MostlyContent

Yes, I don't think I'd be too intimidated by that. lol! "Employees were asked to reply with "approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager" by Monday 11:59 p.m. ET." That would have taken me about 5 minutes with time to get a coffee, I think. I think one would *want* to know what the employees we're paying are doing in order to find out who's necessary and who might not be. I thought that was what DOGE is suppose to be doing.

He's a SGE. Although Musk isn't common, that is.

I'm just spitballing here because I know very little about the salient decisions/timing that Harris had to deal with, but I've always thought she might have won had she chosen Shapiro. Even with the current situation (Israel/Hamas), I've still wondered about it. I'm pretty sure it would have made a difference in at least WI and PA. I've heard differing opinions about Walz. One article/report says he was chosen because of the strong progressive policies, and another will say that they thought perhaps he would have an appeal as he's a white, midwestern guy or something. Either way, I don't think he helped her out. Even under all of that there are such fundamental differences in our respective partys' basic tenets. I can't speak for all Republicans, but I prefer our Fed in as small a dose as possible. It seems that most states handle the money and programs a lot better than DC. Not all, to be sure.

Oh! I actually had no idea Republicans voted party more than the Democrats. I think I've voted a straight ticket once in my whole life, but my husband always does.....so who knows. :)

Yes. I knew he'd attack the debt and get the border situations under control (both of which are important to me). I wasn't expecting the..........trumpishness of it all quite so soon. However, sometimes I can't help but think that most of that is just him throwing strawmen out there because he's a born instigator. That is not a compliment, nor is it a complaint, really. It just *is*. Do I sometimes wish that he did not feel the need to voice every thought that goes through his mind? Yes. Of course. I mean...I'm a human. With EARS. lol! Gotcha. For the time being we aren't living in what I will always consider 'my' state, but in a state that goes back and forth depending on the wind. There's always suspense here.

Annber, this is what Soapy is talking about, I think. None of the more conservative people on this thread are 'going around insulting everyone in their path and saying the most vile things about women and minorities'. That may be your opinion of everyone who isn't far left, but it just doesn't ring true at all to those of us living our lives with family, friends, and loved ones who happen to be Republicans, Democrats, white people, darker skinned people, and people of differing sexual preferences. That's an easy one. He was the Republican candidate......a fact that isn't totally divorced from the actions of Democrats the last 4 years. There was no real 'choice'. Just like you may not have wanted to vote for a guy who was in obvious mental decline and didn't have two brain cells capable of producing synapses (four years ago). He was your candidate so that was the only choice you had. Maybe it would have made a difference to you if you liked him or not, but my personal feelings about a guy wouldn't have changed my vote at all this time around. :)

I just did a quick search, and it appears that Congress didn't pass an extension in time to extend the telehealth calls before the waivers expired on Dec 31. ???? I just skimmed a bunch of articles, though, so I very well could have missed some very important details. https://www.swlaw.com/publication/deadline-approaches-for-expiring-medicare-telehealth-waivers-what-providers-should-know/ https://www.foley.com/insights/publications/2024/12/medicare-telehealth-flexibilities-get-a-three-month-lifeline/

I don't know how in the heck we are supposed to talk to each other when post after post gets deleted. I know this post probably won't last long, but for whoever might happen to read it before it goes *POOF*, I've seen post after post get nuked since the inception of this thread. Recently, it seems that not only the more conservative posts are deleted but also others. Weeks ago, during my existential crisis involving Valentine's Day, Amethysts (and also Rose Quartz if you must know 😂) and my somewhat common decision to take an order when I'd really like to NOT do that, I told another member (Bluegirl or something similar) that I would answer a question she asked me. I thought about it for the next couple of weeks while I was working. The question was something similar to that which was asked of Soapy today. Basically........"What would/could possibly change your mind about your views". I saw her try to answer, but no go. *POOF* I've taken notes on my thoughts about my eventual answer to Blue and narrowed it down to 3 main things. The deal is.....I have absolutely no desire to spend time on answering a question that I feel was asked in good faith if it's just going to be deleted within minutes. There's no point. I have some responses to Yeah no that I'd like to make. And others. I've participated on 'message boards' for almost 25 years, and I've never, never seen a board (or is it just this thread? Who knows at this point. I was just here to read hilarious thoughts about TV shows for over a decade before seeing a link to this area) that simply deleted posts. Ever. Most of them were so 'free speech' it wasn't funny. The subject matter was vast, so it's not that. I don't get it. How are we supposed to talk? Or is that the lesson? We're not allowed to? I don't think anyone is trying to criticize the MODS. It's confusing in this day and age with the advances that most boards that still exist have made. That's all. Maybe just leave the avatar and nuke the post with some sort of explanation written there instead? That way others might know that we are trying to speak. Not offensively. Not rudely. Just trying damn hard to respond.

I understand that you see it that way, Dimity.

Gotcha. Thank you! He does enjoy winding people up. IMO, he can tone it down anytime now, but if it has to do with NYC, I doubt he will.

I'm not quite sure where Peach got that link or if it's a joke? The real 'White House official page': https://www.whitehouse.gov/

I am SO with you there! It's like, "NO, I don't want to pay you 50 cents a week in order to read your very important contribution" 😂 I'm usually so annoyed that not reading what they have to say (no matter how much I may want to at the time) feels better than jumping through any sort of hoop for the privilege of doing so. I imagine that says something awful about my character. heh.

Your post caught my eye because my 3 grands live so close to yours! (Whidbey Island) They aren't yet old enough to seek summer employment so it's nothing I've even thought to ask my daughter about. It's good to know things sound pretty 'normal' (?) in that area. It's that way here, too. Our lawn care and snow removal is handled by the 14 yr old twins who live in the house across the street, and most teenagers seem to work at fast food places, restaurants (in whatever capacity), their uncle's shop, helping out on a dairy farm......that sort of thing. I suppose that we have our share of influencer-wannabes etc, but that's not the sort of thing I'd ever know about, I guess. Social media is not my forte. 🤣 It must depend on where one lives. ????

I just want to take a moment to tell you something. There are a lot of interesting posts on this thread. Even though I disagree with a lot of it, I like to ruminate and think. Still, there are 3,4 people who I always look forward to 'seeing'. I have looked forward to your posts since the near-beginning of this thread. I wish I would have copied the ones that were deleted (about Gaza/Israel), but almost all your posts about *whatever* are thought-provoking, intriguing, or very funny in some way. Anyway..........Thank you for posting things that lead me down some very informational rabbit holes. Seriously. Thank you for existing. 💜

From your first link, Anela: "Trump’s still ahead of Harris in the popular vote." ....and then I changed the channel and am now horrified by the plane crash. Back tomorrow, hopefully.