Nominal is more than inflation so real is above 0.

Real just has to be above 0 for inflation adjusted wages to be going up.

I still call bullshit though without knowing where the increases are. All the increases could be in the top 10% with everyone else going down and only the average is above 0.

Edit: I was wrong, the growth is actually weighted toward the lower end.

I'm just one person and my sample size is small. But judging by the number of right-leaning people I know that send me stuff from RT and other similar places, and the number of left leaning people who repeat dispiriting talking points I see in those pieces (They may never vote republican, but their enthusiasm is certainly being sapped.), I would say the percentage is quite high. That's just people being swayed like you asked, not necessarily convinced to vote or act a certain way.

Again, I'm just one person, but from what I see around me Russia and its allies are winning the propaganda war.

I want to know what this is, but I'm not sure how to Google it. Can you give me a couple keywords to include with the name?

Yeah yeah

How about for an encore you tell us how The Godfather is overrated and Sharknado 3 is actually a good film.

I'm not balking at communicating what I think the line is, either by trying to define it or by listing some things on one side and some on the other, because it's hard, although it is. I'm not doing it for two main reasons, no one else should give a damn what my line is and I wouldn't want to list a book that I thought was shallow fun when someone else could have related to it in a profound way. I don't want to shit on someone else's experiences.

I think your being dishonest and pretentious when you say the line doesn't exist. Plenty of books I've read lately, and enjoyed enough I'm looking forward to the next things from those authors, are not in the same league as things I would consider art. This is true for all forms of art/media. Jerry Springer is not art like (insert what you think is the best expression of art on the small screen here). Battlefield Earth is not art like (insert whatever you think fits here). Are you seriously going to try and pull some smug insufferable "everything is art" bullshit here?

I never said there is anything wrong with a good translation even though it obviously can't be perfect and something is almost certainly lost. My French is never going to be good enough to read Camus, so I have to settle for a translation.

But that's not how this started. Before you started your "the line doesn't exist", "Shakespeare is overrated", "aren't I just so smart" auto-fellatio session, you defended butchering art with ai in the name of allowing ESL students to read it.

No one who wants anything more than an entertaining read should use this, ESL or otherwise. If you're going to read something with the hope that it's more than just entertainment, you should try to avoid any further opinions or analysis on it, avoid TV or movie adaptions, not read the Cliff's notes, and not use this fucking app. If you're going to use the app, use it for something you don't expect to get anything more than a bit of fun out of. And if you think you'll never have the necessary level of mastery, or just don't want to wait, find a good translation.

Using this app on anything you would consider art is indefensible. I have a hard time believing this is anything more than you being bored and feeling contrary.

Oops, sorry, I thought I was replying to someone else.

I apologize for coming in so hot. I really do think entertainment and art appreciation ideally go together and didn't need to be explicitly said. I'm not in the habit of choosing to do anything I don't think I could enjoy. Forcing something for intellectual enrichment has it's place for schoolchildren, or if you feel the need for it as an adult, but these days I don't have the bandwidth. Maybe in retirement when there is more time.

I'm not sure if I said something to offend you or if you just woke up this morning and decided to spend the day being a pedantic twat, but I'll pretend you're being genuine.

I thought being entertained by appreciating art would have gone without saying. But if you're such a sad sack you can't be entertained by art...well, I guess that goes a long way toward explaining your attitude.

Ultimately, every individual reader I suppose. But don't be obtuse, when you pick up a book I think you know if it's just a fun read or if you're expecting it to be something more. Either due to a particular person's opinion, or the opinion of society in general.

If someone is reading something they would like to appreciate as art, as opposed to entertainment, I don't think it's out of bounds to suggest they might enjoy it more if they waited until they mastered the language enough to appreciate the prose.

Simplified language for learners is great. But I would suggest to learners that they use this on books that are for entertainment and save real literature for after they have the proficiency to enjoy it as it was written.

Sure, they could always reread it unaltered later, but you only get to read something for the first time once.

Yeah, this is fucking bullshit, but it's not like Cliff's notes haven't been a thing for a long time. This is just another way for someone being forced to read something to slack off. No one who actually wants to read the book would ever consider this.

Just make sure you finish on the Bach. Never finish on Debussy.

Whether it's you breaking or the car doesn't matter. The person behind you sees break lights and reacts.

If it's the car reacting before you, less braking will be required and the likelihood of rapid deceleration due to hitting the car in front of you decreases.

Both of those things give the person behind you more time.

The planet is great. It's the fucking occupants that are a problem.

I make a little more than double the cap. I'm in favor of increasing or eliminating the cap but that would double my check in the future. (Not quite, I haven't made double the cap my entire working life, but it would increase it a lot.) That would still help a bit because not all of our withholdings go to basic social security. Some goes to disability, spousal benefits, etc. Increasing taxes and benefits proportionally, which is the way benefits are structured now, doesn't solve anything.

I believe social security has a lot of value so I'm in favor of not just fixing the funding, but expanding it as well. But if you want to make it healthier just with payroll taxes they would have to be progressive, like income tax, without increasing benefits.

Bilbo is rich and Frodo is a nepobaby.

I read "it is a 'very vascular organ'" in the voice of Stewie Griffin and I'm still laughing.

https://youtu.be/CbmjLKyiTYQ?si=Frwt8Ajv3911NxLa

Exactly, charge me what you need to to pay your employees what they're worth.

Shit, I'd take paying them enough to go back to the way it was before anything less than 20% was taking food out of the server's mouth. 0% fuck you I'm never coming back. ~5% substandard. 10-12% acceptable. 15-20% excellent.

Don't threaten me with a good time.

I like how you included fuck with the modes of transportation. Now I'm imagining some sort of tricycle or quadcycle that harnesses thrusting motion to propel you.

How they can't see the belt and road initiative as an attempt at establishing hegemony blows my mind. They really think China is doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.