Sure, it’s gatekeeping coffee - the reason we build walls with gates is to keep the barbarians out! I wasn’t trying to ‘gatekeep caffeine’ in the slightest, those concotions are defintely cafffinated hot drinks. And of course, by some standard they’re ‘coffee’ and so is tiramsu.

Apple jacks pop tarts are made from apples (apple powder, but apples nothertheless), and while it might be a small fraction of the total, the point where it stops being fruit and becomes a snack is an arbitary line. I assume you consider a drink made with instant coffee powder still coffee?

Obviously, it’s a silly semantic debate, and someone could equally judge me for wanting my coffee beans roasted and ground “why not eat the berries fresh if you say you love coffee‽”.

Everyone’s entitled to as much caffeine as their bodies can handle, but it is pretty odd to ‘love coffee’ but actually love ‘coffee-flavoured hot milkshake’. Like saying ‘I love fruit’ but really meaning ‘I love apple jacks pop tarts’, it’s not wrong, just a bit odd.

Yeah, when life wasn’t going well I’d sometimes buy a lottery ticket just to indulge in a fantasy of what would happen if I won. But then I’d find myself focusing on what would happen if I died and how I’d write my will…

Totally. And eventually people get to the age where “embarrassing” medical stuff is so common that it doesn’t even raise an eyebrow. Just be matter of fact about it, if you don’t act like it’s embarrassing then they won’t either.

As people age their faces sag due to changes in skin elasticity (and also often gaining weight), this can lead to a “resting sad face” compared with perky youngsters. But, as a middle aged person, I’ve also started to notice that I often get absorbed in my thoughts and realise I’m sitting there with a thousand yard stare and a drawn facial expression I associate with being sad or very sick or very hungover.

But inside I’m not sad, I’m just thinking about something I need to do or whatever, but I feel like I need to consciously “inhabit” my body again and “power up” my facial muscles so I look thoughtful, or determined or something rather than a blank “my family has just died in a car crash and I can’t decide whether to call the ambulance or kill myself with a shard of broken windscreen” expression.

Who was that? Or any more details? I’m intrigued!

Edit: do you just mean marx? That’s less intriguing, not wrong, but less intriguing.

That’s an interesting point, because in terms of wealth inequality and unbridled exploitative capitalism stuff was pretty fucking dreadful back then too. But I don’t think there was as much interest in the super rich taking control of the government, because the government didn’t do that much and had never really been a problem for the wealthy (apart from that time they tried to abolish slavery…)

I’m normally a “folks need to work together, big problems need big solutions” European lefty, but seeing the horror of what a powerful central government can do when it’s in the hands of crazy dipshits… It certainly highlights the benefits of small governments and localised power. Maybe this will lead to growth of some forces of progress that aren’t the federal government? The question is whether after the inevitable crash and burn, the next government will be willing to introduce the actual constraints, checks and balances to not let this happen again?