a big deal about it

Maybe I’m wrong but isn’t this sub for posting minor annoyances?

We’ll gladly accept and responsibly recycle the following:

Adapters & hubs

Apple® AirTag® trackers

Battery backup devices

Cable/satellite receivers

Calculators

Car & wall chargers

CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs & players

Coffee brewers (less than 40 lb.)

Computers & Mac®

Computers

Computer speakers

Connected home devices

Digital & video cameras

Digital projectors

Earbuds & AirPods®

Fax machines

Flash drives

Gaming consoles & controllers

GPS devices

Hard drives

Headphones & headsets

Keyboards & mice

Label makers

Laminators

Laptops & MacBook®

Mobile phones & iPhone®

Monitors (CRT, LED/LCD, plasma)

MP3 players & iPod®

Printers & multifunction devices

Routers & modems

Scanners

Shredders

Small servers

Smart speakers & HomePod®

Smart watches & Apple Watch®

Stereo receivers

Streaming devices & Apple TV®

Stylus pens & Apple Pencil®

Tablets, iPad® & eReaders

USB & Lightning® cables

Webcams

This may be unpopular but I was deeply disappointed in Shawshank Redemption when I read it. The movie is top tier.

Edit: In retrospect this doesn’t really answer your question as you asked about bad movies with a worse book and Shawshank is definitely not a bad film.

I don’t think that’s true at all.

I realize the geometry predicts some optimal spot for viewing the curve but that just is a mathematical ideal not a real world necessity. If it was then everyone who has ever watched a flat screen would be like “omg I feel like I’m too close because I’m not watching from infinity.” I have a 35” monitor with 1800R and it is very pleasant in a normal desktop setting. I looked into 1000R screens since I like to sit fairly close and the curve felt so extreme that it was a major distraction no matter which distance I sat at.

I guess I’m saying that the curvature is very much a personal preference thing and if people can tolerate a flat screen they can also tolerate a curve that isn’t meeting some mathematical ideal.

When I was younger I read somewhere “If you give someone $20 and never see them again, it was probably worth it.” Accounting for inflation I think that perfectly fits your situation.

What year is it?

My first year of residency (aka intern year) we were required to log our hours in an online system for purposes of compliance with the US rules you’ve outlined. During my first quarterly evaluation they pointed out that I was routinely violating work hours and that I needed to stop doing that or there would be consequences.

The implication was that I was doing something wrong and trying to work more than 80 hours a week.

In reality I was a completely powerless individual and I routinely had a ton of work dumped on me that took more time than was allotted. By framing it as my problem they made it quite clear: they had no intention of following the rules and I had better falsify my time-keeping records or face consequences.

Don’t know who needs to hear this but I have seen variations of this story play out time and time again. Try and realize how much money it costs one of these companies over time when they pay out a disability claim and you will realize they are highly motivated to find a reason to get out of paying.

What I’m saying is that if you have a disability claim you should just assume that a private investigator is going to be checking up on you. Act accordingly.

Everybody is stuck on defending salt while I’m like….land? Like real estate? Because there are definitely reasons to buy nicer properties than cheaper ones. I’m confused.

I’m a radiologist and I too have seen multiple cases of vertebral artery dissections and stroke immediately following chiropractic manipulation. Absolutely no chance I would ever suggest someone see a chiropractor.