Fucking Fuck XII - Extreme Fuckery June 18, 2018 10:03 AM Subscribe
There was a call out for a new venting thread. Here it is. Vent to your heart's content here and remember, we're all in this together. Also, everybody needs a hug.
good lord
posted by entropicamericana at 10:23 AM on June 18, 2018
posted by entropicamericana at 10:23 AM on June 18, 2018
I'm not doing great. This is all kinda cracking my head open.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:24 AM on June 18, 2018 [26 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:24 AM on June 18, 2018 [26 favorites]
I asked for mild chicken at Popeye's Chicken but they gave me spicy and even though spicy food doesn't bother me I find the spice takes over the flavor of the chicken a bit too much.
Also, everything about the Trump administration is terrible and evil and I want to lash out at everyone who helped them get elected but that includes both my parents and I just don't know what to do about that other than go into a sort of 1000-yard stare every time I'm around them. If my parents die before the next election (highly likely, given their age) this will go unresolved and every single day I am filled with guilt about that but I know trying to talk to them about this will be useless. Also they are putting children into cages and using the bible to justify it. What the fuck is going on?
And it's been 30 minutes since I ate Popeye's Chicken and the regret is starting to set in.
posted by bondcliff at 10:25 AM on June 18, 2018 [15 favorites]
Also, everything about the Trump administration is terrible and evil and I want to lash out at everyone who helped them get elected but that includes both my parents and I just don't know what to do about that other than go into a sort of 1000-yard stare every time I'm around them. If my parents die before the next election (highly likely, given their age) this will go unresolved and every single day I am filled with guilt about that but I know trying to talk to them about this will be useless. Also they are putting children into cages and using the bible to justify it. What the fuck is going on?
And it's been 30 minutes since I ate Popeye's Chicken and the regret is starting to set in.
posted by bondcliff at 10:25 AM on June 18, 2018 [15 favorites]
I have about 1 month left until my grant deadline. After that, I can take some time off. I'm going to be heading South. I need to be doing something concrete. My senators are both Dems, my freaking rep is Adam Schiff. I need to be making something happen. Bodies on the gears and all that.
posted by Sophie1 at 10:25 AM on June 18, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Sophie1 at 10:25 AM on June 18, 2018 [9 favorites]
2016 - the year the American Electoral College misread the current state of the art in AI research and settled for a Markov Chain based Regurgitator of Evil.
posted by mce at 10:28 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mce at 10:28 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Where are all these fuckers who aren't voting in the midterms and do they have lapels I can grab to shake them
posted by benzenedream at 10:30 AM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 10:30 AM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I've had to move 11 times already in the 8 years I've lived in England. My landlord wants to sell my flat that I've only been in for five months now and I can't even.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:38 AM on June 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 10:38 AM on June 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
I am so glad I get to vote for Merkley. I am so glad I get to vote for Merkley. I am so glad I get to vote for Merkley.
Every time I see his name I thank the freaking stars that I voted for him and get to vote for him.
Fucking fuckers putting babies in cages. FUCK.
posted by fraula at 10:41 AM on June 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
Every time I see his name I thank the freaking stars that I voted for him and get to vote for him.
Fucking fuckers putting babies in cages. FUCK.
posted by fraula at 10:41 AM on June 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
AHHHHHHHHHHGGHGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
posted by Space Kitty at 10:53 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Space Kitty at 10:53 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I had to leave a church lunch yesterday because some fucknozzle stole my CC to buy a TV at Best Buy in fucking Minnesota. It's like everything is just fucking plundering now and I can't even have a nice lunch.
posted by selfnoise at 10:54 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by selfnoise at 10:54 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm having to replace the engine in my 6 year old car to the tune of $3000, and the check engine light just came on in my wife's 12 year old car.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:01 AM on June 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 11:01 AM on June 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
I couldn't even have a pleasant conversation with my father yesterday griping about politics (which is, AFAICT, literally the only thing we agree on) because he opened the conversation by telling me that he bought a house in the same state where I live two months ago and it's the third consecutive time that I found out after the fact that he was moving across state lines and what the fuck am I supposed to DO with that?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:03 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:03 AM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm so fucking tired.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:09 AM on June 18, 2018 [29 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 11:09 AM on June 18, 2018 [29 favorites]
This morning I went to protest the attorney general's speech at the sheriffs' convention here, and it was very therapeutic to yell FUCK JEFF SESSIONS repeatedly at the top of my lungs.
A+++, would protest again.
posted by Siobhan at 11:10 AM on June 18, 2018 [33 favorites]
A+++, would protest again.
posted by Siobhan at 11:10 AM on June 18, 2018 [33 favorites]
Tiny plug. I started a self-care group on FB after the election. Every day for a year, a friend and I wrote something about self-care and resilience during this time. I took some time off. It's back.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:21 AM on June 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by Sophie1 at 11:21 AM on June 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
I am looking for somewhere I can scream and scream without someone calling the cops. Ideas?
posted by ZeroDivides at 11:28 AM on June 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by ZeroDivides at 11:28 AM on June 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Someone stole a 5 gallon container of fuel from my pickup bed. It looked like gasoline because it was a red container, but it was diesel. If they try to put it in a gasoline powered vehicle it will damage the engine bad. Instant karma. Fuck yes!
posted by JohnR at 11:33 AM on June 18, 2018 [35 favorites]
posted by JohnR at 11:33 AM on June 18, 2018 [35 favorites]
I am looking for somewhere I can scream and scream without someone calling the cops. Ideas?
Any roller coasters near you?
posted by Sophie1 at 11:48 AM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Any roller coasters near you?
posted by Sophie1 at 11:48 AM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm fighting hard through mental health stuff. I'm seeing someone and my meds have been changed and I'm feeling so dark and angry all the time. I told my best friend in the world that I had to pull back from her because I've been using her as a crutch for emotional support and putting labour on her to be there for me constantly. It might be an over-reaction on my part but the fact that she said that she'd respect that, leads me to believe that it's very much the right thing to do. But I hate that I'm feeling this way and that it's impacting the person I care the most about. Ugh. I keep pushing through but it feels so very exhausting.
posted by Fizz at 11:54 AM on June 18, 2018 [18 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 11:54 AM on June 18, 2018 [18 favorites]
I can't believe I'm earnestly asking my government to prove they didn't sell immigrant girls into human trafficking. I'm so disoriented.
posted by Donald Trump Sex Nightmare at 12:04 PM on June 18, 2018 [23 favorites]
posted by Donald Trump Sex Nightmare at 12:04 PM on June 18, 2018 [23 favorites]
Of course, 4chan/pol would do a false-flag operation on bi/pan/trans wank this week.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 12:06 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 12:06 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
After years of simultaneously taking a lot of pride in my outwardly good health while also never going to see a doctor for a checkup, I was told just last week that my blood pressure is now too high for me to safely donate blood.
Honestly, I've never really paid attention to those numbers before, but now I'm going through the work of finding a new doctor to check me out (it turns out the last one I saw 8-9 years ago is outside my network now) and thinking about a number of lifestyle changes.
This is on top of the usual mental health issues (depression/anxiety), and all of these are no doubt exacerbated by the constant feeling of being under attack that I've felt since the 2016 primaries. It's a real pisser all around.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:07 PM on June 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Honestly, I've never really paid attention to those numbers before, but now I'm going through the work of finding a new doctor to check me out (it turns out the last one I saw 8-9 years ago is outside my network now) and thinking about a number of lifestyle changes.
This is on top of the usual mental health issues (depression/anxiety), and all of these are no doubt exacerbated by the constant feeling of being under attack that I've felt since the 2016 primaries. It's a real pisser all around.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:07 PM on June 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
My thanks to Rust Moranis. I paraphrased their "The only thing this administration has done quickly, quietly and efficiently is the building of concentration camps for children" comment when I contacted my rep. Also, I apologize for not giving them any credit, & I loved their brother in Strange Brew.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:09 PM on June 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:09 PM on June 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
Basically I have hate in my heart for the rulers of at least four countries right now, and I deleted my twitter because my real name is too distinctive for anonymity and I claimed not to have social media on a visa application and had to make it so. Nowhere to vent. My fondest hope is that these are the bad old days. And for dictators to face the hardest justice possible. And those who enable them. And for Trump to spend some time with his child-size hands clutching the bars of a child-size cage.
Fuck them all. May they rot.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 12:10 PM on June 18, 2018 [15 favorites]
Fuck them all. May they rot.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 12:10 PM on June 18, 2018 [15 favorites]
A dear friend passed away, and although it will do me good to spend the weekend in England after the funeral, I’ll miss Pride here. Definitely misplacing the real sadness but I am gutted. Will be doing my rainbow manicure anyway.
posted by ellieBOA at 12:14 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 12:14 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
In the tradition of Fucking Fuck, I've recently found the best song for this: Alestorm's Fucked With an Anchor .
They're British metal pirates, they're very, very sweary. As a fair warning (again, British metal pirates), the word c*nt shows up. Were I a sweary pirate, I wouldn't use it, but I figure I'd be up front about it. Seems like the soundtrack a lot of us need right now.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 12:20 PM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
They're British metal pirates, they're very, very sweary. As a fair warning (again, British metal pirates), the word c*nt shows up. Were I a sweary pirate, I wouldn't use it, but I figure I'd be up front about it. Seems like the soundtrack a lot of us need right now.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 12:20 PM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I am looking for somewhere I can scream and scream without someone calling the cops. Ideas?
Into a pillow is a good one. Finding an empty parking lot somewhere off the beaten track. Cranking up the music loud in the car while you scream is also a good way to mask that scream. The pillow is my go to screaming option.
Also, never underestimate the power of a good cry. I'll sometimes find some terribly cheesy movie that I know has a tear-jerker scene and I'll give that a whirl to let myself have a good cry. It helps me at least.
posted by Fizz at 12:24 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Into a pillow is a good one. Finding an empty parking lot somewhere off the beaten track. Cranking up the music loud in the car while you scream is also a good way to mask that scream. The pillow is my go to screaming option.
Also, never underestimate the power of a good cry. I'll sometimes find some terribly cheesy movie that I know has a tear-jerker scene and I'll give that a whirl to let myself have a good cry. It helps me at least.
posted by Fizz at 12:24 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm not doing great, either. I woke up today and felt like my brain was full of worms writhing around.
It sucks on SO MANY fronts right now, and when the (hopefully inevitable) pivot comes, I'm sure we'll have a whole lot of ex-MAGA folks who claimed that they *never* supported this stuff and were totally pushing back on it honest. The rest of that crowd will be heavily made up of people who are angry at us because we should've pushed back on things harder and yet more palatably and so it's our fault that they were such assholes. Similarly, when the pivot comes on climate denialism, it'll be full of rage for climate realists because if only we'd told them more and better and NICER.
I'm 52, and I feel like maybe I was born in a little niche of things-getting-better - born just after the civil rights act, after assuming I'd die in nuclear fire before I turned 35, I instead lived through the end (or maybe only temporary stall-out?) of the cold war. I never imagined I'd be able to legally marry the woman I love. And now, instead of things continued up, I feel like I'm buckled in on an express ride back down on the roller coaster of retrograde politics, a growing attempt to turn the US into a white ethnostate, overfished oceans, and we're teetering on the edge of a possibly-unrecoverable climate shift and there is functionally NOTHING I can do that will have a measurable impact because none of it matters until a particular few dozen people in the US change their mind about 45 and a particular few hundred people worldwide change their minds about climate science.
Instead of radical retail therapy, I am (self-plug here) doing 1:1 donation matching for the rest of this month for approved-by-me tax deductible groups working on US voter enfranchisement for a max of $5000 from me. Details in the linked tweet - rmd1023.match at gmail for questions etc. Also, thanks to scifi author Charlie Jane Anders, there's another $1000 available for matching from her as well.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:30 PM on June 18, 2018 [21 favorites]
It sucks on SO MANY fronts right now, and when the (hopefully inevitable) pivot comes, I'm sure we'll have a whole lot of ex-MAGA folks who claimed that they *never* supported this stuff and were totally pushing back on it honest. The rest of that crowd will be heavily made up of people who are angry at us because we should've pushed back on things harder and yet more palatably and so it's our fault that they were such assholes. Similarly, when the pivot comes on climate denialism, it'll be full of rage for climate realists because if only we'd told them more and better and NICER.
I'm 52, and I feel like maybe I was born in a little niche of things-getting-better - born just after the civil rights act, after assuming I'd die in nuclear fire before I turned 35, I instead lived through the end (or maybe only temporary stall-out?) of the cold war. I never imagined I'd be able to legally marry the woman I love. And now, instead of things continued up, I feel like I'm buckled in on an express ride back down on the roller coaster of retrograde politics, a growing attempt to turn the US into a white ethnostate, overfished oceans, and we're teetering on the edge of a possibly-unrecoverable climate shift and there is functionally NOTHING I can do that will have a measurable impact because none of it matters until a particular few dozen people in the US change their mind about 45 and a particular few hundred people worldwide change their minds about climate science.
Instead of radical retail therapy, I am (self-plug here) doing 1:1 donation matching for the rest of this month for approved-by-me tax deductible groups working on US voter enfranchisement for a max of $5000 from me. Details in the linked tweet - rmd1023.match at gmail for questions etc. Also, thanks to scifi author Charlie Jane Anders, there's another $1000 available for matching from her as well.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:30 PM on June 18, 2018 [21 favorites]
I am looking for somewhere I can scream and scream without someone calling the cops. Ideas?
A whiffle bat and a pretty solid chair or couch is good too.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:55 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
A whiffle bat and a pretty solid chair or couch is good too.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:55 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is so much worse than I thought it would be and I was afraid of nuclear armageddon. I had a good friend who was on the 'they're both the saaaame, this won't be so bad' wagon and I burned that friendship and I'm sad about it but not regretful.
When Jeff Sessions announced a couple of weeks ago that they were going to do this I turned to my husband and said "they will be putting children in jail", because where else would they put them? But even as I said it I didn't really believe that it would happen, deep down.
posted by bq at 12:56 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
When Jeff Sessions announced a couple of weeks ago that they were going to do this I turned to my husband and said "they will be putting children in jail", because where else would they put them? But even as I said it I didn't really believe that it would happen, deep down.
posted by bq at 12:56 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've been obsessively listening to the song "Txoria txori" by Mikel Laboa and Joxean Artze for the last few days. It's basically a really pretty song about getting dumped by someone you love. But because it written and recorded during Franco's dictatorship, and talks movingly about respecting the other person's freedom and agency, it was understood as a protest song and became an anti-fascist anthem.
Cover by Maite Itoiz & John Kelly with Basque and English text.
Mikel Laboa's original version from 1974 with Basque text. (Gabi de Maza makes Youtube videos of Basque songs for people trying to learn the words for karaoke.)
Cover by Maite Itoiz & John Kelly with Basque and English text.
Mikel Laboa's original version from 1974 with Basque text. (Gabi de Maza makes Youtube videos of Basque songs for people trying to learn the words for karaoke.)
If I had clipped its wings,posted by nangar at 12:59 PM on June 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
it would have been mine,
it wouldn't have got away.
But, this way,
it no longer would have been a bird.
And I ...
It was the bird I loved.
For the last couple of years I could count on feeling (more) depressed during winter season and having the fog lift during summer. Annoying but not devastating, having a couple of bad months was manageable when I knew things would get better in the future.
This year that cycle didn't happen. If anything it has just been slowly, steadily, getting worse and now winter is coming and ugh.
posted by Memo at 1:02 PM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
This year that cycle didn't happen. If anything it has just been slowly, steadily, getting worse and now winter is coming and ugh.
posted by Memo at 1:02 PM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
In the last month, our household has acquired an oxygen machine and a bunch of oxygen tanks, a wheelchair (plus fancy wheelchair pillow), a hospital bed in the middle of the living room, and a table full of meds. We're getting to know the ER staff and radiology folks a little too well. I got to ride in the front seat of an ambulance, which was indeed kind of fun. I've learned how to make "thick" water and gotten really good at grinding up pills to put in applesauce. It's been a really super shitty month around here. Fuck all of this.
posted by gingerbeer at 1:03 PM on June 18, 2018 [51 favorites]
posted by gingerbeer at 1:03 PM on June 18, 2018 [51 favorites]
It used to be that when I came across people supporting the latest Trump policies, I would agonize over how to change their minds, how to reach out to them and get them back to the side of right and reason.
Now I just mentally excise them from the rolls of humanity. There's a wall waiting, you know?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:08 PM on June 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
Now I just mentally excise them from the rolls of humanity. There's a wall waiting, you know?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:08 PM on June 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
I have a young son and I cannot get the images of children taken from parents out of my head. Every day brings more horror stories and I can't stop thinking about it. And I feel like I need to just experience it as much as possible because it's being done in my name and I'm just sitting here not doing much of anything about it. Whatever fury and despair I feel is nothing compared to a mother or father that has had a child forcibly removed from their arms, so I need to just sit with it. If someone could just point me to a Bastille to storm, I'll pack some sandwiches and be right there.
And the administration is one thing but I'm not sure I can actually go on sharing a country with the 37% of apparently just regular-ass people who are a-okay with this. We are a sick, broken, declining culture and I'm just here impotently typing a bunch of morose bullshit into a textbox.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:16 PM on June 18, 2018 [30 favorites]
And the administration is one thing but I'm not sure I can actually go on sharing a country with the 37% of apparently just regular-ass people who are a-okay with this. We are a sick, broken, declining culture and I'm just here impotently typing a bunch of morose bullshit into a textbox.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:16 PM on June 18, 2018 [30 favorites]
I’m in shock over the state of this country. I‘ve been listening to a lot of early Bob Dylan over the weekend, maybe not a great choice mental-health-wise, and these lines resonated
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it would?
Oh, I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I'll stand on your grave
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Into your deathbed
And I'll stand on your grave till I'm sure that you're dead
posted by The Toad at 1:22 PM on June 18, 2018 [29 favorites]
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it would?
Oh, I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I'll stand on your grave
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Into your deathbed
And I'll stand on your grave till I'm sure that you're dead
posted by The Toad at 1:22 PM on June 18, 2018 [29 favorites]
I’m in the Harlow emergency line in rural London. Hopefully it’s just stress and not anything life threatening. I got just enough morphine on board to care just a bit less about then pain before we discovered that now I’m allergic to morphine.
While waiting for airport paramedics I chose the distraction of the American politics thread.
All my luggage is with me. I’m cranky. Everything hurts, my guts especially.
posted by bilabial at 1:25 PM on June 18, 2018 [24 favorites]
While waiting for airport paramedics I chose the distraction of the American politics thread.
All my luggage is with me. I’m cranky. Everything hurts, my guts especially.
posted by bilabial at 1:25 PM on June 18, 2018 [24 favorites]
Oh wow bilabial I jope you are pain free and on your way home soon!
posted by Faintdreams at 1:38 PM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Faintdreams at 1:38 PM on June 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
The gaslighting and abusive fuckery of, "I'm doing this bad thing, but it's your fault for not authorizing me to do this bad thing" has gone well beyond the usual gaslighting fuckery.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 1:42 PM on June 18, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 1:42 PM on June 18, 2018 [17 favorites]
I'm beside myself about this, when I let myself think about it. I spent yesterday morning with my 9 year old snuggled up next to me, so we could watch some soccer (which is my big fucking break from the rest of the goddam world right now), and all I could think about was the kids who couldn't be with their Dad yesterday morning. To be frank, I'm sometimes kinda shocked that the US hasn't broken out into complete chaos over this.
bilabial, I've been there - waiting in emerg for surgery and reading the politics threads. It sucks. Stay strong & I hope you come through whatever it is ok!
posted by nubs at 1:52 PM on June 18, 2018
bilabial, I've been there - waiting in emerg for surgery and reading the politics threads. It sucks. Stay strong & I hope you come through whatever it is ok!
posted by nubs at 1:52 PM on June 18, 2018
I can't find the original tweet, but here's an image of a tweet replying to Trump's "the Dems made me do this" fuckery:
@calamitron: I see you've reached the "I Don't Want To Hit The Children, You Make Me Hit The Children When You Don't So What I Say" chapter in the Handbook for Abusive Husbands.posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:56 PM on June 18, 2018 [19 favorites]
I thoughtlessly made some comment to Dear Old Dad about the current administration and without missing a beat he cut me off, then somehow found a way to blame everything on Hillary. Dad, I said, she hasn’t been part of the story for going on two years. But he wasn’t in a mood to listen. The only way he’s ever talked to me is down.
If I can’t get my own parents to listen to me about where we are, what prayer do I have of getting anyone else to listen? I live such a cloistered life surrounded exclusively by people who agree with me... where would I even start?
posted by eirias at 2:41 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
If I can’t get my own parents to listen to me about where we are, what prayer do I have of getting anyone else to listen? I live such a cloistered life surrounded exclusively by people who agree with me... where would I even start?
posted by eirias at 2:41 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also the next round of hugs is on me.
posted by eirias at 2:42 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by eirias at 2:42 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I need crone island to descend upon this hospital. I cannot do emotional labor for someone while in this much pain.
posted by bilabial at 2:50 PM on June 18, 2018 [18 favorites]
posted by bilabial at 2:50 PM on June 18, 2018 [18 favorites]
Golly, folks. Things do feel pretty shitty and for lots of reasons. bilabial, hope you are healthy soon. ellieBOA, I am so sorry for your loss. Rust Moranis, I know what you mean. That's why I make a post about self-care. Please try to hang in there, we need you. Sophie1, thanks for this thread and the FB group I hope I will get to join because I really need it. entropicamericana, agreed. We need a blinking tag. bondcliff, I feel you. iamkimiam, moving is the worst. I am so sorry you will have to move again. selfnoise and Rock Steady, suck sucky things to happen! Strange Interlude, sorry about your blood pressure, seriously. Memo, wish things were better. gingerbeer, I cannot imagine how hard learning to make thick water and deal with serious illness and ambulance rides must be.
For everyone whose name I did not mention, well, I, too, am exhausted. But I am thinking of each one of you who has posted and dreaming of better times for us all as I head to bed.
I want to rescue all those kids. I can't rescue all those kids. I can't rescue even one of those kids. That's not killing me but it feels terrible. Thank you for being here.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:06 PM on June 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
For everyone whose name I did not mention, well, I, too, am exhausted. But I am thinking of each one of you who has posted and dreaming of better times for us all as I head to bed.
I want to rescue all those kids. I can't rescue all those kids. I can't rescue even one of those kids. That's not killing me but it feels terrible. Thank you for being here.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:06 PM on June 18, 2018 [16 favorites]
Oh good I was waiting for one of these.
This is in reference to a now-deleted comment in the most recent politics thread - and of course to many similar deleted and non-deleted comments in previous threads and all over the rest of the fucking internet including various essays and "think"pieces:
As I approach a half-century of life on this planet Earth and in the US, my main wish, insignificant and picayune as it may be, is to survive long enough to see the idea of "we wouldn't be in this mess if liberals hadn't been so mean to conservatives and other "regular" people" be universally accepted as the utter horseshit propaganda that it is and I never ever have to hear it again.
Because FUCK YOU, CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN CLAIMING THIS FOR MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE NO MATTER HOW SWEETLY AND APOLOGETICALLY AND MILDLY DEMOCRATS AND LIBERALS PUT FORWARD THEIR IDEAS.
"Mooooooommmmm, Johnny MADE me hurt hiiiiiimmmm" doesn't fucking fly once you're past about eight. You people are goddamn fucking adults, quit hiding behind this bullshit, gonad up and own your responsibility for your own fucking political positions.
posted by soundguy99 at 3:53 PM on June 18, 2018 [34 favorites]
This is in reference to a now-deleted comment in the most recent politics thread - and of course to many similar deleted and non-deleted comments in previous threads and all over the rest of the fucking internet including various essays and "think"pieces:
As I approach a half-century of life on this planet Earth and in the US, my main wish, insignificant and picayune as it may be, is to survive long enough to see the idea of "we wouldn't be in this mess if liberals hadn't been so mean to conservatives and other "regular" people" be universally accepted as the utter horseshit propaganda that it is and I never ever have to hear it again.
Because FUCK YOU, CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN CLAIMING THIS FOR MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE NO MATTER HOW SWEETLY AND APOLOGETICALLY AND MILDLY DEMOCRATS AND LIBERALS PUT FORWARD THEIR IDEAS.
"Mooooooommmmm, Johnny MADE me hurt hiiiiiimmmm" doesn't fucking fly once you're past about eight. You people are goddamn fucking adults, quit hiding behind this bullshit, gonad up and own your responsibility for your own fucking political positions.
posted by soundguy99 at 3:53 PM on June 18, 2018 [34 favorites]
Sokka shot first, I also have that exact same problem.
On one mental level, I am here and doing the day to day things: working and engaging in my usual hobbies and distractions and talking to family and friends and watching World Cup games. On another mental level, I am a screaming mass of rage and horror and shame and fear. I have to float on top of that level to get anything done, but it also feels like a terrible abnegation of social and moral responsibility. The banal normalcy of ongoing life feels unforgivable right now.
posted by yasaman at 4:12 PM on June 18, 2018 [30 favorites]
On one mental level, I am here and doing the day to day things: working and engaging in my usual hobbies and distractions and talking to family and friends and watching World Cup games. On another mental level, I am a screaming mass of rage and horror and shame and fear. I have to float on top of that level to get anything done, but it also feels like a terrible abnegation of social and moral responsibility. The banal normalcy of ongoing life feels unforgivable right now.
posted by yasaman at 4:12 PM on June 18, 2018 [30 favorites]
I just suspect all of this is to make the children "disappear."
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:29 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:29 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
its not good when you want an entire administration and about 30% of the country in jail
posted by localhuman at 4:29 PM on June 18, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by localhuman at 4:29 PM on June 18, 2018 [13 favorites]
The banal normalcy of ongoing life feels unforgivable right now.
Yes, exactly this. I'm constantly fighting the urge to end every sentence with "and they are putting babies in jail."
Like, "Yeah, I'll have that document for you shortly, and they are putting babies in jail." and "Sure, I'll have fries with that, and they are putting babies in jail."
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:37 PM on June 18, 2018 [30 favorites]
Yes, exactly this. I'm constantly fighting the urge to end every sentence with "and they are putting babies in jail."
Like, "Yeah, I'll have that document for you shortly, and they are putting babies in jail." and "Sure, I'll have fries with that, and they are putting babies in jail."
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:37 PM on June 18, 2018 [30 favorites]
We're pebbles in an avalanche.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:45 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 4:45 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I am distraught and terrified and am at a loss of what more to do. I have contacted representatives and donated and am going to the next protest and let others know about these options but that usual checklist isn't helping at all because children are screaming and I can't make it stop.
posted by hapaxes.legomenon at 5:16 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by hapaxes.legomenon at 5:16 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
God dammit I am so pissed off about all this today. Not one god damn thing we've been doing is working. Everything is taking too damn long, and actual human people are suffering because of it, and i've just fucking had it. And now, we're all scheduling a protest of the latest Nazi Atrocity, but it's in TWO WEEKS because.... why? because no one will show up if they can't pencil it in on their little calendars? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IN A TAXI CAB, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CHILDREN. IN. CAGES. You know how long "two weeks" is for a kid? Now multiply that by cold concrete, chainlink fences, and space blankets.
FUCK EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.
We're all sitting around for mid-terms, because that's the only thing that will work, maybe, so maybe november.. maybe.. maybe it gets better.... the legal system plods along at its plodding pace.. maybe in a year or two there will be trials and sentencing and... in the meantime, these absolute fucks just keep fucking everything in sight.
I'm a terrible carpenter, but I'm pretty sure I can whip up a functional guillotine in a few days.
What the fuck is wrong with us? all of us? THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:16 PM on June 18, 2018 [21 favorites]
FUCK EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.
We're all sitting around for mid-terms, because that's the only thing that will work, maybe, so maybe november.. maybe.. maybe it gets better.... the legal system plods along at its plodding pace.. maybe in a year or two there will be trials and sentencing and... in the meantime, these absolute fucks just keep fucking everything in sight.
I'm a terrible carpenter, but I'm pretty sure I can whip up a functional guillotine in a few days.
What the fuck is wrong with us? all of us? THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:16 PM on June 18, 2018 [21 favorites]
This isn't about Republican vs Democrat, Liberal vs Conservative, this is human versus inhuman. I listened to that whole fucking recording of the kids being held, and I'm so angry now that a wiffle bat just won't do it. I'm thinking more like a rifle and a wall.
They should be treated with the utmost severity, this is against the entire foundation of American principles and society.
Fucking fuck these guys.
posted by Sphinx at 5:29 PM on June 18, 2018 [9 favorites]
They should be treated with the utmost severity, this is against the entire foundation of American principles and society.
Fucking fuck these guys.
posted by Sphinx at 5:29 PM on June 18, 2018 [9 favorites]
I’m upset about the children. I went to two protests in the last 3 days. I’m horrified this is where we are as a country.
I’m also upset that my insurance is blocking my getting birth control, which is presribed by my Doctor to treat my menorraghia. And you know, is supposed to be covered BY LAW, ffs. Oh, and they’re not covering $4k worth of my ER visit last month. Including my transfusion. The thing that saved my life. Not covered.
Fuck everything.
posted by greermahoney at 5:37 PM on June 18, 2018 [23 favorites]
I’m also upset that my insurance is blocking my getting birth control, which is presribed by my Doctor to treat my menorraghia. And you know, is supposed to be covered BY LAW, ffs. Oh, and they’re not covering $4k worth of my ER visit last month. Including my transfusion. The thing that saved my life. Not covered.
Fuck everything.
posted by greermahoney at 5:37 PM on June 18, 2018 [23 favorites]
greegmahoney, that Fucking sucks. I’m sorry.
posted by bilabial at 6:21 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bilabial at 6:21 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Lalex, that’s really good advice. Can I ask in what capacity you’re involved? Canvassing? I don’t know that I’d be good at that. Do campaigns generally need other kinds of help? I imagine canvassing is a lot of it.
I’m glad you’re having okay days again. Baby steps. Hugs if you want them.
In other news, autocorrect really wants me to call you latex. Awwwwwwkward.
posted by greermahoney at 8:36 PM on June 18, 2018
I’m glad you’re having okay days again. Baby steps. Hugs if you want them.
In other news, autocorrect really wants me to call you latex. Awwwwwwkward.
posted by greermahoney at 8:36 PM on June 18, 2018
I have a psychiatrist appointment on Thursday. I am having panic attacks about going to a psychiatrist about my panic attacks, because I'm in Nebraska and I have less than zero faith that I'll be able to honestly talk about how threatened I feel as a queer person during the Trump administration and how this has seriously negatively effected my mental state 24/7 because I could very well be going to a doctor who voted for him, and this was the only psychiatrist on my insurance plan who could see me before October.
posted by Sequence at 8:36 PM on June 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 8:36 PM on June 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
I called my dad tonight to see if he wanted to donate to some of the charities helping immigrant kids. He doesn't have a computer, so sometimes he calls me to donate to charities he sees on TV or hears on the radio, so I thought he might be interested. He's generally sympathetic to lefty anti-Trump stuff, but he made the mistake of saying something like "well what's the solution?" talking about the separation policy and I just... fucking lost it. I haven't yelled that loudly or with that much emotion in years... literal years. He just sat on the phone and listened while I yelled and it was the most cathartic thing I've done in a long time. Afterward, we talked and I apologized for yelling and he said I was right about everything (because he's a pushover [and I was right]) and we laughed. He donated $100 to the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. He said he was going to send me another few hundred to donate to any charity for these kids that I can. Now I'm buying diapers for babies who don't have the parents being held in child concentration camps and I can't stop crying...
posted by runcibleshaw at 8:38 PM on June 18, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 8:38 PM on June 18, 2018 [17 favorites]
Also, because life just hates me, my apartment complex is insisting that I keep my apartment in a state to have windows possibly replaced on any given day between tomorrow and the 29th, which is another huge stress point, and oh, yesterday I discovered that I really like Thai papaya salad, and today I discovered that I'm allergic to papaya.
posted by Sequence at 8:39 PM on June 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 8:39 PM on June 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm really struggling with motivation to keep job hunting and I about lost my shit at someone online who said that anyone who wants a job can get one (I hear that a lot; this person was just the last straw).
I feel really helpless that I can't do anything about the immigration situation besides call my reps. I am getting whiplash on social media because my feed goes from "listen to these migrant children wailing and sobbing" to "look at this baby duck falling asleep!" (I am guilty of this too, and I feel guilty about complaining about anything while so many people have more precarious situations than I do.)
posted by AFABulous at 8:46 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I feel really helpless that I can't do anything about the immigration situation besides call my reps. I am getting whiplash on social media because my feed goes from "listen to these migrant children wailing and sobbing" to "look at this baby duck falling asleep!" (I am guilty of this too, and I feel guilty about complaining about anything while so many people have more precarious situations than I do.)
posted by AFABulous at 8:46 PM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
What the fuck is wrong with us? all of us? THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.
The problem is that we have no regional or nationwide leadership. No one wants to be the only one chaining themselves to a detention center gate or whatever. I've had trouble finding out what is even happening, protest-wise and I'm Lefty McLeftist. The word is not getting to everyone.
posted by AFABulous at 8:51 PM on June 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
The problem is that we have no regional or nationwide leadership. No one wants to be the only one chaining themselves to a detention center gate or whatever. I've had trouble finding out what is even happening, protest-wise and I'm Lefty McLeftist. The word is not getting to everyone.
posted by AFABulous at 8:51 PM on June 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
I am losing my last friend and not interested in making anymore. I can't and don't share much with my family or with this friend (anymore) so I am trying to find literature about going through life alone or with very little support. I know that's positively rosy compared to what's going on out here or with other members.
posted by Freeze Peach at 9:44 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Freeze Peach at 9:44 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
TI lost my beloved job that I bragged about on metatalktails so many times at the end of April. The same supervisor who told me I was so gifted with our difficult patients told me that my clinical skills were not up to the level of independence I needed to be at, and that my strongest skills aren’t actually nursing skills at all. I spent a week in inpatient psych treatment starting the next day, because it was the only way to get back on meds fast. My parents know none of this because, I come from a family of ridiculous overachievers, I do not want their “helpful”job hunting advice, and I’ve seen how they treat my younger brother with mental health issues like he’s made of glass and I Do Not Want It. To keep a little money coming in, I’ve been picking up occasional shifts at the shit show of a nursing home where I used to work full time before. Being part time was helping some in terms of not letting everything terrible about work get to me. But today I read a scathing story in our local paper of record about how the owner of the place turned it into the most profitable nursing home in my area, at the expense of little things like adequate staffing and actually having wound care supplies. Right there for everyone in the area to see, with a big picture of the stupid CEOs face that I assure you is just as punchable as Martin Shkreli. I cried at work. I’m not proud to admit that, because I’m working on better social skills and emotional regulation in therapy, but how do you not when you see the face of a man who just wants to make money off sick elderly people, on top of the general state of the world? One of my aides told me to just leave if I hate it so much. Fuck her. Okay, maybe I need more work on this social skills thing.
I put in an application at another nursing home that’s much closer to my home and looked cleaner and brighter in my brief visit, but I still believe that the inherent model of nursing homes is fucked at its core. I want to work towards letting people age at home in a way that’s financially and emotionally sustainable. (I’ve been a Home Health aide and know the emotional labor and shit pay that go into that job). I try to do well by my people, but there’s so much to do and I’m so short tempered and if I stop to think too hard about my racist-ass former classmates in comparatively cushy jobs while I’m trying to gather sixteen people’s medication I’ll just cry and reveal myself as a weirdo again.
Also in agreement with several others comments about the banality of life feeling so weird and like an abnegation of justice now.
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:12 PM on June 18, 2018 [21 favorites]
I put in an application at another nursing home that’s much closer to my home and looked cleaner and brighter in my brief visit, but I still believe that the inherent model of nursing homes is fucked at its core. I want to work towards letting people age at home in a way that’s financially and emotionally sustainable. (I’ve been a Home Health aide and know the emotional labor and shit pay that go into that job). I try to do well by my people, but there’s so much to do and I’m so short tempered and if I stop to think too hard about my racist-ass former classmates in comparatively cushy jobs while I’m trying to gather sixteen people’s medication I’ll just cry and reveal myself as a weirdo again.
Also in agreement with several others comments about the banality of life feeling so weird and like an abnegation of justice now.
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:12 PM on June 18, 2018 [21 favorites]
Ooooh. Dev nerd rant.
I had a JIRA ticket to fix a display bug on iOS Safari. I spent a couple days researching, reading docs, testing and refactoring to use the code we have that already does this.
I submitted a PR which on my team means teammates need to look over the code, test it, and put comments in the PR so the owner can make the fixes. Derk looked at my PR and instead of writing comments ripped out everything I had done and started refactoring it himself. He completely hijacked this code that I'd already spent days on and I was close to fixing.
He's spent over a week trying to fix this bug and a major launch has been postponed twice because he hasn't been able to fix this bug.
I alternate between having my gears ground and evilly laughing at his arrogance in thinking he could solve this better than I could.
He also refuses to talk to me about this and physically walks around me to talk to the guy that I pair-programmed with to fix the original issue. Pair-programming dude is putting in the effort for the second time.
posted by bendy at 11:40 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
I had a JIRA ticket to fix a display bug on iOS Safari. I spent a couple days researching, reading docs, testing and refactoring to use the code we have that already does this.
I submitted a PR which on my team means teammates need to look over the code, test it, and put comments in the PR so the owner can make the fixes. Derk looked at my PR and instead of writing comments ripped out everything I had done and started refactoring it himself. He completely hijacked this code that I'd already spent days on and I was close to fixing.
He's spent over a week trying to fix this bug and a major launch has been postponed twice because he hasn't been able to fix this bug.
I alternate between having my gears ground and evilly laughing at his arrogance in thinking he could solve this better than I could.
He also refuses to talk to me about this and physically walks around me to talk to the guy that I pair-programmed with to fix the original issue. Pair-programming dude is putting in the effort for the second time.
posted by bendy at 11:40 PM on June 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
gingerbeer: I can only imagine what this means. All my best love to you and rtha. ❤️
posted by bendy at 11:49 PM on June 18, 2018
posted by bendy at 11:49 PM on June 18, 2018
Oh, ActionPopulated, I’m so sorry.
posted by greermahoney at 12:00 AM on June 19, 2018
posted by greermahoney at 12:00 AM on June 19, 2018
I am looking for somewhere I can scream and scream without someone calling the cops. Ideas?
A jail cell.
posted by pracowity at 12:01 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
A jail cell.
posted by pracowity at 12:01 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
If any of you who are feeling helpless have a food bank near you, I urge you to volunteer there if you can. At my local one, during a 2.5 hour shift, we will feed 16-20k people. Yes, you read that right. If you need some “Holy fuck, I need to make the world better right now!” - food banks offer a huge bang for the buck, so to speak.
posted by greermahoney at 12:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 12:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [11 favorites]
If I can’t get my own parents to listen to me about where we are, what prayer do I have of getting anyone else to listen?
Oh, friend. You’re me! As much as I, in lucid moments, know that I’m not responsible for my parents, I view it as a huge fucking personal failure that I can’t sway them an inch. I’m 46, and every night before I fall asleep, I’m fighting with my dad about this shit. It used to be my mom. It’s weird how that’s changed. I think because she’s deteriorated, mentally, in the last few years, and she actually bends on things she wouldn’t have 7 years ago. But my brain won’t take that as a win. Oh no. Instead, I now substitute my dad, who is more of a Fox spokesperson than ever. And I think, if I can just win this one argument with him in my head, it will all be ok. But it’s stupid!! He’s 83, and has existed on a steady diet of Fox News for 25 years! Convincing him he’s wrong won’t make ANYTHING in the world better. Not one damn thing. He has no power to change the government. So why am I fixated on winning an argument with him? Why can’t I just stop arguing with him in my head? It feels awful, please, why can’t I stop?
posted by greermahoney at 12:18 AM on June 19, 2018 [13 favorites]
Oh, friend. You’re me! As much as I, in lucid moments, know that I’m not responsible for my parents, I view it as a huge fucking personal failure that I can’t sway them an inch. I’m 46, and every night before I fall asleep, I’m fighting with my dad about this shit. It used to be my mom. It’s weird how that’s changed. I think because she’s deteriorated, mentally, in the last few years, and she actually bends on things she wouldn’t have 7 years ago. But my brain won’t take that as a win. Oh no. Instead, I now substitute my dad, who is more of a Fox spokesperson than ever. And I think, if I can just win this one argument with him in my head, it will all be ok. But it’s stupid!! He’s 83, and has existed on a steady diet of Fox News for 25 years! Convincing him he’s wrong won’t make ANYTHING in the world better. Not one damn thing. He has no power to change the government. So why am I fixated on winning an argument with him? Why can’t I just stop arguing with him in my head? It feels awful, please, why can’t I stop?
posted by greermahoney at 12:18 AM on June 19, 2018 [13 favorites]
And now I’m sobbing again. JFC.
posted by greermahoney at 12:22 AM on June 19, 2018
posted by greermahoney at 12:22 AM on June 19, 2018
Uh. So. It looks like I have c diff. I understand the doctors need to keep prodding my belly but its fucking terrible and everything hurts and I have not real capacity to eat more than three bites of anything and all I’ve had for pain since the morphine allergy fun has been Tylenol. The latest doctor just ordered codeine before giving me a ten minute lecture about how great the US health care system is.
And all of this pain is nothing, nothing compared to how much it hurts my heart - actually painful - whenever I think about the kids in concentration camps in my home country. Trump is doing exactly what I said he would do when he announced and I don’t have the energy to do anything. If I talk too much I start to cry because it takes so much breathing to talk. And crying makes my guts move.
Now I’m crying about these kids. I know exactly why my country is hurting babies and I hate it.
posted by bilabial at 4:12 AM on June 19, 2018 [9 favorites]
And all of this pain is nothing, nothing compared to how much it hurts my heart - actually painful - whenever I think about the kids in concentration camps in my home country. Trump is doing exactly what I said he would do when he announced and I don’t have the energy to do anything. If I talk too much I start to cry because it takes so much breathing to talk. And crying makes my guts move.
Now I’m crying about these kids. I know exactly why my country is hurting babies and I hate it.
posted by bilabial at 4:12 AM on June 19, 2018 [9 favorites]
I've had to step away from the news and go for longer walks with the dog.
I'm trying not to become paranoid, but I'm concerned there's something methodical and sinister in how he so openly slams US allies, suggested Russia be brought back to G7, was disgusting in how he spoke of the G7 nations, then expressed nothing but admiration for Kim Jung Un. Nothing but admiration for an openly unstable mass murder who kills his own people.I cannot help but think he is testing the waters because he's planning on some type of power grab, dictatorship, totalitarian rule. So far, his power appears to be limitless.
When one thinks that we have a POTUS who just openly fucking lies about everything AND HOW THAT IS APPARENTLY FINE--that the bar is so low that all we're asking for is him to tell the truth for once--I really think democracy is doomed.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:27 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'm trying not to become paranoid, but I'm concerned there's something methodical and sinister in how he so openly slams US allies, suggested Russia be brought back to G7, was disgusting in how he spoke of the G7 nations, then expressed nothing but admiration for Kim Jung Un. Nothing but admiration for an openly unstable mass murder who kills his own people.I cannot help but think he is testing the waters because he's planning on some type of power grab, dictatorship, totalitarian rule. So far, his power appears to be limitless.
When one thinks that we have a POTUS who just openly fucking lies about everything AND HOW THAT IS APPARENTLY FINE--that the bar is so low that all we're asking for is him to tell the truth for once--I really think democracy is doomed.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:27 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
"If you want an appreciative audience to listen to you talk about how much you dislike black people, you're going to have to find someone else to talk to."
Friday night, exit jointhedance stage left
posted by jointhedance at 5:12 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Friday night, exit jointhedance stage left
posted by jointhedance at 5:12 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm in a play and all I need is for someone to tell me that I'm brilliant unprompted and no-one is doing that and I need it, damnit.
Also, Australia is run by fuckwits and I just want them to call the election so we can fuck them right off. Trouble is, the Opposition are just as fucked when it comes to refugees. Or are they? Who the fuck knows, they refuse to talk about it. Meanwhile, people are dying in camps in indefinite detention, their only crime being escaping a horrific life only to be forced into another one. No-one is stepping up for them in either of the major parties.
Meanwhile there's the USA nightmare. I still firmly believe that Tr*mp was inspired by the disgusting decisions made by the Australian government with regards to refugees. He's just ramped it up 10,000 fold. I mean, 2000 or more kids in tent camps and fucking Walmarts with chicken wire and no contact with their parents at all. What a fucking horror show it is.
Also, my 13 year old son scared the crap out of me and himself and everyone around him by climbing to the highest part of his school's roof because he wanted to be alone. I mean, I can understand this but surely there's a less terrifying way? He's wracked with adolescence and I'm arrrrghhh. And then his brother, who turns 17 this year, is so quiet and longing for a real connection with the world and I'm so insulated and anti-social and I don't feel I can help him (in fact I feel that I have hindered him in a real way because I didn't involve him in many social things when he was younger) and so arrghhghgh again.
Everything seems to be pretty fucked indeed, actually.
posted by h00py at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also, Australia is run by fuckwits and I just want them to call the election so we can fuck them right off. Trouble is, the Opposition are just as fucked when it comes to refugees. Or are they? Who the fuck knows, they refuse to talk about it. Meanwhile, people are dying in camps in indefinite detention, their only crime being escaping a horrific life only to be forced into another one. No-one is stepping up for them in either of the major parties.
Meanwhile there's the USA nightmare. I still firmly believe that Tr*mp was inspired by the disgusting decisions made by the Australian government with regards to refugees. He's just ramped it up 10,000 fold. I mean, 2000 or more kids in tent camps and fucking Walmarts with chicken wire and no contact with their parents at all. What a fucking horror show it is.
Also, my 13 year old son scared the crap out of me and himself and everyone around him by climbing to the highest part of his school's roof because he wanted to be alone. I mean, I can understand this but surely there's a less terrifying way? He's wracked with adolescence and I'm arrrrghhh. And then his brother, who turns 17 this year, is so quiet and longing for a real connection with the world and I'm so insulated and anti-social and I don't feel I can help him (in fact I feel that I have hindered him in a real way because I didn't involve him in many social things when he was younger) and so arrghhghgh again.
Everything seems to be pretty fucked indeed, actually.
posted by h00py at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Will no one rid me of this meddlesome tanning bed addict?
posted by chillmost at 6:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by chillmost at 6:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
bilabial, so sorry to hear about c diff. I hope your docs have a good treatment plan and that you get out of there soon.
posted by eirias at 6:09 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by eirias at 6:09 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
What the fuck is wrong with us? all of us? THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.
The problem is that we have no regional or nationwide leadership. No one wants to be the only one chaining themselves to a detention center gate or whatever. I've had trouble finding out what is even happening, protest-wise and I'm Lefty McLeftist. The word is not getting to everyone.
Yes, I think this is right. I live right outside DC and I want to, and am considering, taking the rest off the week off of work to protest full-time outside the White House (or CPB, or the Capitol, wherever makes the most sense), and I bet there are other people who would join me at least intermittently, but I don't know how to organize anything like that, just an ongoing protest of this disgusting policy, and I am also afraid no one else would come because no one actually cares that much and it would break my heart again. I spend all my time now feeling like I'm going to throw up.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:11 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
The problem is that we have no regional or nationwide leadership. No one wants to be the only one chaining themselves to a detention center gate or whatever. I've had trouble finding out what is even happening, protest-wise and I'm Lefty McLeftist. The word is not getting to everyone.
Yes, I think this is right. I live right outside DC and I want to, and am considering, taking the rest off the week off of work to protest full-time outside the White House (or CPB, or the Capitol, wherever makes the most sense), and I bet there are other people who would join me at least intermittently, but I don't know how to organize anything like that, just an ongoing protest of this disgusting policy, and I am also afraid no one else would come because no one actually cares that much and it would break my heart again. I spend all my time now feeling like I'm going to throw up.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:11 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Also FUCK EVERYONE WHO SAID WE WERE BEING MELODRAMATIC WHEN WE SAID HOW BAD HE WAS. THERE ARE CAMPS FOR CHILDREN SEPARATED FROM THEIR PARENTS.
Not the top of the list of problems but I would like a lot of fucking reflection on the part of everyone who said it wouldn't be that bad and acted like I was crazy when I said that actually the administration is that bad and that not everyone is going to get out of this alive or okay. NEXT TIME BE LESS COMPLACENT YOU FUCKERS.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:14 AM on June 19, 2018 [41 favorites]
Not the top of the list of problems but I would like a lot of fucking reflection on the part of everyone who said it wouldn't be that bad and acted like I was crazy when I said that actually the administration is that bad and that not everyone is going to get out of this alive or okay. NEXT TIME BE LESS COMPLACENT YOU FUCKERS.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:14 AM on June 19, 2018 [41 favorites]
I was listening to Pod Save America in the car this morning and they played an excerpt of audio from the camp of children crying and I started tearing up while I was trying to merge onto I376. Ugh.
posted by octothorpe at 6:37 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 6:37 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
What I just don't know is whether, or when, the current obscenities could fall entirely outside the Overton window, where they belong. I mean, I sometimes imagine a world where practically everyone is united in saying that these were horrific events, but is that guaranteed?
Fifty or a hundred years from now, will politicians of all sides try scoring points by comparing their opponents to Trump? I like to think so. But we've never managed the full history-villain treatment with any president except maybe Nixon. So many things have slid backwards, particularly in acceptability of hatred against Muslims and Latinx.
I want reporters to get the supposedly-troubled Republicans on the record as to where they'd draw the line. I want them to say now what temperature their frogs boil at. But the problem is that Trump already campaigned on line-crossing rhetoric. We could end up with a situation where the only argument they use is "We're not Nazis because the victims aren't specifically Jewish -- they're weird bad persecution-worthy people like Guatemalans". (And even that's assuming Jews will be spared anyway.) Just total How Do You Explain That Other People Matter territory.
But the bright side is that the supporters are a definite minority, and the tide will turn. The minority is depressingly large, but there are more of us than them. I think the new atrocities show a desperate, overplayed hand. I feel the Blue Wave coming.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:44 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Fifty or a hundred years from now, will politicians of all sides try scoring points by comparing their opponents to Trump? I like to think so. But we've never managed the full history-villain treatment with any president except maybe Nixon. So many things have slid backwards, particularly in acceptability of hatred against Muslims and Latinx.
I want reporters to get the supposedly-troubled Republicans on the record as to where they'd draw the line. I want them to say now what temperature their frogs boil at. But the problem is that Trump already campaigned on line-crossing rhetoric. We could end up with a situation where the only argument they use is "We're not Nazis because the victims aren't specifically Jewish -- they're weird bad persecution-worthy people like Guatemalans". (And even that's assuming Jews will be spared anyway.) Just total How Do You Explain That Other People Matter territory.
But the bright side is that the supporters are a definite minority, and the tide will turn. The minority is depressingly large, but there are more of us than them. I think the new atrocities show a desperate, overplayed hand. I feel the Blue Wave coming.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 6:44 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
I literally am having a hard time rousing myself to go to work. Work is kind of a hellscape right now: because of budget cuts and other manmade disasters, we're having to consolidate something that usually takes two months into one month. This is the last truly terrible week, and after next week it's basically over, but I'm sort of running on fumes. And it's not helping my constant state of rage. I really need to calm the fuck down, or at least channel it in better directions. But fuck this shit. Fuck everyone who is complicit in this shit, definitely including me, because I am not doing nearly enough to fight it, and I can't even figure out what I should be doing. And I'm too tired to do anything, because work is a hellscape. But that's not an excuse. And also, I'm about to be late to work during the hell week of doom, and I can't make myself care.
Also, I am fucking Nazi-ed out. I am sick of hearing about Nazis, trying to figure out which of the people with whom I deal are cool with Nazis, and trying to figure out whether this really is like the Nazis or whether I'm just doing the crazy thing my family does where we view everything in totally apocalyptic terms because that's what you do when your grandparents were survivors of an apocalypse. And I'm starting to think that I need to add "transgenerational trauma" to the growing list of things for which I should seek therapy.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:51 AM on June 19, 2018 [14 favorites]
Also, I am fucking Nazi-ed out. I am sick of hearing about Nazis, trying to figure out which of the people with whom I deal are cool with Nazis, and trying to figure out whether this really is like the Nazis or whether I'm just doing the crazy thing my family does where we view everything in totally apocalyptic terms because that's what you do when your grandparents were survivors of an apocalypse. And I'm starting to think that I need to add "transgenerational trauma" to the growing list of things for which I should seek therapy.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:51 AM on June 19, 2018 [14 favorites]
Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome): One thing I know for sure: no one on the right side of history has ever had to nitpick what the definition of “cage” is.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [41 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [41 favorites]
It has occurred to me to set up a way to continually call all the available phone numbers connected to Trump, his pawns, his minions, every Republican in Congress, every Border Patrol phone number, just everyone who could or should be doing something about this and isn't, and play the audio of those kids at whoever answers the phone. Does this sound like an idea worth pursuing?
posted by the agents of KAOS at 7:28 AM on June 19, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 7:28 AM on June 19, 2018 [13 favorites]
Yes. Yes it does. I have a google voice number and am confined to a hospital bed. I would do it for hours if I had a tape of it.
Seriously. Hours.
posted by bilabial at 7:30 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Seriously. Hours.
posted by bilabial at 7:30 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I guess we all heard that ProPublica recording. I left my 18 month old with his nanny this morning. She loves him and is so sweet and wonderful. She's an immigrant (now citizen) with am engineering degree from her home county. I cried all the way into work, and now I'm in danger of crying at my desk. I haven't done a lick of work this morning. I'm fantasizing of flying down to Texas and physically preventing border patrol from doing their work. I can't believe none of them are protecting this. (At least, not that I've heard.)
Our government is abusing children.
posted by CiaoMela at 8:36 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Our government is abusing children.
posted by CiaoMela at 8:36 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I heard that excerpt on Pod Save America too, at work, and I could only listen to 2 seconds of it.
I'm doing whatever I can think of to do and it feels like nothing. Going to protests, donating money - I know that nothing I can do will make me feel like I'm doing anything effective but I'm trying to make myself to do things anyway. It's definitely keeping me from sleeping but all that's doing is making it harder to take care of my own child.
The absolute despair I felt through the first 6 months after the election is back and the only thing that is keeping me going is the absolute fury I have toward anyone who voted for this. They knew that this is what they were voting for, and I can never forgive it .
posted by sputzie at 8:39 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm doing whatever I can think of to do and it feels like nothing. Going to protests, donating money - I know that nothing I can do will make me feel like I'm doing anything effective but I'm trying to make myself to do things anyway. It's definitely keeping me from sleeping but all that's doing is making it harder to take care of my own child.
The absolute despair I felt through the first 6 months after the election is back and the only thing that is keeping me going is the absolute fury I have toward anyone who voted for this. They knew that this is what they were voting for, and I can never forgive it .
posted by sputzie at 8:39 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
I guess we all heard that ProPublica recording. I left my 18 month old with his nanny this morning. She loves him and is so sweet and wonderful. She's an immigrant (now citizen) with am engineering degree from her home county. I cried all the way into work, and now I'm in danger of crying at my desk. I haven't done a lick of work this morning. I'm fantasizing of flying down to Texas and physically preventing border patrol from doing their work. I can't believe none of them are protecting this. (At least, not that I've heard.)
Our government is abusing children.
posted by CiaoMela at 11:36 AM on June 19 [+] [!]
From your profile it looks like you're also in DC, and I have a young child too and being away from her while she's at daycare is killing me right now. Would you have any interest in meeting up somewhere, even just during lunches if that's what's feasible, to protest outside whatever government building makes sense? I would take time off of work. I think people would do this if there were some sort of organized movement, I just don't know how to do it.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:51 AM on June 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
Our government is abusing children.
posted by CiaoMela at 11:36 AM on June 19 [+] [!]
From your profile it looks like you're also in DC, and I have a young child too and being away from her while she's at daycare is killing me right now. Would you have any interest in meeting up somewhere, even just during lunches if that's what's feasible, to protest outside whatever government building makes sense? I would take time off of work. I think people would do this if there were some sort of organized movement, I just don't know how to do it.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:51 AM on June 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
I mean, is there a way we can set up just a standing vigil outside either the White House or Congress or CBP? People just come whenever they can, be it lunch or the weekend or whatever? A vigil for the kids in detention away from their families until they are reunited? I can't think about anything else. It's not like I'm getting any work done.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:00 AM on June 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:00 AM on June 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
When my daughter grows up and tells people what I did during this awful time, I want her to be proud of me.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:01 AM on June 19, 2018 [23 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:01 AM on June 19, 2018 [23 favorites]
I saw a few tweets about a call for a national mass protest next Saturday, June 30th, but have not seen anything organized.
Is that a thing?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:02 AM on June 19, 2018
Is that a thing?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:02 AM on June 19, 2018
Also, not for nothing, but there's also this fresh horror about USCIS launching a project to review closed cases where people got green cards or citizenship after they were ordered deported to see if they can retroactively prove fraud and then strip said status/citizenship away.
Read my history if you like and see if you can read between the lines for why this scares the shit out of me, but I'm not about to lay that out in text.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Read my history if you like and see if you can read between the lines for why this scares the shit out of me, but I'm not about to lay that out in text.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:04 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yes, it's a thing, and there is information at https://act.moveon.org/survey/June_30_Pledge/?source=families.
Sorry, I worry I am taking up too much air so I will leave this conversation now, but I would be interested in starting a permanent protest/vigil/whatever outside of whatever building makes the most sense until this is done. If anyone knows how to do this or where it should be, please let me know. I know from previous experience that if you have under 25 people you don't need a permit to protest in DC.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:05 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Sorry, I worry I am taking up too much air so I will leave this conversation now, but I would be interested in starting a permanent protest/vigil/whatever outside of whatever building makes the most sense until this is done. If anyone knows how to do this or where it should be, please let me know. I know from previous experience that if you have under 25 people you don't need a permit to protest in DC.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:05 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yes, absolutely a thing: June 30 Protests Planned
The Families Belong Together website seems to be overloaded right now, but try this link.
posted by anastasiav at 9:06 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Families Belong Together website seems to be overloaded right now, but try this link.
posted by anastasiav at 9:06 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Here is my dilemma. This whole situation has shaken me to my core. If driving to Texas today and chaining myself to a fence would somehow help these children more than it would hurt my family (I'm the primary wage earner) I would do it.
June 30 is in the middle of a landmark event -- totally a frivolous thing, but important to us - that I've been working for months with a team to plan. Not going would put a lot of other people in the lurch. But I want to take to the streets. I do not want to fiddle while Rome is burning.
I make my calls. I give money. I speak out. But being on the streets on June 30 would mean setting aside other (frivolous) duties I've committed to for ages, helping run an event that will likely draw several hundred people all celebrating a milestone.
What the hell should I do??
posted by anastasiav at 9:13 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
June 30 is in the middle of a landmark event -- totally a frivolous thing, but important to us - that I've been working for months with a team to plan. Not going would put a lot of other people in the lurch. But I want to take to the streets. I do not want to fiddle while Rome is burning.
I make my calls. I give money. I speak out. But being on the streets on June 30 would mean setting aside other (frivolous) duties I've committed to for ages, helping run an event that will likely draw several hundred people all celebrating a milestone.
What the hell should I do??
posted by anastasiav at 9:13 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mrs. Pterodactyl and duffell: Yes. Should we move this to the IRL part of this site?
posted by CiaoMela at 9:14 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by CiaoMela at 9:14 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Here in Texas there are also protests being planned to bus us out to the border at Brownsville and back on June 28. I got an email this morning about plans for buses to go out from Austin, San Antonio, Laredo and Houston. I bet there are other caravans planned, too.
I'm terrified. I need to see if I can afford to take a Thursday off to do this. My partner is eligible to apply for citizenship as of last week, and is struggling with whether it's even worth it (and terrified to leave the country until the process goes through, since they're relying on a passport stamp while their green card sits in limbo indefinitely).
I wanted to vomit this morning just hearing the pathetic defenses for this horror from smug "but the liiiiiiberals" assholes on NPR. (The NPR gentleman, to his credit, pushed pretty hard at the Trump official on air.) I am so ashamed and so tired and so, so furious and I just--I--
how dare they? how dare they?
posted by sciatrix at 9:16 AM on June 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
I'm terrified. I need to see if I can afford to take a Thursday off to do this. My partner is eligible to apply for citizenship as of last week, and is struggling with whether it's even worth it (and terrified to leave the country until the process goes through, since they're relying on a passport stamp while their green card sits in limbo indefinitely).
I wanted to vomit this morning just hearing the pathetic defenses for this horror from smug "but the liiiiiiberals" assholes on NPR. (The NPR gentleman, to his credit, pushed pretty hard at the Trump official on air.) I am so ashamed and so tired and so, so furious and I just--I--
how dare they? how dare they?
posted by sciatrix at 9:16 AM on June 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
I'll be at the DC protest on June 30th!
posted by rue72 at 9:22 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rue72 at 9:22 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
anastasiav: We survive this by holding hands against the dark. Reinforcing friendships is important too. Faced with an administration and its supporters that deny the basic humanity of anyone outside their immediate group, being human with each other is part of how we defeat them and the darkness they represent.
So, make a donation to the cause and ask your friends to do so too. And then be happy in each other's company for a while. There will be more protests, more action, more campaigning, more fundraising. The battle is not single but ongoing.
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:31 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
So, make a donation to the cause and ask your friends to do so too. And then be happy in each other's company for a while. There will be more protests, more action, more campaigning, more fundraising. The battle is not single but ongoing.
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:31 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Sciatrix - it will take a year or so for the GC but after that your partner can vote and it will be harder to kick them out (but not impossible). On a GC you can be disappeared on some trumped up charge (protesting?) pretty quickly. The actual immigration workers are good people for the most part, ICE likely attracted the worst racists first.
posted by benzenedream at 9:31 AM on June 19, 2018
posted by benzenedream at 9:31 AM on June 19, 2018
I’ll be at the 6/30 march in St. Louis. Working on recruiting some families from my church to come along.
posted by EarBucket at 9:44 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by EarBucket at 9:44 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
I just saw a meme on the BookyFace highlighting a couple of definitions from the 2002 Homeland Security Act as "proof" that it's the Democrat's fault that kids are getting locked up into cages and I went into that mental place for me that's both INCHOATE RAGE and VERY PRECISE FACTS AND DICTION. Like, ALLOW ME TO CITE FOR YOU the parts of that Act that talk about QUALIFIED LEGAL REPRESENTATION and THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN.
I'm really proud of the fact that I'm still staying out of the main political thread (hi, mochapickle!), because I would be EVEN MORE a seething ball of warglebargle than I am right now, were I to be reading it.
My ex-wife still has contingency plans in place to change our son's surname from my obviously-Jewish name to her obviously-Italian name in case things start going even worse. I hate that this is a thing, and that I completely agree with the concept.
posted by hanov3r at 10:01 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm really proud of the fact that I'm still staying out of the main political thread (hi, mochapickle!), because I would be EVEN MORE a seething ball of warglebargle than I am right now, were I to be reading it.
My ex-wife still has contingency plans in place to change our son's surname from my obviously-Jewish name to her obviously-Italian name in case things start going even worse. I hate that this is a thing, and that I completely agree with the concept.
posted by hanov3r at 10:01 AM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I will be out here in Seattle come Saturday the 30th along with my friends.
posted by y2karl at 10:30 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by y2karl at 10:30 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Woke up this morning feeling like I cried all night long during what little sleep I got. Have felt like vomiting myself, too. Part of me is yelling PLEASE SOMEBODY MAKE IT STOP, so I have to admit that selfishly, I'm feeling a large amount of extra dread because the people who can aren't going to, and so it's up to us, and I feel so small - and part of me wants to cover up my head with my fists by my ears because I don't know how or what it's going to take, just that it has to happen. But I can't do that, so the only thing to do is stand up and take a step and figure it out from there.
I've been fighting the good fight on the public lands/environmental/climate change fight for over a year now, and it's come with a super steep learning curve. This summer I'm taking 2 months off to backpack 800 miles of the Continental Divide Trail, as both a partial fulfillment of a lifelong dream and as a clean break from everything to re-charge. Supposed to leave in 14 days. And right now, I'm just like. . . I can't. If I have the absolute fucking privilege of two months off and this is happening, then I can goddamn well travel to Texas to do what I can to stop this from happening.
Anyway, as part of that, I've got about 70 days worth of backpacking food, most of it just needed water to re-hydrate in order to eat, like ramen (so much ramen) but also lots of Snickers and GORP like things - about 3000 calories a day. (My dehydrator's been going for months.) That's a lot of food. A lot of easily transportable, easily cookable food, most of it with a caloric density of about 130-150 calories/per ounce. I've been looking it thoughtfully all morning, and have been making some phone calls. There's a lot you could do with that much food as a protester. . . .and I've got quite of number of ideas.
I'm with everyone who hopes this is resolved by June 30th. But on June 30th, I will be at a protest in Denver, Texas, or D.C., and after that, I have a feeling I'll be in Texas, ready with my backpacking muscles and prepared to share a fuckload of ramen.
posted by barchan at 11:05 AM on June 19, 2018 [18 favorites]
I've been fighting the good fight on the public lands/environmental/climate change fight for over a year now, and it's come with a super steep learning curve. This summer I'm taking 2 months off to backpack 800 miles of the Continental Divide Trail, as both a partial fulfillment of a lifelong dream and as a clean break from everything to re-charge. Supposed to leave in 14 days. And right now, I'm just like. . . I can't. If I have the absolute fucking privilege of two months off and this is happening, then I can goddamn well travel to Texas to do what I can to stop this from happening.
Anyway, as part of that, I've got about 70 days worth of backpacking food, most of it just needed water to re-hydrate in order to eat, like ramen (so much ramen) but also lots of Snickers and GORP like things - about 3000 calories a day. (My dehydrator's been going for months.) That's a lot of food. A lot of easily transportable, easily cookable food, most of it with a caloric density of about 130-150 calories/per ounce. I've been looking it thoughtfully all morning, and have been making some phone calls. There's a lot you could do with that much food as a protester. . . .and I've got quite of number of ideas.
I'm with everyone who hopes this is resolved by June 30th. But on June 30th, I will be at a protest in Denver, Texas, or D.C., and after that, I have a feeling I'll be in Texas, ready with my backpacking muscles and prepared to share a fuckload of ramen.
posted by barchan at 11:05 AM on June 19, 2018 [18 favorites]
I am also afraid no one else would come because no one actually cares that much
I'd be all for civil disobedience but as a trans person I'm personally terrified of getting thrown in a men's jail. As I understand it, mass arrestees at large political protests are usually housed together, sometimes in makeshift "jails," and there is bail support so they're out quickly. If you're doing this on your own then... you're on your own. There are no trained legal observers, there's no one taking video of the cops, there's no organization to bail you out, there's no strength in numbers in a holding facility, there's no one on the outside tweeting to get awareness and support.
posted by AFABulous at 11:40 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'd be all for civil disobedience but as a trans person I'm personally terrified of getting thrown in a men's jail. As I understand it, mass arrestees at large political protests are usually housed together, sometimes in makeshift "jails," and there is bail support so they're out quickly. If you're doing this on your own then... you're on your own. There are no trained legal observers, there's no one taking video of the cops, there's no organization to bail you out, there's no strength in numbers in a holding facility, there's no one on the outside tweeting to get awareness and support.
posted by AFABulous at 11:40 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
oh, I did fire off a bunch of applications to volunteer at various local places that help refugees. I'm especially interested in a place that helps them acclimate by teaching them stuff like how to ride a bus, how grocery shopping works here, etc.
I'm trying to beef up my very basic Spanish with Duolingo, and if anyone needs help talking about apples, milk or bread I am on it.
posted by AFABulous at 11:45 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'm trying to beef up my very basic Spanish with Duolingo, and if anyone needs help talking about apples, milk or bread I am on it.
posted by AFABulous at 11:45 AM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Sciatrix - it will take a year or so for the GC but after that your partner can vote and it will be harder to kick them out (but not impossible). On a GC you can be disappeared on some trumped up charge (protesting?) pretty quickly. The actual immigration workers are good people for the most part, ICE likely attracted the worst racists first.
Oh, to be clear, they had a one-year GC--they've just been waiting on the ten-year GC for over a fucking year now, and at this point citizen application is probably the only way it's going to get here any time soon. (Did you hear? They're wildly behind on the GCs to the point that citizen-eligible people are actively being encouraged to apply for citizenship whether or not they want it just to expedite the fucking things.)
I am so wildly angry about the entire process of immigration in this country.
posted by sciatrix at 11:45 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Oh, to be clear, they had a one-year GC--they've just been waiting on the ten-year GC for over a fucking year now, and at this point citizen application is probably the only way it's going to get here any time soon. (Did you hear? They're wildly behind on the GCs to the point that citizen-eligible people are actively being encouraged to apply for citizenship whether or not they want it just to expedite the fucking things.)
I am so wildly angry about the entire process of immigration in this country.
posted by sciatrix at 11:45 AM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Me, since 5 a.m.: Republicans aren't concerned about supporting this protect-immigrant-families bill, or the "bad optics" when they don't, or mid-terms, at all, or any of it, really, because they're not planning on holding elections this year. Somehow a government shut-down at the federal level, enough state-level Republican officials claiming that local elections are bound to be tampered with because of ____ (voter fraud, machine issues, etc.), and general (possibly planned) unrest is going to delay election day indefinitely.
This is just paranoia, right? I mean, I'll see the therapist before the week is out but we're scheduled to do more EMDR for old trauma, so I'll be too busy crying for current stuff.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:49 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
This is just paranoia, right? I mean, I'll see the therapist before the week is out but we're scheduled to do more EMDR for old trauma, so I'll be too busy crying for current stuff.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:49 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Just to illustrate, actually--we needed a passport stamp confirming that the ten-year GC that was supposed to get here a year ago was on its way and that my partner wasn't out of status. We also needed the biometrics exam for the upcoming citizenship application. So we go to the Austin office to get the biometrics done, and while we're there, we ask for the passport stamp--which required no additional paperwork for us. I should add. They said no, they can't do two things on one visit there, but would we like to reschedule two weeks out and skip that day of work as well?
We wound up driving to San Antonio and waiting for an hour there for the USCIS folks to fucking stamp a passport. It was... not great. Did you know you can't bring your phone into USCIS offices, MeFi? And that you rely on the sufferance of your local officials as to whether you can have a goddamn book with you? Even given that at the larger office we had to go through a goddamn airport-style metal detector-and-x-ray scan? And that my spouse wasn't even sure if I could come in and wait even though I didn't have an appointment of my own and they aren't visibly disabled?
On the upside, for mysterious reasons the Austin office was playing Spiderman 2 with Tobey McGuire on the single television, so I had ample time to acquaint myself with the distance Marvel CGI has come in the last year. So there's... that, I guess.
posted by sciatrix at 11:52 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
We wound up driving to San Antonio and waiting for an hour there for the USCIS folks to fucking stamp a passport. It was... not great. Did you know you can't bring your phone into USCIS offices, MeFi? And that you rely on the sufferance of your local officials as to whether you can have a goddamn book with you? Even given that at the larger office we had to go through a goddamn airport-style metal detector-and-x-ray scan? And that my spouse wasn't even sure if I could come in and wait even though I didn't have an appointment of my own and they aren't visibly disabled?
On the upside, for mysterious reasons the Austin office was playing Spiderman 2 with Tobey McGuire on the single television, so I had ample time to acquaint myself with the distance Marvel CGI has come in the last year. So there's... that, I guess.
posted by sciatrix at 11:52 AM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I lurk here frequently and comment rarely, but I want to say I am so goddamn grateful for you all and this space were no one is pretending that things are ok or business as usual. I will be somewhere on the 30th and I will be supporting other work in the meantime. Just, thank you.
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 12:00 PM on June 19, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 12:00 PM on June 19, 2018 [17 favorites]
I was only half-joking about the Killdozer, mainly because it and the accompanying underground railroad would be a vast overextension of the current momentum.
On a more serious note, there are still plenty of good nonviolent ideas coming out of the woodwork (e.g., distributing homemade information pamphlets to information-starved communities and locations; contacting representatives and executives from the private sector who are just as culpable/responsible for accepting contracts to carry out inhumane tasks; and carrying protests and complaints directly to various Trump businesses to hinder operations, especially since he refused to divest).
As long as Khaleesi breaks the wheel, it doesn't matter how you helped.
posted by Johann Georg Faust at 12:22 PM on June 19, 2018
On a more serious note, there are still plenty of good nonviolent ideas coming out of the woodwork (e.g., distributing homemade information pamphlets to information-starved communities and locations; contacting representatives and executives from the private sector who are just as culpable/responsible for accepting contracts to carry out inhumane tasks; and carrying protests and complaints directly to various Trump businesses to hinder operations, especially since he refused to divest).
As long as Khaleesi breaks the wheel, it doesn't matter how you helped.
posted by Johann Georg Faust at 12:22 PM on June 19, 2018
Mr. Lorensen and I talked and we are slightly re-jiggering our family vacation plans so we can be in DC on the 30th. It's going to be a long day, so as much as I try to include Soren Jr. in demonstrations when they arise, he will be spending the day with his grandparents. (He's a veteran canvasser already, though our last turf was brutally hilly and included a super mean and very loud scary dog, so that may have put him off it for a while. We did, win, though!)
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:43 PM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:43 PM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Comrade Doll and I are taking DOT, Jr. to the Chicago event. I keep meaning to introduce him to the world of protest and this seems like: a) an issue he can understand easily (CD is an immigrant); b) unlikely to result in scary police action; and c) unlikely to generate especially virulent counterprotest (though I imagine there will certainly be some and that can be a learning opportunity, too.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:47 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:47 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’m marching today in St Louis with local activist groups and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), whose annual national meeting is here this week. They’ve taken up a special offering to bail out poor defendants being held in pre-trial detention and we’re going to take the street, marching from the convention center to the city jail to deliver it.
posted by EarBucket at 1:18 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by EarBucket at 1:18 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh god. I'm reading resumes. It's awful. So awful.
Also, as seen on Twitter: "Being angry all the time is exhausting and corrosive. Not being angry feels morally irresponsible."
Also, I saw a good friend for the first time in a couple weeks yesterday and he said "hi, how's it going?" and just like the last time I saw a good friend for the first time in a couple weeks who also asked "hi, how are you doing?", I had literally no idea how to answer that question, Like, my health is good (except for the not sleeping bit); my aging parents are healthy; my nephew is healthy and happy. My marriage is healthy and happy. My job is secure. Like there is very little personally wrong in my life except small details I have no mental space to notice, but I cannot in good conscience say that I'm fine or that things are going well. I live in a genocidal nation, hellbent on sucking all the security out of the lives of most of us, in order to prop up some hateful white blonde people. And absolutely not a single thing is okay.
posted by crush at 1:18 PM on June 19, 2018 [25 favorites]
Also, as seen on Twitter: "Being angry all the time is exhausting and corrosive. Not being angry feels morally irresponsible."
Also, I saw a good friend for the first time in a couple weeks yesterday and he said "hi, how's it going?" and just like the last time I saw a good friend for the first time in a couple weeks who also asked "hi, how are you doing?", I had literally no idea how to answer that question, Like, my health is good (except for the not sleeping bit); my aging parents are healthy; my nephew is healthy and happy. My marriage is healthy and happy. My job is secure. Like there is very little personally wrong in my life except small details I have no mental space to notice, but I cannot in good conscience say that I'm fine or that things are going well. I live in a genocidal nation, hellbent on sucking all the security out of the lives of most of us, in order to prop up some hateful white blonde people. And absolutely not a single thing is okay.
posted by crush at 1:18 PM on June 19, 2018 [25 favorites]
"We know things are bad – worse than bad. They’re crazy. It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is: 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.'"posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:35 PM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get MAD! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot — I don't want you to write to your congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. [shouting] You've got to say: 'I'm a human being, god-dammit! My life has value!'posted by anastasiav at 1:37 PM on June 19, 2018 [12 favorites]
So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell: I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
Also, I was speaking to some Germans this weekend. And one of them said something about rebuilding their justice systems post-WWII and being forced to do it and deserving the reprobation. And the rest of the conversation is not really important. But these Germans and I are roughly the same age, with parents who were born during WWII. And I am feeling buckets of pain for the children of today's children who will be dealing with the knowledge that their grandparents and great grandparents thought being able to gotcha the Obama administration on its terrible deportation policies was more important than being angry and disgusted that breastfeeding children are being ripped from their mothers and put in internment camps. That their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were okay with this.
And then I feel guilty because the action items I gave my local civic include something about student debt relief while children are being put in internment camps because their parents are suspected of committing misdemeanor entry.
And my head spins from the cruelty and my impotence. Then I go back to work and read idiotic resumes.
posted by crush at 1:41 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
And then I feel guilty because the action items I gave my local civic include something about student debt relief while children are being put in internment camps because their parents are suspected of committing misdemeanor entry.
And my head spins from the cruelty and my impotence. Then I go back to work and read idiotic resumes.
posted by crush at 1:41 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
It’s definitely c diff. My pain is being badly managed I just got my bascopan codeine and paracetamol all together with the burning flagyl iv and my word everything hurts. Dinner was hours ago and all I managed to get down was not enough food.
I’m so angry and hurty and tired. And it’s still nothing compared to what is going on for these kids and their parents. Also I know people are having worse health crises but I cannot dress myself or bathe. And yet it’s also nothing. I’m really struggling with perspectives here.
posted by bilabial at 1:44 PM on June 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
I’m so angry and hurty and tired. And it’s still nothing compared to what is going on for these kids and their parents. Also I know people are having worse health crises but I cannot dress myself or bathe. And yet it’s also nothing. I’m really struggling with perspectives here.
posted by bilabial at 1:44 PM on June 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
I just started rewatching They Live! last night, because who doesn't like watching the slowest John Carpenter movie ever?
Originally released in 1988. Thirty fucking years ago and John Carpenter, through the words of the bearded man breaking into TV broadcasts, had it exactly fucking right:
“The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain.”
posted by hanov3r at 1:48 PM on June 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
Originally released in 1988. Thirty fucking years ago and John Carpenter, through the words of the bearded man breaking into TV broadcasts, had it exactly fucking right:
“The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain.”
posted by hanov3r at 1:48 PM on June 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
I <3 John Carpenter more than ever and moments like that are exactly why.
People have definitely noticed how timely They Live is nowadays.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:56 PM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
People have definitely noticed how timely They Live is nowadays.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:56 PM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Ta-Nehisi Coates gave me the necessary perspective change on one kind of change that needs to happen. Dealing with the legacies of colonialism and racism need to be a civic duty compatible to how we honor veterans and war dead, regardless of whether we have a personal history with this war or that war, or had ancestors on this or that side of those conflicts. That my ancestors were on the sidelines for both the Korean War and the early Civil Rights movement is irrelevant, both are still my heritage to wrestle with.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 1:59 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 1:59 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I wrote an email to a publicity address of a state-run agency the other day politely taking issue with some (mildly) sexist language used in a news report. I got an answer back from their PR person saying basically ha ha snowflake, now we're going to use it more! This is a state agency mind you. These fucks are everywhere.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 2:17 PM on June 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 2:17 PM on June 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
Thank you for this thread and comments (even though I haven't yet read them all). I am a stay at home mom to two kids under 4 and I just cannot process the horror of all this. I can't sleep. I barely eat. I take care of my kids and I've called my reps and donated and signed up to be notified of marches in my area... But I feel so heartsick that I can't do anything more substantial to help these separated kids. I just cry. I walk around silently sobbing but telling my 3-year-old "everything is ok, mama is just sad right now." I can't not read the news because to bury my head in the sand seems like complicity, but I don't know what else to do and my own mental health is tanking with every new revelation of horror. I just... can't even imagine how much worse those poor parents and kids feel, and... now I'm crying again.
But, thank you MeFi for threads like this. To not be alone in the outrage and exhaustion and the search for change.
posted by snowleopard at 3:06 PM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
But, thank you MeFi for threads like this. To not be alone in the outrage and exhaustion and the search for change.
posted by snowleopard at 3:06 PM on June 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I dropped something close to $700 yesterday on charities trying to help these kids and families and it just doesn't feel like enough. I made a new facebook account to harangue everyone I know into donating, getting involved, calling their rep, and voting. I'm planning to attend the protests on June 30th here in DC and it just doesn't feel like enough. I want to tear down every detention center with my bare hands. I want every official trying to defend this policy to just drown in their own bile. FUCK!
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:18 PM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:18 PM on June 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
(I miss my Mom, and wish I could hug her right now, but I'm almost relieved that she's not alive to experience this horror)
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:19 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:19 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
He's abusing children so he can get his wall. That is fucking PSYCHOTIC.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 5:36 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 5:36 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't know, you guys. I just - I just don't know what is going to stop the bullshit. I am losing any kind of faith that Mueller will be able to make even a microscopic dent in this utter bullshit.
I spend my time with my partner and our dogs. I water the grass. I try to listen to the birds.
I just don't know what the fuck is going to stop the bullshit.
posted by yoga at 6:23 PM on June 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
I spend my time with my partner and our dogs. I water the grass. I try to listen to the birds.
I just don't know what the fuck is going to stop the bullshit.
posted by yoga at 6:23 PM on June 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
Trump's tweet using the word "infest" to describe what people crossing the border do to America.
Administration officials parroting the "we have to follow the law" talking points to explain their cruelty while creating a backlog that prevents immigrants from claiming asylum (and underfunding judges, legal aid, etc.)
IG report and credulous media highlighting anti-Trump bias in private messages among a few agents while ignoring the anti-Clinton bias (documented even in report itself) that actually impacted decision making and actions leading to errors.
Fuckity fuck fucking-clowns fucking each other in a clown car cluster fuck.
posted by mark k at 6:45 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Administration officials parroting the "we have to follow the law" talking points to explain their cruelty while creating a backlog that prevents immigrants from claiming asylum (and underfunding judges, legal aid, etc.)
IG report and credulous media highlighting anti-Trump bias in private messages among a few agents while ignoring the anti-Clinton bias (documented even in report itself) that actually impacted decision making and actions leading to errors.
Fuckity fuck fucking-clowns fucking each other in a clown car cluster fuck.
posted by mark k at 6:45 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Me either. I heard about fucking withdrawing from the human rights commission and got so angry I had to come home and cuddle my cats and breathe and remind myself that undoing this will take time, pressure, and fury.
I don't know if it will help anyone else, but here are some particularly cute photos of my cats. You know. In case it helps to look at some. If it helps you take a break to breathe. (If cats aren't your thing, the dog hopes that you are doing all right, too.)
posted by sciatrix at 7:04 PM on June 19, 2018 [11 favorites]
I don't know if it will help anyone else, but here are some particularly cute photos of my cats. You know. In case it helps to look at some. If it helps you take a break to breathe. (If cats aren't your thing, the dog hopes that you are doing all right, too.)
posted by sciatrix at 7:04 PM on June 19, 2018 [11 favorites]
I just don't know what the fuck is going to stop the bullshit.
That's the thing. The bullshit never stops. It's always been happening. Only the levels of bullshit change. We have to work every day to stop it, in little ways and big ways. You can't do it alone and neither can I, but enough people getting together crying "STOP THIS BULLSHIT" for long enough and loud enough can push it back. Reach out to whoever you can. Turn off your news feeds if you need to.
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:12 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
That's the thing. The bullshit never stops. It's always been happening. Only the levels of bullshit change. We have to work every day to stop it, in little ways and big ways. You can't do it alone and neither can I, but enough people getting together crying "STOP THIS BULLSHIT" for long enough and loud enough can push it back. Reach out to whoever you can. Turn off your news feeds if you need to.
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:12 PM on June 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
tfw the term baby jails isn't referring to really small jails. fuck these fuckers i wish bad things to happen to them
posted by localhuman at 7:22 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by localhuman at 7:22 PM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
It'd be funny if it wasn't so terrible, but over the past week or two social media has had the following posts:
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 7:49 PM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
- Me, posting about the "missing children" when this was all out of the public eye
- Me, positing about the MSNBC update on the kids when this started becoming a known thing
- very naive friend who means well: It's not cages, those pictures are out of context (his specific pictures probably we're, but it was cages anyway)
- Trumpy guy: Here's some facts about how this isn't really happening they way media claims it is!
- Some friend of a friend: This is all happening, it's true! And Trump's the only one working to stop it!
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 7:49 PM on June 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
This is just to say
I have read
the fucks
that are fuckity
fucking
and which
you were probably
hoping
would fuck off.
I'm sorry
here's a hug
for anyone
who needs one.
posted by drlith at 8:52 PM on June 19, 2018 [23 favorites]
I have read
the fucks
that are fuckity
fucking
and which
you were probably
hoping
would fuck off.
I'm sorry
here's a hug
for anyone
who needs one.
posted by drlith at 8:52 PM on June 19, 2018 [23 favorites]
Transcript of my first-ever prank call:
Me: Hi, I'd like to book a room for Monday through Friday next week,do you have anything available for those dates?
Trump hotel employee: Sure, what kind of room are you looking for?
Me: I--well, I'm gonna be travelling with children, will they be able to stay with me?
THE: Sure, that won't be a problem.
Me: So, like, in the room and not cages in the basement?
*click*
What was much more satisfying than I expected.
posted by shponglespore at 9:01 PM on June 19, 2018 [62 favorites]
Me: Hi, I'd like to book a room for Monday through Friday next week,do you have anything available for those dates?
Trump hotel employee: Sure, what kind of room are you looking for?
Me: I--well, I'm gonna be travelling with children, will they be able to stay with me?
THE: Sure, that won't be a problem.
Me: So, like, in the room and not cages in the basement?
*click*
What was much more satisfying than I expected.
posted by shponglespore at 9:01 PM on June 19, 2018 [62 favorites]
I need a hug. Like literally physically. Nobody can touch m without gloves. I can’t shower. I’m out of questions. I would love someone to just wash my hair. I haven’t showered since Sunday. Maybe the nurses will let me today. The kind of cleaning that anything requires after I use it is....seriously time consuming.
And my situation is still better than the children America is tearing away from their parents. I would live in this hospital bed all year of it would prevent that from happening to a single child.
So I’m sending emails.
posted by bilabial at 9:07 PM on June 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
And my situation is still better than the children America is tearing away from their parents. I would live in this hospital bed all year of it would prevent that from happening to a single child.
So I’m sending emails.
posted by bilabial at 9:07 PM on June 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
Crossposting my comments from the politics thread, which I hope is alright:
A reminder (as much to myself as anyone else):
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!”
Yes. But also:
“My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.
...
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.“
Despair is a sin. Roll up your sleeves.
👆 the above comment about despair is a reminder to myself not to despair. I’ve been nearly paralyzed by the evil shit happening back home and by my own feeling of helplessness. I wouldn’t seek to instruct anyone else on their emotional state other than to say you’re all good people and I hope you’re looking after yourselves in these fucked up times.
posted by supercrayon at 12:39 AM on June 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
A reminder (as much to myself as anyone else):
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!”
Yes. But also:
“My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.
...
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.“
Despair is a sin. Roll up your sleeves.
👆 the above comment about despair is a reminder to myself not to despair. I’ve been nearly paralyzed by the evil shit happening back home and by my own feeling of helplessness. I wouldn’t seek to instruct anyone else on their emotional state other than to say you’re all good people and I hope you’re looking after yourselves in these fucked up times.
posted by supercrayon at 12:39 AM on June 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
Despair is a sin. Roll up your sleeves.
This is important! Roll up your sleeves, work out the pain with action! It might be what saves you! We are not powerless! In fact we are on the cusp of being the most powerful!
It is all shit, and in response to the nightmare at the border (I'll pay to have S.Miller removed from any position more powerful than window-washer) I did a bit of reading about the evolution of this whole mess and - it did not help. The 45 admin took flaws in the original law and exacerbated them. Politicians are not our friends, Obama was not perfect, and the media selling this concept that we should identify with politician-X only leads to more sadness. Politicians work for us and they are generally bad employees. This point, the failure of the media to paint an accurate picture of where we stand, is what grinds my gears the most. My win-the-mega-ball-lotto dream is to start a news agency called the 'Bland' agency where the boring facts of politics and politicians are reported, not the story, not the sauce, not the horserace, the boring facts. Immigration laws in the US were bad, Trump (via Miller) exploited their weakness' to make them worse.
And in the mean time, some people think it's totally ok to put kids in cages (which the gov has been doing for at least the last ten years! Argggghhhh!)
posted by From Bklyn at 3:17 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is important! Roll up your sleeves, work out the pain with action! It might be what saves you! We are not powerless! In fact we are on the cusp of being the most powerful!
It is all shit, and in response to the nightmare at the border (I'll pay to have S.Miller removed from any position more powerful than window-washer) I did a bit of reading about the evolution of this whole mess and - it did not help. The 45 admin took flaws in the original law and exacerbated them. Politicians are not our friends, Obama was not perfect, and the media selling this concept that we should identify with politician-X only leads to more sadness. Politicians work for us and they are generally bad employees. This point, the failure of the media to paint an accurate picture of where we stand, is what grinds my gears the most. My win-the-mega-ball-lotto dream is to start a news agency called the 'Bland' agency where the boring facts of politics and politicians are reported, not the story, not the sauce, not the horserace, the boring facts. Immigration laws in the US were bad, Trump (via Miller) exploited their weakness' to make them worse.
And in the mean time, some people think it's totally ok to put kids in cages (which the gov has been doing for at least the last ten years! Argggghhhh!)
posted by From Bklyn at 3:17 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I just stumbled on a very good essay in the "Black interests" section of the Formerly-Gawker network... Most white people aren't evil - just cowards. It's scary how much this white male relates to that.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:29 AM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:29 AM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Transcript of my first-ever prank call:
Me: Hi, I'd like to book a room for Monday through Friday next week,do you have anything available for those dates?
Trump hotel employee: Sure, what kind of room are you looking for?
Me: I--well, I'm gonna be travelling with children, will they be able to stay with me?
THE: Sure, that won't be a problem.
Me: So, like, in the room and not cages in the basement?
*click*
What was much more satisfying than I expected.
I guess my first ever prank call was something similar! When they gave fucking Ivanka a job I called the White House switchboard and it was basically:
Me: Hi, I'm calling to ask about getting my office?
Them: Okay, what agency are you with? (I have a 202 area code so this makes sense)
Me: Oh, no, I'm sorry, I don't work for the government, I just heard you were giving out office space to unqualified white women. Is...is that not right?
It was also very satisfying.
Here is a video of some members of the Metropolitan DC DSA confronting Neilsen at dinner. I'm going to get in touch with them to see how I can help. This is what I want to be doing -- I want to make it so these people don't get a minute to themselves. The rest of us can't focus on anything else for worrying about these kids. If that's not getting to them, I'd like them to be unable to focus on anything for worrying that they're about to be called out. I don't want them to have a moment's peace.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 4:45 AM on June 20, 2018 [25 favorites]
Me: Hi, I'd like to book a room for Monday through Friday next week,do you have anything available for those dates?
Trump hotel employee: Sure, what kind of room are you looking for?
Me: I--well, I'm gonna be travelling with children, will they be able to stay with me?
THE: Sure, that won't be a problem.
Me: So, like, in the room and not cages in the basement?
*click*
What was much more satisfying than I expected.
I guess my first ever prank call was something similar! When they gave fucking Ivanka a job I called the White House switchboard and it was basically:
Me: Hi, I'm calling to ask about getting my office?
Them: Okay, what agency are you with? (I have a 202 area code so this makes sense)
Me: Oh, no, I'm sorry, I don't work for the government, I just heard you were giving out office space to unqualified white women. Is...is that not right?
It was also very satisfying.
Here is a video of some members of the Metropolitan DC DSA confronting Neilsen at dinner. I'm going to get in touch with them to see how I can help. This is what I want to be doing -- I want to make it so these people don't get a minute to themselves. The rest of us can't focus on anything else for worrying about these kids. If that's not getting to them, I'd like them to be unable to focus on anything for worrying that they're about to be called out. I don't want them to have a moment's peace.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 4:45 AM on June 20, 2018 [25 favorites]
I am still shaking my head at the fact that high-profile members of the Trump administration think that it's a good idea to eat in Mexican restaurants. Can you imagine how much spit is in their food?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:56 AM on June 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:56 AM on June 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
Reaching out to DC folks - I am going to post an IRL but please please message me if you want to work together to fight this madness. Protest/call/direct action/DSA/vigils - whatever you've got, let's do this together. 💝
posted by Space Kitty at 5:25 AM on June 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Space Kitty at 5:25 AM on June 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
Starting to comment on a friend's post of forwarded clickbait thinking about typing "dude, that's a fake account", realizing that the word "fake" has been rendered nearly meaningless, going with the word "parody" instead.
To the folks on BookFace and elsewhere: check your fucking sources. The truth is bad enough and there are still people out there trying to add false clickbait outrage on top of all the righteous outrage. Just. Stop. Please.
Called both of my senators yesterday about Feinstein's bill. They're both R, but since Corker has nothing to lose at this point maybe he'll keep listening to his conscience and vote across the aisle on this one. Maybe.
posted by pianoblack at 6:37 AM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
To the folks on BookFace and elsewhere: check your fucking sources. The truth is bad enough and there are still people out there trying to add false clickbait outrage on top of all the righteous outrage. Just. Stop. Please.
Called both of my senators yesterday about Feinstein's bill. They're both R, but since Corker has nothing to lose at this point maybe he'll keep listening to his conscience and vote across the aisle on this one. Maybe.
posted by pianoblack at 6:37 AM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've been looking for employment, and have noticed an uptick of National Guard postings. I know that the US military budget is even more bloated now that orange turnip is in office, and FY 2018 ends this September so they're hiring in anticipation of more money but
I can't help being paranoid about why
Get me off this timeline
posted by lineofsight at 6:54 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I can't help being paranoid about why
Get me off this timeline
posted by lineofsight at 6:54 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am still shaking my head at the fact that high-profile members of the Trump administration think that it's a good idea to eat in Mexican restaurants.
The explanation is a mix of things, I imagine: the racist idea that the staff are too dumb to ever know who they are; the gobsmackingly obtuse notion that "the good ones" are on their side and there are no hard feelings... after all, didn't Donald pose with that taco bowl; a well-practiced ability to pretend like immigrants are invisible; and a self-important sense of social hierarchy, with the attendant belief that paeans should quietly serve their betters.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:01 AM on June 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
The explanation is a mix of things, I imagine: the racist idea that the staff are too dumb to ever know who they are; the gobsmackingly obtuse notion that "the good ones" are on their side and there are no hard feelings... after all, didn't Donald pose with that taco bowl; a well-practiced ability to pretend like immigrants are invisible; and a self-important sense of social hierarchy, with the attendant belief that paeans should quietly serve their betters.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:01 AM on June 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
I'm so sorry and ashamed to be from the state that brought you all Sessions. I think that place is dead to me, not that it's a logical feeling/decision, but the amount of vitriol and ignorance and wanton disregard for human fucking decency from such a high percentage of the population, including a few family members (but not my parents thankfully) who range from quietly complicit/agreeing to fairly rabid MAGA/libertarian individuals, makes it unlikely that the family homestead for 3 generations/farmland I am set to inherit one day outside Birmingham, AL will likely be sold off or left fallow.
'But Roy Moore lost!" you may say, and you'd be right. But the fact that it took pedophilia and other sundry icky things for him to just barely lose in a squeaker said more to me than what might appear on the surface. Sorry. Despite nothing being verbalized I know that I have family that voted for Moore. Family members that have kids.
I just really want my cabin/farm in the woods with some solar panels and a rain barrel. Despite the wife and I doing well, our kids being healthy, it seems like there's always something [read: healthcare, more later on this] that puts it on the back burner and we both have to keep chugging along doing the two income thing, which sucks really since I didn't grow up with a two income family and have been clear that it was never something I'd sign up for permanently, doubly so since I basically opted out of my expected career track (willingly) such that eventually we'd get to a point where I'd be stay at home dad. Instead it's me being a person who works from home as I can while I'm also the person who picks up the majority of the slack when kid things 'come up' (i.e. nanny only works til 4pm so I clock out early, sick kid can't go to child care so I cope, child care closures ditto, spouse traveling for professional reasons so I cover) and the person who does all the other manly things like car/house maintenance and upkeep and improvements. I'd honestly be ok with doing any two of those things but doing all three is draining, physically and emotionally, and I don't feel like I'm doing any of them well which, ya'know, is shitty and makes me feel shitty.
And not to mention that the healthcare we get, which I'm morbidly thankful for since others have less/worse, through my employer is a choice between an expensive normal plan or a high deductible plan that basically pays nothing until I'm $10k out of pocket. It works out that the high deductible plan is a decent choice since the premiums on the other plan are so expensive over the course of a year to make it a wash either way, might as well pay less monthly and hope no one gets sick. Lo and behold, after 20 years of suffering and doctors handwaving me away with OTC meds, I am looking at a diagnosis of either ABPA or, if I'm really unlucky, lung cancer in my mid 30s, non-smoker. I've already went through three tests that were over $1500, one was $3000, each out of pocket and the PET scan tomorrow will likely be even more.
So, yay *cue fireworks* looks like I'll hit the deductible this year I guess? No idea how much the anti-virals and steroids for the next year or so will run but hold my beer....
To come full circle, because I really didn't want this to be all about me and my woes, I guess I'm just sad because I know how blessed I am, even with all those things, that we're able to keep our heads above water and, at least we were before the medical expenses, put some cash back into savings for our future, and I know that others are so, so much worse off because of the lack of universal healthcare not to even mention escalating human rights violations for brown people. Fuck.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:04 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
'But Roy Moore lost!" you may say, and you'd be right. But the fact that it took pedophilia and other sundry icky things for him to just barely lose in a squeaker said more to me than what might appear on the surface. Sorry. Despite nothing being verbalized I know that I have family that voted for Moore. Family members that have kids.
I just really want my cabin/farm in the woods with some solar panels and a rain barrel. Despite the wife and I doing well, our kids being healthy, it seems like there's always something [read: healthcare, more later on this] that puts it on the back burner and we both have to keep chugging along doing the two income thing, which sucks really since I didn't grow up with a two income family and have been clear that it was never something I'd sign up for permanently, doubly so since I basically opted out of my expected career track (willingly) such that eventually we'd get to a point where I'd be stay at home dad. Instead it's me being a person who works from home as I can while I'm also the person who picks up the majority of the slack when kid things 'come up' (i.e. nanny only works til 4pm so I clock out early, sick kid can't go to child care so I cope, child care closures ditto, spouse traveling for professional reasons so I cover) and the person who does all the other manly things like car/house maintenance and upkeep and improvements. I'd honestly be ok with doing any two of those things but doing all three is draining, physically and emotionally, and I don't feel like I'm doing any of them well which, ya'know, is shitty and makes me feel shitty.
And not to mention that the healthcare we get, which I'm morbidly thankful for since others have less/worse, through my employer is a choice between an expensive normal plan or a high deductible plan that basically pays nothing until I'm $10k out of pocket. It works out that the high deductible plan is a decent choice since the premiums on the other plan are so expensive over the course of a year to make it a wash either way, might as well pay less monthly and hope no one gets sick. Lo and behold, after 20 years of suffering and doctors handwaving me away with OTC meds, I am looking at a diagnosis of either ABPA or, if I'm really unlucky, lung cancer in my mid 30s, non-smoker. I've already went through three tests that were over $1500, one was $3000, each out of pocket and the PET scan tomorrow will likely be even more.
So, yay *cue fireworks* looks like I'll hit the deductible this year I guess? No idea how much the anti-virals and steroids for the next year or so will run but hold my beer....
To come full circle, because I really didn't want this to be all about me and my woes, I guess I'm just sad because I know how blessed I am, even with all those things, that we're able to keep our heads above water and, at least we were before the medical expenses, put some cash back into savings for our future, and I know that others are so, so much worse off because of the lack of universal healthcare not to even mention escalating human rights violations for brown people. Fuck.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:04 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
So, about two weeks ago the “progressive” company I work for locked my entire union out for protected labor activity and no one has been able to work and we’ve been doing direct action about that. Yesterday my husband also lost his job, and I’m super worried about it AND ALSO I am worried about everything happening now and want to be out with people who are laying siege to ICE, and also I am still furious at my shitty hypocritical company and don’t want to let them off the hook and want to build up unions because I genuinely think they are the answer to fascism. And instead I am just freaking out and mostly useless.
posted by corb at 7:27 AM on June 20, 2018 [19 favorites]
posted by corb at 7:27 AM on June 20, 2018 [19 favorites]
Internet hugs, guys. Internet hugs.
posted by bq at 7:48 AM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bq at 7:48 AM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
It used to be that when I came across people supporting the latest Trump policies, I would agonize over how to change their minds, how to reach out to them and get them back to the side of right and reason.
Personal touch is nice, though for bulk operations, psych ops might be called for. Or straight up brainwashing.
Everyone needs a hug, but only a tiny fraction, a select few, needs to be hugged with an iron maiden, whose use was apparently mythical, much like Trump's sense of decency.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:56 AM on June 20, 2018
Personal touch is nice, though for bulk operations, psych ops might be called for. Or straight up brainwashing.
Everyone needs a hug, but only a tiny fraction, a select few, needs to be hugged with an iron maiden, whose use was apparently mythical, much like Trump's sense of decency.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:56 AM on June 20, 2018
I’ve said this elsewhere, but I’m feeling more than a bit stuck between the Scylla and Charybdis of neo-Fascism, Italy and the US. I’m worried about my kids’ consular report of birth becoming an issue for their US passports and the process of getting an Italian passport for me becoming more difficult with Savini as shadow PM. After making it through 4 minutes of that audio, I’m simultaneously enraged at all the “Hillary is just as bad” voters, the idiots who fell for Salvini’s cynical flip to “Italians First” racism, and already trying to plan for WWIII and where to get my family to safety. And I might just shank the next person to tell me I’m not “that kind” of foreigner so I have nothing to worry about.
posted by romakimmy at 9:34 AM on June 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by romakimmy at 9:34 AM on June 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
'Disastrous' copyright bill vote approved. It's not law yet. It still has to go through the parliament. Lord knows what will become of MetaFilter. Fuck everything.
posted by popcassady at 10:01 AM on June 20, 2018
posted by popcassady at 10:01 AM on June 20, 2018
My hands just went numb.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/white-civil-rights-rally-application-approved-for-dc/65-565729881
posted by Space Kitty at 10:34 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/white-civil-rights-rally-application-approved-for-dc/65-565729881
posted by Space Kitty at 10:34 AM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Trump, just like an hour ago in the East Room, reading from an ACTUAL FUCKING PREPARED STATEMENT:
"I'll say it very honestly and very straight: immigration is the fault, and all of the problems we're having cause we cannot get them to sign legislation we cannot get them even to the negotiating table and i say its very strongly the democrats fault they're obstruction they're really obstructionist and they are obstructing. The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility. Won't be. You look at what's happening in Europe, you look at what's happening in other places. We cannot allow that to happen to the United States. Not on my watch."
posted by odinsdream
For all of the people who keep saying Trump is nothing like Hitler. You are right. Hitler actually cared about Germany.
posted by Splunge at 10:42 AM on June 20, 2018
"I'll say it very honestly and very straight: immigration is the fault, and all of the problems we're having cause we cannot get them to sign legislation we cannot get them even to the negotiating table and i say its very strongly the democrats fault they're obstruction they're really obstructionist and they are obstructing. The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility. Won't be. You look at what's happening in Europe, you look at what's happening in other places. We cannot allow that to happen to the United States. Not on my watch."
posted by odinsdream
For all of the people who keep saying Trump is nothing like Hitler. You are right. Hitler actually cared about Germany.
posted by Splunge at 10:42 AM on June 20, 2018
FYI, CiaoMela and I are going to protest during lunchtime this Friday outside the White House -- even if that awful man signs something, there are still families that are separated and there is no plan to reunite them.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:42 AM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:42 AM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
If I was of the greatest generation I'd be pissed
Surveying the world that I built slipping back into this
I'd be screaming at my grandkids: "We already did this"
Be suspicious of simple answers
That shit's for fascists and maybe teenagers
You can't fix the world if all you have is a hammer
The first time it was a tragedy
The second time is a farce
Outside it's 1933 so I'm hitting the bar
Frank Turner - 1993
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:01 AM on June 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Surveying the world that I built slipping back into this
I'd be screaming at my grandkids: "We already did this"
Be suspicious of simple answers
That shit's for fascists and maybe teenagers
You can't fix the world if all you have is a hammer
The first time it was a tragedy
The second time is a farce
Outside it's 1933 so I'm hitting the bar
Frank Turner - 1993
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:01 AM on June 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I’m so fucking tired. Not as tired as the weary parents that aren’t able to hold their babes. I don’t understand the people that want this. I’m so fucking tired. I was trying to watch the Houston episode of parts unknown and I couldn’t handle it. I look at my wonderful neighborhood full of immigrants from a lot of different places and think how boring it would be if it was just white Christian people. Last Sunday I got to stop at a flea market at one of the Hmong churches and bought an incredibly nice Columbia jacket for my daughter for 8 dollars. They had egg rolls that might have been the best I’ve ever had. You guys, I’m so fucking tired. I’m really grateful for all you Mefites. Thank you.
posted by Bacon Bit at 11:28 AM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Bacon Bit at 11:28 AM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People (SLHuffPo)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:12 PM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:12 PM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Folks in Portland have shut down an ICE building. I hope this spreads, I hope we collectively decide that this is the moment to throw the wrenches in the works.
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 12:17 PM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 12:17 PM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
While I'm thankful to be able to connect more and more with my close female friends, I am increasingly directly aware of and tired of male-dominated conversation in social settings and how much talking over and at that goes on, especially pointless, needless drunken bullshit that's about as important as a Walgreen's receipt.
Well, tired isn't the right word at all. I'm not weary. Just increasingly angry, and increasingly likely to tell dudes to shut the fuck up and stop interrupting the nice conversations I'm having with stupid bullshit, wrongheaded anti-facts and their stupid opinions on everything.
And I'm definitely being talked over more and more. I was already kind of used to that, and most of the guys in question are used to me telling them to shut the fuck up in rhetorical contexts when they're being stupid, and they're used to me correcting the record and being on point with my facts.
And that's a privilege that may be fading and passing. Not sure how much I care, because I was kind of aiming for "righteously angry b*tch" anyway.
I damn near flipped a table a few days ago. Context: Some pretty shitty fucking tourist retirees with the usual bag of American Exceptionalism, sexism, and shitty cigars. I've seen these dudes around town for a while, and already didn't like them because they made a gay kid who works at local deli/bodega/convenience store cry.
Also keep in mind I'm doing a pretty confusing mix of femme/butch presentation for working at our pride fest, and that just happened to involve fiercely blue-purple metallic nails, pig tails, a sort of "forest punk" outfit with rolled up pants and big boots, and a pretty serious belt full of tools, gaffer's tape, aaaaand a big honking bush knife. (Why a knife? Ever see a pop-up shelter take off like a kite and try to strangle anyone inside it with guy ropes? Ever try to deal with it without a knife? I have. I would normally have a better tool but I lost my good folding knife.)
Anyway, they weren't super happy about getting argued to bits and shouted at by a pretty obviously queer and possibly armed weirdo. (Queerdo!) The point wasn't lost on me that their eyes kept going from my nails to my tool belt and knife and looking real nervous about it.
Of course, obviously, I'd never use it on someone, because what the fuck and it's a good way to end up in jail, but they don't need to know that.
Thankfully right after that a much more adept friend of mine rhetorically led these dudes right back to their own poisoned well of Jungle Law which ended with one of them confidentially making what they thought was an anti-socialism sentiment by taking the position that yes, they would let their own child starve in the streets if they didn't get a job.
At which point they obviously internally went "Oh, uh, shit... hrmmm." and had to think about it.
Anyway, I'm increasingly part of the girl's club in town, which now involves whisper-networking via SMS even if we're at the same table so we can vent about this shit.
I'm also definitely starting to freak some people out, and it's kind of funny. But it's also probably going to be a useful skill I should cultivate for safety.
An example of this is how people might react to me walking down the street. I'm definitely starting to notice people (mainly conservative looking men) who react with very sour and disturbed facial expressions and will suddenly close/guard up in posture, and even move far out of my way on the sidewalk.
Related to this is the sheer amount of fucking tourists we're getting this year. We've been added to a stop for some stupid huge cruise ship that vomits several hundred people that like to go on cruise ships right into the heart of the downtown waterfront, and every time it changes the civility and atmosphere of the town for the worse.
I don't know what it is about cruise ship patrons but they're almost all horrible human beings, all uniformly lumpy and pasteled in cheap WalMart polo shirts with clip on cell phone cases and vapid, blank stares like so many morons at a zoo.
They're incredibly rude to us at work and since work is this very unusual mix of business and community center, they're utterly shocked we're not there to cater to them at all and really couldn't care about whether or not they have money to spend. No, we have no decaf coffee, get the fuck out of here. No, we don't make blended milk shake coffee drinks. No, we don't have a fucking menu, we only give away free food and most of it is vegan. Yes, that is a homeless person on our couch - most of the people in this room are homeless, you entitled twat.
This summer would be more awesome if all the squares went to fucking Leavenworth or something.
posted by loquacious at 12:20 PM on June 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
Well, tired isn't the right word at all. I'm not weary. Just increasingly angry, and increasingly likely to tell dudes to shut the fuck up and stop interrupting the nice conversations I'm having with stupid bullshit, wrongheaded anti-facts and their stupid opinions on everything.
And I'm definitely being talked over more and more. I was already kind of used to that, and most of the guys in question are used to me telling them to shut the fuck up in rhetorical contexts when they're being stupid, and they're used to me correcting the record and being on point with my facts.
And that's a privilege that may be fading and passing. Not sure how much I care, because I was kind of aiming for "righteously angry b*tch" anyway.
I damn near flipped a table a few days ago. Context: Some pretty shitty fucking tourist retirees with the usual bag of American Exceptionalism, sexism, and shitty cigars. I've seen these dudes around town for a while, and already didn't like them because they made a gay kid who works at local deli/bodega/convenience store cry.
Also keep in mind I'm doing a pretty confusing mix of femme/butch presentation for working at our pride fest, and that just happened to involve fiercely blue-purple metallic nails, pig tails, a sort of "forest punk" outfit with rolled up pants and big boots, and a pretty serious belt full of tools, gaffer's tape, aaaaand a big honking bush knife. (Why a knife? Ever see a pop-up shelter take off like a kite and try to strangle anyone inside it with guy ropes? Ever try to deal with it without a knife? I have. I would normally have a better tool but I lost my good folding knife.)
Anyway, they weren't super happy about getting argued to bits and shouted at by a pretty obviously queer and possibly armed weirdo. (Queerdo!) The point wasn't lost on me that their eyes kept going from my nails to my tool belt and knife and looking real nervous about it.
Of course, obviously, I'd never use it on someone, because what the fuck and it's a good way to end up in jail, but they don't need to know that.
Thankfully right after that a much more adept friend of mine rhetorically led these dudes right back to their own poisoned well of Jungle Law which ended with one of them confidentially making what they thought was an anti-socialism sentiment by taking the position that yes, they would let their own child starve in the streets if they didn't get a job.
At which point they obviously internally went "Oh, uh, shit... hrmmm." and had to think about it.
Anyway, I'm increasingly part of the girl's club in town, which now involves whisper-networking via SMS even if we're at the same table so we can vent about this shit.
I'm also definitely starting to freak some people out, and it's kind of funny. But it's also probably going to be a useful skill I should cultivate for safety.
An example of this is how people might react to me walking down the street. I'm definitely starting to notice people (mainly conservative looking men) who react with very sour and disturbed facial expressions and will suddenly close/guard up in posture, and even move far out of my way on the sidewalk.
Related to this is the sheer amount of fucking tourists we're getting this year. We've been added to a stop for some stupid huge cruise ship that vomits several hundred people that like to go on cruise ships right into the heart of the downtown waterfront, and every time it changes the civility and atmosphere of the town for the worse.
I don't know what it is about cruise ship patrons but they're almost all horrible human beings, all uniformly lumpy and pasteled in cheap WalMart polo shirts with clip on cell phone cases and vapid, blank stares like so many morons at a zoo.
They're incredibly rude to us at work and since work is this very unusual mix of business and community center, they're utterly shocked we're not there to cater to them at all and really couldn't care about whether or not they have money to spend. No, we have no decaf coffee, get the fuck out of here. No, we don't make blended milk shake coffee drinks. No, we don't have a fucking menu, we only give away free food and most of it is vegan. Yes, that is a homeless person on our couch - most of the people in this room are homeless, you entitled twat.
This summer would be more awesome if all the squares went to fucking Leavenworth or something.
posted by loquacious at 12:20 PM on June 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
In case people are reading this and not politics threads - here's something that doesn't seem to make things worse! Trump signs Executive Order to end immigrant family separation
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:27 PM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:27 PM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I used to feel that most people had an innate goodness and decency inside them, but seeing so many people trying to justify the ways that the government is traumatizing children is just so disheartening. I am so angry and so tired and don't know how to process the fact that so many people believe that this is acceptable. I know there is goodness in the world, and the number of people who are so angry about this shows that but the balance is so off. That so many people are so terrible enough to tacitly accept the evil around them. And that we still can't learn from history. This world fucking sucks.
posted by acidnova at 1:33 PM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by acidnova at 1:33 PM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I found this Washington Post article on the couple that raised like $12 million for RAICES to be an uplifting read.
Courage to you all. I feel like screaming too (for personal, petty reasons as well as administration-related ones) but am trying to stay strong and find the helpers.
posted by sunset in snow country at 1:47 PM on June 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Courage to you all. I feel like screaming too (for personal, petty reasons as well as administration-related ones) but am trying to stay strong and find the helpers.
posted by sunset in snow country at 1:47 PM on June 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Trump signed an order TO STOP DOING A THING HE AUTHORIZED. Like, how the FUCK do people not get that he was going to 'win' no matter what? If we didn't complain, he'd keep doing what he was doing and, if we DID complain, he'd order it to stop and suddenly he's a godsdamned hero.
I am so fucking angrytired.
posted by hanov3r at 1:53 PM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
I am so fucking angrytired.
posted by hanov3r at 1:53 PM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
"Those People are breaking the law and deserve what happens"
MOTHERFUCKER. rebelling against the US government so y'all could keep your slaves was breaking the law, and y'all STILL FUCKING CELEBRATE THAT SHIT.
Don't tell me this isn't about racism.
posted by hanov3r at 1:55 PM on June 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
MOTHERFUCKER. rebelling against the US government so y'all could keep your slaves was breaking the law, and y'all STILL FUCKING CELEBRATE THAT SHIT.
Don't tell me this isn't about racism.
posted by hanov3r at 1:55 PM on June 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
Yeah, this episode of Black Mirror sucks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:24 PM on June 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:24 PM on June 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
[Narrator: It made things worse.]
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:52 PM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:52 PM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
No, I don't think that interpretation is correct.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:55 PM on June 20, 2018
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:55 PM on June 20, 2018
Fucking fuck this. I cried and then I got busy. I made a link/article resource packet for anyone who wants to be able to talk about the negative impacts of trauma and traumatic separation on children (I am a trauma therapist who works with the very young.) If anyone wants this packet, please send me a memail with your preferred email address and I will send you the whole thing.
posted by fairlynearlyready at 4:35 PM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by fairlynearlyready at 4:35 PM on June 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
I am so very very tired.
posted by parki at 6:35 PM on June 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by parki at 6:35 PM on June 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The executive order will not actually stop separation. If you choose to lock up 100% of the parents the courts will order you to release the children after 20 days. The order is literally just the tired talking points ("the Democrats and courts made us do it") repackaged. Please do not repeat the Republican spin on this.
posted by mark k at 7:20 PM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mark k at 7:20 PM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tonight my kid (5) wanted to know when Donald Trump was going to go to jail and who specifically was going to put him there. I too would urgently like to know this.
He asked because I was telling him about my day and I mentioned my trip to deliver donations for a local placement for some refugee children. When I was at the book store picking out some Spanish-language kids' books, it was so striking how many of them have to do with family--having it and losing it. There was a book called Abuelita, there was Eres Tu Mi Mama? and Tu Mama es un Llama? There was Harry Potter in Spanish. I felt sick standing there actually trying to decide what children's books I could give children who have been kidnapped and held hostage by my own government that wouldn't cause them further trauma just to look at.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:22 PM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
He asked because I was telling him about my day and I mentioned my trip to deliver donations for a local placement for some refugee children. When I was at the book store picking out some Spanish-language kids' books, it was so striking how many of them have to do with family--having it and losing it. There was a book called Abuelita, there was Eres Tu Mi Mama? and Tu Mama es un Llama? There was Harry Potter in Spanish. I felt sick standing there actually trying to decide what children's books I could give children who have been kidnapped and held hostage by my own government that wouldn't cause them further trauma just to look at.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:22 PM on June 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
People have definitely noticed how timely They Live is nowadays.
brb bulk-purchasing wayfarer sunglasses to hand out at the 6/30 protests.
we're all watching now, motherfuckers.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:29 PM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
brb bulk-purchasing wayfarer sunglasses to hand out at the 6/30 protests.
we're all watching now, motherfuckers.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:29 PM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. Koko the Gorilla has died.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:27 AM on June 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:27 AM on June 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I hate that I can't go into the Happy thread because I know it will be full of happy stuff about babies, and babies make me horribly depressed.
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:39 AM on June 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:39 AM on June 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
I poured myself some rum last night while catching up on news. I woke and found I'd put a poll on FB:
How do you think immigrants fit into the United States?posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:18 AM on June 21, 2018 [28 favorites]
a) Immigrants make us great!
b) I'm fucking garbage.
It's only on my FB page, so it's my friends/family, who all know my immigrant wife. Unsurprisingly then, it's unanimous for option A.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:23 AM on June 21, 2018
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:23 AM on June 21, 2018
There was an envelope containing a few hundred very important dollars in cash. A cat vomited on that envelope. The vomit has soaked through.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:26 AM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:26 AM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Take that envelope to your bank and exchange the bills for new ones. If you can, maybe bring nose plugs for the teller.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:29 AM on June 21, 2018
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:29 AM on June 21, 2018
Mod note: Couple comments removed, there's a gap between "augh I need to process how I'm feeling about awful thing x" and "no you're WRONG about how you're feeling about x" and one of the things these particular threads are good for is folks generally trying not to cross over that gap.
Shit is, obviously from the immediate context, pretty fucked in a lot of ways right now and I know its hard conditions to operate under, but in the spirit of this being a venting thread please remember if you're feeling inclined to get into it with folks in here to find a way to redirect that to some other outlet or some less-argumentative expression of how you're feeling.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:48 AM on June 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Shit is, obviously from the immediate context, pretty fucked in a lot of ways right now and I know its hard conditions to operate under, but in the spirit of this being a venting thread please remember if you're feeling inclined to get into it with folks in here to find a way to redirect that to some other outlet or some less-argumentative expression of how you're feeling.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:48 AM on June 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
With Melania's latest stunt - I am at the end of my evens.
posted by maggiemaggie at 1:44 PM on June 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by maggiemaggie at 1:44 PM on June 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm surprised at this apparently bottomless well of evens that keeps gushing new evens every time I think I've run dry. Can one sell evens? I would be rich, as apparently I am the golden goose of evens.
I. Can't. Even.
And tomorrow I won't even, again.
This goddamn well.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:12 PM on June 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
I. Can't. Even.
And tomorrow I won't even, again.
This goddamn well.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:12 PM on June 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
It's worse. The jacket is apparently from Zara, who you might know from their previous hits "notes sewn into their clothes by garment workers who weren't being paid" and "help, we can't stop making antisemitic clothing"
posted by rmd1023 at 2:29 PM on June 21, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 2:29 PM on June 21, 2018 [5 favorites]
I feel a bit physically ill at the moment. A Japanese American friend, whose grandparents of course were in the camps, as were the parents or grandparents of half my social circle, posted a thoughtful, fact-based summary of this family separation situation on Facebook and ended by pointing out the similarities to the Japanese American internment. And ALL THESE FUCKING WHITE DUDES are all up in her shit yelling about how that was different because those were US citizens! First of all, for most of my life alt-right assholes have argued that the camps were totally cool and have never acknowledged that 2/3 of internees were US citizens, so, why, WHY (OH I KNOW WHY) the sudden enlightenment?! Also, NEWS FLASH! The remaining third WERE NOT US citizens because they were legally barred from becoming naturalized citizens, because THE LAW ISN'T ALWAYS FAIR! BUT OF COURSE YOU, A WHITE MAN, KNOW MUCH MORE ABOUT THIS THAN THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF INTERNMENT CAMP PRISONERS WOULD!
AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of them is also spouting some Nazi bullshit about "western people" and "enlightenment values" (and also he doesn't have to engage with anyone who calls him a Nazi because that shows an unseriousness of thought) but I think I turned into the Hulk when reading it and I don't want anyone else to become blinded by rage so I won't go into detail.
posted by sunset in snow country at 3:25 PM on June 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of them is also spouting some Nazi bullshit about "western people" and "enlightenment values" (and also he doesn't have to engage with anyone who calls him a Nazi because that shows an unseriousness of thought) but I think I turned into the Hulk when reading it and I don't want anyone else to become blinded by rage so I won't go into detail.
posted by sunset in snow country at 3:25 PM on June 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
Is it too soon after the broadway run to have a revival of “Allegiance”? Because that show is looking a lot more relevant lately.
posted by rmd1023 at 3:43 PM on June 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 3:43 PM on June 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
This jacket thing.. Jeez.. These people ruin everything, don't they? I seriously was hoping that things would work out in a way that Melania and Barron would get out from under this, because I had the impression that they were somewhat victims of circumstance here... but nope! She's part of it now! I don't give a fuck what Donnie does to them anymore, and that makes me sad.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:51 PM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:51 PM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I saw the picture on twitter and was certain it was a photoshop. It wasn't a photoshop. I honestly feel, for the first time, like I am losing actual touch with reality. If this is real do I even wanna be sane? (Haha. It's real.)
I don't know why this is my line, but honestly I felt something like my soul break, and I have lost every last drop of human sympathy and compassion I ever even considered having left for those people. I can only truly hope the entire Trump Crime Family and their Nazi supporters get every last thing that's coming to them.
What they are doing to these families. The children. I just, I can't I -HOW. Just fucking HOW.
Sorry for this emotion dump but *shrugs* *points at everything*
posted by Space Kitty at 4:03 PM on June 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
I don't know why this is my line, but honestly I felt something like my soul break, and I have lost every last drop of human sympathy and compassion I ever even considered having left for those people. I can only truly hope the entire Trump Crime Family and their Nazi supporters get every last thing that's coming to them.
What they are doing to these families. The children. I just, I can't I -HOW. Just fucking HOW.
Sorry for this emotion dump but *shrugs* *points at everything*
posted by Space Kitty at 4:03 PM on June 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
Seeing the "simulation breaking down" comments in the other thread, has anyone tried shouting "I sublime" several times?
posted by Slackermagee at 4:21 PM on June 21, 2018
posted by Slackermagee at 4:21 PM on June 21, 2018
The Onion is having a breakdown:
EVERYWHERE—Claiming that they just couldn’t stand this bullshit anymore, Americans across the country confirmed Thursday that someone, anyone needs to please, just make it stop. “Please, please, please, we’re begging you here, just put an end to it immediately,” said sources, noting that it had all gone way, way too far and they would do almost anything for even a few glorious minutes of respite. “We’re on our hands and knees, pleading with you to make it all go away once and for all. What’s it going to take? Jesus Christ, just stop it! Stop it right now!” At press time, sources confirmed that they knew deep down it was never going to stop.posted by octothorpe at 4:32 PM on June 21, 2018 [9 favorites]
So I'm a Canadian and I want to know what we are doing to ensure that people being persecuted in the U.S.A. can get to us safely? What are you doing Mr. Trudeau? Smoking a fucking joint? Let them in. Bring them here. Let them come to us. The country is fucking massive. Not that we don't have our share of entitled white racists and social injustices. We certainly do. But god knows we have room for more people. Yet on fb everyone posts abput how horrible everything is and when I ask what we can do they ignore it and post more horror... It's like entertainment to these people... Or they talk about a Trumpian atrocity and then 5 minuets later about the latest episode of whatever... Like it's just entertainment...
The Onion is having a breakdown:
I thought the Onion was supposed to be satire
Also I somehow hurt my back and can hardly move. Went for x rays and am supposedly fine but I can't bend forward. Had to call in sick for which I don't get paid as I'm self employed.
And broke up with someone recently. I'm now realising that I wasted a year of my life trying to coax, convince and prove to some spoiled rich white boy that there is more to me than thr colour of my skin or the shape of my body, that race relations don't unfairly favour POC, that poor people really do exist i Canada, that women legitimately suffer from sexism AND are genuinely threatened by men constantly AND that approaches/concerns/positions that are coded feminine have validity and worth, that emotional needs are significant, genuine, valid and relevant, that tenderness and kindness are not weak and don't have to be earned, etc etc etc... And why? For what? Why couldn't I just walk away the moment I realised what he was like? Why did I feel like I needed to change him? Why do I stubbornly persist in believing that if people claim to care about me they must care about the things that hurt me? Why can't I just write them off? How could I betray myself like that for so long?
And when I was at the emerg they asked me for an emergency contact person and I had to say "I don't have anybody" and that's how I feel. I don't have anybody. I am no one, I belong no where, and I don't have any body.
posted by windykites at 5:38 PM on June 21, 2018 [8 favorites]
The Onion is having a breakdown:
I thought the Onion was supposed to be satire
Also I somehow hurt my back and can hardly move. Went for x rays and am supposedly fine but I can't bend forward. Had to call in sick for which I don't get paid as I'm self employed.
And broke up with someone recently. I'm now realising that I wasted a year of my life trying to coax, convince and prove to some spoiled rich white boy that there is more to me than thr colour of my skin or the shape of my body, that race relations don't unfairly favour POC, that poor people really do exist i Canada, that women legitimately suffer from sexism AND are genuinely threatened by men constantly AND that approaches/concerns/positions that are coded feminine have validity and worth, that emotional needs are significant, genuine, valid and relevant, that tenderness and kindness are not weak and don't have to be earned, etc etc etc... And why? For what? Why couldn't I just walk away the moment I realised what he was like? Why did I feel like I needed to change him? Why do I stubbornly persist in believing that if people claim to care about me they must care about the things that hurt me? Why can't I just write them off? How could I betray myself like that for so long?
And when I was at the emerg they asked me for an emergency contact person and I had to say "I don't have anybody" and that's how I feel. I don't have anybody. I am no one, I belong no where, and I don't have any body.
posted by windykites at 5:38 PM on June 21, 2018 [8 favorites]
All right, this is kind of a petty work thing compared to what everyone else has going on, but I need to get it off my chest.
I've talked about this elsewhere, but the general gist is this:
I work at a university. We're in the process of replacing our student records system. This is a good thing because our current system is a hand-crafted Winchester Mystery House of bits and pieces that weren't developed so much as hastily bolted in place over the years, like some sort of software oyster building up layers upon layers of a massive pearl that will shatter if you look at it funny. What's replacing it is a commercial product, well-understood and widely used by universities across the UK. It's got a standard structure, support, documentation...all that good stuff.
However.
The bit of infrastructure I and a couple of other people work on is what's called the virtual learning environment, or VLE. It's the system students and instructors log into to manage their courses, submit assignments, enter grades, and so on. As you might imagine, it's a pretty important thing, and it talks to our current student system. A lot. The conversation is a fragile construct of shell scripts and SQL queries held together with metaphorical duct tape and a couple of strategic nails, but it works. Naturally, we're going to also need to talk to to the new system, which has been under development for some months.
"But Mr. Bad," I hear you say. "Surely the developers of the new system know about these requirements, and have been communicating with you and your team all this time so that you can construct a more elegant and robust VLE integration method in plenty of time before the go-live date."
Bless you for still having your optimism, you precious and pure cinnamon roll.
They have not. The thing will be going live at some nebulous point in 2019. Total number of meetings with us: three. Total number of those at which VLE integration--or indeed, anything halfway technical--was discussed: one. As far as we've been involved, the logo of the entire student records system replacement project may as well be a giant neon shrug emoji.
Will we have read access to query the database to pull out the data we need? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Okay, is there maybe some kind of web service we can access? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
How do we get data out of the fucking thing so we can do our fucking jobs? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
...it's not just me. The people I work with are frustrated too, and there've been a number of furious-but-polite (because England) emails going around about it all, so things may yet be straightened out. It's just incredibly frustrating. I suppose I should be happy for the job security, but at some point I want the whole stupid process to just work. Fuck.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:41 AM on June 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
I've talked about this elsewhere, but the general gist is this:
I work at a university. We're in the process of replacing our student records system. This is a good thing because our current system is a hand-crafted Winchester Mystery House of bits and pieces that weren't developed so much as hastily bolted in place over the years, like some sort of software oyster building up layers upon layers of a massive pearl that will shatter if you look at it funny. What's replacing it is a commercial product, well-understood and widely used by universities across the UK. It's got a standard structure, support, documentation...all that good stuff.
However.
The bit of infrastructure I and a couple of other people work on is what's called the virtual learning environment, or VLE. It's the system students and instructors log into to manage their courses, submit assignments, enter grades, and so on. As you might imagine, it's a pretty important thing, and it talks to our current student system. A lot. The conversation is a fragile construct of shell scripts and SQL queries held together with metaphorical duct tape and a couple of strategic nails, but it works. Naturally, we're going to also need to talk to to the new system, which has been under development for some months.
"But Mr. Bad," I hear you say. "Surely the developers of the new system know about these requirements, and have been communicating with you and your team all this time so that you can construct a more elegant and robust VLE integration method in plenty of time before the go-live date."
Bless you for still having your optimism, you precious and pure cinnamon roll.
They have not. The thing will be going live at some nebulous point in 2019. Total number of meetings with us: three. Total number of those at which VLE integration--or indeed, anything halfway technical--was discussed: one. As far as we've been involved, the logo of the entire student records system replacement project may as well be a giant neon shrug emoji.
Will we have read access to query the database to pull out the data we need? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Okay, is there maybe some kind of web service we can access? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
How do we get data out of the fucking thing so we can do our fucking jobs? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
...it's not just me. The people I work with are frustrated too, and there've been a number of furious-but-polite (because England) emails going around about it all, so things may yet be straightened out. It's just incredibly frustrating. I suppose I should be happy for the job security, but at some point I want the whole stupid process to just work. Fuck.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:41 AM on June 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
Update: Alt-right shitlord responded to one of my friend's comments with "Well actually my family was in the camps too and [insert ten paragraphs of white supremacist talking points]" so he is either Japanese American or related to JAs by marriage. I want these people off my team NOW. Also I have decided to donate $5 to RAICES for every comment he makes in the thread. We already up to $50. Jesus dude stop talking.
posted by sunset in snow country at 6:51 AM on June 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by sunset in snow country at 6:51 AM on June 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
One of my recent projects as a parent is trying to impress upon my kid that very few sentences that start with "Well, actually..." can be completed without being awful.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:14 AM on June 22, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:14 AM on June 22, 2018 [7 favorites]
MrBadExample: sounds like my job. We had a homegrown program that everyone loves, but the creator of it was...well, let's just say it's really telling when the higher-ups decide to replace a program that everyone loves, purely because the creator of it was so terrible to deal with. I could go on for like a year about that person, but I am trying not to. Unfortunately, the vendor selected is ... unequipped to deal with all of our special snowflake customizations that we need, to put it politely. I am redoing everything on my end, years of data, to custom fit this new program (at least I don't have to work on fixing the darned thing itself) and...yeah.
Our main computer system also has a billion broken things in it that we have been told will never, ever ever be fixed. You've heard of the broken stair? This is usually the sort of thing I am having to work around and deal with. All you can do is say "whatever, I guess that's what they want" or "oh well" or the shrug emoji.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:25 AM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Our main computer system also has a billion broken things in it that we have been told will never, ever ever be fixed. You've heard of the broken stair? This is usually the sort of thing I am having to work around and deal with. All you can do is say "whatever, I guess that's what they want" or "oh well" or the shrug emoji.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:25 AM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Things are going pretty good for me, all things considered.
posted by lstanley at 8:48 AM on June 22, 2018
posted by lstanley at 8:48 AM on June 22, 2018
I'm afraid. I keep seeing all of the things happening in the news and I feel utterly helpless. Do I donate? Yes. Do I call my representatives? Yes, and email too. Do I feel like I am making a difference? Nope! Dare I stop lest The Bad Guys Win? Nope!
I don't think it even registers with most of my friends. And this is completely leaving out my personal issues. I feel like I'm being forced to watch this nightmare and I don't want to. I don't want any part of this.
posted by koucha at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
I don't think it even registers with most of my friends. And this is completely leaving out my personal issues. I feel like I'm being forced to watch this nightmare and I don't want to. I don't want any part of this.
posted by koucha at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
I mentioned this in the "good things" thread and I know this is the fucking fuckery thread, but since I mentioned my general problems with freaking out and being freaked out about seeing a psychiatrist in order to deal with the freaking out, the visit went about ten times better than my fondest hopes and a million times better than my worst fears, and last night was the first night in ages that I was asleep before 2am and slept straight through to my 7:30am alarm. It's a start.
Without judgment, I'm just going to use this as an opportunity to pitch that if you're doing everything you can do and you're still anxious to the point of it having a negative impact on your day-to-day and you have access to health care, talk to somebody about it, it isn't somehow cheating to take something that allows you to manage the stress and stay functional.
posted by Sequence at 11:03 AM on June 22, 2018 [15 favorites]
Without judgment, I'm just going to use this as an opportunity to pitch that if you're doing everything you can do and you're still anxious to the point of it having a negative impact on your day-to-day and you have access to health care, talk to somebody about it, it isn't somehow cheating to take something that allows you to manage the stress and stay functional.
posted by Sequence at 11:03 AM on June 22, 2018 [15 favorites]
I’m still in a hospital near London.
Things are going well enough now that there’s a chance I can go home Monday. I’ll spare you the details. But feel free to memail me because if you like stories about poop, I have MANY and I am in the mood to complain.
posted by bilabial at 11:34 AM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Things are going well enough now that there’s a chance I can go home Monday. I’ll spare you the details. But feel free to memail me because if you like stories about poop, I have MANY and I am in the mood to complain.
posted by bilabial at 11:34 AM on June 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
This splitting up families/Melania jacket thing...
...I feel like the public is literally (no, LITERALLY literally) being tested. By the regime.
I hope I'm wrong, because if it turns out there actually is method to all this madness, then here's what happens:
Somehow, for some reason, Trump is impeached in October, in time to disorient the left enough to prevent a blue wave. Instead, likely-GOP voters who might've been too disgusted to vote in the midterms flock back to the new Pence-fronted party, and the media (this is the part of my prediction of which I'm most absolutely certain) plays right along with the Everything Will Be Better Now narrative, marching us right into full-on, legislated Evangelical Sharia. After which? Well, for starters, the proportion of people of color who can vote goes from "a few lucky ones" to "none."
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 1:46 PM on June 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
...I feel like the public is literally (no, LITERALLY literally) being tested. By the regime.
I hope I'm wrong, because if it turns out there actually is method to all this madness, then here's what happens:
Somehow, for some reason, Trump is impeached in October, in time to disorient the left enough to prevent a blue wave. Instead, likely-GOP voters who might've been too disgusted to vote in the midterms flock back to the new Pence-fronted party, and the media (this is the part of my prediction of which I'm most absolutely certain) plays right along with the Everything Will Be Better Now narrative, marching us right into full-on, legislated Evangelical Sharia. After which? Well, for starters, the proportion of people of color who can vote goes from "a few lucky ones" to "none."
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 1:46 PM on June 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Ok so for the bunch of hours, the mere act of having the mega-thread open on my phone is causing me to get a "do you really want to go there" security warning. When I click "keep me safe, " I'm sent to a DSA merch site. This has never happened to me at metafilter. Anyone have a clue about what's up?
Also, fuck.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:46 PM on June 22, 2018
Also, fuck.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:46 PM on June 22, 2018
I can't shake the unbearable feeling that this is what they warned us about and that we "The Resistance" are not prepared, and there are too many who would dissemble and "play nice" for a misguided attempt at electoral victory. I walked into work Friday with this horrific sinking feeling and I can't explain it. It's similar to when Bush was re-elected, only. Much worse. Because it's not a fear in the "I'm angry and pissed and going to do something about it" but almost a feeling of learned helplessness.
My mother is a Republican (not a hateful one. but still buys the BS), and her bday is coming up, and I've been avoiding calling her, but I know I'll have to on her bday, and I'm gonna have to bite my tongue, and this is how it happens. But she's almost 80 so, arguing isn't going to change anything at this point with her. Still it stresses me.
And I'm drinking way too much lately. :\ I watched DT videos to try to dissuade myself from drinking more and work to stop.
Thanks MeFi for letting me have a place to just let this out with others who probably are feeling similarly. <3
posted by symbioid at 4:36 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
My mother is a Republican (not a hateful one. but still buys the BS), and her bday is coming up, and I've been avoiding calling her, but I know I'll have to on her bday, and I'm gonna have to bite my tongue, and this is how it happens. But she's almost 80 so, arguing isn't going to change anything at this point with her. Still it stresses me.
And I'm drinking way too much lately. :\ I watched DT videos to try to dissuade myself from drinking more and work to stop.
Thanks MeFi for letting me have a place to just let this out with others who probably are feeling similarly. <3
posted by symbioid at 4:36 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Tonight, we came up with a plan for Comrade Doll to user her Hungarian ethnicity to get a Hungarian (and hence EU) passport. Because in the US in 2018, we need to have an escape plan in case shit goes down and/or USCIS comes calling.
Because this is how 2018 in the USA looks when there's an immigrant in the house.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:46 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Because this is how 2018 in the USA looks when there's an immigrant in the house.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:46 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Fuck. I just want to hug everyone, particularly anyone who has wanted to migrate to give themselves and their families better lives. I'm so sorry that western nations are cruelly locking their borders and mistreating those who try to seek asylum.
posted by daybeforetheday at 12:28 AM on June 24, 2018
posted by daybeforetheday at 12:28 AM on June 24, 2018
There was yet another black young man shot in the back by police here near Pittsburgh last week and social media and newspaper comments have reminded me all over again how many racists and authoritarians there are here in Western Pennsylvania.
posted by octothorpe at 9:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 9:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Goddammit can we just get our fucking machine tool through customs before The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight torpedo world trade for the next few years? That'd be great.
I haven't found a good time — or had the heart — to broach the subject with my fellow communards of whether or not we can shelter people here. I'm the only one who keeps up with current events, but I feel like a bit of a Cassandra because it's so hard to believe what's actually happening.
posted by ob1quixote at 7:58 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
DirtyOldTown: “Because this is how 2018 in the USA looks when there's an immigrant in the house.”I felt sick to my stomach asking a recently naturalized friend if they were sure their paperwork was all correct. I told her to make sure that nobody we know is going to get pinched over some dumb paperwork jam-up that a little money could fix.
I haven't found a good time — or had the heart — to broach the subject with my fellow communards of whether or not we can shelter people here. I'm the only one who keeps up with current events, but I feel like a bit of a Cassandra because it's so hard to believe what's actually happening.
posted by ob1quixote at 7:58 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
My doctor put me on clonazapam, so that stopped the panic attacks, which is good because feeling like I was having a heart attack several times a day was awful. The bad part, besides probably getting addicted, is I feel numb and hollow about the real, terrible things happening in the world and in my personal life. I want to throw myself upon the gears, or seize the means of production, or whatever needs to be done to put a stop to this bullshit, but all of my energy goes into trudging through each day, and there's nothing left at the end. My therapist says I'm living an extremely high-stress life, raising three autistic children, my father in hospice, and lots of other problems I don't want to get into here. He says I need to take care of myself and leave the struggle to others better equipped to deal with it. He's probably right, but the guilt is eating me alive.
posted by double block and bleed at 8:35 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by double block and bleed at 8:35 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I fucking swear that as a bi trans woman I spend like 80% of my time reminding cis women in corporate fucking inclusion groups that "gender diversity" doesn't mean "cishet ladies pulling up the ladder behind them", then having to walk right into LGBT inclusion groups and give the same fucking talk to the cis gay folks. So goddamn exhausting. No idea how trans women of colour manage this shit without going ballistic at everyone.
posted by saltbush and olive at 1:37 AM on June 25, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by saltbush and olive at 1:37 AM on June 25, 2018 [6 favorites]
UGH. Went to a barbecue this week and had a Serbian man explain to me that he looooves Trump and thinks he's doing a great job. How a person could live under Milosevic and not see a problem with a budding autocrat is beyond me. "You understand Trump and his supporters hate you, too, right?" I asked.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:06 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:06 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
FUCK YOU WASHINGTON POST and your HAND WRINGING OVER INCIVILITY!
tea and tut-tutting aren't going to get us out of the mess
posted by jointhedance at 10:20 AM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
tea and tut-tutting aren't going to get us out of the mess
posted by jointhedance at 10:20 AM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
The racism in response to the shooting and the resulting protests is really bothering me. I really need to stay away from social media for a while and definitely not to read the comments after newspaper articles. My brain still just can't process the fact that there are so many people who think that shooting an unarmed teenager three times in the back is a perfectly acceptable thing for a police officer to do and it was obviously the kids fault for running. Ugh.
posted by octothorpe at 12:06 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 12:06 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have been steering well clear of un-vetted social media regarding Antwon Rose. What has become abundantly clear in the past few weeks is how many Americans don't actually believe we need a judicial system, or at my most generous don't understand how it works at even a basic theoretical level. None of them seem to understand that what they are defending and rooting for here is unconstrained state power and it can just as easily come for you one day, too. White folks think it won't (and, like, right now it probably won't unless you are marginalized in another way), but watch how fast even whiteness gets sliced and diced once a new scapegoat is needed. State violence is a monster that needs constant feeding.
As I mentioned above, my son last week asked me when Donald Trump was going to go to jail and why he's not there now. And thus I found myself explaining due process to a five-year-old. He seemed to be able to grok it just fine, I don't know what these peoples' problem is. (Ha ha I totally do: white supremacy.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:40 PM on June 25, 2018 [5 favorites]
As I mentioned above, my son last week asked me when Donald Trump was going to go to jail and why he's not there now. And thus I found myself explaining due process to a five-year-old. He seemed to be able to grok it just fine, I don't know what these peoples' problem is. (Ha ha I totally do: white supremacy.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:40 PM on June 25, 2018 [5 favorites]
The online "but ambulances tho" reaction to the Pittsburgh road-blocking protests is making me fucking-fuck so hard. Hundreds of people are heartily onboard with being able to injure or even kill protestors for inconveniencing them. This is fine.
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:58 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:58 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
I am just really, really, really, really sick of other humans. I want to crawl in a hole and disappear.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:21 PM on June 25, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:21 PM on June 25, 2018 [4 favorites]
The current politics thread includes this disclaimer:
Remember: despair is a sin. Take care of yourself and the people you love, take a break when you need to, vent when you need to, and support the site if you can. But please don't give in to pessimism, and never stop fighting to make things better. We will get through this together.
Can we not tell people who may be dealing with depression and who might even be directly targeted by the bullshit this administration and its Congressional/SCOTUS/media lackeys spew on a daily basis that despair is a sin? Seriously, that's a word that carries a hell of a lot of baggage for some people. It's also manipulative/judgmental as hell.
posted by zarq at 1:39 PM on June 25, 2018 [15 favorites]
Remember: despair is a sin. Take care of yourself and the people you love, take a break when you need to, vent when you need to, and support the site if you can. But please don't give in to pessimism, and never stop fighting to make things better. We will get through this together.
Can we not tell people who may be dealing with depression and who might even be directly targeted by the bullshit this administration and its Congressional/SCOTUS/media lackeys spew on a daily basis that despair is a sin? Seriously, that's a word that carries a hell of a lot of baggage for some people. It's also manipulative/judgmental as hell.
posted by zarq at 1:39 PM on June 25, 2018 [15 favorites]
zarq: "Can we not tell people who may be dealing with depression and who might even be directly targeted by the bullshit this administration and its Congressional/SCOTUS/media lackeys spew on a daily basis that despair is a sin? Seriously, that's a word that carries a hell of a lot of baggage for some people. It's also manipulative/judgmental as hell."
Yeah, fuck all this emotional policing. Honestly, if you can't take despair laid out in full everywhere (which it damn well should be, because the world is a fucking thresher), you can at least not shame the people who're dealing with it. It's mean gaslighting bullshit.
It's blatantly obvious (to me) that the Earth is going to fall apart as we rocket past 4 celsius, refugee and climate crises are going to get worse and worse, and it's likely that a stable world order will never exist in our children's lifetimes. And in the meantime we get to deal with the rise of fascism over the globe. Despair is appropriate and all you sunny-faced people can go piss up a rope.
posted by TypographicalError at 3:13 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yeah, fuck all this emotional policing. Honestly, if you can't take despair laid out in full everywhere (which it damn well should be, because the world is a fucking thresher), you can at least not shame the people who're dealing with it. It's mean gaslighting bullshit.
It's blatantly obvious (to me) that the Earth is going to fall apart as we rocket past 4 celsius, refugee and climate crises are going to get worse and worse, and it's likely that a stable world order will never exist in our children's lifetimes. And in the meantime we get to deal with the rise of fascism over the globe. Despair is appropriate and all you sunny-faced people can go piss up a rope.
posted by TypographicalError at 3:13 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hey everybody, check it out! I've got a new current events podcast. The first half is just someone reading the US news feed from Reuters for the day while I sob uncontrollably and the second half is just me shrieking in horror until I lose my voice. Each episode is eight hours long.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:52 PM on June 25, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:52 PM on June 25, 2018 [13 favorites]
From the most recent political thread's FPP:
Remember: despair is a sin.
Right in the FPP. An admonishment to everyone who reads it that if they feel despair, it makes OP's blue-eyed Jesus cry.
You know what I'd love to never happen again on MetaFilter? Being told in an FPP that my legitimate emotional response to the world is bad and wrong and goes against the Sky Fairy.
I would have thought that the mods would have struck that fucker right off for so many reasons.
What the ever-loving holier-than-thou treacly bullshit snobbery fuck.
posted by tzikeh at 8:47 PM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
Remember: despair is a sin.
Right in the FPP. An admonishment to everyone who reads it that if they feel despair, it makes OP's blue-eyed Jesus cry.
You know what I'd love to never happen again on MetaFilter? Being told in an FPP that my legitimate emotional response to the world is bad and wrong and goes against the Sky Fairy.
I would have thought that the mods would have struck that fucker right off for so many reasons.
What the ever-loving holier-than-thou treacly bullshit snobbery fuck.
posted by tzikeh at 8:47 PM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
Aaaaand I see that zarq was in with it seven hours before me. Sorry I didn't read up before commenting, but I came here directly from that thread because if I didn't say something here I was gonna say something MUCH WORSE there, and probably get banned.
posted by tzikeh at 8:49 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tzikeh at 8:49 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
(Don't worry, I'm going somewhere with this)
New model predicts that we're probably the only advanced civilization in the observable universe
Dunno if I agree with their approach. While unable to sleep a few hours ago, I thought up an answer to Fermi's paradox (and was too disturbed by it to stay in bed):
I think, first of all, it's not "intelligence rarely arises," because look at dolphins and corvids and all the other smart animals. Yeah, they're not spacefarers, but we know that they are problem-solving thinkers, so it strikes me as anthropocentric to assume their extraterrestrial analogs couldn't become technologically-advanced given the right circumstances on some hypothetical world.
What if spacefarer-level intelligence—that is to say, high-tech, language-dependent intelligence—always and automatically predisposes its possessor species to a fatally well-developed ability to convince themselves of illusions and ignore reality? So that, intelligence on that scale ends up affecting its possessor societies like those antlers Jared Diamond mentioned that grow so huge that the animal (was it some species of elk?) can't lift its head anymore. (Or maybe cancer is a more apt comparison.) I.e., I posit that
1- self-deception unavoidably accompanies high-tech, language-dependent intelligence
2- the higher-tech and more language-dependent a species becomes, the more that self-deception develops and the more fatal (on a species-wide scale) are its consequences
…And thus, basically, intelligence itself IS the Great Filter.
I mean, that'd explain a lot about 2016 (and 1916, and…). I welcome any of you to detect unsupported assumptions, maybe self-deceptions of my own, in this. (Please do. I beg you.)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:31 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
New model predicts that we're probably the only advanced civilization in the observable universe
Dunno if I agree with their approach. While unable to sleep a few hours ago, I thought up an answer to Fermi's paradox (and was too disturbed by it to stay in bed):
I think, first of all, it's not "intelligence rarely arises," because look at dolphins and corvids and all the other smart animals. Yeah, they're not spacefarers, but we know that they are problem-solving thinkers, so it strikes me as anthropocentric to assume their extraterrestrial analogs couldn't become technologically-advanced given the right circumstances on some hypothetical world.
What if spacefarer-level intelligence—that is to say, high-tech, language-dependent intelligence—always and automatically predisposes its possessor species to a fatally well-developed ability to convince themselves of illusions and ignore reality? So that, intelligence on that scale ends up affecting its possessor societies like those antlers Jared Diamond mentioned that grow so huge that the animal (was it some species of elk?) can't lift its head anymore. (Or maybe cancer is a more apt comparison.) I.e., I posit that
1- self-deception unavoidably accompanies high-tech, language-dependent intelligence
2- the higher-tech and more language-dependent a species becomes, the more that self-deception develops and the more fatal (on a species-wide scale) are its consequences
…And thus, basically, intelligence itself IS the Great Filter.
I mean, that'd explain a lot about 2016 (and 1916, and…). I welcome any of you to detect unsupported assumptions, maybe self-deceptions of my own, in this. (Please do. I beg you.)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:31 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Man, I value the Fucking Fuck threads so much, but I really feel like fucking fucks about moderation or FPPs or stuff actually about metafilter itself would be great in an actual thread about site etiquette. Because as it stands it can’t be responded to, because Fucking Fuck threads are not about that, but it just kind of stays there regardless of content, which also has issues.
posted by corb at 5:57 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by corb at 5:57 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
Man, I value the Fucking Fuck threads so much, but I really feel like fucking fucks about moderation or FPPs or stuff actually about metafilter itself would be great in an actual thread about site etiquette.
I deliberately chose this thread and not that one. If you would like to voice complaints in another thread, no one is stopping you.
posted by zarq at 6:18 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
I deliberately chose this thread and not that one. If you would like to voice complaints in another thread, no one is stopping you.
posted by zarq at 6:18 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Me, in 2011: Hey check out this hilarious show on NatGeo where lunatics prepare for the end of the world!
Me, in 2018: How much food and water would I need to stay underground for two years?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:58 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]
Me, in 2018: How much food and water would I need to stay underground for two years?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:58 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]
OK, so I will be fine and do not need a hug, but I am kind of tearing up at the moment thinking about the world. It has been a frustrating day fucking about with documents, last minute scramble to deal with visa renewal and plenty of "oops" and plan b, plan c... And in the breaks from that shitshow I am catching up on the larger shitshow, and then started listening to some Pink Floyd The Wall... because yeah of course I am that sort of masochist, right?
From In the Flesh - Pink is ranting at the audience as he descends into racist insanity, remind you of anyone?
And that one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all this riff raff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint!
And another with spots!
If I had my way, I'd have all of you shot!
And then Waiting for the Worms. The whole lyric fits, but the ranting megaphone really had me, and I tried to dig up the exact text...
And I can remember when I first heard this as a young man, it seemed edgy and fantastic, of course there wouldn't be real fascists like this in the modern world! Well, duh, yeah I guess in 1979 there were people pretty much exactly like this, Roger Waters did not need to imagine too hard.
And now the President of the United States. It would fit perfectly in one of his rallies, aside from the country. Oh, and substitute snake for worms. Fuck me.
Would you like to see Britannia rule again, my friend?
All you have to do is follow the worms!
Would you like to send our coloured cousins home again?
All you have to do is follow the worms!
So yeah, if you are in need of a cathartic "oh for fuck sakes" moment, cue up those tracks. Fuck this, fucking fuck?!?
posted by Meatbomb at 7:04 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
From In the Flesh - Pink is ranting at the audience as he descends into racist insanity, remind you of anyone?
And that one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all this riff raff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint!
And another with spots!
If I had my way, I'd have all of you shot!
And then Waiting for the Worms. The whole lyric fits, but the ranting megaphone really had me, and I tried to dig up the exact text...
And I can remember when I first heard this as a young man, it seemed edgy and fantastic, of course there wouldn't be real fascists like this in the modern world! Well, duh, yeah I guess in 1979 there were people pretty much exactly like this, Roger Waters did not need to imagine too hard.
And now the President of the United States. It would fit perfectly in one of his rallies, aside from the country. Oh, and substitute snake for worms. Fuck me.
Would you like to see Britannia rule again, my friend?
All you have to do is follow the worms!
Would you like to send our coloured cousins home again?
All you have to do is follow the worms!
So yeah, if you are in need of a cathartic "oh for fuck sakes" moment, cue up those tracks. Fuck this, fucking fuck?!?
posted by Meatbomb at 7:04 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
"In the Flesh" is a good one, meatbomb. See also the Country Teasers version that's incorporated into "Spiderman in the Flesh," the first half of which (the original CT half) offers gems like "I must have been bit by a spider when I was very small/Because now I'm grown up I spend five days a week going up the fucking wall."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:12 AM on June 26, 2018
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:12 AM on June 26, 2018
God I hate the end of a Supreme Court term. Year after year it's just a wild series of devatstating gut punches. In recent memory, the only progressive decision from the court that restored my faith in America was the Obergefell ruling. Everything else is: corporations have unlimited power, down with collective bargaining, let's chip away at Roe v. Wade, the President is an unaccountable term-limited emperor in a huge area of concern, so long as he makes a fuss about national security, etc. etc. etc. You'd think the court was full of smarties, what with their expensive pedigrees. But they're just ideological hacks. It's so exhausting to have faith in the smarties.
posted by dis_integration at 7:56 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 7:56 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've needed to cry for... well for a while but especially the last few weeks, but I'm afraid that if I let myself start, I'll never be able to stop.
Everything is terrible and I don't know what to do. I'll be rallying in DC on Saturday but every time I think about what to put on a sign, all I can come up with is FUCK! There's just too much. I know this particular protest is about family separation but it's really all of a piece, isn't it?
My husband and I can't even talk about it because we both just start ranting in parallel and it's not like either one of us has new information to give to the other so we just start swearing and yelling, which is probably sub-optimal for Soren Jr.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:00 AM on June 26, 2018 [5 favorites]
Everything is terrible and I don't know what to do. I'll be rallying in DC on Saturday but every time I think about what to put on a sign, all I can come up with is FUCK! There's just too much. I know this particular protest is about family separation but it's really all of a piece, isn't it?
My husband and I can't even talk about it because we both just start ranting in parallel and it's not like either one of us has new information to give to the other so we just start swearing and yelling, which is probably sub-optimal for Soren Jr.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:00 AM on June 26, 2018 [5 favorites]
I don't know why this is my line
We have a conversation like this every week. Like, I can never predict what's gonna be the thing that will break my brain into pieces.
Recent winners include Melania's spokesperson's response to JacketGate and the people of Duluth chanting SPACE FORCE.
posted by gerstle at 8:15 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
We have a conversation like this every week. Like, I can never predict what's gonna be the thing that will break my brain into pieces.
Recent winners include Melania's spokesperson's response to JacketGate and the people of Duluth chanting SPACE FORCE.
posted by gerstle at 8:15 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
Feeling extra super duper crazy decaffeinated soy grande with a dash of sprinkles fucked today. Halp.
posted by missmobtown at 9:46 AM on June 26, 2018
posted by missmobtown at 9:46 AM on June 26, 2018
God I hate the end of a Supreme Court term
Yes. Today is my birthday, and marriage equality was a lovely 28th birthday gift from the Supreme Court. Today, not so much.
(Now I'm imagining myself in a passive-aggressive gift-off with Neil Gorsuch. I bet he'd love a donation to Planned Parenthood for his birthday)
posted by sunset in snow country at 10:03 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yes. Today is my birthday, and marriage equality was a lovely 28th birthday gift from the Supreme Court. Today, not so much.
(Now I'm imagining myself in a passive-aggressive gift-off with Neil Gorsuch. I bet he'd love a donation to Planned Parenthood for his birthday)
posted by sunset in snow country at 10:03 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted; as always, "fuck you" to people in the thread = day off. Emotions are high, I get it, this is a thread for venting fear and anger etc about the world situation, but directing that stuff at other Mefites isn't going to work here.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:22 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:22 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
I thought I was developing a thicker skin for this bullshit, but today SCOTUS has me tearing out my hair and screaming into the void. Fuck those guys. Seriously. Fuck them.
posted by blurker at 10:32 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by blurker at 10:32 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
From the other thread:
“Maybe it’s time to stop fighting. Maybe we just have to accept that America is just another country. There’s nothing special here. This can’t be home.”“Maybe it’s time to stop fighting. Maybe we just have to accept that America is just another country. There’s nothing special here. This can’t be home.”
I wanted to tell her we could never stop fighting, giving in is a win for the bigots & racists. But you know what? They did win. They won big. "
I think we've pretty much lost, at least for now/the foreseeable future. Maybe in a bunch of years later we might be this awful. Maybe. Keep fighting, but.... *sigh*
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:09 PM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
“Maybe it’s time to stop fighting. Maybe we just have to accept that America is just another country. There’s nothing special here. This can’t be home.”“Maybe it’s time to stop fighting. Maybe we just have to accept that America is just another country. There’s nothing special here. This can’t be home.”
I wanted to tell her we could never stop fighting, giving in is a win for the bigots & racists. But you know what? They did win. They won big. "
I think we've pretty much lost, at least for now/the foreseeable future. Maybe in a bunch of years later we might be this awful. Maybe. Keep fighting, but.... *sigh*
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:09 PM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
My husband is flying down to be with his grandma who may be dying, and my public employee union that won us paid parental leave will likely take a massive hit if the Janus decision goes the way everyone expects it to. This fucking sucks.
posted by mostly vowels at 5:16 PM on June 26, 2018
posted by mostly vowels at 5:16 PM on June 26, 2018
…And thus, basically, intelligence itself IS the Great Filter.
CheesesOfBrazil, if you have not already, check out Peter Watts's phenomenal first contact–philosophical horror sci-fi novel Blindspot. It answers the Fermi Paradox in the most awful way. Its version of a worst-case scenario for humankind makes for comfort reading when current circumstances feel overwhelming.
Meanwhile, back on earth, I have not been keeping my shit together in the past several days. My family is useless, as are my liberal friends (my conservative ones long gone). And the news over the past couple of days has given me a persistent blinding headache from sheer anger.
Dawn will bring worse, at this rate.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:03 AM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
CheesesOfBrazil, if you have not already, check out Peter Watts's phenomenal first contact–philosophical horror sci-fi novel Blindspot. It answers the Fermi Paradox in the most awful way. Its version of a worst-case scenario for humankind makes for comfort reading when current circumstances feel overwhelming.
Meanwhile, back on earth, I have not been keeping my shit together in the past several days. My family is useless, as are my liberal friends (my conservative ones long gone). And the news over the past couple of days has given me a persistent blinding headache from sheer anger.
Dawn will bring worse, at this rate.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:03 AM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh fuck.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:16 AM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:16 AM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Fuck you Justice Kennedy for signing on to these dogshit opinions and then bailing on the country, you prick. Way to destroy democracy on the way out the door, fuckface. I hope your remaining days are long and painful.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:25 AM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:25 AM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
Well, that's the end of the Republic. Congratulations to all you protest voters. You killed us. I hope you like what you created.
posted by holborne at 11:36 AM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by holborne at 11:36 AM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Fuck fuck fuck
posted by Vibrissa at 11:37 AM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Vibrissa at 11:37 AM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
Seriously, Kennedy?
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
[screaming into the void intensifies]
posted by hanov3r at 11:40 AM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
Seriously, Kennedy?
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
[screaming into the void intensifies]
posted by hanov3r at 11:40 AM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
This is my first foray into this thread. I was saving it for when I really needed it.
Fucking FUCK.
Fuck. Asshole. FUCK
posted by Dorinda at 11:46 AM on June 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
Fucking FUCK.
Fuck. Asshole. FUCK
posted by Dorinda at 11:46 AM on June 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
SHITFUCKWANKTITJUZZCUCKNUMPTYSPOOGEFELCHCHOADTRUUUUUMP
posted by lalochezia at 11:47 AM on June 27, 2018
posted by lalochezia at 11:47 AM on June 27, 2018
I'm just really fucking mad that, what...15? (The Koch brothers, the Mercers, Mitch McConnell, Trump, Gorsuch, etc) powerful people get to ruin everyone else's lives through cheating and bribery. Like, they can just steal babies and Supreme Court seats and anything else that isn't nailed down and no one can do anything to stop them because they have also rigged all the election districts and taken away early voting and otherwise made it as hard as possible to vote? The unfairness is what grinds me down. It's so cruel and meaningless and evil.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:49 AM on June 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:49 AM on June 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
wow i'm excited to lose my health insurance and die
posted by poffin boffin at 11:51 AM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 11:51 AM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
lmao wow we're fucked
posted by gucci mane at 11:51 AM on June 27, 2018
posted by gucci mane at 11:51 AM on June 27, 2018
fuck you anthony kennedy. this supreme court is going to enshrine regressive madness for the rest of my life and he knows what the consequences are. asshat.
posted by dis_integration at 11:58 AM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dis_integration at 11:58 AM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Welp. Fuck.
posted by lazaruslong at 12:03 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by lazaruslong at 12:03 PM on June 27, 2018
FUCK.
WE FUCKING TOLD YOU THE COURT WAS IN THE BALANCE. But you didn’t fucking listen.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 12:07 PM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
WE FUCKING TOLD YOU THE COURT WAS IN THE BALANCE. But you didn’t fucking listen.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 12:07 PM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
guys have you considered checking out for a week and watching soccer. maybe some of you don't like sports. maybe some of you don't understand soccer. whatever. seriously: consider spending a day or two focusing on something meaningless, it has done a lot for my mood.
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:09 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:09 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
odinsdream, citation for that ambulance company case? That sounds like a thing that needs to be amplified.
posted by hanov3r at 12:12 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by hanov3r at 12:12 PM on June 27, 2018
true, it is helpfully reminding me that costa rican citizenship is granted outright after 5 years of legal residency
posted by poffin boffin at 12:13 PM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:13 PM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
i typed that at the exact moment CRC scored against switzerland so that's the sign from the gods i was waiting for i guess
posted by poffin boffin at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
Fuck you Kennedy, fuck you McConnell, fuck you Stein voters and “both sides are the same”era fuck you false media equivalencies fuck you 2018. I did not think it was possible to be full of any more rage and impotence but turns out there was some head space to jam some more in there after all.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2018 [15 favorites]
AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2018 [15 favorites]
I find myself fantasizing about a Lysistrata type scenario, where women simply refuse en masse to have sex with men until we stop putting anti-choice assholes in power. Enjoy abstinence-only forever, fuckers.
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
Make sure you've got a valid passport, everyone.
And if you were considering permanent birth control, i'd get that done ASAP. (Men, this one is on you, it's cheap and easy.)
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 12:22 PM on June 27, 2018
And if you were considering permanent birth control, i'd get that done ASAP. (Men, this one is on you, it's cheap and easy.)
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 12:22 PM on June 27, 2018
I am so tired.
About all I have left is the desire to take Kennedy's precious gay marriage legacy and ram it down his throat while screaming that he's a traitor to democracy.
posted by sciatrix at 12:22 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
About all I have left is the desire to take Kennedy's precious gay marriage legacy and ram it down his throat while screaming that he's a traitor to democracy.
posted by sciatrix at 12:22 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
update the resident visa-to-citizenship pipeline requirements for colombia are actually more permissive/less expensive than the ones for costa rica or panama AND colombia has marriage equality and explicit trans rights hello cartagena i am coming
posted by poffin boffin at 12:24 PM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:24 PM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
McConnell on Kennedy retiring: "It's imperative that the president's nominee be treated fairly."
SERIOUSLY, MOTHERFUCKER?
I think this might be the day that broke me.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:25 PM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
SERIOUSLY, MOTHERFUCKER?
I think this might be the day that broke me.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:25 PM on June 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
I just found out my senator's office is across the street from mine. I'll be writing a Stern letter re: supreme Court tonight and hand delivering it tomorrow!
posted by vespabelle at 12:26 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by vespabelle at 12:26 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, McConnell's Republican party has been the party of trolling for so long I don't know why we were surprised by 2016. Amazing how much damage to the country you can point straight back to McConnell...
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:32 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:32 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I just called both my senators. One went to VM in the middle of the work day. The woman I spoke to at the other sounded as dispirited as I am.
posted by bq at 12:50 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by bq at 12:50 PM on June 27, 2018
Omnishambles fuck.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:55 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 12:55 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
As if we hadn't had enough bad news from SCOTUS just this week.
McConnell is a truly evil, loathsome being.
posted by SisterHavana at 12:59 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
McConnell is a truly evil, loathsome being.
posted by SisterHavana at 12:59 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
some guy commented on one of my tweets last night to say the news doesn't matter and i should just turn it off. anyway, that guy can go fuck himself
also. fuck
posted by the turtle's teeth at 1:04 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
also. fuck
posted by the turtle's teeth at 1:04 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Meep. /beaker
posted by petebest at 1:06 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by petebest at 1:06 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
What's been popping up in the back of my mind since the beginning of this year:
They won't try to gut the 13th and 14th Amendments, right? I mean, they can't enslave black people here again, can they? Who's got our backs? What if they start trying to outright round up and kill POC? Where can we go if we need to flee? What if I have to fight someone to keep them from taking me away and killing me because I'm black? Am I ready to die?
posted by droplet at 1:11 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
They won't try to gut the 13th and 14th Amendments, right? I mean, they can't enslave black people here again, can they? Who's got our backs? What if they start trying to outright round up and kill POC? Where can we go if we need to flee? What if I have to fight someone to keep them from taking me away and killing me because I'm black? Am I ready to die?
posted by droplet at 1:11 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Whatever I can do to help you should that time come, I will do. If I can aid you to getting to safety, I will. If I can help stave the wolf of fascism from the door by my actions, I will. If I can drum up rage and support and fury among the people who might otherwise sit and let them take you, I will. If I can scream loud enough to make people pay attention to what is happening to you, I will. If I flee, I will do what I can to start bringing as many people after me as I can to make a pathway to safety.
I will do what I can to stand by you. I think I am ready to die, if I need to, to make that happen. I hope I will not.
I can't promise more than that. But I can promise my breath and my words and my heard and my skin and my powers of law to that principle. I can promise you that I will be marching on Saturday to show fury on behalf of immigrants and refugees. I will be trying to move the Overton Window of acceptable conduct with my body.
The tension is at a breaking point. Whatever happens, this fall will tell us what this country is made of and whether any of it can be saved.
posted by sciatrix at 1:27 PM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
I will do what I can to stand by you. I think I am ready to die, if I need to, to make that happen. I hope I will not.
I can't promise more than that. But I can promise my breath and my words and my heard and my skin and my powers of law to that principle. I can promise you that I will be marching on Saturday to show fury on behalf of immigrants and refugees. I will be trying to move the Overton Window of acceptable conduct with my body.
The tension is at a breaking point. Whatever happens, this fall will tell us what this country is made of and whether any of it can be saved.
posted by sciatrix at 1:27 PM on June 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
Fuck you Tony Kennedy. Fuck you. I hope your God exists and sends you to the second ditch of the eighth circle where you can soak in the fundament of your jurisprudence.
Fuck. You. You care about equal dignitude right up until it clashes with the privileged position of Christianity.
At least Scalia had the spine to embrace his hackery. You were a coward, unwilling to own the results of your actions.
At least Thomas has a theory of justice, sadistic though it is. You ruled based purely on emotion, pure pathos, but disguising it as ethos or logos as the mood suited you.
May you be tormented with one meager percent of the harm you have done. You have chosen to resign in the knowledge that what little good people may credit you will be undone by your successor.
Fuck. You.
posted by PMdixon at 1:28 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fuck. You. You care about equal dignitude right up until it clashes with the privileged position of Christianity.
At least Scalia had the spine to embrace his hackery. You were a coward, unwilling to own the results of your actions.
At least Thomas has a theory of justice, sadistic though it is. You ruled based purely on emotion, pure pathos, but disguising it as ethos or logos as the mood suited you.
May you be tormented with one meager percent of the harm you have done. You have chosen to resign in the knowledge that what little good people may credit you will be undone by your successor.
Fuck. You.
posted by PMdixon at 1:28 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I have felt truly betrayed by SCOTUS this week, and today was just the final straw.
posted by blurker at 1:34 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by blurker at 1:34 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I mean, they can't enslave black people here again, can they? Who's got our backs? What if they start trying to outright round up and kill POC?
If they tried that, I at least would absolutely take up arms. Probably at a point before that, because they don’t usually jump straight there - but if they did, I would get my kid out of the country and volunteer to die to stop it. At least some of us will let that happen literally only over our dead bodies. I promise you.
posted by corb at 1:40 PM on June 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
If they tried that, I at least would absolutely take up arms. Probably at a point before that, because they don’t usually jump straight there - but if they did, I would get my kid out of the country and volunteer to die to stop it. At least some of us will let that happen literally only over our dead bodies. I promise you.
posted by corb at 1:40 PM on June 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
I think POTUS looks up to Duterte and thinks what he’s doing to drug dealers is cute. Worst case scenario will look like that and the racial background of those affected will be a deniable coincidence. I can only hope he gets drummed out after he spoils the SC.
posted by Selena777 at 1:55 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by Selena777 at 1:55 PM on June 27, 2018
Droplet, you pm me when that happens. You stay with me. This white lady will cut someone to protect you.
Also, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!
I FUCKING KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! WHEN TRUMP GOT ELECTED, I WAS LIKE GREAT. THERE GO THREE SC SEATS. WE’RE NOW AT 2.
FUCK YOU, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO JUST COULDNT BRING THEMSELVES TO VOTE FOR CLINTON. I wish I could leave you in this shitstorm.
posted by greermahoney at 2:20 PM on June 27, 2018 [13 favorites]
Also, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!
I FUCKING KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! WHEN TRUMP GOT ELECTED, I WAS LIKE GREAT. THERE GO THREE SC SEATS. WE’RE NOW AT 2.
FUCK YOU, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO JUST COULDNT BRING THEMSELVES TO VOTE FOR CLINTON. I wish I could leave you in this shitstorm.
posted by greermahoney at 2:20 PM on June 27, 2018 [13 favorites]
I have never before hoped that someone has some kind of terminal illness, not to punish them, but because it would be the only thing that would allow this situation to exist while saying that he is not a callous monster.
posted by Sequence at 2:27 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Sequence at 2:27 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I keep trying to scream but I've got nothin. I'm ditching work and shopping online for the sleeper sofa I'll need to host some of the thousands of women who will be fleeing to my state for abortions and other reproductive healthcare that will in short order be prohibited in every state around me.
also super psyched about dying very young of a thoroughly treatable (by rich people) illness, which is now well into the top 3 of "ways I'm probably gonna die."
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:37 PM on June 27, 2018
also super psyched about dying very young of a thoroughly treatable (by rich people) illness, which is now well into the top 3 of "ways I'm probably gonna die."
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:37 PM on June 27, 2018
(the other 2 are "picking the wrong fight" and "falling in the bathtub" because those tubs are fucking killers, man.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:39 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:39 PM on June 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Even if Kennedy was terminally ill, he still signed those last few opinions to make it clear that this was an active choice to be a shitty rightwing fuckup and he didn't want anyone thinking differently.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:17 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:17 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am supposed to be talking to people about different politics right now and keep sidelining to “have you heard the news about the Supreme Court” which is less than useful but I can’t stop focusing on it.
posted by corb at 3:56 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by corb at 3:56 PM on June 27, 2018
GODDAMN IT. Things just keep getting worse and worse. The arc of the moral universe may have been bending a long time towards justice, but now it's snapping back with vicious force towards tyranny, bigotry, and injustice. So much of the damage being done is going to take long decades to undo. It's genuinely terrifying to imagine what other rights and protections may yet be swept away by this mudslide presidency. I'm an optimist by nature, but the last few weeks have got me genuinely rattled.
posted by Kilter at 4:22 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Kilter at 4:22 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Current mood: Mr. Lorensen singing All You Fascists Bound to Lose in the kitchen.
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:45 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:45 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm not panicking any more, but I am in deep despair. This is going to be the rest of my life. Probably the rest of all of our lives.
All I can think of is this: every act of a liberal congress will nullified-even assuming that the midterms are even allowed to happen. Every single law that dragged us towed civilized country status is going to be gone. Any state civil rights law is going to be gone. Everything done since FDR, gone. The fuckers have won, and things are going to get incredibly bad.
I just wish I could see the faces of the self-righteous little fuckers who told me back in 2016 they didn't want to hear about the Supreme Court.
I'm done. I tried to warn people. And now I'm going to have to watch the results. For the rest of my life.
posted by happyroach at 5:03 PM on June 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
All I can think of is this: every act of a liberal congress will nullified-even assuming that the midterms are even allowed to happen. Every single law that dragged us towed civilized country status is going to be gone. Any state civil rights law is going to be gone. Everything done since FDR, gone. The fuckers have won, and things are going to get incredibly bad.
I just wish I could see the faces of the self-righteous little fuckers who told me back in 2016 they didn't want to hear about the Supreme Court.
I'm done. I tried to warn people. And now I'm going to have to watch the results. For the rest of my life.
posted by happyroach at 5:03 PM on June 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
I’m terrified and depressed and it’s got me snippy at my kid and my wife. That just won’t do, but I don’t know what will help. We found out today that our second kid is going to be a girl and my wife said that she is depressed because that girl will have no control over her own body.
I’ve been researching moving out of the country, but honestly where is there to go now? Canada feels too close. The UK is it’s own tire fire. Maybe somewhere else in Western Europe? Of maybe just California is far enough? And is moving away cowardly when we enjoy so many privileges (white, cis, het, college degrees, good upper middle class income)?
Fuck this shit.
posted by zrail at 5:23 PM on June 27, 2018
I’ve been researching moving out of the country, but honestly where is there to go now? Canada feels too close. The UK is it’s own tire fire. Maybe somewhere else in Western Europe? Of maybe just California is far enough? And is moving away cowardly when we enjoy so many privileges (white, cis, het, college degrees, good upper middle class income)?
Fuck this shit.
posted by zrail at 5:23 PM on June 27, 2018
Where would take us?
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:04 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:04 PM on June 27, 2018
Appointment in Samarra, anyway. 45 threatens the world order, not just the US.
posted by holborne at 6:29 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by holborne at 6:29 PM on June 27, 2018
I'm gonna go make this collection of protest slogans hat (Ravelry link), though since I don't have enough tiny yarn in different colors to make a hat I think I am just gonna like, make a purse or something out of worsted. I doubt it'll be done by Saturday but it looks like we should just have a default protest hat for everything now anyway.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:07 PM on June 27, 2018
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:07 PM on June 27, 2018
Well, wasn't I surprised today.
I have always been aware of what is happening, aware of the goals of authority and their sponsors, and have always been aware of the consequences.
I've also been aware of the ebb and flow of the tide, the swing of the pendulum.
I've rarely been surprised, by any of the things that have happened, because I've considered them possible.
And then today, the accumulation of fucknuttery, just twisted one bolt one quarter of a turn, and then I was surprised by something.
And that something is, I don't care about America anymore.
I've been aware of the ideals, and the failures to even pretend to aspire to them at times, but apparently there was something that still stirred in the embers, something that remained that was maybe a child's teachings, or a vision of youth, or the gruff but knowing insights of maturity. It was something that apparently remained, quiet, and stoic, possibly eternal.
And today it wasn't even squelched. It just ceased to be there. It can't even be missed, as it's absence is not a void, but merely the inability to recognize what may have been.
But I was surprised.
I assume that the powers that own and rule this landmass will do as they please, and I suspect that will be ugly. People will suffer, and die, and that will be tragic. It will be a spectacle of stupidity and violence, social and economic and physical. I will feel bad for the individual victims.
But I will not feel bad for America because America is gone And whatever this is about to be I do not care, because I have had no part in it's creation, and will have no say in it's actions. I feel no shame at what will happen, because it is not mine nor is it yours.
So, here we are, in someone else's brave new world, that has such things.
And, thus, in this the places of howling fucks, I arrive without a fuck to give,
posted by dglynn at 7:43 PM on June 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
I have always been aware of what is happening, aware of the goals of authority and their sponsors, and have always been aware of the consequences.
I've also been aware of the ebb and flow of the tide, the swing of the pendulum.
I've rarely been surprised, by any of the things that have happened, because I've considered them possible.
And then today, the accumulation of fucknuttery, just twisted one bolt one quarter of a turn, and then I was surprised by something.
And that something is, I don't care about America anymore.
I've been aware of the ideals, and the failures to even pretend to aspire to them at times, but apparently there was something that still stirred in the embers, something that remained that was maybe a child's teachings, or a vision of youth, or the gruff but knowing insights of maturity. It was something that apparently remained, quiet, and stoic, possibly eternal.
And today it wasn't even squelched. It just ceased to be there. It can't even be missed, as it's absence is not a void, but merely the inability to recognize what may have been.
But I was surprised.
I assume that the powers that own and rule this landmass will do as they please, and I suspect that will be ugly. People will suffer, and die, and that will be tragic. It will be a spectacle of stupidity and violence, social and economic and physical. I will feel bad for the individual victims.
But I will not feel bad for America because America is gone And whatever this is about to be I do not care, because I have had no part in it's creation, and will have no say in it's actions. I feel no shame at what will happen, because it is not mine nor is it yours.
So, here we are, in someone else's brave new world, that has such things.
And, thus, in this the places of howling fucks, I arrive without a fuck to give,
posted by dglynn at 7:43 PM on June 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
This is my first foray into this thread. I was saving it for when I really needed it.
Excellent debut and wise resource management. Thumbs up.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:49 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Excellent debut and wise resource management. Thumbs up.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:49 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I know overturning Korematsu is practically old news at this point but it has taken me this long to process. I feel like it's a pure dominance move, like the Supreme Court is shitting on my floor while looking me directly in the eye and daring me to say something about it. Japanese Americans have wanted this for so long and now they're handing it to us as the emptiest of victories, while pissing all over our legacy by upholding the Muslim ban and showing that they think we're complete fools who won't notice.
Karen Korematsu is not having it.
posted by sunset in snow country at 9:09 PM on June 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
Karen Korematsu is not having it.
posted by sunset in snow country at 9:09 PM on June 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
I just want to reiterate an offer made in a long-ago Fuck thread -- if anyone needs a respite and can travel to NL, I have a spare room and no American cable news.
posted by sldownard at 9:47 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by sldownard at 9:47 PM on June 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm so sorry American mefites.
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:12 AM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:12 AM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Took a family from the most expensive hotel in Asheville to the airport and when I asked about departure time I was condescendingly told it was whenever they got there had I not noticed we were going to PRIVATE AVIATION? I held my tongue in front of their kids but then one of the kids asked why the Asheville airport is in Fletcher and I explained that one of the first things that happened when the state legislature went Republican was to take the airport the city had built and go after the water system and now they are drawing the city council districts for us. Why? They are punishing us for being liberal. Dad fumed. No tip for me.
Then I spent four hours with three Bosnian tourists talking about the breakup of Yugoslavia and what is happening here and this morning my son catches me looking at maps of nearby National Guard armories and says "Really?" I hope not.
Strange days when you start comparing Sarejevo to your hometown. The terrain. A surrounding population with lots of guns getting more and more hostile. . .naah, can't happen here.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:30 AM on June 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
Then I spent four hours with three Bosnian tourists talking about the breakup of Yugoslavia and what is happening here and this morning my son catches me looking at maps of nearby National Guard armories and says "Really?" I hope not.
Strange days when you start comparing Sarejevo to your hometown. The terrain. A surrounding population with lots of guns getting more and more hostile. . .naah, can't happen here.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:30 AM on June 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
After the decision on the Muslim ban was announced, I went home and packed my go-bag.
I don't know. I just signed a contract on my dream job and bought a beautiful little house and am SO excited to start work, but I am also fucking terrified that after they get bored with rounding up foreign-born brown people they are going to start rounding up US-born brown people and maybe I should just get out now?
I've been thinking about this on-and-off since last winter, when I met my dad's friend whose parents, German Jews, emigrated to Chile in the mid-30s. Well before Kristallnacht and they got out with plenty of funds and resources, but the rest of the family ... didn't.
posted by basalganglia at 3:34 AM on June 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
I don't know. I just signed a contract on my dream job and bought a beautiful little house and am SO excited to start work, but I am also fucking terrified that after they get bored with rounding up foreign-born brown people they are going to start rounding up US-born brown people and maybe I should just get out now?
I've been thinking about this on-and-off since last winter, when I met my dad's friend whose parents, German Jews, emigrated to Chile in the mid-30s. Well before Kristallnacht and they got out with plenty of funds and resources, but the rest of the family ... didn't.
posted by basalganglia at 3:34 AM on June 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
I went kayaking yesterday before I knew about Kennedy and I experienced the deepest feeling of peace that I've had in years (I'm paralyzed from a spinal cord injury, so it's been a while since I've been out in the water).
Now I'm batting away thoughts of how to flee to Canada that are messing with my focus. I don't know if it's a realistic possibility, but the SO thinks so, and he's kind of got the golden ticket, so I keep asking myself: Why NOT go? Why? Why?
The answer is to stay and fight for those who don't have a way out of here. I'm trying to remember that.
Anyways, it's good to know peace on the water is there. If anybody can get their hands on a boat and a body of water, highly recommend.
posted by angrycat at 3:56 AM on June 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Now I'm batting away thoughts of how to flee to Canada that are messing with my focus. I don't know if it's a realistic possibility, but the SO thinks so, and he's kind of got the golden ticket, so I keep asking myself: Why NOT go? Why? Why?
The answer is to stay and fight for those who don't have a way out of here. I'm trying to remember that.
Anyways, it's good to know peace on the water is there. If anybody can get their hands on a boat and a body of water, highly recommend.
posted by angrycat at 3:56 AM on June 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Do you suppose the deplorables are getting tired of winning yet?
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:02 AM on June 28, 2018
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:02 AM on June 28, 2018
When the news came down about Kennedy yesterday I had to take an anti-nausea pill. I woke up in a cold sweat at 3:20 AM this morning. Just vomited.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 10:42 AM on June 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 10:42 AM on June 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I went to bed with my mind racing thinking about it, and woke up with my mind racing thinking about it. Somehow my dreams only involved me purchasing various fresh fruits to make a juice. Not sure there's any metaphor there, so it's nice that some part of my body isn't totally fucked up by this shit.
posted by knownassociate at 11:49 AM on June 28, 2018
posted by knownassociate at 11:49 AM on June 28, 2018
I'm really fucking pissed off about Very Serious Politicians going "WITH KENNEDY GONE DEMOCRACY IS IN PERIL"
yo maybe if ONE FUCKING GUY was all that stood between Democracy! and total hellscape, our democracy was never that strong to begin with? Also fuck that, all power with the people forever and ever amen.
posted by mostly vowels at 11:52 AM on June 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
yo maybe if ONE FUCKING GUY was all that stood between Democracy! and total hellscape, our democracy was never that strong to begin with? Also fuck that, all power with the people forever and ever amen.
posted by mostly vowels at 11:52 AM on June 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
rabbitrabbit: “I was right.”Right? I have a super-complicated SQL query I need to try and work on and it's taking a maximum effort to even start by writing comments like one does when they don't know how to proceed. I did get a check mark yesterday for solving a simple problem by changing a
COALESCE statement into a CASE, but you are absolutely not alone, rabbitrabbit.posted by ob1quixote at 12:42 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Why? They are punishing us for being liberal. Dad fumed. No tip for me.
Dad probably sincerely believes he is in favor of free speech and PC has gone too far but is ready to dock your wages the second you express an opinion he doesn't like.
posted by mark k at 12:52 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Dad probably sincerely believes he is in favor of free speech and PC has gone too far but is ready to dock your wages the second you express an opinion he doesn't like.
posted by mark k at 12:52 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Y'all I just don't know. I have to step away from the world (again) because this despair is fucking killing me. I can't stop thinking about losing abortion rights. I want fucking out. I want out of this goddamned country being running by a fucking death cult.
Two weeks ago my husband was in a near-fatal car accident. He remarkably survived and was incredibly lucky to make it out with only a bunch of fractures and nothing that will do permanent incapacitating damage. He's doing really well, all things considered.
But I can't help feeling now, if he had died in that wreck, that I'd now be considering whether it was worth sticking around in this world. That's not something I really imagined myself ever feeling, but I'm feeling it now. I'm relieved I don't have kids so I only have to consider how to get myself through the rest of my lifespan.
I want to be clear: I'm okay, I'm not going to hurt myself. But damn.
I need to stop thinking about this stuff and focus on the steps in front of me, all the million things I need to do to get ready for having a spouse in a wheelchair coming home, etc. But the only reason all of this is paid for is because of the ACA. Otherwise we wouldn't have insurance at all. As it is, we just have a $1000 deductible. And the people in charge want to take that away from us. I...fucking can't y'all. I can't deal with how evil the world is on top of everything else.
posted by threeturtles at 1:29 PM on June 28, 2018 [14 favorites]
Two weeks ago my husband was in a near-fatal car accident. He remarkably survived and was incredibly lucky to make it out with only a bunch of fractures and nothing that will do permanent incapacitating damage. He's doing really well, all things considered.
But I can't help feeling now, if he had died in that wreck, that I'd now be considering whether it was worth sticking around in this world. That's not something I really imagined myself ever feeling, but I'm feeling it now. I'm relieved I don't have kids so I only have to consider how to get myself through the rest of my lifespan.
I want to be clear: I'm okay, I'm not going to hurt myself. But damn.
I need to stop thinking about this stuff and focus on the steps in front of me, all the million things I need to do to get ready for having a spouse in a wheelchair coming home, etc. But the only reason all of this is paid for is because of the ACA. Otherwise we wouldn't have insurance at all. As it is, we just have a $1000 deductible. And the people in charge want to take that away from us. I...fucking can't y'all. I can't deal with how evil the world is on top of everything else.
posted by threeturtles at 1:29 PM on June 28, 2018 [14 favorites]
You know, I don't know what to think about this. I see an acupuncturist to manage my chronic pain. Acupuncture sort of makes the pain easier to deal with, but because it helps abate the side effects of chronic pain--stress, anxiety, diminished appetite.
And I had a weird moment with my acupuncturist today, who is a former political operative who worked on the Dean 2004 campaign. And conversation has become awkward with him because he doesn't want to talk politics. At all. What David Tennant is up to these days, no problem. And I'm like what happened between the Dean Scream and now, sweetie, because at one point you were very invested.
Meanwhile, I also see a psychiatrist because I have a lot of problems yo. And each week he leans eagerly into a discussion about politics. Like, we spend fifteen minutes of a fifty-minute session, at least, talking about politics. And he's a Clinton hater. He tells me that in his household, he was nearly stoned for saying something along the lines that HRC is responsible for Trump. I'm like so why are you telling me this.
And I'm like--I do wish my caregivers, both of whom are working to manage my anxiety that comes from pain and my fucked up mind and also well the decline of Western Democracy, would be a little steadier about it. Maybe the acupuncturist has the right idea. But his latest thing is to promote acupuncturist as an alternative to botox, which shouldn't make me think that he's living some sort of superficial life, but I have the thought regardless.
posted by angrycat at 2:08 PM on June 28, 2018
And I had a weird moment with my acupuncturist today, who is a former political operative who worked on the Dean 2004 campaign. And conversation has become awkward with him because he doesn't want to talk politics. At all. What David Tennant is up to these days, no problem. And I'm like what happened between the Dean Scream and now, sweetie, because at one point you were very invested.
Meanwhile, I also see a psychiatrist because I have a lot of problems yo. And each week he leans eagerly into a discussion about politics. Like, we spend fifteen minutes of a fifty-minute session, at least, talking about politics. And he's a Clinton hater. He tells me that in his household, he was nearly stoned for saying something along the lines that HRC is responsible for Trump. I'm like so why are you telling me this.
And I'm like--I do wish my caregivers, both of whom are working to manage my anxiety that comes from pain and my fucked up mind and also well the decline of Western Democracy, would be a little steadier about it. Maybe the acupuncturist has the right idea. But his latest thing is to promote acupuncturist as an alternative to botox, which shouldn't make me think that he's living some sort of superficial life, but I have the thought regardless.
posted by angrycat at 2:08 PM on June 28, 2018
And threeturtles, here's hoping that your husband's recovery goes smoothly and I'm sorry you guys are going through this
posted by angrycat at 2:19 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by angrycat at 2:19 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
get rid of your fucking guns
just ban them all
your freedom is killing you
posted by adept256 at 2:35 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
just ban them all
your freedom is killing you
posted by adept256 at 2:35 PM on June 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Somehow my dreams only involved me purchasing various fresh fruits to make a juice. Not sure there's any metaphor there
This is not to stomp on your dreams or anything, but if I were to offer an interpretation: make hay while the sun shines.
We all know some dark fucking shit is coming down the pipe just as soon as it can, but we have a few months. SCOTUS can't do anything until October. Congress' hands are tied (barring budget resolution or filibuster shenanigans) until next year. (Indeed, they're too busy backstabbing each other to pass much of anything.) Trump can break a lot of things (notably the economy and the lives of a lot of poor souls within 100 miles of the border and overseas) but he's petty and incompetent and spends a lot of his time preening for Fox News. Public opinion is shifting rightward rapidly, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to be at "it's okay to gun liberals down in the street" soon.
This is all to say: we probably have a little while before everything goes completely to shit. Spend that time preparing as much as you can. Find local support. If you have local support, widen it. If you can, contribute money and labor to local and regional organizations. Stockpile essentials (doubly so if you are in an area susceptible to natural disasters) and items that can aid others (e.g. morning after pills are mentioned a lot lately). If you're in a position to monkey wrench the system, figure out how you can do so subtly and figure out where your lines in the sand are. If you're in a position to withdraw yourself from the formal economy to some degree (e.g. boycott businesses, barter instead of pay, support local businesses, etc.), try to do so (not so much to avoid taxes, but to generate parallel lines of support to the formal economy, just in case it breaks). Make contingency plans with the people you care about (doubly so if they are high-risk (e.g. not male, not white, not straight, etc.)) for how to keep in touch (securely, e.g. not on Facebook) and help each other. Hell, take a first aid class if you can.
Naturally, nobody can do all these things, but any little bit you can may help. And, anyway, even if magically nothing horrible happens (ha!), it'll help rebuild the society that conservatives and elites have spent the last god-knows-how-long decimating.
I hope I'm not catastrophizing, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and anyway now is the time to prepare, before things start happening very fast.
posted by ragtag at 5:12 PM on June 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
This is not to stomp on your dreams or anything, but if I were to offer an interpretation: make hay while the sun shines.
We all know some dark fucking shit is coming down the pipe just as soon as it can, but we have a few months. SCOTUS can't do anything until October. Congress' hands are tied (barring budget resolution or filibuster shenanigans) until next year. (Indeed, they're too busy backstabbing each other to pass much of anything.) Trump can break a lot of things (notably the economy and the lives of a lot of poor souls within 100 miles of the border and overseas) but he's petty and incompetent and spends a lot of his time preening for Fox News. Public opinion is shifting rightward rapidly, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to be at "it's okay to gun liberals down in the street" soon.
This is all to say: we probably have a little while before everything goes completely to shit. Spend that time preparing as much as you can. Find local support. If you have local support, widen it. If you can, contribute money and labor to local and regional organizations. Stockpile essentials (doubly so if you are in an area susceptible to natural disasters) and items that can aid others (e.g. morning after pills are mentioned a lot lately). If you're in a position to monkey wrench the system, figure out how you can do so subtly and figure out where your lines in the sand are. If you're in a position to withdraw yourself from the formal economy to some degree (e.g. boycott businesses, barter instead of pay, support local businesses, etc.), try to do so (not so much to avoid taxes, but to generate parallel lines of support to the formal economy, just in case it breaks). Make contingency plans with the people you care about (doubly so if they are high-risk (e.g. not male, not white, not straight, etc.)) for how to keep in touch (securely, e.g. not on Facebook) and help each other. Hell, take a first aid class if you can.
Naturally, nobody can do all these things, but any little bit you can may help. And, anyway, even if magically nothing horrible happens (ha!), it'll help rebuild the society that conservatives and elites have spent the last god-knows-how-long decimating.
I hope I'm not catastrophizing, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and anyway now is the time to prepare, before things start happening very fast.
posted by ragtag at 5:12 PM on June 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
get rid of your fucking guns
just ban them all
your freedom is killing you
hi
we fucking know
they want us dead
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 5:45 PM on June 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
just ban them all
your freedom is killing you
hi
we fucking know
they want us dead
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 5:45 PM on June 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
Somehow the last straw for me was the part where Justice Kennedy's son was involved in Mr. Trump's money laundering. I don't know why. I guess because Kennedy was in the respectable column, not the deplorables. It feels like a new and special betrayal, on top of all his regular judicial betrayals, to find out there was Trump slime on him from the word go.
maybe if ONE FUCKING GUY was all that stood between Democracy! and total hellscape, our democracy was never that strong to begin with?
This has been bugging me since 2016 when people were saying "Scalia's seat isn't that big a deal, because he was conservative anyway - replacing him with a liberal would swing the court - " as if the status quo was how it should be. As if the court was supposed to be made up of four right wing nutjobs, four liberals, and one swing vote, like that was the ideal state of affairs. And, no. That's a stupid status quo that puts too much pressure on Kennedy. There's no reason to stick with that. Republicans would swing the court in a heartbeat. Filling that seat with a liberal would have given us a margin of safety. I'm so. so. so angry.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:05 PM on June 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
maybe if ONE FUCKING GUY was all that stood between Democracy! and total hellscape, our democracy was never that strong to begin with?
This has been bugging me since 2016 when people were saying "Scalia's seat isn't that big a deal, because he was conservative anyway - replacing him with a liberal would swing the court - " as if the status quo was how it should be. As if the court was supposed to be made up of four right wing nutjobs, four liberals, and one swing vote, like that was the ideal state of affairs. And, no. That's a stupid status quo that puts too much pressure on Kennedy. There's no reason to stick with that. Republicans would swing the court in a heartbeat. Filling that seat with a liberal would have given us a margin of safety. I'm so. so. so angry.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:05 PM on June 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
Fucking fucking fuck.
The last couple weeks it took over 15 calls back and forth to have medical records properly sent to Social Security for my disability claim. 15. Fucking. Calls. To. Fax. Records. In. 2018.
I just played video games today and didn't move. Because screw everything lately. I just cannot.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:10 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
The last couple weeks it took over 15 calls back and forth to have medical records properly sent to Social Security for my disability claim. 15. Fucking. Calls. To. Fax. Records. In. 2018.
I just played video games today and didn't move. Because screw everything lately. I just cannot.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:10 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
VARIETY: Summer Shocker -- Season 3 of Handmaids Tale to be co-produced by Justice Anthony Kennedy (ret.) and the Family Research Council fake, kinda
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:38 AM on June 29, 2018
People just seem unrepentently mean in 2018.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:55 AM on June 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:55 AM on June 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
A couple of days ago I encountered my first panhandler with a child (in the US). So that sucks.
posted by bq at 8:05 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bq at 8:05 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The creeping feeling that reality is crumbling around me was not helped by the fact that while washing a load of linens yesterday I somehow managed to lose my wife's favorite pillow. I have no idea how this happened, as it is a fucking full sized pillow and yet is nowhere to be found in the entire house. Sleep deprivation may have been involved too. What the fuck.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:20 AM on June 29, 2018
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:20 AM on June 29, 2018
DirtyOldTown: "People just seem unrepentently mean in 2018."
I kind of think that they were always this mean, they're just more upfront about it now.
posted by octothorpe at 11:30 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I kind of think that they were always this mean, they're just more upfront about it now.
posted by octothorpe at 11:30 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thank you to the defenders! I have talked these fears over with my therapist, but of course, she's very "middle way" about things. Self-care self-care self-care meditation hot bath nice cup of tea listen to "Heroes" album!
We will all need to have each other's backs in the days to come. I have been heartened by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's win (she lives in the next district over from me in the Bronx), and John Lewis's words these past few days. We have to keep showing up and putting our shoulders in where we're needed, and speaking up on any and all available platforms.
I wish we had an FDR, or even a Teddy, who could go out there like Cheeto does and counter him. It's just repulsive to see him regurgitate his id onto his base and they act like it's manna from heaven, as well as "permission" to do the awful things their hearts were already eager to do.
posted by droplet at 11:51 AM on June 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
We will all need to have each other's backs in the days to come. I have been heartened by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's win (she lives in the next district over from me in the Bronx), and John Lewis's words these past few days. We have to keep showing up and putting our shoulders in where we're needed, and speaking up on any and all available platforms.
I wish we had an FDR, or even a Teddy, who could go out there like Cheeto does and counter him. It's just repulsive to see him regurgitate his id onto his base and they act like it's manna from heaven, as well as "permission" to do the awful things their hearts were already eager to do.
posted by droplet at 11:51 AM on June 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
Venting:
I was talking with some Portland liberal types in a bar the other day who were explaining to me that Hillary wasnt really the peoples choice, there was something about her, both sides being the same kind of bullshit and I almost completely lost it with them. I stifled that anger and left the room but it left me feeling like there is a vanishing segment of the population that hasn’t stuffed their head completely up there own ass and lost the ability to think logically or use abstract reasoning. It’s a scary, lonely feeling. I won’t surrender to it, but I wonder how bad the feeling can get before you just throw up your hands.
posted by angrybear at 12:38 PM on June 29, 2018 [13 favorites]
I was talking with some Portland liberal types in a bar the other day who were explaining to me that Hillary wasnt really the peoples choice, there was something about her, both sides being the same kind of bullshit and I almost completely lost it with them. I stifled that anger and left the room but it left me feeling like there is a vanishing segment of the population that hasn’t stuffed their head completely up there own ass and lost the ability to think logically or use abstract reasoning. It’s a scary, lonely feeling. I won’t surrender to it, but I wonder how bad the feeling can get before you just throw up your hands.
posted by angrybear at 12:38 PM on June 29, 2018 [13 favorites]
I know there are many vulnerable people being way more affected by current, actual US policies right now but I need to vent.
I’m a Canadian and worried that the developing trade war is already scaring off the sort of investment stability my livelihood is built on. I’ll be fucked in a BUNCH of ways if my industry is gutted.,..but beyond that, I'm worried that an invasion of Canada is the next thing on Trump's agenda. It would only take the pretext that a terror attack (of the tiniest scale) had slipped through border security and it would start the noise machines saying that the “undefended” northern border is too big to wall off and securing it would mean moving US forces northward. That would be VERY palatable to Trumps base and certainly make Amarrica great again - they can have a war, gain a shitload of resources and not worry too much about repercussions. The Ford government in Ontario will be paid to roll over and those Quebec media bosses that helped put Ford into power will be rewarded with the sort of right wing sovereignty they've always dreamed of.
Tomorrow, I'll attend the first demonstration I'll have been to since 1989 but I won't sleep well tonight.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:51 PM on June 29, 2018
I’m a Canadian and worried that the developing trade war is already scaring off the sort of investment stability my livelihood is built on. I’ll be fucked in a BUNCH of ways if my industry is gutted.,..but beyond that, I'm worried that an invasion of Canada is the next thing on Trump's agenda. It would only take the pretext that a terror attack (of the tiniest scale) had slipped through border security and it would start the noise machines saying that the “undefended” northern border is too big to wall off and securing it would mean moving US forces northward. That would be VERY palatable to Trumps base and certainly make Amarrica great again - they can have a war, gain a shitload of resources and not worry too much about repercussions. The Ford government in Ontario will be paid to roll over and those Quebec media bosses that helped put Ford into power will be rewarded with the sort of right wing sovereignty they've always dreamed of.
Tomorrow, I'll attend the first demonstration I'll have been to since 1989 but I won't sleep well tonight.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:51 PM on June 29, 2018
Thank you to the defenders! I have talked these fears over with my therapist, but of course, she's very "middle way" about things. Self-care self-care self-care meditation hot bath nice cup of tea listen to "Heroes" album!
I am really, really grateful that my therapist is right here with me on the horror of politics. We don't talk about it too much--I'm more focused on how do I dig myself out of this unmotivated energy hole--but when it does come up, she's right there with me and it feels really grounding. Like I'm not alone here.
posted by sciatrix at 6:26 PM on June 29, 2018
I am really, really grateful that my therapist is right here with me on the horror of politics. We don't talk about it too much--I'm more focused on how do I dig myself out of this unmotivated energy hole--but when it does come up, she's right there with me and it feels really grounding. Like I'm not alone here.
posted by sciatrix at 6:26 PM on June 29, 2018
My brother called me tonight while I was at a friend's house.
My mother has passed away at the age of 71.
Most of my family is back in southwestern Oklahoma, and I'm in Houston.
Work only gives me 3 days of bereavement leave, and I can't afford to take any unpaid leave on top of that :(
posted by mrbill at 3:22 AM on June 30, 2018
My mother has passed away at the age of 71.
Most of my family is back in southwestern Oklahoma, and I'm in Houston.
Work only gives me 3 days of bereavement leave, and I can't afford to take any unpaid leave on top of that :(
posted by mrbill at 3:22 AM on June 30, 2018
I just realized that one of the reasons that my shrink is so optimistic about how the country will recover is that he blames Clinton for the election. I wish I did therapy with the Pod Save America guys. We'd swear a lot, agree about the level of fuckery, and laugh at the ad copy for the pulsating toothbrush.
posted by angrycat at 3:55 AM on June 30, 2018
posted by angrycat at 3:55 AM on June 30, 2018
I am sorry Mr. Bill!
I usually don't remember my dreams, but I had possibly the worst nightmare of my life last night and I am afraid I will never forget it.
The worst part is it's no longer an implausible scenario. I don't know if we're gonna be ok.
posted by Space Kitty at 5:53 AM on June 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
I usually don't remember my dreams, but I had possibly the worst nightmare of my life last night and I am afraid I will never forget it.
The worst part is it's no longer an implausible scenario. I don't know if we're gonna be ok.
posted by Space Kitty at 5:53 AM on June 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
*hugs* mr bill. i hate that we as a society can't allow people to be there with/for family when we need to. Well we *can* but... ugh.
posted by symbioid at 12:12 PM on June 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by symbioid at 12:12 PM on June 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
*Huge hugs Mr Bill*
posted by daybeforetheday at 7:22 PM on June 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by daybeforetheday at 7:22 PM on June 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
so I mentioned this in the other thread but my SO's kid, working in a pizza parlor, encountered a cop who told him that he could arrest him because he's Latino and pulled out his handcuffs. Because the kid is not neurotypical, he was icy calm with the cop (which made the cop angry) but the kid couldn't sleep that night. Neither could my SO, who grew up in an LA barrio and knew various people who confessed after a cop beating.
The kid clenched his hands so hard after the incident, a stress thing, that we've been giving him Tylenol for forearm pain all weekend.
The desire to find this cop and JUST FUCKING RUIN HIM is really, like, mmm (we can't track him down he refused to give his name and badge number to the kid, no security footage, and even if we knew who he was--we know the police are hard to get at).
posted by angrycat at 11:05 AM on July 1, 2018 [11 favorites]
The kid clenched his hands so hard after the incident, a stress thing, that we've been giving him Tylenol for forearm pain all weekend.
The desire to find this cop and JUST FUCKING RUIN HIM is really, like, mmm (we can't track him down he refused to give his name and badge number to the kid, no security footage, and even if we knew who he was--we know the police are hard to get at).
posted by angrycat at 11:05 AM on July 1, 2018 [11 favorites]
HOLY FUCK ANGRYCAT !@!!! <3 :\ Goddamn fucking FUCK.
posted by symbioid at 10:10 AM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by symbioid at 10:10 AM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
So there was a dude who pulled out a gun at a pro-immigrant rally in Alabama. This person is 2 degrees away from me. This makes me angry, and he's exactly the kind of person that this doesn't surprise me. Ugh. Vile fucking power hungry white supremacist monsters.
posted by symbioid at 11:10 AM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by symbioid at 11:10 AM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I know I'm quoting myself here and it feels trivial after odinsdream's comment above but...
"I fucking swear that as a bi trans woman I spend like 80% of my time reminding cis women in corporate fucking inclusion groups that "gender diversity" doesn't mean "cishet ladies pulling up the ladder behind them", then having to walk right into LGBT inclusion groups and give the same fucking talk to the cis gay folks. So goddamn exhausting."
.... sheesh. Not even two weeks later, and now I get random trans people yelling at me on my timeline because my language isn't sufficiently tendentious for them, and that I don't think it's wise to exclude trans men from contributing to policy in corporate gender inclusion initiatives (apparently being a trans woman who thinks that issues that affecting trans men in professional life still counts as relevant to gender equity issues makes me some kind of "not all men" apologist now. I had no idea I was such a bigot). Sigh.
I'm too old for this. Can I please burn the internet to the ground now?
posted by saltbush and olive at 10:55 PM on July 2, 2018 [4 favorites]
"I fucking swear that as a bi trans woman I spend like 80% of my time reminding cis women in corporate fucking inclusion groups that "gender diversity" doesn't mean "cishet ladies pulling up the ladder behind them", then having to walk right into LGBT inclusion groups and give the same fucking talk to the cis gay folks. So goddamn exhausting."
.... sheesh. Not even two weeks later, and now I get random trans people yelling at me on my timeline because my language isn't sufficiently tendentious for them, and that I don't think it's wise to exclude trans men from contributing to policy in corporate gender inclusion initiatives (apparently being a trans woman who thinks that issues that affecting trans men in professional life still counts as relevant to gender equity issues makes me some kind of "not all men" apologist now. I had no idea I was such a bigot). Sigh.
I'm too old for this. Can I please burn the internet to the ground now?
posted by saltbush and olive at 10:55 PM on July 2, 2018 [4 favorites]
I perform weddings occasionally. The couple mentioned in this AskMe, the guy was run over by a bulldozer at work. All but three of his ribs were broken, both of his lungs were punctured, and his pelvis was crushed. He's out of a coma, but he keeps waking up and forgetting what has happened to him and where he is and then having a panic attack because of the ventilator. His wife is posting almost painfully regular and detailed updates and it's mostly bad news. Combined with the news and my own mom being in and out of the hospital (though her issue, gallstones, is comparatively minor), it's making the week feel pretty grim.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:29 AM on July 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:29 AM on July 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Optional musical accompaniment for this comment, “Esta Tierra Es Tuya”. With apologies to Charlie Pierce.
When I lived in The District during the summer of 2001, on July 4th my business partner dragged me out to watch fireworks. Having worked and lived in D.C. for several years she told me she knew just where to go. She drove us down the G.W. Parkway and to my astonishment just pulled over into the grass in one of the cloverleafs right by The Pentagon. Dozens and dozens of other cars had done the same thing, and they lined both sides of the parkway too.
We opened the hatch and sat in the back of the car. We had a picnic and listened to the radio. The local public broadcaster airs the Capitol Fourth concert so it was a nice mix and continued until the end of the fireworks.
Hundreds of people just pulled off the side of the road there because it's a great place to watch the fireworks. There were families with picnics and people cooking burgers, dogs, chicken, pork, and just about everything else you can imagine. People shared food, chairs, blankets, and even sheltered each other during a brief downpour. There were little kids with sparklers and old people playing dominoes at a portable card table. At one point an impromptu soccer game broke out. What struck me about the scene and why it's stuck with me all these years is how American it was. People from six continents and dozens of cultures all came together to celebrate Independence day in that highway median because that's what it means to be American.
It was true then and is much more true today that “America never was America” for too many of the people gathered in that place. But tonight, as I was watching A Capitol Fourth and the hair on the back of my neck stood up during “Stars and Stripes Forever,” I was moved to tears because that long ago July 4th must be America and I'll be God damned if a bunch of fucking MAGA-hat CHUDs are going to stop it.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:55 PM on July 4, 2018 [6 favorites]
When I lived in The District during the summer of 2001, on July 4th my business partner dragged me out to watch fireworks. Having worked and lived in D.C. for several years she told me she knew just where to go. She drove us down the G.W. Parkway and to my astonishment just pulled over into the grass in one of the cloverleafs right by The Pentagon. Dozens and dozens of other cars had done the same thing, and they lined both sides of the parkway too.
We opened the hatch and sat in the back of the car. We had a picnic and listened to the radio. The local public broadcaster airs the Capitol Fourth concert so it was a nice mix and continued until the end of the fireworks.
Hundreds of people just pulled off the side of the road there because it's a great place to watch the fireworks. There were families with picnics and people cooking burgers, dogs, chicken, pork, and just about everything else you can imagine. People shared food, chairs, blankets, and even sheltered each other during a brief downpour. There were little kids with sparklers and old people playing dominoes at a portable card table. At one point an impromptu soccer game broke out. What struck me about the scene and why it's stuck with me all these years is how American it was. People from six continents and dozens of cultures all came together to celebrate Independence day in that highway median because that's what it means to be American.
It was true then and is much more true today that “America never was America” for too many of the people gathered in that place. But tonight, as I was watching A Capitol Fourth and the hair on the back of my neck stood up during “Stars and Stripes Forever,” I was moved to tears because that long ago July 4th must be America and I'll be God damned if a bunch of fucking MAGA-hat CHUDs are going to stop it.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:55 PM on July 4, 2018 [6 favorites]
If you're left-wing and in the DC area, please come have a coffee with me on Sunday. Nothing beats face-to-face solidarity.
posted by rue72 at 11:10 AM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rue72 at 11:10 AM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am aghast, I am appalled, I am overwhelmed with what is going on right now. Holy shit, USA. I feel so bad for every American who isn't a Trump supporter. This is just so fucking terrible. This shouldn't be understated. This is utterly atrocious.
posted by h00py at 6:59 AM on July 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by h00py at 6:59 AM on July 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
So, they're setting up a de-naturalization task force. Because trans folks are always a canary in the coal mine and the first to go under the bus, I'm going to guess that they'll say any naturalized citizen who's transitioned post-naturalization made false statements (re gender) on their immigration paperwork. Anyone who's queer and naturalized before 1990 (when homosexuals stopped being an excluded group)? Yeah, they're going to go after them, too, I suspect.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:53 AM on July 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rmd1023 at 9:53 AM on July 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Saddened and at a loss for words, so I'll just leave this here. Link in article to a GoFundMe set up to cover medical costs for the extensive injuries suffered by this 91(!) year old grandfather.
posted by lovelygirl at 5:47 PM on July 9, 2018
posted by lovelygirl at 5:47 PM on July 9, 2018
Everyone make a special effort to thank a Jill Stein voter personally tomorrow.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:27 PM on July 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:27 PM on July 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
it is so fucking hot! why did I choose to be a small scale farmer! ghhhhhaaaaa
posted by tarantula at 6:28 PM on July 9, 2018
posted by tarantula at 6:28 PM on July 9, 2018
DEAR FUCKING GOD AM I GOING TO HAVE TO PERSONALLY REBUILD THE POLITICAL STEUCTURE OF THIS COUNTRY ....AND THATS THE BEST CASE SITUATION?
posted by The Whelk at 6:39 PM on July 9, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:39 PM on July 9, 2018 [10 favorites]
How do I leave the country and live somewhere else, preferably Sweden, so I can be around my family?
posted by gucci mane at 6:51 PM on July 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 6:51 PM on July 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
So, they're setting up a de-naturalization task force. Because trans folks are always a canary in the coal mine and the first to go under the bus, I'm going to guess that they'll say any naturalized citizen who's transitioned post-naturalization made false statements (re gender) on their immigration paperwork. Anyone who's queer and naturalized before 1990 (when homosexuals stopped being an excluded group)? Yeah, they're going to go after them, too, I suspect.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:53 AM on July 6 [1 favorite +] [!]
It's like they were banned from rescission in healthcare insurance by the ACA and they can't reconciliation it out of existence, so now they've applied the technology to citizenship, because racism. I wonder how they're selecting those cases. "Brown-sounding" names, I'm betting. God knows what government data they'll mine to get at their other disfavored groups.
posted by Mental Wimp at 6:51 PM on July 9, 2018
posted by rmd1023 at 9:53 AM on July 6 [1 favorite +] [!]
It's like they were banned from rescission in healthcare insurance by the ACA and they can't reconciliation it out of existence, so now they've applied the technology to citizenship, because racism. I wonder how they're selecting those cases. "Brown-sounding" names, I'm betting. God knows what government data they'll mine to get at their other disfavored groups.
posted by Mental Wimp at 6:51 PM on July 9, 2018
I’ve been to three weddings in the last two years and everyone one of them had an element of Getting Out Of Here Now.
I wonder if smeyone has numbers on that
posted by The Whelk at 7:28 PM on July 9, 2018
I wonder if smeyone has numbers on that
posted by The Whelk at 7:28 PM on July 9, 2018
It's funny because I thought my default reaction to anything and everyone related to the news was just straight-up rage, but then something hits a little too close to home and I find myself anxiously planning for terrible hypotheticals and I realize I'm actually quite frightened. I should remember to be grateful when I can experience the relatively uncomplicated bliss of righteous fury.
And then I remember how a bunch of people in my mother's family voted for all of this, and that brings enough anger to the surface that I feel okay again! I dunno, what is this, adrenaline? I might be adjusting to it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:49 PM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
And then I remember how a bunch of people in my mother's family voted for all of this, and that brings enough anger to the surface that I feel okay again! I dunno, what is this, adrenaline? I might be adjusting to it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:49 PM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't usually disbelieve things about the Trump administration but it really looks like they separated the kids from the parents with *no* importance attached to re-uniting them ever. More reports of lousy paperwork, parents already deported, etc. I thought the cruelty was calculated and at least served their keep-America-white goal, but cruelty really is its own reward.
I don't see how investigating that scandal *and* the denaturalization task force isn't a front page story every day. But it's not.
posted by mark k at 8:26 PM on July 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't see how investigating that scandal *and* the denaturalization task force isn't a front page story every day. But it's not.
posted by mark k at 8:26 PM on July 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have a friend whose husband of... 15 years? Almost 20?... is Welsh, here on a green card. Friend has not spoken in-depth, but has said that the government has been fucking with his status as well, making it harder for him to renew his card and also forcing more frequent renewals.
They have decided to start the process of Getting The Fuck Out, and are looking at places in Ireland to skive off to.
posted by hanov3r at 8:07 AM on July 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
They have decided to start the process of Getting The Fuck Out, and are looking at places in Ireland to skive off to.
posted by hanov3r at 8:07 AM on July 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would really fucking love to see the podcast do a bit on 'Shit Metafilter Relitigates'.
they would never lack for material, that's for sure
posted by entropicamericana at 8:45 AM on July 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
they would never lack for material, that's for sure
posted by entropicamericana at 8:45 AM on July 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
i can't stop wondering where people would be deported to if they came here from countries that no longer exist
posted by poffin boffin at 9:10 AM on July 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:10 AM on July 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
i can't stop wondering where people would be deported to if they came here from countries that no longer exist
Trump admin keeps saying they want to deport everyone to Mexico, I guess because they figure all brown people are interchangeable.
posted by grandiloquiet at 10:48 AM on July 10, 2018
Trump admin keeps saying they want to deport everyone to Mexico, I guess because they figure all brown people are interchangeable.
posted by grandiloquiet at 10:48 AM on July 10, 2018
Unless there's inside info I don't know about that suggests the situation in the US is going to improve dramatically in the next 12-24 hours, we might need a new venting thread before long.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:34 PM on July 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:34 PM on July 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
Conversation with a customer service rep:
"How's it going?"
"I'm suppressing my rage and despair to socially acceptable levels."
(She sighs for what feels like a solid minute, but is probably five seconds.)
"Jesus Christ. SAME."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:46 AM on July 11, 2018 [18 favorites]
"How's it going?"
"I'm suppressing my rage and despair to socially acceptable levels."
(She sighs for what feels like a solid minute, but is probably five seconds.)
"Jesus Christ. SAME."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:46 AM on July 11, 2018 [18 favorites]
There is an honest-to-the-gods-real are-you-fucking-sure-this-isn't-the-fucking-Onion Op Ed piece up on WaPo titled "I don’t know Kavanaugh the judge. But Kavanaugh the carpool dad is one great guy" that concludes with the following and holy fucking shit this is exactly what's wrong with the country:
posted by hanov3r at 1:50 PM on July 11, 2018 [6 favorites]
I’ll leave it to others to gauge Judge Kavanaugh’s qualifications for the Supreme Court as a jurist. But as someone who would bring to his work the traits of personal kindness, leadership and willingness to help when called on, he would receive a unanimous verdict in his favor from those who know him.Like, fuck you, [author], if your boss at work hired a guy to work in your office with no actual qualifications but "he's a really nice guy and gets along really well with my dog", you would be throwing a Shit Fit Of Outrageous Proportions right now.
posted by hanov3r at 1:50 PM on July 11, 2018 [6 favorites]
And, no, I'm not going to fucking link to that OpEd travesty but y'all can find it if you want.
posted by hanov3r at 1:59 PM on July 11, 2018
posted by hanov3r at 1:59 PM on July 11, 2018
"Chancellor Palpatine is nice in person" is how we got to this hellscape of endless conservative successes, and yes this is extremely relevant to Bush-era conservatives. Scrub the polish off your 2008 Huckabees and you'll always find your 2018 Huckabees. And if you wait too long to do it, their dog-killing, fascist-enabling children will come along with them...
posted by grandiloquiet at 2:42 PM on July 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 2:42 PM on July 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
You can get arrested for allowing someone to touch you. Have to remember that.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 2:25 AM on July 12, 2018
posted by Mr. Yuck at 2:25 AM on July 12, 2018
@rebeccarrrr Jul 10:
My normal, well-meaning colleagues: Did you hear about the latest political development?posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:59 AM on July 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Me, my brain completely broken: I read every single possible opinion about this on Twitter three days ago, please be quiet this is unbearable to me.
Fuck you Bob Goodlatte... Fuck You...
posted by mikelieman at 7:25 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 7:25 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
FUCK YOU TREY GOWDY! FUCK YOU!
posted by mikelieman at 7:38 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 7:38 AM on July 12, 2018 [2 favorites]
DirtyOldTown: that was basically the conversation I had on the way into band practice last night. My band mates are all cleanly onboard the "absolutely fuck Trump" train, but I think they still have no idea how thigh deep in the coal car I have been for the last couple years and so will toss out conversational prompts where I have to stop for a second and figure out what is even a meaningful level of common reference to a normal human being.
I usually go 0-60 over the course of about three minutes before stopping and saying basically "look, literally no one is going to enjoy me actually fully engaging on this topic to the degree I am inclined, especially me, let's not talk about politics" and everybody nodding and leaving it at that. Otherwise I come off as being as angry as I actually am, which is not my normal way of being, and I get annoyed that they are engaging at a late night talk show monologue level about stuff I've read daily updates on for literal years.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:43 AM on July 12, 2018 [15 favorites]
I usually go 0-60 over the course of about three minutes before stopping and saying basically "look, literally no one is going to enjoy me actually fully engaging on this topic to the degree I am inclined, especially me, let's not talk about politics" and everybody nodding and leaving it at that. Otherwise I come off as being as angry as I actually am, which is not my normal way of being, and I get annoyed that they are engaging at a late night talk show monologue level about stuff I've read daily updates on for literal years.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:43 AM on July 12, 2018 [15 favorites]
SAME. Late night talk show level discourse is its own challenge to deal with, even if the people are basically right thinking and decent folk. That is a way of dealing with issues at a certain kind of arm's length remove, and my family doesn't have that luxury.
That new USCIS task force where they re-open cases of people once marked for deportation and see if there are grounds to strip away citizenship status granted afterward? That's us. That's them potentially coming for Comrade Doll.
There's a certain disconnect when people think they're entering into some casual banter about current events and what they get from us instead is, No, seriously, this could end with us having to leave the country.
I'm not always as gracious in dealing with that disconnect as I could be.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:34 AM on July 12, 2018 [6 favorites]
That new USCIS task force where they re-open cases of people once marked for deportation and see if there are grounds to strip away citizenship status granted afterward? That's us. That's them potentially coming for Comrade Doll.
There's a certain disconnect when people think they're entering into some casual banter about current events and what they get from us instead is, No, seriously, this could end with us having to leave the country.
I'm not always as gracious in dealing with that disconnect as I could be.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:34 AM on July 12, 2018 [6 favorites]
I suppose I should embrace those moments as it's an opportunity to get people who have not been as engaged as they might have been to understand the stakes with some degree of reflected immediacy.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:42 AM on July 12, 2018
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:42 AM on July 12, 2018
My normal, well-meaning colleagues: Did you hear about the latest political development?
Me, my brain completely broken: I read every single possible opinion about this on Twitter three days ago, please be quiet this is unbearable to me.
Mr. Lorensen is just as online as I am and what I've found is that shit isn't any better when two such people try to communicate about politics in real life. We just descend into swears and gesticulating and nodding vigorously and going OMG I KNOW I SAW IT I KNOW OMG OMG FUCKERS!!!!
A lot of our communication about politics is basically
Me: [turns my phone around to show him something.]
Him: Yeah I saw that.
Us: [shared look of existential despair.]
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:04 AM on July 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
Me, my brain completely broken: I read every single possible opinion about this on Twitter three days ago, please be quiet this is unbearable to me.
Mr. Lorensen is just as online as I am and what I've found is that shit isn't any better when two such people try to communicate about politics in real life. We just descend into swears and gesticulating and nodding vigorously and going OMG I KNOW I SAW IT I KNOW OMG OMG FUCKERS!!!!
A lot of our communication about politics is basically
Me: [turns my phone around to show him something.]
Him: Yeah I saw that.
Us: [shared look of existential despair.]
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:04 AM on July 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
My boss decided to use the last 20 minutes of my weekly one-on-one hour to talk about politics, and how "yeah, OK, Trump is an idiot, but why are the Democrats SO FOCUSED on pointing out he's an idiot? They're their own worst problem. They need to pick a platform and stick behind it."
It took far more self control than I knew I had to set my teeth, not say something career-limiting, and just watch him talk.
posted by hanov3r at 10:07 AM on July 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
It took far more self control than I knew I had to set my teeth, not say something career-limiting, and just watch him talk.
posted by hanov3r at 10:07 AM on July 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
That's a form of privilege that grates on me: "Sure, you're right; but I'm so tired of hearing about it!"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:32 AM on July 12, 2018
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:32 AM on July 12, 2018
The whole "don't beat up on Trump, pick a platform" thing kills me. No one wanted to hear about the Clinton campaign's perfectly pre-negotiated compromises on policy. The "better deal" stuff kills me -- no one cares! Here's a platform for Democrats to run on for monsters who don't find ethnic cleansing to be a dealbreaker: Trump and the Republican party are trying to take away people's health care and bankrupt rural hospitals because they wanted to give a tax cut to billionaires. Just repeat that, no matter what anyone says in response, no matter what the question. Do what Republicans do and repeat it until even very slow people assume it must be the Lord's truth because they've heard it a million times.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:02 AM on July 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:02 AM on July 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
Me, from July 2016: But the racist game show host doesn't win, does he?
Me, from 2018: He does, yeah.
Me, from July 2016: But he's not able to get anything done, right?
Me, from 2018: He disrupts the entire balance of power, targets immigrants and minorities, upends trade agreements and treaties, picks two Supreme Court justices, dismantles ACA...
Me, from July 2016: Jesus Christ. What are you guys doing about it?
Me, from 2018: We go up to his underlings in restaurants and ruin their dinner.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:23 AM on July 12, 2018 [11 favorites]
Me, from 2018: He does, yeah.
Me, from July 2016: But he's not able to get anything done, right?
Me, from 2018: He disrupts the entire balance of power, targets immigrants and minorities, upends trade agreements and treaties, picks two Supreme Court justices, dismantles ACA...
Me, from July 2016: Jesus Christ. What are you guys doing about it?
Me, from 2018: We go up to his underlings in restaurants and ruin their dinner.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:23 AM on July 12, 2018 [11 favorites]
Just went out for coffee with two co-workers and someone said something about Handmaid's Tale and each of us said almost in unison, "I had to quit watching that, it was giving me panic attacks".
posted by octothorpe at 11:59 AM on July 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 11:59 AM on July 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Oh man, same! I loved the first season but I can’t bring myself to even start the second one.
posted by corb at 1:54 PM on July 12, 2018
posted by corb at 1:54 PM on July 12, 2018
And I didn't get the fucking job I was going to take a pay cut for just to get benefits. How the fuck am I unqualified for essentially entry level work?
posted by Space Kitty at 3:22 PM on July 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Space Kitty at 3:22 PM on July 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
I've been up since 4 a.m., thanks to Trump's fucking barnstormer in Europe. Fuck Trump and all who sail with him.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:15 AM on July 13, 2018
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:15 AM on July 13, 2018
And I didn't get the fucking job I was going to take a pay cut for just to get benefits. How the fuck am I unqualified for essentially entry level work?
Always remember: it's not that you're UNqualified, it's just that the job market is so shit that your dice roll has to come up really good for somebody ELSE to not be a little MORE qualified.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:25 AM on July 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
Always remember: it's not that you're UNqualified, it's just that the job market is so shit that your dice roll has to come up really good for somebody ELSE to not be a little MORE qualified.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:25 AM on July 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
Idi-fucking-ocracy
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:44 AM on July 13, 2018
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:44 AM on July 13, 2018
My boss scheduled our annual work retreat on Rosh Hashannah. Someone pointed this out to her (because I pointed it out to him), and she decided not to change it. The retreat is only fun, not work-related, so I'm not going to get in trouble for not going, but I'm sad and a little pissed off that it's scheduled for a day when I can't go. And I guess I'm sad and a little pissed off that my boss thinks it's fine to exclude me. I'm not the only person in our office who identifies as Jewish (I know of two others), but I think I may be the only one who takes off for the High Holidays, and I probably should realize that the world doesn't revolve around me. But it's a reminder that I'm tolerated but not welcomed here, which is kind of how I've been feeling since the election anyway.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:02 AM on July 13, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:02 AM on July 13, 2018 [11 favorites]
And I didn't get the fucking job I was going to take a pay cut for just to get benefits. How the fuck am I unqualified for essentially entry level work?
Sometimes it’s also about knowing or thinking you won’t tolerate the exploitive conditions of the entry level work, if you have been qualified for other work in the past. I’ve taken essentially an entry level job over the past year, and the working conditions shocked me enough that now I’m an active union organizer. The less extreme version of that is people often quit. I bet it’s not that you’re unqualified at all.
posted by corb at 9:16 AM on July 13, 2018 [5 favorites]
Sometimes it’s also about knowing or thinking you won’t tolerate the exploitive conditions of the entry level work, if you have been qualified for other work in the past. I’ve taken essentially an entry level job over the past year, and the working conditions shocked me enough that now I’m an active union organizer. The less extreme version of that is people often quit. I bet it’s not that you’re unqualified at all.
posted by corb at 9:16 AM on July 13, 2018 [5 favorites]
And I didn't get the fucking job I was going to take a pay cut for just to get benefits. How the fuck am I unqualified for essentially entry level work?
Sometimes it’s also about knowing or thinking you won’t tolerate the exploitive conditions of the entry level work, if you have been qualified for other work in the past.
I was applying for entry-level stuff a few years back -- and taking great pains not to seem like I was above it, tailoring my responses to show that, yes, I was really interested in starting anew in a tangentially related field and so forth -- and I had two interviewers straight-up tell me I wouldn't be moving on because I was thoroughly overqualified and they were afraid I would hop somewhere better immediately, even after I told them I wouldn't.
You're doing fine. It really isn't you; it's them.
posted by Etrigan at 9:21 AM on July 13, 2018 [7 favorites]
Sometimes it’s also about knowing or thinking you won’t tolerate the exploitive conditions of the entry level work, if you have been qualified for other work in the past.
I was applying for entry-level stuff a few years back -- and taking great pains not to seem like I was above it, tailoring my responses to show that, yes, I was really interested in starting anew in a tangentially related field and so forth -- and I had two interviewers straight-up tell me I wouldn't be moving on because I was thoroughly overqualified and they were afraid I would hop somewhere better immediately, even after I told them I wouldn't.
You're doing fine. It really isn't you; it's them.
posted by Etrigan at 9:21 AM on July 13, 2018 [7 favorites]
I wonder if Trump is annoyed that the President of the US in Idiocracy is played by Terry Crews.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:01 AM on July 13, 2018
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:01 AM on July 13, 2018
I want Terry Crews to become Shadow President Camacho and give YouTube addresses, in character, that still manage to be more informative, insightful and Presidential than Trump's.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:34 AM on July 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:34 AM on July 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
corb, octothorpe: I really want to watch "Handmaid's Tale", but I really can't bring myself to do so in the current circumstances.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:07 AM on July 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 11:07 AM on July 13, 2018 [3 favorites]
But it's a reminder that I'm tolerated but not welcomed [there], which is kind of how I've been feeling since the election anyway.
That makes me so sad. Please know I welcome and appreciate you, A&C! (in keeping with the spirit of the thread: fuck that noise!)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:23 AM on July 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
That makes me so sad. Please know I welcome and appreciate you, A&C! (in keeping with the spirit of the thread: fuck that noise!)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:23 AM on July 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
So hey I just met a real live Obama-Trump voter, cool, thing is it's my favorite cousin in the world, who is incredibly kind and is doing the work of being there for my grandfather and driving him places and doing his bills, and she also bought the Fox propaganda on Obama hook line and sinker and she's arguing with my 80 year old lesbian greataunt
This is great
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 2:16 PM on July 14, 2018
This is great
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 2:16 PM on July 14, 2018
Please join me in curbing despair with tacos and real human conversation tomorrow night July 17 2018 in Baltimore MD USA.
posted by jointhedance at 6:14 AM on July 16, 2018
posted by jointhedance at 6:14 AM on July 16, 2018
I just actively sought out this thread because my dad finally "couldn't hold it in" anymore and had to tell me why he's so disappointed that I'm a "sjw" (which he uses as a slur) and that despite raising me to be an intelligent and rational being, we no longer agree about politics.
The wtfery that made me want to rant, though, is this: So it was with profound shock and dismay when I read that you judged President Trump by the color of his skin, even labeling him with the name of a colorful food. That was rankest bigotry.
"Rankest bigotry," y'all. Because I referred to Trump as "The Cheeto."
It sounds like a joke, but he's dead serious.
I love my dad, but it's disappointing and frustrating to realize that he only hears my opinions about what's going on in society and politics today as "wrong." I've had to make a blanket "we can't talk about politics" rule when we're together (which isn't very often since we live on two different continents) just because we'll end up in ugly arguments, a concept that further offends him because he doesn't understand why he can't try to persuade me to his way of "correct" thinking (the guy is a literal genius so of course he knows best!).
He's acting like he's failed as a father and I'm over here like, "Why can't you see all the damage Trump is doing???"
posted by paisley sheep at 6:46 AM on July 16, 2018 [9 favorites]
The wtfery that made me want to rant, though, is this: So it was with profound shock and dismay when I read that you judged President Trump by the color of his skin, even labeling him with the name of a colorful food. That was rankest bigotry.
"Rankest bigotry," y'all. Because I referred to Trump as "The Cheeto."
It sounds like a joke, but he's dead serious.
I love my dad, but it's disappointing and frustrating to realize that he only hears my opinions about what's going on in society and politics today as "wrong." I've had to make a blanket "we can't talk about politics" rule when we're together (which isn't very often since we live on two different continents) just because we'll end up in ugly arguments, a concept that further offends him because he doesn't understand why he can't try to persuade me to his way of "correct" thinking (the guy is a literal genius so of course he knows best!).
He's acting like he's failed as a father and I'm over here like, "Why can't you see all the damage Trump is doing???"
posted by paisley sheep at 6:46 AM on July 16, 2018 [9 favorites]
I'm sorry paisley sheep. This is a big issue with my dad too (who is a never-Trump libertarian but would absolutely Devil's Advocate his way into "calling him a Cheetoh is racist!" and be just as disappointed at me being an "sjw" though he'd probably term it as "leftist thought police"). We live in the same city and see each other all the time and I'm on tenterhooks all the time because he doesn't seem to have taken the hint that if he starts talking politics with me, I will change the subject immediately. He just blissfully drops shit into conversation in such a way that makes it clear that he thinks I and every other person in earshot agree. I'm trying real real hard to not explode our relationship but the effort feels very one-sided*.
the guy is a literal genius so of course he knows best!
I feel you so hard.
*He is not a US citizen and can't vote here and does not vote in his home country, so the fallout from his shitty politics is limited to his friends and family. I feel ok in just letting it be a Thing We Don't Talk About. If only he would also be ok with that.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:10 AM on July 16, 2018
the guy is a literal genius so of course he knows best!
I feel you so hard.
*He is not a US citizen and can't vote here and does not vote in his home country, so the fallout from his shitty politics is limited to his friends and family. I feel ok in just letting it be a Thing We Don't Talk About. If only he would also be ok with that.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:10 AM on July 16, 2018
soren_lorensen, thanks for letting me know that I'm not alone. I now feel like there should be a support group for children of genius Libertarians (my father is a never-Hillary one, though).
posted by paisley sheep at 7:28 AM on July 16, 2018
posted by paisley sheep at 7:28 AM on July 16, 2018
I can not reason my racist senior relative out of being racist. RSR was always loud, opinionated and loudly opinionated but Fox News sure surfaced the racist.
posted by jointhedance at 9:03 AM on July 16, 2018
posted by jointhedance at 9:03 AM on July 16, 2018
There's a mini-meme of sorts that started when someone challenged Film Critic Hulk* to recast any movie with all Muppets except for one human held over, such as A Few Good Men with Demi Moore.
I wish I could do that with reality/politics sometimes.
*Film Critic Hulk started out with ALL CAPS tweets and movie reviews. That person doesn't do ALL CAPS much any more, and the writing style improved.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:09 AM on July 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I wish I could do that with reality/politics sometimes.
*Film Critic Hulk started out with ALL CAPS tweets and movie reviews. That person doesn't do ALL CAPS much any more, and the writing style improved.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:09 AM on July 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
JEESUS H. FUCKING PARTICULAR CHRIST GUYS, WHAT THE HELL EVEN IS THIS HELLSCAPE I AM LOSING MY FULL AND ENTIRE MIND OVER HERE.
posted by Space Kitty at 9:23 AM on July 16, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Space Kitty at 9:23 AM on July 16, 2018 [7 favorites]
What are we going to do? How can we be so helpless? There must be some way to stop this madness.
The car has no breaks and there's a cliff ahead. The cliff is the 2018 midterms.
posted by rue72 at 10:32 AM on July 16, 2018
The car has no breaks and there's a cliff ahead. The cliff is the 2018 midterms.
posted by rue72 at 10:32 AM on July 16, 2018
Me: (Taking a deep breath) It's okay. We can do this. We just need to pull out the 2018 mid-term elections.
Also Me: Your hopes for overcoming GOP fuckery and Russian hacking hinge on the people squeezing past voter roll purges in heavily gerrymandered districts producing pro-Democrat results from networked electronic voting devices? GOOD LUCK.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:24 AM on July 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also Me: Your hopes for overcoming GOP fuckery and Russian hacking hinge on the people squeezing past voter roll purges in heavily gerrymandered districts producing pro-Democrat results from networked electronic voting devices? GOOD LUCK.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:24 AM on July 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
My SO doesn’t realize my residence to making long term plans is rooted in a very sincere belief all our savings and stocks are going to be whiped out soon and he’s not on board with me converting it all to unopened high end consumer goods and I also genuinely belive the world will be too climatically unpredictable enough to make makes further than 3 months in advance.
I also believe there’s a fair chance our (gay) marriage will be annulled by the supereme court.
Everyone who told me to not freak out a year and half a ago are suddenly quiet.
posted by The Whelk at 12:32 PM on July 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
I also believe there’s a fair chance our (gay) marriage will be annulled by the supereme court.
Everyone who told me to not freak out a year and half a ago are suddenly quiet.
posted by The Whelk at 12:32 PM on July 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
The last three hours have seemed like 200 years. It's only 3:41pm.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:41 PM on July 16, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:41 PM on July 16, 2018 [4 favorites]
"Rankest bigotry," y'all. Because I referred to Trump as "The Cheeto."
It sounds like a joke, but he's dead serious.
No, he's not. I know, it sounds like he is, but he's trying to score points, not actually convince you of anything. He thinks he's being clever by using something you genuinely believe. He knows that "orange" isn't Trump's "skin color".
He doesn't want you to be "correct", he wants you to agree with him. He's bullying you.
posted by Etrigan at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2018 [11 favorites]
It sounds like a joke, but he's dead serious.
No, he's not. I know, it sounds like he is, but he's trying to score points, not actually convince you of anything. He thinks he's being clever by using something you genuinely believe. He knows that "orange" isn't Trump's "skin color".
He doesn't want you to be "correct", he wants you to agree with him. He's bullying you.
posted by Etrigan at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2018 [11 favorites]
The car has no breaks and there's a cliff ahead. The cliff is the 2018 midterms.
yeah. if the house doesn't flip in november, it's officially the end times (for america, and maybe the world)
posted by dis_integration at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2018
yeah. if the house doesn't flip in november, it's officially the end times (for america, and maybe the world)
posted by dis_integration at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2018
He thinks he's being clever by using something you genuinely believe.
Yeah I've become just extremely fucking aggressive about shit like this.
posted by The Whelk at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2018 [6 favorites]
Yeah I've become just extremely fucking aggressive about shit like this.
posted by The Whelk at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2018 [6 favorites]
my residence to making long term plans is rooted in a very sincere belief all our savings and stocks are going to be whiped out soon and he’s not on board with me converting it all to unopened high end consumer goods
Honestly at Casa Corb, we just had a conversation about this and will probably be emptying our (tiny) 401k because we cannot trust its stability in a world gone mad. I just want you to know you are not alone.
posted by corb at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Honestly at Casa Corb, we just had a conversation about this and will probably be emptying our (tiny) 401k because we cannot trust its stability in a world gone mad. I just want you to know you are not alone.
posted by corb at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Thanks guys. I think I was a little shell-shocked by the unexpected wtf-ery of it all, so thanks for helping me find some perspective. I normally politely ignore those kind of emails just to keep the peace, but I'm going to work on how to formulate a response this this one.
posted by paisley sheep at 2:35 PM on July 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by paisley sheep at 2:35 PM on July 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't think even today's treason will get him out of office. The Great Democratic Experiment is over. Time to consider Canada.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:49 PM on July 16, 2018
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:49 PM on July 16, 2018
Hey, so there was that picture a while back of Putin riding shirtless on a horse. Has anyone photoshopped that to Putin riding Trump yet? I don't think it would be helpful for anything but my mood
posted by nubs at 3:07 PM on July 16, 2018
posted by nubs at 3:07 PM on July 16, 2018
The Great Democratic Experiment is over. Time to consider Canada.
...I wish. If there's ANY kind of terrorist attack in the next few years, the Republicans will likely "secure" the Canadian border by moving it north a few hundred miles north. They imagine they could do it for the cost of gas. I'm Canadian and more worried about the fate of my country than I ever have been. The tentacles of the corporate right are here too...my fellow Ontarians just voted Doug Ford into office with a majority.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:36 PM on July 16, 2018
...I wish. If there's ANY kind of terrorist attack in the next few years, the Republicans will likely "secure" the Canadian border by moving it north a few hundred miles north. They imagine they could do it for the cost of gas. I'm Canadian and more worried about the fate of my country than I ever have been. The tentacles of the corporate right are here too...my fellow Ontarians just voted Doug Ford into office with a majority.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:36 PM on July 16, 2018
Thought about posting the next megathread. Decided to post something else instead.
posted by ZeusHumms at 5:54 PM on July 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 5:54 PM on July 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Anybody else going to #OccupyLafayettePark tomorrow night? Want to meet me there?
Who knows if it matters, but I need to go regardless
posted by rue72 at 7:32 PM on July 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
Who knows if it matters, but I need to go regardless
posted by rue72 at 7:32 PM on July 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
Pete Souza reminds us how it's supposed to look when the President of the God-damned United States addresses some piece of shit dictator.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:52 PM on July 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:52 PM on July 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'vw been coming up with worst case scenario plans while my SO rolls her eyes at me. I've taken to balancing our books obsessively, of checking real estate comps regularly, all in hopes that we can break even between the two I'm case we need to cut bait and run in a hurry. I'm up to date on our current prospects for my wife and kid obtaining EU passports (and me getting emergency resident status).
This all sucks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:26 PM on July 16, 2018
This all sucks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:26 PM on July 16, 2018
I realise everyone else is venting about the politics, but I need to let off some steam for personal stuff so... somehow over the last few weeks I've ended up being pushed into a position of extreme visibility as "the good trans woman" in my professional life, and it's uncomfortable. I'm suddenly being invited to give talks and sit on panels, and I've been trying to diplomatically manage this process of opening conversations about gender inclusion in ways that consider more than just cis women and LGBT inclusion in ways that don't just focus on cis gay men and ... I'm exhausted. It frustrates me that I have nowhere I can vent my frustrations harmlessly... women's spaces serve the needs of cis women and LGBT spaces serve the needs of cis LGB (mostly G) folks, and there's just nothing and nowhere that I safely talk about the specifics of my life. Sometimes I just want to scream at all of them for their continued unending thoughtlessness and pointless shittiness. Literally the only thing I've found useful lately is to follow a bunch of Aboriginal Australian women on twitter and listen to their anger at the shitty, useless performative "allyship" of white progressives, because at least that's a rage I can identify with. So fucking sick of this. Sometimes I miss the days when people would just call me a tranny and threaten to beat the shit out of me. At least that was honest. Fuck I hate progressives sometimes.
posted by saltbush and olive at 8:42 PM on July 16, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by saltbush and olive at 8:42 PM on July 16, 2018 [8 favorites]
Sorry. I don't mean to sound so angry. I'm just reaching my limit for listening to people with considerably more social and legal protections than I have whine about how hard their lives are, and just have to absorb it because I know I need their support.
posted by saltbush and olive at 9:20 PM on July 16, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by saltbush and olive at 9:20 PM on July 16, 2018 [6 favorites]
I know this is the venting thread but thank you for Swear Trek, of which I had been unaware.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:26 PM on July 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:26 PM on July 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
It is most useful, for this and other occasions.
posted by Artw at 9:33 PM on July 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:33 PM on July 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Fucking hell, I just finished the new POTUS45 FPP, which was not only even more draining than usual due to the news vortex's widening gyrations, but also rushed out in order to beat whatever shit is going to hit the fan next. Rod Rosenstein was summoned to the White House earlier this morning, and Trump has scheduled a surprise news conference for 2 PM today. I feel as though we're all going to get fucked.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:47 AM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:47 AM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
People put too much effort in those POTUS45 FPP's. I would just go with:
Treason part (x)
posted by Pendragon at 9:55 AM on July 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
Treason part (x)
posted by Pendragon at 9:55 AM on July 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
I like the snark I came across, "TRE45ON". Even makes a good license plate.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:12 AM on July 17, 2018
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:12 AM on July 17, 2018
Sorry for the false alarm—I can't confirm that Trump news conference, which must have been just a rumor, the same way that Rosenstein's visit to the White House is apparently for merely routine meetings. I'm extra jumpy after yesterday.
But an interview with Trump by Tucker Carlson is airing tonight, so we have that to look forward to.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:37 AM on July 17, 2018
But an interview with Trump by Tucker Carlson is airing tonight, so we have that to look forward to.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:37 AM on July 17, 2018
LEFTIST MAGICAL THINKING MAKES ME SO ANGRY
DON'T GET PISSY AT ME JUST BECAUSE THE WORLD DOESN'T WORK THE WAY YOU THINK IT DOES
posted by PMdixon at 11:01 AM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
DON'T GET PISSY AT ME JUST BECAUSE THE WORLD DOESN'T WORK THE WAY YOU THINK IT DOES
posted by PMdixon at 11:01 AM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
Jesus fucking christ on a goddamn yellow pogo stick. What a shit show of a fucking country.
posted by vibrotronica at 1:14 PM on July 17, 2018
posted by vibrotronica at 1:14 PM on July 17, 2018
I came in here to gnash my teeth at the shitshow going on in DC right now, but I wanted to step aside and just say, saltbush and olive, please don't feel you have to apologize for sounding angry. You have every right to be angry, and to scream it from the rooftops.
I feel you.
posted by blurker at 1:29 PM on July 17, 2018
I feel you.
posted by blurker at 1:29 PM on July 17, 2018
to the tune of "star spangled banner"
OH SAY CAN YOU FUCK
BY THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
WHAT SO PROUDLY WE FUCK AT THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKING
WHOSE BROAD FUCK AND FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
OER THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKING
posted by lalochezia at 1:34 PM on July 17, 2018 [8 favorites]
OH SAY CAN YOU FUCK
BY THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
WHAT SO PROUDLY WE FUCK AT THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKING
WHOSE BROAD FUCK AND FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
OER THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKING
posted by lalochezia at 1:34 PM on July 17, 2018 [8 favorites]
Sometimes I can really feel that the planet is hurtling at 100,000+ KMH.
posted by srboisvert at 4:03 PM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 4:03 PM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
I woke up this morning at 5 AM full of worry, which is a pretty constant state these days. I decided to go on a news fast. Totally failed and now I'm full of worry again. Any tips on how to go cold turkey? My head and heart need a break :(
posted by k8bot at 6:20 PM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by k8bot at 6:20 PM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
It's not good to hate this much. It's not healthy.
posted by Scattercat at 7:17 PM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 7:17 PM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
When I calmly state that the relationship is over and I want my significant other to move out, the incorrect response is "I could kill your cat right now". That just reinforces my belief that the relationship is FUCKING OVER!! FUUUUUUCK!!
posted by LilithSilver at 9:29 PM on July 17, 2018
posted by LilithSilver at 9:29 PM on July 17, 2018
To lighten the mood a little, since it would not fit in the "serious" thread:
Richard Marx:
Richard Marx:
I misspoke. I meant to say I “wouldn’t” be right here waiting for you.posted by PontifexPrimus at 12:54 AM on July 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
just as a general reminder i am always available to murder anyone who threatens the pets of mefites, i might even turn on memail for this purpose only
posted by poffin boffin at 12:59 AM on July 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:59 AM on July 18, 2018 [8 favorites]
Despite the fact that major political figures can engage in racism, homophobia, and misogyny with apparent impunity in 2018, prominent people in other fields continue to be called onto the carpet for it regularly... The outcome of last night's MLB All Star Game may have been influenced by a news story detailing dozens of offensive (many, many racist tweets, some sexist tweets, a few nakedly homophobic) tweets by All-Star reliever Josh Hader. Several POC on the two teams could be seen apparently reading the story/tweets on their phones during the game. There's no definitive proof that this is what caused a seemingly shaken and distracted Hader to give up a three run home run that may have helped determine the outcome of the game, but a person cannot help but wonder.
It'd be an even better story if he faced league discipline, though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:57 AM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
It'd be an even better story if he faced league discipline, though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:57 AM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
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we really need the blink tag for these threads
posted by entropicamericana at 10:07 AM on June 18, 2018 [20 favorites]