Interesting read about this..

The native cultural influence is pretty strongly interwoven in the fabric of Minnesota. It’s very possible the thought process was just that the locals associated that image with their state, just like the brand name.

The Anishinaabe and Dakota have had major influence on the state and that’s been recognized more in recent history with the renaming of certain places back to their native name, like Bde Maka Ska.

Most of the naming in the metro(and the state name) comes from the Dakota peoples. The Anishinaabe were located more in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin so you’ll see the influence there. For example the town of Biwabik in the iron range which is the Anishinaabe word for iron.

Good to know, glad you take advantage! Amazon is one of several companies I avoid on ethical grounds but I fault nobody else for shopping there.

I was mostly being facetious, I try not to use Amazon. My wife does off and on and has used a free trial 3-4 times a year.

The trials are 30 days (in the US) and years ago, 4-5, I would just use a throwaway email and do a new trial every 30 days to keep Prime. Not sure if they guard against that at all now or not.

I always sign up for the free Prime trials just so I can get the satisfaction of cancelling.

Yeah! What a terrible job they’ve done raising those bullies!

Thank you for the reply! I hadn’t consider the regulation around the government as the purchaser.

Wyden, who released the Dec. 11 letter, called upon U.S. intelligence officials to stop using Americans’ personal data without their express knowledge and consent, saying it was unlawful

Anybody able to explain how this is unlawful?

Is there a restriction on intelligence gathering agencies that would apply?

I don’t believe this is right or fair but I’m not clear on how it’s illegal.

I can only imagine. You guys get that lake effect cold and wind. I’ve seen it a little in Duluth, I can only imagine what it’s like in a city nicknamed the “Windy City”.

Never. I have had some hard starts when I’ve owned older cars but I’ve never had it not start.

My biggest issue was actually my first car with the headlights. It didn’t chime to remind you they were on and those didn’t turn off automatically. I had to tape a reminder to turn them off on the steering wheel because I killed the battery a couple times.

Still, winter performance wouldn’t stop me from getting an EV. It’s probably be a bonus because when it’s super cold out who wants to go anywhere? Good excuse to stay home.

Sorry to hear that! You might benefit from a battery tender or one of those jump starter devices like the Halo.

I had to jump my mother in law last week and we might get her one as a birthday present. Her situation wasn’t directly cold related though, her negative terminal was super corroded. Ended up needing a battery and the terminal cable replaced.

I’ve lived in Minnesota for decades and I’ve never had an ICE not start in the winter.

That said, the cold weather performance isn’t enough to stop me from getting an EV. The same general rules apply for all vehicles in cold weather climates, which is to always have an emergency kit just in case.

There was a time though when I commuted 35 miles one way to work and the charging parking spots were always full when I got there. Range loss would worry me a bit there but in that case I’d buy a hybrid and plan for full EV on the next go round.

We all know it’ll never fully go under

No, it likely won’t, and part of that is also because of who’s invested in the company’s success. Just another example of “too big to fail”.

Just like Amazon who is a cloud computing company with a side hustle in e-tail or Google which is an ad company with a side hustle in tech.

In general most people don’t really understand this about big companies.

I love my Ryobi finish nailer! The only Bosch I currently have is an inherited corded jigsaw but it has held up well.

DeWalt is a subsidiary of Black and Decker. Seems like brand name means less than many think.

So Ryobi is just fine. With the context you provide if you’re a heavier user who needs the features then you can spend more? If you need a quality tool that will get the job done without frills then Ryobi is great?

What does bottom of the barrel mean in context though?

I have Ryobi and they’ve all been great, but I’m not a builder, I’m a homeowner who has occasional projects and small fixit/replace jobs around the house.

My brother was gifted a Ryobi set decades ago by my parents, it’s what my dad used, but has since replaced it with DeWalt. However, he has a wood shop in his garage, has added a deck, built multiple retaining walls, a shed and all sorts of stuff in the ~15 years they’ve owned their house.

I feel like how and how often you use the tools plays a big role. I usually get a new tool from Harbor Freight, unless I know it’s something I’ll use a lot. Then if I end up using it enough for it to break/fail I go buy the nicer version.

People who casually imply that every pitbull is a fucking monster are so woefully illinformed, and usually completely unwilling to consider they don’t know all the facts.

If this was directed at me I wasn’t implying every pit bull breed type is a monster.

Certified, professional breeders might be breeding out the gameness but the backyard breeders and the accidental breeders aren’t.

The number of pit and pit mixes in shelters aren’t coming from professional breeders or their dogs. Our second adopted dog is a mutt but dominant breeds are Border Collie and Am. Pit Bull Terrier. We’ve got her pretty well trained now, but if another dog comes snapping and biting at her I have to jump in to get a hold of her because she’s still got enough game in her that, if provoked, she goes hard in the paint.

I will always believe that pit type breeds are not for inexperienced or lazy dog owners. They need work, structure and training consistently.

specifically bred for aggression

This is wrong. Pit bull breeds were bred for gameness, the unrelenting will to “win” at all costs once engaged.

I think it’s also important to highlight the specifically bred part of your comment. Pit bull breeds didn’t become this way naturally, people made them this way. It’s less of a dog problem than it is a people problem.

Gameness could be bred out of these breeds the same way, but the change starts with people first.

This is correct. My argument isn’t just that they top the lists… it’s ALSO that the damage they do is much higher than any other breed as well. These concepts are inextricably linked.

This is called gameness and the trait is not inextricable for pit bull breeds. It was bred into them through selection, not too dissimilar to how those stubby faced breeds were bred to be that way (e.g. pugs).

If pit bull breeds were selectively bred to reduce/remove that trait it would change things. It’s almost like the root problem isn’t the dogs but the people and breeding practices.