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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 5th, 2023

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  • Your income is taxed in payroll taxes, income taxes(federal and sometimes state), and then you are taxed for buying things. That is bullshit.

    Personal income shouldn’t be taxed unless you make substantially more than the cost of living. Anything over $10m should be taxed at 100% including capital gains and stock awards. If you need more motivation to succeed than $10m a year, you are a lazy parasite.

    Where they need to actually tax is businesses. Tax the businesses based on profit and remove the loopholes that allow for tax avoidance abuse schemes that result in a state single digit tax percentage of profits. I would even go so far as to say that the federal taxes on businesses should only apply in interstate and international businesses and only states should be allowed to tax businesses that operate exclusively within the state’s borders.

    The effects of that tax plan have obvious consequences and they are all beneficial to the people.













  • Easy to care for, not a great companion, usually not destructive for the sake of destruction and entertainment, almost no personality, can’t really mimmick sounds all that well, should have but doesn’t need a big cage, should have but doesn’t need as much time outside the cage as possible, shorter lifespan, bites are pretty weak but can still draw blood, doesn’t make a lot of loud noises, can’t play tricks on you and mimmick a laugh at your expense, more skiddish, low risk of psychological issues, harder to catch if they escape the cage or need to be put back quickly, cheap to buy and get setup for, hard to train.

    They are good starter birds but don’t offer much of a parrot experience vs a cockatiel and far from an eclectus or bigger bird. Having a vet clipping their wings is wise so they are easier to catch without injury, but I favor full flight birds and I can catch a bird on the run with minimal difficulty.



  • Parrots are the type of animals that if you have to ask if you should get one, you shouldn’t.

    They are like buying a permanent toddler with a pair of vice grips for a face that can develop trauma from innocuous things and well develop bad behaviors that have to be addressed appropriately or they will get worse. They can develop mental issues that can lead to self mutilation.

    There is no guarantee that an eclectus will be anything like the bird you met. They all have different personalities and they are only vaguely similar. You can have one that is totally chill and loves to cuddle, or you can have one that has anxiety and will viciously attack water bottles and you have no idea what bird you have until it has gone through “puberty”.

    If you want a bird, get a cockatiel, not a parrot.

    Source: 25+ years of experience living with parrots and 4 years working in a pet store that sold parrots as the “bird guy”. My bird that has anxiety and viciously attacks water bottles is currently yelling from his cage because that is what he likes to do before bed for 10-15 minutes.


  • How a bird reacts to being abandoned in a strange location for a period of time depends on the bird and your relationship with the bird.

    No, you can’t take a flying wild animal camping. The temperature alone would be a risk.

    Yes, they can be fine riding in a vehicle if they are in a travel cage that is secure and possibly covered to minimize stress if the bird is overwhelmed. People lose their birds all the time for thinking a loose bird in a car is a smart idea.




  • The blocks don’t need to be straight so long as the load is centered and even. The mortar makes it more like a continuous piece than if you had just stacked them with no mortar. Sort of like stacking irregular stones.

    To be clear, it isn’t the right way, but it can be fine.

    I have seen so many shit jobs like this and had to fix them. The trades joke that masons are the biggest alcoholics and we joke that this type of work is a Monday morning, after lunch, or Friday special; because this sort of nonsense with masonry work is so common.

    Those 16x4x8 blocks can hold around 2,000 psi. So an overhang like that isn’t a big deal. The wood shoring holds like half or a quarter of that.