Lol. Well... depending on where you graduate from you still may not get it.

Lol. Well... depending on where you graduate from you still may not get it.

You could- but then they’ll just charge you more. 2x the chips is still 2x the cost. But then the cycle just repeats to a point where the bag size gets ridiculous. Since the person buying the bigger bag would still, or maybe even more so- be likely to complain. If they feel cheated buying a $3 that’s mostly air- buying a $6 bag that is even more air- would likely cause the same response. So they COULD increase the bag size and price again- but it becomes circular until either a bag of chips is priced too high for most people to bother, or people start to say: “what am I going to do with all these chips. I throw most away. Why can’t they make bags with less chips....?” And then... we start over I guess when people start getting upset about how few chips there are... and repeat.

So while we can say in common usage- many people will even call “softserve” ice cream “fro-yo” and thusly “vegan fro-yo” is just slang for some form of substitute product- or an alternate product called by the same name due to its attempt at imitation- technically there isn’t vegan fro-yo.

This is actually an important consumer protection- funny enough- one bag vegans should be able to appreciate perhaps more than most. It may seem silly that we have to define what the word “meat” is or what you can call “meat,” but... there is already great debate over the fillers and such used in many meat products and “cuts.” That’s WITH laws strictly defining what can and cannot be meat. Without such laws- who would be able to tell you if the “Milk” you were buying was 1 drop of cow milk in a gallon of chemical milk substitute? And for vegans- it’s certainly a problem when you can’t trust that your “vegan” taco doesn’t just have chicken in it.

It seems petty- but in many countries you ant even call non vegan “singles” style “artificial cheese” with a product name with “cheese” in it- because it isn’t. This may seem petty or like it is an attack on vegans- but it actually makes sense. The law in many developed countries clearly defines what criteria certain consumer goods must meet. “Cheese” is often defined by a percentage of real milk it contains for example, or processes used to create it.

That said- we can argue semantics. “Fro-yo” if we see it as shorthand for “frozen yogurt...” well... by definition yogurt contains milk products cultured by bacteria. So technically speaking there is not vegan “fro-yo” in that sense. This is a point the dairy industry has fought hard- and in many cases won depending on place in the world. For instance Dairy won a fight that vegan “cheese” could not be called cheese- as it is by definition not cheese, legally or otherwise.

I agree with your overall assessment that often these jokes seem to overlook the fact there are vegan alternatives. The antagonistic humor in such jokes primarily comes from a concept that a person who is very particular in their food asks for a very specialized or labor intensive item- and is offered the only alternatives on hand which fit the bill- an improvised dish such as grass clippings etc. however- when the joke shows preparation was made- it is less improvisational and more meant to be insulting with premeditation.

Between the soon to be ubiquitous “smart home/building”, your own and other people’s cell phones, and many thousands of private cameras and security devices around the globe- you can theoretically be watched or listened, found or tracked, almost anywhere any time. It’s just too much effort to bother for most people. Until a really slick way comes along and algorithms and systems which can collect and sift all that data.

Anonymity is becoming illegal- as the same devices and methods that led you keep your privacy enable criminals to bypass security- and what’s a little liberty given up for safety right? (Sarcasm.)

You’re awesome. Plain and simple. You daylight as one of the regular folks as cover, but can’t completely pull it off because you’re too interesting to blend in. You were always one of the smartest kids in school but we’re more interested in mad science that macaroni doodles of Betsy Ross and inane word problems. You WILL hatch your master plan one day and I am not sure if I want to be here to see it, or if I hope I’ll be gone before then. Bitter Garlic and noodles seems like it would suit you fine but not be your favorite dish by far. A complex mind and simple tastes. Also- you probably have an enormous...... fan base. Everyone either loves you or hates you when they meet you, but the latter usually ends up the former if they spend time around you at all. That’s my impression of you.

Lol. I do like mike books. Could there be no in between? Perhaps I am a precocious 7 year old guru?

Lol. Not always so. Sorry if it comes off that way. Not wrong necessarily. Just perhaps- not seeing the whole picture, or sometimes I’m just probing minds. Lots of interesting minds here and perspectives. Invaluable data on the human condition.

I hope I don’t insult you. I don’t know you well. To me- you have a distinctly feminine “energy.” If you’re a man, I don’t mean to insult you. Many men have that sort of vibe and it isn’t an insult. You seem kind, a person who is there for others. I can’t help but think that someone, sometime- wasn’t so kind and wasn’t there for you, a hint of sadness behind all the positivity that hints at a person with a big heart because they know what being hurt is like and don’t want others to feel that. Clever, articulate- I picture you as a clean person, maybe not tidy- but clean. I picture you having big dreams but being ok to just enjoy where you are at while you go along to where it is you want to be.

I see you as- and I don’t mean this as an insult or to say you are some sort of “template”- but as see like a lot of guys I’ve known or worked with in trades or “rough neck technical work” like field engineers and such. Easy going over all but not exactly “laid back,” you work for a living and can joke, but you tend to do so with dignity, and can and will get extremely serious and focused at a moments notice. I perceive you to be very intelligent and to be a thinking man- but not one who engages in great deals of mental or verbal “masturbation” or long bouts of introspection. Decisive based on analysis of facts weighted against personal feelings and ethics. You seem like a good guy, keeps his hair short and can fit in most places. Intelligent, hardworking, self reliant but not cruel in expecting some degree from others. Understanding but not taking bullshit.

Lol. Thank you. I was a lurker a long time too. Some people, at least some days, probably wish I’d stayed one! But I’m glad to meet you. Hopefully you can pop in from time to time.

I mean- sadly, it isn’t usually intentional (it can be, but usually isn’t) when someone takes a stance for reasons of personal benefit and not actual conviction. It’s a lack of self awareness. People have trouble seeing themselves from an outside perspective. What seems internally to be finely crafted and consistent logic, is often just various perceptive and cognitive biases justifying the thing we WANT to believe- and few people want to believe that they are all over the place and faulty in their logic and world view.

Well... I mean... if we are being honest- a good deal of the time, moral crusading is just a way to feel good about ourselves or look good in public while just trying to get the thing that we want. It sounds like she just has her own agenda and has wrapped it up in a guise of feminism. That, or to her the idea of empowering “women” is actually about empowering one woman, HER, and those who think like her to try and create the world they want to see. That’s a challenge of inclusion and diversity- some people don’t play nice with others and we have to do something with them- and it wouldn’t be very egalitarian to send anyone with “bad opinions” to Antarctica. She sounds like a pretty terrible person. I don’t know her. Maybe she believes in one she is doing, or there’s some logic I don’t see and she at least WANTS to do good.

But there could be multiple paths of public service to an education, military service, public service, generally doing things society needs to show that you’re willing to give back and not just take. We could even possibly just have some program by which graduates had to then teach the next class or something like that- with controls and metrics to ensure they don’t just “phone it in” etc. I dunnoh. It all sucks. Many sides to the story.

All very complex stuff. My general stance is that we should just make a public system where ANYONE can get whatever education they want and are capable of passing entrance prerequisites and altitudes- and not worry about charging them, and instead- require a sort of servitude wherein they must put their skills to work for the public until a burden is satisfied that they have “paid back the investment.” You’d need some controls- it wouldn’t do to give people a “free” world class education and then have them go hop a plane and work in another country and “dodge” their service requirements and just take the degree and pocket the cash.

But those educators went to college too- and had college loans too. Some still do. So we can’t really expect them to train us to make more money and not have to pay them for their schooling. And yes- the boomers had cheap school. But they are disappearing from the faculties and it will be people who paid an arm and a leg too.

The real problems are that wages have failed to pace inflation, and higher degrees don’t offer what they used to- as we see- people get upset to spend 4 years to become a skilled professional and then effectively work for the same amount as an unskilled laborer after they’ve “paid the house.” The other major issue is that greed and laziness corrupt the whole idea- there ARE abuses. I don’t expect the dean of UofO to live in a trailer with their mom and have to buy used dental floss in an alley- but there are excesses and inefficiencies in the system that could be worked out.

That’s where it gets interesting. How many people, of given a substantial tuition discount or a “free education” would turn around and discount their own services using those skills across the board? Not many. The IDEA is that even if one does not choose to be a donor or what not- that the tuition is a moderate and fair percentage of their lifetime earnings gain from said skills- paid back into the system which provided that. A “cut for the house.”