Pips

Yeah, basically IRL plot of Snow Crash.

You only linked one? The other is referenced in an article. The way these studies were conducted and the populations used does not immediately translate to fluoride being the issue since that wasn't the only variable. It's worth exploring, but it's really not enough to change decades of dental hygiene improvements.

Respectfully, I'm going to be immediately suspicious of any study that uses IQ as the measuring standard. IQ is not an objective measure of intelligence or cognitive ability. The same person taking the test will probably have a different score every time they take it. I'm not saying fluoride does or does not have an effect on cognitive ability or intelligence. But IQ is hardly going to be the way to figure that out.

Edit: I also don't know how you'd conclude it's fluoride and not literally anything else they're consuming.

Well, yes. If you want to correct people being lied to by clickbait, the best way to reach them with the truth is also going to be clickbait. You're not the target audience.

That's probably the inspiration for The Orville. That show is full of references.

No, but I really should. I like Doctorow.

I found the Orville interesting as a thought experiment since their currency was reputation. Not sure how feasible that is, but nice to try to speculate how you'd have any kind of economy post-scarcity.

First, it doesn't matter what Harris or Trump's fathers believed, Harris is not a communist and Trump is a fascist based on their own stated beliefs and the policies they promoted while in office and running for election.

Second, it doesn't matter what people perceive. What matters is reality. I'd wager most Nazis didn't think of themselves as bad people. They were still fucking Nazis. Similarly, I agree most Trump supporters don't think they are fascist or support fascism. However, their perception has no bearing on whether or not they're actually fascist. And based on their chosen candidate, Trump supporters absolutely bare minimum support fascism.

This may surprise you but they don't really need as many nukes as Russia claims to have on paper. As long as they have enough that work, or hell, even just one, MAD is in play.

This may surprise you, but the ones that didn't vote but could tacitly were fine with Trump as well.

GBR Spider-Man

They haven't made you do that in while. There's way too many foreign nationals in the U.S., it would be impossible, especially in a city. The standard is ongoing contact/close personal relationships. Having a one-off conversation with a Russian at a bar isn't going to trigger the requirement unless there's something suspicious about the conversation itself (like they keep asking about your job).