Yes, that's how national standards work.

You also can't import a Japanese-made vehicle to the US until it's 25 or more years old because the safety specs are different.

Over my lifetime, I'm up probably around $800.

Most lost at once, $20.

It used to be a thing where you could get a job driving brand new BMWs around Europe until it hit like 6,000km so they could be imported to the US cheaper as a "used" car.

That's exactly how it works. Likely a custom GPT or a specific custom model. Probably sometime like Palintir providing it. So the climate nonprofit is told to throw their white papers into a void, then lobbyists do the same.

The Onion headline after Obama was elected in 2008 as the economy was starting to fall apart:

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

Fair point.

First off, the Peace Corps budget is tiny compared to most other federal agencies, at around $430 million a year right now. When I was serving, we liked to tell people that the US Army Band had a budget the size of our entire country program, which supported 120 volunteers and employed dozens of local staff members. Many of whom had advanced degrees and managed the American volunteers. I only got $4 a day because living at a local level is part of the job description. So it's not salaries overseas that drive the budget. Maybe the DC ones, if anything. It was simply too small to get DOGEd, and DOGE fell apart before they got down to the smaller agencies.

Second, yes, it's absolutely a form of soft power. That's a very up front, stated goal - the stated 3 goals are 1) Do development work as requested by the host country (formerly towards a goal of world peace and friendship), 2) be Americans overseas and talk about being an American, and 3) come back to the US and tell Americans about what you did and saw and experienced. So Goal 2 is literally to be present, and be you. There are some real rules, like don't attend local protests or actively campaign regarding US elections (per the Hatch Act, which applies to federal employees and members of the military as well), and a few others that make sense. At no point was I, or any volunteer ever told to pass along USG talking points. Most of us spent a lot of time shit-talking W, so if it's some grand conspiracy for that, they forgot to tell me and nearly everyone else I served with. It's often a bunch of crunchy granola super liberal people in the first place, and what few conservatives make their way in, often see real life and turn pretty lefty and activist-oriented afterwards.

And all of this wasn't even Kennedy's idea. The UK's VSO proved the point that there was demand for something like that in the US, and Kennedy took the idea (willingly) from university students during his campaign and ran with it.

It's worth also knowing that Peace Corps programs are only in countries that ask for them. They take years of work to identify sectors of work and which government ministries to work with, etc. before anyone ever gets on a plane. Communities are asked, and often go out of their way to request volunteers work with them. Some gringo doesn't just show up one day demanding things. Every single day I was working with people on things they wanted to do. The community where I lived tasked me with things, and I would try and find info for them and get something going. If I found promising ideas, I would bring them back and ask people what they thought. We did a whole village-wide assessment of potential projects, because without community buy-in, most ideas fall apart quickly.

I know you really wanted to shit on this for no reason other than lack of knowledge about it. Not that it's above criticism. There's things to fix or modernize. Funding projects is still a massive pain, and worse now. But name one thing that's perfect anywhere, though, right? If anyone thought it was perfect, that's a red flag all on its own.

I only use YT through invidious front ends, so I only see the promoted ones, but whew... Every topic has some and they bubble to the top a lot.

Exactly the kind of place I was thinking. Missouri had the same places.

Or be so poor and in such a backwater place that time has no meaning.

And let's not miss the fact that he's smoking the cigarette indoors.

That's a 10/10 Greek moment.

Wow.

It's that low?

Genuinely surprised by that.

Americans, 20+ years ago I joined the Peace Corps. Extended, spent 3 years in a wild, amazing place in West Africa. Met my spouse, loved the experience. Strongly recommend. Over the last 20+ years, been out of the States for 10+. It's a springboard.

Right now, recruitment is down. A lot. The bar is citizenship, be 20-something (technically 18, but you need some something experience and not really fresh from high school), and don't have a totally jacked up body. You won't be doing shit for sleepy T, like how I didn't do shit for W.

You want Southern Europe? SE Europe is awesome. Albania, Kosovo, MKD, all options. Also Moldova, if you like wine. So are Armenia and Georgia, which are also amazing.

The option is there and real. Free to apply.

temporarily

Two years, extendable up to five, ain't nothing.

While you get fluent in another language.

While you learn all about another culture.

While you look for a job or figure out grad school or whatever your next steps are.

Good thing fascists are always so nice to disabled people /s

One of the women I served with was legally blind. Disability isn't even a deal breaker.

First off, I'm not talking about immigrating.

I'm talking about joining a volunteer program where the government pays for a person to be somewhere outside the US, get trained, improve skills, and do work to help other people. Clever people can use that as an opportunity to be out for as long as you want. Grad school in the UK could be next, or some other job. It's a lot easier to get a job outside the US when you're already out.

Sorry, so you have one quote from somewhere on a libertarian thinkintank and that's....a demonstration of bias? What are you trying to say wit this very out of context, zero evidence missive?

It's neo-colonialsm in as much as letting people who know about American only through Tik Tok or facebook meet a real one and ask about things.

I had to talk to a lot of people about why "George Bush, strong man!" and why that was not true. Then he bombed Iraq and when they then asked "Does...George Bush hate muslims? But...we're Muslim! Is he going to bomb us?" I also eventually left and educated a lot of people in the US about how all those "evl, terrible muslims" are, in fact, not evil or terrible."

One third of the goals are to share the experiences you have with the US. I'd love to hear how that's neocolonialsm.

Why does car need to be an android app?

Follow up: cold steeped version is slightly more bitter, but not bad flavor. I seem to still not have malaria. 10/10.

For all y'all thinking closing 800 tabs is bad, that's a habit exploited by session stealing attacks to take your money, socials, and email.

Saving you a click

One compound was particularly effective, sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), which was used for "intermittent fevers," a hallmark of malaria.

Relatively easy to find herb. I have some in my tea cabinet, turns out I've been ruining it all along.

More accurate to say "several overlapping cabals trying to expand their own fifedoms"