Chit-Chat: The Feels

[FilmTVGeek80]

23 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Exactly!! And it's not as if the left wasn't aware of this. Trump said he was going to get to the bottom of waste and fraud, and he DID!  But after the election, all-of-a-sudden they're all crying foul.

First of all, he has not gotten to the bottom of any fraud. That's just a fantasy. Secondly, "the left" was "crying foul" long before he was elected because we knew he'd do exactly what he was doing - which is not finding fraud but gutting important work that we're doing overseas, putting all of our lives in danger with his firing of important people working on cures for diseases, controlling air traffic, etc. And he's doing much of it illegally in defiance of the Constitution. But, please, tell me again how law & order is so important to you. 

 

28 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Wrong. I DID NOT MAKE those memes. I have no control over what an "artist" put forth. Memes are all over social media. No one is editing them, so stop pointing figures. You all want me to put forth a good argument, and then you decide to pick apart a meme? 🙄

Right after the election, you posted a really gross letter basically gloating about the FIC's election win and how much conservatives were looking forward to getting back at liberals. When you were called out on it, suddenly, you announced that it was just a letter you found somewhere else and posted here. But why bring it over here in the first place if it didn't represent your views? It's the same thing with these memes. It doesn't matter that you didn't make the memes. You brought them over here because they represent your views. Otherwise, why post them here in the first place? You have control over what you post. Don't post them if you don't want people to think the memes you post represent your viewpoint. 

[Soapy Goddess]

26 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

We are not taking in entire countries. Please, get serious. This is a nation of immigrants, so we've managed to help people long before either of us was born. 

I AM serious. I know what this country is/was built on, but it wasn't to absorb thousands of people on a daily or weekly basis!

 

26 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

It would be great to see people like you as concerned with billionaires not paying their fair share and how the poor continue to get screwed when these idiots get tax cuts as you are with the cost of helping people fleeing certain death. 

Oh please. Many are fleeing because they heard that Biden was providing "free" healthcare, food & lodging. Why do you think that immigration has been down since Trump took over? I'll tell you why...because that's not going to happen in this administration. 

26 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Please look up the word "defending" because you don't realize what it means. Every time you stick up for one of the FIC's deplorable policies or Musk's idiotic BS, you are defending them, and you are defending their actions.

Agree to disagree. 

26 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Seriously, who do you think are the people who keep parks running and do research on diseases and all the other important jobs these idiots at DOGE keep questioning? For someone who gets offended when people make assumptions about them, you sure are making a lot about the people working from home. Not everyone who worked from home did go back to work because it wasn't necessary for them to do that and do their job. Working from home does not mean people do nothing but watch Netflix all day. That's such a simplistic way of looking at things.  

Like I said, it must be nice to be able to do all that from the comfort of their living rooms. So how are they researching diseases? Did they all have labs installed in their kitchens?? 

Sorry FTVG, these are NOT assumptions, these are facts. Those "workers" have been entitled by Biden. Why should they be excluded from going into their office and checking in the department heads, etc...work that we all pay for.

26 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

There was no looting countrywide.

Really? Are you going to make me pull up every article I can find on the internet right now? As someone upthread asked me "where are you getting your news?"

26 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Two nonsensical memes back-to-back. Impressive. It's on brand that you think that the only way to defend the FIC from Hitler comparisons is to go, "See, he hasn't killed an entire race yet."

And once again, no sense of humor. It's not my fault that you're all upset and have lost your sense of humor. BTW, I'm NOT here to impress remember? I'm here to defend 😜

Edited February 24 by Soapy Goddess

[Lantern7]

Just looking for a laugh . . . would DOGE be more appropriate if they were staffed by energy vampires such as Colin Robinson? Or would DOGE seek to eliminate those like him?

Also, I donated money to Ukraine relief, because I know a dictator when I see one.

[anony.miss]

@Lantern7

;)

Edited February 24 by anony.miss

[Soapy Goddess]

6 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

you posted a really gross letter basically gloating about the FIC's election win and how much conservatives were looking forward to getting back at liberals. When you were called out on it, suddenly, you announced that it was just a letter you found somewhere else and posted here. But why bring it over here in the first place if it didn't represent your views? It's the same thing with these memes. It doesn't matter that you didn't make the memes. You brought them over here because they represent your views. Otherwise, why post them here in the first place? You have control over what you post.

Are you talking about that stupid meme over "tolerating 8 years of Obama"? Again, that was a meme!! Not a letter as you stated. I posted it because I thought it was funny. I didn't ask anyone to agree with it. But if you must know, like many others in our country, not a fan of Obama. Hence the irony.

So I'm not allowed to post memes but everyone else can? Sorry FTVG, that's the double standard I've been talking about since day one.

[FilmTVGeek80]

25 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

I AM serious. I know what this country is/was built on, but it wasn't to absorb thousands of people on a daily or weekly basis!

 

Oh please. Many are fleeing because they heard that Biden was providing "free" healthcare, food & lodging. Why do you think that immigration has been down since Trump took over? I'll tell you why...because that's not going to happen in this administration. 

Agree to disagree. 

Like I said, it must be nice to be able to do all that from the comfort of their living rooms. So how are they researching diseases? Did they all have labs installed in their kitchens?? 

Sorry FTVG, these are NOT assumptions, these are facts. Those "workers" have been entitled by Biden. Why should they be excluded from going into their office and checking in the department heads, etc...work that we all pay for.

Really? Are you going to make me pull up every article I can find on the internet right now? As someone upthread asked me "where are you getting your news?"

And once again, no sense of humor. It's not my fault that you're all upset and have lost your sense of humor. BTW, I'm here to impress remember? I'm here to defend 😜

We aren't taking in thousands on a daily or weekly basis.

Oh, please, yourself. Many are fleeing poverty and war-torn nations. Don't trivialize it because you have no compassion for these people. If immigration has been down, and I'm certainly not taking your word for it, it might have something to do with our current sociopath leader dehumanizing immigrants and sending them to Guantanamo.

No, absolutely not. We do not agree to disagree with the definition of words and facts. One of the definitions of "defend" - speak or write in favor of (an action or person); attempt to justify. This is exactly what you do every time you justify why it's okay for the FIC to commit copious crimes or to treat immigrants like they're animals. 

I only listed some examples of what some government workers do. The people who work from who can do so because their work can easily be done from home. We do not pay for people to go into offices. It's about the work being done. If they can do that from home, why does that bother you so much?

What you said is an assumption. It is not a fact - unless you've done or read some legitimate research showing that people working from home are watching Netflix all day. 

It would be nice not to see memes and actual articles. If you can pull up non-Fox, Newsmax, or some other Conservative "news" articles. Pull up articles that aren't from years ago during legitimate protests where some violence broke out in a few places. 

If you posted something funny, I might actually laugh. And, yeah, forgive so many of us that we don't find a lawless sociopath trying to remake the government in his image and putting our lives at risk a barrel of laughs. 

Quote

Are you talking about that stupid meme over "tolerating 8 years of Obama"? Again, that was a meme!! Not a letter as you stated. I posted it because I thought it was funny. I didn't ask anyone to agree with it. But if you must know, like many others in our country, not a fan of Obama. Hence the irony.

So I'm not allowed to post memes but everyone else can? Sorry FTVG, that's the double standard I've been talking about since day one.

Meme or letter, it was offensive garbage, either way. I think you asked for it to be removed or deleted it yourself, but I would love to post it again to show exactly the kind of things that you thought were funny.

You are not a victim here. First of all, I'm not a mod, so I can't tell you what to post or not to post. Secondly, that's not what I said. What I said is if you're going to post a meme, then stand by it instead of doing what you do. Which is as soon as you get any pushback, you throw up your hands and say, "Well, I didn't write it." That's not the point. If you're not posting memes representing views you're willing to stand by, why are you posting them? You can continue posting memes, but when you get called out on the content, saying, "I didn't write it," isn't a defense.

Edited February 24 by FilmTVGeek80

[FilmTVGeek80]

5 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Ok, fine...if it makes you feel better because I'm tired of arguing about it. However, I still don't argue with your funk'n'wagnalls because I'm not a defense attorney, and no one is treating compliant immigrants like animals.

Maybe you can pull-up some Fox or conservative news articles that explain and show exactly what's going on. Hang on...here comes your favorite (re: protests):

 

This isn't about making me feel better. It's about whether you're willing to acknowledge facts or not. For some reason, you don't want to admit you're defending these people even though the facts and literal definition say otherwise.

Yes, the guy you keep defending is treating ALL immigrants like they're animals. He doesn't differentiate in any of his speeches. He acts like all immigrants are gum on the bottom of his shoe. And why should non-compliant immigrants be treated like animals? Even if you think they came here the wrong way, why should that mean they aren't treated with dignity?

Why would I want to look up Fox "News" articles about anything? Fox is home to "journalists" who say one thing on the air and another behind closed doors. The network has had to pay millions because of the lies they've told on air. 

LOL. Was that image supposed to be related to violent protests or the looting that you brought up? Because it wasn't. The caption shows exactly what it was about. It was about a lawful, peaceful gathering of people protesting Musk and his band of stooges getting their hands on all of our private information. I'm much more concerned about that than the so-called misuse of funds at USAID. 

[Soapy Goddess]

2 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

It's about whether you're willing to acknowledge facts or not.

I will only acknowledge what I believe. Normally, I would have no problem with the words defend/defending, but you know as well as I do that the second I use that word, I'm going to be pounced upon like a trampoline. 

But that said, I do appreciate the civil discourse. I have seen the growth here, but by the same token, there will always be nitpickers regarding word usage.

7 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Even if you think they came here the wrong way, why should that mean they aren't treated with dignity?

If we define dignity as honor and respect, many feel it's disrespectful to our country to blatantly disobey the rules/law of our country. And of course, all this dignity costs US money until these people get properly housed and find a job. Meanwhile, they're all here on OUR dime.

13 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Why would I want to look up Fox "News" articles about anything?

For the same reason you told me to look up anything but.

14 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Was that image supposed to be related to violent protests or the looting that you brought up? Because it wasn't.

Wrong meme, sorry. I need to categorize my vast vault of memes LOL. 

P.S. to FTVG...can we at least agree that Chuckie boy needs to stop chant/singing?

[FilmTVGeek80]

50 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

I will only acknowledge what I believe. Normally, I would have no problem with the words defend/defending, but you know as well as I do that the second I use that word, I'm going to be pounced upon like a trampoline. 

But that said, I do appreciate the civil discourse. I have seen the growth here, but by the same token, there will always be nitpickers regarding word usage.

So you won't acknowledge facts if you don't believe them?

No, I don't know that as well as you do. You're not being pounced on. People are countering your posts with facts and calling out some of the things you say. It has nothing to do with you acknowledging the reality of what you're doing by using the word "defend." 

Word usage is important since words have meaning. 

53 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

If we define dignity as honor and respect, many feel it's disrespectful to our country to blatantly disobey the rules/law of our country. And of course, all this dignity costs US money until these people get properly housed and find a job. Meanwhile, they're all here on OUR dime.

Dignity means treating human beings like they're human beings, not like subhuman garbage. It's about providing these people with water and food instead of denying that to them. It's not denying them the rights they have by shipping them to a prison or using them as slave labor. And, once again, the cognitive dissonance of you complaining about breaking laws being disrespectful while you constantly defend the FIC and his merry band of lawbreakers. It honestly boggles my mind that the only thing you seem to care about is the money - when you don't care about the wasteful spending by people like 45 - and can't even admit that immigrants - those who are here legally or otherwise - deserve to be treated with dignity. 

[tearknee]

[anony.miss]

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

it's disrespectful to our country to blatantly disobey the rules/law of our country.

Except when it comes to voting for a convicted felon and a rapist; in that case, laws be damned. And here's the thing about that position;  when you vote for a criminal, you lose the right to have people take you seriously when you argue the law.  Because you cannot have it both ways. Especially when you are condemning the lesser crime - crossing a border - while supporting a rapist, felon and insurrectionist.

Edited February 24 by anony.miss

[CheshireCat]

13 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

If anyone doubts how decades of socialism and the absence of democracy can fuck up people for generations to come, one only needs to look at the correlation between the support for AfD and the line formerly separating West and East Germany...

My experience has been that it's not the absence of democracy that's responsible but the reunification. Or maybe I should call it the reunification that wasn't? 

Coincidentally (or not, considering yesterday's election), I was talking to my parents about that yesterday. Former East Germans got so many material privileges and advantages when the wall came down. But to my knowledge, the non-material and mental struggles that came with the sudden change were never addressed.
East Germans went from a society where they had little self-determination to one where they had to determine everything themselves. Yes, they weren't free. At the same time, when you don't have to worry about thing like health insurance or childcare for years and all of a sudden, you have to organize things like that yourself, it's going to be a challenge and you likely need help adjusting.
Additionally, they were unable to find their cultural identity - just like many other states who belonged to the Soviet Union, they weren't Russians. But they also weren't Germans. From one minute to the next, they had to be, though. How are you supposed to identify with a country you hadn't been a part of for over 30 years? 

There's also resentment in certain parts of West Germany, especially Berlin, because people from West Berlin were suffering the most financially and to this day, they haven't recovered. It's not just the people, though. The city itself suffered, too. So, that probably doesn't help either. 

Like my mom said yesterday, it might have been best had East Germany become its own country. At least, it would have given East Germans a chance to figure out who they were culturally. (Not sure how that would have worked for Berlin, though, because I don't think people from West Berlin would have wanted to become East Germany). 

But to make the AfD result even scarier, the AfD has been declared confirmed right-wing extremist by the Verfassungsschutz (Germany's constitutional protection) in three of the five states that the AfD got the most votes in. 

One way or another, I think the 20% for the AfD are shameful. I heard part of an interview with someone from the CDU yesterday. What whoever it was said, sounded good. It sounded like they got it: they have to prioritize what the country needs over party differences and make improvements to people's lives. 
I just hope that they act on it because I'm really afraid of what the election results are going to look like if they don't. 

 

9 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Die Linke and BSW are just the other side of the same autocratic coin as AfD.

I have to object. 🙂 I'm too young to remember the politics of Die Linke (PDS) right after the wall came down. But whatever they were back then, I think it has to be acknowledged that they're not that anymore and haven't been for quite some time.
I find that for a while now, they actually seem to be the only party that "gets it" when it comes to interior politics. They are advocating for strengthening the middle class and invest where Germany's been neglecting to invest for far too long, like infrastructure and education and I think if they ever got into government, they'd be great for the ministries of interior and education and possibly environment. 
I'd say, their interior politics can probably be compared to the Nordic countries; they're social democrats. (Germany's a social market economy, so, while probably slightly to the left of that, Die Linke's policies are in line with Germany's economic system). 

I don't agree with their policies for foreign politics, though. I agree with their general idea, however, I find it too idealistic for today's world. 

But I haven't seen anything that would justify considering Die Linke anti-democracy or a threat to Germany's constitution in any shape or form.

As far as the BSW is concerned... I don't really know what they are other than far too Putin-friendly. I guess, many people don't either, considering that they don't seem to have made it into parliament. 

With that said, I think the split was good for Die Linke as Wagenknecht was probably a figure that was too polarizing. 

 

[tearknee]

The striking feature of the election is that Germany is still two countries, 35 years after reunification. The AfD won almost every seat in the former DDR, but not a single seat in the west. The SPD and the Greens barely exist in the east, but Die Linke (The Left), the former DDR communist party, increased their vote. This voting pattern is the result of massive emigration of younger people from east to west, leaving behind a declining, older, poorly educated population, fearful and angry, who have been easy targets for the AfD's demagoguery.

[Soapy Goddess]

29 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

So you won't acknowledge facts if you don't believe them?

No, I don't know that as well as you do. You're not being pounced on. People are countering your posts with facts and calling out some of the things you say. It has nothing to do with you acknowledging the reality of what you're doing by using the word "defend." 

Word usage is important since words have meaning. 

There you go putting words in my mouth. I never said I wouldn't acknowledge facts, but our facts are polar opposite and some people here thrive on picking out ONE single word while disregarding everything else said. I'm not here to play word salad with you or anyone else. 

The fact that you're busting my ovaries over the word defend just proves my point.

29 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Dignity means treating human beings like they're human beings, not like subhuman garbage. It's about providing these people with water and food instead of denying that to them. It's not denying them the rights they have by shipping them to a prison or using them as slave labor.

Thank you for once again proving my point as you continue to pick on the word dignity. I gave you my definition and why I feel the way I do, and yet you continue to harass me over it.

So if you're not going to accept my explanations to your questions, what's the point here? To continue to nitpick? You either want to learn how I feel or you don't. And if you don't, then we're just spinning our wheels. 

12 minutes ago, anony.miss said:

Except when it comes to voting for a convicted felon and a rapist; in that case, laws be damned.

That wasn't part of our conversation. We've already covered that ground. 75 million people didn't give a shit about it either, and you all know why.

Edited February 24 by Soapy Goddess

[CheshireCat]

3 minutes ago, tearknee said:

 This voting pattern is the result of massive emigration of younger people from east to west, leaving behind a declining, older, poorly educated population, fearful and angry, who have been easy targets for the AfD's demagoguery.

I wish it were so but statistics show that it's the younger generations that voted for the AfD. 35-44 year-olds is where they went beyond their national average the most, but they also got more votes than their national average from the generation before and after that.

(It's in German but I think you can understand it without knowing German. https://www.tagesschau.de/wahl/archiv/2025-02-23-BT-DE/umfrage-alter.shtml
First column is age, second column is the percentage the party got in the election, third column depicts what they lost or gained vs 2021. The white line in the bar is the national average, so that one can see how much more or less votes the party got than their national average in that age group). 

[FilmTVGeek80]

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

There you go putting words in my mouth. I never said I wouldn't acknowledge facts, but our facts are polar opposite and some people here thrive on picking out ONE single word while disregarding everything else said. I'm not here to play word salad with you or anyone else. 

The fact that you're busting my ovaries over the word defend just proves my point.

See, there you go again, not willing to acknowledge reality. There are not my facts and your facts. Facts are just facts. It's really sad to me - and bewildering - that your side has somehow forgotten that or wants to pretend alternative facts are an actual thing. I'm not putting words in your mouth or nitpicking. I'm taking your words exactly as you present them. 

I'm "busting your ovaries" over you wanting to gaslight us by pretending that your blatant defense of the FIC and Musk is not exactly what it is. Don't tell me that you're not doing something when I can see for myself that you are. 

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Thank you for once again proving my point as you continue to pick on the word dignity. I gave you my definition and why I feel the way I do, and yet you continue to harass me over it.

So if you're not going to accept my explanations to your questions, what's the point here? To continue to nitpick? You either want to learn how I feel or you don't. And if you don't, then we're just spinning our wheels. 

I'm not harassing you; no one is forcing you to post here. If you don't want to engage in a debate or defend your positions, then don't. You gave me your odd definition of dignity, and I gave you my thoughts and feelings. I think it's sad that you can't acknowledge that other human beings deserve dignity simply because you don't like how they got here. 

 

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

That wasn't part of our conversation. We've already covered that ground. 75 million people didn't give a shit about it either, and you all know why.

That was part of the conversation. You continue to act like you care about respecting laws when you don't seem to care about the laws that the felon in the White House has been broken and convicted of. 75 million people didn't care, which is an enraging and depressing moment in the country's history. But those 75 million people aren't here talking about how wrong it is to break laws while defending a convicted felon. 

[tres bien]

If Trump voters wanted fraud  and corruption eliminated from government they shouldn’t have voted for a candidate that’s life has been built on fraud and corruption 

The social atmosphere since 2015 has been built on one side accepting bullying as the norm. It’s ok to make fun of someone and ridicule others because that’s not you.

The other side accepting the we would never do those things as long as we do or say things privately or behind screen names that no one can identify 

[bluegirl147]

 

6 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

What exactly are the Democrats getting exposed for? Do you have anything to back up that claim that's not Elon Musk's Twitter feed?

They don't need proof of anything.  The Republican base just needs to hear the word Democrat and they will believe any negative thing said about them.

 

[Ohiopirate02]

43 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

 

They don't need proof of anything.  The Republican base just needs to hear the word Democrat and they will believe any negative thing said about them.

 

And they also mistakenly equate federal worker with Democrat even though federal workers encompass the whole political spectrum and these cuts affect all of them.

[Dimity]

In the meantime I couldn't be prouder of Trudeau, who along with other western leaders travelled to Kiev to mark the 3rd anniversary of the Russian invasion. While Trump, the fascist leader,  is in the White House spinning more lies and plotting with Putin. 

And crickets from his supporters. Shame on them all.

[Dimity]

21 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

And they also mistakenly equate federal worker with Democrat even though federal workers encompass the whole political spectrum and these cuts affect all of them.

There have been numerous articles written by, or about, federal workers shocked to learn that voting for Trump did not protect them from Trump. So far at least Musk hasn't figured out how to only fire democrats.

[Notabug]

On 2/23/2025 at 4:24 AM, Soapy Goddess said:

Sorry, but I'm having trouble posting and replying. It's doubling and tripling replies and I can't "edit" them, so I took a screenshot. Hopefully, this will post okay.

OK, but what about millions of dollars going for Iraqi Sesame Street and similar unnecessary expenses? (too numerous to mention)

I don't know, but that's because I don't have expertise in those areas.  I do know that educators have found Sesame Street to be a good way to introduce underprivileged children to the wider world around them and prepare them for entering the educational system.  I expect Iraqi kids need that just as much American kids do and, presuming that Iraqi Sesame Street also exposes kids to the ideas of cooperation, friendship, accepting others who are different, etc; it could be beneficial in the long run to our relationship with that nation.

 

On 2/23/2025 at 4:04 AM, Soapy Goddess said:

 

 

 

 

So where did our 55 billion dollars go?

Nowhere, it was a made-up number from the same dumba**es who claimed  $8 billion savings on a program that was only funded for $8 million and which had already spent $2 million of that.  

Unless or until they stop playing games with the math and behaving like idiots, we're never going to know what the 'savings' might be.  We also need an accounting of the expenses incurred such as giving people 8 months of pay without working and the amount spent on court cases to defend their probably unconstitutional actions and what these DOGE doofuses are being paid before we can even begin to count the cost.

[bluegirl147]

23 minutes ago, Dimity said:

There have been numerous articles written by, or about, federal workers shocked to learn that voting for Trump did not protect them from Trump. So far at least Musk hasn't figured out how to only fire democrats.

That's because Trump voters believed Trump when he said there is an enemy within.  My entire voting life as a Democrat I have never thought the candidates I voted for would harm those voters who didn't vote for them but Trump voters really do believe and some hope that he will.

[Dimity]

32 minutes ago, Notabug said:

I don't know, but that's because I don't have expertise in those areas. 

And neither do any of the DOGE busily cutting programs because they don't understand what the purpose of the program happens to be.  At the very least they could have had experts review the programs before slashing them.  But that, of course, would mean acknowledging there are experts who know things that they don't know.   Will never happen.

[ProudMary]

6 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

And of course, all this dignity costs US money until these people get properly housed and find a job. Meanwhile, they're all here on OUR dime.

Which is why the the Republicans should have voted for the Border Bill they crafted with the Democrats over a year ago. A bipartisan path forward on immigration had been reached but the GOP didn't take it because DJT, who held no elected office at that point, told them not to. 

[Absolom]

9 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

My first question to the entitled workers would be why are you still working from home when all of us have had to go back into our office after lock down. Must be nice to collect a big paycheck for sitting on your couch with a laptop and accomplish nothing else except binge watching Netflix.

Woah that's a huge false assumption there.  I worked from home for the federal government and I never had time to watch TV shows.  I was on the phone (the office phone rang through to my cell phone, the laptop, or doing things by hand the whole day.  My boss would have known immediately had I stopped working as people would not have been getting their questions answered or their projects completed.  I was in the office two afternoons a week for meetings.  Those were my least productive times.  Again, you're hearing from the wrong people and believing it.  

[Dimity]

14 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I worked from home for the federal government and I never had time to watch TV shows.

Both my children work from home and have since Covid.  In both cases they are not back in their office because their bosses took advantage of Covid to actually close down or minimize their physical workplaces. 

They didn't choose to work from home, the choice was made for them for the financial benefit of their companies.  So in many cases it saves the company (and their owners) money. 

I suspect for many mocking those who are working from home their opinion might change if it's helping a rich man get richer.

Edited February 24 by Dimity

[heatherchandler]

8 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

We aren't taking in thousands on a daily or weekly basis.

Nearly 70,000 foreigners arrive in the United States every day. Most of these travelers are visitors, not settlers. More than 60,000 are tourists, business people, students, or foreign workers who are welcomed at airports and border crossings. About 2,200 daily arrivals are immigrants or refugees who have been invited to become permanent residents of the United States. Finally, about 5,000 foreigners make unauthorized entries each day. About 4,000 of them are apprehended just after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border. But nearly 1,000 elude detection
(from PRB’s website)

 

[Ohiopirate02]

5 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Both my children work from home and have since Covid.  In both cases they are not back in their office because their bosses took advantage of Covid to actually close down or minimize their physical workplaces. 

They didn't choose to work from home, the choice was made for them for the financial benefit of their companies.  So in many cases it saves the company (and their owners money). 

I suspect for many mocking those who are working from home their opinion might change if it's helping a rich man get richer.

Sometime in the last month, I saw a Tik-Tok of a woman bemoaning the return to work order because her husband is a patent lawyer who was hired to work remotely due to the patent office having a backlog. Some of these work from home positions do not have an office for the workers to return to and if they do said office may not be large enough to accommodate all of the personnel needed for the department to function.

[heatherchandler]

1 hour ago, Notabug said:

I expect Iraqi kids need that just as much American kids do and, presuming that Iraqi Sesame Street also exposes kids to the ideas of cooperation, friendship, accepting others who are different, etc; it could be beneficial in the long run to our relationship with that nation.

Absolutely!  Every country could benefit.  But it can’t always be up to the US to fund these programs when we have seriously pressing needs to deal with.  It’s ok to take a step back from trying to save the world in order to shore ourselves up.

[kittykat]

21 minutes ago, Absolom said:

Woah that's a huge false assumption there.  I worked from home for the federal government and I never had time to watch TV shows.  I was on the phone (the office phone rang through to my cell phone, the laptop, or doing things by hand the whole day.  My boss would have known immediately had I stopped working as people would not have been getting their questions answered or their projects completed.  I was in the office two afternoons a week for meetings.  Those were my least productive times.  Again, you're hearing from the wrong people and believing it.  

Not to mention there have been loads of studies proving that people who worked from home were way more productive than in the office.  Mr. Kat worked from home for years and hated days he had to go in because he could communicate everything through zoom and it was an hour commute to travel 11 miles. And he was also on call so there were plenty of days he signed on in the morning and worked into night.  No not everyone who is WFH is lazy.

Edited February 24 by kittykat

[Dimity]

4 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Some of these work from home positions do not have an office for the workers to return to and if they do said office may not be large enough to accommodate all of the personnel needed for the department to function.

I am so glad I am not working in a government office anymore.  Even before Covid my last workplace was moving towards the model where no one actually has a dedicated desk never mind an office or cubicle.  You come in to some very open kind of floor plan, find a spot and plug in your lap top.  I would have hated that.

1 minute ago, kittykat said:

No not everyone who is WFH is lazy.

And not everyone in an office is productive.  We've all worked with people who spend more time going out on smoke breaks, coffee breaks, and extended lunch breaks that sitting at their desk at least looking like they're working.  But even so this is something their supervisor should be dealing with not some billionaire megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur who  is assuming, without proof, that this describes most govt workers rather than the annoying few.

[Makai]

47 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

Nearly 70,000 foreigners arrive in the United States every day. Most of these travelers are visitors, not settlers. More than 60,000 are tourists, business people, students, or foreign workers who are welcomed at airports and border crossings. About 2,200 daily arrivals are immigrants or refugees who have been invited to become permanent residents of the United States. Finally, about 5,000 foreigners make unauthorized entries each day. About 4,000 of them are apprehended just after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border. But nearly 1,000 elude detection
(from PRB’s website)

 

Those numbers are also 25 years old. 

41 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

Absolutely!  Every country could benefit.  But it can’t always be up to the US to fund these programs when we have seriously pressing needs to deal with.  It’s ok to take a step back from trying to save the world in order to shore ourselves up.

We aren’t. And it would be a mistake to think the US was funding these projects altruistically. The Sesame Street project was specifically targeted towards kids that are likely to be targeted for radicalized in the future. 
One of the USAID projects was the removal of land mines in Cambodia. China has stepped in has a result strengthening their ties in the area.
 

USAID spend .3% of the total budget. We contributed $20 million to that Sesame Workshop project. We spent 10 times that on an ad campaign thanking a certain narcissist. 

Edited February 24 by Makai

[Dimity]

5 minutes ago, Makai said:

And it would be a mistake to think the US was funding these projects altruistically. The Sesame Street project was specifically targeted towards kids that likely to be radicalized in the future. 
One of the USAID projects was the removal of land mines in Cambodia. China has stepped in has a result strengthening their ties in the area.

As a popular meme suggests, this all makes sense when you realize Trump and Musk are not working for you.  They work for him.

[partofme]

53 minutes ago, Absolom said:

Woah that's a huge false assumption there.  I worked from home for the federal government and I never had time to watch TV shows

And when I worked in an office I had coworkers who watched tv shows on their work computers, maybe they were on their lunch hour, I don’t know.  But being in the office doesn’t make people productive, there’s plenty of gossiping and goofing off going on in offices.   

[Notabug]

22 minutes ago, Makai said:

Those numbers are also 25 years old. 

We aren’t. And it would be a mistake to think the US was funding these projects altruistically. The Sesame Street project was specifically targeted towards kids that likely to be radicalized in the future. 
One of the USAID projects was the removal of land mines in Cambodia. China has stepped in has a result strengthening their ties in the area.
 

USAID spend .3% of the total budget. We contributed $20 million to that Sesame Workshop project. We spent 10 times that on an ad campaign thanking himself. 

In his first month in office, Trump spent over $10 million flying back and forth to Mar a Lago to play golf and up to $20 million just to attend the Super Bowl.  Presuming he keeps taking these pleasure trips at government expense, as he did during his first term; he will cost taxpayers about 1/3 of a billion bucks just this year and well over a billion during his four year term.

Meanwhile, Trump repeatedly whined about the cost of Obama going to Hawaii for Christmas; despite the fact that he was raised and still has friends and family there.  It is estimated that Obama spent about $85 million for personal travel during his two terms; meaning he spent less in a year than Trump has spent in a single month.  I know inflation has been a problem since Obama left office, but not THAT big a problem.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/breaking-down-what-trump-s-super-bowl-trip-cost-taxpayers/ar-AA1yVJIw?ocid=BingNewsSerp and had 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-s-golfing-tab-in-first-month-of-second-term-you-won-t-believe-how-much-he-spent/ar-AA1zzi3R?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/barack-obamas-8years-of-golf-hawaii-vacations-costs-taxpayers-us85-million-20161229-gtj4bi

Edited February 24 by Notabug

[bluegirl147]

33 minutes ago, Makai said:

 

USAID spend .3% of the total budget. We contributed $20 million to that Sesame Workshop project. We spent 10 times that on an ad campaign thanking a certain narcissist. 

And you know who is going to benefit from those ads?  The people who own the media where the ads run.  So most likely billionaires.  More of the wealth transfer going from the taxpayers to the the Richie Rich's. 

15 minutes ago, Notabug said:

In his first month in office, Trump spent over $10 million flying back and forth to Mar a Lago to play golf and up to $20 million just to attend the Super Bowl.  Presuming he keeps taking these pleasure trips at government expense, as he did during his first term; he will cost taxpayers about 1/3 of a billion bucks just this year and well over a billion during his four year term.

And if you say this to a Trump supporter they will respond with "Yeah well he doesn't take a salary." As if that makes up for it.  And do we know for sure he doesn't take a salary?

1 hour ago, kittykat said:

No not everyone who is WFH is lazy.

And not everyone who works for the Federal Government is lazy as a lot of people think.  Now if you (general you)  want to say Congress is lazy I will probably agree with that but people that are actually doing the work of running the actual government are doing actual work.  And let's not forget they are always at risk of being furloughed when there is a government shutdown. 

[Ohiopirate02]

1 minute ago, bluegirl147 said:

And if you say this to a Trump supporter they will respond with "Yeah well he doesn't take a salary." As if that makes up for it.  And do we know for sure he doesn't take a salary?

The current salary for a president is $400,000 a year, so that does not in any way make up for the travel expenses and security for him to show up in New Orleans for the Super Bowl and Florida for the Daytona 500.

[Notabug]

4 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

The current salary for a president is $400,000 a year, so that does not in any way make up for the travel expenses and security for him to show up in New Orleans for the Super Bowl and Florida for the Daytona 500.

Estimates are that it cost about $5 million for him to go to Daytona.  He also ordered Air Force One to do a flyover of the track which burns about $25,000 in fuel alone.

So, presuming he's now spent over $35 million in a little over a month on personal travel; he only needs to remain President and refuse his salary for the next 87.5 years and we'll be even.  

He did donate his salary to charity in his first term, but has not indicated one way or the other this time around.

[bluegirl147]

18 minutes ago, Notabug said:

; he only needs to remain President and refuse his salary for the next 87.5 years and we'll be even.  

If he could do that he would. 

I wonder since he thinks he is king does he think one of this kids should succeed him?  I think we can rule out Beavis and Butthead.

 

[lookeyloo]

3 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

If he could do that he would. 

I wonder since he thinks he is king does he think one of this kids should succeed him?  I think we can rule out Beavis and Butthead.

 

Haven't seem much from "the boys" lately.  Maybe President Musk told them to be quiet.

[Dimity]

While I appreciate the sentiment in the meme I am including here, the reality is that most of his supporters will never admit they were wrong.  Not even if that means giving up their Social Security, their paycheques and their personal freedom.  They won't be happy about this but they will find a way to blame anyone but Trump.

 

[SusieQ]

The glee with which musk, et al take in destroying (and yes, they are destroying) people's lives is breathtaking. These are your fellow citizens. They are not the "enemy". 

I'm grateful for this site. I've been reading all the comments and I feel less alone seeing so many of you are of like mind with me. Thanks for helping me not give up hope.

[SweetieDarling]

2 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Which is why the the Republicans should have voted for the Border Bill they crafted with the Democrats over a year ago. A bipartisan path forward on immigration had been reached but the GOP didn't take it because DJT, who held no elected office at that point, told them not to. 

That bill was crafted to gain votes for the democrats because Biden stopped construction of the border wall on his first day in office. It's all a game to them (politicians, both sides). They only care about money and power and staying in power so they can collect more money. 

Quote

Under President Biden’s proclamation, the new administration recognizes that construction of a massive wall is a waste of federal government resources. 

 

Edited February 24 by SweetieDarling

[Anela]

 

Les Misérables Epilogue Scene Performed at the White House Governors Ball by the US Army Chorus

I still haven't seen Les Miserables, but saw this on reddit:

Quote

If you don't know the song ("Do You Hear the People Sing?"), it's from the musical "Les Misérables" and is the rallying song for the French Revolution in the musical.

The song symbolizes the spirit of defiance, unity, and hope for a better future. It is sung by the revolutionaries, led by Enjolras, as they prepare to fight against oppression, rallying the people to rise up against tyranny.

 

[Dimity]

21 minutes ago, SusieQ said:

The glee with which musk, et al take in destroying (and yes, they are destroying) people's lives is breathtaking. These are your fellow citizens. They are not the "enemy". 

Trump/Musk have managed to make enemies of supposedly allied countries so I suppose it's not surprising that they don't see their fellow citizens as allies either.

I am linking this from Gov. Mills of Maine.  She is inspiring.

Governor Mills’ Statement on Notice of Investigation From U.S. Department of Education

Quote

“I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined. My Administration will begin work with the Attorney General to defend the interests of Maine people in the court of law. But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”

 

Edited February 24 by Dimity

[Ohiopirate02]

3 minutes ago, Anela said:

 

Les Misérables Epilogue Scene Performed at the White House Governors Ball by the US Army Chorus

I'm still trying to figure out if this is a protest or if Trump looked at a list of possible songs and thought "Do You Hear the People Sing?" fit his delusions. I want to believe the former, but can totally see a scenario where Trump thinks this song fits his message based just on the title. Is this a protest or a self-own?

[Anela]

1 minute ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I'm still trying to figure out if this is a protest or if Trump looked at a list of possible songs and thought "Do You Hear the People Sing?" fit his delusions. I want to believe the former, but can totally see a scenario where Trump thinks this song fits his message based just on the title. Is this a protest or a self-own?

I see people talking about it as a protest. I don't know if he chose it. A few people there, don't look happy. 

Edited February 24 by Anela

[Dimity]

Just now, Ohiopirate02 said:

Is this a protest or a self-own?

This is the same man who thinks songs like "Fortunate Son" and "Born in the USA" are homages to him.

[Anela]

11 minutes ago, Dimity said:

This is the same man who thinks songs like "Fortunate Son" and "Born in the USA" are homages to him.

The military take an oath to the constitution, not to him, so I'm hoping that it's a protest. A self-own would be funny, but a protest would be better. 

Oh. he apparently used this song in his campaign, in 2016. Never mind.