Chit-Chat: The Feels

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, PRgal said:

How long do you think this trade war will last?  It’s not just going to affect the consumer but the stock market as well.  Not looking forward to Monday.  My portfolio, my husband’s and my son’s university fund.

We'll ride it out like those of us with income to invest always do.  I'm a lot more concerned about the people for whom the increase in the cost of all the affected items will have immediate day-to-day consequences.

[tearknee]

29 minutes ago, Anela said:

Undocumented is usually the word used, instead of “illegal”. 

Undocumented is just as much a loaded term but from the other political end.

 

unauthorized immigrant/arrival is not as it is the legal term

[bluegirl147]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

We'll ride it out like those of us with income to invest always do.  I'm a lot more concerned about the people for whom the increase in the cost of all the affected items will have immediate day-to-day consequences.

I stopped to get gas on my way home yesterday and there were a lot of older white men in their trucks filling up a lot of gas cans and I thought oh your guy Trump spooking you with his tariffs. Guess they didn't see the leopard coming.

[tessaray]

22 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Lol, anybody want to field this one?

TIL, export tariffs are a real thing in many countries. Except for the US, where they are prohibited in the Constitution. 

[PRgal]

9 minutes ago, Bastet said:

We'll ride it out like those of us with income to invest always do.  I'm a lot more concerned about the people for whom the increase in the cost of all the affected items will have immediate day-to-day consequences.

Good thing I have a bag of frozen chicken and tons of frozen produce.  I might not have to do much grocery shopping. 

[tearknee]

Pretending that it was "MAGA" by itself that swung the election is just wooly thinking.

Although the weird tactical alliance between nasty developing world regimes and insurgencies and the western left (such as over Israel) tops that.

 

[kittykat]

The last time I watched a series of films that begins with a trade war it ended with a galactic empire being installed.

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, tearknee said:

Undocumented is just as much a loaded term but from the other political end.

 

unauthorized immigrant/arrival is not as it is the legal term

Both are equally valid in this thread:

 

[Anela]

I saw a screenshot from a news site, with a list of recommendations, like lowering your standard of living.  For us, that would mean not buying food, having nothing to watch, and getting rid of our internet.  

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Anela

[Bastet]

I saw this shared elsewhere (from a diplomat who's a representative at the UN):

 

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, kittykat said:

The last time I watched a series of films that begins with a trade war it ended with a galactic empire being installed.

[tearknee]

Undocumented is not un-biased though - the pretense of the online and offline far-left that it is  - why i get irritated.

 

2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

MST: "That you die at the end of the movie is reason enough to so".

5 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I saw this shared elsewhere (from a diplomat who's a representative at the UN):

 

*Looks at countries across the Islamic world and the associated Islamic religious culture and why Muslim women are warned by western DV charities to "don't get on a plane" when asked by a family member to come home for seemingly benign reasons*

 

Asinine post-colonial guilt and overcompensation can kiss my grits.

 

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, tearknee said:

Undocumented is not un-biased though - the pretense of the online and offline far-left that it is  - why i get irritated.

 

MST: "That you die at the end of the movie is reason enough to so".

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, ever atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist." 

[Bastet]

Another bit of news (I don't have a screencap without the commentary, but it's spot on, anyway):

[tearknee]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, ever atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist." 

I just hate Portman's uselessness as Padme. Hayden may be bad but he's Olivier compared to the mis-cast Portman.

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, tearknee said:

I just hate Portman's uselessness as Padme. Hayden may be bad but he's Olivier compared to the mis-cast Portman.

You want to talk about useless? I just finished Rebecca.

[anony.miss]

I really dislike "unauthorized immigrant"  - that phrase sounds as if the person, in total, is illegal and invalid.   "Undocumented immigrant"  keeps the focus on the process/paperwork, not the person.

Edited 4 hours ago by anony.miss

[Bastet]

Just now, anony.miss said:

I really dislike "unauthorized immigrant"  - that phrase sounds as if the person, in total, is illegal and invalid.   "Undocumented immigrant"  keeps the focus on the process/paperwork, not the person.

Exactly, and some people do have authorization but no paperwork to prove it.  That's especially important when people are having paperwork demanded of them in circumstances when they should not need paperwork (you know, existing in public spaces).

[tessaray]

5 minutes ago, tearknee said:

Undocumented is not un-biased though - the pretense of the online and offline far-left that it is  - why i get irritated.

The problem is that no matter what term is used, it won't stay neutral or unbiased for long. Once people online or on mainstream shows start using it with a sneer, its value is compromised. It's never-ending. Then well-intentioned folks get turned on for this kind of stuff and it's a win for the other side. 

I'm more than happy to use whatever terms the people in question themselves prefer. But as I get older, it can be be hard to keep up. 

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, tessaray said:

The problem is that no matter what term is used, it won't stay neutral or unbiased for long. Once people online or on mainstream shows start using it with a sneer, its value is compromised. It's never-ending. Then well-intentioned folks get turned on for this kind of stuff and it's a win for the other side. 

I'm more than happy to use whatever terms the people in question themselves prefer. But as I get older, it can be be hard to keep up. 

I'm so old, I remember when Liberal wasn't a dirty word.

[tessaray]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

I'm so old, I remember when Liberal wasn't a dirty word.

Me, too. I even remember liberal Republicans.

[tearknee]

16 minutes ago, anony.miss said:

I really dislike "unauthorized immigrant"  - that phrase sounds as if the person, in total, is illegal and invalid.   "Undocumented immigrant"  keeps the focus on the process/paperwork, not the person.

No it doesn't do that. 

 

It is describing the act, not the person.

 

I'm also irritated because i know that the Refugee Convention contains nothing which forces a country to accept someone's claim to be an asylum seeker or forces them to admit them to their territory.

See also: that stupid official UK gov website on the Magna Carta in 2015 which proclaimed: "800 years of democracy!" - democracy would have horrified both King John and the barons who made him sign it. The UK did not have a reasonably democratic parliament until the 19th century.

30 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

You want to talk about useless? I just finished Rebecca.

i sooth that malady where the woodbine twineth

[ProudMary]

OK, this is flat-out terrifying; and should be for MAGA, too. 

From Senator Ron Wyden's BlueSky. Wyden sits on the Senate Finance committee. 

https://bsky.app/profile/wyden.senate.gov/post/3lh5ejpwncc23

NEW: Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk's own companies. All of it.

 

[bluegirl147]

This is what the right wants.  Us fighting over words when we should be fighting them and what they are doing.

Just now, ProudMary said:

OK, this is flat-out terrifying; and should be for MAGA, too. 

From Senator Ron Wyden's BlueSky. Wyden sits on the Senate Finance committee. 

https://bsky.app/profile/wyden.senate.gov/post/3lh5ejpwncc23

 

 

 

That will be another lawsuit being filed.

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

This is what the right wants.  Us fighting over words when we should be fighting them and what they are doing.

That will be another lawsuit being filed.

How do you fight this in court when at least half the judges are bought and paid for? Especially SCOTUS?

[tearknee]

How many GIs and NG and reservists could the Democratic Party rely on??

[ProudMary]

4 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

That will be another lawsuit being filed.

When Musk and his GenZ operatives are already inside the core of the US Treasury, there's no lawsuit that will fix this.

MAGA should be furious. It's their money, too. Last I checked, they elected DJT, not Elon Musk.

[bluegirl147]

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

How do you fight this in court when at least half the judges are bought and paid for? Especially SCOTUS?

They at least have to try.  And even those judges I have to believe wouldn't want Musk absconding with trillions of dollars.

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, PRgal said:

…and we STILL don’t know what things are being tariffed and whether there are any exemptions.  He’s golfing in Florida and doing zero work from what I understand

 

https://www.cp24.com/politics/2025/02/01/live-updates-canada-braces-for-trumps-tariffs/

Normally I'd be pissed that he's off golfing instead of, y'know, doing his job, but honestly, the fatrther away he is from D.C.  and the White House, the better for all of us, so...

[ProudMary]

I've been watching this develop since late Thursday. For anyone who'd like additional info:

Musk pushes out top Treasury official over effort to access US government payment system: report

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/31/musk-pushes-out-top-treasury-official-over-effort-to-access-us-government-payment-system-report/

Wyden Demands Answers Following Report of Musk Personnel Seeking Access to Highly Sensitive U.S. Treasury Payments System

https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-demands-answers-following-report-of-musk-personnel-seeking-access-to-highly-sensitive-us-treasury-payments-system

[Annber03]

Go the fuck away, Musk, holy crap. I don't understand why the hell he thinks he has any say in anything that goes on with our govennment. NOBODY VOTED FOR YOU YOU WEREN'T ON THE BALLOTt. 

[Eri]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

Every Democratic president since Carter gets blamed for what they didn't do and what they did do is either ignored or downplayed.  Meanwhile Republican Presidents have their failures, of which they are many, excused or blamed on Democrats. Part of this is the media but it's also the voters fault.   They would rather believe the lies Republicans tell them than believe the truths Democrats tell them.

Indeed - and blatantly ignorant with the level of standards/expectations; It's a bit of a rigged game when one president is judged on how well he was able to sabotage the federal government and coddle the rich, while the other is judged on how well he was able to effect positive political change in order to aid the poor and middle class. Trying to be devil's advocates where racism factors in is just a personal peeve of mine.

 

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

When rich people start losing money Trump might blink.  Already Republican senators from states with agriculture exports are voicing concern.  

Don't worry, those same state senators are going to have slush funds ready for the next set of bailouts for farmers when things hit the fan....just like the last time 😒

[bluegirl147]

6 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Go the fuck away, Musk, holy crap. I don't understand why the hell he thinks he has any say in anything that goes on with our govennment. NOBODY VOTED FOR YOU YOU WEREN'T ON THE BALLOTt. 

It's like he is trying to be some knock off Dr Evil.  He is trying to meddle in Great Britain and Germany's politics.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he takes off for space.  There is something wrong with him.  

[ProudMary]

Quoting Senator Wyden, as Musk evidently has access to "payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk's own companies", you'd think some of the other tech-bros might be a little concerned, too.

Let's face it folks, if this was happening in any other country, it would be called a coup d'etat.

Remember that old joke about the Golden Rule? "The man with the gold rules." Who's really the leader of the US right now? Is it the guy playing golf in Florida that a majority of the US voted for, or the guy holding the multi-trillion dollar purse strings of the US Treasury?

[bluegirl147]

What is that saying?  Why rob a bank when you can own one.  Why run for president when you can buy one and be given the keys to the kingdom.  Apparently when Musk said he wanted to cut two billion dollars in the budget he meant put it in his pocket.

[peacheslatour]

It's done. Hold on to your butts. From Fox26 Feb. 1, 2025.

 

President Trump signed Saturday an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China.

Trump is declaring an economic emergency to put duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada.

The White House said Trump’s order includes a mechanism to escalate rates if the countries retaliate against the U.S., as they have threatened.

[nokat]

22 hours ago, Anela said:

That reminds me of this from George Carlin. https://youtu.be/YpFYpoIwQec

Thank you for the link. Carlin always said it like it is.

[ProudMary]

The New York Times has reported on the Musk takeover of Treasury info. I copied the gift share URL I got from a BlueSky account. I hope it works for others.

Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Full Access to Treasury’s Payments System

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/us/politics/elon-musk-doge-federal-payments-system.html?rsrc=flt&unlocked_article_code=1.tk4.jAMC.pLiINGmlE5DI&smid=url-share

[lookeyloo]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

I saw a screenshot from a news site, with a list of recommendations, like lowering your standard of living.  For us, that would mean not buying food, having nothing to watch, and getting rid of our internet.  

 

And sadly Dave Ramsey would say the same except maybe for the food part.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Normally I'd be pissed that he's off golfing instead of, y'know, doing his job, but honestly, the fatrther away he is from D.C.  and the White House, the better for all of us, so...

The first time, yeah, but this time Elon Musk is doing the job.  And by job I mean coup.

[Anela]

2 hours ago, tessaray said:

The problem is that no matter what term is used, it won't stay neutral or unbiased for long. Once people online or on mainstream shows start using it with a sneer, its value is compromised. It's never-ending. Then well-intentioned folks get turned on for this kind of stuff and it's a win for the other side. 

I'm more than happy to use whatever terms the people in question themselves prefer. But as I get older, it can be be hard to keep up. 

Same, and exactly! 

I'd rather not have to refer to anyone has legal/illegal, undocumented, or unauthorized, because they're human beings. 

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he takes off for space.  There is something wrong with him.  

Can he take off for space now? And be left out there permanently? 'Cause I'd be fine with that. 

[peacheslatour]

Just now, Annber03 said:

Can he take off for space now? And be left out there permanently? 'Cause I'd be fine with that. 

You know he could go to the sun at night, you know, while it's dark.

[bluegirl147]

CNN released the name of the helicopter's female pilot because of course they did.  They did it in spite of her family's request that her name not be released.  

[anony.miss]

Her family reversed their initial decison, and released a statement:

"The decision to release her name came “at the request of and in coordination with the family,” according to the statement.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives,” her family said in a statement released by the Army. “Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle … Rebecca was many things. She was a daughter, sister, partner, and friend. She was a servant, a caregiver, an advocate. Most of all she loved and was loved. Her life was short, but she made a difference in the lives of all who knew her.”

Lobach was a decorated service member, whose accolades include the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon. According to her family, she graduated within the top 20% of ROTC cadets nationwide."

https://nypost.com/2025/02/01/us-news/rebecca-lobach-idd-as-female-soldier-inside-doomed-black-hawk-during-dc-crash/

An extraordinary young woman. Condolences to all who loved her.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by anony.miss

[isalicat]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I saw this shared elsewhere (from a diplomat who's a representative at the UN):

 

Five hours ago, this same "diplomat" posted this on X/Twitter:

"Nothing justifies killing children. Nothing. Not self defense. Not human shields. Not a damn thing. A nation that needs to kill children to survive is not a nation that should exist."

(easily found by Googling Mohamad Safa). As a Jewish person and proud supporter of Israel's right to exist, I would not applaud anything he had to say about anything. And another post here that will probably get taken down...

 

[Ohiopirate02]

8 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

CNN released the name of the helicopter's female pilot because of course they did.  They did it in spite of her family's request that her name not be released.  

NPR did as well. Just because the DoD released her name does not mean the networks have to follow suit. Unfortunately Fox News is going to also release her name and most likely will blame her for the crash. (Then the black box info will come out making it crystal clear one of the men was responsible, but that won't get in the way of the narrative)

[Anela]

37 minutes ago, isalicat said:

Five hours ago, this same "diplomat" posted this on X/Twitter:

"Nothing justifies killing children. Nothing. Not self defense. Not human shields. Not a damn thing. A nation that needs to kill children to survive is not a nation that should exist."

(easily found by Googling Mohamad Safa). As a Jewish person and proud supporter of Israel's right to exist, I would not applaud anything he had to say about anything. And another post here that will probably get taken down...

 

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. 

[Eri]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

It's done. Hold on to your butts. From Fox26 Feb. 1, 2025.

 

President Trump signed Saturday an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China.

Trump is declaring an economic emergency to put duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada.

The White House said Trump’s order includes a mechanism to escalate rates if the countries retaliate against the U.S., as they have threatened.

Honestly Canada and other countries should just not hold back on the tariffs and go above and beyond what Trump is doing to them lol.

Don't be proportional, just go hog wild with it and make it as painful as possible.

At the very least it could potentially divert some of the administration's focus from their plans to reshape the federal government, as they may need to allocate resources to address the damage control resulting from tariff retaliation.

Someone earlier mentioned, what can we do? Match the energy of your political opponent, ALWAYS match the energy. Why should Democrats be overly careful, when Trump got into office acting like a complete and total jackass saying whatever came into his mind? If this is what the American people wanted, give it to them.

[tearknee]

where the woodbine twineth - my favorite ep of AHP/TAHH

Eileen deserved a better career