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[Grim Portent]

Sitting awake at 6:30 on a Saturday rubbing peppermint extract into my tooth socket for that sweet soothing menthol because I can't take more painkillers yet and it gives some brief respite.

This is a weird start to my day.

[McTraveller]

Holy crap people are baffling.  The "lowest priced" ticket to attend this year's Super Bowl is $8200.

I really have a hard time feeling bad for people crying about the economy if there are that many people willing to pay that much to fill a stadium for an entertainment event.  I mean I can be compassionate if you are on hard luck, but if that isn't self-inflicted wounds, I don't know what is.

[Criptfeind]

Yup, since the people going to the superbowl are also the same people struggling for rent and living expenses that opinion makes complete sense.

Luckily that 0.02% of the population is perfectly representative of everyone else, otherwise you might think that'd be a ridiculously absurd place to make opinions on economics from!

[ChairmanPoo]

---
**From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia**

# Superbowl Cull

---

The 'Superbowl Cull' became a grim chapter in human history. Once an annual sporting event celebrated by millions, it was perverted into a brutal population control measure by an authoritarian regime desperate to address rampant overpopulation and resource shortages.

According to the fragmented records of this period, on the day of the event, unsuspecting spectators were locked inside the stadium, their excitement for the game turning to horror as government announcements echoed through the arena, declaring the initiation of the Cull. Participants were forced into gladiatorial combat, armed with an array of weapons dropped onto the field. The jumbotron, once used to replay touchdowns, now displayed a live death count, chillingly ticking upward as the ‘game’ progressed. It was decreed that only when half of the attendees lay defeated would the remaining survivors be granted exit, their lives spared but forever scarred by the ordeal.

The Superbowl Cull became a perverse form of entertainment, broadcasted to the masses as a stark reminder of the government's control over life and death. It was a spectacle designed to satiate the populace's basest instincts under the guise of maintaining societal balance. The event continued annually until the regime's downfall, after which it was universally condemned as one of the darkest acts of population control ever perpetrated.

[McTraveller]

Sorry guess I should've been explicit in my /s.

Apparently the Super Bowl has indeed become a "live" event only for the rich.  But even so the "average" American poor person still spends too much on beer and food and other crap associated with the event - otherwise I doubt it would garner so much attention.  So there is more than just a little "bread and circuses" going on there, although probably more "circuses" than "bread."


Chairman's wiki entry is quite amusing - I'd probably pay a few bucks to rent that movie if it was produced

[Mathel]

---
**From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia**

# Superbowl Cull

---

The 'Superbowl Cull' became a grim chapter in human history. Once an annual sporting event celebrated by millions, it was perverted into a brutal population control measure by an authoritarian regime desperate to address rampant overpopulation and resource shortages.

According to the fragmented records of this period, on the day of the event, unsuspecting spectators were locked inside the stadium, their excitement for the game turning to horror as government announcements echoed through the arena, declaring the initiation of the Cull. Participants were forced into gladiatorial combat, armed with an array of weapons dropped onto the field. The jumbotron, once used to replay touchdowns, now displayed a live death count, chillingly ticking upward as the ‘game’ progressed. It was decreed that only when half of the attendees lay defeated would the remaining survivors be granted exit, their lives spared but forever scarred by the ordeal.

The Superbowl Cull became a perverse form of entertainment, broadcasted to the masses as a stark reminder of the government's control over life and death. It was a spectacle designed to satiate the populace's basest instincts under the guise of maintaining societal balance. The event continued annually until the regime's downfall, after which it was universally condemned as one of the darkest acts of population control ever perpetrated.

I can see how that would the first time. Maybe you'd find people stupid enough to fall for it the second time.

But you wouldn't get unsuspecting spectators for the later events. Everybody would already know it to be a death trap.

[hector13]

It’s basically just Battle Royale. Just gotta find enough people to make it entertaining, invite people to do it, and then if you don’t have enough spots filled, just drug people and force them into it.

[McTraveller]

If you're quick, CNN has a live page with inline edits shown!

[femmelf]

World is changing not quite for the better.  Used to be the people I worked for had latitude to praise the productive, helpful employees.
I actually cared if you were getting screwed through no fault of your own, and stupidly, I still do. 

Now we have the same old management with new stupid metrics. This has produced two types of employees.

A.) Don't care. Game the system and if people get hurt o well.
B.) Fewer and fewer of us who actually help and consider the impact on others before acting. Our numbers don't look as good, but people love us and we get complimented all the time for actually fixing the problems. We still look "good" and don't miss deadlines, but we don't just crash through things while not helping for the sake of counting up numbers just to have them without helping.

Now, my immediate supervisor loves me, because I solve problems everyone else just throws at him and doesn't care. He'll be here another  2 years or so, until his frustration with the management and age eventually drives him out. He tried to give me a perfect 5.0 performance review, but they are "chiseling" him down to 4.8 and making him not use such glowing terms. I have lots (but not all) of what I do documented even and especially through emails etc. I just got one of the highest award from the people at the top last October, and some additional time off awards (like sick days or vacation days) for being productive, so they can't complain too much regardless. I fix others' mistakes while they clock out on time..... Someone about to be charged $28,000 personally, partially because something got messed up.... O well, quitting time I suppose. I stay and fix it, but don't get credit officially.

Caring, extra effort, and effective resolutions are considered a waste of time and not as productive.
Racking up meaningless numbers on easy matters is considered amazingly productive.

I'm not good at not giving a damn.

[McTraveller]

Stick with it femmelf - just keep a good rapport with your colleagues.  It will likely give you many opportunities even if you do change organizations.

Also consider what it would take to do what you're doing now, on your own or with a group of like-minded individuals. After all, if things are that dysfunctional where you are, then there's likely a business case for it!

[nenjin]

I was convinced after a month of silence that someone I like was just done. And I've been going through the pain of that realization for the last few weeks. Barely been eating. Taken multiple mental health days. Desperately seeking distraction. Letting my mind overthink every minute I'm not actively doing something.

And then out of the blue they finally text me back and make all sorts of apologies about it, and tell me most of the assumptions I had about this are wrong.

I don't know what to think anymore. My feelings are so gaslit right now I don't know where I am.

But at least I was able to say what I needed to. And they can do with that what they will. That's always the worst part: the things left unsaid and thank God I finally said some of them.

That said, imma bout to swear off women, sex and desire forever and go become a monk. I guess this is what happens when you aren't in relationships for over 1/3rd of your life: when you find yourself near one, you get to "catch up" on all that experience in a big goddamn hurry. And it sucks. IT SSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

[hector13]

It’s… interesting how quickly the YT algorithm spirals.

I’m not sure why but it recommended the Private Eye (a long running satirical magazine in the UK) end of year 2023 show, which was basically an hour of comedy with the editor and three comedians lampooning political and celebrity figures and stories over the last year.

After that I got a few videos about its editor (who has also appeared on a satirical panel show for the past… oh, 30+ years I think) chatting about various things, plus… I think it’s a progressive politics channel? It does not seem to like many politicians, but yeah, and now I’m getting quite a lot of progressive stuff from the Daily Show and LBC recommended to me, plus one about a dad railing against book bans in Pennsylvania, and I only watched a handful of videos to get to that point.

The vast majority of my other watching is gaming videos, and I’m still happy that I get the occasional advert in Spanish, presumably from when I was watching Spanish streams of the World Cup a few years ago.

Also, how come a lot of advertisers haven’t figured out they should get the point across in five seconds or less before someone skips it?

[Il Palazzo]

Ian Hislop is grand. The algorithm did you a solid.

[pisskop]

yt algo goes as deep as you let it take you.

[McTraveller]

Holy smokes, the total "sticker price" for my son's broken arm a few months ago is pushing $50000.  Yes you read that right. Fifty. Thousand. Dollars.

I mean I have quite good insurance, so my final out of pocket is way way less than that, but what the everlasting gobstopper is that? How is that even possible? Even taking into account he needed pins (which itself was over $20k!?!)... an entire median annual salary?

Wow do we really really need medical reform...