As someone who owns 3 houses, I believe no one should be allowed to own any houses. Housing should be lifetime leased only from a central scheme that has pricing adjusted by income. This facilitates mobility without the need of a rental or buying market.

In the current market based housing system if I sell my houses, they will be bought by worse individual landlords or corporations who will immediately hike the rents to market rates, and drag their heels on maintenance.

My only option out is to gift them to my tenants (who couldn’t afford to buy), but then they just become their assets instead. I’m sure there’s a high possibility they couldn’t afford the tax implications of such a gift. They will invariably need to move at some stage, sell the properties, or rent them out to someone else at market rates, and the dwellings become live ‘housing stock’ again. It doesn’t matter if you live in your house or rent it out; in the current system you are still commodifying what should be a human right.

The problem ISN’T individual landlords being a bunch of asshats, that’s a separate and real problem, but not THE problem. It’s the fundamental idea that landlords and renters should exist, and a system that perpetuates that. We need to eat the rich on a systematic level, otherwise the only people who will be eating the rich are even richer people, who can afford to eat those less rich than them, like the massive transfer of wealth up that happened during the COVID crash.

Becoming a capitalist only strengthened my belief that it is a broken system that needs to die. It is rediculous that I can sit on my arse and collect enough money to live. I ‘earned’ my assets (as an orphan on a government pension), but many (most?) capitalists don’t even need to do that step, with generational wealth and the opportunities that financial stability bring allowing them to invest and build a portfolio with little effort. If I can get where I am with no financial or family assets behind me, imagine what others can achieve… Wealth makes wealth is a rediculous system that can only breed inequality.

If I stop being a capitalist, someone else just ends up with those assets. I lose that power, and someone who wants to use that power to its full ‘potential’ takes them. I lose the time it gives me to devote to spreading anti-capitalist propaganda (what little I do, but it’s something), and my ability to try and get political power to help make systematic change. Where I own property, it’s already heading towards a Berlin like situation, where corporations own most of the housing. If a release those assets, it just increases the chance of those assets going in to corporate hands.

Anyway, if I’m totally wrong on all this please point out my mistakes, that’s just where my current thinking is at.

Good use of Keanu meme, as he recently fell for and is promoting a conspiracy theory (ancient civilizations).

If you find this kind of humour humourous, look for “Look around you”. It’s around on YouTube so go take a look!

Heh, we do the same. I appreciate that Changi airport has bottle-filling fountains at every gate.

I really appreciate Haneda airport for having bottle scanners, so you can just bring your filled bottles through security. Saw this at an airport in Europe, too, but can’t remember where (domestic Athens maybe?).

Yeah, this kind of thing. We have pocari sweat powder.

As a frequent flier I’d say the most important thing is what you do before and after your flight, not during. Go in well hydrated (get those electrolytes!) and well rested. If you’re flying far east/west, adjust your eating and sleeping ahead of going, to make sure the adjustment is not so hard on arrival. If you’re arriving in the morning, try to sleep on the plane… if you’re arriving in the evening, don’t sleep on the plane. Additionally, when you arrive, wait until the appropriate time to sleep/eat as not to prolong jet lag.

I’ve been busy travelling but somehow already reached 30+ hours playtime… and still only tried a few heroes. redacted is my fave thus far, I like how redacted is redacted.

I’ve had it farm fresh in Bali and at a swanky cafe in Penang. The shared characteristic was how smooth it is. Tastes different, not necessarily better or worse. Depends on what you’re after in your beverage.

In Penang, we had it with a normal espresso to compare. After drinking the Luwak coffee, the espresso lost all it’s flavour… It did something to our sense of taste!

Going through a factory you can tell there’s no chance the poop makes it to the final product. In fact, none of the cherry meat is used, only the bean, so I question what effect the digestive process has. Maybe the preparation method is different? I haven’t been to a normal coffee factory to compare.

The conditions the Luwak are kept in vary wildly, apparently the worst practices are in Vietnam. The Luwak are super cute , amazing fur, ones kept as pets were fun to interact with. The size of two house cats. Nocturnal, so I’ve only seen them active once.

I liked the coffee but not so much that I want to support demand for it. The Luwak is a totally unnecessary step in making what is already a great beverage regardless.

Got to witness crabs doing this when going for a walk one day. There was a very shallow pool on the beach, about a foot wide, and about 20 crabs having a ‘swap meet’, scurrying back and fourth between the different shells.

You’ve triggered my working with GameCube/Wii through Cygwin PTSD.

Operation: Inner Space

🧑‍🚒

her status and authority, unfortunately, make her an acceptable target

Agreed, but It’s really more that she’s a complete arsehole. As a nimby mining magnate, she is a sponsor of organised climate denialism and vocal about it herself, a race she clearly has a horse in. She’s also an active libertarian who wants to further dismantle the welfare system, and reduce taxation, and wants Australian workers to be cool like Africans and work for $2 a day. And a vocal Trump supporter.

It’s not the painting that makes her ugly, it’s her behaviour and ideology.

Sunt iarăși eu, Picasso!^Oh!

Yes, I considered traveling without blades and just buying at each destination (we try to use busses and trains more than flights), but it seems wasteful; I don’t use them up that quick. Instead I buy a 12-pack of disposable razor heads (2-blade only - the 5-blade ones are terrible!) and use one per month. With care they don’t go blunt too quick.

Nah, it’s full-time travel. Most would find it unreasonable, but we find having few possessions liberating. It’s strange, but there’s a mental load lifted when you don’t have a house of stuff to keep track of.

Yes, my wife and I have been doing it since 2016 (with a break in 2020/2021 for obvious reasons).

Usually stay in short-rental apartments rather than hotels as with two people it’s usually cheaper than a hotel or hostel, given weekly and monthly discounts that are common.

Most airlines used to have 10kg included but now for most it’s gone down to 7kg so we’ve had to get more creative. 5 shirts, 2 pants (one zip-off for swimming), 8 pairs of underwear and 5 pairs of socks, 2 sweaters. Small bag of toiletries. Winter jacket, thermals, gloves (good enough for Hokkaido in the early spring). Do washing once a week when it’s cold, twice when it’s hot. Heaviest thing is of course my laptop & brick. Changed bag to a thin canvas one to reduce weight further when the size/weight restrictions went down. Some airlines (such as Ryanair) don’t even let you use the overhead bins for free so the bag has to fit under the seat in front.

Simple reason! Check-in bags cost $20+ per flight (most expensive I’ve seen in $50 for the smallest bag). That adds up quick when you take a few flights each year.

I didn’t throw out my razor, I gave it to a friend who has gotten many years use out it now, so it hasn’t gone to waste.

Just do note you won’t be able to fly with it (in carry-on baggage), if that’s an issue for you.

I switched to a safety razor and loved it, but since we change continents several times a year now, it’s something I had to leave behind and miss it.

As the oldest Millennial (just scrape in), I insist they peaked at Dragon Ball. A half beaten to death pre-teen launching himself through the bad guy to defeat him? Epic stuff.

(Married at 22. You can marry young and be in your 40’s discussing Dragon Ball with internet strangers!)