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the real reason howl kept his castle moving was tax evasion

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this is the opening paragraph of a news article. stop scrolling here, if you would.

I want you to guess what this is about. take a second. breathe.

make a guess. make three guesses. make five guesses.

...

are you ready?

this is an article about...

potatoes.

more specifically

the united states potato cartel

apparently, mccain foods, cavendish farms, lamb weston, and j.r. simplot have been conspiring with each other to keep the prices of frozen potato-based products like frozen fries, frozen hash browns, and frozen tater tots high in the US for years.

these four companies collectively control 98% of the frozen potato product supply in the united states, so they can easily pressure the entire market. they are working together to squeeze as much money out of the frozen potato market as possible, sometimes even instructing employees to avoid making paper trails about their activities.

so now two proposed class action lawsuits have been filed against prolific potato providers for prioritizing profit and persistently producing problematic potato product price practices.

you can read the whole article here, and nightmares of capitalism aside, I do have a favorite part of this story.

there is a national potato council.

and it turns out the national potato council has a national potato expo.

here is a highlight video from potato expo 2019. it looks like it was a fun time!

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It seems pretty windy

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i love truck stops in winter bc i love a little good old fashioned reconnaissance. i’m at a wyoming truck stop eating taco bell with a bunch of random truckers discussing road conditions like we’re in a high fantasy tavern & inn and we’re warning each other about monsters and highway men. everyone talking about where we’re coming from and going to and how bad it’ll be getting there.

THE tallest man i’ve ever seen in real life just stopped me in the hallway by the coin operated laundry apropos of nothing and asked “which direction are you going?” i said east and he said “good” and walked away.

i caught up with him and asked why and he said “west’s no good right now. i just came from there.”

apparently a truck jackknifed and has traffic backed up ten miles but he sounded for all the world like he just found his village raised to the ground by an evil mage’s army

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People on here are really still doing, "Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds!”

You have done nothing but mock liberals for taking right-wing fascism in the United States seriously (remember when you called Project 2025 lib hysteria?) so you can feel smug about refusing to vote with your clique of fellow terminally online losers, but k. The important thing is that you keep feeling nice and edgy reblogging fringe political takes on a dying microblogging website and owning da libs while Trump plans the mass deportations that those liberals you despise so much begged you to help prevent.

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I made a bunch of dried citrus garland and ornaments this year, and if you’re looking for low-budget high-impact gift ideas for the holiday season, I cannot recommend this enough. I have had nearly all of my aunts reach out to ask me for these already.

All you do is take oranges (and grapefruit, in my case, but you could use any citrus fruit, lemon and limes included. You could also do slices of apple or other fruits, but they don’t dry as pretty) and cut them into slim, even slices. Blot the slices as dry as you can get them with paper towel, then lay them flat on drying racks, if you have them, or cookie sheets if you don’t. The cookie sheets will take longer, but will probably produce flatter slices at the end. If you want to, you can take cloves and push them into the slices before you dry them; the oranges should contract around them and hold them in place.

Put these into the oven at 200-220 degrees F (93 C), and bake for at least 4 hours. Check them hourly; it may take up to 7 hours, depending on the thickness of your slices and oven air circulation. Take them out when they no longer feel wet or sticky to the touch. 

A 5 lb bag of navel oranges was enough to garland most of this tree. All you need for that is a thick needle and some string (DMC embroidery floss works well, and is less than a dollar a skein at walmart and other chain stores). You just tie off the first orange, and then use the needle to go in and out each slice near the edges. If you’re making ornaments, check your local dollar store for bits of ribbon, jingle bells, beads or whatever else seems good to you. A hot glue gun is helpful but not necessary; all the ornaments here are just tied together. 

I have plenty of herbs drying in my cupboard, so I also used some sprigs of rosemary and lavender, plus cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice. Rosemary is easy to find as live plants in the grocery section, and you can trim some off without killing the plant (and then you have i n f i n i t e  r o s e m a r y). Get creative!

These smell fantastic, and should last multiple seasons if they’re dried allll the way and stored in airtight containers. (I chucked some of the odd bits into my mulling spices, which is lovely.) They’re a very old method of decorating and look beautiful even when they’re not perfect. If you’ve made these before, I’d love to see what you made!

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Wii Sports soundtrack on white vinyl

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oh, it's me, i'm in the tumbl. Being permanently, seriously ill and trans is doubly scary in the current political climate. I'm protected against discrimination by state laws, but none of my family live in safe states if I progressed to a point of depending on them for daily care. I dread relying on healthcare workers who dehumanize me for my illness and my gender.

I know I'm late and Trans Day of Remembrance is over, but I want to recognize the trans people who have died of covid, are currently dying, or living with long covid hoping it doesn't kill them. The world has failed to save those who did not have be be lost, and unfortunately this is not a random event but a deliberate attempt at exterminating trans community (among many others). It's so disheartening but i urge everyone to remember those we've lost and to support those that are still here by doing what you must. Keep caring, keep masking, staying home, staying educated, and doing all the other necessary acts of care and caution in these pandemic times.

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Now is the Time to Start Masking Again

If you stopped paying attention to COVID with the release of vaccines, you've missed a lot.

COVID is airborne.

Long COVID impacts 10% of people infected by COVID (though this is beginning to look like a low estimate). Risk of Long COVID goes up with each reinfection. Long COVID is worse than initially reported.

Bisexual and trans people are more likely to develop Long COVID.

Black and Hispanic folks are more likely than White folks experience more symptoms and health problems from Long COVID.

***COVID and Long COVID has much more in common with HIV and AIDS than the flu (28:19 - 38:30 of linked video)***

The Basics

[WEBSITE] You Have to Live Your Life

[ZINE] What's Up With COVID and How to Protect Yourself - 2024 Edition

[FAQ] r/ZeroCOVIDCommunity's FAQ and Resource List

"This is great and all but it's overwhelming. TL;DR?"

COVID is airborne. Long COVID is much more common (and serious/debilitating) than previously thought.

Mask with an N95 or better in all indoor spaces and outside when close to others. Improve your indoor air quality by opening windows and using fans/air filters.

Rapid tests are prone to false negatives so make sure to retest in 48 hours after exposure and/or when you develop symptoms. Isolate in the meantime. Consider upgrading to a NAAT (PlusLife, Metrix) or PCR (Lucira) if you have the money.

Things for you to do today:

buy some N95s or request some from a local mask bloc

open a window more often and/or buy an air purifier

buy the best COVID tests you can afford

Basics in Video Form

If you have limited time, watch the videos with * first. They will cover the basics in about 20 minutes.

*VIDEO: COVID is Airborne [2:53]

*VIDEO: What the latest research tells us about long COVID's most common symptoms [5:58]

*VIDEO: FDA warns of false negatives with at home COVID Tests [2:19]

*VIDEO: How to Stay Safe(r) at Home [10:35]

--

VIDEO: The Astounding Physics of N95 Mask [6:08]

VIDEO: Mask Fit 101: Seal [4:07]

VIDEO: Mask Fit 101: Qualitative [3:49]

VIDEO: Mask Fit 102: Quantitative [5:04]

VIDEO: How to get [and give] FREE Masks [6:07]

VIDEO: Try this DIY indoor air purifier for cleaner air [4:22]

VIDEO: Why is EVERYONE more SICK [54:55]

Want to Get Involved?

Join your local Mask Bloc

No local Mask Bloc? Consider starting one

Talk to the people in your life about COVID

Print quality zines and spread them in your communities

Push for COVID Conscious changes in your spaces.

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im reading about cowboy phrases and sayings and like 95% of them are just solid life advice

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