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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.

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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#191201: May 31st 2017 at 6:55:24 PM

And, you know, it works. Trump hates being laughed at. It's not enough, obviously, but it's one more stone to throw at Trump. And of course, in a week we'll all forget it when Trump does something else.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#191202: May 31st 2017 at 7:09:13 PM

Trump: "I AM GOING TO MISSTYPE SOMETHING TO PROVE PEOPLE WILL RAIL ON ME FOR EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING, HENCE DISCREDITING THEIR COMPLAINS ABOUT ME. I AM VAULT TEC LEVELS OF GENIOUSITY AT SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS"

edited 31st May '17 7:09:49 PM by Aszur

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#191203: May 31st 2017 at 7:16:15 PM
Thumped: for switching the discussion from the topic to a person. Doesn't take many of this kind of thump to bring a suspension. Stay on the topic, not the people in the discussion.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#191205: May 31st 2017 at 7:34:03 PM

That does not fit in the trump mentality of "I do no wrong".

He is honestly trying his best to be witty or outsmarting others. He is not very good at it.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#191206: May 31st 2017 at 7:44:37 PM

[up]Trump does not understand that being witty/outsmarting people requires you to actually have some wits/smarts in the first place. He is completely Ignorant of His Own Ignorance.

There was a "thought of the day" in my local paper, saying that children who receive praise from their parents for each and every little thing they do may become narcissists.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#191207: May 31st 2017 at 8:00:52 PM

Yeah, people are focusing too much on how stupid covfefe sounds as a word and not enough on how it proves that there is no oversight or checking on that account (when Trump is using it and not publicity aides). Not even spellchecking.

It's been fun.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#191208: May 31st 2017 at 8:20:58 PM

Trump probably passed out while writing "coverage."

It's a demonstration that the meme about him being strung out and enraged at like 3 AM tweeting is an every day sort of thing — it's actually him, no one's controlling him, and his account is a hatchet being driven into America's reputation.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#191209: May 31st 2017 at 8:56:01 PM

The next president is going to avoid Twitter likes its radioactive.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#191210: May 31st 2017 at 9:03:53 PM

[up] Wouldn't be surprised if, halfway through the next Presidents term, Twitter goes the way of MySpace, still around, but eclipsed by a new, better website.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191211: May 31st 2017 at 9:06:43 PM

Back to climate and the religious right for a moment, a GOP rep literally said that they believe that God will somehow miraculously fix climate change.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_592edc73e4b0540ffc837acf/amp

This is an excuse. They are basically saying that they believe humans choices don't affect outcomes, which is crap on a lot of levels (for every action, there is a reaction). This is an excuse to do nothing, because doing nothing is easy and comfortable.

Also the Sierra Club is organizing a rally tomorrow against leaving the Paris Agreement if anyone is near D.C.

http://bit.ly/2rbGw02

edited 31st May '17 9:11:44 PM by megaeliz

rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#191213: May 31st 2017 at 9:14:40 PM

Btw Germany has told the US to butt out and NOT monitor the upcoming election.
While understandable, it sounds like the opening shot in a diplomatic salvo that is somehow not major news...

@ Evergreen. (Kamon The Skunk) You're post was the first I've heard of the college but...Protests erupt over racism at Evergreen State College
Hundreds of students at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., have been staging protests over what they view as institutional racism.

In a press release sent to the local newspaper, the Olympian, the students wrote:

“What started out as anti-black comments on social media has turned into the dismissal of the rights of students and femmes of color, physical violence by police, and false sentencing of students protesting. Black trans disabled students are actively being sought out and confronted by campus police constantly; police are refusing to explain their actions and harassment. Students will not stand for this anymore, as students of color have never felt comfortable on campus and have not been treated equally.”

It all started when students planned a “Day of Absence and Day of Presence” demonstration, according to an email that surfaced on Twitter. In email correspondence between Professor Bret Weinstein and Director of First Peoples Multicultural Advising Services Rashida Love, Weinstein apparently expressed his disapproval of the event, in which white people were invited to leave campus for a day, according to the Washington Times. In the email Weinstein writes that such a day is a “an act of oppression in and of itself” and that he would protest the day by being on campus.

“If there was interest in a public presentation and discussion of race through a scientific/revolutionary lens, I would be quite willing to organize such an event,” Weinstein wrote.
[[The e-mail is pictured in the article].

According to a different press release written by student and custodian Blake Vincent, the protest began on Wednesday, May 23 when approximately 50 students confronted Weinstein outside his classroom.

“Students were understandably upset but were NOT overtly threatening or harmful in any way. Bret Weinstein began filming the students once they entered the building, but was contesting their rights to film him. The students then peppered Weinstein with questions, asking if he knew that what he did was harmful to both students and faculty of color,” Vincent wrote on Facebook.

“He replied that he did not think that he was wrong in his actions, which upset both students of color and white students,” Vincent went on. “The students chanted and continued to try to make their feelings known to Weinstein, but he was refusing to listen and instead attempted multiple times to take over the discourse and make the students listen to him. During all this, some of Bret’s students were surrounding him and verbally attacking the group of protestors.”

/Clusterf*** ensues...
(Though do know that, most of the story is testimony from the participants...)
EDIT: And on further thought, I'll repost this to the Race- Privilege, Relations, Racism, etc. thread...

edited 31st May '17 9:20:51 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#191214: May 31st 2017 at 9:47:20 PM

I'm fully aware that Trump is backing out of Paris, that Sessions is doing his usual villainy, and that the Russia investigation is proceeding at a glacial pace. I've been keeping up with the antics of our madman President — I think I've earned the right to mock him.

That's where I'm at too. It's not that we aren't aware of these things, but there's not a lot to say on it.

Trump pulls out of the Paris Accords. The fate of the earth is now in the hands of corporations and China. That's awful, but we knew he was going to do it. He's been talking about it for months. The only real news here is that Trump continues to be just as shitty as he promised.

Another Trump official with ties to Russia. Great. Let me know when the impeachment starts.

Comey's going to testify publicly in front of the FBI. Great. Let me know when that starts.

The administration is being awful right now but it's the same awfulness that they've been perpetuating for months, and the resistance is still pushing back in the same way they've been pushing back for months. Nothing new has actually happened; if it feels like there's something new to be outraged about, that's only because this administration is so outrageous that every day is another reason to be pissed off.

Covfefe isn't actually a big deal. But it's funny. It's providing a bit of levity in the midst of the horror Trump is wreaking upon the world.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191215: May 31st 2017 at 9:49:35 PM

[up] Did you forgot about the EU? They may help with climate change.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#191216: May 31st 2017 at 9:50:25 PM

Back to climate and the religious right for a moment, a GOP rep literally said that they believe that God will somehow miraculously fix climate change.

It's funny 'cause I was literally just talking about that earlier today.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191217: May 31st 2017 at 9:55:12 PM

[up] that's actually why I brought it up.

Apparently even in 1908, people were predicting the end of coal. Who would have guessed? (In light of recent events, I've been reading a lot of Theodore Roosevelt)

We began with coal fields more extensive than those of any other nation, and with iron ores regarded as inexhaustible, and many experts now declare that the end of both iron and coal is in sight.

-The opening address at the first national conference on conservation

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/images/trenvpics/conservationconferencespeech1908.txt

edited 31st May '17 10:03:43 PM by megaeliz

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#191218: May 31st 2017 at 9:55:19 PM

Though I'm aware of the seriousness of climate change, I find myself thinking that it's likely to be reversed as soon as Trump is out anyway.

The Paris Agreement was only supposed to go into effect in 2020. It's still unfortunate, but things go right, and hopefully its just the kind of damage that's reversible. Like we have to hope basically everything Trump does is.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#191219: May 31st 2017 at 9:58:33 PM

As I recall, climate change is the big one because we are fast approaching the Point of No Return. We hit that, it won't matter what future administrations do. Pulling out of the Paris Accords is a big deal because climate change is a doomsday clock, and we as a species cannot afford to f*ck around with it a minute longer.

Time's up. Change has to start now or it won't matter anymore.

edited 31st May '17 9:59:23 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191220: May 31st 2017 at 10:00:32 PM

[up] Now please calm down. We just have to see how it can roll, because regardless of what he did, other nations supportive of the agreement will do their best in preserving the environment.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191221: May 31st 2017 at 10:08:13 PM

And if I remember correctly, several cities have pledged to honor the terms of the Paris agreement, either way, and many plan to step up programs to reduce emissions and increase the percentage of energy generated by renewables.

And anyway, Trump can't stop the future. The renewable sector is growing at a faster that average rate, and prices are dropping fast. The promise of reduced electricity bills and the idea of energy independence will win people over.

edited 31st May '17 10:13:25 PM by megaeliz

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#191222: May 31st 2017 at 10:11:38 PM

That sounds good. Now let's just hope that any city trying something like that isn't in a state where the legislature will make doing so illegal out of spite and pettiness...

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#191223: May 31st 2017 at 10:12:01 PM

[up][up][up]Doesn't matter how much every other country toes the line if one of the largest countries in the world decides it doesn't give a fuck.

Which is why it took until the Paris Accord for people to get their act together about this; it's an apocalypse-sized prisoners dilemma where your efforts to do the right thing don't matter unless everyone else is also on board.

And frankly climate change has already caused damage on a scale not seen in over 30 million years. What we're looking at now is more damage control than prevention.

edited 31st May '17 10:12:23 PM by Gilphon

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#191224: May 31st 2017 at 10:16:11 PM

[up] Not unless the USA goes back in.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191225: May 31st 2017 at 10:20:50 PM

Why do people want to go back to the "don't drink the water and don't breathe the air" days anyway? My dad mentioned how before environmental regulations were put in place, a river in Pittsburgh PA was so polluted that it regularly caught on fire! Or how on a river in Massachusetts, you could always tell what color paper a factory was making by what color the river was that day. It also stank. I knew a lady who told me that when she was a kid, they sold clothes pins so that people could plug their noses.

edited 31st May '17 10:28:23 PM by megaeliz


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