Yeah I realize that now after doing more research

Did a little digging and it appears the Hezbollah pages were POCSAG/FLEX which does indeed appear to be one-way, so that's very possibly a reason why they were picked

How do you figure? A pager is just a way dumber phone, but it's still a client on a cellular network like any other.

The candidates themselves aren't really that important, they've shown themselves to be chameleons whose positions shift as it's convenient and necessary. Authoritarian self-styled strongman Donald Trump felt compelled to show up at the Libertarian National Convention only to get booed when he tried to woo voters, so there must be at least some recognition of third parties' interests.

Every four years it's "the most important election of our lives", and if we're not scared into voting D it'll be the death of Democracy itself. Sorry, I'm not a buyer. My state had a double-digit R majority in 2020, it's not in my interest to vote for a candidate I don't want.

Not if I want to continue participating in my party, it's astounding how that simple concept is so difficult for everyone to understand

It does actually work that way, at least sometimes. If a major party loses enough votes to a third party, it forces them to adjust their platform at least enough to win back would-be voters.

Whenever third party voters honestly tell people that they are voting third party because it closely aligns with their values, and that neither major party is even slightly compatible, major party apologists and cheerleaders come out of the woodwork to saying actually you're one-of-us, you just don't know it yet, and if you just vote hard enough for my candidate then things will get better. It's been over a hundred years of least dirty of two shirts, and it's not getting better.

I'm not a major party member, so I can't vote in their primaries

These snarky jabs are missing the point. I'm not a major party prodigal son casting a spite vote, I am actually not interested in either of their platforms and want to force them slowly over time to change.

If he's killed by his own people, it'll probably be poisoning because that's way cowards do it

I don't recommend it, but it can definitely give you a perspective of the kind of shit people have to put up with

It might be plenty, depending on your emergency. But you never know when you might be asked to care for an ill family member, suffer a health setback yourself, or end up out of work in a soft labor market - which we are currently in. It's a risk based decision, but as price-to-earnings of potential investments is currently incredibly high (suggesting unrealistically high future return expectations), I would hedge on the side of more savings rather than earlier investment.