Trump loses to Yang, but that’s out. Trump loses if we go into recession; biggest thing he can point at in his term is strong economy and low unemployment, if he loses that it hurts his turnout. Trump loses if rust belt flips back to blue, which is more likely if Dem candidate doesn’t alienate white working class and rural peoples.

God bless Seattle


Reminds me of these guys, but pretty sure it was serious

Just got caught up with the last 5 pages.
Two things:
A. It would be awesome to have some females around here to add more perspective.
B. I'm proud I can call you all friends.

mjack. Don't forget to not discount therapy from unusual sources. Sometimes, for me, working on a car for a few hours or pulling out a guitar while having a beer or two is as good as any therapy money can buy.
Find your own tools. They are out there if you actively looking for them and sometimes they will smack you in the face when you are not.

Saw Birds of Prey. Went in expecting a ridiculous plot w Harley Quinn beating the **** out of people. Was not disappointed. I quite enjoyed the whole thing. Would recommend to anyone not going to take it too seriously.

For perspective Joker was the only movie I saw in the last 8 or so years where I actually had high expectations; so I tend to enjoy anything I see on the extremely rare occasion I go to the movies. I am not a quality movie reviewer.

Joker was a very good piece of art but not a movie I’d watch for fun.

I was under the impression you had like 14 days to watch a rented video on Prime. At least 7 days damnit.
Rented Parasite last weekend and got to the buy me drugs scene when I had to stop for the night. Just went to finish and poof, no longer rented. I must finish it. There shouldn't be that much more to go but it was getting to the payoff and the rest of the movie has been so very, very good that I haven't even considered the end can be not so great. Just don't see that happening so I'm still going to say this movie is one of the very best movies I've ever seen.
I guess Amazon gets another 4 bucks from me.

Oh man the movie wins by knok out, in the very last frame.

Yes Devil I would say that the best movie of the year is probably worth another four dollars

I started Black Mirror finally and am liking it so far

I think I’ll watch American Factory next given that it won the Oscar

I watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Emily who liked it so I added Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to my list and really want Emily to see it. I think I’ve saw it once and I remember it being way better than the remake . I’m excited

Black mirror depresses me... It's definitely a turn down if you want to get lucky after.
I installed my old ps3 the other day and I think I'm gonna give Bandersnatch a shot.

It’s ok

I liked the ending I got. I don’t know if it’s the best one or anything

I finished Stranger Things 3 yesterday and I’m glad I’m done. Sadie Sink looks way too much like my ex g/f and it makes me uncomfortable and guilty cuz she’s so young

I remember when Erik, the guitarist of Hole, said he couldn’t watch ET anymore once he started dating Drew Barrymore cuz her she still has the same face

Kind of like that episode of STTNG?
Obrien was definitely in a very weird position.

That episode sucks so bad except for the OBrien and Keiko storyline which is super interesting and so funny. Obrien keeps trying to help and feels super weird with this kid making him dinner “careful with that!” When she grabs something hot, lol

Colm Meaney is as such a great actor in that one. I’d have been having all sorts of funny conversations with your kid wife “soooo... is it illegal for us to have sex or no?”

Kid Ro wasn’t bad either cuz she was trying to stay serious. That was the best of the kid actors actually

I miss that show and I’m sad Picard isn’t scratching that itch

For people paying attention to politics, I want to point some things out:

1. Democrats have no reason not to get rid of the filibuster in the Senate next time they are in power; unless they get 60 seats.

2. There are no judges a Democratic majority in both houses with a Democratic POTUS cannot get rid of. The only thing limiting them is that they feel shame where Republicans do not.

There is no long game in American politics; and the people who think it exists are the same people who have been surprised by Trump. All of these things are just accepted norms that are non binding.

And after how the last three years have gone; I would be disappointed but not surprised by a lot of the things that could happen. Remember Merrick Garland has become a rallying cry on social media for a reason.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want them to do any of that. But I know a lot of people who still think what is going on will go back to normal under the Dems; and there is no guarantee that happens unless they want to let McConnell get away with it.

Edit: and for the record i think they will want to let the country “heal” so they will not do anything. I am just pointing out they could do to a lot of Twitter ive seen recently.

Edit: Due*

Long term thinking is difficult in general, and our systems of government don’t incentivize it. Short term thinking is incentivized; immediate results are rewarded with re-elections. You’re only guaranteed 2-4 years depending on the position (save for federal judges), which prioritizes what you can accomplish in that short span. Lifetime leadership certainly has its problems but term limits are a double edged sword.

Mitch McConnell consistently has an approval rating in the teens in his state. He is unlikely to lose his seat solely due to tribal hatred of Democrats. On a more macro scale Congress has maintained absolutely terrible approval ratings for decades now. But most of them only have to seriously worry about a primary.

The beginning, middle, and end of all problems in American politics is that as a group we don’t care to be informed and we don’t hold the majority of our elected officials accountable.

I take great exception to the idea that 'Americans... as a group... don't care to be informed.'

Sorry, but I think that's total B.S. It just doesn't match my experiences at all. Most of my Republican friends are extremely well versed in politics. They are highly informed, and while I disagree with a lot of what they say, their premises are ALWAYS rooted in fact. We differ only on the interpretation of those facts. The same can be said about my Democrat friends, and the level of thought they put into their interpretations - again of facts.

Obviously, these are personal anecdotes, and can't be extrapolated to the general public. But I know people from all walks of life, and from a smattering of states - not just Texas. I find it hard to believe that my personal connections are not (at least somewhat) representative of Americans as a whole.

I'm also not sure that I agree that we don't hold our officials accountable, but that's an easier sell for you to make.

Bottom line, politics are complicated. You can find justifications for many arguments, but it's very difficult to find stances that can withstand all the criticism they deserve. And that means that even if people are well informed, and highly motivated to understand the questions, they may still differ greatly on what they believe should be done (or not done).

note: I started with Republicans, because I have challenged them far more often in political discussions, and as a consequence I have formed some opinions of what they know - much more so, than I've challenged Democrats, with whom I tend to agree.

I agree with Mjack.

There are plenty of well educated people out there, but there are many more that have no clue. I was curious if my perceptions on that were right, so I did a quick search. Only a quarter of the population can name all three branches of the government. That is pathetic. Only one study, so open to more information, but if accurate, I think that it is fair to say that at least a large portion of the voters are undereducated. Heck, take the woman that voted for Buttigege in the caucus and then wanted to change her vote when someone told her he was gay. How do you not know that if you are paying attention at all? Again, small sample size, but I hear things like this at work all the time, and I work with people that make 6 figures + and have VERY strong opinions, and many times they are flat out wrong. (I keep my opinions to myself since I like being employed.) Like a few weeks ago they were laughing at how the democrats thought the world would end in 12 years if we didn't address climate change. Er....no, that is not at all what was said.

https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter ... declining/

As far as accountability, we just don't hold our people accountable as long as there is the boogieman of the other tribe threatening.

Also, on another Mjack point, I have had conversations with friends about all the things Trump has done. They say, well, on the good side, at least he is showing all the loopholes in the system and now we can close them up. No, have you not met the human race? Maybe a few loopholes will be closed, but many more will be exploited by whomever comes into power next. Mjack is right, all thinking is short term. (which is partly why we do not hold our elected officials accountable.) Look at our economy right now. It is good, but IMO, it is decent because we are sacrificing the future economy so this one can make Trump look good. And as a general rule, the population is fine with that.

In a 2016 survey conducted by Forbes, only 34% of Americans could name all 3 branches of our government.

In a 2017 study conducted by a group from the University of Pennsylvania: only 26% could name all three branches of govt; 37% could not state a right guaranteed by the 1st amendment, and 33% could not name a single branch of govt.

Roughly 1 in 50 American adults believes the Earth is flat.

In 2019, CNN found that 12% of Americans didn’t know who Mike Pence is.

A 2012 survey found that 65% of Americans couldn’t name a Supreme Court Justice. Another survey from 2013 found that 30% of Americans didn’t know who Joe Biden was.

I could go on for literal days on about just the last decade with a bit of research. When you look into it; we know very little about civics when we don’t have to.

I do not like my natural response to this phrase. It implies an extremely unhealthy view of self.

I don’t think any of those stats reflect an ability or lack thereof to create reasonably informed opinions on public policies which affect them directly. There is always a higher standard. For example, unless you’ve got a graduate level education in economics, you really probably don’t have anything more than a superficial understanding of taxation policy, and why different, highly-educated people disagree, or even what they are disagreeing on. That certainly doesn’t mean you can’t be sufficiently informed to vote on the subject.

Wintervoid’s anecdote is more troubling, but I hope we can all agree that there has been at least some degree (I’m keeping this as apolitical as possible) of hyperbole from the global warming camp over the past 2 decades. Highly vocal hyperbole, that often did not come from the scientific community, which tends to be much more subdued with what it says - although not always. Some people have focused on what they got wrong, and it has become a joke to be made fun of.

One of many sources of the problem: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-c ... gore-2014/ (The article contains some of the information leading to the meme, contradicting, upholding it, etc. but this is the kind of thing your co-workers are talking about. There are other examples, of course, but this one is super high profile.)