It’d be great if a more diverse state voted first, but with the general antipathy the people in power have towards changes to the structures that put them in power, I doubt it’s going to happen any time soon.
Hopefully some good will come out of this and all states will at least shift to using ballots instead of the ridiculous caucus system.
Alan Robertshaw
4 years ago
@ naglfar
Ooh, etymology nerd-dom; thanks!
When I grew up in Yorkshire people still used the thee and thou convention; with slightly different pronunciation. But we sort of had singular they in common use. You could be addressed that way too. As in “Ee, tha’s a right clarty-head” (“You are a bit daft”)
Kalish
4 years ago
Talk about a deserving candidate…
Specialffrog
4 years ago
Naglfar
4 years ago
@Kalish
I’m sickened. Make no mistake, I knew Trump would give it to someone awful, but it still feels like a punch to the gut and dishonors those who actually deserved that medal.
@Specialffrog
Several states are planning to have smartphone-based voting, and all I can think of is how this is a fraudster’s dream come true. Which, in the current climate, could be a feature, not a bug…
Snowberry
4 years ago
…It appears the rumormongers are changing their minds. Seeing how Joe Biden is doing poorly so far, they’ve decided that the chaos in Iowa was meant to sabotage Biden, not Sanders.
Big Titty Demon
4 years ago
I’m sleeping through the SotU so I don’t blow a gasket and die a premature death. “So unfortunate! Aneurysms at her age!?” People would speculate, and it’s never wise to fuel gossip.
But I completely agree with the xkcd comic, working in that field. Down to the blockchain and everything.
If anyone has annoying relatives that are gloating and spewing the “Democrats couldn’t organize a bake sale” line, feel free to remind them the 2012 Iowa Republican caucus called for Romney for a whole two weeks before correcting to call for Santorum, so the Democrats are, by my calculations, 14x better than Republicans by Republican measures. It is remarkably effective at shutting down said annoying relatives.
Paireon
4 years ago
Welp, that was a shitshow; probably still is. Too bad Rush’s medal won’t be of any use to him when he’s dead, so I can at least take comfort in that.
@Big Titty Demon – Huh, I don’t have that many right-wingers among my friends and relatives (and even those that are, relatively speaking, would probably vote Dem if they were American – I’m Canadian), but that’s actually a great point to make.
Snowberry
4 years ago
Let’s just say that if the SoTU speech had been a promise to rain hell on anyone not a white middle class to wealthy conservative, the only difference would have been tone. And there was applause on the Republican side, and at least a few walkouts on the Democratic side.
This is what the far-right truly wants, and what little remains of the moderate right is willing to tolerate for the sake of unity.
Definitely not Steve
4 years ago
This is off-topic, but I’m curious what kind of input y’all can give me. (Content notice: mild discussion of mental illness)
I just moved halfway across the country to work at what is sort of my dream job at this stage in my career. I’ve been here a couple of weeks so far and it seems great, I like my coworkers, the job is fun, and they’re paying me alright.
But I’m a bit worried about myself. I don’t know anyone in this city except my coworkers, I’m not in contact with any of my previous social support groups, and I’m bad at making friends at the best of times. I also haven’t been in the best mental place in the last year, and I don’t quite know how my brain is going to react to the stress and change. I think my mental health has improved overall since the move, but I also have moments of feeling very tense and overwhelmed.
Anyone else here done a solo move as an adult? How did you cope? Any suggestions to meet people and rebuild a social support network, or for coping with mental health issues during a major stressful life event like this?
Catalpa
4 years ago
@Definitely Not Steve
What are your interests and hobbies? Seek out other people who are into the same or similar things. Check out Meetup for starters, libraries are often good community hubs as well. Facebook might have some groups in your area too. It really depends on what you enjoy.
Personally, I really enjoy tabletop roleplaying games, and joining a dungeons and dragons table is essentially a “instant friends- just add pizza” deal. I’ve moved pretty frequently and most of my friend groups have been made via this method. If you like TTRPGs or TCGs, check out your local nerd shop.
Activism might be a good option too, like a chapter of Food Not Bombs or other such group. Do you have a specific cause that’s close to your heart? See what options there are in your area. If you’ve got a progressive government representative, then going to their office or home page might give you some leads on this route.
Or maybe a hiking group or a book club or something else is more your speed. Depending on how big of a city you’re in, there should be a couple options that you can find.
I find that having something to focus on really helps grease the wheels of socialising, and finding something that meets regularly (weekly, monthly) is a good way to get out of the house and ward off the depression funk.
Kat, ambassador of the feminist government in exile
4 years ago
I wish I could just put the video here, but I am stumped by the technology. That said, click the link to see Nancy P. do it to it. (And like Sergeant Schultz of Hogan’s Heroes, Mike Pence sees nothing, knows nothing.)
@Definitively not Steve : I changed city as a young adult, but because I absolutely, completely, desesperately needed to get away from family and acquaintances.
Social networking took time (but I love being alone), and as Catalpa said, finding clubs (or more serious organizations) for your hobbies will help. Joining the first one will probably be an extremely tense moment, but it get better. That being said, dropping a club as soon as you see the people in it aren’t to your liking is a good practice.
@Weird Eddie : as a software engineer, I don’t have much problem with malfunctioning software, mostly out of two principle : A – Keep it simple and B – if it’s made by a big corporation and isn’t a game, it’s probably shitty. A lot of problems are made by softwares who try too much to guess what I want, and even more by bloated softwares made because their engineers need to justify their employement. (windows, JIRA, Gmail, I look at you)
That being said, using software for things like caucus and elections who are easy enough to do by hand is complete madness to me. And having a private company do softwares used for public decisions like that indeed is complete madness.
occasional reader
4 years ago
Far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) (ex Front National (FN)), which was (and maybe still is) gouzigouzi lovelove with russians moguls and, probably, government, is now sued by one of the russian companies which have lend it money (in fact, a company which have repurchase the loan), because of the non repayment of the loan. For no less than 9,4 millions of Euros.
Am i authorized to go Mwahaha ! on that ?
Ohlmann
4 years ago
@occasional reader : yes, but sadly the ex-UMP have gone full nazi, so it’s little consolation 🙁
Paul
4 years ago
Hello everyone, French lurker here.
There is something I don’t understand: why the Iowa caucus is a democrat failure?
As far as I know, caucus are extremely inefficient and a proof of how the American democracy is a failed democracy. So it’s not a surprised a caucus ended in utter chaos. But I don’t get why the democrats should be the one to blame. Don’t the republicans also use caucus? And the presidential elections too?
Full Metal Ox
4 years ago
So may we presume that Rush Limbaugh has finally received his medal for smoking cigars?
Giving Limbaugh the Medal of Honor…JFC. Everything Trump does is retributive. He’s doing it to crap all over the previous recipients, the civil rights heroes who actually earned theirs through bravery and selflessness. The message this sends is loud and clear:
1) Lazy toxic garbage white men get medals just for existing. Everybody else has to be extraordinary.
2) The Medal of Honor is no big deal. Trump and the right hate prestige, because the left won’t give it to them, so their response is to degrade the institutions and the awards till they’re no longer worth venerating.
3) Ha ha liberals, now you get to feel the same way we felt when we watched undeserving black people getting honored.
4) Screw achievement. The only thing that matters is loyalty. Limbaugh has been indispensible in spreading RW propaganda and keeping Trump’s base stoked and enraged.
It’s the same psychology that led MAGAs to vote for Trump. They couldn’t stop a black man from becoming president, but they can take away the dignity of the office by elevating Apricot Pepe to the same position immediately afterwards. It reassures them that even the worst white man is still equal to the best black man. If even a vulgar, sleazy idiot can attain the presidency, they reason, then how impressive can Obama’s achievement really be?
numerobis
4 years ago
Definitely not Steve: I’m in a similar boat! I’ve moved solo often, but this time (a year ago) was the first time in a bad mental state.
What’s working for me is to make a gmail calendar of social things (eg go to the gym MWF) and then, well, computer says go. Who am I to disagree?
Recent transplants are people also in the same boat, so they’re the easiest to befriend.
Paireon
4 years ago
@Ohlmann – Well, they did rename themselves “Les Républicains”, so it’s not that surprising they ended up turning out like their transatlantic namesake..
rv97
4 years ago
@Buttercup Q. Skullpants
They deserved it from “keeping the faith” and “preventing society from being degenerate”. This goes beyond race.
Naglfar
4 years ago
@Buttercup
The one that scares me the most is the fourth one. It seems particularly fascistic to prioritize loyalty over actual accomplishment.
Diego Duarte
4 years ago
@Buttercup
That makes a lot of sense, but I think we ought to play the same game. I would encourage the next president (hopefully Warren or Sanders) to give Obama the Medal of Honor. It would piss soooooo many of them off.
And on top of that, I would encourage them to courtpack the Supreme Court, and nominate Obama as the next Justice. Now THAT would give a lot of them the aneurysms we’ve been hoping for.
We Hunted The Mammoth
This may be of use to some peeps.
@Alan Robertshaw
In a similar vein, some historical evidence of singular they:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.html
https://pemberley.com/janeinfo/austheir.html
https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/
@Kalish
It’d be great if a more diverse state voted first, but with the general antipathy the people in power have towards changes to the structures that put them in power, I doubt it’s going to happen any time soon.
Hopefully some good will come out of this and all states will at least shift to using ballots instead of the ridiculous caucus system.
@ naglfar
Ooh, etymology nerd-dom; thanks!
When I grew up in Yorkshire people still used the thee and thou convention; with slightly different pronunciation. But we sort of had singular they in common use. You could be addressed that way too. As in “Ee, tha’s a right clarty-head” (“You are a bit daft”)
Talk about a deserving candidate…
@Kalish
I’m sickened. Make no mistake, I knew Trump would give it to someone awful, but it still feels like a punch to the gut and dishonors those who actually deserved that medal.
@Specialffrog
Several states are planning to have smartphone-based voting, and all I can think of is how this is a fraudster’s dream come true. Which, in the current climate, could be a feature, not a bug…
…It appears the rumormongers are changing their minds. Seeing how Joe Biden is doing poorly so far, they’ve decided that the chaos in Iowa was meant to sabotage Biden, not Sanders.
I’m sleeping through the SotU so I don’t blow a gasket and die a premature death. “So unfortunate! Aneurysms at her age!?” People would speculate, and it’s never wise to fuel gossip.
But I completely agree with the xkcd comic, working in that field. Down to the blockchain and everything.
If anyone has annoying relatives that are gloating and spewing the “Democrats couldn’t organize a bake sale” line, feel free to remind them the 2012 Iowa Republican caucus called for Romney for a whole two weeks before correcting to call for Santorum, so the Democrats are, by my calculations, 14x better than Republicans by Republican measures. It is remarkably effective at shutting down said annoying relatives.
Welp, that was a shitshow; probably still is. Too bad Rush’s medal won’t be of any use to him when he’s dead, so I can at least take comfort in that.
@Big Titty Demon – Huh, I don’t have that many right-wingers among my friends and relatives (and even those that are, relatively speaking, would probably vote Dem if they were American – I’m Canadian), but that’s actually a great point to make.
Let’s just say that if the SoTU speech had been a promise to rain hell on anyone not a white middle class to wealthy conservative, the only difference would have been tone. And there was applause on the Republican side, and at least a few walkouts on the Democratic side.
This is what the far-right truly wants, and what little remains of the moderate right is willing to tolerate for the sake of unity.
This is off-topic, but I’m curious what kind of input y’all can give me. (Content notice: mild discussion of mental illness)
I just moved halfway across the country to work at what is sort of my dream job at this stage in my career. I’ve been here a couple of weeks so far and it seems great, I like my coworkers, the job is fun, and they’re paying me alright.
But I’m a bit worried about myself. I don’t know anyone in this city except my coworkers, I’m not in contact with any of my previous social support groups, and I’m bad at making friends at the best of times. I also haven’t been in the best mental place in the last year, and I don’t quite know how my brain is going to react to the stress and change. I think my mental health has improved overall since the move, but I also have moments of feeling very tense and overwhelmed.
Anyone else here done a solo move as an adult? How did you cope? Any suggestions to meet people and rebuild a social support network, or for coping with mental health issues during a major stressful life event like this?
@Definitely Not Steve
What are your interests and hobbies? Seek out other people who are into the same or similar things. Check out Meetup for starters, libraries are often good community hubs as well. Facebook might have some groups in your area too. It really depends on what you enjoy.
Personally, I really enjoy tabletop roleplaying games, and joining a dungeons and dragons table is essentially a “instant friends- just add pizza” deal. I’ve moved pretty frequently and most of my friend groups have been made via this method. If you like TTRPGs or TCGs, check out your local nerd shop.
Activism might be a good option too, like a chapter of Food Not Bombs or other such group. Do you have a specific cause that’s close to your heart? See what options there are in your area. If you’ve got a progressive government representative, then going to their office or home page might give you some leads on this route.
Or maybe a hiking group or a book club or something else is more your speed. Depending on how big of a city you’re in, there should be a couple options that you can find.
I find that having something to focus on really helps grease the wheels of socialising, and finding something that meets regularly (weekly, monthly) is a good way to get out of the house and ward off the depression funk.
I wish I could just put the video here, but I am stumped by the technology. That said, click the link to see Nancy P. do it to it. (And like Sergeant Schultz of Hogan’s Heroes, Mike Pence sees nothing, knows nothing.)
https://youtu.be/LPlvYeEfceU
@Definitively not Steve : I changed city as a young adult, but because I absolutely, completely, desesperately needed to get away from family and acquaintances.
Social networking took time (but I love being alone), and as Catalpa said, finding clubs (or more serious organizations) for your hobbies will help. Joining the first one will probably be an extremely tense moment, but it get better. That being said, dropping a club as soon as you see the people in it aren’t to your liking is a good practice.
@Weird Eddie : as a software engineer, I don’t have much problem with malfunctioning software, mostly out of two principle : A – Keep it simple and B – if it’s made by a big corporation and isn’t a game, it’s probably shitty. A lot of problems are made by softwares who try too much to guess what I want, and even more by bloated softwares made because their engineers need to justify their employement. (windows, JIRA, Gmail, I look at you)
That being said, using software for things like caucus and elections who are easy enough to do by hand is complete madness to me. And having a private company do softwares used for public decisions like that indeed is complete madness.
Far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) (ex Front National (FN)), which was (and maybe still is) gouzigouzi lovelove with russians moguls and, probably, government, is now sued by one of the russian companies which have lend it money (in fact, a company which have repurchase the loan), because of the non repayment of the loan. For no less than 9,4 millions of Euros.
Am i authorized to go Mwahaha ! on that ?
@occasional reader : yes, but sadly the ex-UMP have gone full nazi, so it’s little consolation 🙁
Hello everyone, French lurker here.
There is something I don’t understand: why the Iowa caucus is a democrat failure?
As far as I know, caucus are extremely inefficient and a proof of how the American democracy is a failed democracy. So it’s not a surprised a caucus ended in utter chaos. But I don’t get why the democrats should be the one to blame. Don’t the republicans also use caucus? And the presidential elections too?
So may we presume that Rush Limbaugh has finally received his medal for smoking cigars?
http://www.rawstory.com/2020/02/i-would-like-a-medal-for-smoking-old-radio-shows-haunt-rush-limbaugh-after-he-reveals-advanced-lung-cancer/
Giving Limbaugh the Medal of Honor…JFC. Everything Trump does is retributive. He’s doing it to crap all over the previous recipients, the civil rights heroes who actually earned theirs through bravery and selflessness. The message this sends is loud and clear:
1) Lazy toxic garbage white men get medals just for existing. Everybody else has to be extraordinary.
2) The Medal of Honor is no big deal. Trump and the right hate prestige, because the left won’t give it to them, so their response is to degrade the institutions and the awards till they’re no longer worth venerating.
3) Ha ha liberals, now you get to feel the same way we felt when we watched undeserving black people getting honored.
4) Screw achievement. The only thing that matters is loyalty. Limbaugh has been indispensible in spreading RW propaganda and keeping Trump’s base stoked and enraged.
It’s the same psychology that led MAGAs to vote for Trump. They couldn’t stop a black man from becoming president, but they can take away the dignity of the office by elevating Apricot Pepe to the same position immediately afterwards. It reassures them that even the worst white man is still equal to the best black man. If even a vulgar, sleazy idiot can attain the presidency, they reason, then how impressive can Obama’s achievement really be?
Definitely not Steve: I’m in a similar boat! I’ve moved solo often, but this time (a year ago) was the first time in a bad mental state.
What’s working for me is to make a gmail calendar of social things (eg go to the gym MWF) and then, well, computer says go. Who am I to disagree?
Recent transplants are people also in the same boat, so they’re the easiest to befriend.
@Ohlmann – Well, they did rename themselves “Les Républicains”, so it’s not that surprising they ended up turning out like their transatlantic namesake..
@Buttercup Q. Skullpants
They deserved it from “keeping the faith” and “preventing society from being degenerate”. This goes beyond race.
@Buttercup
The one that scares me the most is the fourth one. It seems particularly fascistic to prioritize loyalty over actual accomplishment.
@Buttercup
That makes a lot of sense, but I think we ought to play the same game. I would encourage the next president (hopefully Warren or Sanders) to give Obama the Medal of Honor. It would piss soooooo many of them off.
And on top of that, I would encourage them to courtpack the Supreme Court, and nominate Obama as the next Justice. Now THAT would give a lot of them the aneurysms we’ve been hoping for.