Now That Trump Has Won...

[Ironhold]

3 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Boom! 

In college most male feminists were trying to show off how sensitive and down with the cause they were so they could get female attention that evening. Right after they talked about their love for Tori Amos. 

"Academia Waltz", the comic strip that Berkeley Breathed did for the college newspaper when he was a student at University of Texas - Austin, has a strip where a guy lies to a girl to make himself seem more sensitive and kind; given when the strip was written, he claims to be fond of Gino Vanelli. 

Cue an incredulous anthropomorphic canine character desperately trying to warn the girl that the guy was lying and being flabbergasted when she ultimately believed the guy despite his warnings. 

[Ironhold]

On 12/6/2024 at 1:03 PM, Phoenix_person said:

I watched a movie recently called Woman of the Hour. @Ironhold may be familiar with it. I've had a bit of a celebrity crush on Anna Kendrick ever since my ex wife dragged me to all of the Twilight movies in theaters, so I was very interested to see how her debut as a director turned out. I'm not exaggerating when I say it might be the best movie I watched this year. Definitely top 3. It flawlessly portrays the general distrust that women had for men in the 1970s, as well as behaviors that would cause such distrust. All of this was juxtaposed on top of a true story about a man who uses kindness to prey on women. It's rated R for vulgar language and some pretty unsettling violence. But it's worth a watch, because a lot men haven't actually overcome the misogyny of past generations. They just got better at hiding it.

Heard of it, but I don't have Netflix so I haven't seen it. 

And see what I noted elsewhere in the thread about con artists, clout-seekers, and predators managing to infiltrate the feminist movement. 

[LDSGator]

2 hours ago, Phoenix_person said:

To be clear, we're on the same page here. And fwiw, as far as clergy goes, I trust LDS more than most.

Same. I’d trust my kid with any of the regulars here as well, just to be clear. 

[Ironhold]

Sorely tempted to go back to that anime store, pick out a waifu statue, and hang on to it as an object lesson of sorts because of how often I'm now having to explain what's going on to everyone. 

[SilentOne]

On 12/6/2024 at 11:33 AM, zil2 said:

I cannot begin to say how men are, but I can tell you that at least in my generation (I'm in my 50s), women are really hard on themselves and never feel like they are doing / have done enough.

"I’m sure it comes as no surprise, but the differences between men and women can often be quite striking—physically and mentally, as well as emotionally. One of the best ways I can think of to illustrate this is in the way my wife and I cook a meal.

"When Harriet prepares a meal, it’s a masterpiece. Her cuisine is as wide-ranging as the world, and she frequently prepares dishes from countries we have visited. The presentation of the food is awe inspiring. In fact, it often looks so beautiful that it seems a crime to eat it. It’s as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the sense of taste.

"But sure enough, no matter how perfect everything is, looks, and tastes, Harriet will apologize for something she thinks is imperfect. 'I’m afraid I used a touch too much ginger, she will say, or, 'Next time, I think it would be better if I used a little more curry and one additional bay leaf.'

"Let me contrast that with the way I cook. For the purpose of this talk, I asked Harriet to tell me what I cook best.

"Her answer: fried eggs.

"Sunny-side up.

"But that isn’t all. I have a specialty dish called Knusperchen. The name may sound like a delicacy you might find at an exclusive restaurant. Let me share with you how to make it. You cut French bread into small slices and toast them twice.

"That is the recipe!

"So, between fried eggs, even when they are greasy, and Knusperchen, even when they are burned, when I cook, I feel pretty heroic.

"Perhaps this contrast between my wife and me is a slight exaggeration, but it illustrates something that may extend beyond preparing meals."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Happiness, Your Heritage

[Carborendum]

I had previously said:

On 11/22/2024 at 7:10 AM, Carborendum said:

What happens in the next few months to Gaetz will tell a story.

Here's what has happened:  He's going to be a contributor to OAN.

Uhmmm... That network is tanking worse than CNN & MSNBC.  They may not be in existence next year.

This tells me that the allegations were worse than the public knows about.  So, yes.  I'm changing my position on Gaetz until I hear something more reassuring.

[NeuroTypical]

12 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

OAN

Ew.  To the credit of all the Trump critics out there:  In the last election, as November became December became January, Trump's tweeting claims of election fraud started with links to various articles from all over the place, to articles from a few fringey sites, to basically only articles from OAN.   

Anyone else ever listen to Coast To Coast with Art Bell?  Overnight AM radio show, focusing on alien abductions and government mind control and the illuminati and all such conspiracy things.  OAN has always given me serious CTC vibes, except whereas Art always knew he was an entertainer, OAN claims to be a news source. 

Again, Ew.

Edited December 10, 2024 by NeuroTypical

[Vort]

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Ew.  To the credit of all the Trump critics out there:  In the last election, as November became December became January, Trump's tweeting claims of election fraud started with links to various articles from all over the place, to articles from a few fringey sites, to basically only articles from OAN.   

Anyone else ever listen to Coast To Coast with Art Bell?  Overnight AM radio show, focusing on alien abductions and government mind control and the illuminati and all such conspiracy things.  OAN has always given me serious CTC vibes, except whereas Art always knew he was an entertainer, OAN claims to be a news source. 

Again, Ew.

Honestly, I fail to see how this makes OAN worse than MSNBC.

[Carborendum]

I haven't seen anyone else posting about the pending war of Armageddon forming. I've only got bits and pieces.  I'll try to write what I can.  But it's all jumbled.

• Biden just gave money and supplies to Ukraine to build weapons of their own???
• Russia is threatening nukes as a reaction.
   
• Russia received Assad.
• New Syrian Regime incursion into Russia
   
• Israel has been attacking Syria
• US attacks Syria
• Russia is attacking Syria
   
• Russia and Israel fighting each other over Syria.
• Iran???

I'm struggling to figure out how all this happened so suddenly and what precipitated everything.

I'm also struggling to think of a time when there was so much international fighting in that region involving so many countries.

 

[NeuroTypical]

5 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I'm also struggling to think of a time when there was so much international fighting in that region involving so many countries.

Same.   Best I can think of is this, which didn't involve too much nation-fighting-nation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring#Outcomes

[Carborendum]

This is all the nations from the north gathering in Syria.

If two apostles take a trip to Israel soon, I'm bugging out, man!

[Carborendum]

Great. Now we have "car-sized drones" flying around government buildings including military bases.

[SilentOne]

48 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

This is all the nations from the north gathering in Syria.

If two apostles take a trip to Israel soon, I'm bugging out, man!

There are supposed to be two or three years of them preaching before they're killed, right?

Okay, I did a quick check. According to Gramps, Parley P. Pratt said,

"John, in his 11th chapter of Revelations, gives us many more particulars concerning this same event. He informs us that, after the city and temple are rebuilt by the Jews, the Gentiles will tread it under foot forty and two months, during which time there will be two prophets continually prophesying and working mighty miracles. And it seems that the Gentile army shall be hindered from utterly destroying and overthrowing the city, while these two prophets continue. But, after a struggle of three years and a half, they at length succeed in destroying these two prophets, and then overrunning much of the city"

We've got a little time still.

[zil2]

41 minutes ago, SilentOne said:

We've got a little time still.

[Phoenix_person]

18 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Ew.  To the credit of all the Trump critics out there:  In the last election, as November became December became January, Trump's tweeting claims of election fraud started with links to various articles from all over the place, to articles from a few fringey sites, to basically only articles from OAN.   

Anyone else ever listen to Coast To Coast with Art Bell?  Overnight AM radio show, focusing on alien abductions and government mind control and the illuminati and all such conspiracy things.  OAN has always given me serious CTC vibes, except whereas Art always knew he was an entertainer, OAN claims to be a news source. 

Again, Ew.

Yep. Our issues with Trump are less about policy and more about stuff like this. He actively encourages the worst actors in the culture war by cozying up to the extremists on the right. But I'm the bad guy for pointing out there are literal Nazis and pedophiles at the gates (Gaetz?).

[Phoenix_person]

16 hours ago, Vort said:

Honestly, I fail to see how this makes OAN worse than MSNBC.

For the record, I agree with Vort here. MSNBC and CNN can both take a long walk off a short pier along with Fox and OAN.

[Carborendum]

So, Gaetz is gone.

Now, Hegseth is a different matter.

• Knee jerk reaction from the left was that he was only a news contributor who knew nothing about the militiary.  He was a Major with two Bronze Stars.
• Accused of sexual assault.  But investigation indicated that the woman in question was just trying to hide her affair from her husband.
• Accused of drinking on the job.  But everyone who worked closely with him said that was a blatant lie and he never showed any such symptoms.
• Now accused of lying about being accepted to West Point.  Turns out that a bureaucrat at the school disseminated false information on that point.... err... they "made an administrative error."  uh-huh.

Why are they trying so hard to keep him from this post?  I'd think that if the opposition is working this hard to get rid of him, there must be a reason why it is bad for the deep state.

Keep going, Pete.

[LDSGator]

10 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Why are they trying so hard to keep him from this post?

Because he has a serious drinking problem. It’s not funny, it’s sad. 
 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna181471 

[Phoenix_person]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

Because he has a serious drinking problem. It’s not funny, it’s sad. 
 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna181471 

[LDSGator]

2 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

Yup. I use humor to deal with everything. And sure, I know some great drunk jokes and memes.
 

But being trashed at 10 AM (and Hegseth, like all addicts,  tried to brush it off or point to others) is a serious problem. The man needs the compassion of friends, family, and us. And at this time, the last thing he should be is in charge of a major government branch. 

[Just_A_Guy]

2 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Yup. I use humor to deal with everything. And sure, I know some great drunk jokes and memes.
 

But being trashed at 10 AM (and Hegseth, like all addicts,  tried to brush it off or point to others) is a serious problem. The man needs the compassion of friends, family, and us. And at this time, the last thing he should be is in charge of a major government branch. 

I dunno.  US Grant did okay (I believe Lincoln rather famously told his staff to find out what Grant was drinking and distribute it to the rest of his generals).  I’m more worried about Hegseth’s apparent history of exploiting/cheating on women, even if it didn’t rise to the level of legally-defined sexual assault.  Call me old school; but I still think there’s a connection between one’s ability to stay loyal to one’s closest connections/ability to demonstrate sacrificial love at the most personal level, and one’s ability to effectively serve one’s country.

A colleague of mine—retired colonel—feels like a retired major probably just isn’t going to have the scope of knowledge or depth of administrative knowledge to be able to implement the degree of change Trump wants in the Pentagon.  I think one of Trump’s major failings in 2016-2017 was failing to understand the nature of the bureaucratic/procedural apparatus he was trying to subdue or the ways it would fight back.  I’m afraid Hegseth (and some these others—particularly the DOGE dudes and Gabbard) might be setting themselves up to run into that same brick wall; and I’m not sure being relatively young and vigorous is in and of itself enough to overcome all of that.

I wish Hegseth luck.  In this climate, there’s probably not a politically viable basis to really strongly oppose his confirmation . . . but I’m not anticipating much success from him, either.  And while I’m not very knowledgeable about military matters . . . My sense is that our capacity has been slipping for a long time; that our diminished military capacity is about to get exposed in a very painful way within the next 2-3 years; and that Trump and his SECDEF are going to get the blame for that, whether they deserve it or not.

[LDSGator]

3 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

dunno.  US Grant did okay

As a general, sure. As a president? He’s widely regarded as one of the worst. 

Even if you think being a functional alcoholic wouldn’t hinder his abilities to run the Pentagon, it would escalate the mans poor health and lead him to an early death.  

[Just_A_Guy]

17 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

As a general, sure. As a president? He’s widely regarded as one of the worst. 

Even if you think being a functional alcoholic wouldn’t hinder his abilities to run the Pentagon, it would escalate the mans poor health and lead him to an early death.  

You should read Chernow’s biography of Grant.  He is very underrated as a president.  Drove the KKK into near-extinction, among other things.

And, Grant died of throat cancer (after a heroic struggle to produce his memoirs so that his wife would have income to survive on after his death).  His inveterate cigar-smoking almost certainly played a huge role in his getting cancer; his drinking, not so much.

Edited December 12, 2024 by Just_A_Guy

[LDSGator]

6 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

ou should read Chernow’s biography of Grant.  He is very underrated as a president.  Drove the KKK into near-extinction, among other things.

Sure, I love reading presidential bios. My recent favorite is the Max Boot one of Reagan. Second is Coolidge by Amity Shlaes.  

Edited December 12, 2024 by LDSGator

[JohnsonJones]

20 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Because he has a serious drinking problem. It’s not funny, it’s sad. 
 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna181471 

It doesn't bother me if he's a drinker or not.  It was decades ago, but there were a ton of officers which were extremely heavy drinkers. 

Anytime we got, I also so a ton of enlisted who were heavy drinkers. 

Drinking in the military is pretty common I think.  It shouldn't surprise anyone if someone who was or is in the military drinks, or even drinks heavily.

I'm probably more focused on the fact that he actually served and did his time (I'm probably very pro-veteran, so I'm probably also biased in that manner). 

Same reason why there are some things I'll defend Vance against as well.

Edited December 12, 2024 by JohnsonJones