Hyvee and Price Cutter usually seem to have sodas I have never seen before, but I don’t have much knowledge in this area. Their selection may be fairly pedestrian for all I know. I’ll second the Jones recommendation. Their green apple is my favorite soda I’ve ever had.

I think this is absolutely the answer. You don’t have to go to a theater to see a movie, so the theater has to be selling something besides the movie itself to draw you in. Theaters that just show movies and sell popcorn won’t be profitable. I think it’s a bit sad, because that was a really special experience when I was young, but it’s not really much of a pull these days.

To be honest, I was on the fence about the Alamo when it opened, but I’ve gone several times and I do enjoy it. It feels like a treat. The chairs are huge and comfortable and the food (while very expensive) actually kinda slaps. The reserved seating is nice too. But it’s a once in a very while thing. I, like you, miss the shitty theaters that you go to two or three times a week.

I think about the Palace all the time. I think I remembering it being like $1.50 on Tuesday nights. I miss it. I miss crappy movie theaters in general.

Do NOT go to the Schlotszky’s on South Campbell if you need your food to be actually gluten free. I worked there for years and while they do have gluten free buns and pizza crusts, it all goes through the exact same oven as the regular food and is prepped on the same surfaces, with the same toppings and utensils.

I’m all for taking guns out of the hands of the cops.

“…so rooted in fear you fail to see the facts…”

I hope that works out for you. Statistics suggest it won’t. It’s more likely one of those guns will be used on someone in your house, either accidentally or intentionally.

Oh shit they were designed before pocket calculators? Well damn. I guess they can’t hurt anybody then. Nothing made before the 1970s can hurt people. This is a meaningless talking point.

I mean you are partially right. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. All of those activities involve the coercive labor of others. And obviously driving comes with its own set of physical and environmental risks. And the meat industry is also a real problem, both for the treatment of animals and environmental problems. And actually it’s pretty bad for the treatment of workers too. So yeah. Any time we do any of those things, we should be thinking about who made the product we are consuming, whether they are being paid a living wage and treated fairly, and how we can safely engage in that activity to keep ourselves and the planet safe. But gun production is not like these in that the gun possess the direct (and in fact designed) capability to kill another person (many other people). Saying that we should be mindful of the harm of driving a car does not mean that we shouldn’t be mindful of the dangers of guns. That actually is whataboutism.

The solution to gun violence is simple: get rid of the fucking guns. The problem is people whose “hobby” is simulated violence to make them feel strong will throw a hissy fit if they can’t shoot things. So we get to keep the guns and all the deaths they bring. Also more mass shootings are committed with legally owned guns than illegally owned ones. There is no such thing as responsible gun ownership. Imagine yourself at your worst. Do you trust yourself in your very worst moment with a weapon that could kill a dozen people before you were stopped? You shouldn’t. If you do, you are wrong.

Yep. Buying something that is literally made for violence is an act of violence that puts the people around you at risk. You are complicit in the senseless murder of thousands.

Casual homophobia? ✅ On brand.

Like I just said, putting a “hobby” like sport shooting over the lives of innocent people is morally repugnant. And no one is using an AR for self defense. Increasing the number of guns is not self defense; it’s escalation.

Yes it absolutely does. You glorify violence. This whole country does. You gonna put your AR on the wall and hang Christmas ornaments on it?

Because this country has an enormous gun violence problem and by continuing to buy guns for “hobby” or “sport,” you are telling us that your violent interests are more important than the lives of thousands of schoolchildren. Go to hell.

Not to anybody looking to buy an AR. Nope. You are a bad person.

Or consider: fuck off?

Oh it’s because capitalism. Did you not know?

As a person who has attended meetings? Weird flex.

I remember this vividly. I was a kid and I rode with my dad north on S. Campbell into town. The top of that hill south of JRF on the way into town, you could look out all the way down Campbell and it was nothing, all dark, hardly any other cars that I can remember. That stuck with me. I can’t say I’ve experienced anything like that since.

I think maybe that’s exactly why it’s important to expose white children to understanding racism at an early age. And this book is a decent place to start.