Hey you dweebs, neckbeards, flannel adorned urban gentrifiers and uppidity limousine rednecks. Guess what? American craft beer sucks. All you lot do is put bubble gum and carrots into beer and think you did something special. Oh wow your stout has vanilla, cinammon, plums, anise, oregano and condensed milk in it. How special when it shoots out your battered asshole as a stream of shitpiss 75 minutes later.
You gun toating cowboys cant stop yourselves from boofing the newst octuple dry hopped spaghetti rhubarb black ipa and dont mind dropping 25€ on a 4 pack from your local bourgy generically named pop craft "brewery".
What gets me is you have great European founded beers with history and class like Yyngilung yet you'd rather boof a barrel aged chocolate lambic from Hop Humper Brewpub.
Let me educate you savages on artisinal European beers. The best beers in the world, with history and tradition and meticulous standards and quality control. If you ever get tired of Period Blood Porter and Cucumber Tobasco Lagers, take a look at this list and go find one of these gifts from god. You will. be thanking me later and so will your battered asshole.
Carlsberg, Carling, Heineken, Newcastle, Guiness, Peroni, Warsteiner, Svyturys, Zywiec, Pilsner Urquell, Staropram, Amstel, Stella Artois, Budweiser, Estrella.
You can never go wrong with artisinal European masterwork beer.

Until recently, I thought that male loneliness and men's mental health was a serious issue. I came to the idea because of the statistics about male suicide and alcohol- and drug-related deaths of men, because of the "Man up" and "Boys don't cry" stigma, and because it's an always returning meme in social media that someone says "No one cares about men" and it gets massive amount of attention like this video with a million views and everyone says "Yes, it's true" (not to forget the stories of Norah Vincent or trans men who say the experienced emotional starvation after transitioning).
But I think I was dead wrong. Right now I lean to the belief that men don't really suffer from a loneliness and mental health crisis, saying this is just virtue-signaling. The reasons for this is that I analyzed the whole issue and saw my own experiences when tried to talk about the issue. Before I go any further, I want to say:

• The male suicide rates, in my opinion, aren't caused by higher rates of serious depression among men. There is in German a word called "Bilanzsuizid", it means committing suicide not because you are depressed, but because you didn't achieve your goals and don't want to live anymore (you don't feel depressed, you just don't see a reason to exist anymore). The only English word I found for this is "rational suicide." I think these suicides are much more common among men. Men have higher expectations for their life outcomes than women and are therefore more likely to end disappointed. This can also explain why whites have much higher suicide rates than blacks (whites have higher expectations for their life outcomes than blacks).
• The alcohol- and drug-related deaths for men might be just because men are more likely to be risk-takers. Men are also more likely to die in car accidents or while doing dangerous hobbys. If anything, taking alcohol and drugs might lead to depression and not the other way around (although cases for the latter can exist too).
• "Men have no friends" - yeah, about that ... I surprisingly didn't find that much evidence that men have fewer friends and are less outgoing that women. There are some studies that say so, but others say it's equal. Even more surprising, there's not much evidence that having a family and many friends make you happier (this is true for both genders). It seems to really depend on quality.

So yeah, I don't think we have a massive amount of loneliness and undiagnosed depression among men that explains all the male surplus in suicides and alcohol- and drug-related deaths (and just as a sidenote, the mass shootings in the U.S. are a gun problem. Mental health issues are not higher in the U.S. than other countries, but Americans have more guns and a terrible gun culture).
What about all the "Men are not allowed to show weakness" narrative? This is probably the biggest lie in the whole debate. It's very easy to see that men are alowed to show weakness. The only "rule" is that you have to find the right group. People who are your enemies might make fun of you if show vulnerability, yes, but your friends or peers will usually not. In the political sphere, you can see how Jordan Peterson's crying marathon was not punished by conservatives, the same way a leftist man who shows vulnerability won't be punished by leftists, and the same is true in all other real-life spheres. The notion that a man who expresses sadness or vulnerability to his peers (whether they're men or women) will get immediately ridiculed is incredibly outlandish. The men who say otherwise are talking about a self-imposed rule that they externalize instead of acknowledging that it comes from themselves. It's the same with women who say that beauty standards are oppressive to women. The reality is that this is a self-imposed thing, literally no one cares if a woman wears make-up or not. Women are not oppressed by beauty standards, and men are not oppressed by "not showing weakness" standards. Every man can easily find people who he can talk about his vulnerabilities (and cry if necessary) without being ridiculed. This leads to my conclusion: Telling men to talk more about their feelings is unnecessary. Not because "Men are different than women, we don't need to talk", no, it's because (1) I don't think men's mental health issues cause the higher rates in male suicides, drug- and alcohol-related deaths and mass shootings, and because (2) men can already talk about their feelings despite all the myths saying otherwise, so if they don't do it, they probably don't want it. There's no one holding them back, no stigma, no oppression, nothing. I never was someone who said therapy is a wonder solution (there's many legitimate critics to be made about therapy). However, I thought it should be destigmatized and offered more. Now I don't think that we should offer it more. It has nothing to do with "Therapy is feminized" or "Therapy has worse outcomes for men" (there's no evidence for that), it's just that it's clear that many men just don't want to go to therapy, and if you don't believe in therapy, going to therapy won't help you.
Many things said in social media are just virtue-signaling. The "No one cares about men" "We need to talk more about men's mental health" is probably just a part of it. It sounds good, but it's not really a thing (you can also see how many men who complain about not getting compliments actually mean they don't get sexual compliments from beautiful women). And at the end of the day, men talking less about their feelings might not even be true. I'm reminded about how in a mensrights post, someone commented how talking about a problem doesn't help him, men need solutions, etc., the usual men-don't-need-therapy-rant. One commenter answered:

100%. What good does talking about something do? I want solutions. I don't want to waste time talking about my problems. How does that help anyone?

I immediately saw the irony and responded:

Literally this whole sub is talking about problems without offering solutions.

He answered:

Yeah but this is free. If I'm paying for therapy, they damn well better be offering some solutions

Men might not show vulnerability, but they do vent all the time. What is this other than talking about their feelings? Complaining about feminism attacking men ("patriarchy", "toxic masculinity"), women having too high dating standards, etc. might be just a "male" form of therapy. No one is offering solutions, they are just endlessly talking about their feelings. It was right in front of our eyes all the time.

Here's the story. Last week this Atlantic article was posted on neoliberal :
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/south-korea-fertility-rate-misogyny-feminism/673435/
The original version of the article included this startling claim:
Indeed, a 2016 survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family found that 62 percent of South Korean women had experienced intimate-partner violence, a category that included emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as a range of controlling behaviors.
Many users here fixated on this claim, and the comments section was full of disparaging comments about Korean men. The only problem? The statistic turns out to be completely bogus. It appears to result from a misleading translation in the english-language version of the Ministry's report (the correction notice on the Atlantic article tells a different story about the source of the error, but I don't believe them), which you can find here:
http://www.mogef.go.keng/lw/eng_lw_s001d.do?mid=eng003&bbtSn=704933
Here's the key section:
Spousal violence
□ Prevalence of Spousal violence
○ The study surveyed the victimization and perpetration of physical, psychological, economic, and sexual violence among married men and women over the age of 19.
○ As for women, 12.1% had been victims of spousal violence in the last year: 3.3% being physical, 10.5% psychological, 2.4% economic, and 2.3% sexual violence. 9.1% of women reported that they had perpetrated spousal violence.
○ As for men, 8.6% had been victimized by their spouse in the last year: 1.6% physical, 7.7% psychological, 0.8% economic, and 0.3% sexual violence. 11.6% of men reported that they had perpetrated spousal violence.
○ 18.1% of women were initially victims of spousal violence within the first year of marriage and 44.2% after the first year but within the first five. 62.3% of women experienced violence within the first five years of marriage, and 2.0% before the marriage.
Someone not critically thinking too hard might look at that last point and interpret it as saying that 62.3% of all Korean women have been abused. But that's not what it's saying -- it's saying that, of women who've been abused, 62.3% of them were abused in the first five years of their marriage.
There are several giveaways for why this is the correct interpretation: first, it's prima facie implausible that considerably more than 62.3% of Korean men abuse their wives, given that Korea has an extremely low violent crime rate. Second, there's basically no way to get from a 12.1% annual abuse rate to a 62.3% rate over five years -- this implies that wife-beaters in Korea have zero recidivism! (I was mass downvoted for pointing this out in the original thread). Third, the report doesn't mention how many men start abusing their wives after five years, an omission that would be inexplicable unless the authors of the report assume the reader can easily deduce this figure for themselves by subtracting the other numbers from 100%.
I subsequently confirmed my suspicions by google translating the original, Korean-language version of the report, available here:
http://www.mogef.go.kmp/pcd/mp_pcd_s001d.do?mid=plc504&bbtSn=83
On pages 91-92 of the Korean-language version of the report, it's absolutely clear that the 62.3% figure is not intended as a proportion of all Korean women. These are the figures presented there:
First experienced abuse before marriage: 2.0%
First experienced abuse in first year of marriage: 18.1%
First experienced abuse in years 2-5 of marriage: 44.2%
First experienced abuse in first five years of marriage: 62.3%
First experienced abuse after five years of marriage: 35.7%
Note that these figures sum to 100%. On page 92, the report gives similar figures for men who've been abused, which also sum to 100%. If there was any remaining doubt I'm right about this, my interpretation was also confirmed by a Korean-speaking neoliberal user who read the original report.
What's the correct figure for how many Korean women have experienced abuse? Well, since The Atlantic fixed their error after I contacted them, you can find it in the current version of the article:
A 2021 study by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family found that 16 percent of South Korean women had experienced some kind of intimate-partner violence—a category that included emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as a range of controlling behaviors.
I found this figure in the Hankyoreh, a Korean newspaper, and sent it to The Atlantic:
https://english.hani.co.karti/english_edition/e_national/1056632.html
So The Atlantic was originally off by a factor of 4. Oh, and a 16% combined emotional/physical/sexual abuse rate is actually extremely low by international standards -- the analogous figure for American women is more than twice as high! Whoops. Sorry, Koreans, we accidentally printed misinformation smearing you as a bunch of wife-beaters for our millions of readers. Don't worry, though, I'm sure this type of thing has never caused problems for any ethnic group in the past.
I feel obliged to add that neoliberal did not cover themselves in glory in the thread on this article. Just to be clear, guys, comments insinuating that Asians are all backwards, patriarchal abusers are racist. So are comments about how Korean women should ditch Korean men and maybe find love overseas (with a white guy?) instead. I have Korean friends who are devoted, loving husbands, they don't deserve to be maligned like this. It almost seems like the users here will tolerate any amount of racism so long as it's packaged with enough misandry: "Its not Koreans that are the problem, it's those pesky Korean men." Not okay guys. Feminism is not an excuse for bigotry.

Uranium is a chemical element with symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium radioactively decays by emitting an alpha particle. The half-life of this decay varies between 159,200 and 4.5 billion years for different isotopes, making them useful for dating the age of the Earth. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 (which has 146 neutrons and accounts for over 99% of uranium on Earth) and uranium-235 (which has 143 neutrons). Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.[6] Many contemporary uses of uranium exploit its unique nuclear properties. Uranium-235 is the only naturally occurring fissile isotope, which makes it widely used in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. However, because of the tiny concentrations found in nature, uranium needs to undergo enrichment so that enough uranium-235 is present. Uranium-238 is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor. Another fissile isotope, uranium-233, can be produced from natural thorium and is studied for future industrial use in nuclear technology. Uranium-238 has a small probability for spontaneous fission or even induced fission with fast neutrons; uranium-235, and to a lesser degree uranium-233, have a much higher fission cross-section for slow neutrons. In sufficient concentration, these isotopes maintain a sustained nuclear chain reaction. This generates the heat in nuclear power reactors, and produces the fissile material for nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium (238U) is used in kinetic energy penetrators and armor plating.[7][8]
The 1789 discovery of uranium in the mineral pitchblende is credited to Martin Heinrich Klaproth, who named the new element after the recently discovered planet Uranus. Eugène-Melchior Péligot was the first person to isolate the metal and its radioactive properties were discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel. Research by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Enrico Fermi and others, such as J. Robert Oppenheimer starting in 1934 led to its use as a fuel in the nuclear power industry and in Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon used in war. An ensuing arms race during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union produced tens of thousands of nuclear weapons that used uranium metal and uranium-derived plutonium-239. Dismantling of these weapons and related nuclear facilities is carried out within various nuclear disarmament programs and costs billions of dollars. Weapon-grade uranium obtained from nuclear weapons is diluted with uranium-238 and reused as fuel for nuclear reactors. The development and deployment of these nuclear reactors continue on a global base as they are powerful sources of CO2-free energy. Spent nuclear fuel forms radioactive waste, which mostly consists of uranium-238 and poses significant health threat and environmental impact. Uranium is a silvery white, weakly radioactive metal. It has a Mohs hardness of 6, sufficient to scratch glass and approximately equal to that of titanium, rhodium, manganese and niobium. It is malleable, ductile, slightly paramagnetic, strongly electropositive and a poor electrical conductor.[9][10] Uranium metal has a very high density of 19.1 g/cm3,[11] denser than lead (11.3 g/cm3),[12] but slightly less dense than tungsten and gold (19.3 g/cm3).[13][14]
Uranium metal reacts with almost all non-metal elements (with the exception of the noble gases) and their compounds, with reactivity increasing with temperature.[15] Hydrochloric and nitric acids dissolve uranium, but non-oxidizing acids other than hydrochloric acid attack the element very slowly.[9] When finely divided, it can react with cold water; in air, uranium metal becomes coated with a dark layer of uranium oxide.[10] Uranium in ores is extracted chemically and converted into uranium dioxide or other chemical forms usable in industry.
Uranium-235 was the first isotope that was found to be fissile. Other naturally occurring isotopes are fissionable, but not fissile. On bombardment with slow neutrons, its uranium-235 isotope will most of the time divide into two smaller nuclei, releasing nuclear binding energy and more neutrons. If too many of these neutrons are absorbed by other uranium-235 nuclei, a nuclear chain reaction occurs that results in a burst of heat or (in special circumstances) an explosion. In a nuclear reactor, such a chain reaction is slowed and controlled by a neutron poison, absorbing some of the free neutrons. Such neutron absorbent materials are often part of reactor control rods (see nuclear reactor physics for a description of this process of reactor control).
As little as 15 lb (6.8 kg) of uranium-235 can be used to make an atomic bomb.[16] The nuclear weapon detonated over Hiroshima, called Little Boy, relied on uranium fission. However, the first nuclear bomb (the Gadget used at Trinity) and the bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki (Fat Man) were both plutonium bombs.
Uranium metal has three allotropic forms:[17]
α (orthorhombic) stable up to 668 °C (1,234 °F). Orthorhombic, space group No. 63, Cmcm, lattice parameters a = 285.4 pm, b = 587 pm, c = 495.5 pm.[18] β (tetragonal) stable from 668 to 775 °C (1,234 to 1,427 °F). Tetragonal, space group P42/mnm, P42nm, or P4n2, lattice parameters a = 565.6 pm, b = c = 1075.9 pm.[18] γ (body-centered cubic) from 775 °C (1,427 °F) to melting point—this is the most malleable and ductile state. Body-centered cubic, lattice parameter a = 352.4 pm.[18]
The major application of uranium in the military sector is in high-density penetrators. This ammunition consists of depleted uranium (DU) alloyed with 1–2% other elements, such as titanium or molybdenum.[19] At high impact speed, the density, hardness, and pyrophoricity of the projectile enable the destruction of heavily armored targets. Tank armor and other removable vehicle armor can also be hardened with depleted uranium plates. The use of depleted uranium became politically and environmentally contentious after the use of such munitions by the US, UK and other countries during wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans raised questions concerning uranium compounds left in the soil[8][20][21][22] (see Gulf War syndrome).[16]
Depleted uranium is also used as a shielding material in some containers used to store and transport radioactive materials. While the metal itself is radioactive, its high density makes it more effective than lead in halting radiation from strong sources such as radium.[9] Other uses of depleted uranium include counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as ballast for missile re-entry vehicles and as a shielding material.[10] Due to its high density, this material is found in inertial guidance systems and in gyroscopic compasses.[10] Depleted uranium is preferred over similarly dense metals due to its ability to be easily machined and cast as well as its relatively low cost.[23] The main risk of exposure to depleted uranium is chemical poisoning by uranium oxide rather than radioactivity (uranium being only a weak alpha emitter).
During the later stages of World War II, the entire Cold War, and to a lesser extent afterwards, uranium-235 has been used as the fissile explosive material to produce nuclear weapons. Initially, two major types of fission bombs were built: a relatively simple device that uses uranium-235 and a more complicated mechanism that uses plutonium-239 derived from uranium-238. Later, a much more complicated and far more powerful type of fission/fusion bomb (thermonuclear weapon) was built, that uses a plutonium-based device to cause a mixture of tritium and deuterium to undergo nuclear fusion. Such bombs are jacketed in a non-fissile (unenriched) uranium case, and they derive more than half their power from the fission of this material by fast neutrons from the nuclear fusion process.[24]
The main use of uranium in the civilian sector is to fuel nuclear power plants. One kilogram of uranium-235 can theoretically produce about 20 terajoules of energy (2×1013 joules), assuming complete fission; as much energy as 1.5 million kilograms (1,500 tonnes) of coal.[7]
Commercial nuclear power plants use fuel that is typically enriched to around 3% uranium-235.[7] The CANDU and Magnox designs are the only commercial reactors capable of using unenriched uranium fuel. Fuel used for United States Navy reactors is typically highly enriched in uranium-235 (the exact values are classified). In a breeder reactor, uranium-238 can also be converted into plutonium through the following reaction:[10]
Before (and, occasionally, after) the discovery of radioactivity, uranium was primarily used in small amounts for yellow glass and pottery glazes, such as uranium glass and in Fiestaware.[25]
The discovery and isolation of radium in uranium ore (pitchblende) by Marie Curie sparked the development of uranium mining to extract the radium, which was used to make glow-in-the-dark paints for clock and aircraft dials.[26][27] This left a prodigious quantity of uranium as a waste product, since it takes three tonnes of uranium to extract one gram of radium. This waste product was diverted to the glazing industry, making uranium glazes very inexpensive and abundant. Besides the pottery glazes, uranium tile glazes accounted for the bulk of the use, including common bathroom and kitchen tiles which can be produced in green, yellow, mauve, black, blue, red and other colors.
Uranium was also used in photographic chemicals (especially uranium nitrate as a toner),[10] in lamp filaments for stage lighting bulbs,[28] to improve the appearance of dentures,[29] and in the leather and wood industries for stains and dyes. Uranium salts are mordants of silk or wool. Uranyl acetate and uranyl formate are used as electron-dense "stains" in transmission electron microscopy, to increase the contrast of biological specimens in ultrathin sections and in negative staining of viruses, isolated cell organelles and macromolecules.
The discovery of the radioactivity of uranium ushered in additional scientific and practical uses of the element. The long half-life of the isotope uranium-238 (4.47×109 years) makes it well-suited for use in estimating the age of the earliest igneous rocks and for other types of radiometric dating, including uranium–thorium dating, uranium–lead dating and uranium–uranium dating. Uranium metal is used for X-ray targets in the making of high-energy X-rays.[10]
The use of uranium in its natural oxide form dates back to at least the year 79 CE, when it was used in the Roman Empire to add a yellow color to ceramic glazes.[10] Yellow glass with 1% uranium oxide was found in a Roman villa on Cape Posillipo in the Bay of Naples, Italy, by R. T. Gunther of the University of Oxford in 1912.[30] Starting in the late Middle Ages, pitchblende was extracted from the Habsburg silver mines in Joachimsthal, Bohemia (now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic), and was used as a coloring agent in the local glassmaking industry.[31] In the early 19th century, the world's only known sources of uranium ore were these mines. Mining for uranium in the Ore Mountains ceased on the German side after the Cold War ended and SDAG Wismut was wound down. On the Czech side there were attempts during the uranium price bubble of 2007 to restart mining, but those were quickly abandoned following a fall in uranium prices.[32][33]
The discovery of the element is credited to the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. While he was working in his experimental laboratory in Berlin in 1789, Klaproth was able to precipitate a yellow compound (likely sodium diuranate) by dissolving pitchblende in nitric acid and neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide.[31] Klaproth assumed the yellow substance was the oxide of a yet-undiscovered element and heated it with charcoal to obtain a black powder, which he thought was the newly discovered metal itself (in fact, that powder was an oxide of uranium).[31][34] He named the newly discovered element after the planet Uranus (named after the primordial Greek god of the sky), which had been discovered eight years earlier by William Herschel.[35]
In 1841, Eugène-Melchior Péligot, Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Central School of Arts and Manufactures) in Paris, isolated the first sample of uranium metal by heating uranium tetrachloride with potassium.[31][36]
Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity by using uranium in 1896.[15] Becquerel made the discovery in Paris by leaving a sample of a uranium salt, K2UO2(SO4)2 (potassium uranyl sulfate), on top of an unexposed photographic plate in a drawer and noting that the plate had become "fogged".[37] He determined that a form of invisible light or rays emitted by uranium had exposed the plate.
During World War I when the Central Powers suffered a shortage of molybdenum to make artillery gun barrels and high speed tool steels they routinely substituted ferrouranium alloys which present many of the same physical characteristics. When this practice became known in 1916 the USA government requested several prominent universities to research these uses for uranium and tools made with these formulas remained in use for several decades only ending when the Manhattan Project and the Cold War placed a large demand on uranium for fission research and weapon development.[38][39][40]
A team led by Enrico Fermi in 1934 observed that bombarding uranium with neutrons produces the emission of beta rays (electrons or positrons from the elements produced; see beta particle).[41] The fission products were at first mistaken for new elements with atomic numbers 93 and 94, which the Dean of the Faculty of Rome, Orso Mario Corbino, christened ausonium and hesperium, respectively.[42][43][44][45] The experiments leading to the discovery of uranium's ability to fission (break apart) into lighter elements and release binding energy were conducted by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann[41] in Hahn's laboratory in Berlin. Lise Meitner and her nephew, the physicist Otto Robert Frisch, published the physical explanation in February 1939 and named the process "nuclear fission".[46] Soon after, Fermi hypothesized that the fission of uranium might release enough neutrons to sustain a fission reaction. Confirmation of this hypothesis came in 1939, and later work found that on average about 2.5 neutrons are released by each fission of the rare uranium isotope uranium-235.[41] Fermi urged Alfred O. C. Nier to separate uranium isotopes for determination of the fissile component, and on 29 February 1940, Nier used an instrument he built at the University of Minnesota to separate the world's first uranium-235 sample in the Tate Laboratory. After mailed to Columbia University's cyclotron, John Dunning confirmed the sample to be the isolated fissile material on 1 March.[47] Further work found that the far more common uranium-238 isotope can be transmuted into plutonium, which, like uranium-235, is also fissile by thermal neutrons. These discoveries led numerous countries to begin working on the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Despite fission having been discovered in Germany, the Uranverein ("uranium club") Germany's wartime project to research nuclear power and/or weapons was hampered by limited resources, infighting, the exile or non-involvement of several prominent scientists in the field and several crucial mistakes such as failing to account for impurities in available graphite samples which made it appear less suitable as a neutron moderator than it is in reality. Germany's attempts to build a natural uranium / heavy water reactor had not come close to reaching criticality by the time the Americans reached Haigerloch, the site of the last German wartime reactor experiment.[48]
On 2 December 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project, another team led by Enrico Fermi was able to initiate the first artificial self-sustained nuclear chain reaction, Chicago Pile-1. An initial plan using enriched uranium-235 was abandoned as it was as yet unavailable in sufficient quantities.[49] Working in a lab below the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, the team created the conditions needed for such a reaction by piling together 360 tonnes of graphite, 53 tonnes of uranium oxide, and 5.5 tonnes of uranium metal, a majority of which was supplied by Westinghouse Lamp Plant in a makeshift production process.[41][50]
Two major types of atomic bombs were developed by the United States during World War II: a uranium-based device (codenamed "Little Boy") whose fissile material was highly enriched uranium, and a plutonium-based device (see Trinity test and "Fat Man") whose plutonium was derived from uranium-238. The uranium-based Little Boy device became the first nuclear weapon used in war when it was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Exploding with a yield equivalent to 12,500 tonnes of trinitrotoluene, the blast and thermal wave of the bomb destroyed nearly 50,000 buildings and killed approximately 75,000 people (see Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).[37] Initially it was believed that uranium was relatively rare, and that nuclear proliferation could be avoided by simply buying up all known uranium stocks, but within a decade large deposits of it were discovered in many places around the world.[51][52]
The X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, formerly known as the Clinton Pile and X-10 Pile, was the world's second artificial nuclear reactor (after Enrico Fermi's Chicago Pile) and was the first reactor designed and built for continuous operation. Argonne National Laboratory's Experimental Breeder Reactor I, located at the Atomic Energy Commission's National Reactor Testing Station near Arco, Idaho, became the first nuclear reactor to create electricity on 20 December 1951.[53] Initially, four 150-watt light bulbs were lit by the reactor, but improvements eventually enabled it to power the whole facility (later, the town of Arco became the first in the world to have all its electricity come from nuclear power generated by BORAX-III, another reactor designed and operated by Argonne National Laboratory).[54][55] The world's first commercial scale nuclear power station, Obninsk in the Soviet Union, began generation with its reactor AM-1 on 27 June 1954. Other early nuclear power plants were Calder Hall in England, which began generation on 17 October 1956,[56] and the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, which began on 26 May 1958. Nuclear power was used for the first time for propulsion by a submarine, the USS Nautilus, in 1954.[41][57]
Prehistoric naturally occurring fission Main article: Natural nuclear fission reactor In 1972, the French physicist Francis Perrin discovered fifteen ancient and no longer active natural nuclear fission reactors in three separate ore deposits at the Oklo mine in Gabon, West Africa, collectively known as the Oklo Fossil Reactors. The ore deposit is 1.7 billion years old; then, uranium-235 constituted about 3% of the total uranium on Earth.[58] This is high enough to permit a sustained nuclear fission chain reaction to occur, provided other supporting conditions exist. The capacity of the surrounding sediment to contain the health-threatening nuclear waste products has been cited by the U.S. federal government as supporting evidence for the feasibility to store spent nuclear fuel at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.[58]
Above-ground nuclear tests by the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s and by France into the 1970s and 1980s[23] spread a significant amount of fallout from uranium daughter isotopes around the world.[59] Additional fallout and pollution occurred from several nuclear accidents.[60]
Uranium miners have a higher incidence of cancer. An excess risk of lung cancer among Navajo uranium miners, for example, has been documented and linked to their occupation.[61] The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a 1990 law in the US, required $100,000 in "compassion payments" to uranium miners diagnosed with cancer or other respiratory ailments.[62]
During the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, huge stockpiles of uranium were amassed and tens of thousands of nuclear weapons were created using enriched uranium and plutonium made from uranium. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, an estimated 600 short tons (540 metric tons) of highly enriched weapons grade uranium (enough to make 40,000 nuclear warheads) had been stored in often inadequately guarded facilities in the Russian Federation and several other former Soviet states.[16] Police in Asia, Europe, and South America on at least 16 occasions from 1993 to 2005 have intercepted shipments of smuggled bomb-grade uranium or plutonium, most of which was from ex-Soviet sources.[16] From 1993 to 2005 the Material Protection, Control, and Accounting Program, operated by the federal government of the United States, spent approximately US $550 million to help safeguard uranium and plutonium stockpiles in Russia. This money was used for improvements and security enhancements at research and storage facilities.[16]
Safety of nuclear facilities in Russia has been significantly improved since the stabilization of political and economical turmoil of the early 1990s. For example, in 1993 there were 29 incidents ranking above level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, and this number dropped under four per year in 1995–2003. The number of employers receiving annual radiation doses above 20 mSv, which is equivalent to a single full-body CT scan,[63] saw a strong decline around 2000. In November 2015, the Russian government approved a federal program for nuclear and radiation safety for 2016 to 2030 with a budget of 562 billion rubles (ca. 8 billion dollars). Its key issue is "the deferred liabilities accumulated during the 70 years of the nuclear industry, particularly during the time of the Soviet Union". Approximately 73% of the budget will be spent on decommissioning aged and obsolete nuclear reactors and nuclear facilities, especially those involved in state defense programs; 20% will go in processing and disposal of nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, and 5% into monitoring and ensuring of nuclear and radiation safety.[64]
Along with all elements having atomic weights higher than that of iron, uranium is only naturally formed by the r-process (rapid neutron capture) in supernovae and neutron star mergers.[65] Primordial thorium and uranium are only produced in the r-process, because the s-process (slow neutron capture) is too slow and cannot pass the gap of instability after bismuth.[66][67] Besides the two extant primordial uranium isotopes, 235U and 238U, the r-process also produced significant quantities of 236U, which has a shorter half-life and so is an extinct radionuclide, having long since decayed completely to 232Th. Uranium-236 was itself enriched by the decay of 244Pu, accounting for the observed higher-than-expected abundance of thorium and lower-than-expected abundance of uranium.[68] While the natural abundance of uranium has been supplemented by the decay of extinct 242Pu (half-life 0.375 million years) and 247Cm (half-life 16 million years), producing 238U and 235U respectively, this occurred to an almost negligible extent due to the shorter half-lives of these parents and their lower production than 236U and 244Pu, the parents of thorium: the 247Cm:235U ratio at the formation of the Solar System was (7.0±1.6)×10−5.[69]
Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can be found in low levels within all rock, soil, and water. Uranium is the 51st element in order of abundance in the Earth's crust. Uranium is also the highest-numbered element to be found naturally in significant quantities on Earth and is almost always found combined with other elements.[10] The decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium-40 in the Earth's mantle is thought to be the main source of heat[70][71] that keeps the Earth's outer core in the liquid state and drives mantle convection, which in turn drives plate tectonics.
Uranium's average concentration in the Earth's crust is (depending on the reference) 2 to 4 parts per million,[9][23] or about 40 times as abundant as silver.[15] The Earth's crust from the surface to 25 km (15 mi) down is calculated to contain 1017 kg (2×1017 lb) of uranium while the oceans may contain 1013 kg (2×1013 lb).[9] The concentration of uranium in soil ranges from 0.7 to 11 parts per million (up to 15 parts per million in farmland soil due to use of phosphate fertilizers),[72] and its concentration in sea water is 3 parts per billion.[23]
Uranium is more plentiful than antimony, tin, cadmium, mercury, or silver, and it is about as abundant as arsenic or molybdenum.[10][23] Uranium is found in hundreds of minerals, including uraninite (the most common uranium ore), carnotite, autunite, uranophane, torbernite, and coffinite.[10] Significant concentrations of uranium occur in some substances such as phosphate rock deposits, and minerals such as lignite, and monazite sands in uranium-rich ores[10] (it is recovered commercially from sources with as little as 0.1% uranium[15]).
Some bacteria, such as Shewanella putrefaciens, Geobacter metallireducens and some strains of Burkholderia fungorum, use uranium for their growth and convert U(VI) to U(IV).[73][74] Recent research suggests that this pathway includes reduction of the soluble U(VI) via an intermediate U(V) pentavalent state.[75][76] Other organisms, such as the lichen Trapelia involuta or microorganisms such as the bacterium Citrobacter, can absorb concentrations of uranium that are up to 300 times the level of their environment.[77] Citrobacter species absorb uranyl ions when given glycerol phosphate (or other similar organic phosphates). After one day, one gram of bacteria can encrust themselves with nine grams of uranyl phosphate crystals; this creates the possibility that these organisms could be used in bioremediation to decontaminate uranium-polluted water.[31][78] The proteobacterium Geobacter has also been shown to bioremediate uranium in ground water.[79] The mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices increases uranium content in the roots of its symbiotic plant.[80]
In nature, uranium(VI) forms highly soluble carbonate complexes at alkaline pH. This leads to an increase in mobility and availability of uranium to groundwater and soil from nuclear wastes which leads to health hazards. However, it is difficult to precipitate uranium as phosphate in the presence of excess carbonate at alkaline pH. A Sphingomonas sp. strain BSAR-1 has been found to express a high activity alkaline phosphatase (PhoK) that has been applied for bioprecipitation of uranium as uranyl phosphate species from alkaline solutions. The precipitation ability was enhanced by overexpressing PhoK protein in E. coli.[81]
Plants absorb some uranium from soil. Dry weight concentrations of uranium in plants range from 5 to 60 parts per billion, and ash from burnt wood can have concentrations up to 4 parts per million.[31] Dry weight concentrations of uranium in food plants are typically lower with one to two micrograms per day ingested through the food people eat.[31]
Production and mining Main article: Uranium mining Worldwide production of uranium in 2021 amounted to 48,332 tonnes, of which 21,819 t (45%) was mined in Kazakhstan. Other important urmom mining countries are Namibia (5,753 t), Canada (4,693 t), Australia (4,192 t), Uzbekistan (3,500 t), and Russia (2,635 t).[82]
Uranium ore is mined in several ways: by open pit, underground, in-situ leaching, and borehole mining (see uranium mining).[7] Low-grade uranium ore mined typically contains 0.01 to 0.25% uranium oxides. Extensive measures must be employed to extract the metal from its ore.[83] High-grade ores found in Athabasca Basin deposits in Saskatchewan, Canada can contain up to 23% uranium oxides on average.[84] Uranium ore is crushed and rendered into a fine powder and then leached with either an acid or alkali. The leachate is subjected to one of several sequences of precipitation, solvent extraction, and ion exchange. The resulting mixture, called yellowcake, contains at least 75% uranium oxides U3O8. Yellowcake is then calcined to remove impurities from the milling process before refining and conversion.[85]
Commercial-grade uranium can be produced through the reduction of uranium halides with alkali or alkaline earth metals.[10] Uranium metal can also be prepared through electrolysis of KUF 5 or UF 4, dissolved in molten calcium chloride (CaCl 2) and sodium chloride (NaCl) solution.[10] Very pure uranium is produced through the thermal decomposition of uranium halides on a hot filament.[10]
It is estimated that 6.1 million tonnes of uranium exists in ore reserves that are economically viable at US$130 per kg of uranium,[87] while 35 million tonnes are classed as mineral resources (reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction).[88]
Australia has 28% of the world's known uranium ore reserves[87] and the world's largest single uranium deposit is located at the Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia.[89] There is a significant reserve of uranium in Bakouma, a sub-prefecture in the prefecture of Mbomou in the Central African Republic.[90]
Some uranium also originates from dismantled nuclear weapons.[91] For example, in 1993–2013 Russia supplied the United States with 15,000 tonnes of low-enriched uranium within the Megatons to Megawatts Program.[92]
An additional 4.6 billion tonnes of uranium are estimated to be dissolved in sea water (Japanese scientists in the 1980s showed that extraction of uranium from sea water using ion exchangers was technically feasible).[93][94] There have been experiments to extract uranium from sea water,[95] but the yield has been low due to the carbonate present in the water. In 2012, ORNL researchers announced the successful development of a new absorbent material dubbed HiCap which performs surface retention of solid or gas molecules, atoms or ions and also effectively removes toxic metals from water, according to results verified by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.[96][97]
In 2005, ten countries accounted for the majority of the world's concentrated uranium oxides: Canada (27.9%), Australia (22.8%), Kazakhstan (10.5%), Russia (8.0%), Namibia (7.5%), Niger (7.4%), Uzbekistan (5.5%), the United States (2.5%), Argentina (2.1%) and Ukraine (1.9%).[99] In 2008 Kazakhstan was forecast to increase production and become the world's largest supplier of uranium by 2009.[100][101] The prediction came true, and Kazakhstan does dominate the world's uranium market since 2010. In 2021, its share was 45.1%, followed by Namibia (11.9%), Canada (9.7%), Australia (8.7%), Uzbekistan (7.2%), Niger (4.7%), Russia (5.5%), China (3.9%), India (1.3%), Ukraine (0.9%), and South Africa (0.8%), with a world total production of 48,332 tonnes.[82] Most of uranium was produced not by conventional underground mining of ores (29% of production), but by in situ leaching (66%).[82][102]
In the late 1960s, UN geologists also discovered major uranium deposits and other rare mineral reserves in Somalia. The find was the largest of its kind, with industry experts estimating the deposits at over 25% of the world's then known uranium reserves of 800,000 tons.[103]
The ultimate available supply is believed to be sufficient for at least the next 85 years,[88] although some studies indicate underinvestment in the late twentieth century may produce supply problems in the 21st century.[104] Uranium deposits seem to be log-normal distributed. There is a 300-fold increase in the amount of uranium recoverable for each tenfold decrease in ore grade.[105] In other words, there is little high grade ore and proportionately much more low grade ore available.
Calcined uranium yellowcake, as produced in many large mills, contains a distribution of uranium oxidation species in various forms ranging from most oxidized to least oxidized. Particles with short residence times in a calciner will generally be less oxidized than those with long retention times or particles recovered in the stack scrubber. Uranium content is usually referenced to U 3O 8, which dates to the days of the Manhattan Project when U 3O 8 was used as an analytical chemistry reporting standard.[106]
Phase relationships in the uranium-oxygen system are complex. The most important oxidation states of uranium are uranium(IV) and uranium(VI), and their two corresponding oxides are, respectively, uranium dioxide (UO 2) and uranium trioxide (UO 3).[107] Other uranium oxides such as uranium monoxide (UO), diuranium pentoxide (U 2O 5), and uranium peroxide (UO 4·2H 2O) also exist.
The most common forms of uranium oxide are triuranium octoxide (U 3O 8) and UO 2.[108] Both oxide forms are solids that have low solubility in water and are relatively stable over a wide range of environmental conditions. Triuranium octoxide is (depending on conditions) the most stable compound of uranium and is the form most commonly found in nature. Uranium dioxide is the form in which uranium is most commonly used as a nuclear reactor fuel.[108] At ambient temperatures, UO 2 will gradually convert to U 3O 8. Because of their stability, uranium oxides are generally considered the preferred chemical form for storage or disposal.[108]
Salts of many oxidation states of uranium are water-soluble and may be studied in aqueous solutions. The most common ionic forms are U3+ (brown-red), U4+ (green), UO+ 2 (unstable), and UO2+ 2 (yellow), for U(III), U(IV), U(V), and U(VI), respectively.[109] A few solid and semi-metallic compounds such as UO and US exist for the formal oxidation state uranium(II), but no simple ions are known to exist in solution for that state. Ions of U3+ liberate hydrogen from water and are therefore considered to be highly unstable. The UO2+ 2 ion represents the uranium(VI) state and is known to form compounds such as uranyl carbonate, uranyl chloride and uranyl sulfate. UO2+ 2 also forms complexes with various organic chelating agents, the most commonly encountered of which is uranyl acetate.[109]
Unlike the uranyl salts of uranium and polyatomic ion uranium-oxide cationic forms, the uranates, salts containing a polyatomic uranium-oxide anion, are generally not water-soluble.
Carbonates The interactions of carbonate anions with uranium(VI) cause the Pourbaix diagram to change greatly when the medium is changed from water to a carbonate containing solution. While the vast majority of carbonates are insoluble in water (students are often taught that all carbonates other than those of alkali metals are insoluble in water), uranium carbonates are often soluble in water. This is because a U(VI) cation is able to bind two terminal oxides and three or more carbonates to form anionic complexes.
Effects of pH The uranium fraction diagrams in the presence of carbonate illustrate this further: when the pH of a uranium(VI) solution increases, the uranium is converted to a hydrated uranium oxide hydroxide and at high pHs it becomes an anionic hydroxide complex.
When carbonate is added, uranium is converted to a series of carbonate complexes if the pH is increased. One effect of these reactions is increased solubility of uranium in the pH range 6 to 8, a fact that has a direct bearing on the long term stability of spent uranium dioxide nuclear fuels.
Hydrides, carbides and nitrides Uranium metal heated to 250 to 300 °C (482 to 572 °F) reacts with hydrogen to form uranium hydride. Even higher temperatures will reversibly remove the hydrogen. This property makes uranium hydrides convenient starting materials to create reactive uranium powder along with various uranium carbide, nitride, and halide compounds.[111] Two crystal modifications of uranium hydride exist: an α form that is obtained at low temperatures and a β form that is created when the formation temperature is above 250 °C.[111]
Uranium carbides and uranium nitrides are both relatively inert semimetallic compounds that are minimally soluble in acids, react with water, and can ignite in air to form U 3O 8.[111] Carbides of uranium include uranium monocarbide (UC), uranium dicarbide (UC 2), and diuranium tricarbide (U 2C 3). Both UC and UC 2 are formed by adding carbon to molten uranium or by exposing the metal to carbon monoxide at high temperatures. Stable below 1800 °C, U 2C 3 is prepared by subjecting a heated mixture of UC and UC 2 to mechanical stress.[112] Uranium nitrides obtained by direct exposure of the metal to nitrogen include uranium mononitride (UN), uranium dinitride (UN 2), and diuranium trinitride (U 2N 3).[112]

Polish programmers keyboard is known from MS Windows keyboard arrangement allowing entering Polish national characters with standard American English International keys only. Polish diacriticals are entered with regular letters pressed with AltGr or Alt+Ctrl (on the left). Unfortunately, not only there's no arrangement named "Polish programmers" in the keyboard setup, but even in the closest available setup left Alt+Ctrl with letters acelnosxz doesn't generate Polish characters. Is there a way to install it properly?

Demographics

• Gender: Female
• Race/Ethnicity: Black/hispanic
• Residence: LI, NY
• Income Bracket: Low Income
• Type of School: Large Public School
• Hooks: URM, ROTC

Intended Major(s): Medical Anthropology/Cultural Anthropology/Anthropology
Academics * GPA: 100.07 (W), UW Unknown * Rank: N/A * Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc: 8 APS, rest even mix of honors and regular classes. School bans APs for freshman, 3 per year (sophomore year it’s impossible to take more than 2 because of prerequisites). * Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, Gov, Health, JROTC
Standardized Testing * SAT I: 1430 (680RW, 750M). Did not report this to Northwestern and Duke, submitted everywhere else. * AP/IB: Research (5), USH, Psych (4), World, Seminar (3). I forgot to submit this to my EA and ED schools. I reported all my scores everywhere else.
Extracurriculars/Activities 1. Section Leader at local churches choir. Accompanied by high involvement in church activities. 2. JROTC High leadership position. High involvement. 3. JROTC Drill Team Member. High involvement. 4. Tutor, Tutoring club. Medium involvement, I only did this my junior year. I explained in my additional info section that the organization halted tutoring. 5. Yearbook head of journalism. Medium involvement. 6. Member of large activism/community service organization. Medium involvement but high impact. 7. Summer Internship on healthcare (projects, presentations, classes on all sectors of healthcare). High involvement but only 6 weeks.
Awards/Honors 1. ROTC Scholarship 2. Girls state! 3. AP Scholar w/ Distinction 4. National Hispanic & African-American Recognition Programs 5. National Honor Society (??)
Letters of Recommendation * Guidance Counselor (10/10): He let me read it and also made it really personal. I think his letter resembled my character really well.

• Gov Teacher (9/10): I didn’t get to read this rec but he is known for writing good (and slightly embellished) letter of recs.
  
• Crim Justice Teacher (6/10): He let me read it and I felt like the essay is generic. It doesn’t add anything to my application but it definitely doesn’t paint me in a negative light either.
  

Interviews

• Barnard: Interviewed for CSTEP. I would say the interview was an 8/10; I easily connected with my interviewer but there were some questions I could’ve answered better.
  
• University of Rochester: Alumni Interview; super great! Loved my interviewer a ton :)
  

Essays Common App I started brainstorming my essay March of my junior year (perfect time to start them, IMO). Finalized my essay for ED1; after my rejection, I edited the essay (not heavily) and I think it improved the quality so much.
My essay was about my curly hair and my journey of its self acceptance. Throughout the essay, I continuously referenced barbie dolls and the way society compared me to one. I continued this idea throughout the entire essay and I think it worked really well. Everyone thinks I’m a good writer so I had a lot of fun writing this essay!
Supplementals For all of my Why Us essays, I discussed my passion for medicine, how my chosen major addresses this, and why the school was a good fit for my physician career. I had barely any medicine ECs so I felt it was extremely important to express why I want to pursue medicine.
Decisions
Acceptances: * Barnard College (Committed!) * Northwestern University (still shocked) * University of Southern California (insane) * University of Rochester * Villanova University * Case Western Reserve University * Fordham University (EA) * Lehigh University * SUNY Binghamton University * SUNY Stony Brook (EA) * SUNY University at Buffalo (EA)
Waitlists: * Boston College * Boston University * Northeastern University (EA deferred) * UNC Chapel Hill
Rejections: * NYU (ED1)
Waiting on * Duke (IDEK why I applied, just wanna see the result for funsies💀).
Additional Information:
In my additional info, I thoroughly clarified my home life. As a primary caretaker for my siblings, I couldn’t partake in as many ECs as I would’ve liked. Please make sure you’re specific here! This was roughly 1/3 of my additional information section.
I also talked about my extremely long commute to school and how this hinders my EC involvement.
The last of additional information was targeted towards explaining my ECs. For me, it’s really quality over quantity and I wanted to make sure the AOs knew this.
Advice 1. ED rejection is NOT everything. My NYU rejection absolutely crushed me but I’ve found my new dream school (Barnard!)

1. Do not ED if you think you have potential to improve. My ED application lacked a major award (ROTC Scholarship), and I had a few mistakes in my EC section and essay. I would say my strongest application was my Barnard one and it’s the one that got me the farthest.
   
2. Don’t feel discouraged if you lack “stellar” ecs. Clearly, my ECs weren’t all that nor were they plentiful. However, in my common app, I worded these ECs extremely well and I made sure telaborate on major projects I was working on in my Additional Information section. Also, don’t compare yourself with applications you see on youtube, tiktok, ApplyingToCollege, or even this sub. I can’t tell you how agonized I was thinking I would never get into one of my top choices, yet I got into multiple reputable institutions.
   
3. If youre a freshman-junior with any questions or would like to read my supplements (or even my common app essay), LMK. I’ve made a master document with all my essays (minus additional information as it is personal) and I would love to shshare it with any junior who needs it.
   

Listen guys I am a black American hockey fan since the days of Pittsburgh Penguins (love Crosby he’s my favorite), History of the Bruins and Islanders I support. My parents are from Africa so this ain’t a white man talking.
Everyone needs to chill about pride like it’s getting to the point where it’s really annoying. Can’t we just play the game of hockey. Lgbtq+ people are just people, we shouldn’t give them special treatment because we have laws that you can’t discriminate against them that’s more than enough to be equal that’s more than enough to work with (progress ain’t linear it’s a zigzag) that’s why society is regressing because we see success is linear. My problem with pride people is that “I’m Lgbtq+ so I expect everyone to like me” are the kinds who have unrealistic standards (just be normal like everyone else no matter who you are). Any community you are in you are going to be not liked, it’s life (I’m black so I know but don’t try to speak about me and what’s best for my community because you guys don’t know what’s best so don’t try to speak what’s best for us, we can solve it ourselves).
Don’t care if you in that lgbtq+ community or lifestyle just don’t make it your whole personality. If the players don’t support it then it’s their values, just respect their values the way you want to be respected, it’s not that hard of a long list. It’s not cool to attack someone who’s religious or whatever belief system because you don’t have to be religious/conservative or whatever you guys call it in the U.S. to do honor what I’m saying and vice versa if rolls were reversed as well.
I can hold you to same standards that the lgbtq+ hold to religious people that they are judgmental, hypocritical and ignorant and force others to believe what they wanna believe when the echo chambers in the lgbtq+ community are doing the exact same thing that they hate religious people for doing🤦🏾‍♂️.
You guys don’t want religion to be pushed on to people that don’t believe it which is your opinion so I respect it but keep that same standard when it comes to lgbtq+ rights. We are all just normal people trying to escape reality.
The national anthem isn’t from the alt right or whatever idk how you guys call it but don’t we all live in America despite all our differences so why not try to make America a better place. When other people in other countries are patriotic we don’t have a problem, we actually support them but when it is America doing it then it’s a problem. 9/11 everyone wasn’t like this. I’m only 21 so I was a baby when the attacks happened when everyone was United. It’s called United States of America not Divided States. I see the national anthem as reuniting as a nation.
Be humble to have an open mind. We are not all perfect. I can still love a person while still critiquing them, people don’t understand that anymore. I see everyone as equals idc who you are and what you believe in, we are all different.

This is long overdue, but here we go.
TLDR: You don’t need strong business extracurriculars to get into Wharton, which is arguably the number one business school in the world. Do what you love. And yes, I am aware that this is doxxing myself… Oh, well… Free publicity, I guess? I am also willing to share my essays on a case-by-case basis, so feel free to reach out.
Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
• Residence: Florida
• Income Bracket: ~140k
• Type of School: Public
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): Huntsman Program (Business at Wharton + International Studies at the College)
Academics

• GPA (UW/W): UW: 3.97/4.00, W: 4.80/5.00
• Rank (or percentile): ~Top 3%
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 5 Honors, 13 AP, and 8 IB (took whatever my school offered and a few online ones on Florida Virtual School)
• Senior Year Course Load: 6 IB and 1 AP (dropped the 1 AP a week after I got in ahahaha)

Standardized Testing

• ACT: Perfect 36 (English: 35, Math: 36, Reading: 36, Science: 36)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Swim, Team Captain and Swimmer, Club Advanced Level and High School Varsity Swim Team 2x State Championship Finalist; Made daily workouts and coached newer swimmers; Speedo Sectionals Qualifier; Attended practices 2x/day, 6 days/week
2. Climate Data Science Intern, FSU Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies Published paper exploring novel climate prediction technique; Instructed a graduate-level Python lecture series; Identified anomalies in NASA datasets
3. Delegate, Florida American Legion Boys State Elected Chairman of Nationalist Party (Top 1/218); Boys Nation Nominee (Top 6/436); Devised party platform; Conducted primary elections and hype-rally
4. Commissioner's Summer Youth Intern (Paid Position), County Commissioner’s Office Research on homelessness presented at County Board; Briefed Commissioner before meetings with clients; Reported district-wide concerns, drafted solutions
5. Executive Board Member and Delegate, Model United Nations Club - Organized national conference with FSU; Taught position paper, parliamentary procedure, and resolution writing workshops; 6 National Awards
6. Founder and President, Speech & Debate Club - 2x County Debate Tournament Director; Coached Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum to members (50% NSDA/NCFL Qualification); Prepared weekly lectures
7. President and Captain, Quiz/Brain Bowl Club - 4x NAQT Championships Qualifier (2x Playoffs Qualifier); County Quiz Tournament Director; Made Team Study Packets for 15 topics (300+ Pages)
8. Competitor and Official Test Writer, Mu Alpha Theta Club - Wrote tests for and organized annual statewide competition (1,000+ competitors); Coached 10 students (3 state, 1 national champion); Won 30+ awards
9. Self-Taught American Sign Language (ASL), American Sign Language University (Online Course) Studied ASL 1+2; Exploring non-verbal communication altered my perspective; Motive was to communicate with deaf friends; Currently taking ASL 3+4
10. Motivational Speaker and Content Creator - Made 6 videos on teenage physical health and mental well-being during COVID-19; Reached 7,500+ viewers without publicity; Learned filming and editing

Awards/Honors

1. Recognized by the UN and Australian Govt. (InternationalMUN Director of Public Relations/Outreach)
2. Best/Outstanding Delegate (PMUNC2021, GTMUN2021, GatorMUNXIX, KnightMUNXX, TSMUN24 and 25)
3. AIME Qualifier (Top 5% of AMC 12) and 1st Place History of Math (2021 MAO National Convention)
4. Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship Startup Pitch Competition (1st Place in Florida)
5. Bob & Gail Knight Scholarship (Top 2/436 on Boys State Government, Law, and History of Florida Exam)

Letters of Recommendation
I read both of my teacher recommendations. Honestly, these were amazing and I couldn’t be more grateful. In length, they were nothing crazy (600 - 700), but in terms of content, they were completely personalized. Other than the advice that y’all have probably seen everywhere about teachers including unique anecdotes and tying these back into how your character traits will benefit the school in question, I was lucky enough to have my teachers do something especially special for me. It is not very often that you notice teachers including comparisons in their letters of recommendation. Phrases like, “the best in my class,” “the top student,” “one of my favorites,” “most enjoyable to write for,” and “will be one of the few that go on to the big stage” are phrases that exemplify how strongly a teacher advocates for you. These phrases can be deal-breakers, as the letter of recommendation is the only component that allows for someone other than you to speak on your behalf. Regarding my counselor recommendation, unfortunately, I do not have access to it, but I am probably one of the closest students to him in my class. He also happens to be the IB Coordinator and the Quiz Bowl Sponsor.
Interviews
This was super enjoyable and probably my favorite part of the entire process. Although Penn claims that this interview is more-so for you to ask questions and to get to know the school, my interviewer practically guaranteed that she would write a stellar report. Out of the 90 minutes that we spoke for, only 30 were actually devoted to her asking me questions. The remaining 60 minutes were just us talking about… Life? It got to the point where she taught me how to make croque monsieur (it’s basically a French grilled cheese). I actually lost my note sheet, as my interview was back in November, but if I remember correctly, the following were the questions (the part that y’all readers probably care about) asked: “Introduce yourself by telling me three things about yourself,” “Tell me about your favorite extracurricular activity and its impact on your life,” “Tell me about what inspired you to want to study business at Penn, and specifically at Wharton,” and “Tell me about why you want to be a part of the Huntsman Program and why you chose the target language that you chose.” It’s important to note that while these do appear to only be 4 questions, the interview is supposed to be conversational, so many follow-up questions were asked in between.
Essays
Especially for someone of my demographic, I haven’t experienced many of the shared struggles or common experiences that most speak of in their essays. With that being said, I believe that I have also experienced many things that others of my background have not, so that probably made my essays a bit more unique. Without revealing too much, my personal statement was about how I combined my own struggles and attachment to the community to engage in three unorthodox activities. My supplements went into depth regarding these three activities. I’d say that this was a very risky strategy, considering that if one of the essays didn’t really hit home with the readers, the rest would also fall flat. Luckily, this was successful. One thing that I would definitely suggest to applicants in general, especially for Penn, is to look at a school’s mission statement and “values” (just Google *school name* “values”) and ensure that all of your essays showcase at least three of those values and make it a prominent theme throughout them. Additionally, take advantage of the UStrive Platform. Trust me, I haven’t been paid to advertise or anything like that, but it was a life-saver. College consultants can charge thousands of dollars, but with UStrive, if you choose the right mentor, you can get an even better experience completely free of charge.
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:

• ED (COMMITTED): University of Pennsylvania - Huntsman Program - Wharton (will be concentrating in Finance and Business Analytics) + The College
• EA: Florida State University
• (I was required to withdraw all my other applications due to the ED policy)

Additional Information:
Honors 1: Led team of 5 individuals from Chile, India, Nigeria, Norway, and Singapore, and conducted Instagram, Facebook, and cold-emailing publicity campaigns to promote the annual conference; Created MUN discussion Discord server that now has 1,000+ active members; Doubled conference turnout and extended reach to Australia; Managed monthly subscription-based MUN resource network; Received $1,000 grant from UN and Australian Govt. to continue work and make free MUN courses for underprivileged children in rural areas
Honors 4: One-week Summer Program hosted by Florida State University; Familiarized myself with lean business canvas, retail marketing, and STEM entrepreneurship; Pitched for custom prosthetics company called FuseIt; Responsible for data analytics, customer acquisition, and innovating revenue streams; Engaged in corporate philanthropy (30% of profits back to community)
Activity 1: (i) Main events are 50-yard, 100-yard, and 200-yard freestyle, but I also swim 50-yard and 100-yard butterfly. Relay events are 200-yard medley (anchor leg) and 200-yard freestyle (anchor leg).
(ii) School Representative at 2022 Leon County Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 2x Coach’s Award, 2x Highest Points Overall
Activity 2: (i) Paper Title - “The Regional Diagnosis of Onset and Demise of the Rainy Season over Tropical and Subtropical Australia”
(ii) Journal Title - "Earth Interactions" (American Meteorological Society)
Activity 3: (i) “Nationalist” Party is not indicative of any partisan or extremist views (it can be interpreted this way nowadays), as the 436 delegates are randomly split into 2 separate parties (“Nationalists” and “Federalists” were chosen to avoid labeling of Democrats and Republicans)
(ii) Delivered annual Boys State “Americanism” Speech in front of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and Mayor John Dailey of Tallahassee
Activity 4: Research Briefing Title - “Characterizing the Prominent Causes and Effects of Homelessness in Leon County and Exploring Potential Public Policy Solutions”

I have american home shield warranty and a contractor for them came out and said both the heat pump and air handler in the attic need to be replaced and he will be communicating that back to the warranty company.
Main question is, should I actually go with their contractor or try and cash out? My current unit (16 year old 1.5 ton Trane) is below the minimum standard seer rating anyway. The guy said he mostly sees Bryant, Lennox, and I think Goodman offered as replacements.
Let's say worse case I end up owing 1k-2k for any work needing done outside the warranty. Is it worth it or should I just go with a more reputable company? This particular guy said only about 10% of his work is warranty work. He has no website or anything and when I asked him he said he really doesn't need to advertise. He said nothing about doing a load calculation and didn't look at the breaker box (like other outside hvac companies have done who have come to my house) but instead just took measurements of the unit in the attic.
Thoughts?

$1000! My long search has paid off! I made a previous post on here about what machines to look into. Like many have said the Appartamento isn’t really worth the value compared to other machines in the price range to today’s standards. I was lucky enough to snag this used and in good condition off Facebook market place. I confirmed the machine was purchased at Chris’ Coffee in March 2021 with the serial number provided, unfortunately, the warranty ended on March 8th, so there is that. Includes the double spout portafilter and a bottomless portafilter with a custom wooden handle, tamper, leveler, portafilter rim, brush, tamp mat, knock box, and the milk jug. I’m looking into buying a IMS or Matrix screen, e61 temperature reader and bar reader to adjust it to 9 bars. I pick it up tomorrow!
Any recommendations to make this build better?

It will be my first time using the amex to buy British Airways tickets with my standard BA Amex card.
It's a transatlantic flight from London Heathrow to Mexico city and then from Cancun (to Philadelphia via American Airlines) to London.
I recently discovered the executive club app also, and I found I could have gotten 2x the points on things I was already buying.
​
My question therefore is, is there a way to maximise the points i can get when booking this?

Pictures and Verification
Prices include PP GS fee and USPS shipping!
EE Torrid Pullover: Men's Medium, Standard Torso, Standard Hood, Black 20D/Yellow 7D (Custom), 9.48 oz
SOLD to u/xTheManUpstairs
---
EE Torrid Jacket: Men's Medium, Collar, Standard Torso, Charcoal 10D/Salmon 10D (Custom), 8.20 oz
$185 value, selling for $125
Used, in excellent condition. No rips, holes, or stains. Selling because I'm not a "hat" guy so I always grab the hooded jackets from my closet, and not this one.
---
EE Enigma 20F APEX Sleeping Quilt: Regular Length, Regular Width, Coyote 10D/Red 10D (Custom), 30.00 oz
SOLD to u/West_707
---
All pictures are of the actual items for sale, taken at the time of the listing, and reflect their current condition/appearance.
Items come from a pet-friendly, smoke-free home and have been stored in clean, cool, and dry utility tubs inside my apartment.

Pictures and Verification
Prices include PP GS fee and USPS shipping!
EE Torrid Pullover: Men's Medium, Standard Torso, Standard Hood, Black 20D/Yellow 7D (Custom), 9.48 oz
SOLD to u/xTheManUpstairs
---
EE Torrid Jacket: Men's Medium, Collar, Standard Torso, Charcoal 10D/Salmon 10D (Custom), 8.20 oz
$185 value, selling for $125
Used, in excellent condition. No rips, holes, or stains. Selling because I'm not a "hat" guy so I always grab the hooded jackets from my closet, and not this one.
---
EE Enigma 20F APEX Sleeping Quilt: Regular Length, Regular Width, Coyote 10D/Red 10D (Custom), 30.00 oz
SOLD to u/West_707
---
All pictures are of the actual items for sale, taken at the time of the listing, and reflect their current condition/appearance.
Items come from a pet-friendly, smoke-free home and have been stored in clean, cool, and dry utility tubs inside my apartment.

Gaggia Classic Pro, latest revision with 9-bar spring installed and single hole steaming tip.
The machine was used with Third Wave espresso water, backflushed daily and cleaned with the Gaggia Decalcifier Descaler monthly. It was used to make 2 doubles per day and occasional milk drinks on weekends. All extensively cleaned internally and externally.
The group head was upgraded with a new silicone gasket and it includes the Gaggia bottomless portfilter, standard double spout portafilter, and single, double and triple baskets.
The manual is included, only the original box is not. Condition is near excellent.
Asking $350 and will ship anywhere in the US.
Pictures with timestamp

• https://i.imgur.com/0vsYHLw.jpg
• https://i.imgur.com/ZWBfuXG.jpg

Accessories/Extras

• Third Wave Water Espresso Profile (12 gallons) sealed
• Gaggia Bottomless Portafilter
• Blind Basket
• Alternate OPV Springs (6.5bar, 5bar, 11.5 bar) from Shades of Coffee [1]
• Alternate Steaming Tip [2]

Notes

• [1] https://www.shadesofcoffee.co.uk/gaggia-classic-opv-spring-mod-kit---standard-version-just-springs
• [2] https://www.shadesofcoffee.co.uk/the-one-single-hole-steam-tip-for-the-gaggia-classic-pro

Purchase Date
August 11, 2020
Reason to Sell
Upgraded to a dual boiler machine

Service industry workers across the US rely on tips to earn a living. The fair labor standards act established that business could reduce the pay of tipped workers to only $2.13 per hour if they earn more than $30 per month in tips. That’s abhorrent in our current economy.
Lets put aside existing local or state laws increasing minimum wage and think about the concept of tipping in general.
These tipping rules basically say that a business doesn’t have to pay a worker because their customers are paying the worker.
Now that tipping has become even more prevalent, existing not just for direct service but also indirect transactions like pickup at a coffee shop, corporate America is earning even more money while the already struggling working American suffers even more. Add to that the fact that standard tip expectation used to be 15% and now is 20%, and the future looks grim and unaffordable.
I am sick of rising prices and more expectation to tip workers. Big businesses cannot keep getting away with dumping the cost of everything on customers. We’re going broke.
*note: I do tip, I just think it’s an incredibly broken system. I try to eat at home when I can avoid businesses where I’m expected to do so.

In the period before 1890 to 1920, the U.S. was in the Gilded Age which only saw reform in the coinciding period of the Progressive Era and Gilded Age. The 1870s and 1880s saw the rise of complex laissez-faire capitalist management, structure, and business techniques. This includes Rockefeller's horizontal integration and Carnegie's vertical integration, the difference being that horizontal integration buys out a companies competitors, and vertical integration controls the entire supply chain and resources. This era also saw a spike in immigration from eastern Europe such as Jews from Russia, Poles, and Italians that were poor and looking for industrial jobs in the north. This combination of unregulated and consequentially poor working conditions and work days as well as influxes of poor immigrants coming from authoritarian regimes in eastern Europe, saw a rise to radical ideals and clash between management and labor within companies, as well as labor unions appearing to create reform such as the Knights of Labor or AFL. The Knights of Labor had a more radical socialist aspect with part of their goals to have the laborers replace the management in the role of owners. The AFL supported higher wages, better working conditions, etc. So, out of this rise of unregulated and unforeseen economic growth, there was dissent among labor and this sparked reform at the end of the Gilded Age and into the Progressive Era to regulate this and better represent the people. In the period between 1890-1920, the extent to which the Progressive movement fostered political change in the U.S. was large. On one hand, there was still reluctance and opposition to children and African Americans as well as black education but scientific theories on how our minds work and to apply that to institutions was growing during the Progressive movement, such as Freudian psychology, a lot of this persisted beyond this era and didn't foster much change in the U.S., but was a building block. On the other hand, there was major legislation passed such as the 17th amendment for direct election of senators and the initiative, reform, and referendum method of legislation that Theodore Roosevelt insisted, put the power into the hands of the people. There was also a large crackdown on trusts and large companies, as well as observation into large corporations from Ida Tarbell for example into Standard Oil, looking for corruption. These people were known as muckrakers and were prominent in the Progressive movement, antitrust legislation began with the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 with Benjamin Harrison.