The waxed kind are not always PFAS! I use Reach Listerine Ultraclean and they specify no PFAS. It’s a waxy kind that slides easily!

When I first learned PFAS was a thing in floss, I figured it had to be in the stuff I use. Maybe it was at some point, but it’s not now.

First off, I totally agree the argument you responded to is bad and that Biden is driving toward the right goal.

However, if we disambiguate the specific circumstance here, there is sometimes an argument to be made that the one being obstructed is the problem. Think about how many obviously illegal laws Republicans have pushed through. A recent example would be DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” act trying to eliminate DEI training in companies. It so clearly goes against federal law about protected classes and was deemed unconstitutional because of the first amendment. I don’t think there’s any chance DeSantis actually believed this act was legal or would be allowed, he just wanted the brownie points of “hurr durr, own the libs.”

There are so many cases of that kind of thing, and I think it’s absolutely fair to be critical of those whose laws are being obstructed when they initiate them in bad faith.

However, like I said, that doesn’t apply in this situation; this law was not made in bad faith, and the Texas court is definitely the problem here. I only bring it up because “blaming the obstructionism on the one being obstructed” can sometimes be a legit argument.

Every hotel I’ve stayed in—regardless of state—has had this problem.

And if you read the first two paragraphs of the article, you’ll see the law actually applies to hotels as well; the article just chooses to focus on the restaurant part. So maybe your state-directed ire is misplaced.

Yeah, I should have mentioned the price is pretty insane… I’d desensitized myself to it a bit because of the whole buying-Japanese-toothpaste thing wasn’t cheap, and now I just can’t stand not using hydroxyapatite for more than like a week, lol.

I read your comment earlier today and then by chance was going to reorder toothpaste tonight, and I realized the kind of toothpaste I recently fell in love with has a citrus and a grape flavor, so I hunted down your comment to share with you!

The toothpaste has both fluoride and hydroxyapatite, which helps rebuild enamel. Ever since I started using hydroxyapatite, my teeth have that “fresh from the dentist clean” feeling every time I brush them. I was using a Japanese brand of toothpaste for a few years because that’s the only place I found that kind of toothpaste, but it was fluoride free. Just one tube ago I found a brand that has both!

The brand is Carifree, and this is the one I use.

Looks like they also have citrus and grape mouthwash!

Yeah… this was the quote that jumped off the high dive for me.

In order to explain the massive anomaly [massive stock growth and drop], our criminal government unleashed COVID on the world and told us these were the “stay at home stocks.”

Thanks for the link.

TL;DR: the world is in a Ponzi scheme, the elite are using cryptocurrency to get richer, all of the elite are in this together including politicians “competing” with each other, and the only possible outcome is either societal collapse or a fascist state. And The Simpsons and other media proves this is true.

There was also this:

In order to explain the massive anomaly [massive stock growth and drop], our criminal government unleashed COVID on the world and told us these were the “stay at home stocks.”

There are components of his theory that ring true, but the cherry-picked examples and the strange conclusions of how points are connected definitely made it read like a conspiracy theorist.

Despite that, one of the points he makes early on is to apologize to those he will hurt with his self-immolation, including witnesses and first responders. That fact alone gives me empathy for him. He truly believed his conclusions, and it drove him to this awful action.

My comment here is largely just a vent about one of my favorite quotes which may have just been a typo in your comment or may have been misunderstood.

It seems this person is making the argument “good is the enemy of perfect,” not “perfect is the enemy of good.” The latter is the point you’re making, and one I’m pretty passionate about (I printed it and put it on the wall in my office years ago!). I’m a perfectionist who wants to get things done, and by reminding myself that good is something and perfect is impossible, I get a lot more done.

I once had a VP who told us on his first day “good is the enemy of perfect” was one of his driving values, and I knew that day we were going to have issues. Sure enough, he was a micromanager who didn’t trust anyone else to make decisions. Despite being a VP of 60+ people, he’d change work by individual contributors 2+ layers down from him when he didn’t like something. “Perfection” was defined only by him and nothing anyone else did was good enough. Reporting up through him for a year was miserable and three years later we’re still cleaning up problems his ego caused.

So yeah, I agree with you. I’m glad we did an airdrop. Was it enough or an end all? No. Is what happened with it a tragedy? Absolutely. But I’m glad we’ve done something (the good) AND I will push for more, rather than demonize the good because it wasn’t perfect.

100% not agreeing with this person, but I think their point is that if Hamas attacks, their attacks are likely to be blocked by the iron dome, resulting in no Israeli casualties. But if Israel retaliates, Palestine will have casualties.

I think the thought process is to defend Israel by implying all the deaths they’ve caused is as a counterattack?

Again, not defending it, just interpreting what I think was being implied. Even if my interpretation is correct, so much is still missing from the thought process.

No benefit? I agree that inflation can make paying a house off early less financially advantageous, but it’s silly to say there’s no benefit.

with an interest rate lower than inflation

First to your point, with interest rates as they’ve been the last year or so, it isn’t safe to assume your interest will be lower than inflation. (Mine isn’t, and I bought my house last June.)

Also, removing a huge monthly bill grants freedom in the short-term. Making a mortgage payment every month may mean things like not leaving a bad job or not starting your own business due to fear of losing your house. With that expense out of the way, you can make riskier choices with potential for greater pay off.

And lastly, there’s the mental burden of debt. It’s easier to be happy when you don’t have any debt, so getting rid of it can be a huge boon personally.

So yeah, I might lose a net benefit of a few thousand dollars spread out over the next 15 years if I don’t pay my house off early. But I might miss out on even greater benefits because I’m saddled with ~33% of my take home going into my mortgage every month. I’ll take the minor hit to be debt-free ASAP.