wm72

Seriously: massive political spending to keep their Facebook feeds filled with negative stories about big cities like Chicago and New York.

National borders and then national radio and later TV.

Only as far back as the 19th century, much of Europe had such strong dialects that someone from Rome would have a tough time communicating with someone from Florence even though they're only a 100 or so miles apart.

Languages, like Italian in this instance, were only spoken in far ranging parts of the country by regular folks after national radio / tv and school teaching standards set by the national government.

None of it's fine but it's simply disingenuous to ignore California and Virginia being a reaction to what MAGA politicians started.

I think it's all wrong but MAGA definitely got the nutty gerrymandering competition rolling.

For a state to have 90 or 100% of their representatives from one party when 40 - 45% of that state votes the other way is much more dangerous for democracy in this country than whatever policy the other party may support.

Maybe not applicable to your location but I switched to T Mobile 5G 2 years ago and it's been great so far for $40/mo.

Lists like this probably best indicate simply whether most of the affluent areas and/or ghetto areas are in the city limits.

Most English people pronounce the Spanish name "Silva" as "Silver"

and also pronounce "Silver" as Silva

Ben Sherman

The hit to wallets isn't just what an individual pays at the pump.

It's that guys like my brother, who owns a small trucking company, are currently having to significantly raise prices to transport Florida produce, flour and cooking oil and Hyundai/Mercedes parts etc

But everyone knows that.

I noticed recently is that new 12 gauge and 14 gauge (armored or romex) was noticeably thinner than the older, even ones from about 10 years ago.

I recently did a lot of electrical work in my retail shop and a bath renovation at my mother's house.

I kept thinking I'd run the wrong wire when connecting the new ones and was also a little harder to cut them with the right gauge on the Klein tool.

Maybe they've improved the conductivity or just skimpy wire? Certainly much easier to work with the newer 12 gauge.

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Like what, specifically?

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Like the price of almost every aspect of a middle class life -- from insurance, to food, to every other product, to buying/renting houses, to every service.

If you can control the prices of those things more power to you.

For us in the middle class, all those things are increasing more than wages. That increase isn't creating more or better jobs but does seem to be resulting in skyrocketing profits for a select group of shareholders that may have pushed it to a level that's unsustainable if, as a country, we really want to continue to have a true middle class.