I have been looking around a car insurance quotes for when I get my big pickup truck. I am focusing getting insurance to protect my assets from liability and catastrophic loss after an crash (such as totaling a new vehicle within a few years).
Today, I saw a insurance ad that advertised “protect[ing] your investment“.
That triggered me on so many levels, as an automobile is not an investment but a consumption item. Maybe a car is an pricey item, but it something you buy to get enjoyment out of temporarily, use it up, then send to scrap yard and ultimately the landfill. I do blame marketers, especially who foist advertising for financed automobiles and extended warranties as furthering the public’s confusion between the two. Also, it is a terrible way to buy insurance – which should focus on preventing catastrophic loss – not pain.
Google Gemini AI often has excellent summaries of concepts.
In simple terms, an investment is an asset you buy today with the expectation that it will grow in value or generate income in the future. Unlike a regular purchase (consumption) where you spend money for immediate use, investing is about putting your resources—such as money, time, or effort—to work to create a greater benefit later.
In economics and personal finance, a consumption purchase is the acquisition of goods and services for current utility or immediate satisfaction. Unlike an investment, which is intended to grow in value or generate future income, consumption is generally “used up” or depreciates over time.
Manufacturers of plastic packaging, not consumers, should pay for recycling products and packaging at the end of their life, he said. For regular people, “having to pay an extra fee to handle the unrecyclable plastic packaging that is thrust upon us every day is antithetical to every concept of producer responsibility.”
Earlier this month, the anti-plastic group Beyond Plastics published a disparaging report on boutique waste haulers, including Ridwell, accusing them of providing cover for plastic and packaging manufacturers who want people to believe their waste is being recycled. a Ridwell employee inserts a bag of recyclables into a compressing machine A Ridwell employee inserts a bag of recyclables into a bailer at the San Leandro warehouse.
Ridwell offered a visitor a tour of its Bay Area warehouse in San Leandro. The spacious facility behind a Home Depot and Walmart was crowded with steel drums filled with alternating layers of batteries and fire-retardant pellets, boxes of light bulbs and piles of used clothes, all destined for recyclers, upcyclers and thrift stores.
While the public may think of recycling as a largely physical process, it’s actually a market: a function of how well a material can be profitably turned into something else.
One of the most annoying things in this world is when people either say, “don’t you want to …” or actually implying a similar thing, suggesting there is a right way to live one’s life, and that any other way is foolish. Often I see this phrase most frequently used in advertising, sometimes that explicitly but also sometimes very subtlety in other, quite obnoxious ways.
1. Expressing an Expectation
In many cases, the speaker already assumes the answer is “yes.” They aren’t asking if you want to; they are subtly telling you that you should want to.
Example: “Don’t you want to go to the party?” implies the speaker thinks it’s a good idea and expects you to agree.
How to respond: Treat it like a regular “Do you want to” question. Answer “Yes” if you do, or “No” if you don’t.
2. Disguising Opinions or Advice
Sometimes this phrase is used to offer unsolicited advice or a nosy opinion without being direct.
Example: “Don’t you want to wear a jacket?” is often a polite way of saying “I think you should wear a jacket because it’s cold.”
Example: “Don’t you want to settle down and have a family?” can be a way of pushing traditional societal expectations.
3. Seeking Validation or Engagement
The phrase can also be a way for someone to prompt you to ask them more questions about a topic they want to discuss.
Example: “Don’t you want to ask about my vacation?” implies the speaker is waiting for your permission to share details they are excited about.
4. Guilt-Tripping or Judgment
In some contexts, it can feel like a judgment on your parenting or personal choices.
Example: Being asked “Don’t you want to hold your baby?” while you are busy preparing formula can feel like an implication that you are being uninvolved or lazy.
An unusual coalition of hunters, military veterans and environmental activists is opposing President Trump’s choice to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Steve Pearce, calling him a threat to public lands. Mr. Pearce, 78, a Republican and former member of Congress from New Mexico, would oversee about 245 million acres of federal land, and 700 million acres of minerals beneath the ground. . He would also manage the government’s coal, oil and gas leasing programs at a time when President Trump wants to substantially increase drilling and mining on public lands. Mr. Pearce is expected to field questions Wednesday about his views on the use of federal lands when the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources considers his nomination. Critics said they were concerned about actions Mr. Pearce had taken as a lawmaker to try to sell public lands to private interests. The Vet Voice Foundation, an advocacy group made up of military veterans, is helping to organize a campaign against Mr. Pearce’s confirmation and has created a “Sell-Off Steve” website. Advertisement
I wonder if that camel dairy up in Iraville Vermont with that snow covered camel is still doing their thing. Werid shit, good for YouTube, some people really like camel milk, it’s pricey but apparently very sweet and good for those who are lactose intolerant but still want to drink that creamy white stuff.
Some snow this morning, 🌨️ but it’s expected to warm up and turn to rain by evening. Last night the meeting on a transfer station in the Pine Bush in Colonie was postponed, I thought about going to the Walkable Albany Meeting but I ended up just heading home and cooking down some onions, rice, pea soup and shrimp. 🦐 It was pretty good. Tonight I have a meeting out in Guilderland over that Dale Houck development, on fringes of the Pine Bush. He’s one of children of a prominent farm family in the town, who made much of their money developing farm parcels and giving some of their land to town. Hard to call people who have their hands rammed up the butts of cattle gentry, but yeah.
Things are starting to pick up at work, 💾 with the database update underway, and more communication targets going out the door after a fairly quiet President’s Week. It’s a very different world working over at the suburban office building then when I worked downtown, though I’ve been heading downtown on earlier bus 🚍 on session days to avoid the insanity around the Capitol. Hopefully soon I can ride my bike to work, preferably on bike trail. 🚲 Going to ride both ways most likely on Thursday and Friday. Also at end of each day, I check the dealer listings to see price movement and what’s in stock at various dealerships for trucks. After doing a lot of study of negotiation tactics, I’ve now started a deep dive into real dealer’s perspectives, and trying to understand how they see customers. Understanding how a dealer sees you, not just saying the right words, is part of negotiation process. I am probably getting lost in the weeds though.
I was asleep a little after 8 PM as I was tired, 🛏️ woke up somewhat around 4:30 to pee 🚽 but honestly I stayed in bed until 5:30 AM. Cornmeal pancakes for broccoli and onions, along with oatmeal, whole wheat flower, some Stevia and salt, 🌽 good enough. ☕ I’ve been “grinding”, well sort of, the coffee beans in my food processor, next weekend when I shop, I’ll get grown coffee so I can make it stronger, then what my sucky food processor does for coffee beans. It’s fine, I’ll shower, get on that early and be down to work.
Anthropic doesn’t allow its models to be used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. Hegseth is pushing for Anthropic to give the military permission to use its AI models in all lawful use cases, a move the company has resisted.
Axios previously reported on the Tuesday meeting.
The schism between the two sides is a key moment for the AI industry. Before the recent tension with the Defense Department, Anthropic was the only developer whose models had received approval for use in classified settings. ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Google and Elon Musk’s xAI also have agreements with the Pentagon and could benefit from a souring of Anthropic’s relationship with the military.
