43 shipments of reflective license plate sheeting over 2 years
54 total sanction violations
$10,000,000 fine

Alibaba suggests it’s about US$6 per metre square for reflective sheeting on the slightly pricy side. Let’s say it costs US$5/m^2 for 3M to make their fanciest sheeting and pay all costs associated, which is a total guess probably overestimated by 10 times at least. 3M has 50 yards per roll maximum 48" width, which is 55.7m^2 and therefore costs 3M $278.5 maximum per roll.

Resellers are charging about US $1500 retail for one roll of a different less fancy sheeting, let’s say 3M is giving a great bulk discount to their Iran reseller and selling the fancy ones at $750 per roll.

If each shipment is one 40’ shipping container, that’s about a thousand rolls per container or US$750,000 gross revenue and $278,500 cost, which leaves a profit of $471,500 per container.

43 shipments × $471,000 = $20,274,500

Therefore the fine is maybe a maximum 50% of their profits from breaking sanctions. What an incentive to not do it again.

I have both a pre-existing endocrine disorder that I (partly) actively manage, and long covid (and some other stuff that isn’t relevant). This aligns with my experiences extremely well.

Completely anecdotal, I know, but I’ve had to deal with hormonally-attributed brain fog and fatigue for decades. Covid fatigue made the normal fog markedly worse, to the point where It was terrifying knowing that I might not be able to rely on my own judgement to know if I needed to call an ambulance, because simple actions like making food were extremely difficult. I would forget what I was doing halfway through anything simple eg. “Get spoon from drawer”, for every single action. It was what I imagine Alzheimers feels like. Thankfully the peak of that only lasted for a few days, but it also never completely stopped.

Additional hormonal disregulation would also explain the early pandemic numbers showing people with my condition were at much higher risk of hospitalisation, severe infections and death. People really underestimate how much hormones influence everything in our bodies.

I wonder how long this can be detected in the blood afterwards. I’m glad I might be getting some answers, maybe even help later on.

recitation of a previously unknown extinct language. The language was hidden on a cuneiform tablet containing a ritual text written in Hittite. The Hittite ritual text refers to the lost tongue as the language of the land of Kalašma, an area that likely corresponds to where the towns of Bolu or Gerede in northern Turkey are located today.

Very very cool. They know it’s indo-european but not much else.

American government to businesses after loaning them money during covid: Oh, don’t worry about paying it back even though you just bought new cars with it instead of anything you were supposed to do with it, we forgive you.

America government to vulnerable people after overpaying them: WHERE’S THE MONEY, LEBOWSKI?!

Goodness that is too precious. I’m not sure if I’m more jealous of you or the cat, being bundled up like that looks very comfy

Hormones can definitely influence hair growth and texture, but… neither of those have anything to do with OP’s inconvenient dilemma or incomplete traction alopecia information.

What makes him the naughtiest? He’s also adorable.

Because citizens of many countries are not pressuring their elected officials to change advertising laws such that there is accountability, but companies are most certainly constantly lobbying for relaxed regulations.

It’s not often you can look to Brasil for policy guidance, so São Paulo’s ban on billboards/outside advertising is pretty remarkable in a number of ways. If they can rid a city of outdoor advertising, surely the world can get a few advertising oversight laws?

The downside is that you can’t just throw up your hands and say “Someone else should fix this! Why haven’t they?” and walk off. It’s a chore that takes time and energy from an already time and energy poor population, and I respect that there is a lot of broken shit in this world that needs fixing.

Doesn’t this happen every year, like some sort of dysfunctional system clock?

I want to curl up with it and then mildly regret wearing black clothes when I wake up covered in white cat hair.

They’re more strategic than you might think. They’ll flee to water sources and try to lure in their predators. Then, when the predator follows them, they pin them down with their strong back legs.

I wouldn’t try to take on an Adolescent big red. That is like trying to take on a really ripped human teenager.

I could take a wallaby though… I’m pretty sure, at least.

Quokka don’t stand a chance though. Unless it kills me with cuteness first. Adorable little buggers.

I swear I’m not affiliated with Jackson Galaxy but he has a video on just about everything cat-related troubleshooting. 6 Reasons Why Your Cat Over-Vocalizes - maybe there’s something in there that will help.

Scandalous! Content should be marked as NSFW!

The dangers of engaging with content based on title and thumbnail, a case study. Even the first sentence of this is trash.

You’re a vision in a t-shirt! Your sunnies are so chic! What a stylish spin on… appropriate clothes for a warm sunny day. How do you do it!?

The US this year has launched airstrikes in Syria, Somalia and possibly Yemen. That is not somehow better, just because they’re not a European country. And even if it were better, another country doing really shitty things is not a good argument for why a separate country can do maybe-less-shitty-but-still-shitty things.

Cuba has been under full trade embargo by the US for over 60 years, after the US Bay of Pigs Invasion failure. Russia only has sanctions and embargoes by the US on some products though, despite invading a European country. How does that happen?

It was. Rich people just don’t hold other rich people to account until their association brings them negative publicity and potentially reduces their incomes. It’s all good times and easily dismissed when you’re partying with the rockstars though.

I wish a lot more of the people who are employed by pieces of shit like this would leak information to the tabloid media. Maybe the demographics of those at the top of the social hierarchy might start reflecting the demographics of the rest of us if they get enough public shaming.

I wish they would call it the fentanyl crisis instead of the opioid crisis. It’s making pain management globally more difficult.

Fentanyl is usually between 75 and 100 times stronger than morphine, which means a fully grown adult can overdose on something that’s only 1 or 2mg. For visual reference, a single drop of water is usually around 50mg, now imagine how little could kill a 1 year old. It’s also extremely cheap to make, which is why sketchy producers are adding it to just about any pills, even if they’re labelled as something much weaker. But even if they’re labelled right, fentanyl is extremely volatile in potency, especially when another drug is involved.

More high-potency drugs of different varieties are going to be synthesised in the future, this time it is in the opioid class. Next time it might be a class of drugs you’re legitimately prescribed and rely on. And then the media will paint its broad catchy name brush there too, stigmatising the medicine you take, you, and your medical condition along with it.

Actually they should probably name it “miserable people in poverty are desperately trying to escape their pain in any way they can” crisis. Or the “bad social policy is driving people to turn to the black market and use unhealthy coping mechanism” crisis. Or if you need something catchier, the “dystopia” crisis. Because that’s what is going on here.

People don’t leave their kids in the care of addicts so they can work because anyone is enjoying that situation. People don’t take recreational opioids because they’re already happy and pain-free. If people weren’t being pushed to their limits already, they wouldn’t be risking their own lives and their children’s.

My mistake, I misread this:

The members elected by districts represent 15,000 to 17,000 residents each, and all Metro Council members serve part-time.

She represents under 20k people, which is a lot of people. So that’s cool.

Initial reaction: “Huh, Tennessee? That’s unusual”

On further reading: “oh, Nashville Metro Council. It’s a city-county council that represents under 20k people.”*

The title makes it read like a state representative to my foreign eyes.

* Edit: my mistake, each council member represents 15-17k people. Thanks @analwound for the correction.