Again? I thought income inequality already upended it.

If climate change upends it again, doesn’t that mean it would be right-side-up?

U.S. democracy

Still. More people voted for this than didn’t vote for this.

I don’t want to pile on, but if less than 50% voted for this, then more than 50% voted against it. The people voting against it didn’t vote for the same thing, but they did vote against this.

Your friend might be a Nazi.

Shouldn’t that be “So are we”?

https://open.spotify.com/track/5j5pCikiSYe36LRGDcPMgk

To be fair, when the poem was written we were getting our asses kicked and survival was not assured.

If you look at the events of the moment, the significant part is the “not getting killed” part.

If things had gone differently, we could all be speaking English today!

Or we could stop hoping the Democrats take the lead and force them to follow the people. However, that would likely get ugly.

It also depends on the non-fascist elements of society putting aside their differences and working together, which has historically been a requirement and a stumbling block any time the populace wants to get out from under the oppression of the 1%.

I could ask her. She might go for it.

Shit.

Me sitting here still working a day job with my ancient, born-in-1970, worn-out self. Sounds like I should be retired already, if not dead.

They aren’t wrong though. Find yourself an old person. We just want to sit, eat, watch a little TV, and be in bed by 9.

Bonus: some of us know how to fix the shit that falls apart, and many of us even own a house.

Before you get all excited, I’m already taken. Some young thing already got me hitched (she was born in 1971).

I see a dog eat dog world and think, “Can we be a better example to follow?” These folks see a dog eat dog world, and think, “How terrible. We’d better start chewing.”

I suppose in my path to agnosticism I picked up the wrong lessons from the church my mom took me too.

“We have the best of intentions, and sometimes bills start out a little rockier than others,” Steinmetz said.

Republicans once again paving their path to hell. I wish they would just go there already and leave us all alone.

A past boss of mine used to say, “Did God say so?”

However, in his case it wasn’t because he denied science and believed that the Bible was the only “knowledge” you needed, but rather that he believed God was the only authority who could overrule him.

He was actually a generally rational person, but if you wanted to contradict him, you’d need a series of peer reviewed, repeatable, double-blind studies proving he was wrong. And even then, he’d probably want God to comment.

Do people do good, spirited debates anymore? Most of what I see would be more akin to wrestling a pig.

For what that’s worth.

Yep. I attended a Quaker wedding a while back. There is no officiant. For the wedding everyone just sits there staring at the bride and groom, and you’re supposed to just stand up and talk if the spirit moves you. It felt very odd for us non-quakers in attendance. I don’t remember how they decided it was over. I know there was a long period of total quiet that had me starting to think I should stand up and say something, but thankfully someone broke the silence.

My grandfather was a Quaker. He wouldn’t beat my father, which is a shame because my father really needed some good beatings. My grandmother wasn’t a Quaker, and she would break yardsticks over his ass often enough that she bought boxes of them. However, it clearly didn’t have enough impact.

I also live near a Friend’s Meeting House, and there are a bunch of well-established Quaker Schools in the area. If you can afford to pay for a private education for your children, they are supposed to be excellent.

Thank you.

We will survive. It’s what we do.

Funny you should ask.

I’ve been almost completely ignoring the hellscape that my country is turning into because last week starting just before the inauguration was one of the worst years in my life, and it’s still happening this week as well.

Over the past 26 years, I’ve often thought that parenting is not a job for the weak. I keep thinking I know what that means. Now I realize that I will never know how bad it can get. Anytime you think you’re past the worst, you get the universe’s boot up your ass again.

I’ve earned a couple serious breakdowns in the last week, but I’ve got to put them off because I just can’t do it yet. I don’t have time.

Did you at least lay him out?

Not me, but my wife.

She trained and worked as an optometrist. She absolutely loved it, but she started having health problems and after about 10-15 years in practice she had to give it up.

It’s been very slow in developing, but it’s starting to look like a progressive neurological disorder. She can’t work, and she can’t drive anywhere. She can still walk around the house, or down to the corner, but the more she does the more pain she feels, and if she does too much, then she won’t be able to move.

Medical appointments are almost the only thing she leaves the house for, and it’s starting to affect her memory and ability to communicate (difficulty coming up with words).

She’s feels disconnected from the world. After our last child moved out for college, we got a could guinea pigs and she takes care of them for the most part.

She also feels guilty since she can’t earn money. She had private disability insurance which covers her until 65, and she gets social security, but it all amounts to a fraction of what she could be making as an eye doctor.

She also has trouble staying involved in conversations, and I think she’s more sensitive to that than she used to be.