Fucking Fuck 8th Edition February 7, 2018 11:35 AM Subscribe
US Politics (& whatever else) vent thread. The old one closed (over 30 days old).
How bout if I go first? I can NOT believe with every new political mishap how fresh the horribleness is. Seriously? A military parade?? WHY are we placating this utter MORON? I've been trying to take breathers, but it's like going on vacation: you don't want to completely unplug from your email, because the mountain will be that much higher upon return.
How bout if I go first? I can NOT believe with every new political mishap how fresh the horribleness is. Seriously? A military parade?? WHY are we placating this utter MORON? I've been trying to take breathers, but it's like going on vacation: you don't want to completely unplug from your email, because the mountain will be that much higher upon return.
What if they just made tank- and nuke-shaped floats for the parade? And they could make a float in the shape of The Wall! And one of a bucket of KFC, and one of a filet o' fish and one of Fort Knox. And a Coke float and a Koch float. Everything that is MAGA!
posted by Don Pepino at 12:01 PM on February 7, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 12:01 PM on February 7, 2018 [12 favorites]
And they had to use approved materials, like the rose parade?
So like, cheetos and maga hats and mcdonalds wrappers. And actual gold.
posted by mochapickle at 12:05 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
So like, cheetos and maga hats and mcdonalds wrappers. And actual gold.
posted by mochapickle at 12:05 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
I said this in the politics thread but I am fucking pissed and horrified about this goddamn parade idea on so many levels, and one of my MANY MANY frustrations is that so many people with whom I've spoken seem like they are tacitly accepting that it will happen. IT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN! It is egregious and disgusting! Don't just let him have what he wants! It's so upsetting because it shows how much he's fucked with us, that it's easy to assume that what he decrees is inevitable, and fighting it is so tiring.
I also (and I posted about this in another thread yesterday) am just SO TIRED of fighting lazy misogyny. It's exhausting and thankless. I'm also constantly having conversations with colleagues about extremely basic stuff like "is that a white supremacist dogwhistle" and "is that really RACISM, though?". It is demoralizing and bad and the stuff that perfectly nice people not only believe but feel comfortable saying frequently takes my breathe away.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:06 PM on February 7, 2018 [39 favorites]
I also (and I posted about this in another thread yesterday) am just SO TIRED of fighting lazy misogyny. It's exhausting and thankless. I'm also constantly having conversations with colleagues about extremely basic stuff like "is that a white supremacist dogwhistle" and "is that really RACISM, though?". It is demoralizing and bad and the stuff that perfectly nice people not only believe but feel comfortable saying frequently takes my breathe away.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:06 PM on February 7, 2018 [39 favorites]
will people please fucking check if they're posting the same fucking link that was posted 2-3 fucking hours ago thanks
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:07 PM on February 7, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:07 PM on February 7, 2018 [8 favorites]
Hey, while we're here: Am I the only one who really dislikes the term "gay space communism"?
posted by Melismata at 12:10 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 12:10 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'm tired of being violently thrown from one emotion to another while keeping up with this ongoing waking nightmare.
Yesterday we shot a freakin' car into freakin' space! And the boosters came back to Earth and landed by themselves! It was like looking into the future. It also felt like a vindication of science and rational thought over the science-denying ignoramuses in charge. Yay science!
But yesterday we also had the President of the United States say he wanted a military parade, the same week he called people who didn't applaud him at the State of the Union speech un-American and traitors. I never thought I would hear a president say those things.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:15 PM on February 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
Yesterday we shot a freakin' car into freakin' space! And the boosters came back to Earth and landed by themselves! It was like looking into the future. It also felt like a vindication of science and rational thought over the science-denying ignoramuses in charge. Yay science!
But yesterday we also had the President of the United States say he wanted a military parade, the same week he called people who didn't applaud him at the State of the Union speech un-American and traitors. I never thought I would hear a president say those things.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:15 PM on February 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
I'm so very fucking tired.
It feels like early Elvis Costello is being played on repeat at full volume—Night Rally, Oliver's Army, Peace in Our Time...
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:15 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
It feels like early Elvis Costello is being played on repeat at full volume—Night Rally, Oliver's Army, Peace in Our Time...
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:15 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
Really the only thing that jolts me out of being exhausted is being angry. The other day I was so mad I sent a lengthy email to the free newspaper they hand out at the Metro but it was largely on the theme of "I am extremely angry about your article and also exhausted by the fact that I have to send this". Sometimes I get mad enough that it electrifies me into action but mostly I'm just tired.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:22 PM on February 7, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:22 PM on February 7, 2018 [8 favorites]
Unrelated to anything, Political Thread Favorite Detectorists was in the news last week:
Hapless treasure hunters danced around screaming 'Roman gold!' after finding a hoard of buried coins… only to learn they had been planted there for TV show Detectorists
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:28 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Hapless treasure hunters danced around screaming 'Roman gold!' after finding a hoard of buried coins… only to learn they had been planted there for TV show Detectorists
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:28 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty much on an endless loop of "Gimme Shelter."
Although at the morning ceremony at my kindergartner's elementary school they played Rachel Platten's "Fight Song," which I haven't listed to since the morning of the election. It was tough to hear it because it brought back all the hope I had, but it also made me want to fight more in 2018. Then I watched the acapella version from the Democratic National Convention that ends in the American flag montage and cried a lot. But I'm still fighty.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:33 PM on February 7, 2018
Although at the morning ceremony at my kindergartner's elementary school they played Rachel Platten's "Fight Song," which I haven't listed to since the morning of the election. It was tough to hear it because it brought back all the hope I had, but it also made me want to fight more in 2018. Then I watched the acapella version from the Democratic National Convention that ends in the American flag montage and cried a lot. But I'm still fighty.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:33 PM on February 7, 2018
My current playlist is All Midnight Oil All The Time.
It's interesting that, in times of calm, I can widen my musical horizons and absorb new sounds and bands and songs with ease. But when things are stressful? I turtle up and only listen to the favorites. Especially now, that I'm having to both survive this administration, as well as recovery from a Hysterectomy 4 months ago.
Nancy Pelosi, however, gives me hope. As of now, she's been talking for more than 5 hours about immigration policy. C-SPAN Link.
posted by spinifex23 at 1:02 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
It's interesting that, in times of calm, I can widen my musical horizons and absorb new sounds and bands and songs with ease. But when things are stressful? I turtle up and only listen to the favorites. Especially now, that I'm having to both survive this administration, as well as recovery from a Hysterectomy 4 months ago.
Nancy Pelosi, however, gives me hope. As of now, she's been talking for more than 5 hours about immigration policy. C-SPAN Link.
posted by spinifex23 at 1:02 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Mrs. Pterodactyl please keep up the enlightening of the conditioned masses that you have been doing. We need it. With gratitude from one of the conditioned masses.
posted by W Grant at 1:18 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by W Grant at 1:18 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Somehow I never knew the full name of Roger Stone's 527, Citizens United. Just thinking of thousands of newscasters, lawyers, journalists, judges, politicians, and ordinary citizens talking about "Citizens United" while giving cover to its true nature by conveniently removing the last two words of its name makes me hate everyone more than I did yesterday.
posted by xyzzy at 1:23 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 1:23 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm just tired. So very tired. I don't remember ever being this tired before in my life, not even when I had a newborn and an extraordinarily oppositional toddler.
I have to believe that it's the constant onslaught of GRAR that's everywhere. It's there for a reason, and it's not like I don't want to live in ignorance. But it would be so much easier that way.
Added to all the AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! is the fact that I will have no children in my house next year except for school breaks and I'm THIS CLOSE to punching my conservative relatives. I'm living on the edge here, people.
MeFi is a refuge for me. Especially FanFare. Another good thing is that I've had some insights w/r/t my mental health, sort of thanks to the Narcissist in Chief. I've had several huge revelations because of reading links posted in U.S. politics and venting threads. So there's that?
Hang in there, everybody. *hugs*
posted by cooker girl at 1:25 PM on February 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
I have to believe that it's the constant onslaught of GRAR that's everywhere. It's there for a reason, and it's not like I don't want to live in ignorance. But it would be so much easier that way.
Added to all the AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! is the fact that I will have no children in my house next year except for school breaks and I'm THIS CLOSE to punching my conservative relatives. I'm living on the edge here, people.
MeFi is a refuge for me. Especially FanFare. Another good thing is that I've had some insights w/r/t my mental health, sort of thanks to the Narcissist in Chief. I've had several huge revelations because of reading links posted in U.S. politics and venting threads. So there's that?
Hang in there, everybody. *hugs*
posted by cooker girl at 1:25 PM on February 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
That's a different Citizens United, xyxxy, which sued Stone and made him change the name.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:33 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:33 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think the parade should be 1 open trailer with a gigantic pile of horseshit in the middle of it. Pulled by a remote control robot, like one of those dirt compression things on a construction site. That's it. Nothing else.
posted by yoga at 1:35 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by yoga at 1:35 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
The full name is 'Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism' and what's not to like? ~^
posted by sexyrobot at 1:37 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 1:37 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
Luxury and Communism are in too much tension.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:50 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:50 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Not at all. Just imagine a tractor with a velvet seat.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:52 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:52 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
Also, Luxury is usually (though not always) Custom, not Fully Automated.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:52 PM on February 7, 2018
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:52 PM on February 7, 2018
We ripped out our master bathroom this week. Literally. There's nothing there but the walls & pipes. This is part of our 18 month plan to sell our awesome condo and move out to the CA desert. I guess the bright side is if the depression arrives before we can sell we'll have a place that needs no updating for the next 15 years. *sigh*
posted by yoga at 1:59 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by yoga at 1:59 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
After a couple-few months on the actual brink, I seem to have mostly pulled back into functioning. A big part of it was getting work back on track so I'm not doing 7 day weeks every week anymore, which would be exhausting anyway, and doubly or triply so when the rest of the world is a screaming nightmare hellscape.
Even so, like once or twice a week for a few hours, I just shut down. It's neither predictable nor, seemingly, preventable. Like, even if it's the middle of a work day and I have a perfectly reasonable amount of totally accomplishable shit to do, I just do not do it, or anything. I don't even really retreat to escapism-internet or TV or anything. I just sit there, and the only thought in my brain is "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck."
It's...disconcerting.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:03 PM on February 7, 2018 [12 favorites]
Even so, like once or twice a week for a few hours, I just shut down. It's neither predictable nor, seemingly, preventable. Like, even if it's the middle of a work day and I have a perfectly reasonable amount of totally accomplishable shit to do, I just do not do it, or anything. I don't even really retreat to escapism-internet or TV or anything. I just sit there, and the only thought in my brain is "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck."
It's...disconcerting.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:03 PM on February 7, 2018 [12 favorites]
I've had a stomach ache for like, 4 days straight. Also, my president is a petulant man-child with a god complex, and is supported in this by at least 40% of the country who think everything is forgivable if you profit by it. I've always been a misanthrope, but I'm so fucking tired of being proved right.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:08 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:08 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
Had a job interview today for a part-time data job. Turned down because they thought I'd find it boring. Apparently my answer to the question "why are you applying for this job?", which was "to learn about data in an area I don't know about", was wrong as the job won't give me new skills. What was I supposed to say - "I'm happy doing something mindless and just want the money"? I genuinely like boring things!
posted by paduasoy at 2:13 PM on February 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by paduasoy at 2:13 PM on February 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
I'm a very calculated level of mad that anger is both my primary response to what's been going on and also my single most reliable hypomania trigger. I've spent the last, what, year and a half walking this stupid-ass tightrope over psychological oblivion and I've had to both cut way the hell down on consuming any kind of current events --especially local ones which due to enclave politics ironically make me feel even less empowered which in turn makes me more angry -- and conversations and confrontations because i'm now abjectly terrified of waking up a week later with a higher dosage on my prescriptions and 168 hours worth of social and work-related fuckups to de-fuck-up.
Last night my wife asked me if I was scared about the resurgence of fascism and I told her I wasn't but didn't quite know why. And we talked and I realized it was because contrary to what I was taught about Never Again and so on, many people in this country really, desperately want fascism (or theocracy or insert your favorite dystopic regime here). Certainly they want it far more than I've ever wanted anything. And I can't psychologically afford to get scared because I don't really get scared, I get angry and uh GOTO 10.
posted by griphus at 2:16 PM on February 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
Last night my wife asked me if I was scared about the resurgence of fascism and I told her I wasn't but didn't quite know why. And we talked and I realized it was because contrary to what I was taught about Never Again and so on, many people in this country really, desperately want fascism (or theocracy or insert your favorite dystopic regime here). Certainly they want it far more than I've ever wanted anything. And I can't psychologically afford to get scared because I don't really get scared, I get angry and uh GOTO 10.
posted by griphus at 2:16 PM on February 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
I just burst into public tears on the streets of Seattle because a Big Tech employee felt the need to explain that he judged literal actual KKK members and their ilk by how they treated him, personally, and it wasn’t his problem what other people did in their private lives.
Which is to say, I really value you, Metafilter.
posted by corb at 2:16 PM on February 7, 2018 [58 favorites]
Which is to say, I really value you, Metafilter.
posted by corb at 2:16 PM on February 7, 2018 [58 favorites]
Oh, shit - that sucks, corb!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:20 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:20 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
oh it occurs to me that my random shutdowns may have coincided with every time I'm reminded that an actual literal Nazi is running unopposed in the Republican primary for a seat in a district that includes parts of Chicago.
Chicago.
I mean, he won't win, and he's eleventy billion years old so TBH I'll be shocked if he makes it to the election. But still.
The calls are coming from inside the house.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:21 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
Chicago.
I mean, he won't win, and he's eleventy billion years old so TBH I'll be shocked if he makes it to the election. But still.
The calls are coming from inside the house.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:21 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
I just will never get over the fact that war and constant fighting and battles and threats of nuclear war and decades and decades of conflict in Afghanistan and the Australian government now considering upping our status as arms providers are seen as normal and acceptable by so many people.
Some poor bastard over here who mentions on social media that they are in danger of becoming homeless because they can't find a job and the dole doesn't pay enough gets absolutely slaughtered in the comments and yet trillions and trillions of dollars are spent annually on the war machine and that's apparently perfectly okay.
Trump as president of the USA is considered by some as apparently (typing this is difficult, gorge is rising) 'a breath of fresh air'. Peter Dutton, that disgusting potato who actually wants people to die in detention camps, is not only not censured but is given increased powers, Teresa May and her feral government are constantly cutting funding to the NHS and other social services and that's not seen as an absolute outrage.
My brother posts nothing on Facebook but anti-vax shit, chemtrail shit, actual wishing of death upon Muslims shit, outrage about every.single.conspiracy.theory.ever shit and *I'm* the one that should be holding my tongue because ooh don't cause conflicts.
Women finally being given a platform to speak about and fight against the constant threats and slurs and insinuations and outright abuse that have been our lot *forever* are seen as whinging man-hating wreckers of society. Trans people asking to be allowed to live their lives without judgement are absolutely pilloried by arsehole shithead fuckwits who either think it's a joke or who are absolutely livid that they even exist. The constant refusal to accept that making abortion illegal doesn't stop abortions, it just makes them dangerous and produces either dead or mutilated women and neglected and abused children, combined with ever increasing costs and prohibitions on women's birth control is such an ignorant and outrageous step backwards that my head spins and my anger becomes actually painful.
No room for nuance, no room for empathy, no room for compassion, no room for sympathy. No learning from past mistakes or even simple damn history showing that some things just do not work. Fuck this absolute fucking shit.
posted by h00py at 2:49 PM on February 7, 2018 [14 favorites]
Some poor bastard over here who mentions on social media that they are in danger of becoming homeless because they can't find a job and the dole doesn't pay enough gets absolutely slaughtered in the comments and yet trillions and trillions of dollars are spent annually on the war machine and that's apparently perfectly okay.
Trump as president of the USA is considered by some as apparently (typing this is difficult, gorge is rising) 'a breath of fresh air'. Peter Dutton, that disgusting potato who actually wants people to die in detention camps, is not only not censured but is given increased powers, Teresa May and her feral government are constantly cutting funding to the NHS and other social services and that's not seen as an absolute outrage.
My brother posts nothing on Facebook but anti-vax shit, chemtrail shit, actual wishing of death upon Muslims shit, outrage about every.single.conspiracy.theory.ever shit and *I'm* the one that should be holding my tongue because ooh don't cause conflicts.
Women finally being given a platform to speak about and fight against the constant threats and slurs and insinuations and outright abuse that have been our lot *forever* are seen as whinging man-hating wreckers of society. Trans people asking to be allowed to live their lives without judgement are absolutely pilloried by arsehole shithead fuckwits who either think it's a joke or who are absolutely livid that they even exist. The constant refusal to accept that making abortion illegal doesn't stop abortions, it just makes them dangerous and produces either dead or mutilated women and neglected and abused children, combined with ever increasing costs and prohibitions on women's birth control is such an ignorant and outrageous step backwards that my head spins and my anger becomes actually painful.
No room for nuance, no room for empathy, no room for compassion, no room for sympathy. No learning from past mistakes or even simple damn history showing that some things just do not work. Fuck this absolute fucking shit.
posted by h00py at 2:49 PM on February 7, 2018 [14 favorites]
I'm part of a Traditionally Conservative Group (ok, ok, it's a church) that I think could buy in real easily to the whole Biblical Liberalism thing, because the end results are all pretty reasonable even if some of the vocabulary might sound scary, but then I imagine having conversations with people that would go:
And also those conversations that actually happened when I said, "hey, maybe let's worry about spiritual things instead of theoretical terrorists who would annually kill less people than drunk drivers anyway, and 9/11 was terrible but like Atherosclerosis kills more people every single year and I don't even know what that even is," and people said "yes, I know I believe in eternal life, but I definitely care more about my physical safety, and you will too once you have kids! So let's boycott Starbucks because they're giving jobs to refugees who are coming to kill us, don'cha know"
And I just think I could go around and drum up volunteer opportunities (churches love volunteering) to get people to work with refugees and foreigners and other socially-very-different communities, and we'd all be a big happy family after spending time together. But I don't know, maybe people just don't change.
So anyway in the past year my wife I started foster care (I still don't worry about terrorists now that I have kids), and it's a lot of work, and this week I've been daydreaming about winning the lottery because I could quit working, pay off our house, and just go do, like, Liberal Christian Outreach while we take care of homeless kids. But instead I'm here trying to stay focused on work that pays really well but doesn't matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, while my wife gets paid 1.5x minimum wage to work with under privileged families.
But I'm so, so convinced I could get people to understand others if I just had the time and energy. But changing the world doesn't pay the bills, I guess.
Also I need some sunshine so I can get through this winter SAD, that seems to be getting worse and worse every year
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:54 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
Them: I'm definitely voting for Trump in 2020. Woo, Maga, Woo.And then I just give up because I psyched myself out with an imaginary conversation.
Me: Yeah, hey, remember when that Upstanding Figure And Member Of Our Group got detained for months by ICE and almost deported due to what was probably an unconstitutional reason? And remember how how I don't think Trump has accomplished much, buuuuut probably the one thing I'll give him credit for is implementing the terrible immigration policies he said he would, which is one of many reason why Hillary Clinton was the first Democrat I voted for? And that kicking out people such as our Upstanding Figure was basically the platform he campaigned on?
Them: Yeah, that was pretty terrible what happened to Upstanding Figure, when he almost got sent to a country he doesn't even remember that he doesn't speak the language of. What a terrible accidental mistake that no one could have seen coming. I'm glad HRC didn't win and now I get my extra buck fifty each paycheck.
And also those conversations that actually happened when I said, "hey, maybe let's worry about spiritual things instead of theoretical terrorists who would annually kill less people than drunk drivers anyway, and 9/11 was terrible but like Atherosclerosis kills more people every single year and I don't even know what that even is," and people said "yes, I know I believe in eternal life, but I definitely care more about my physical safety, and you will too once you have kids! So let's boycott Starbucks because they're giving jobs to refugees who are coming to kill us, don'cha know"
And I just think I could go around and drum up volunteer opportunities (churches love volunteering) to get people to work with refugees and foreigners and other socially-very-different communities, and we'd all be a big happy family after spending time together. But I don't know, maybe people just don't change.
So anyway in the past year my wife I started foster care (I still don't worry about terrorists now that I have kids), and it's a lot of work, and this week I've been daydreaming about winning the lottery because I could quit working, pay off our house, and just go do, like, Liberal Christian Outreach while we take care of homeless kids. But instead I'm here trying to stay focused on work that pays really well but doesn't matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, while my wife gets paid 1.5x minimum wage to work with under privileged families.
But I'm so, so convinced I could get people to understand others if I just had the time and energy. But changing the world doesn't pay the bills, I guess.
Also I need some sunshine so I can get through this winter SAD, that seems to be getting worse and worse every year
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:54 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
I Am Tired
posted by poffin boffin at 3:08 PM on February 7, 2018 [30 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 3:08 PM on February 7, 2018 [30 favorites]
My medical issues from back in December haven't fully resolved and I am stuck in a hell of workman's comp appointments and newly developed environmental allergies. It's all relatively minor, but starting to have an effect on my mental well being and quality of life.
posted by itesser at 3:13 PM on February 7, 2018
posted by itesser at 3:13 PM on February 7, 2018
Two suicides in two months: one in my extended family, and one in a community group that I work with. And a good friend who I hadn't spoken to in a couple of years due to me being crap at replying to emails died of a heart attack this week. Plus all the stupid, effin' crappy Brexit bollocks that continues to plague the UK. Plus the Scottish Government apparently turning a blind eye to a Scottish airport doing deals with the US Military to fly from there (seriously, WTF Nicola?) And did I mention my two broken ribs that are taking FOREVER to heal? And the climate change project that I work on sometimes being turned down for another two year's funding this week?
I am done in at the moment. Only the lovely doggle and some good people around me and my medicine are keeping me going at present.
Apologies. Rant Over. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to unload this here. Thank you.
posted by Chairboy at 3:27 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
I am done in at the moment. Only the lovely doggle and some good people around me and my medicine are keeping me going at present.
Apologies. Rant Over. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to unload this here. Thank you.
posted by Chairboy at 3:27 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
ok this was deleted (and rightly so) from the politics thread but i can't stop watching his combover hair getting blown over as he boards air force one and i honestly regret watching it the first time because it's like a nightmare that i'm experiencing awake.
posted by numaner at 5:08 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by numaner at 5:08 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
CTRL+F for tired at 35 comments: 9
Me too you guys. I'm so tired.
+1
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:49 PM on February 7, 2018 [10 favorites]
Me too you guys. I'm so tired.
+1
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:49 PM on February 7, 2018 [10 favorites]
The military parade was the last straw that had me emailing local Democrat groups this morning asking how I can volunteer to help register voters in Virginia's 7th district (currently a R seat). I'm not going to campaign for a Democrat but I don't mind registering a bunch of people who happen to vote Democrat because we need a divided government ASAP.
posted by Jacqueline at 5:59 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 5:59 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'm. still. living. in this. hotel. Hopefully I can move home tomorrow but I keep having to call the insurance people and authorize one- or two-day extensions. (We meant to move home tonight, but the water is off and no way we could wash our bedding in time. Also there are currently no functioning toilets.) Thank fuck the money worries are eased up and gone for the moment.
My dog keeps coming to work with me because I literally do not have another place to stash her. I'm constantly trying to coordinate household repair things this week. I am still living in a single hotel room with my roommate and partner and their work shifts happen at wildly different hours of the day. I am tired. I am so tired. Last night one of the cats unexpectedly pissed in the roommate's bed which was only discovered late in the evening and we had to scramble to wash the bedding before the hotel complained. And tomorrow I have to move us home.
I have a deadline to present an acoustic analysis I have not even started on Friday morning. My datasets are just this side of nonsignificant and I have next to no belief that anything interesting will ever come out of this stupid fucking system, and more to the point I have no confidence in my own work. My confidence is shattered, honestly, and I am afraid and anxious all the time, and this has been getting worse and worse as my boss has gotten more and more critical and I am tired. I am in my sixth year and I am scared and I am stalled out and I keep trying to get my feet under me and sliding in the mud.
On top of all of this, a couple of weeks ago my boss became concerned that I am not progressing fast enough to graduate and told me to start a writing/support group with the two other senior graduate students in my lab. One is a sweetheart and someone who had already been informally supporting me (and vice versa)... and the other is a gentleman I have nicknamed "Captain Mansplainer" who has been getting along with me via the simple expedient of ignoring each other as much as possible. He complains he feels isolated as one of the few conservatives in the department. As a bonus, my boss fears conflict and holds women to demonstrably different standards than he does (some) men, including this one, and in the past when dude has said something sexist or racist or just plain wrong and I've confronted him, my boss has characterized the whole problem as an "equal fault" conflict. So I get punished for being quiet and punished for speaking out and I can't do it right now, I can't.
...yeah. I suggested just formalizing my meetings with the dude I'm already leaning on and with, and my boss said "but does that include the Captain?" and, when I demurred, pushed it through. So I spent about a week hyperventilating because my casual 'nos' were being ignored and then, on advice of my best friend, went to talk to another female faculty member and get her support and reading, and she agreed that expecting me to do a support group with this other student was a bad idea and suggested I tell my boss that and that it was actively hurting my ability to do my job.
Cue Monday, when my boss chose to start a conversation about how I've lost all this enthusiasm for my work and I don't seem to love it like he expects, and I tried to explain a whole bunch of what's holding me down and kicking me around and like--the way he frames me as 'bossy' or equally at fault for responding when Captain Mansplainer pulls shit like mansplaining my fucking thesis to me, the way that every time I'm feeling vulnerable he picks at my performance and tells me all the things I failed at in terms of constructive criticism, the way I am so scared and avoidant and rife with imposter syndrome and he keeps, keeps reading me as so much more confident than I am, keeps treating me like someone who is overconfident instead of someone who needs support.
And I mentioned I'd spoken to this other faculty member, and he got defensive about literally all of it and I had to handle his emotional reactions to all of this while he jumped through all the playbooks about people who are afraid of conflict and defensive and--all the rest of it, all while also sobbing about my own problems and trying to explain why I was scared and upset at all to someone who.... probably thinks of himself as a great ally but on gender issues is simply not.
Not to mention the simple fact that in the last six years of my PhD my personal life has included:
-apartment burning down completely, lost all possessions, have to move from first apartment
-government shutdowns, shaking foundation of belief in funding for American science for first time
-car totalled
-announced existence of current spouse to family along with engagement
-ceiling of second apartment falls in
-months of off-and-on fights and boundaries enforced about decision to marry spouse despite obvious and aggressive family disapproval and then hurt (zero family support before or after)
-move to third apartment because of rent increases
-navigating immigration process completely on own without help legal or otherwise from anyone except spouse
-bad ankle sprain impeding movement for weeks
-move to fourth local apartment for reasons of rent increase
-navigating logistics of moving spouse to town and setting up household to transition from long distance relationship to sharing house
-managing parental hatred of spouse through multiple visits and vacations totalling nearly all time off for two years, nearly all of which end in explosions
-six weeks of no air conditioning in Texas in July for reasons
-managing parental hatred of spouse through expensive and extremely heteronormative wedding for sister
-grandparental abandonment as mentioned on MeFi night of the Women's March
-unexpected death of two-year-old cat following months of incontinence
-cutting off one half of extended family following abandonment
-cutting off rest of family of origin following emotional abuse and enabling of emotional abuse
-total loss of faith in any form of safety net
-managing spouse's own tumultous mental state in the face of--all this
-and now this thing
It's. It's not surprising that I am taking longer than I want, right? It's not surprising I make more errors than I should and I'm not playing as hard as I want to? Especially when I can't, I haven't done anything worth making progress on and I'm tired of failing and I'm tired of pretending I can keep fighting all of this off and the whole thing is just getting tied up with that feeling of failure, of imperfection in my head, and I can't make my advisor see that I need encouragement, not criticism, just for a bit.
I need to pick myself up and network outside of my lab and submit conference abstracts and shit, and he's not wrong that my anxiety is making me produce substandard work, but I don't know how to go forward and not hate everything about my job right now. And it's killing me.
posted by sciatrix at 6:46 PM on February 7, 2018 [40 favorites]
My dog keeps coming to work with me because I literally do not have another place to stash her. I'm constantly trying to coordinate household repair things this week. I am still living in a single hotel room with my roommate and partner and their work shifts happen at wildly different hours of the day. I am tired. I am so tired. Last night one of the cats unexpectedly pissed in the roommate's bed which was only discovered late in the evening and we had to scramble to wash the bedding before the hotel complained. And tomorrow I have to move us home.
I have a deadline to present an acoustic analysis I have not even started on Friday morning. My datasets are just this side of nonsignificant and I have next to no belief that anything interesting will ever come out of this stupid fucking system, and more to the point I have no confidence in my own work. My confidence is shattered, honestly, and I am afraid and anxious all the time, and this has been getting worse and worse as my boss has gotten more and more critical and I am tired. I am in my sixth year and I am scared and I am stalled out and I keep trying to get my feet under me and sliding in the mud.
On top of all of this, a couple of weeks ago my boss became concerned that I am not progressing fast enough to graduate and told me to start a writing/support group with the two other senior graduate students in my lab. One is a sweetheart and someone who had already been informally supporting me (and vice versa)... and the other is a gentleman I have nicknamed "Captain Mansplainer" who has been getting along with me via the simple expedient of ignoring each other as much as possible. He complains he feels isolated as one of the few conservatives in the department. As a bonus, my boss fears conflict and holds women to demonstrably different standards than he does (some) men, including this one, and in the past when dude has said something sexist or racist or just plain wrong and I've confronted him, my boss has characterized the whole problem as an "equal fault" conflict. So I get punished for being quiet and punished for speaking out and I can't do it right now, I can't.
...yeah. I suggested just formalizing my meetings with the dude I'm already leaning on and with, and my boss said "but does that include the Captain?" and, when I demurred, pushed it through. So I spent about a week hyperventilating because my casual 'nos' were being ignored and then, on advice of my best friend, went to talk to another female faculty member and get her support and reading, and she agreed that expecting me to do a support group with this other student was a bad idea and suggested I tell my boss that and that it was actively hurting my ability to do my job.
Cue Monday, when my boss chose to start a conversation about how I've lost all this enthusiasm for my work and I don't seem to love it like he expects, and I tried to explain a whole bunch of what's holding me down and kicking me around and like--the way he frames me as 'bossy' or equally at fault for responding when Captain Mansplainer pulls shit like mansplaining my fucking thesis to me, the way that every time I'm feeling vulnerable he picks at my performance and tells me all the things I failed at in terms of constructive criticism, the way I am so scared and avoidant and rife with imposter syndrome and he keeps, keeps reading me as so much more confident than I am, keeps treating me like someone who is overconfident instead of someone who needs support.
And I mentioned I'd spoken to this other faculty member, and he got defensive about literally all of it and I had to handle his emotional reactions to all of this while he jumped through all the playbooks about people who are afraid of conflict and defensive and--all the rest of it, all while also sobbing about my own problems and trying to explain why I was scared and upset at all to someone who.... probably thinks of himself as a great ally but on gender issues is simply not.
Not to mention the simple fact that in the last six years of my PhD my personal life has included:
-apartment burning down completely, lost all possessions, have to move from first apartment
-government shutdowns, shaking foundation of belief in funding for American science for first time
-car totalled
-announced existence of current spouse to family along with engagement
-ceiling of second apartment falls in
-months of off-and-on fights and boundaries enforced about decision to marry spouse despite obvious and aggressive family disapproval and then hurt (zero family support before or after)
-move to third apartment because of rent increases
-navigating immigration process completely on own without help legal or otherwise from anyone except spouse
-bad ankle sprain impeding movement for weeks
-move to fourth local apartment for reasons of rent increase
-navigating logistics of moving spouse to town and setting up household to transition from long distance relationship to sharing house
-managing parental hatred of spouse through multiple visits and vacations totalling nearly all time off for two years, nearly all of which end in explosions
-six weeks of no air conditioning in Texas in July for reasons
-managing parental hatred of spouse through expensive and extremely heteronormative wedding for sister
-grandparental abandonment as mentioned on MeFi night of the Women's March
-unexpected death of two-year-old cat following months of incontinence
-cutting off one half of extended family following abandonment
-cutting off rest of family of origin following emotional abuse and enabling of emotional abuse
-total loss of faith in any form of safety net
-managing spouse's own tumultous mental state in the face of--all this
-and now this thing
It's. It's not surprising that I am taking longer than I want, right? It's not surprising I make more errors than I should and I'm not playing as hard as I want to? Especially when I can't, I haven't done anything worth making progress on and I'm tired of failing and I'm tired of pretending I can keep fighting all of this off and the whole thing is just getting tied up with that feeling of failure, of imperfection in my head, and I can't make my advisor see that I need encouragement, not criticism, just for a bit.
I need to pick myself up and network outside of my lab and submit conference abstracts and shit, and he's not wrong that my anxiety is making me produce substandard work, but I don't know how to go forward and not hate everything about my job right now. And it's killing me.
posted by sciatrix at 6:46 PM on February 7, 2018 [40 favorites]
I can't even muster up the energy to care anymore about the shitstorm we live in. I'm too exhausting watching my grandmother die slowly in a nursing home bed. Fun fact: she may not be aware of where she is or what's happening, but if I say "Mitch McConnell" her face twists in revulsion. That's bone deep loathing, friends. I'm pretty proud of her for that.
posted by palomar at 6:55 PM on February 7, 2018 [30 favorites]
posted by palomar at 6:55 PM on February 7, 2018 [30 favorites]
(exhausting? yes, i suppose i am exhausting, but i totally meant to say exhausted. boy howdy.)
posted by palomar at 7:16 PM on February 7, 2018
posted by palomar at 7:16 PM on February 7, 2018
Honesty...Just blow everything up. Let the ants take over. Humans suck.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:27 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:27 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
The people who fought against "death Panels" are proposing to term limit medicaid. I have a hard time coming to grips with the mere existence of that depth of evil.
posted by Mitheral at 7:30 PM on February 7, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 7:30 PM on February 7, 2018 [13 favorites]
I will post my first fucking fuck rant.
If one changed one's poll answer on Trump Job Approval from "nay" to "yay" because one got a shitty mediocre tax break that expires in a couple years and becomes a tax increase while simultaneousy exploding the debt and transferring wealth to the already wealthy... fuuuuuuuuuuuu
That is all.
posted by Justinian at 7:34 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
If one changed one's poll answer on Trump Job Approval from "nay" to "yay" because one got a shitty mediocre tax break that expires in a couple years and becomes a tax increase while simultaneousy exploding the debt and transferring wealth to the already wealthy... fuuuuuuuuuuuu
That is all.
posted by Justinian at 7:34 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
It's not surprising that I am taking longer than I want, right? It's not surprising I make more errors than I should and I'm not playing as hard as I want to? Especially when I can't, I haven't done anything worth making progress on and I'm tired of failing and I'm tired of pretending I can keep fighting all of this off and the whole thing is just getting tied up with that feeling of failure, of imperfection in my head, and I can't make my advisor see that I need encouragement, not criticism, just for a bit.
No, it's not surprising you're feeling out of steam and burning out on your own work, and it's not fair that you're not getting the support you need. I know, from experience, that it doesn't help all that much to hear this, but I also know, from experience, that it can help at least a little, so: what you're feeling, and the struggle you're having, isn't all your fault. Modern Ph.Ds are insane experiences, and you're at peak insanity right now. The gap between what's expected to finish a Ph.D. and what human beings with human emotions are capable of doing is growing all the time. I was lucky enough to have a couple of really excellent postdoc mentors, one who helped me manage my scientific output and the other who helped me manage my then-untreated anxiety disorder. In retrospect I know my advisor was worried about me and wanted me to succeed because he believed in my scientific abilities, but all he knew how to do was push me harder, at a time when even the slightest push made me feel I was going to break. In part, it was because that was all his advisor had known how to do with him.
During the final 8 months or so of my Ph.D., I realized I didn't have the emotional reserve to both work on my dissertation and follow the news. I won't presume to suggest the same to you or anyone else, but please remember to give yourself permission to let others carry the baton for a while if you need to, not just sciatrix but anyone in similarly stressful life situations.
Also, sciatrix, when was the last time you presented your work to anyone outside your research group? When you've been working on a project for as long as you have, it's easy to lose sight of why you thought it was cool to begin with. Presenting it to people who have no idea what it's about can be a valuable shot in the arm for remembering that, no, what you've found really is cool, non-obvious, non-stupid, and important.
posted by biogeo at 8:04 PM on February 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
No, it's not surprising you're feeling out of steam and burning out on your own work, and it's not fair that you're not getting the support you need. I know, from experience, that it doesn't help all that much to hear this, but I also know, from experience, that it can help at least a little, so: what you're feeling, and the struggle you're having, isn't all your fault. Modern Ph.Ds are insane experiences, and you're at peak insanity right now. The gap between what's expected to finish a Ph.D. and what human beings with human emotions are capable of doing is growing all the time. I was lucky enough to have a couple of really excellent postdoc mentors, one who helped me manage my scientific output and the other who helped me manage my then-untreated anxiety disorder. In retrospect I know my advisor was worried about me and wanted me to succeed because he believed in my scientific abilities, but all he knew how to do was push me harder, at a time when even the slightest push made me feel I was going to break. In part, it was because that was all his advisor had known how to do with him.
During the final 8 months or so of my Ph.D., I realized I didn't have the emotional reserve to both work on my dissertation and follow the news. I won't presume to suggest the same to you or anyone else, but please remember to give yourself permission to let others carry the baton for a while if you need to, not just sciatrix but anyone in similarly stressful life situations.
Also, sciatrix, when was the last time you presented your work to anyone outside your research group? When you've been working on a project for as long as you have, it's easy to lose sight of why you thought it was cool to begin with. Presenting it to people who have no idea what it's about can be a valuable shot in the arm for remembering that, no, what you've found really is cool, non-obvious, non-stupid, and important.
posted by biogeo at 8:04 PM on February 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
Also:
FUCKING FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCKERS
posted by biogeo at 8:04 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
FUCKING FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCKERS
posted by biogeo at 8:04 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
The only thing that keeps me sane is imagining, in my head, all the details of the parade we’re going to have once 45 succumbs to impeachment/stroke/asteroid/all of the above. I’m not a dancer but I will be on top of a very loud imaginary Samba float!
(Yes I know Pence, fascist GOP etc pp, but let’s just have this one parade to cleanse the Trump residue from the White House. Bring smudge sticks and incense and pots&pans to bang to scare away devils and Bannons.)
posted by The Toad at 8:16 PM on February 7, 2018
(Yes I know Pence, fascist GOP etc pp, but let’s just have this one parade to cleanse the Trump residue from the White House. Bring smudge sticks and incense and pots&pans to bang to scare away devils and Bannons.)
posted by The Toad at 8:16 PM on February 7, 2018
Oh lalex, I'm so sorry. That's awful.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:58 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:58 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
(((((lalex)))))
posted by yoga at 5:12 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by yoga at 5:12 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
lalex, I am so, so sorry. We're here for you.
sciatrix, just the fact that you're still here, still plugging away...that's amazing to me. I would have given up a long time ago. You are so very strong. And those times when you don't feel like you're strong? That's okay, too.
posted by cooker girl at 6:14 AM on February 8, 2018 [10 favorites]
sciatrix, just the fact that you're still here, still plugging away...that's amazing to me. I would have given up a long time ago. You are so very strong. And those times when you don't feel like you're strong? That's okay, too.
posted by cooker girl at 6:14 AM on February 8, 2018 [10 favorites]
Does anyone know what ever happed to You Can't Tip a Buick? I miss their canny leftist commentary in the political threads. They left around the time the new moderation rules for those threads got put in place, did that have something to do with it?
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:18 AM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 6:18 AM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
Lalex, I am sorry for your loss. Thinking of you.
Sciatrix, wow, that's a ton of shit to go through in such a short time! I hope you have people (and professionals) to lean on.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 7:07 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sciatrix, wow, that's a ton of shit to go through in such a short time! I hope you have people (and professionals) to lean on.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 7:07 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
And sciatrix...to echo Rosie M. Banks, that's a lot to go through as well. I am sorry to hear you've had to endure all that.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:29 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:29 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Everybody is SUPER excited about their paychecks at work now and I am just pretending to have gone selectively deaf.
posted by Sequence at 9:06 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Sequence at 9:06 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
"It's not surprising that I am taking longer than I want, right?"
No, it's inevitable.
"It's not surprising I make more errors than I should and I'm not playing as hard as I want to?"
You are making the absolute minimum of errors possible and playing as hard as you possibly can. Stop the criticism of yourself immediately. The "captain" and your adviser have that chore fully handled. Manhandled. Well in manhand.
"Especially when I can't, I haven't done anything worth making progress on-"
FALSE! The whole time I'm reading your list of horrors I'm thinking, "The family needs to go. OMG, the family has GOT to go," and lo, before I get to the end of the list, the family is outtie. Handled. Huge progress. Another thing I'm thinking and have been thinking through your other comments in I think Askme? somewhere. about this situation with your thesis advisor, is that you need to document this shit. Which you've been doing. Just grab your comment history and throw it in a word document and voila, work diary. Also, you talked to the other faculty member. You're doing things, and they are the right things. If they don't end up working because practically everyone in the USA is very evidently insane just now, you nevertheless did them and did them effectively and they were right and it will not be your fault if doing the right things in an era when everyfuckingbody else is doing the absolute worst wrong things does not result in a good outcome. You are not the problem, here.
"...and I'm tired of failing-"
You're not failing! You're working and doing and trying and people and infrastructure are getting in your way. You are not failing.
"...and I'm tired of pretending I can keep fighting all of this off and the whole thing is just getting tied up with that feeling of failure, of imperfection in my head, and I can't make my advisor see that I need encouragement, not criticism, just for a bit."
The failures are legion: they are not yours. That is why the advisor cannot see them. Because they are his, not yours.
"I need to pick myself up and network outside of my lab and submit conference abstracts and shit, and he's not wrong that my anxiety is making me produce substandard work,"
Yes he is. He fucking is. His active hindrances are keeping you from working.
"...but I don't know how to go forward and not hate everything about my job right now."
You don't hate every single thing about it because that's logically impossible. You just hate the overwhelming majority of the things. It will pass, one way or another. And you will emerge a champion, no matter what.
"And it's killing me."
Nope. You're amazing. You aren't going to die of this. You will escape the long, dark Texas of the soul and triumph. I have faith in you as a science person of merit and power.
posted by Don Pepino at 9:29 AM on February 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
No, it's inevitable.
"It's not surprising I make more errors than I should and I'm not playing as hard as I want to?"
You are making the absolute minimum of errors possible and playing as hard as you possibly can. Stop the criticism of yourself immediately. The "captain" and your adviser have that chore fully handled. Manhandled. Well in manhand.
"Especially when I can't, I haven't done anything worth making progress on-"
FALSE! The whole time I'm reading your list of horrors I'm thinking, "The family needs to go. OMG, the family has GOT to go," and lo, before I get to the end of the list, the family is outtie. Handled. Huge progress. Another thing I'm thinking and have been thinking through your other comments in I think Askme? somewhere. about this situation with your thesis advisor, is that you need to document this shit. Which you've been doing. Just grab your comment history and throw it in a word document and voila, work diary. Also, you talked to the other faculty member. You're doing things, and they are the right things. If they don't end up working because practically everyone in the USA is very evidently insane just now, you nevertheless did them and did them effectively and they were right and it will not be your fault if doing the right things in an era when everyfuckingbody else is doing the absolute worst wrong things does not result in a good outcome. You are not the problem, here.
"...and I'm tired of failing-"
You're not failing! You're working and doing and trying and people and infrastructure are getting in your way. You are not failing.
"...and I'm tired of pretending I can keep fighting all of this off and the whole thing is just getting tied up with that feeling of failure, of imperfection in my head, and I can't make my advisor see that I need encouragement, not criticism, just for a bit."
The failures are legion: they are not yours. That is why the advisor cannot see them. Because they are his, not yours.
"I need to pick myself up and network outside of my lab and submit conference abstracts and shit, and he's not wrong that my anxiety is making me produce substandard work,"
Yes he is. He fucking is. His active hindrances are keeping you from working.
"...but I don't know how to go forward and not hate everything about my job right now."
You don't hate every single thing about it because that's logically impossible. You just hate the overwhelming majority of the things. It will pass, one way or another. And you will emerge a champion, no matter what.
"And it's killing me."
Nope. You're amazing. You aren't going to die of this. You will escape the long, dark Texas of the soul and triumph. I have faith in you as a science person of merit and power.
posted by Don Pepino at 9:29 AM on February 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
Hi everyone, this is your friendly neighborhood ventilator-dependent quadriplegic and OH MY GOD people now they're talking about FIVE-YEAR LIFETIME CAPS ON MEDICAID. I don't get a fucking 5 year lifetime cap on my disability! IT DOESN'T TAKE HOLIDAYS, it doesn't go away when I ask politely, it's not going to magically disappear when you cut my insurance off. There's no private insurer in the world who would take me on willingly. So, how long do I have until somebody shows up at my house to repossess my ventilator?
posted by Soliloquy at 9:30 AM on February 8, 2018 [36 favorites]
posted by Soliloquy at 9:30 AM on February 8, 2018 [36 favorites]
The only thing that keeps me sane is imagining, in my head, all the details of the parade we’re going to have once 45 succumbs to impeachment/stroke/asteroid/all of the above.
Every so often, I toy with writing this....thing that is in my head. It's not a story, because it's not got a plot as such. It's sort of a mood piece; a speculation on the fallout from the eventual Trump downfall; told in the style of an impartial chronicle of events.
But the focus would be on all the Trump-named properties and entities; and would be about how, shortly after Trump's impeachment/fleeing the country/whatever, someone in one of the Trump-named buildings spontaneously walks out to the front of the building with a hammer and starts trying to pry away the sign with Trump's name on it. Passerspy stop to help. Reports crop up of similar things happening in other Trump properties, with people using sticks, crowbars, or the like to take his name off, cheering wildly when each letter of the name falls. Where the name has been painted on, they use paint.
And pictures of this go viral and that's how more and more people start their own moves to take Trump's name down. there are a few holdouts - there's a closed-down State park named for Trump in upstate New York, and I'm wagering that that's going to be where a bunch of white supremacist groups are going to congregate to stop people from taking his name down and there's some kind of standoff, something like that.
Anyway - it would be a report on how everyone rallies to erase the guy's name off of all the buildings and properties, with varying reactions (most good, some bad) and then the viral/internet reaction, and then a bit of the aftermath and denoument as things get back to normal.
And only at the very end would I get into what happens to Trump himself - he's smuggled out of the US over to Russia, put up in a hotel by Putin, and then everyone forgets about him for a while - literally. Like, as in, years later the staff of the hotel goes to evict the guy in the penthouse who's always been there, who'd had his bill paid for by a bank account that had long since run out and they don't even remember who was in there, and they find Trump. Melania had walked out years before, the supermodel who'd been taking care of him since has also bailed, and he's had a stroke at some point, so they just find this old frail guy who can't talk and is sitting in his own shit and he has this really weird long hair down to his shoulders. The hotel turns him over to the police, the police can't find anyone to claim him - especially since they can't get a name out of him, becuase he can't talk - so he becomes a ward of the state, and lives a few more feeble months under the name "Mr. Oranzhevyy", or "Mr. Orange". He doesn't seem to understand anything anyone says to him, and they never figure out who he is.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:35 AM on February 8, 2018 [43 favorites]
Every so often, I toy with writing this....thing that is in my head. It's not a story, because it's not got a plot as such. It's sort of a mood piece; a speculation on the fallout from the eventual Trump downfall; told in the style of an impartial chronicle of events.
But the focus would be on all the Trump-named properties and entities; and would be about how, shortly after Trump's impeachment/fleeing the country/whatever, someone in one of the Trump-named buildings spontaneously walks out to the front of the building with a hammer and starts trying to pry away the sign with Trump's name on it. Passerspy stop to help. Reports crop up of similar things happening in other Trump properties, with people using sticks, crowbars, or the like to take his name off, cheering wildly when each letter of the name falls. Where the name has been painted on, they use paint.
And pictures of this go viral and that's how more and more people start their own moves to take Trump's name down. there are a few holdouts - there's a closed-down State park named for Trump in upstate New York, and I'm wagering that that's going to be where a bunch of white supremacist groups are going to congregate to stop people from taking his name down and there's some kind of standoff, something like that.
Anyway - it would be a report on how everyone rallies to erase the guy's name off of all the buildings and properties, with varying reactions (most good, some bad) and then the viral/internet reaction, and then a bit of the aftermath and denoument as things get back to normal.
And only at the very end would I get into what happens to Trump himself - he's smuggled out of the US over to Russia, put up in a hotel by Putin, and then everyone forgets about him for a while - literally. Like, as in, years later the staff of the hotel goes to evict the guy in the penthouse who's always been there, who'd had his bill paid for by a bank account that had long since run out and they don't even remember who was in there, and they find Trump. Melania had walked out years before, the supermodel who'd been taking care of him since has also bailed, and he's had a stroke at some point, so they just find this old frail guy who can't talk and is sitting in his own shit and he has this really weird long hair down to his shoulders. The hotel turns him over to the police, the police can't find anyone to claim him - especially since they can't get a name out of him, becuase he can't talk - so he becomes a ward of the state, and lives a few more feeble months under the name "Mr. Oranzhevyy", or "Mr. Orange". He doesn't seem to understand anything anyone says to him, and they never figure out who he is.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:35 AM on February 8, 2018 [43 favorites]
The part that kills me the most, emotionally, is that I'm not just frustrated by, but at this point I actually fucking hate people who get all psyched about a march or a protest for a progressive cause or message. I hate them. I hate them because they are stupid.
If anyone hasn't noticed by now, marches and free assembly and chanting slogans and making cute signs and knitting pink hats do fuck-all. Literally nothing comes of them. Nothing. And these organizers and boosters and rah-rahs get all glowed up at how THAT'LL SHOW 'EM and I'm just like... seriously? Show me one goddamn example of progressive free assembly and/or marching since SELMA that's accomplished one. single. fucking. thing.
But the fucking Tiki-Nazis keep on marching and picking up members.
People are all liberal-flag-wavey about Nancy Pelosi's speech on the floor. But they're just impressed that she did it; they like it for the sake of liking it. What did it accomplish? Fuck. All.
The worst part is that there are people who have these ideas that, once Trump's gone (don't bet on it), all of the damage will just magically reverse itself and we can pretend this administration never happened.
They'd accomplish as much sitting at home with their thumbs up their asses.
posted by tzikeh at 10:04 AM on February 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
If anyone hasn't noticed by now, marches and free assembly and chanting slogans and making cute signs and knitting pink hats do fuck-all. Literally nothing comes of them. Nothing. And these organizers and boosters and rah-rahs get all glowed up at how THAT'LL SHOW 'EM and I'm just like... seriously? Show me one goddamn example of progressive free assembly and/or marching since SELMA that's accomplished one. single. fucking. thing.
But the fucking Tiki-Nazis keep on marching and picking up members.
People are all liberal-flag-wavey about Nancy Pelosi's speech on the floor. But they're just impressed that she did it; they like it for the sake of liking it. What did it accomplish? Fuck. All.
The worst part is that there are people who have these ideas that, once Trump's gone (don't bet on it), all of the damage will just magically reverse itself and we can pretend this administration never happened.
They'd accomplish as much sitting at home with their thumbs up their asses.
posted by tzikeh at 10:04 AM on February 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
I have ended up having to step back a bit on how closely I follow the news. A few months back, I started a new job that I really love. I get to serve people with mental health problems and do a bunch of fun things (and get paid!), plus I work on a wonderful team of only women. However, I am busy all day and do a whole bunch of behavioral management stuff, so I've just been less readily able to muster the energy to participate in discourse around the latest developments. I hate that I can't do it all, but right now, I have to focus on more career-related stuff, all the while the house is still on fire.
There's two types of tiredness I feel lately--the good kind from a productive day serving vulnerable people and the long, persistent, bone-deep weariness of watching endless bags of flaming dogshit being rained down every damned day. Unfortunately, no amount of Lumberjanes, Moonstruck, or Goldie Vance can really take away the ever-present worry about the prognosis of this society and planet.
I hate that even in the really good moments of the last year--with a couple of exceptions--there is always an underlying current grimness that never seems to leave me. I have no idea how we're going to clean up this shitty mess. Fucking fuck indeed.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:20 AM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
There's two types of tiredness I feel lately--the good kind from a productive day serving vulnerable people and the long, persistent, bone-deep weariness of watching endless bags of flaming dogshit being rained down every damned day. Unfortunately, no amount of Lumberjanes, Moonstruck, or Goldie Vance can really take away the ever-present worry about the prognosis of this society and planet.
I hate that even in the really good moments of the last year--with a couple of exceptions--there is always an underlying current grimness that never seems to leave me. I have no idea how we're going to clean up this shitty mess. Fucking fuck indeed.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:20 AM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
I have a dedicated browser just for the current megathread.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:24 AM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:24 AM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
Crowds and the absence of crowds does a thing. Crowds at his rallies are essential to Trump's shtick, which is why he every single time says "Look at the crowd! And you can't even see the whole crowd, it's actually three times bigger than this but it won't fit in the room!" The absence of a crowd at his inauguration drove the idiot mad. No crowd at his stupid parade, should his stupid parade manifest, would similarly disrupt his peace of mind. Conversely, after the tikki rally in Charlotte, crowds in Boston that outnumbered the nazis 100 to one or whatever it was did good. AFAIK, Spencer tried once or twice more to gin up a nazi rally and got similarly trounced and then gave it up. It doesn't, like, overthrow the government or anything, no, but it makes it clear to would-be propagandists who might want to try to pull a Goebbels and make a piece of crowdart for Trump that, at least at this juncture, they can't because they don't have the makings of a crowd.
And there are crowds and then there are crowds. The crowd of lawyers that showed up at the airports after the first travel ban absolutely did good for the people they assisted.
And if people are willing to take off work and assemble and hold up signs, they might be willing to, say, strike. And associating with other resisters means networking and sharing resistance strategies. So more people who will quit their jobs rather than handing over data to ICE.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [14 favorites]
And there are crowds and then there are crowds. The crowd of lawyers that showed up at the airports after the first travel ban absolutely did good for the people they assisted.
And if people are willing to take off work and assemble and hold up signs, they might be willing to, say, strike. And associating with other resisters means networking and sharing resistance strategies. So more people who will quit their jobs rather than handing over data to ICE.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [14 favorites]
Whenever I begin to despair, I rewatch It's Mueller Time while rubbing my hands together and whispering "soon."
posted by Jacqueline at 10:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 10:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Has the failure to implement sanctions things gone off the radar entirely over there? Is anyone shouting about it in an obvious fashion? Because that seems like a very big deal to leave just there.
posted by stonepharisee at 10:42 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by stonepharisee at 10:42 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
Oh, good timing. Because I'm sitting at my job, which I like and care about but have a very hard time liking and caring about RIGHT NOW because I work in advocacy so following the political news closely is literally required to do my job and everything feels intensely futile and also overwhelming and whenever I summon up the will to meet with congressional staffers who I think might be allies they are all, shrug, wtf even is the point of anything, we're never passing a good bill again! and my boss doesn't believe in there only being so many hours in a week and the only reward for doing a good job is more grinding discouraging work and the people in my particular policy niche are petty backstabbers and I hate feeling like I'm not supposed to trust anyone and AAAGHHHHHHHHH I can't take any of it anymore. I am all out of fucks to give about anything ever and I HATE IT.
(But also I just started taking taiko drumming classes and it is the one bright spot in my week and everyone who can should try it. I get to hit things really hard and shout and (hopefully, eventually) make friends and music. Beautiful.)
posted by bowtiesarecool at 10:56 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
(But also I just started taking taiko drumming classes and it is the one bright spot in my week and everyone who can should try it. I get to hit things really hard and shout and (hopefully, eventually) make friends and music. Beautiful.)
posted by bowtiesarecool at 10:56 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
Has the failure to implement sanctions things gone off the radar entirely over there? Is anyone shouting about it in an obvious fashion? Because that seems like a very big deal to leave just there.
I mean, we're still all shouting about it, but it's abundantly plain that all our shouting does nothing.
I actually fucking hate people who get all psyched about a march or a protest for a progressive cause or message. I hate them. I hate them because they are stupid.
Hi we're right here? Thx. Sincerely, Stupid.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:10 AM on February 8, 2018 [13 favorites]
I mean, we're still all shouting about it, but it's abundantly plain that all our shouting does nothing.
I actually fucking hate people who get all psyched about a march or a protest for a progressive cause or message. I hate them. I hate them because they are stupid.
Hi we're right here? Thx. Sincerely, Stupid.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:10 AM on February 8, 2018 [13 favorites]
Oh god, I have days where I literally cannot get out of bed because I can’t take in any new information. Fresh hells delivered piping hot, on the hour every hour. But I hate that I have both the privilege of being able to stay in bed all day and that I sometimes tip over into the Black Death mood and start reciting dada slogans to myself (“No more politics no more art no more revolution no more fatherland enough with these imbeleities, we want nothing, nothing, nothing. )
I don’t know if the anniversary halo or just the season but I’ve been having a hard winter. Everyplace I’ve worked for is closing, the archives may vanish and there’ll be no evidence I had a career at all, just poof, gone, as gone as the reforms under the Obama administration. As gone as the two book deals I had that fell through, the big comics launch I was supposed to be in, and oh yeah the relaunch of an iconic American magazine I was tapped for but fell through, or that literary journal I did logo work for that vanished like morning fog. At what point do you see the writing in the wall and finally shoot the damn horse.
I haven’t touched my manuscript in over a year. It’s like, physically difficult to work on something that’s basically a collection of dick jokes and patische. The thought of putting that much effort into something just to watch it fall apart like everything else I’ve ever cared about creatively in my entire life is just ...paralyzing
And it’s stupid! It’s so stupid, everything is stuud. It’s trivial to care this much about something like art, which doesn’t matter and effects no one. It’s stupid it think my effort is so Important it can be wasted by working in a funnybook and it’s stupid to work on a funny book. Like getting out of bed, like watching the news, like cooking dinner, it just feels, like another god damned burden we’d all be happier not having to do. And it’s a burden that I can even be a whiny baby about this cause I have all the privledges, all of them.
No more art, no more politics, no more anything.
Sigh.
I recently reconnected with a old friend (he got gay married during the eclipse, the best way to get gay married!) and we talked about art and politics and burn out and effort and he reminded me of a story. He was babysat by an older lesbian couple that used to be in the navy. They where paralegals to the post-war discussions between the US and the Japan, specifically the imperial family. There where a lot of gifts involved in thes meetings, gifts like a silver robe worn at the emporer’s wedding kind of gifts. The ladies got some of them and after they died (within a year of each other) these like, princeless Japanese artifacts where given to thier friends and family, like say, the mother of the kid they babysat.
So when he heard me whining and getting gas-locked and not finishing the manuscript, he reminded me that in his apartment is an 18th century Hibatchi given to him by his mom which contains, among other things, my last will and testament. He told me if I don’t finish the manuscript, he will use this to set my will on fire.
So I think I will, for lack of other choices, and because finishing it, like working in politics and doing collection drives and building socialism, is beliving that the future exists and that our slogan, a better world is possible, is true.
But maybe on a day when I can get out of bed first.
posted by The Whelk at 11:16 AM on February 8, 2018 [26 favorites]
I don’t know if the anniversary halo or just the season but I’ve been having a hard winter. Everyplace I’ve worked for is closing, the archives may vanish and there’ll be no evidence I had a career at all, just poof, gone, as gone as the reforms under the Obama administration. As gone as the two book deals I had that fell through, the big comics launch I was supposed to be in, and oh yeah the relaunch of an iconic American magazine I was tapped for but fell through, or that literary journal I did logo work for that vanished like morning fog. At what point do you see the writing in the wall and finally shoot the damn horse.
I haven’t touched my manuscript in over a year. It’s like, physically difficult to work on something that’s basically a collection of dick jokes and patische. The thought of putting that much effort into something just to watch it fall apart like everything else I’ve ever cared about creatively in my entire life is just ...paralyzing
And it’s stupid! It’s so stupid, everything is stuud. It’s trivial to care this much about something like art, which doesn’t matter and effects no one. It’s stupid it think my effort is so Important it can be wasted by working in a funnybook and it’s stupid to work on a funny book. Like getting out of bed, like watching the news, like cooking dinner, it just feels, like another god damned burden we’d all be happier not having to do. And it’s a burden that I can even be a whiny baby about this cause I have all the privledges, all of them.
No more art, no more politics, no more anything.
Sigh.
I recently reconnected with a old friend (he got gay married during the eclipse, the best way to get gay married!) and we talked about art and politics and burn out and effort and he reminded me of a story. He was babysat by an older lesbian couple that used to be in the navy. They where paralegals to the post-war discussions between the US and the Japan, specifically the imperial family. There where a lot of gifts involved in thes meetings, gifts like a silver robe worn at the emporer’s wedding kind of gifts. The ladies got some of them and after they died (within a year of each other) these like, princeless Japanese artifacts where given to thier friends and family, like say, the mother of the kid they babysat.
So when he heard me whining and getting gas-locked and not finishing the manuscript, he reminded me that in his apartment is an 18th century Hibatchi given to him by his mom which contains, among other things, my last will and testament. He told me if I don’t finish the manuscript, he will use this to set my will on fire.
So I think I will, for lack of other choices, and because finishing it, like working in politics and doing collection drives and building socialism, is beliving that the future exists and that our slogan, a better world is possible, is true.
But maybe on a day when I can get out of bed first.
posted by The Whelk at 11:16 AM on February 8, 2018 [26 favorites]
Me: I actually fucking hate people who get all psyched about a march or a protest for a progressive cause or message. I hate them. I hate them because they are stupid.
We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese: Hi we're right here? Thx. Sincerely, Stupid.
Yes; I assumed that people here would recognize the way women say "I hate men," or POC say "Fuck white people," and understand the sweeping generality for what it is--a sweeping generality brought about by unending, impotent rage and despair.
posted by tzikeh at 11:25 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese: Hi we're right here? Thx. Sincerely, Stupid.
Yes; I assumed that people here would recognize the way women say "I hate men," or POC say "Fuck white people," and understand the sweeping generality for what it is--a sweeping generality brought about by unending, impotent rage and despair.
posted by tzikeh at 11:25 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
The Whelk: And it’s a burden that I can even be a whiny baby about this cause I have all the privledges, all of them.
Cut yourself a little slack, Whelk--you don't have ALL the privileges.
posted by tzikeh at 11:29 AM on February 8, 2018
Cut yourself a little slack, Whelk--you don't have ALL the privileges.
posted by tzikeh at 11:29 AM on February 8, 2018
Whatever man. MeFi is less and less for me every day anyway, but so is literally all the rest of the world. Fuck it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:36 AM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:36 AM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
my organizer friends have been pestering me to get fully re-engaged again after another burnout episode and it's... great
I learned today that there is a professor at Agnes Scott who has been, for years, trying to get this ostensibly liberal institution to pay their janitors fair wages above minimum so we're going to get a couple of people working with her so she can get in contact with the right people. we also have an affordable housing director in our city who actually wants to get on a panel with a lot of community organizers to talk about the issue; he wants to give us concrete details about how we can help pitch-in to make his job easier which, in turn, makes the lives of a lot of other people easier
there's also good news that my county recently voted to actually move the 20-foot tall Confederate memorial from the middle of the town (after a protest march of 200+ people that I helped organize and coordinate marshaling for, after many city council sit-ins and comments, after a history panel with an audience of 200+ that pretty much al concluded the thing is about white supremacy)
but of course now we have to go sit at another city's council meetings to convince them to accept the fucking thing because our state law says that statues can only be removed for historical preservation - so we're hoping a nearby city with a graveyard full of these other kinds of memorials will take it and we may be working with a neo-confederate group to push this issue through. we are, of course, not going to tell them that the city (that sits inside of the county but has different codes) where the statue is located has already planned to dedicate a chunk of its budget to 'contextualizing' the memorial ie telling people that it's about slavery and white supremacy :3
and I have paid fuckall attention to national politics because there is literally no fucking way I can have any impact on any of it. I have friends who are DACA-recipients and activists going to Congress to protest the thing with all their hearts but these fucking Congress people never, ever, ever listen. maybe on issues they can quietly vote on without their base realizing - like getting some older Republicans in Georgia to vote for pro-environmentally friendly legislation, but all that is under the books, out of the public eye because it's their constituents that are assholes. the stuff that's in the news? they're voting partisan on it, guaranteed. the stuff that nobody's paying attention to? that's where the magic happens, afaik
in any case, if there's one truism that I think works wherever you go it's that people tend to not have a clue about what's actually happening in their own backyards that they can actually change for the better. it's just a matter of thinking, hey, the two hours I was planning on bingeing on Netflix could actually be me going to a community organizing meeting filled with really great people doing good work in the world, and how that might healthier in the long-run than aforementioned bingeing, and that it might actually lead to something good
posted by runt at 11:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
I learned today that there is a professor at Agnes Scott who has been, for years, trying to get this ostensibly liberal institution to pay their janitors fair wages above minimum so we're going to get a couple of people working with her so she can get in contact with the right people. we also have an affordable housing director in our city who actually wants to get on a panel with a lot of community organizers to talk about the issue; he wants to give us concrete details about how we can help pitch-in to make his job easier which, in turn, makes the lives of a lot of other people easier
there's also good news that my county recently voted to actually move the 20-foot tall Confederate memorial from the middle of the town (after a protest march of 200+ people that I helped organize and coordinate marshaling for, after many city council sit-ins and comments, after a history panel with an audience of 200+ that pretty much al concluded the thing is about white supremacy)
but of course now we have to go sit at another city's council meetings to convince them to accept the fucking thing because our state law says that statues can only be removed for historical preservation - so we're hoping a nearby city with a graveyard full of these other kinds of memorials will take it and we may be working with a neo-confederate group to push this issue through. we are, of course, not going to tell them that the city (that sits inside of the county but has different codes) where the statue is located has already planned to dedicate a chunk of its budget to 'contextualizing' the memorial ie telling people that it's about slavery and white supremacy :3
and I have paid fuckall attention to national politics because there is literally no fucking way I can have any impact on any of it. I have friends who are DACA-recipients and activists going to Congress to protest the thing with all their hearts but these fucking Congress people never, ever, ever listen. maybe on issues they can quietly vote on without their base realizing - like getting some older Republicans in Georgia to vote for pro-environmentally friendly legislation, but all that is under the books, out of the public eye because it's their constituents that are assholes. the stuff that's in the news? they're voting partisan on it, guaranteed. the stuff that nobody's paying attention to? that's where the magic happens, afaik
in any case, if there's one truism that I think works wherever you go it's that people tend to not have a clue about what's actually happening in their own backyards that they can actually change for the better. it's just a matter of thinking, hey, the two hours I was planning on bingeing on Netflix could actually be me going to a community organizing meeting filled with really great people doing good work in the world, and how that might healthier in the long-run than aforementioned bingeing, and that it might actually lead to something good
posted by runt at 11:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
I actually fucking hate people who get all psyched about a march or a protest for a progressive cause or message. I hate them. I hate them because they are stupid.
If anyone hasn't noticed by now, marches and free assembly and chanting slogans and making cute signs and knitting pink hats do fuck-all. Literally nothing comes of them
this is true for national issues and probably state level issues. it's not true for specifically targeted local issues. the people putting on 'Resist Trump' marches might as well be diddling with themselves at home for all the effect their marches do. but put on a surprise march without coordinating with the city and you've got one bit of leverage since they likely don't want that shit happening again. put that into a bigger calculus where you use other tools like council sit-ins, protest encampments, letter-writing campaigns, petition signings, phone calls, etc and you can move people to action
and that shit is hard and it's exhausting and it's pretty much like 80% not fun or cathartic and so most people don't actually do the work of 'resistance'. they want to go to things other people organized or briefly dip a toe in re: phone calls or protests. and that's resistance in the same way that white boys wearing plaid are actual lumberjacks - a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. but it sure looks good on your social media feeds and when you talk to your friends about it
people have been organizing in real actually revolutionary ways or a very long time. it's not like there aren't dozens and dozens of models for this or a million resources online. it's so easy to do the right thing and to do it meaningfully and accountably and to do so in your own neighborhood. it just takes effort and patience, like most good things
posted by runt at 11:48 AM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
If anyone hasn't noticed by now, marches and free assembly and chanting slogans and making cute signs and knitting pink hats do fuck-all. Literally nothing comes of them
this is true for national issues and probably state level issues. it's not true for specifically targeted local issues. the people putting on 'Resist Trump' marches might as well be diddling with themselves at home for all the effect their marches do. but put on a surprise march without coordinating with the city and you've got one bit of leverage since they likely don't want that shit happening again. put that into a bigger calculus where you use other tools like council sit-ins, protest encampments, letter-writing campaigns, petition signings, phone calls, etc and you can move people to action
and that shit is hard and it's exhausting and it's pretty much like 80% not fun or cathartic and so most people don't actually do the work of 'resistance'. they want to go to things other people organized or briefly dip a toe in re: phone calls or protests. and that's resistance in the same way that white boys wearing plaid are actual lumberjacks - a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. but it sure looks good on your social media feeds and when you talk to your friends about it
people have been organizing in real actually revolutionary ways or a very long time. it's not like there aren't dozens and dozens of models for this or a million resources online. it's so easy to do the right thing and to do it meaningfully and accountably and to do so in your own neighborhood. it just takes effort and patience, like most good things
posted by runt at 11:48 AM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
a better world is possible
That's a great slogan, Whelky, and I want to thank you for keeping DSA fires stoked & horn tooting because it's a kick in the ass the Dems need, I think.
posted by yoga at 11:50 AM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
That's a great slogan, Whelky, and I want to thank you for keeping DSA fires stoked & horn tooting because it's a kick in the ass the Dems need, I think.
posted by yoga at 11:50 AM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
I am fighting rage with compulsive business. I don't have time to be angry, because I'm taking a stats class and trying to code for an hour a day and doing all the little home improvement projects I had been putting off, on top of my full-time job. I don't think this is sustainable, but I fixed the wobbly towel bar in the bathroom, and I don't walk around wanting to punch people most of the time.
I've also quit drinking. I don't know if it's permanent, but it feels like a good idea at the moment.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:14 PM on February 8, 2018 [10 favorites]
I've also quit drinking. I don't know if it's permanent, but it feels like a good idea at the moment.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:14 PM on February 8, 2018 [10 favorites]
Funny enough both to Whelk and ArbitraryAndCapricious' points is that one of the things that's been keeping me on this side of sanity for the last six months or so is a slow, steady drip of Patricia Highsmith novels and I can't read novels if I'm not sober so I've been sober more often and that's probably helping.
posted by griphus at 12:36 PM on February 8, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by griphus at 12:36 PM on February 8, 2018 [6 favorites]
Of *COURSE* art is important. If it wasn't, then authoritarian organizations/government wouldn't have such an interest in censoring it.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:14 PM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 1:14 PM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
I haven't been able to focus on anything either - not even a plotless thing, like a soccer game on TV (which I used to love). Forget reading anything. I got a new kindle paperwhite for my birthday in November & have only read 1 book on it so far. :(
The only thing that is an escape for me is making something: dinner, a protest sign, an enamel pin design. Anything that makes me forget time. That's actually always been true for me, but these days it doesn't hold me as long as it used to.
But I take whatever respite I can get. Lemme know if y;all want to see my enamel pins. :D
posted by yoga at 1:20 PM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
The only thing that is an escape for me is making something: dinner, a protest sign, an enamel pin design. Anything that makes me forget time. That's actually always been true for me, but these days it doesn't hold me as long as it used to.
But I take whatever respite I can get. Lemme know if y;all want to see my enamel pins. :D
posted by yoga at 1:20 PM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
*loquacious calmly walks into the room, sits quietly crosslegged on the floor, closes their eyes as if in meditation and suddenly begins screaming for a few minutes, then stops, breathing calmly for a few more minutes before opening their eyes again*
Well, that was refreshing. So, who wants to help me smoke some weed?
I wish I had like 20 acres in the woods and a good well, and some tiny houses. It'd be really nice to have a refuge I could invite mefites to come take a break for a few weeks or a few years.
posted by loquacious at 1:40 PM on February 8, 2018 [17 favorites]
Well, that was refreshing. So, who wants to help me smoke some weed?
I wish I had like 20 acres in the woods and a good well, and some tiny houses. It'd be really nice to have a refuge I could invite mefites to come take a break for a few weeks or a few years.
posted by loquacious at 1:40 PM on February 8, 2018 [17 favorites]
"The only thing that is an escape for me is making something"
I have been on a crochet bender lately. It's a great hobby for anyone looking for something soothing yet productive to do. And if you start now, you'll be able to stockpile lots of blankets to give as gifts by Christmas. Just watch a few YouTube videos on how to crochet a granny square and then have at it!
posted by Jacqueline at 1:47 PM on February 8, 2018
I have been on a crochet bender lately. It's a great hobby for anyone looking for something soothing yet productive to do. And if you start now, you'll be able to stockpile lots of blankets to give as gifts by Christmas. Just watch a few YouTube videos on how to crochet a granny square and then have at it!
posted by Jacqueline at 1:47 PM on February 8, 2018
*sniffle* Thank you for the words of.... of encouragement, or affirmation, friends. I'm working on that damn analysis today, and I'm making some good headway on optimizing it. Maybe I'll luck out and find some significant results for tomorrow's presentation; I'm already feeling more solid about my data as a result of today's optimizing. (Of course, there will be order effects; I can about guarantee that shit.)
Whelk--you know that your work with the DSA has been one of my guiding lights these past few months, right? It's--you're so funny and you're so brave and your FPPs are so incisive and biting and demanding, and your pre-hellstorm work is so amazing too; we're going to fucking need you with us and we're going to need your writing to get us through. You ever read Watership Down? You remember Bluebell the rabbit, rolling his joke along the ground so that chasing it would keep them moving? I mean, even if you don't, this piece is still leaving me full of renewed respect for the power of laughter and joy and silliness, and you're one of the funniest people I know. I link to things and tweets and MeFi comments from you and griphus both all the time when I'm trying to raise the spirits of people who don't know you, either in my work or in my media fandom corners. (Apparently focusing very, very hard on the Guardians of the Galaxy crew is one of my coping mechanisms for avoiding; who the hell knows.)
(Plus who else will I look for when it's Captain America entirely-too-sincere gushing time? I got a hip bag for canvassing that's going to get a shield patch I'm embroidering on, buddy, not that I can/will challenge your epic costuming skills any way. We had a Cap shield as our tree topper this fall, dammit, and given that we hadn't got the tree down as plumbers and dry force were marching through our house this winter, it's gotten a whole lot of enthusiastic compliments over the season.)
The thing I keep gritting my teeth against--and I, too, am one of those entirely-too-sincere people in the street waving tattered signs and bright pink hats and bumper stickers from the Holocaust museum on my car--the thing I'm trying to remember for myself is that this long winter of our collective doubt is temporary, and it will pass. Showing up and walking in the streets, talking to one another, taking the impending threat of a strike seriously even if there isn't the support to pull it off... this enormous turd will pass, because we the collective cells of the rectum are going to fucking well push it out of our damn national system. You ever had that kind of shit, the kind where you're panting and in pain and trying to get it out any way you can? That's what we the nation are doing now. But we won't always be straining this badly, and if we put the groundwork down, we can bring ourselves back to a national equilibrium.
Alarmingly fecal extended metaphors aside, those people marching in the street and spreading the word on social media and doing the things you sneer at so casually, runt--oh man, no, they're crucially important even if what they're doing isn't directly tied to a particular goal. Those people are how cultural norms shift. They're how the Overton window moves back and forth. The marches are the things that breathe spirit back into people, that remind them they aren't alone, that this is a cause that won't leave them alone and broken down. Like it or not, but people are social animals, and those weekend warriors and social media activists do an awful not to change the minds of the people around them. They have, cumulatively, one hell of an impact... if you can get enough of them.
And on that note--show us your pins, yoga! Do we need a "show me things you're making" thread?
posted by sciatrix at 1:54 PM on February 8, 2018 [15 favorites]
Whelk--you know that your work with the DSA has been one of my guiding lights these past few months, right? It's--you're so funny and you're so brave and your FPPs are so incisive and biting and demanding, and your pre-hellstorm work is so amazing too; we're going to fucking need you with us and we're going to need your writing to get us through. You ever read Watership Down? You remember Bluebell the rabbit, rolling his joke along the ground so that chasing it would keep them moving? I mean, even if you don't, this piece is still leaving me full of renewed respect for the power of laughter and joy and silliness, and you're one of the funniest people I know. I link to things and tweets and MeFi comments from you and griphus both all the time when I'm trying to raise the spirits of people who don't know you, either in my work or in my media fandom corners. (Apparently focusing very, very hard on the Guardians of the Galaxy crew is one of my coping mechanisms for avoiding; who the hell knows.)
(Plus who else will I look for when it's Captain America entirely-too-sincere gushing time? I got a hip bag for canvassing that's going to get a shield patch I'm embroidering on, buddy, not that I can/will challenge your epic costuming skills any way. We had a Cap shield as our tree topper this fall, dammit, and given that we hadn't got the tree down as plumbers and dry force were marching through our house this winter, it's gotten a whole lot of enthusiastic compliments over the season.)
The thing I keep gritting my teeth against--and I, too, am one of those entirely-too-sincere people in the street waving tattered signs and bright pink hats and bumper stickers from the Holocaust museum on my car--the thing I'm trying to remember for myself is that this long winter of our collective doubt is temporary, and it will pass. Showing up and walking in the streets, talking to one another, taking the impending threat of a strike seriously even if there isn't the support to pull it off... this enormous turd will pass, because we the collective cells of the rectum are going to fucking well push it out of our damn national system. You ever had that kind of shit, the kind where you're panting and in pain and trying to get it out any way you can? That's what we the nation are doing now. But we won't always be straining this badly, and if we put the groundwork down, we can bring ourselves back to a national equilibrium.
Alarmingly fecal extended metaphors aside, those people marching in the street and spreading the word on social media and doing the things you sneer at so casually, runt--oh man, no, they're crucially important even if what they're doing isn't directly tied to a particular goal. Those people are how cultural norms shift. They're how the Overton window moves back and forth. The marches are the things that breathe spirit back into people, that remind them they aren't alone, that this is a cause that won't leave them alone and broken down. Like it or not, but people are social animals, and those weekend warriors and social media activists do an awful not to change the minds of the people around them. They have, cumulatively, one hell of an impact... if you can get enough of them.
And on that note--show us your pins, yoga! Do we need a "show me things you're making" thread?
posted by sciatrix at 1:54 PM on February 8, 2018 [15 favorites]
And, Whelk--okay, I feel you so hard on having all the privileges I can't even articulate it. I have so much that was given to me which I haven't earned, stuff that other people would kill to have had access to.
Would you tell me that I don't get to complain because I have all the privileges, literally all of them? And if you wouldn't--why not?
posted by sciatrix at 1:59 PM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Would you tell me that I don't get to complain because I have all the privileges, literally all of them? And if you wouldn't--why not?
posted by sciatrix at 1:59 PM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
I made a bunch of pink hats this winter. That felt good, giving them away felt great. I've been applying for jobs. Again. Still. I learned that being unparented has damaged me more than I even guessed. That sucks. I've taken up the blanket squares again, maybe by the election I'll have a really big blanket.
I'm still making phone calls for politics and showing up where I can. I read most of the politics threads on the blue (sometimes I get a day behind and just scrollllllll on down. I'm sure I'm missing a lot) and I don't retain even 1/10 of what I'm seeing on here. But finding the balance between no information and swirling in it is just....it's hard.
I would enjoy a "show me things you're making" thread. It could be jams and blanket squares and pins and cakes (we need a round of cakes....) and scribblings and whatever else.
posted by bilabial at 2:02 PM on February 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
I'm still making phone calls for politics and showing up where I can. I read most of the politics threads on the blue (sometimes I get a day behind and just scrollllllll on down. I'm sure I'm missing a lot) and I don't retain even 1/10 of what I'm seeing on here. But finding the balance between no information and swirling in it is just....it's hard.
I would enjoy a "show me things you're making" thread. It could be jams and blanket squares and pins and cakes (we need a round of cakes....) and scribblings and whatever else.
posted by bilabial at 2:02 PM on February 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
I learned that being unparented has damaged me more than I even guessed.
Aw, man. fuckin' tell me about it. My, uh, my "please love me parental figure, look after me and mentor me and show me the way even though I'm a twenty-seven year old goddamn adult" buttons have been incredibly visible these past few months.god I really am Jake fuckin' Peralta here, aren't I
Hold this place for a makers' space, then.
posted by sciatrix at 2:07 PM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
Aw, man. fuckin' tell me about it. My, uh, my "please love me parental figure, look after me and mentor me and show me the way even though I'm a twenty-seven year old goddamn adult" buttons have been incredibly visible these past few months.
Hold this place for a makers' space, then.
posted by sciatrix at 2:07 PM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
You guys what aisle do we put a show me what you're making thread? MeTa? or just do it in here?
posted by yoga at 2:11 PM on February 8, 2018
posted by yoga at 2:11 PM on February 8, 2018
A separate thread for that in MetaTalk is something I'd enjoy.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:17 PM on February 8, 2018
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:17 PM on February 8, 2018
Ah, posted while I wasn't looking! Cheers!
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:18 PM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:18 PM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
[I mean, it went live literally seconds ago, no way you'd have seen it... :P]
I need to dig out my embroidery project and show off where I'm at. It's small but intricate, for now.
posted by sciatrix at 2:18 PM on February 8, 2018
I need to dig out my embroidery project and show off where I'm at. It's small but intricate, for now.
posted by sciatrix at 2:18 PM on February 8, 2018
Alarmingly fecal extended metaphors aside, those people marching in the street and spreading the word on social media and doing the things you sneer at so casually, runt--oh man, no, they're crucially important even if what they're doing isn't directly tied to a particular goal. Those people are how cultural norms shift. They're how the Overton window moves back and forth
it's kind of infuriating to be lectured by someone who thinks the 'Overton window' is a sufficient principle, nevermind Marx's dialectical materialism is already a more complicated version of that even though it's now centuries old
in any case, when I'm talking about marches, I'm not saying all marches are bad. but I am saying that marches are effective within a dedicated strategy as illustrated by Beautiful Trouble. marches that are not tied to a concrete strategy looks to community organizers like a lot of unaccountably wasted energy - a lot of white feminists getting together once in a while to basically have fun and not actually organize.
cultural shifts as some kind of abstract concept seems like cover for not actually participating in the struggle for liberation and thinking that predominantly white, middle-class 'activism' is enough even while PoC organizers and leaders are vocally and persistently asking you to do more than just, when they are dedicating tons of time outlining specific policy proposals and planning call-to-actions and so on
posted by runt at 2:23 PM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
it's kind of infuriating to be lectured by someone who thinks the 'Overton window' is a sufficient principle, nevermind Marx's dialectical materialism is already a more complicated version of that even though it's now centuries old
in any case, when I'm talking about marches, I'm not saying all marches are bad. but I am saying that marches are effective within a dedicated strategy as illustrated by Beautiful Trouble. marches that are not tied to a concrete strategy looks to community organizers like a lot of unaccountably wasted energy - a lot of white feminists getting together once in a while to basically have fun and not actually organize.
cultural shifts as some kind of abstract concept seems like cover for not actually participating in the struggle for liberation and thinking that predominantly white, middle-class 'activism' is enough even while PoC organizers and leaders are vocally and persistently asking you to do more than just, when they are dedicating tons of time outlining specific policy proposals and planning call-to-actions and so on
posted by runt at 2:23 PM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
I vote for a new MeTa for stuff we're making to keep this one focused on cursing the world.
posted by Jacqueline at 2:23 PM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 2:23 PM on February 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
I mean, yeezus - the Overton window is a concept made up by an advocate of a completely free market who headed a think tank dedicated to pushing free market ideas
the pedigree of this kind of theoretical thinking is both baseless and politically dishonest not to mention being a complete dodge for actually engaging in liberation work
posted by runt at 2:27 PM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
the pedigree of this kind of theoretical thinking is both baseless and politically dishonest not to mention being a complete dodge for actually engaging in liberation work
posted by runt at 2:27 PM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Mackinac Center scholars generally recommend lower taxes, reduced regulatory authority for state agencies, right-to-work laws, school choice, and enhanced protection of individual property rights.
lol Overton Window indeed, how so very wonkishly dedicated to the preservation of existing structures of power
posted by runt at 2:29 PM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
lol Overton Window indeed, how so very wonkishly dedicated to the preservation of existing structures of power
posted by runt at 2:29 PM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
for the love of pete "Overton Window" is just a handy shorthand for the concept of "what people are talking about and what they think about those subjects" and if you think the marches never made a single white feminist less shitty well all I can say is my mom used to say infuriating shit like "all lives matter" until she went to a march and got schooled thoroughly, and now she is the one schooling her white nonsense old lady friends, at the community board meetings where she spends like 10 hours per week making the kind of change you might actually respect for a nanosecond before you found some other reason to sneer at her OKAY FINE I'M REALLY GOING THIS TIME grar.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:31 PM on February 8, 2018 [20 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:31 PM on February 8, 2018 [20 favorites]
Oh for fuck's sake. Can we keep the fucking fuck thread for saying fucking fuck, not for arguing about politics? There are other places to do that.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:35 PM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:35 PM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
Fuck-a-doodle-doo.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:31 PM on February 8, 2018
posted by kirkaracha at 4:31 PM on February 8, 2018
I can't fucking get picture in a fucking picture to work on this fucking tv so I can both watch this totally lit Blues v Avs game and see Rand Paul eat a bowl of dicks on CSPAN
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:51 PM on February 8, 2018
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:51 PM on February 8, 2018
So loquacious wants to build us a fucking camp in the woods? I'm down. I can teach you all how to make friendship bracelets. Although I can only fucking make the ones that stripe in one fucking direction.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:53 PM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:53 PM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]
BREKAWAY COMMUNE
I mean what who said that
posted by The Whelk at 7:02 PM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
I mean what who said that
posted by The Whelk at 7:02 PM on February 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
I had HH earlier with some friends, and one of them thought up a cheer for a round of shots: "Happy furlough's eve!"
So yeah, happy furlough's eve everyone.
Fucking hell.
posted by numaner at 8:48 PM on February 8, 2018
So yeah, happy furlough's eve everyone.
Fucking hell.
posted by numaner at 8:48 PM on February 8, 2018
I wish I had like 20 acres in the woods and a good well, and some tiny houses. It'd be really nice to have a refuge I could invite mefites to come take a break for a few weeks or a few years.
BREKAWAY COMMUNE
For real, everybody: I have 20 acres in the middle of nowhere (with a well), and could have housing enough for a good handful of people without that much more effort. I'm at a place in my life with an ideal combination of subsistence-level stability + lack of community + dystopian adriftness so as to have nothing to lose by trying to start up a casual cooperative/commune/compound/etc. Been interested for a long time but haven't actively sought people out due to a lack of initiative while making it through a shitty winter following a shitty year. Anybody who wants to spend a little time as in hindsight either a compatriot pioneer of a new age or a fellow mentally ill hermit can get in touch.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:12 PM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
BREKAWAY COMMUNE
For real, everybody: I have 20 acres in the middle of nowhere (with a well), and could have housing enough for a good handful of people without that much more effort. I'm at a place in my life with an ideal combination of subsistence-level stability + lack of community + dystopian adriftness so as to have nothing to lose by trying to start up a casual cooperative/commune/compound/etc. Been interested for a long time but haven't actively sought people out due to a lack of initiative while making it through a shitty winter following a shitty year. Anybody who wants to spend a little time as in hindsight either a compatriot pioneer of a new age or a fellow mentally ill hermit can get in touch.
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:12 PM on February 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
Fuck, my first reaction on waking up in the middle of the night should NOT be to check Metafilter to see what fresh new hell is being visited upon us (oh, look, our second government shutdown in less than three weeks) if I'm unable to distinguish between the politics megathread on the Blue and the fucking-fuck MeTa. This is where the professional white background is at a disadvantage...
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:28 PM on February 8, 2018
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:28 PM on February 8, 2018
Anybody who wants to spend a little time as in hindsight either a compatriot pioneer of a new age or a fellow mentally ill hermit can get in touch.
WHERE ARE YOU.
*grabs hammer, hops on bike and starts pedaling frantically in a random direction*
posted by loquacious at 2:30 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
WHERE ARE YOU.
*grabs hammer, hops on bike and starts pedaling frantically in a random direction*
posted by loquacious at 2:30 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
(An update from the future for everyone in North America: I just wanted to say that for ten solid minutes here in Hong Kong on my commute home tonight, I was happy to be able to stream the Olympics underground on my phone on the train, seeing the athletes walk in to some guilty-pleasure K-pop and forget, for just a moment, about the burning dumpster fire that is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And without giving too much away: the lone dude from Tonga is worth waiting for. Love and peace to all of you with hours and hours of Friday left to go. To channel The Whelk: a better world is possible.)
posted by mdonley at 4:33 AM on February 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mdonley at 4:33 AM on February 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
WHERE ARE YOU.
Western Montana, within Missoula's sphere of influence. The weather's rough but it's pretty, cheap, and relatively diverse (about 1/3 of the area's population are tribal members). The Nazis are cowardly and mostly old and politics in general are less fucked here than other reddish states; still fucked of course, but not yet Idaho-fucked. Also I have a dog.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:19 AM on February 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
Western Montana, within Missoula's sphere of influence. The weather's rough but it's pretty, cheap, and relatively diverse (about 1/3 of the area's population are tribal members). The Nazis are cowardly and mostly old and politics in general are less fucked here than other reddish states; still fucked of course, but not yet Idaho-fucked. Also I have a dog.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:19 AM on February 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
Warning or enticement? We're going to need pictures.
posted by Mitheral at 7:40 AM on February 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 7:40 AM on February 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Warning or enticement?
Only a warning if you don't want big dewy border collie eyes staring into your soul while she licks your face. Or if you're a muskrat.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:53 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
Only a warning if you don't want big dewy border collie eyes staring into your soul while she licks your face. Or if you're a muskrat.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:53 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
Fuck everything but right now I am feeling especially FUCK THE DEMOCRATS FOR BEING FUCKING WEAK. I cannot fucking believe we ate up Mitch's bullshit lies about bringing a DACA solution before the 8th and here we are and we just fucking caved again. Fuck us. We aren't serious about the dream act either, apparently.
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:05 AM on February 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:05 AM on February 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
From the current political thread: "this is feeling a lot like hollering at each other because the people we're actually angry at aren't listening "
That just explained my whole life.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:31 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
That just explained my whole life.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:31 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
As much as I despise fear the current US government, I have a hard time convincing myself that a military parade is anywhere near as important as the war crimes and shockingly unethical military adventures every administration in my lifetime has committed. But, I suppose the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Until the revolution comes.
posted by eotvos at 10:35 AM on February 9, 2018
posted by eotvos at 10:35 AM on February 9, 2018
Western Montana, within Missoula's sphere of influence.
That’s 8 hours from me, barring rest stops. Can’t come live but if people want to start doing something I’ll drive out and chop wood or help build houses or whatever.
posted by corb at 11:10 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
That’s 8 hours from me, barring rest stops. Can’t come live but if people want to start doing something I’ll drive out and chop wood or help build houses or whatever.
posted by corb at 11:10 AM on February 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
Western Montana, within Missoula's sphere of influence. ... Also I have a dog.
You better have a dog! Several! :)
I'm not in any hurry to leave Western Washington, but how do you feel about rammed earth houses and permaculture projects? Actually, terrain-wise I'll take a wild guess that it's really rocky post glacial soil with a fairly thin loam that would actually be difficult to dig, cob or adobe.
So, we're more looking at RVs, container houses, tiny (well insulated) houses, with affordable fuel/heat being an issue.
Gardening is probably a pain in the ass at that latitude, but you could help that with some passive solar greenhouse tunnels, maybe a bioreactor for a little heat and fuel, some aquaculture tanks for heat pumping and storing. 2-3 years in and we should have more compost and good tilth for container and bed gardens than we know what to do with.
BTW, you guys? Do you have any idea how many tomatoes, beans and kale and whatnot you can grow with modern hydro-soil growing methods borrowed from the cannabis industry? Answer: Fucktons of tomatoes. There's all these cool hybrid hydro-to-soil systems with very efficient water control and drip or flood irrigation systems that work both with natural or artificial light, passive/active greenhouse or tunnel systems and so much more.
We're actually at a point where it's possible to do this with solar and LED lighting and, say, augment or extend a growing period offgrid, with local power. Or even do advanced, accelerated lighting regimes just like illicit indoor cannabis growers have been doing for a couple of decades now, so you can go from root to harvest on a batch of tomatoes in half the natural time with twice the natural yield, all while focusing on actual fruit nutrient yields, flavor and quality, not plasticky grocery store beefsteaks.
And if the ground is as rocky as I think it is in that area, perhaps a small quarry and a modern take on stone tiny houses could be a thing. It is an incredible amount of hard work, but you could do some really cool looking small houses and get creative with stone stacking and dugout or semi-underground structures. Think Luke's huts in The Last Jedi, or Buddhist stupas. Like yurts, they might be hell to hang a square picture frame or place a bookshelf, but those round shapes are energy efficient to heat.
I'm definitely intrigued, and I now have a crapton of skills and don't need much more to survive than a good hammock camping spot, access to water, a whole lot of calories and an appropriate place to dig a vault shitter or latrine, composting toilet or something. I mean, I could actually probably happily camp through winter given the fuel and calories, or would at least enjoy the challenge of it. (Actual blizzards and wind chill aside, I'm frankly more worried about the mosquitoes, but I hear you can break 'em and saddle 'em out there, so that's fun.)
Anyway, MeFites have been kicking an idea around like this for a long while, and it sounds like there's now enough of us that are just broke, crazy, and/or bored enough to give it a go in some form, or at least build some things.
If people build some things and there's some livable shelters, an established garden, then there's the start of some kind of MeFi refuge or hermitage where people could come and go.
Worst case? We re-discover why communes are a bad idea? Homesteading is a lot of boring, hard work and you better like sitting around looking at trees because you're going to do a lot of it only if you're lucky and get all your chores done?
posted by loquacious at 12:07 PM on February 9, 2018 [8 favorites]
You better have a dog! Several! :)
I'm not in any hurry to leave Western Washington, but how do you feel about rammed earth houses and permaculture projects? Actually, terrain-wise I'll take a wild guess that it's really rocky post glacial soil with a fairly thin loam that would actually be difficult to dig, cob or adobe.
So, we're more looking at RVs, container houses, tiny (well insulated) houses, with affordable fuel/heat being an issue.
Gardening is probably a pain in the ass at that latitude, but you could help that with some passive solar greenhouse tunnels, maybe a bioreactor for a little heat and fuel, some aquaculture tanks for heat pumping and storing. 2-3 years in and we should have more compost and good tilth for container and bed gardens than we know what to do with.
BTW, you guys? Do you have any idea how many tomatoes, beans and kale and whatnot you can grow with modern hydro-soil growing methods borrowed from the cannabis industry? Answer: Fucktons of tomatoes. There's all these cool hybrid hydro-to-soil systems with very efficient water control and drip or flood irrigation systems that work both with natural or artificial light, passive/active greenhouse or tunnel systems and so much more.
We're actually at a point where it's possible to do this with solar and LED lighting and, say, augment or extend a growing period offgrid, with local power. Or even do advanced, accelerated lighting regimes just like illicit indoor cannabis growers have been doing for a couple of decades now, so you can go from root to harvest on a batch of tomatoes in half the natural time with twice the natural yield, all while focusing on actual fruit nutrient yields, flavor and quality, not plasticky grocery store beefsteaks.
And if the ground is as rocky as I think it is in that area, perhaps a small quarry and a modern take on stone tiny houses could be a thing. It is an incredible amount of hard work, but you could do some really cool looking small houses and get creative with stone stacking and dugout or semi-underground structures. Think Luke's huts in The Last Jedi, or Buddhist stupas. Like yurts, they might be hell to hang a square picture frame or place a bookshelf, but those round shapes are energy efficient to heat.
I'm definitely intrigued, and I now have a crapton of skills and don't need much more to survive than a good hammock camping spot, access to water, a whole lot of calories and an appropriate place to dig a vault shitter or latrine, composting toilet or something. I mean, I could actually probably happily camp through winter given the fuel and calories, or would at least enjoy the challenge of it. (Actual blizzards and wind chill aside, I'm frankly more worried about the mosquitoes, but I hear you can break 'em and saddle 'em out there, so that's fun.)
Anyway, MeFites have been kicking an idea around like this for a long while, and it sounds like there's now enough of us that are just broke, crazy, and/or bored enough to give it a go in some form, or at least build some things.
If people build some things and there's some livable shelters, an established garden, then there's the start of some kind of MeFi refuge or hermitage where people could come and go.
Worst case? We re-discover why communes are a bad idea? Homesteading is a lot of boring, hard work and you better like sitting around looking at trees because you're going to do a lot of it only if you're lucky and get all your chores done?
posted by loquacious at 12:07 PM on February 9, 2018 [8 favorites]
As long as we're planning epic road trips, I might be able to offer crash space in Richmond this summer/fall to MeFites interested in volunteering to help try to flip Virginia's 7th district. It was just upgraded from "Likely R" to "Leans R" plus Chesterfield County went D last year for the first time in decades, so I'm optimistic that flipping it is possibly achievable -- but only if the Democrats put in a LOT of work.
I'll help to the extent I'm able on generic nonpartisan registration/GOTV stuff, but y'all don't want me attempting to actually canvas for a D because I would not be a convincing salesperson. ("It's like WW2, we gotta get the commies to help us defeat the fascists!") Best that I mostly just enable a few more true believers to help blanket the district with campaign volunteers.
Check back with me after the primary June 12.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:28 PM on February 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'll help to the extent I'm able on generic nonpartisan registration/GOTV stuff, but y'all don't want me attempting to actually canvas for a D because I would not be a convincing salesperson. ("It's like WW2, we gotta get the commies to help us defeat the fascists!") Best that I mostly just enable a few more true believers to help blanket the district with campaign volunteers.
Check back with me after the primary June 12.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:28 PM on February 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
Well, my grandmother died. She was 94 and had severe dementia. As sad as it is, I know she wasn't very happy, and I guess at least she's no longer suffering.
She was an awesome person, and will always be my political inspiration. She was the matriarch of a family of radicals. She believed in justice and equality, and refused to compromise when people's lives were at stake. After she went into the hospital yesterday, I looked for old newspaper articles and things about her. My favorite was the one from 2001, when my grandmother, then age 78, was quoted as a member of an activist group supporting a former member of the Weather Underground. What a badass. I hope she knew how much of an inspiration she was to us all.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:31 PM on February 9, 2018 [15 favorites]
She was an awesome person, and will always be my political inspiration. She was the matriarch of a family of radicals. She believed in justice and equality, and refused to compromise when people's lives were at stake. After she went into the hospital yesterday, I looked for old newspaper articles and things about her. My favorite was the one from 2001, when my grandmother, then age 78, was quoted as a member of an activist group supporting a former member of the Weather Underground. What a badass. I hope she knew how much of an inspiration she was to us all.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:31 PM on February 9, 2018 [15 favorites]
Actually, terrain-wise I'll take a wild guess that it's really rocky post glacial soil with a fairly thin loam that would actually be difficult to dig, cob or adobe.
Close: glacial lakebed sediments. So the soil's 500 feet deep and very rich but also clay-heavy and a challenge to work, with variable amounts of gravel (the pleistocene floods mixed everything up good). It also means few trees, although I've been planting a lot of willows which are doing well, and the cottonwoods are now cloning themselves vigorously under irrigation.
Gardening is probably a pain in the ass at that latitude, but you could help that with some passive solar greenhouse tunnels
There's already a 2100 sq. ft unheated high-tunnel and a 300-ish sq. ft greenhouse; weird and rare specialty greenhouse crops are what'll pay the mortgage next year. There's also about an acre of outdoor garden space that's been fallow for a couple years; the well (an artesian spring, technically) can support about that much growing space although I've been prioritizing the trees for water recently. Gardening is challenging but it's taught me great lessons in turd-polishing. The high tunnel growing season is March through October and the outdoor season is May to September. Summer's short but glorious (in light grasshopper years) and the fish and birds keep my tiny bit of managed wetland relatively free of mosquitoes, thank you very much.
Currently there's a 3 bedroom mobile home here that's on its last legs unless I can figure out how to make its 1973-vintage doublewide's wet-tissue-paper roof stop leaking. There's also a pole barn that's about halfway converted into a super goddamned sweet new house and could be finished this year if I spend all my savings now, or later for cheaper if I can get people to help who know what they're doing. I sure don't.
and shapes that haunt the dusk, my close-to-100 grandma just died too. Also with dementia, also an amazing lifelong progressive, who grieved that Trump would be her last president. It's fucked. I feel you.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:37 PM on February 9, 2018 [8 favorites]
Close: glacial lakebed sediments. So the soil's 500 feet deep and very rich but also clay-heavy and a challenge to work, with variable amounts of gravel (the pleistocene floods mixed everything up good). It also means few trees, although I've been planting a lot of willows which are doing well, and the cottonwoods are now cloning themselves vigorously under irrigation.
Gardening is probably a pain in the ass at that latitude, but you could help that with some passive solar greenhouse tunnels
There's already a 2100 sq. ft unheated high-tunnel and a 300-ish sq. ft greenhouse; weird and rare specialty greenhouse crops are what'll pay the mortgage next year. There's also about an acre of outdoor garden space that's been fallow for a couple years; the well (an artesian spring, technically) can support about that much growing space although I've been prioritizing the trees for water recently. Gardening is challenging but it's taught me great lessons in turd-polishing. The high tunnel growing season is March through October and the outdoor season is May to September. Summer's short but glorious (in light grasshopper years) and the fish and birds keep my tiny bit of managed wetland relatively free of mosquitoes, thank you very much.
Currently there's a 3 bedroom mobile home here that's on its last legs unless I can figure out how to make its 1973-vintage doublewide's wet-tissue-paper roof stop leaking. There's also a pole barn that's about halfway converted into a super goddamned sweet new house and could be finished this year if I spend all my savings now, or later for cheaper if I can get people to help who know what they're doing. I sure don't.
and shapes that haunt the dusk, my close-to-100 grandma just died too. Also with dementia, also an amazing lifelong progressive, who grieved that Trump would be her last president. It's fucked. I feel you.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:37 PM on February 9, 2018 [8 favorites]
There's already a 2100 sq. ft unheated high-tunnel and a 300-ish sq. ft greenhouse; weird and rare specialty greenhouse crops are what'll pay the mortgage next year. There's also about an acre of outdoor garden space that's been fallow for a couple years; the well (an artesian spring, technically) can support about that much growing space although I've been prioritizing the trees for water recently. Gardening is challenging but it's taught me great lessons in turd-polishing. The high tunnel growing season is March through October and the outdoor season is May to September. Summer's short but glorious (in light grasshopper years) and the fish and birds keep my tiny bit of managed wetland relatively free of mosquitoes, thank you very much.
:D
I still want me one of them ridin' skeeters.
posted by loquacious at 12:47 PM on February 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
:D
I still want me one of them ridin' skeeters.
posted by loquacious at 12:47 PM on February 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ok, sorry in advance, but I need to vent. I have this friend, who regularly spouts off Fox News talking points on the subject of race, talking about discrimination against white people, reverse racism, black people needing to "get over it", etc. Except the thing is she's a black woman.
So arguing with her on the topic is REALLY WEIRD. And she's dropped into one of my FB posts (of an Onion article of all things) to start up about Nancy Pelosi being racist. And, like, I can't tell a Black woman she doesn't understand racism. But she's literally repeating Tucker Carlson talking points.
So yeah. Just ARGH.
posted by threeturtles at 5:23 PM on February 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
So arguing with her on the topic is REALLY WEIRD. And she's dropped into one of my FB posts (of an Onion article of all things) to start up about Nancy Pelosi being racist. And, like, I can't tell a Black woman she doesn't understand racism. But she's literally repeating Tucker Carlson talking points.
So yeah. Just ARGH.
posted by threeturtles at 5:23 PM on February 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
Oh three turtles I have immigrant friends (working towards former friends) who are full blown trumpys and complain bitterly about immigrants. They are white and nominally Christian and the leopards are not yet eating their faces.
posted by jointhedance at 8:46 PM on February 9, 2018
posted by jointhedance at 8:46 PM on February 9, 2018
*Hugs* lalex shapes that haunt the dusk and Rust Moranis
I'm so sorry for your losses.
posted by daybeforetheday at 11:11 PM on February 9, 2018
I'm so sorry for your losses.
posted by daybeforetheday at 11:11 PM on February 9, 2018
Rust Moranis, you should build an open pole barn OVER the mobile home. It will shield your roof from water, but you’ll lose the insulating qualities of a snow coat. When your new home is finished, drag the mobile out and you can plank in your new barn/workshop/second home.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:45 AM on February 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:45 AM on February 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
The thing that I can't wrap my head around is this: Trump has basically discovered that if you do horrible shit and tell unbelievable lies at a fast enough rate, coverage of these misdeeds will become necessarily fragmented and no single fuckup you've ever made will ever pick up enough momentum to sink you; BUT at the same time, all of the wailing and yelling about your misdeeds will, for the average voter, blur into annoying white noise that complete ceases to register.
How the fuck do you get around that?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:51 AM on February 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
How the fuck do you get around that?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:51 AM on February 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
>If anyone hasn't noticed by now, marches and free assembly and chanting slogans and making cute signs and knitting pink hats do fuck-all. Literally nothing comes of them
>>this is true for national issues and probably state level issues.
With my stats hat on I'd have to say, those aren't really things you can state unless you have access to a sufficiently confounding-factor similar parallel universe where the marches, free-assembly, chanting, signs, and pink nekomimi hats never happened.
It's kinda like saying the massive cyber-onslaught of Putin propaganda bots didn't influence the election.
There isn't a simple causal pathway, but both things change things.
(anarcho hat on) Things would be a fuckton worse if the vox populi just lay back and let the bad shit happen while thinking of 'murrica.
(aspie hat) So ermm, y'all keep doing that thing!
Anyhoo, just popped in to say: if the Sheriff position is an anglo-american tradition then they should fucking dress like it, frock coat, plus fours, stockings, shiny clogs and all.
ed: I've also just discovered that wine in boxes is just as good!
posted by Buntix at 11:42 AM on February 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
>>this is true for national issues and probably state level issues.
With my stats hat on I'd have to say, those aren't really things you can state unless you have access to a sufficiently confounding-factor similar parallel universe where the marches, free-assembly, chanting, signs, and pink nekomimi hats never happened.
It's kinda like saying the massive cyber-onslaught of Putin propaganda bots didn't influence the election.
There isn't a simple causal pathway, but both things change things.
(anarcho hat on) Things would be a fuckton worse if the vox populi just lay back and let the bad shit happen while thinking of 'murrica.
(aspie hat) So ermm, y'all keep doing that thing!
Anyhoo, just popped in to say: if the Sheriff position is an anglo-american tradition then they should fucking dress like it, frock coat, plus fours, stockings, shiny clogs and all.
ed: I've also just discovered that wine in boxes is just as good!
posted by Buntix at 11:42 AM on February 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
Since I'm here I may as well note how sad it is that Putin comes from (and robbed-it-while-it-was-down) the country that literally did the promo reel for Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism just under 40 years before it became a meme.
posted by Buntix at 12:30 PM on February 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Buntix at 12:30 PM on February 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I've tried to ignore everything about the fresh hell we find ourselves in to be productive but I just opened my WTFJHT email and HOLY FUCKING SHIT. The Trump admin is going to add $7 FUCKING TRILLION TO THE DEFICIT OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS!!! And if that wasn't bad enough the shitty Trump budget is going to eliminate grants and services for NASA, poor folks, medicare, medicaid, social security AND EVERY OTHER GOOD THING THE GOVT DOES!!!!
GOD FUCKING DAMNIT WHEN THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT GOING TO END???!!!
posted by photoslob at 3:31 PM on February 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
GOD FUCKING DAMNIT WHEN THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT GOING TO END???!!!
posted by photoslob at 3:31 PM on February 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
I've just picked up Fire and Fury from the library. It was on hold since the moment I was able to stake a claim. I was approximately number 946 in line when I joined the queue.
I might not sleep tonight. I might open a twitter account to live blog my reading of this trash heap. I might give up thirty or a hundred pages in and start on Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey.
Fucking fuck.
posted by bilabial at 6:41 PM on February 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I might not sleep tonight. I might open a twitter account to live blog my reading of this trash heap. I might give up thirty or a hundred pages in and start on Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey.
Fucking fuck.
posted by bilabial at 6:41 PM on February 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Surely this" on a fucking endless loop for the last gross of scaramuccis or so is fucking wearing the me fuck down. Fuck this clown. Then fuck all of these other clowns. And then fuck this clown again. Fuck the time suck that is outrage at this outrageous situation.
Fuck? Fuck!
posted by Fezboy! at 7:44 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fuck? Fuck!
posted by Fezboy! at 7:44 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
I am starting to be continually haunted by that "Infocalypse" article (key pullquote: "Technologies that can be used to enhance and distort what is real are evolving faster than our ability to understand and control or mitigate it"). I find myself thinking, "Before I die, the developed world will undergo—if it is not already undergoing—a seizure more epochal than the Industrial Revolution or any world war," and that's scary as shit.
And then I tell myself, "People were probably filled with existential horror during the early days of the Industrial Revolution too, and everything worked out okay."
And then I tell myself, "Did it, though?"
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 10:37 AM on February 14, 2018 [12 favorites]
And then I tell myself, "People were probably filled with existential horror during the early days of the Industrial Revolution too, and everything worked out okay."
And then I tell myself, "Did it, though?"
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 10:37 AM on February 14, 2018 [12 favorites]
Yeah. I got a well and truly fucked vibe reading that article, Cheeses. I don't know how to reconcile global awareness with balkanized realities. If we can only trust our immediate experiences--which are untrustworthy in and of themselves--how can we trust any evidence of experiences beyond what we personally experience?
I usually need to be really high to get started down this rabbit hole.
posted by Fezboy! at 10:01 AM on February 15, 2018
I usually need to be really high to get started down this rabbit hole.
posted by Fezboy! at 10:01 AM on February 15, 2018
For those of you needing angry songs, may I recommend K.Flay? I am listening to Blood in the Cut a lot.
Whole album's pretty good, though.
posted by emjaybee at 11:13 AM on February 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Whole album's pretty good, though.
posted by emjaybee at 11:13 AM on February 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
So we're trying to decide if it's safer to stay where we are, in our condo in need of no further maintenance after we finish this bathroom. Or proceed with our long term plan to sell before the bubble bursts and move to the desert like we've been wanting to forever. If we stay we'll likely be stuck here forever because the appreciation on our place is going to drop with the coming crash. If we go, is it going to be the wild wild west with the crash? Ugh
posted by yoga at 1:36 PM on February 15, 2018
posted by yoga at 1:36 PM on February 15, 2018
Well, like, if it's the wild wild west postcrash in the desert, wouldn't it be wild wild wherever postcrash in the condo? Wild wild west would be scary, but so would wild wild whereveryouarenow, only possibly worse because you wanted to be in the desert forever and here you are in the condo... forever... I think in these terrible endofdaysfeeling times if you can do a thing you've wanted to do forever you might want to go for it. Will you get another opportunity? And if it turns out we're all doomed, don't you want to be in the desert for that doom? Instead of the condo?
Finally, if you haven't heard it, a lot of the ads on the Throwing Shade podcast lately have these hilarious riffs by Brian Safi where he plays a character he invented named Mondo, or sometimes Modo for some reason (well, for the reason that either Brian or Erin forgets the guy's name--and he may actually have started out Modo and morphed to Mondo), who owns a condo and who is very very proud of his condo. I just mention it because you have a condo, so you should probably know about Mondo. Or Modo.
posted by Don Pepino at 3:15 PM on February 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Finally, if you haven't heard it, a lot of the ads on the Throwing Shade podcast lately have these hilarious riffs by Brian Safi where he plays a character he invented named Mondo, or sometimes Modo for some reason (well, for the reason that either Brian or Erin forgets the guy's name--and he may actually have started out Modo and morphed to Mondo), who owns a condo and who is very very proud of his condo. I just mention it because you have a condo, so you should probably know about Mondo. Or Modo.
posted by Don Pepino at 3:15 PM on February 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am in support of a revolution.
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 10:02 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 10:02 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've had a long day today and a fucking long week since my grandmother died, and as dumb and petty as it is, I can't get over the fact that someone responded to one of my comments on this site today by saying "yeah, the problem is definitely capitalism, and not that you're mediocre." Fucking ha ha, right. The comment was deleted, but I saw it, and it just made a bad mood worse. I wasn't even going to say anything about it, because of the old "don't feed the trolls" thing, but it was a total dick move, and I just don't get why someone would say something so mean. Fuck.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 6:26 PM on February 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 6:26 PM on February 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
Ha! I figured out which comment it was and haaaaaaaaaaa! Clearly the troll stopped being able to comprehend the written word after they got to "I was good at guitar" and never got to the (poignant, btw, and boy do I empathize) point. Why did they stop being able to comprehend? Soooomebody can't play guitaaaa-har! Somebody wishes they couuuuuuu-hould! Somebody feels infeeeeerioooooor! What a dullard.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:51 AM on February 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Don Pepino at 11:51 AM on February 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’m sure I just sounded arrogant to them, and they wanted to take me down a peg (it worked). I can see how I could have come across as self-congratulatory, and I’ll try to be a little more self-aware in the future.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:46 PM on February 17, 2018
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:46 PM on February 17, 2018
You weren't congratulating yourself, though, you were talking about the whole "get money or eat dirt" problem of contemporary existence that afflicts us all and causes much general suffering, and they just wanted to kneecap somebody that day and saw an in and went for it. Probably so as not to think about the above-referenced problem and suffer themselves. Ugh. Anyway, I was sorry to hear about your grandmother.
posted by Don Pepino at 2:10 PM on February 17, 2018
posted by Don Pepino at 2:10 PM on February 17, 2018
This was posted in the POTUS45 megathread but my reply is better suited here, so, you're welcome, mods.
Laura: I feel safer now than I ever did the last eight years of Obama. Oh my God.
Oprah Winfrey: How do you feel safer? Tell me how you feel safer?
Laura: Well, I feel like I can say Merry Christmas to anyone I want wherever I want.
So, recently, on the drive to school in the morning, Kid Ruki and I have been listening to Learn Hebrew cds in the car because we live in a world where it is increasingly plausible that there could come a time where some line will be crossed and making aliyah would be safer for us. Just pack up and move halfway across the world to live under another corrupt racist government and all that that entails because that would be better than armed neo-Nazis and the lack of support or downright hostility from those who are supposed to be on my side. It's like having one of those 72 hour emergency kits that you never think you're going to use but you're really glad you have when you need it. But hey, it's all good, because fucking Laura over here can say Merry Christmas to anyone she wants wherever she wants.
posted by Ruki at 11:09 PM on February 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
Laura: I feel safer now than I ever did the last eight years of Obama. Oh my God.
Oprah Winfrey: How do you feel safer? Tell me how you feel safer?
Laura: Well, I feel like I can say Merry Christmas to anyone I want wherever I want.
So, recently, on the drive to school in the morning, Kid Ruki and I have been listening to Learn Hebrew cds in the car because we live in a world where it is increasingly plausible that there could come a time where some line will be crossed and making aliyah would be safer for us. Just pack up and move halfway across the world to live under another corrupt racist government and all that that entails because that would be better than armed neo-Nazis and the lack of support or downright hostility from those who are supposed to be on my side. It's like having one of those 72 hour emergency kits that you never think you're going to use but you're really glad you have when you need it. But hey, it's all good, because fucking Laura over here can say Merry Christmas to anyone she wants wherever she wants.
posted by Ruki at 11:09 PM on February 18, 2018 [10 favorites]
I have to say, I think the main threads are being over-policed and it's a part of normalization. Sentiment shouldn't be so stifled here.
That said:
That 60 minutes panel is so upsetting. Where's the push-back from the supposedly anti-Trump people? This is what's left of the Democrats in Michigan?
Doesn't anyone have the guts to call Laura out on feeling safer because the President is white? Why didn't someone ask that Paul Blart clone if he personally witnessed everything he believes Billary or Nobama did? 'Were you in the room?' Give me a fucking break.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:59 AM on February 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
That said:
That 60 minutes panel is so upsetting. Where's the push-back from the supposedly anti-Trump people? This is what's left of the Democrats in Michigan?
Doesn't anyone have the guts to call Laura out on feeling safer because the President is white? Why didn't someone ask that Paul Blart clone if he personally witnessed everything he believes Billary or Nobama did? 'Were you in the room?' Give me a fucking break.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:59 AM on February 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Aw, anem0ne, the Trisolarians weren't that much better, amirite?
(Did you read the whole series?? I just finished Death's End the other day!)
posted by sacchan at 6:06 AM on February 19, 2018
(Did you read the whole series?? I just finished Death's End the other day!)
posted by sacchan at 6:06 AM on February 19, 2018
AAARRRGGGGGHHHHH FUCK YOU LAURA
The woman who thinks she's the poorest at the table and worries about keeping the heat on is unquestioningly supportive of the man who wants to make it harder for her to keep the heat on.
FUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
posted by Gaz Errant at 9:14 AM on February 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
The woman who thinks she's the poorest at the table and worries about keeping the heat on is unquestioningly supportive of the man who wants to make it harder for her to keep the heat on.
FUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
posted by Gaz Errant at 9:14 AM on February 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
More incredible malfeasance from Republicans in Arizona government:
The Maricopa County Community College District is one of the three or four largest community college districts in the nation. It is an open-access institution, serving about 250,000 students per year - many of whom are poor and at-risk - with a tuition rate about a fifth of the state run universities. It is the largest feeder of transfer students into the state university system and is the biggest driver of workforce development in the state.
And the Republicans are trying to kill it.
About ten years ago, the state completely red-lined the district’s funding from the budget. As in, ZERO dollars from the state. So community college operating expenses now have to be raised only from tuition and property taxes.
Then, a few years ago, the Republicans in the state legislature expanded the Governing Board for the College District by two more positions. Then the GOP poured money into getting their pet candidates elected. Once elected, they forced the colleges into an austerity spiral, cutting staffing and student programs, shutting down regular salary raises, and even Cost of Living Adjustments haven’t kept up with inflation. They hired a Chancellor that is opposed to shared governance with faculty, and - in an extraordinary effort to undermine the institution, Board members have been lobbying the state legislature not to fund the colleges.
With the unexpected resignation of a progressive Board member a couple of weeks ago, the conservatives on the Board began the final push to dismantle faculty contracts. They are meeting tomorrow to discuss eliminating the Meet and Confer team that negotiates faculty policies, with the goal of then eliminating the faculty policy manual itself. This is basically the employment contract that outlines faculty pay, advancement, responsibilities, grievance procedures, etc.
One of the Board members is on record favoring a policy paper that recommended all faculty be laid off, and the colleges should only hire part-timers at a lower hourly rate and no benefits (essentially, all faculty become short-term adjuncts). The stated goal is to make the colleges “more like a business” where teachers are treated as contracted labor and students are treated as widgets.
The instructors are trying to serve the students, promote their retention and success, preserve the special role that the community colleges play in our society, and maintain a fair and equitable work environment, all while wondering if they will even have a job six months from now. Having the Governing Board pushing an agenda to dismantle the pillars of this key socio-economic institution is harrowing.
And ultimately, it will be the students, their future employers, and the Arizona economy that will pay the price.
posted by darkstar at 8:16 PM on February 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
The Maricopa County Community College District is one of the three or four largest community college districts in the nation. It is an open-access institution, serving about 250,000 students per year - many of whom are poor and at-risk - with a tuition rate about a fifth of the state run universities. It is the largest feeder of transfer students into the state university system and is the biggest driver of workforce development in the state.
And the Republicans are trying to kill it.
About ten years ago, the state completely red-lined the district’s funding from the budget. As in, ZERO dollars from the state. So community college operating expenses now have to be raised only from tuition and property taxes.
Then, a few years ago, the Republicans in the state legislature expanded the Governing Board for the College District by two more positions. Then the GOP poured money into getting their pet candidates elected. Once elected, they forced the colleges into an austerity spiral, cutting staffing and student programs, shutting down regular salary raises, and even Cost of Living Adjustments haven’t kept up with inflation. They hired a Chancellor that is opposed to shared governance with faculty, and - in an extraordinary effort to undermine the institution, Board members have been lobbying the state legislature not to fund the colleges.
With the unexpected resignation of a progressive Board member a couple of weeks ago, the conservatives on the Board began the final push to dismantle faculty contracts. They are meeting tomorrow to discuss eliminating the Meet and Confer team that negotiates faculty policies, with the goal of then eliminating the faculty policy manual itself. This is basically the employment contract that outlines faculty pay, advancement, responsibilities, grievance procedures, etc.
One of the Board members is on record favoring a policy paper that recommended all faculty be laid off, and the colleges should only hire part-timers at a lower hourly rate and no benefits (essentially, all faculty become short-term adjuncts). The stated goal is to make the colleges “more like a business” where teachers are treated as contracted labor and students are treated as widgets.
The instructors are trying to serve the students, promote their retention and success, preserve the special role that the community colleges play in our society, and maintain a fair and equitable work environment, all while wondering if they will even have a job six months from now. Having the Governing Board pushing an agenda to dismantle the pillars of this key socio-economic institution is harrowing.
And ultimately, it will be the students, their future employers, and the Arizona economy that will pay the price.
posted by darkstar at 8:16 PM on February 19, 2018 [8 favorites]
I was all excited when I cottoned to the idea that the Trump administration is the real-life counter-factual Killface administration. On my way here to provide my hot take I searched web and discovered I'm by far not the first to come to this realization. And now this is added to the pile of disappointment that I have accummlated via this presidency.
[obligatory fuck here]
posted by Fezboy! at 11:44 AM on February 22, 2018
[obligatory fuck here]
posted by Fezboy! at 11:44 AM on February 22, 2018
They are meeting tomorrow to discuss eliminating the Meet and Confer team that negotiates faculty policies, with the goal of then eliminating the faculty policy manual itself. This is basically the employment contract that outlines faculty pay, advancement, responsibilities, grievance procedures, etc.
I'm sorry that you're going through this, and I'm also sorry to say that yours is not the only completely-Republican-owned state government doing this exact thing. November cannot come soon enough.
I was all excited when I cottoned to the idea that the Trump administration is the real-life counter-factual Killface administration.
I watched Frisky Dingo for the first time just a couple of months ago, and it will surprise exactly no one that I enjoyed season 2 far less than season 1.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 12:53 PM on February 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry that you're going through this, and I'm also sorry to say that yours is not the only completely-Republican-owned state government doing this exact thing. November cannot come soon enough.
I was all excited when I cottoned to the idea that the Trump administration is the real-life counter-factual Killface administration.
I watched Frisky Dingo for the first time just a couple of months ago, and it will surprise exactly no one that I enjoyed season 2 far less than season 1.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 12:53 PM on February 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
“I think it’s a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers of her father when he’s affirmatively stated there’s no truth to it...I don’t think that’ s question you would ask many other daughters. I believe my father, I know my father, so I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father.”
YES THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BE ANYWHERE NEAR THE WHITEHOUSE YOU STUPID BLARGH@*&^&$&
If anyone needs me I'm going to go scream into a pillow forever.
posted by Bacon Bit at 9:35 AM on February 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
My son thought the school's plan for a shooter was ridiculous and he got up and said so and outlined a better one and now he is in trouble for pointing out that the slats in drawers of a filing cabinet can be lethal and that you need to attack in doorways or during magazine changes and crouching under windows is dangerous.
He completely unnerved faculty and got sent home early. I had a minute with him then words with them. It won't happen here. He upset the other kids. So what you are saying is that the kids got upset because one of their peers came up with a better plan than the administrators?
It's something he and I have been talking about since Sandy Hook. He was in grade 1 then and we've always had a plan for what he would do. The plan has changed as he has become more capable. I haven't left the girls out of this. They are to meet up and work together.
Very next day a kid says he's bringing his AR to school. Facebooked it. I hope he's getting help but suspect he won't.
Admin gave up trying to suspend my kid.
There is so much that is fucked up here.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 7:30 PM on February 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
He completely unnerved faculty and got sent home early. I had a minute with him then words with them. It won't happen here. He upset the other kids. So what you are saying is that the kids got upset because one of their peers came up with a better plan than the administrators?
It's something he and I have been talking about since Sandy Hook. He was in grade 1 then and we've always had a plan for what he would do. The plan has changed as he has become more capable. I haven't left the girls out of this. They are to meet up and work together.
Very next day a kid says he's bringing his AR to school. Facebooked it. I hope he's getting help but suspect he won't.
Admin gave up trying to suspend my kid.
There is so much that is fucked up here.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 7:30 PM on February 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Me: hrm, I've been crazy busy the past few days - almost a full Scaramucci. Lots could have happened, lets see what's going on in the world of Trump...
Reuters: "UNDERWATER NUCLEAR DRONES"
welp it was fun rejoining you guys, i'm going to go off into a corner and vomit continuously.
posted by MysticMCJ at 8:48 AM on March 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
Reuters: "UNDERWATER NUCLEAR DRONES"
welp it was fun rejoining you guys, i'm going to go off into a corner and vomit continuously.
posted by MysticMCJ at 8:48 AM on March 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
i am two years sober but i must be hallucinating because the president of the united states is talking wistfully about another leader naming himself dictator for life.
this is fine
posted by murphy slaw at 6:30 PM on March 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
this is fine
posted by murphy slaw at 6:30 PM on March 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
I taught the little one the first few bars of “Do-Re-Mi” today and this brought me great joy.
Tonight I lie awake and can hardly bear the burden of shepherding this child through the next decade. And let's face it, what's wrong with America didn't start with the president* and it won't end with him. He could vanish in a puff of smoke this very instant and it wouldn't lighten my heart one iota.
Love and peace to all who struggle with THE WEIGHT.
posted by ob1quixote at 10:51 PM on March 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tonight I lie awake and can hardly bear the burden of shepherding this child through the next decade. And let's face it, what's wrong with America didn't start with the president* and it won't end with him. He could vanish in a puff of smoke this very instant and it wouldn't lighten my heart one iota.
Love and peace to all who struggle with THE WEIGHT.
posted by ob1quixote at 10:51 PM on March 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
i am two years sober but i must be hallucinating because the president of the united states is talking wistfully about another leader naming himself dictator for life.
I have a list of the absolute worst things he's likely to do and declare himself ruler for life is on it. We will never be rid of him.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:33 PM on March 3, 2018
I have a list of the absolute worst things he's likely to do and declare himself ruler for life is on it. We will never be rid of him.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:33 PM on March 3, 2018
If it's any consolation, Trump's maximal life expectancy would appear to be within the existing Constitutional limits. He doesn't look like a person who could survive more than another seven years of this. (But will the rest of us?)
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:55 AM on March 4, 2018
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:55 AM on March 4, 2018
United is cutting bonuses and asking employees to enter a lottery for $100,000 - Amy X Wang, Quartz.
An ingeniously awful idea.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:26 AM on March 4, 2018
An ingeniously awful idea.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:26 AM on March 4, 2018
declare himself ruler for life is on it. We will never be rid of him.
I think if he declared himself dictator for life, there’s an awful lot of people very close to him that would be willing to do a solid for the country and snap his neck like a chicken.
But then, I thought he wouldn’t win. So what the hell do i know.
posted by corb at 9:57 AM on March 4, 2018
I think if he declared himself dictator for life, there’s an awful lot of people very close to him that would be willing to do a solid for the country and snap his neck like a chicken.
But then, I thought he wouldn’t win. So what the hell do i know.
posted by corb at 9:57 AM on March 4, 2018
So back during the campaign I said, "I wish we could just fast-forward to the Hamilton-esque retelling of all these events" and now I am actively dreading the Hamilton-esque retelling. Because I cannot imagine any stage production capturing just how horrible this all is. I can't imagine them finding the humanity of Donold Tromp without also whitewashing how vile he is. What I am imagining is fandom teenagers in 2150 going "that's my trash boy donald, uwu" and somehow not getting swallowed up by the earth as all the souls who lived through this time rise up in violent rage.
but all that said I still would like to fast-forward to where I'm old and telling off someone's grandkids for making light of it all. I want this to be over.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 1:00 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
but all that said I still would like to fast-forward to where I'm old and telling off someone's grandkids for making light of it all. I want this to be over.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 1:00 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Because I cannot imagine any stage production capturing just how horrible this all is.
Maybe it's time to get started on one for his predecessor first.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:41 PM on March 4, 2018
Maybe it's time to get started on one for his predecessor first.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:41 PM on March 4, 2018
I was wearing my DSA red and white baseball tee and said “I feel like I’m dressed like a character in a musical about this time staged like 100 years from now.”
posted by The Whelk at 4:53 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 4:53 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Replying here rather than the main thread, because, well fairly obvious becaussedness.
@lord_wolf Just how many novels, term papers, and theses are going to be written about all of this by the time all is said and done?
Not to mention erotic fanfics, there are erotic fascist fanfics.
(not all as innocent as the above).
*cue whirling (Greatly Whirling) into the distance*
posted by Buntix at 1:40 PM on March 5, 2018
@lord_wolf Just how many novels, term papers, and theses are going to be written about all of this by the time all is said and done?
Not to mention erotic fanfics, there are erotic fascist fanfics.
(not all as innocent as the above).
*cue whirling (Greatly Whirling) into the distance*
posted by Buntix at 1:40 PM on March 5, 2018
Relevant tweet from Merriam-Webster:
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:07 AM on March 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
After considering its widespread and meaningful evidence of use, we've put 'dumpster fire' in the dictionary. Feel free to GIF it as you like.Am tempted to make this an FPP.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:07 AM on March 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
I went to my interview for Community Board membership in Manhattan in the most symbiotically loaded outfit I could put together. My blue suit was made with union labor here in NYC, my tie was inspired by early English socialist William Morris, DSA lapel pin, actual NYC Subway token cuff-links, and vintage 1940s chukka boots AKA Captain America's field uniform shoes.
posted by The Whelk at 9:50 PM on March 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:50 PM on March 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
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If I have to hear one more article about how Mueller is "close" to something (what will the something be? NO ONE KNOWS) I will scream.
posted by agregoli at 11:45 AM on February 7, 2018 [8 favorites]