Chit-Chat: The Feels

[Soapy Goddess]

12 hours ago, Anela said:

You voted for this guy, who does not care about women, at all.  

I never said I voted for "this guy"...and if you recall, I DID say that I do NOT agree with his stance on abortion at all. I was a victim of rape before abortion became legal, so I empathize with every woman in the entire world who was denied then AND now.

[CM-BlueButterfly]

Hi everyone, 

just a quick note to let you know to please head on over to Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today? to continue to chat about Costco. 

Thank you!

[Yeah No]

12 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

We have one right up the hill from us but at our advanced ages, with our various disabilities, it's getting harder and harder the navigate the sheer square footage of the place. We do a trip about every other month to stock up. We usually spend a few hundred dollars there but we still save over shopping everywhere else.

Per the mod. note I'm taking my response to this to the general Chit Chat thread.

[tearknee]

On 2/2/2025 at 11:37 AM, Anela said:

What Israel has been doing, is not self-defense. You're fine with children being slaughtered?

These probably will be removed, because they don't belong in this thread. 

German and Japanese children were killed because the Allies had to fight.

 

German and Japanese and European and Asian-Pacific children were also killed by the Hitler and Hirohito regimes.

 

They are solely responsible for both sets of deaths

 

The Gaza deaths are the responsibility of the Palestinian militias only.

[chitowngirl]

8 hours ago, ProudMary said:

For those providing links, if you're changing the link text to the article's headline, please advise us of the source above the amended link.

Thank you.

No problem…I edited my post to include sources.

[nokat]

17 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Let's say Canada does join the US.  Do they get representation in Congress?  Two senators for each province?  And House members? It would change the electoral college right?  Republicans might want to rethink this.

Republicans rethink anything? I wish.

[Dimity]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

In a vacuum, that would be fitting, since Mount Rushmore is a national embarrassment, the destruction of something beautiful, an outright desecration.  And that is Trump in a nutshell.  But because it not only purports to be but is still accepted by many to be a monument to presidential greatness, hell to the no.  (Republicans tried this shit with Reagan, too.)

Thank you! I was wondering if they had wanted this for Reagan. In regard to the person who put this forward in congress I am going middle school and thinking "what a suck up!"

[Kemper]

9 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

 I don't know how I can stand 4 more years of this ignorant, lazy, loathsome sociopath destroying our government.

Same here. There are days (more and more lately) where I almost hate to get out of bed and face the day/news. I think (for me) it is mostly that fact that all of the surely illegal, terrifying things that Musk is doing  are going completely unchecked and without serious pushback from most members of Congress. How in God's name is this possible? We are seeing Musk and his minions (with Trump's blessing) tear down the basic tenets of our Democracy. In broad daylight, while Congress (and the country) sits on its hands. 

[bluegirl147]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

In a vacuum, that would be fitting, since Mount Rushmore is a national embarrassment, the destruction of something beautiful, an outright desecration.  And that is Trump in a nutshell.  But because it not only purports to be but is still accepted by many to be a monument to presidential greatness, hell to the no.  (Republicans tried this shit with Reagan, too.)

Republicans always want to worship their worst leaders.  And the leaders of the Confederacy.  You don't see any Democrats clamoring for any of their leaders to be memorialized in granite or marble or anything else.  We are just happy to benefit from the good things they accomplished while in office.  That is until a Republican comes in and sets fire to them.

[Dimity]

So it looks like Danielle "quisling" Smith is cautiously joining Team Canada.  She seems to have realized that appeasement with someone as unhinged as Trump is a waste of time.  For now.  I don't trust her and I think she'd sell out Canada in a heartbeat if it meant she gained something out of it.

And I hate feeling this way.

Over on FB there are a lot of memes with the basic message being "right now it's getting easier to tell who would have hidden Anne Frank and who would have turned her in".

Grim times.

[Ancaster]

Trump immediately blamed the DC plane crash on DEI.  How is it even possible that this country has come to this?

Edited February 4 by Ancaster

[PRgal]

In addition to no US booze in Ontario, the province is halting business contracts from with the US until tariffs are reversed.

Considering supply chain and the complications of reworking temporary deals, it's probably going to affect ALL industries.  

ETA:  And now they're delaying the tariffs on Mexico until March.  Nothing for us though.

Edited February 3 by PRgal

[Dimity]

One of my cousins keeps posting on FB about avoiding US products etc.  Mainly she seems to be like a teenager during Lent and nobly giving up liver and onions.  No one is forcing her to do anything, she's the one making post after post but it's hard to even say "bless, her heart is in the right place" when she thinks she's making a statement by vowing to never  visit Orlando (when she's never even been to the States)  but she isn't going to stop buying orange juice because she doesn't want to get scurvy or something, I guess.  Oh well.

Edited February 3 by Dimity

[fastiller]

In light of the various free trade agreements, the whole issue of tariffs on items from Canada & Mexico reminds me very much of the Irish Border* issue during/after Brexit;  I've seen it described as the Kubayashi Maru of Brexit.

*I hesitate to call the land border between Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland the "Irish Border" b/c I think of the Irish Border as its coastline.

 

 

[bluegirl147]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-tariffs-mexico_n_67a0e4a3e4b021be14ed99ed

 

Trump will say his threats worked but I think the stock market had more to do with it.

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, bluegirl147 said:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-tariffs-mexico_n_67a0e4a3e4b021be14ed99ed

 

Trump will say his threats worked but I think the stock market had more to do with it.

I think we all knew he'd walk it back and then proclaim himself the hero for "saving" the economy.

[Dimity]

Quote

“It will drive the cost of everything up,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday. “In other words, it will be paid for by American consumers. I mean, why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?”

Dear sweet baby Jesus, when Mitch McConnell starts making sense start looking for those 4 horsemen. 

[PRgal]

27 minutes ago, Dimity said:

One of my cousins keeps posting on FB about avoiding US products etc.  Mainly she seems to be like a teenager during Lent and nobly giving up liver and onions.  No one is forcing her to do anything, she's the one making post after post but it's hard to even say "bless, her heart is in the right place" when she thinks she's making a statement by vowing to never  visit Orlando (when she's never even been to the States)  but she isn't going to stop buying orange juice because she doesn't want to get scurvy or something, I guess.  Oh well.

There's a list, but supply chain means you can't avoid things 100% as I'm saying over and over.  

[bluegirl147]

7 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I think we all knew he'd walk it back and then proclaim himself the hero for "saving" the economy.

It's their entire playbook.   Cause a crisis. Crisis has repercussions. "Fix" the crisis. Take a victory lap.

[suomi]

1 hour ago, Ancaster said:

Trump immediately blamed the DC plane crash on DEI.  How is it even possible that this country has come this far?

Because fate has treated him unfairly to a degree that it is beyond comprehension. Also because his face is neon orange but the rest of his body is blindingly white. And because he is an 80-year-old bullying coward who is (over)compensating for a long term scorching case of erectile dysfunction. 

These things eat away at the places where a heart, soul and mind ordinarily would dwell.

[Dimity]

7 minutes ago, PRgal said:

There's a list, but supply chain means you can't avoid things 100% as I'm saying over and over.  

And I don't think anyone disagrees with you.  Avoiding Made in the US as much as possible is all I'm seeing out there.  Which is a lot more doable than many people expected it would be at least in the grocery store anyway.

As others have noted if we want to avoid Made in China, that would actually be a helluva lot harder to do!

 

5 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

It's their entire playbook.   Cause a crisis. Crisis has repercussions. "Fix" the crisis. Take a victory lap.

Maybe if he solves the economic crisis  he created he can spend 5 minutes trying to fix the mess he's let Run Amok Musk make.

[Ohiopirate02]

14 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Dear sweet baby Jesus, when Mitch McConnell starts making sense start looking for those 4 horsemen. 

More like Mitch caught a glimpse of the Grim Reaper. (Though both War and Pestilence have been hanging around here for quite some time.)

[Dimity]

[kittykat]

Ugh Mitch McConnell does not get to play the hero.  He's been Mr. Obstruction since the days of Obama.  He will never be forgiven for the Supreme Court shenanigans.  He's just pissed because the leopards finally found him and he's all "tis but a scratch."

We're in week two and all this administration is proven is that they're steamrolling forward with their White is Right policies.  Crash the economy, put sycophants in top positions, how's that working for us?  And too many of his supporters are buying it hook, line and sinker.  

At least I have a snow day to enjoy.

[Dimity]

2 minutes ago, kittykat said:

Ugh Mitch McConnell does not get to play the hero.

Thanks in no small part of Mitch McConnell Trump is back in the White House.  Now that he has nothing to lose, now, he stands up to the bully in the playground?  We see you, Mitch, and no one is impressed.

[kittykat]

Right.  Honestly it makes me think of Mac from Always Sunny in this scene

 

[Anela]

9 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Thanks in no small part of Mitch McConnell Trump is back in the White House.  Now that he has nothing to lose, now, he stands up to the bully in the playground?  We see you, Mitch, and no one is impressed.

He’s the main reason we have him back. 

[Dimity]

Quote

Vladimir Putin just said that Trump will “restore order quickly” and that U.S. allies—including Europe—will “stand at the master’s feet and gently wag their tails.”

Let that sink in.

This is a quote from the FB page of Canadian Arlene Dickinson.  So Trump is Putin's lapdog and he's also dancing to Musk's fascist tune.  Well done Trump voters and apathetic non-Harris voters.  Well done 😠.

[bluegirl147]

10 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Thanks in no small part of Mitch McConnell Trump is back in the White House.  Now that he has nothing to lose, now, he stands up to the bully in the playground?  We see you, Mitch, and no one is impressed.

But he really isn't standing up to him.  He says he will continue to support his agenda. McConnell's legacy was written when he said he would do everything in his power to make Obama a one term president (he of course failed) and his legacy was solidified when he prevented Obama from filling Scalia's seat. He will not be remembered kindly.

[suomi]

22 hours ago, Anela said:

Trump confirmed that he’s doing this, because he wanted Canada as the 51st State, and they (obviously) said “no”. “Join us, and the tariffs go away.” 

Jesus, this is like saying "If you won't service me sexually I will ruin your life."

21 hours ago, Dimity said:

I was just reading about Canadian hockey fans booing the American national anthem at two different games.  

I'm OK with it, in fact I applaud it, because 1) I think it is directed at him rather than Americans in general and 2) it chaps his orange hide.

[Anela]

5 hours ago, tearknee said:

German and Japanese children were killed because the Allies had to fight.

 

German and Japanese and European and Asian-Pacific children were also killed by the Hitler and Hirohito regimes.

 

They are solely responsible for both sets of deaths

 

The Gaza deaths are the responsibility of the Palestinian militias only.

This is the wrong thread for this, and I don’t care.  I won’t stand up in favour of what they’ve been doing. They aren’t only the responsibility of Palestinian militias.  

[Dimity]

Now Trump is claiming: "Canadians misunderstand the plain language of the executive order". 

Trump maybe your sycophants are easily fooled by you but the rest of us?  Not so much. 

[Anela]

6 minutes ago, suomi said:

Jesus, this is like saying "If you won't service me sexually I will ruin your life."

That’s exactly what I was thinking.  He doesn’t know the meaning of the word “consent”. 

[peacheslatour]

9 minutes ago, suomi said:

Jesus, this is like saying "If you won't service me sexually I will ruin your life."

Which I am sure he has said so many times it's just a thing he says, like you or I would say. "nice weather we're having".

 

Nice country you have here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it.

[suomi]

16 hours ago, Annber03 said:

As someone who was raised Lutheran, fuck all the way off, Flynn and Musk. 

As a 74-year-old atheist who was raised Methodist in SoCal and had childhood friends who were Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Jewish and Catholic... fuck all the way off, Flynn and Musk. Amen.

[tearknee]

17 minutes ago, Anela said:

This is the wrong thread for this, and I don’t care.  I won’t stand up in favour of what they’ve been doing. They aren’t only the responsibility of Palestinian militias.  

No. Anything that happened is the responsibility of Hamas. They chose to do what they did, knowing full well what the response would be.

Like Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, Palestine as a territorial entity was created by the colonial powers after the demise of the Ottomans. Only then did a "Palestinian people" come into existence. In 1948 Palestine was de facto partitioned between Israel and the Arab states, who made no attempt to create a Palestinian state in the areas they held (the West Bank and Gaza). Only after the 1967 war were these areas discovered to be "Palestinian Territories." In 1993 the Oslo process created a quasi-government, the Palestinian Authority, which has ruled the West Bank as a typical corrupt and repressive Arab regime. Mahmoud Abbas, who will turn 90 this year, is now in the 20th year of the four-year term he was elected to in 2005. He and his sons are worth several hundred million dollars, all of it from stolen aid money. In 2007 the Iranian-backed Islamists of Hamas staged a coup in Gaza and have ruled there ever since, with results we are now witnessing. All of this has left the Palestinians in a weaker position than ever. The current global wave of hysterical and violent hatred of Israel and Zionism cannot conceal the fact that the Palestinians have suffered yet another heavy, and self-inflicted, defeat.

As with their parents and grandparents' generations re: the fate of south Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia after 1975, i don't think the Friends of Palestine in the west (or "the peace movement") on college campuses care what is likely to happen to the Palestinian people in any likely Palestinian state.

[suomi]

14 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

H.R.792 - To direct the Secretary of the Interior to arrange for the carving of the figure of President Donald J. Trump on Mount Rushmore National Memorial. From Congress.gov

Huh. Which section of Mount Rushmore has orange stone?

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

It's their entire playbook.   Cause a crisis. Crisis has repercussions. "Fix" the crisis. Take a victory lap.

I agree completely.

Also, chapter in the playbook: Said crisis causes stock market to dip. DJT and friends buy the dip before fixing crisis.

[Anela]

13 minutes ago, tearknee said:

No. Anything that happened is the responsibility of Hamas. They chose to do what they did, knowing full well what the response would be.

Like Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, Palestine as a territorial entity was created by the colonial powers after the demise of the Ottomans. Only then did a "Palestinian people" come into existence. In 1948 Palestine was de facto partitioned between Israel and the Arab states, who made no attempt to create a Palestinian state in the areas they held (the West Bank and Gaza). Only after the 1967 war were these areas discovered to be "Palestinian Territories." In 1993 the Oslo process created a quasi-government, the Palestinian Authority, which has ruled the West Bank as a typical corrupt and repressive Arab regime. Mahmoud Abbas, who will turn 90 this year, is now in the 20th year of the four-year term he was elected to in 2005. He and his sons are worth several hundred million dollars, all of it from stolen aid money. In 2007 the Iranian-backed Islamists of Hamas staged a coup in Gaza and have ruled there ever since, with results we are now witnessing. All of this has left the Palestinians in a weaker position than ever. The current global wave of hysterical and violent hatred of Israel and Zionism cannot conceal the fact that the Palestinians have suffered yet another heavy, and self-inflicted, defeat.

As with their parents and grandparents' generations re: the fate of south Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia after 1975, i don't think the Friends of Palestine in the west (or "the peace movement") on college campuses care what is likely to happen to the Palestinian people in any likely Palestinian state.

You aren’t going to change my mind, so we can stop right here.  

[atomic]

21 hours ago, Dimity said:

I was just reading about Canadian hockey fans booing the American national anthem at two different games.  I really wish people would refrain from doing this.  I mean I understand why, believe me, I understand.  But I don't want us sinking to MAGA levels.  We're better than that.  Toddlers in a nursery school are better than that.

They're booing at NBA games too and I say it's well deserved. The way we're treating our closest ally who has had our backs in every time of need is despicable. We know this is the true spirit of the Canadian people:

[DXD526]

All the people 45 is giving jobs to these days are unqualified. They may not be DEI hires, but they are all being hired on the basis of something other than their qualifications and talents.

They know how to suck up to Dear Leader, and have no conscience or ethics. That's their qualifications.

[Dimity]

That little bastard.  Canada stood beside the US in Afghanistan and we regularly send assistance to the US in times of natural disaster, not with  money (maybe that's the only language Vance can speak) but with boots on the ground actual help. 

Still what can we expect from the VP of the man who despises the military and thinks anyone who dies for their country is a sucker?

P.S. I am betting your Canadian "friends" aren't too happy with you right now.  Oh unless by friends you mean Danielle Smith and Kevin O'Leary.  You're welcome to them.

ETA: and "sob story"  he's taking a leaf from the Trump playbook, derision and insulting language beat diplomacy and treating others decently any day don't they JD?

Edited February 3 by Dimity

[bluegirl147]

46 minutes ago, suomi said:

Jesus, this is like saying "If you won't service me sexually I will ruin your life."

 

This is the result when you have been coddled your whole life.  You start out a spoiled brat and grow up to become a menace to society. 

37 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

 

Nice country you have here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it.

He has no loyalty to this country.  It's ironic he wants to acquire Canada and Greenland when we know if Putin told him I want Alaska Trump would say sure take it.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 minute ago, atomic said:

I'm going to need a geography lesson from JD to explain how Canada is responsible for "drugs entering the US" from Mexico when the US-Canadian border is the 49th parallel and the US-Mexican border is somewhere between the 28th and 32nd parallel.

I'm also putting that statement in quotes because there are too many rich white Americans who want these drugs in the US. He can save me the hysterics on this. The cartels are not doing what they do because of poor Americans using crack and heroin.

[tearknee]

I would have evacuated the genuinely innocent before the Israeli campaign - the babies and the young children. The older = teens and adults? Many - though not all - are much less likely to be innocent.

[bluegirl147]

13 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

 

I'm also putting that statement in quotes because there are too many rich white Americans who want these drugs in the US. He can save me the hysterics on this. The cartels are not doing what they do because of poor Americans using crack and heroin.

You know why the cartels send their drugs here? Because there is a market for them.  Maybe if we did a better job of helping drug addicts get the help they need to get clean there wouldn't be such a big market. Or maybe if we had a better safety net and people didn't fall into despair when they need help just to survive they wouldn't turn to drugs.  Or maybe if the Sackler family hadn't knowingly sold and marketed a highly addictive pain killer as not being addictive there wouldn't have been an opioid crisis.

[fastiller]

1 hour ago, Dimity said:

I think it'd sound more accurate if they included the 'b' so it'd be WUbL.  'Cause that sounds like a baby/infant starting to speak....

[kittykat]

20 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

also putting that statement in quotes because there are too many rich white Americans who want these drugs in the US. He can save me the hysterics on this. The cartels are not doing what they do because of poor Americans using crack and heroin.

Seriously.  It's only a problem when poor non-white neighborhoods have drug problems.  Nevermind that there are plenty on white, suburban areas where drugs are rampant.  As as said above the opioid crisis brought in a whole new group of people who inadvertently became users because the Sacklers lied about the addictive properties. We're facilitating our own problem.

[tres bien]

Are the democrats finally going to start fighting back cause I don’t see how this is going to change if they don’t. 
Today they held a very feisty press conference outside of USAID.

Jaime Raskin also went after Musk’s takeover over the financial payment system of the Treasury 

Tomorrow the Senate will vote on Bobby Jr and Tulsi Gabbert. The republicans will confirm two morons

The democrats need to pull a Tommy Tuberville. Hold up everything. Stop trying to do the right thing 

To everyone who didn’t vote in the last election this is your reminder why your vote counts 

[ProudMary]

I was pretty sure I'd recently heard the correct, ridiculously small amount of fentanyl that had been seized at the Canadian/US border in the most recent fiscal year, but I wanted to find a good source to back it up. 

Tariff threats take aim at fentanyl trafficking. Here’s how the drug reaches the US

https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-border-mexico-trump-tariffs-drug-canada-3b7f4b39aaa1c9e2ca9a2b1c4cb40715

Quote

Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the U.S., but to a much lesser extent. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds (19.5 kilograms) of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds (9,570 kilograms) at the Mexican border.

The Canadian tariff is bullshit.

Edited February 3 by ProudMary
Corrected a typo