wjrii

You rang?

Yes, but they also extract every penny of value from them. Minimum legal time for breaks, no visible tattoos, cell phones turned off, and broad manager discretion about things like having a stool at checkout. Apparently they are very upfront about it in interviews, at least, but they know they're often the highest-paying employer for miles around, and they leverage that to the hilt.

Employees seemed somewhat happy too.

They pay legitimately good wages for the markets they are in. However, they also know they are paying good wages, so they make the employees earn every single penny. I understand that it's more stressful and tiring than an average retail job, but as Don Draper would say, "That's what the money's for!" In reality, it almost certainly depends on the individual managers and whether the store is hitting targets.

"For the warfighter." I suppose there's a certain clarity of assholery, but jesus, the marketing direct to Hegseth and Trump's 80s rom-com bully personas is nauseating.

Also, while it's always been hypocritical to soft-pedal what the most powerful military on the planet is for, the mere act of opening yourself up to accusations of hypocrisy moves the discussion to a place that culturally asserts some level of civilian control, which also implies some limit to the barbarity. People are inherently assholes and will seek the bottom; lowering the bar in advance just encourages even worse behavior.

It may have been "designed" by this guy, who seems to be from San Antonio. He seems like a peach among peaches.

Visibly upset, Martinez told Prokopas that he previously worked for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office in Texas. He said he had just been discharged from Critical Response Strategies, the private contractor that provides security at the detention center, after a physical altercation with another guard inside the facility.

EDIT TO ADD: In Texas, Sheriff's offices in big counties aren't even regular day-to-day cops. They run the jail and serve process if the constables don't have the manpower.

What are you talking about? It's clearly already there! It's all over the thing!

I particularly did this when I was in the UK or Japan, but that's more because I have no faith that I will remember to pick the correct way.

I was around almost at the beginning of Eternal September. In December of 1994, I posted to a newsgroup that google eventually archived on the web. Beyond that, my eBay account predates y2k. The first purchase I recall was a parallel port ethernet adapter so I could use Arachne for DOS on my 386SLC33 laptop in the university library. I mailed out a money order and hoped this "buying shit on the internet" thing wasn't going to be a scam.

No worries. I actually liked seeing a take with fresh eyes. The co-authors were deeply involved with writing the show, and frankly they wrote the books with an eye towards suitability for TV, so the threads that you’re trying to follow now will come together in a pretty satisfying way, I think.

When they do eventually indulge in ship combat, that too comes off surprisingly solid as a spectacle.

Starfleet Academy, which has improved over the first season. I still maintain that the Galactic situation is actually insanely stable for it to be 900 years after Voyager, like to the point where it should imply a subtext about cultural and technological stagnation, but I don’t think that’s what they’re going for.

Ghosts (US) is a guilty pleasure. My wife thought I was subtly trying to get her to try it when I would say as much, but I was not. It’s my Ortolan Bunting. Andor is the show I try to get her to watch, as yet unsuccessfully.

Shrinking has settled into being wish fulfillment emotional comfort food, but it’s doing it way better than Ted Lasso season 3 did. I’m here for it.

Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is solid, mostly because the casting and chemistry is spot on. The story itself is pretty by-the-numbers.

Mighty Nein had a promising first season, and could end up better than Vox Machina.

Finally, when I really want to just watch something soothing before bed, an episode of Frieren does the trick.

I literally love hearing somebody talk about watching The Expanse for the first time. Glad you’re enjoying it, and stick with it. It’s probably the best space sci-fi series of the last 20 years, and I’m saying that trying not to exaggerate.

I'm not trapped in here with you. You're trapped in here with me!