That’s the thing, though, in western literary culture an archetypal journey story is the Odyssey. The Odyssey is just so old and was so important in Hellenic culture (which became the basis for most of Western culture) that all journey stories after The Odyssey were heavily influenced by it in one way or another.

A few reasons:

1. States are not currency sovereigns in that they do not create and control their own currency. All the money the state uses come from revenues they collect in taxes, fees, sales, etc. This is not the case for a national government, which creates all the money it needs for whatever it wants to spend money on. This gives the national government a lot more spending power than any state could possibly have, regardless of the state’s GDP.

More importantly, though,

2. All states except Vermont have statutory or (state) constitutional requirements to have a balanced budget every year. This means they cannot run a budget surplus or deficit. Any surplus has to be spent or returned to taxpayers and any deficit needs to be resolved that year. This makes it incredibly difficult to run large programs like a M4A over time. When the state runs into a budget shortfall, the M4A system would be the first on the chopping block.

3. Insurance companies fight HARD against anything that hurts their business. This is specifically why Obamacare (the ACA) didn’t include a public option despite Obama campaigning hard for a public option in the 2008 election. Insurance companies got their stooges in the Democratic Party to kill the public option when the ACA debates were going through Congress. They do the same in states when states try to do something about the healthcare industry. And if insurance companies publicly talk about a proposed bill causing them to raise rates or pull out of a market, that’s a huge political stick to swing.

The Odyssey is copied in form all the time. It’s not always referenced as directly, but virtually any adventure story made from a western perspective includes some elements of The Odyssey in a similar manner to how virtually all Eastern adventure stories include some elements of Journey to the West.

Whichever you put more alcohol into.

Typically, the only difference between a frozen margarita and one on the rocks is that the frozen has been blended. But they still have the same amount of tequila and triple sec (usually 1 shot of tequila and 2/3 shot of triple sec).

Belgium

Of course, when I went it was part of an school exchange trip when I was 17. I was almost always with a large group of American teenagers with only a few teachers as chaperones. It’s 100% understandable why people wouldn’t want to be particularly friendly to us.

Never?

Yes, I thoroughly enjoy vinegar.

1. Belgium for 10 days as part of a school exchange trip in high school. Was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of touristy stuff, but also the first time I was able to legally buy alcohol or go to a bar. That was over 20 years ago and I still have a pair of bowling shoes I stole from a bowling alley on that trip.

2. Belize. I’ve been twice. The first was for 2 weeks when my uncle was marrying a woman from Belize. We spent a week near where her family is from so we could meet that side of the family, then a week on the island where the wedding was. The second time was for a week for a vacation. My friend’s dad owns a house in Belize, so we had a free place to stay. Second trip was MUCH less touristy than the first one, which was nice. We mostly hung out in local bars.

3. Guatemala. During my first trip to Belize we took a day trip to visit Tikal. I really wouldn’t say I “visited” the country as Tikal was the only place we stopped, but my passport got stamped, so I’ll include it.

4. Mexico. Spent a week on vacation. We stayed in Playa del Carmen and did some very touristy things.

5. Costa Rica. Again, for a week. Again, pretty touristy. I liked Costa Rica a lot.

6. China. Went for the first week of my honeymoon. I have friends who live in Beijing. We spent the first half of the week there, mostly going to restaurants, bars, parks, and other places my friends hang out at. We also went to the Great Wall. For the second half of the week we went to Xian to see the Terracotta Soldiers.

7. Malaysia. Spent the second week of our honeymoon here. First few days were on a resort island to do the SUPER honeymoon resort thing. Second half was in Kulala Lumpur where we mostly just wandered around checking out the city.

8. Japan. Spent an hour layover there on our flight home from Malaysia. Again, I wouldn’t really count it, but they stamped my passport.

9. Cuba. Spent a week in Cuba on vacation. By far, the most enjoyable country I’ve ever visited and most fun vacation I’ve ever had. Before getting to the country, the only prep we did was book a room for our first night. Everything else we just figured out along the way and stayed where people suggested might be fun. Also the only country I’ve felt a strong desire to visit again. (Not that the others were bad, but I tend to want to go somewhere I’ve never been when I vacation).

Friendliest country I’ve ever been to was Cuba. Everyone was incredibly nice and helpful with anything we could want. Malaysia was a close second.

Least friendliest was Belgium, but I went as part of a school exchange trip, so I was pretty much always in a large group of mostly teenage Americans with a few teachers. Understandable why people might not have been as friendly.

If you say yes, your 17 year old son will be fucking his girlfriend in your house with your implied consent.

If you’re fine with that, go ahead and say yes.

If it helps mollify you any, I think it’s pretty likely they’ve already fucked.

Or just say you want the comfy pillow.

It’s marketed as being a product for new parents. There’s no law that says is must be used that way.

a) No, nobody will judge you

b) If they do, fuck 'em

My thought is no. I have kids, but mine are much younger (3 & 5). Right now, I’d prefer to wait as long as possible before I get them smartphones. My niece and nephew didn’t get one until they were 15, and I feel like that’s too young, too.

My big concern is social media. If I could ensure they weren’t on social media at all, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem. But I don’t think it’s safe or healthy for kids to be on social media that young. Hell, I’m almost 40 and I don’t think it’s safe or healthy for me to be on social media (yet here I am…).

“I don’t hate you because you’re a POC, a woman, or queer. I hate you because you’re poor.”

Microsoft has the ability to do this if they really wanted to. It would completely destroy their business if they did, though, so they won’t. I mean, who would keep using Microsoft products if the company was willing to just take it away from you at a moment’s notice?

The US government cannot do it so easily. They’d have to order Microsoft to do so. Microsoft would resist and take it to court. The US Court system makes a LOT of really fucked up rulings, but the one thing they do reliably is side with big business. I’m inclined to think that in this hypothetical showdown, the courts would side with Microsoft.

I’m generally not particularly picky when I’m listening to music. I don’t often want just one specific song or artist. Usually I’m looking for a genre/vibe and that’s it.

With that in mind, I prefer Pandora. I’ve been using it for ~20 years now and have a lot of VERY well curated stations. I also don’t mind the ads so much, and, therefore, have never had to pay for it. On the rare occasions I want a very specific song, I can just pull it up on YouTube.

My wife and I recently sprung for a Spotify account. We have a 3 yo and 5 yo and, like most children, they want to listen to a few specific albums on repeat. We had Amazon Music for a bit, but really disliked it. So we switched to Spotify. I mostly only use it to play music for my kids.

I truly believe John Darnielle is the most talented working poet right now.

Tomas Kalnoky (bands include Catch 22, Streetligh Manifest, Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, and Toh Kay) is one of the best songwriters of all time, IMO. His lyrics resonate very well with me.

Pat the bunny (Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, Ramshackle Glory, Wignut Dishwashers Union, etc) is another great lyricist. While they don’t always speak directly to my personal life experiences, I’ve known a lot of people like those he describes, and his politics match mine closely.

John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) is just a beautiful poet and puts a TON of emotion into his guitar playing. I truly believe he’s the greatest living poet working right now.

Came here to mention exactly this. It aired for 4 seasons during the late 90s. I watched it weekly with my family when I was a kid.

IIRC, the ending and lore left it wide open for a reboot, although they’d have to drastically change the framing away from a print newspaper.

Research what working in those fields is like and choose the one that has the highest pay for the least time commitment. Whichever requires you to actually be at work the least is your best bet.