Update for Everyone VIII: He who laughs have the last laugh

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I'll be headed back to the (virtual) classroom after a two-semester (summer/fall) break this week, this time to start rehabilitating my Russian language skills.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today I opened the three packs of Monarchs I bought yesterday but I accidentally slightly damaged the box (specifically, I peeled off a bit of it) of the red one, and I'm angry over this.
This opinion is probably heretical among experts but I think I prefer Bicycle's.

[JA]

I moved from Washington Island, WI to Waitsfield, VT today!

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I moved from Washington Island, WI to Waitsfield, VT today!

how many states have you lived in now?

[JA]

I moved from Washington Island, WI to Waitsfield, VT today!

how many states have you lived in now?

4!

‘94-‘03: Jacksonville, FL
‘03-‘18: St. Augustine, FL
‘18-‘20: Kansas City, MO
‘20-‘21: Washington Island, WI
‘21-??: Waitsfield, VT

[bagelman]

I moved from Washington Island, WI to Waitsfield, VT today!

Enjoy your rural liberal paradise!

[Battista Minola 1616]

And how could we sing
with a foreign foot weighing upon our hearts,
among the dead bodies forsaken in the streets
on the grass hard as ice, to the lamb-like
moaning of the infants, to the black scream
of the mother walking towards her child
crucified on the telegraph pole?
On the boughs of the willows, as a vow,
our harps too were hung,
they oscillated gently with the sad wind.

- Salvatore Quasimodo, On the boughs of the willows

(Translation by: yours truly)

Inspired by a conversation with Alcibiades.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I was planning to go to a Young Republicans (mostly 20-somethings) meeting tonight, but I'm getting so annoyed with the rhetoric coming out of some corners of the party that I just don't feel like dealing with it, even if there is a diversity of views on the recent events within the organization.  It doesn't help that the speaker they're having tonight is ultra pro-Trump.  I just don't feel like listening to a MAGA speech anymore.

[VAR]

I was planning to go to a Young Republicans (mostly 20-somethings) meeting tonight, but I'm getting so annoyed with the rhetoric coming out of some corners of the party that I just don't feel like dealing with it, even if there is a diversity of views on the recent events within the organization.  It doesn't help that the speaker is ultra pro-Trump.  I just don't feel like listening to a MAGA speech anymore.

I'll show myself the door.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I was planning to go to a Young Republicans (mostly 20-somethings) meeting tonight, but I'm getting so annoyed with the rhetoric coming out of some corners of the party that I just don't feel like dealing with it, even if there is a diversity of views on the recent events within the organization.  It doesn't help that the speaker is ultra pro-Trump.  I just don't feel like listening to a MAGA speech anymore.

I'll show myself the door.

You kid, but, if the party continues down this rabbit hole, it might soon be this:

Fortunately, I do think that there are enough Republicans who are going to push us in a different direction after the 20th.

[John Dule]

I'm cleaning old photos out of my phone and I stumbled across this gem from my days at the People's Republic of Berkeley:

[Never Made it to Graceland]

I'm cleaning old photos out of my phone and I stumbled across this gem from my days at the People's Republic of Berkeley:

I'm supportive of LGBT rights but college campuses have changed a lot in 50 years. The discourse went from discussing things like anti-war activism, civil rights, and economic issues, to an almost comically single minded obsession with social justice only, sometimes taken to an extreme focus like in your example (although some are obviously valid like BLM advocacy and mental health awareness.) Since the American college campus is now a business, they can't discuss the economic stuff because they themselves are a major factor in those problems, they can't talk anti-war because of all the ROTC and GI Bill welfare queens and recruiters on their campuses, and focusing on mental health is great until you realize they are CAUSING a lot of mental health problems. I hated college, being able to go to Berkeley or anywhere else in the '50s and '60s would have been a dream.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I've decided that I'll probably start posting on here a bit more frequently than I have in recent months as, in spite of everything, this remains one of the better forums for the discussion of politics, especially the kind of discussion that interests me (international politics and more informed 'academic' analysis).

It's great to have you back!

[Battista Minola 1616]

I don't think I have ever mentioned that in 1946 two Aliyah Bet ships were blockaded by the British here in La Spezia but in the end were allowed to leave the city and reach the Holy Land after a hunger strike, strong solidarity from the city inhabitants, and international interventions, and now La Spezia is apparently nicknamed "Gateway to Zion" in certain circles.

I think Sunriso might appreciate this.

[Alcibiades]

I just realised that a certain long-time Republican Michigan congressman who voted to impeach Trump has the same first name and middle name as me.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I just realised that a certain long-time Republican Michigan congressman who voted to impeach Trump has the same first name and middle name as me.

Whaaat

Brutal self-doxxing

Can I refer to you as Frederick X of Denmark from now on?

[Alcibiades]

I just realised that a certain long-time Republican Michigan congressman who voted to impeach Trump has the same first name and middle name as me.

Whaaat

Brutal self-doxxing

Can I refer to you as Frederick X of Denmark from now on?

If you want. I figured it’s fine as long as my surname is safe. This little coincidence was too good not to share.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

I'm cleaning old photos out of my phone and I stumbled across this gem from my days at the People's Republic of Berkeley:

I'm supportive of LGBT rights but college campuses have changed a lot in 50 years. The discourse went from discussing things like anti-war activism, civil rights, and economic issues, to an almost comically single minded obsession with social justice only, sometimes taken to an extreme focus like in your example (although some are obviously valid like BLM advocacy and mental health awareness.) Since the American college campus is now a business, they can't discuss the economic stuff because they themselves are a major factor in those problems, they can't talk anti-war because of all the ROTC and GI Bill welfare queens and recruiters on their campuses, and focusing on mental health is great until you realize they are CAUSING a lot of mental health problems. I hated college, being able to go to Berkeley or anywhere else in the '50s and '60s would have been a dream.

Your comments on The Troops^TM aside, are you saying that there is a physical or regulatory prohibition on such, or that it simply violates contemporary campus culture? Colleges have had ROTC and GI Bill attendees since before the protest era, so far as I'm aware.

Yeah but back then it wasn't such a financial commitment. They're now getting tens of thousands of dollars per student in those programs, so they can't do anything that would threaten that revenue stream. Not an official prohibition but a choice that is made. Not to mention that since the early 2000s, any criticism of the military tends to be shouted down.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I have been reflecting on the conflictedness of my current display name after spending a considerable amount of time in musings about Metallica's One and euthanasia, which you might agree is one of the most stereotypically Battista Minola things ever.

[If my soul was made of stone]

I have been reflecting on the conflictedness of my current display name after spending a considerable amount of time in musings about Metallica's One and euthanasia, which you might agree is one of the most stereotypically Battista Minola things ever.

As I noted in the "opinion of the previous poster's display name" thread, the conflicts at its heart are what make it such an intriguing phrase.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I have been reflecting on the conflictedness of my current display name after spending a considerable amount of time in musings about Metallica's One and euthanasia, which you might agree is one of the most stereotypically Battista Minola things ever.

As I noted in the "opinion of the previous poster's display name" thread, the conflicts at its heart are what make it such an intriguing phrase.

As I noted in a "guilty pleasures in music" thread, Metallica's music is supreme but their lyrics are "culture of death" to a fault.

[Morning in Atlas]

One of my friends from college was diagnosed with COVID. Very, very worried about them.

[Sol]

One of my friends from college was diagnosed with COVID. Very, very worried about them.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

I hate living with my roommates. They are nice guys for the most part, but they live like college kids even though we are all the same age. Dirty dishes every day, never mopping, random trash left lying around. Not being careful with covid stuff including having parties and going to stores without masks. I'm honestly miserable living there, I have a few months left on the lease and am definitely shopping around for a new place.

[Hash]

I am now an essential worker.

My employer sent me a letter today which says that I perform essential work that cannot be done remotely. I can use it in case I'm stopped on my way to work (I almost never go) now with Ontario's stupid new 'stay home order'.