The modern conversation is about tribes not position/ideology. What people are calling left here is an amorphous blob of ever shifting positions. They are neither leftist nor liberal, it is essentially a distributed tribe linked together by shared a language and culture.
Left and liberal are both two very useful words, sadly they do not really describe any of the vocal demographics on social media
Are all the schools in Japan controlled or funded in some way by the government? I'm guessing this is an "ask" to private school and the public schools have it as a direct order.
In many parts of the world, the government still has regulatory power over private schools in many ways. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan can pretty much shut down all schools for health emergency reasons.
Yes, they have different programs with different manufacturers.
Almost all of them include between 3-12 months of free service (I think specific lines in Chrysler's lineup across brands are the only ones with 12, Alfa Romeo I know of specifically).
A lot of vehicles it's actually considered an "upgrade" to the stereo system and is only included with the more premium package.
A lot of people buying cars usually ask about it having Sirius or Satellite radio; they've been adding a lot of new shows and stations like comedians and they have a lot of sports. Their comedy channels are very similar to comedy podcasts and they've been growing this lineup. Having it all integrated into your vehicle without having to plug in your phone is still a big feature with older people and even some younger ones.
I work in the publishing industry; we publish several industry trade magazines.
We often get sponsored articles that are labeled specifically as ads and are created to look exactly like any other article in our magazines. Most of the time they are extremely clear to the reader based simply on the content compared to other articles, but they are also marked directly as advertisements on the page... though not in a super obvious way.
I agree, it's very interesting to listen to Shapiro reason his own beliefs as he talks.
It definitely helps me to see how other people might think about a topic which they may not be able to articulate well.
He certainly reaches some strange conclusions, but it is fascinating to see how someone gets to that point and try to better understand other viewpoints.
There are limits on how much you can donate to a candidate's campaign; however, you can contribute unlimited funds to a PAC, but the PAC's advertisement efforts must be separate from the candidates; they can't be coordinated.
Which is perfect for a company like TurboTax who wants to lobby for an issue... they don't care about the candidate, they don't have to coordinate with them at all... they just tell the representative, "if you don't vote my way, we will fund a PAC that will attack you". No candidate coordination, no problem.
As I said in another comment, no one cares about free taxes as much as TurboTax cares about not having free taxes. It is a minor annoyance to every citizen, but it is life or death for TurboTax.
The people who are hurt by not having free taxes certainly can't afford lobbyists, and even if they could... they would have to spend so much more than they pay in tax preparation fees for their whole life to compete with TurboTax money. Who would do that?
Collectively, people spend billions annually on TurboTax. They could, instead, all chip in $25 for their own lobbyist, if they cared enough to not spend $100 on TurboTax.
If they can afford TurboTax, they can afford the lobbyist.
Couple of problems with that... one, not everyone would chip in. Why would they? If there is a fund paying lobbyists, my $25 is not going to make a huge difference.... they aren't going to win or lose based on my contribution, so why contribute? Your money wont change the outcome, and you will get the benefit even if you don't participate... standard Free Rider problem.
You might say that you should donate out to the fund out of moral principle of a just cause, but there are a million just causes, a million small rent seeking industries that do this sort of thing. Which of them do I donate to fight against? Why income tax and not one of the others?
TurboTax is going to be willing to spend a LOT of money to fight this... you are going to have to get a LOT of people to choose your moral cause, and donate to the PAC.... and then find even more when TurboTax spends even more on lobbying to counteract your PAC. Who is going to give up first?
Even more so, when you're interviewing somewhere else you (and usually they) want to talk about new things you deployed or new systems you created, not how you maintained this boring code base for 2 years.
I've had good results highlighting performance and security-holes I've fixed.
Engineers also sympathize/appreciate with improvements I've done just for my own sanity, like making the build pipeline faster.
None of these where things I did because someone told me to, they where things I do because I cared. Meanwhile plenty of my peers ignored the problems or couldn't be bothered to fix them.
I have a V6 as well and mostly hard floors, but I have 2 Golden Retrievers as well. Iv'e been using it near daily for 5 years now and it works fine; maybe I have to empty it a couple times, but that takes a few seconds.
I combined it with a Neato Robot Vac a few years ago and with those 2 I rarely have to take out my behemoth Miele vacuum anymore.
You shouldn't need a lawyer, but it may require a couple hours of time (but not all at once).
The next time they call, tell them that the person they are looking for is a minor and you are their guardian and because of that you are required to speak on their behalf.
Immediately inform them that all further communication must be done in writing and that you are requesting that they validate the debt in writing. They are required by law to communicate in writing if you request it and to also validate the debt.
If the next letter from them is not a debt validation, you should send them a simple cease and desist response stating they have not validated the debt and may no longer contact you. Send it certified, return receipt requested. Keep a copy for yourself.
If it doesn't stop at that point, you will need a lawyer, but it will most likely be at no cost to you:
If they send you another letter or call you again attempting to collect, get their information and if you are inclined, contact a debt collection attorney. You would be able to sue them for up to $1,000 per incursion plus the fees from your lawyer. Provided you collected their information and have your initial letter, it should require very little time from you to go through the legal process.
+1 to this -- and I'll add that you can find decent sample legally-phrased "f••• off, idiots" letters on the web (they should cite a specific U.S. law that establishes the two requirements mentioned: communication in writing, and verification of the debt on demand -- I can't recall the law's citation number off the top of my head).
