I teach both American and international government. For years, I've been going over "case study" states, from mostly democratic (UK) to democratizing-but-corrupt (Mexico, Nigeria) to illiberal-authoritarian (Russia) to theocratic (Iran) to traditional authoritarian (China).

When it comes to the difference between democracy and authoritarianism, one thing Americans need to understand is that there's never one single moment where you become an authoritarian state; no leader will stand up and announce, "I am now a dictator."

Putin is the classic case study for gradual, effective subversion of democracy. Russia had been democratizing for about a decade when he took over in 2000, and now -even though Russia ostensibly still has the appearance of democracy: elections, separation of powers, federalism, and a constitution- none of that matters: Putin is in absolute control. And Putin is, coincidentally (?), the authoritarian most vocally admired by Donald Trump.

But how screwed are we?

I'm in the middle of a whole house remodel. First half of the house (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, hallway) is almost done and we hate the wall texture. It sounds so stupid, but the old and new look dramatically different. Part of the house was crows foot so i went with it thinking it would be cheaper and easier. How hard/expensive is it going to be to change it?

My $20 won't do much, but i feel like i need to send an apology for the way he was treated.

I'm moving into a house with a pool in a couple of months. I have a 20# dog who is blind and I'm trying to think of ways to keep her safe. The area from the back door/patio to the pool is all concrete, so installing fencing would require drilling holes. Looking for something temporary that could be removed during parties. I suggested wooden planters spaced every 8+10 feet with a bracket to hold a board. Husband didn't like that. I'm still leaning towards that, but looking for other ideas. Thoughts?

but everytime I search for it, my TV just says, "sure" or "ok," and increases the volume.

The forecast for the week shows highs and lows for each day, but when you click on the days it rarely matches those numbers. What's that about? Which one should i believe?

I get that the point is inflation, but why eggs? If they went to $12/dozen, it would cost me like $4 extra dollars per week.

We ate here a few years ago and I wanted to see the movie. I was a little disappointed at the lack of chainsaw massacre that took place. What was that Grandpa hammer scene? What happened to Black Maria?

She was my mom's. Very sweet but she causes a cat fight every day and i have to cover my bed with a solar blanket to keep her from pottying on it.

The softest, sweetest, nicest boy ever!

I work in a public school district and i visit about a dozen different schools. Bosses are making us share our calendars, thinking they'll be able to track us and catch us doing something wrong. I'm planning to add "started my period" every couple of weeks. Are there other good outlook tricks to fuck with them?

ETA- This is my work calendar, not my personal calendar. I know that seems reasonable but it's being done as a petty micromanagement tactic. There are about 20 of us in my department who drive from school to school every day working with kids with physical disabilities. They don't just want to know when we're in meetings - they want every minute of our day to be accounted for - 8 to 830 school A, 840 to 11 school B, etc. I go to 14 schools. If my kid at school A is absent or if i get a call from school J that i need to stop by to fix a wheelchair, am I supposed to pull over and update my calendar so they can find me? I could spend an hour a day in parking lots editing my calen

I'm non-techy. I work for a public school district and visit with kids in about a dozen schools. I like having my work email on my phone so teachers can get in touch if they need me. For years we've just used the outlook app with no real issues that I've noticed. We're seeing more and more micromanagement and it sucks. We recently got notice that we have to install Cisco Duo on our phones if we want to have our email on it. Should i do that? Or just say no and be ok with being out of contact?

It's like a dental retainer with a touchpad to control devices with your tongue.

Sorry if this is not the right community for this. In the US. I currently have a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The air suspension was awesome, but now that it's failing it's driving me crazy so I'm looking for something new. I haul wheelchairs and similarly- sized stuff for work so i need some cargo space. I'd love an SUV with second row captains seats and no third row. Does anyone make that? I'm leaning away from American cars, but can be swayed (my last two cars were Camaro and Jeep). I like things that look a little sporty with little/no chrome, a good amount of hp, and AWD is a plus. I usually drive 10-30 miles per day and get a $60/mo stipend- so about one tank of gas right now. I've browsed the websites for the new 4runner, Outback, Forester, Santa Fe, and a few others. Appreciate any ideas or opinions.

ETA- 6 months ago the dealer wanted $9k to replace the air suspension, so i went to a small Goodyear shop for $6k instead. That shop was bought by brakes plus and they won't honor

Oops! Friend reported this is not his. When he sent it to me i thought it was original . He was sharing it to me because he thought it was cool. Super kudos to the original artist. Sorry!

I don't really like Grandscape so that's kind of a turn off. It looks cool for a sporting event but I'm sure tickets and concessions are $$$. I would go for a planetarium or nature show if it was reasonably priced.

If you use "they" to describe a nameless group of people and you mean anyone other than The Man (That's how they get you.), you're probably the one who's wrong.

Looking forward to reading some fun exceptions.