[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Azath Vitr (D, on 20 January 2025 - 02:19 PM, said:

(And by "our" I now mean the world's---at least in terms of what he can destroy! If not the solar system---quite yet... that might be Go*-Emperor Robo-Trump, the First Infinite Immortal.)

Lo and behold, in his inaugural address Trump declared:

Quote

"We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars," [...] promising to send astronauts to plant the American flag on Mars.

https://www.npr.org/...mp-inauguration

... not even the extrasolar galaxies are safe from America! We will find all the weapons of mass destruction hidden away in all the potential rearrangements of your particles!

[Maark Abbott]

 QuickTidal, on 20 January 2025 - 02:35 PM, said:

 Tiste Simeon, on 20 January 2025 - 01:46 PM, said:

I know a few people who think trump is great - I live on a tiny island in the middle of the Irish sea. Weirdly all the people I know here who like him are African. Must be a conservative Christian thing. They think he's been hard done by and a lot of the stuff in the press is just over blown.

It's just so deeply ingrained in them...and the gishgalloping so he can't be nailed down to one point is always intense:

Example:

He starts about the carbon tax, I ask if he voted for Conservative Stephen Harper, who brought in the carbon tax in form and function, and he dithers on whether he did, I say that the carbon tax was given the full throated approval at the time by Pierre Pollievre (the con guy trying to be our new PM by ranting about how terrible the Carbon tax is) and that it's only affecting the consumers now because the Conservative premiers (ours included; Doug Ford) removed Cap & Trade (which was the previous carbon price system where the Corporations handled the excess cost of their emissions, not us) to benefit their corporate buddies, and he pivots away from that by saying Canadians are too deeply taxed, and I say the carbon tax is rebated (we get checks four times a year for more than we paid at the pump) and he pivots to telling me that groceries are too expensive as a result of the carbon tax on truckers bring food to the stores and I said Truckers are actually exempt from the tax in Canada and he pivots to telling to "say that next time you go buy butter" and I said that's due to grocery barons like Galen Weston gouging us for profit, not the carbon tax, and he pivots to criminals ripping off stores and that he's not going to sit by and say nothing while those thieves make prices go up and that there is no law enforcement on them, and I say that the law in Ontario is run by the Premier, who is a Conservative and he says "Bail is federal!" and then walked out of the room...

That whole back and forth happened in the span of 30 seconds. HE KNOWS how to gishgallop so you can't actually have discussion with him about the accuracy of his statements or mine...

It's wildly frustrating and I usually try to avoid it with him...but my gods he upset me this morning with all that.

Trying to engage with a conservative, chess with a pigeon, etc etc

[QuickTidal]

 Tsundoku, on 20 January 2025 - 11:04 PM, said:

The inauguration of Fuckwit and Co has been all over the news this morning. The books and movies lied to us - evil wins.

Watching bits and pieces, why is this running through my head? Maybe because it's a song about looking forward and keeping your spirits up during hard times?



Ha! Here is one of the comments:

"This song was created for today 1/20/2025. I just need to keep feeling fine. Be kind to yourself and each other."

As an aside, Americans really should learn to use a proper date format.

On MLK Jr. Day I was reminded of his quote:

"The arc of morality is long, but it bends toward justice."

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

 QuickTidal, on 21 January 2025 - 02:22 PM, said:

 Tsundoku, on 20 January 2025 - 11:04 PM, said:

The inauguration of Fuckwit and Co has been all over the news this morning. The books and movies lied to us - evil wins.

Watching bits and pieces, why is this running through my head? Maybe because it's a song about looking forward and keeping your spirits up during hard times?

https://www.youtube....h?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

Ha! Here is one of the comments:

"This song was created for today 1/20/2025. I just need to keep feeling fine. Be kind to yourself and each other."

As an aside, Americans really should learn to use a proper date format.

On MLK Jr. Day I was reminded of his quote:

"The arc of morality is long, but it bends toward justice."

It bends the knee towards justice
into the abyss
of fire and fossils and gas

It bends the knee
towards "justice" for the "Free"

[Mezla PigDog]

 Tsundoku, on 20 January 2025 - 11:04 PM, said:

The inauguration of Fuckwit and Co has been all over the news this morning. The books and movies lied to us - evil wins.

I quit looking at the news on Sunday. I can probably make it through 4 years without knowledge of current affairs....

[Maark Abbott]

Yorkshire, despite being a Labour area, also has a very large proportion of people with Brexit/UKIP views. So I've had to put up with people outside the gym in the queue thinking Trump is reyt good because he'll gerrallum forrunurs out and I'm just like, pick your battles Maark, pick your battles...

[QuickTidal]

Maark Abbott, on 22 January 2025 - 07:24 AM, said:

Yorkshire, despite being a Labour area, also has a very large proportion of people with Brexit/UKIP views. So I've had to put up with people outside the gym in the queue thinking Trump is reyt good because he'll gerrallum forrunurs out and I'm just like, pick your battles Maark, pick your battles...

I think my fave Trevor Noah bit is about the British Empire going all over the world and colonizing...




Relevant bit at around the 3:50 minute mark.

[Garak]

Huh it's blocked for me.

[Tsundoku]

Garak, on 22 January 2025 - 12:56 PM, said:

Huh it's blocked for me.

Ditto.

[QuickTidal]

Really? Weird.

[Macros]

Same

[Tiste Simeon]

Someone emailed a bomb threat to my son's primary school today. There was nothing there and it all came to nothing and the classes are continuing but sheesh what kind of sick perverted person does something like that?? 😡

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tiste Simeon, on 23 January 2025 - 10:08 AM, said:

Someone emailed a bomb threat to my son's primary school today. There was nothing there and it all came to nothing and the classes are continuing but sheesh what kind of sick perverted person does something like that?? 😡

A kid who wanted off from school?... or hadn't studied enough for a test, or wanted an extension on an assignment, lest their GPA crater and prevent them from getting into a good university (wonder if that "bomb threat" trick would work at Oxbridge)?...

My condolences though.

[Tiste Simeon]

 Azath Vitr (D, on 23 January 2025 - 11:28 AM, said:

 Tiste Simeon, on 23 January 2025 - 10:08 AM, said:

Someone emailed a bomb threat to my son's primary school today. There was nothing there and it all came to nothing and the classes are continuing but sheesh what kind of sick perverted person does something like that?? 😡

A kid who wanted off from school?... or hadn't studied enough for a test, or wanted an extension on an assignment, lest their GPA crater and prevent them from getting into a good university (wonder if that "bomb threat" trick would work at Oxbridge)?...

My condolences though.

Most likely kids being morons - they did it to a few schools across the Island. It was dealt with pretty quickly so I presume information was available that didn't make it to press that suggested it wasn't that credible, but still...

[Maark Abbott]

IS WIMDY

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

My firm have been hit by a ransomware attack.

We are without any systems and look like being for some time. All understandably very hush hush but it's chaotic and stressful.

Given it was this week last year when they announced the redundancy program, I think next year I'm just going to book the whole of January off and go somewhere where I'm out of contact. They can get on with whatever they feel the need to do to spike everyone's blood pressure in January without me

[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 28 January 2025 - 03:36 PM, said:

My firm have been hit by a ransomware attack.

We are without any systems and look like being for some time. All understandably very hush hush but it's chaotic and stressful.

Given it was this week last year when they announced the redundancy program, I think next year I'm just going to book the whole of January off and go somewhere where I'm out of contact. They can get on with whatever they feel the need to do to spike everyone's blood pressure in January without me

You have my sympathies. This happened to us a few years back and the fallout was long and arduous, and the post-attack environment became one of fear of it happening again, so we are constantly battered with quizzes about how not to fall for scam emails, and our firewall is stupid and quarantines everything even files we need...

[QuickTidal]

Having moved to the edge of the snowbelt after 20+ years in the Toronto downtown "vortex" as they call it (where you get more rain than snow), has resulted in getting snow almost every day now and on the days my wife has the car and I have to take transit (which I walk to; half hour)...wading through snow drifts on the sidewalk is super annoying.