Chit-Chat: The Feels

[isalicat]

12 hours ago, Yeah No said:

No, I didn't blame Biden, but there was no clear link between anything Biden did and the market downturn like there is right now with Trump. There is a clear reason why investors are worried and pulling out and it's Trump, pure and simple.

And stocks didn't really crater until 2022, and that is widely seen as being a result of the worst inflation in decades and the Fed raising interest rates as a result, which was directly a result of the pandemic, not Biden. The two situations cannot be compared.

When Trump was president the first time his base credited him with everything good that happened with the economy and stocks even though that was largely not thanks to him. Now they're unwilling to see how he's directly to blame for what just happened and may continue if he doesn't cut it the frack out? Give me a break. And they buy it when he slithers out of responsibility by saying we may have to "endure some hardships along the way to a better economy" and how some things are "more complicated" than to fix like he promised. What a total pile of steaming doo doo!!! I mean there is no BS from him his base won't buy!!

I don't know about you but I'm closer to 70 than 60 at this point so I don't necessarily have the time to wait for stocks to rebound enough to see a profit, especially not with the low risk level I have elected for my accounts. At this point I'm just concerned with keeping what I have, not being vulnerable to the ups and downs of the market, which incidentally is exactly what any good financial advisor would recommend for someone in my age bracket.

Anyway, speaking of that, after days of worrying about how much I lost thanks to Trump I finally took a look at my balances online. I lost maybe 3% overall since the highest point last month. That's actually not bad at all. I didn't really have a sense for how low my risk level was but this reassured me that it was on track. No thanks to Mr. Trump, mind you!

My friend that lost 40% is a wonderful person but he's anything but a finance whiz. He was looking at an IRA he opened in the 90s and never touched again. It still has the same money he first invested in it 30 years ago. And because he didn't change anything since then he has basically what he started out with thanks to market ups and downs and a poor strategy. When I told my husband this his jaw fell. After 30 years that money should be worth much more even despite all the ups and downs. Not knowing that and hearing stuff online from people that said they lost a lot, it's no wonder I freaked out.

I spoke to my financial advisor today and he told me not to move anything around just yet. But I still worry because Trump is like a loose cannon at this point and we don't know whether he's going to retreat or double down on the tariffs and other policies that will put the market in a panic again. This time it was 3%. Next time it might be more. Or we might see a few downturns over a short period that add up to 20% in no time. We have seen market volatility in the past few years worse than in a long time. It's not fair to just excuse what Trump did based on pointing out the "usual" ups and downs and telling people they need to weather them better. Between the pandemic and Trump's tariff stupidity being in the market has been much riskier than it was since the recession of December of 2007. And speaking of that, who was president then? George W. Bush.

I am not a financial advisor, but I am surprised your financial advisor is still encouraging you to stay in the stock market at your stage of life. When you are relying on what you have saved/invested (and don't plan on earning substantially more) that is the time to get out of anything that is subject to risk - I am approaching 69 and took all my investments out of the stock market and into high earning (and insured!) CDs some years ago because I no longer anticipate being able to add a lot, if anything, to my "nest egg" and want to make sure it is there when I need it. (I would suggest that assuming your financial advisor is making money off your stock trades, they have a vested interest in you staying in the market...but that is for you to look into and consider.) If you get out of the volatility arena, you will sleep better, eh?

[Mollywolly555]

I just drove by a big protest /demonstration in front of a Tesla dealership!!!!

It's a chilly overcast day,  so I have to hands it the amazing people, old and young,  out there!!! Makes me so happy amid all the chaos.

I Would love to see that on the news,  but I'm losing my faith in most local media, not to mention national.    

[Annber03]

28 minutes ago, Anela said:

Tornado season has officially started.  We haven’t had one, but my dog was crushing me this morning, when I’d barely slept, because we had storms.  After finally getting some sleep, I woke up to find him in the bath, needing help to get back out.  

I hope people are getting the warnings, and that musk hasn’t endangered them. 

As NOAA braces for more cuts, scientists say public safety is at risk

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/as-noaa-braces-for-more-cuts-scientists-say-public-safety-is-at-risk

I keep worrying about this, too. Fuck Musk and his cronies for upending important organizations like NOAA. Would that someone could criminally charge them for putting people's lives at risk like this. 

I've been watching the coverage on the Weather Channel both yesterday and today, and my heart goes out to everyone who's being affected by these storms. It's looking rough in the southern U.S. right now. Stay safe and take care, everyone who's in the path, and I hope everyone gets the necessary heads up and warnings they need in time to take shelter if need be. 

[anony.miss]

2 hours ago, Makai said:

Thank you for posting this. The revisionist history during COVID is frustrating.

So frustrating  - I think revisionist history (overall) is a large part of why the country, and the world, is in such desperate shape. A violent insurrection becomes "a day of love". Trump telling the  Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" becomes a call for peace, not a rallying cry for white supremacists. A convicted felon, rapist and insurrectionist is now an innocent political martyr. MAGA voters spewing racism and misogyny to the media become sober-minded citizens worried about the price of eggs. And on and on, an endless litany of rewritten history, none of it even passingly resembling the documented events as they happened in real time, which is very similar to how dictators and cult leaders  rewrite reality. As Pamela Hemphill put it:

"Ms. Hemphill, 71, who was called “MAGA Granny” in some news headlines, has said that she no longer supports Mr. Trump or believes his lie that the 2020 election was stolen...“I lost my critical thinking,” she said on Wednesday, reflecting on her involvement in the riot and the “Stop the Steal” movement. “Now I know it was a cult, and I was in a cult.”

https://archive.ph/JwlMw#selection-4899.0-4925.179

Thank god he's plummeting in the polls - more MAGA Grannies, please!

[Mollywolly555]

29 minutes ago, Anela said:

Tornado season has officially started.  We haven’t had one, but my dog was crushing me this morning, when I’d barely slept, because we had storms.  After finally getting some sleep, I woke up to find him in the bath, needing help to get back out.  

I hope people are getting the warnings, and that musk hasn’t endangered them. 

As NOAA braces for more cuts, scientists say public safety is at risk

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/as-noaa-braces-for-more-cuts-scientists-say-public-safety-is-at-risk

I spoke with a person this morning whose spouse works at NOAA. They said their partner was off and then brought back,  and now have heard about "furloughs" coming. Super stressful. 

[Affogato]

2 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I keep worrying about this, too. Fuck Musk and his cronies for upending important organizations like NOAA. Would that someone could criminally charge them for putting people's lives at risk like this. 

I've been watching the coverage on the Weather Channel both yesterday and today, and my heart goes out to everyone who's being affected by these storms. It's looking rough in the southern U.S. right now. Stay safe and take care, everyone who's in the path, and I hope everyone gets the necessary heads up and warnings they need in time to take shelter if need be. 

It is not just the immediate safety. It is the aftermath. Not just long term repairs, either. Fresh water, food, medicine, help relocating. 

[Harvey]

11 minutes ago, anony.miss said:

"Ms. Hemphill, 71, who was called “MAGA Granny” in some news headlines, has said that she no longer supports Mr. Trump or believes his lie that the 2020 election was stolen...“I lost my critical thinking,” she said on Wednesday, reflecting on her involvement in the riot and the “Stop the Steal” movement. “Now I know it was a cult, and I was in a cult.”

https://archive.ph/JwlMw#selection-4899.0-4925.179

Thank god he's plummeting in the polls - more MAGA Grannies, please!

Too little too late, sadly.

[tres bien]

Of the nine democrats that voted yes yesterday I’m most disappointed in Brian Schatz (D Hawaii) because he was out there talking a big game then boom. WTH happened 

Also Gillibrand is the chairman of the Senate Democrats campaign arm for 2026. Yeah good luck with that even several of her colleagues and democratic operatives told CNN they didn’t see how she could credibly appeal to donors and voters who wanted more of a fight

They’re already trying to whitewash it with we have plenty of money and donors. 🤔 

Schumer got played like a fiddle. He and his fellow democrats in the Senate had three months to come up with a strategy but here they were on Friday not even a united front like the House democrats 

In more upbeat news today I saw that in Greenland they’re protesting Trump and his idiotic turn over Greenland to me BS. Go Greenland!

[Annber03]

25 minutes ago, Mollywolly555 said:

I spoke with a person this morning whose spouse works at NOAA. They said their partner was off and then brought back,  and now have heard about "furloughs" coming. Super stressful. 

And this is okay with Trump supporters. 'Cause "fraud", and bullshit like that. Who cares if people lose their jobs and society loses access to important information that could save lives? 

21 minutes ago, Affogato said:

It is not just the immediate safety. It is the aftermath. Not just long term repairs, either. Fresh water, food, medicine, help relocating. 

Exactly. Would that Trump supporters could get out of their self-absorbed bubbles and realize this. 

At the very least, they need to own whatever fallout comes from these firings and destruction. They're happy to cheer on Musk and co. for doing all this shit, they can own the fallout, too. They don't get to wash their hands of this. 

[tres bien]

What peach said ^^*

This is what you did Chuck Schumer and the nine democrats that couldn’t find the courage to stand up against tyranny of a would be king

And I don’t want to hear the MAGAs saying yay! This is what I voted for because you all insisted it was eggs are too expensive and Biden’s old and Kamala Harris has an annoying laugh 

And the voters who say they now have buyers remorse. Tough luck 

 

Edited March 15 by tres bien

[jessiebell]

If anyone has weaponized DOJ and the FBI it's Trump.  He illegally took classified documents, refused to return them when asked to by the National Archives and then even obstructed attempts to get the documents back.  So how was he the victim here?  No the real victims are the prosecutors and FBI agents that investigated that have been fired or demoted.   And the real crime here is that an inept and partisan judge (helped by a Supreme Court that slow walked a petition) that made sure this case never got into court.

Before anyone says "what about Biden"  Well Biden's team found the documents and returned them.   So it's NOT the same.

But continuing with weaponization - DOJ and FBI are also investigating the prosecutors and agents that worked on the Jan 6 cases.  Now I know that Jan 6 was just a typical tourist thing -- like them I always take flag poles or batons or something I can use as a weapon when I'm a tourist and hey why search for a toilet when you can just go in the hallway or on a desk and if a door is closed  just break it down or go break in thru the nearest window.  So were we suppose to just turn a blind eye to the destruction or the attacks on the Capitol Police?  I guess that "law and order" mantra of the right doesn't consider the Capitol Police as part of law enforcement.   Trump pardoned them all no matter how violent they were so I guess the moral of the story is be sure to wear a MAGA hat and a trump t-shirt on your next crime (I mean tourist) spree.

Where is Trump this weekend - at Mar-a-lago of course.  Talk about waste, fraud and abuse!!!!!!!!

Trump didn't just take advantage of bankruptcy laws.  He has a history of refusing to pay contractors (to the tune of millions of dollars) - many of whom were small companies that didn't have the money to fight him and they ended up bankrupt.  He also has a history of employing undocumented workers.   And a history of buying Chinese products - for example his $59.99 bibles are printed in China.

 

 

[Dimity]

30 minutes ago, tres bien said:

And the voters who say they now have buyers remorse. Tough luck 

Absolutely but looking forward let's hope they remember this when the next round of elections occur.

Speaking of anti-Trump merchandise, I was not happy to learn that here in Canada places like Etsy and Amazon.ca (and no doubt other places as well) are now selling Maple Maga merch.  Because, apparently it's not enough for people to support the Conservative Party, they've got to align themselves with Trump and his cult.  On the plus side, I see you wearing a Maple Maga hat or pin then I'll know exactly where you stand and can avoid you.

[Cementhead]

32 minutes ago, jessiebell said:

And a history of buying Chinese products - for example his $59.99 bibles are printed in China.

 

Reminds me of this photo I saw last week:

[fastiller]

[Affogato]

Simply, Trump supporters and Trump only have access to disinformation, through the outlets that say things that support Trump.  They don’t even read mainstream US outlets. Or history. 

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Simply, Trump supporters and Trump only have access to disinformation, through the outlets that say things that support Trump.  They don’t even read mainstream US outlets. Or history. 

If Trump has his way, there won't be any history resources left to read.

[Affogato]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

If Trump has his way, there won't be any history resources left to read.

Yet his tariff ideas come, completely unfiltered through a brain, from the 19th century. 

[Affogato]

11 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Lol!

Proud to have originally come from Minnesota. Taxes on corporate profits are equivalent to taxing couches! Free *non-Christian college’.

I can’t tell if this is a joke or it it is real? I don’t watch Fox news.

Edited March 15 by Affogato

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Proud to have originally come from Minnesota. Taxes on corporate profits are equivalent to taxing couches! Free *non-Christian college’.

I can’t tell if this is a joke or it it is real? I don’t watch Fox news.

It must be fake. The economic outlook is too good.

[Affogato]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It must be fake. The economic outlook is too good.

I was thinking maybe old. 

[tearknee]

We will give them every support … short of help.

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/king-charles-meets-justin-trudeau-sandringham-ukraine-zelensky-b1214321.html

[Ancaster]

2 hours ago, Affogato said:

Wearing a US flag patch upside down is simplest. 

Doesn't this just show disrespect to the flag/country, not Trump specifically?

 

[Affogato]

5 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

Doesn't this just show disrespect to the flag/country, not Trump specifically?

 

No it is a signal of distress. A sign of protest. Quite a few things. We should all be flying our flags upside down
 

https://www.americanflags.com/blog/post/when-can-you-fly-the-american-flag-upside-down

Edited March 15 by Affogato

[tres bien]

11 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

Doesn't this just show disrespect to the flag/country, not Trump specifically?

 

JMO fine to that at home but it’s always best to blend in when you’re in another country 

But yeah we should all pull a Justice Alito at our homes 

[Affogato]

I am certain that I do not pledge allegiance to this president or the country he envisions. It is my patriotic duty not to support him and the country he is creating. The world should know this.   

Edited March 15 by Affogato

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, tres bien said:

And the voters who say they now have buyers remorse. Tough luck

I haven’t seen much remorse from the lefter-than-thou apathetic poseurs that sat out the election because the Democrats didn’t know-tow to their every demand.

[Lantern7]

I sent a strongly-worded letter to Sen. Schumer. I think he used to come to my grade school when I was a kid. It hurts to see him cave and for people to drag him in public.

[tearknee]

32 minutes ago, tearknee said:

We will give them every support … short of help.

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/king-charles-meets-justin-trudeau-sandringham-ukraine-zelensky-b1214321.html

Peaches - I'm quoting "Yes, PM"

 

[PRgal]

I just commented on a Threads thread, mentioning that some items CAN'T be both a Canadian brand and Canadian-grown, especially if you're looking at, say, rice.  Other than wild rice, we do not cultivate rice domestically.  And rice is the primary grain in MANY cultures, cultures that make up who we are as a country.  I get that we can make do eating other grains (and I do that myself), but try asking my parents to move from rice to, say, quinoa (yes, quinoa is grown domestically...and it's technically a seed that is eaten like rice) and they'll just look at you weird.  There are tons of things I can make do, but I'm a weird Canadian born gal who just likes to butcher ancestral cuisine (for the hey).  My rules are still this:

Canadian owned/made, Canadian brand but sourced internationally, international, Blue States.  

[peacheslatour]

Just one more.

11 minutes ago, tearknee said:

Peaches - I'm quoting "Yes, PM"

 

Is that the one with She Who Must Be Obeyed?

[Caoimhe]

10 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Just one more.

Is that the one with She Who Must Be Obeyed?

No, that was Rumpole of the Bailey.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, Caoimhe said:

No, that was Rumpole of the Bailey.

Oh. My dad had a SWMBO T shirt, lol.

[ProudMary]

The Alien Enemies Act is a wartime act, last used during World War II, sending Japanese-Americans to internment camps.

Trump enacts a 1790s law to target 'alien enemies' for detention and deportation

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/15/nx-s1-5246028/trump-alien-enemies-act-tren-de-aragua-deportation

In his latest move to clamp down on illegal immigration and immigration more broadly, President Trump has filed a presidential action invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a seldom-used law that gives the president authority to detain or deport nationals of an enemy nation during wartime. It's only the fourth time in American history a president has used the act — and the first since World War II.

The directive targets members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang, and authorizes expedited removal of all Venezuelan citizens 14 and older, deemed to be members of the organization, who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

According to the presidential action, those people "are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies."

...

The announcement from the White House came just hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the removal of five Venezuelan men for 14 days under the expected invocation of the act. An emergency hearing on the matter will take place Saturday evening.

...

[H]istorical efforts to make wartime powers into peacetime immigration enforcement have never succeeded in the courts.

[Dimity]

43 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Canadian owned/made, Canadian brand but sourced internationally, international, Blue States. 

Same. 

Oh and fellow Canadians, buyer beware, some companies are now advertising themselves as "Canadian owned and operated".  This is technically true of a franchise but that's not the message these signs are giving.  My new rule is if you try to mislead me into believing you are not actually US based I will not patronize your place of business.  You are lying to me and I do not appreciate it.

[PRgal]

40 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Same. 

Oh and fellow Canadians, buyer beware, some companies are now advertising themselves as "Canadian owned and operated".  This is technically true of a franchise but that's not the message these signs are giving.  My new rule is if you try to mislead me into believing you are not actually US based I will not patronize your place of business.  You are lying to me and I do not appreciate it.

Whole Foods is the only big grocery store I can walk to so I have no choice.  There’s a smaller place closer to me but they don’t have as much selection.  This is aside from my twice weekly delivery from Mama Earth, a  Toronto area online store with a lot of curated products.  They’re very transparent about where things are from, sometimes down to the farm. 
 

I suppose this would be like shopping at Costco but not buying US based product. 

[tearknee]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Just one more.

Is that the one with She Who Must Be Obeyed?

https://user.fm/files/v2-91f534782553c5dfe2f4c403e4d50069/TVARK - 'Rumpole of the Bailey' premiered on 3rd April 1978. 45 years ago today. 7 series were produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. Peter Marshall.mp4

[Annber03]

5 minutes ago, Bliss said:

Late to the party... maybe this has  been discussed already?... I just read that the orange guy wants to "annexe" (his spelling, not mine) Alaska and make it the 53rd state. He posted this on X.

....

[suomi]

from the article:

Judge blocks Trump after he invokes wartime Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations

A federal judge ordered the administration to turn around any planes that had already taken off after the act quietly went into effect.

Trump signed a proclamation Friday to deploy the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to swiftly remove Venezuelans allegedly involved in the transnational gang known as Tren de Aragua. The act has been used only three times to bar citizens of hostile enemy governments from the United States, and only during a declared war.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge in the District of Columbia, quickly blocked officials from deporting Venezuelans under the proclamation after civil rights groups filed a challenge earlier Saturday. As he issued his ruling, the judge said he heard that “flights are actively departing” and ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt the removals and return to the United States any flights that are in the air.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/03/15/trump-alien-enemies-venezuela-migrants-deportations/

[tearknee]

Is Alaska an attic or loft, perchance?

Edited March 16 by tearknee

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, tearknee said:

Is Alaska an attic or lost, perchance?

It's upstairs, waxing it's skis. 😆

[tearknee]

lost was meant to be "loft". now fixed.

Just now, peacheslatour said:

It's upstairs, waxing it's skis. 😆

Hey, Bobby!

Bobby in the attic, Bobby in the shower and Benny up the ladder putting the angel on the tree.

[Affogato]

12 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

....

No impaired facilities there. Nope. 

[LexieLily]

18 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

....

I just wish any of this was funny so we could laugh about it properly 😔

[tearknee]

45 minutes ago, tearknee said:

lost was meant to be "loft". now fixed.

Hey, Bobby!

Bobby in the attic, Bobby in the shower and Benny up the ladder putting the angel on the tree.

this:

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/crossroads-most-bonkers-storylines/

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, tearknee said:

this:

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/crossroads-most-bonkers-storylines/

What a cool show! I wish I could get it on CBC or Ovation.

[Blergh]

OK, are we sure that #45's fan Roseanne 'flat Earth' Barr didn't come up with that  Twitter gem?

 I mean, how can  Alaska  be made the 53rd state when it's been the 49th US State since 1959? And where did #45 get the idea that the United States has 52 instead of 50 States? Has he not bothered to count the number of US Senators then divvied that number in half. ..or just counted the Stars in the blue part of the flag?

 

Edited March 16 by Blergh

[LexieLily]

He might be counting Canada and Greenland as states already? 🙄

[tearknee]

Or thinks Alaska is part of Canada. Or should be given back to Russia?

[fairffaxx]

He & I are the same age & I was in the 6th grade in 1959.  I remember it well -- Alaska & Hawaii both -- but he must be more senile than I am. 🐱

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, Bliss said:

Late to the party... maybe this has  been discussed already?... I just read that the orange guy wants to "annexe" (his spelling, not mine) Alaska and make it the 53rd state. He posted this on X.

FFS.

How much more can we endure?

This isn’t real, right? I can’t find anything to support it. There’s enough unbelievable stuff going around that’s actually true, we don’t need to muddy the waters. (If it is real, I’m sure someone can post something to confirm.)