What's the latest in people's lives?

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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

Those are some nice pics, CPH! :D
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Bryan Moore »

Great pics - CPH. That's a lovely tour to take. +1 for the Croton Aqueduct pics - one of the most remarkable feats of American engineering that no one knows about!

As a frequent visitor to NYC myself, I do lament never quite taking the time to actually tour a lot of significant historical landmarks despite spending many weeks a year roaming the MET.

Might I recommend http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/ as a great introduction to a lot of the points on the Circle Line tour, for any of you NYC vistors and/or locals/semi-locals like myself who never take the time to look at what's around them!
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Mikey »

Mm, remembering days of misspent youth at CBGB and the old Roxy.
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Bryan Moore »

I wish I had been around for the heyday of Limelight :rave:
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Mikey »

Saw a few ass-kicking shows there. Remember very little.
I can't stand nothing dull
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I'll massacre your ass as fast
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

Went to my 20-year high school reunion last night. Had a blast. Although one thing that was lacking was name tags. ;) Facebook helped a bit, but not an insane amount. Ah, well.
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Mikey »

What's important is who recognized you, not who you recognized. Anyway, ran into the best Jewish tradition ever today - at a cousin's wedding, we had a tish which apparently is just drinking expensive Scotch and interrupting the groom with song when he tries to deliver a dissertation on this weekend's Bible reading.
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

Mikey wrote:What's important is who recognized you, not who you recognized.
Most of them remembered me. Kinda made it more embarrassing for me. ;)
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Sonic Glitch »

Today I felt compelled to post McCoy's line about evil triumphing unless good is very, very careful as (not so)subtle commentary on Facebook. Of all the things I've had to deal with thanks to the Trump presidency, near the to is him forcing me to appreciate Kirk's soapbox moment at the end of that episode.


That's really crossing a line!
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

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Sonic Glitch wrote:Today I felt compelled to post McCoy's line about evil triumphing unless good is very, very careful as (not so)subtle commentary on Facebook. Of all the things I've had to deal with thanks to the Trump presidency, near the to is him forcing me to appreciate Kirk's soapbox moment at the end of that episode.


That's really crossing a line!
What exactly have you had to deal with due to Trump, if I may ask? As a white working/middle class male with family that ranges from poor to the 1%, I really can't say I see much in my day to day life change due to this hatemonger clown in office. I count myself to have had a fortunate life and I do somewhat dread what the hateful conservatism will do to a fiscal conservative/social moderate such as myself. I suppose I am not at a point where ANY presidency has really impacted my life, other than some insanely high insurance premiums post-2009.

Interestingly, most of the staff I manage tends to come from a lower/working class ethnically diverse group and from my conversations with them have revealed is that their day to day lives haven't changed all that much either.

This is not a poke - it is a genuine question from one (hopefully) intelligent person to another - what have you had to deal with because of Chump?
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Sonic Glitch »

Bryan Moore wrote:
Sonic Glitch wrote:Today I felt compelled to post McCoy's line about evil triumphing unless good is very, very careful as (not so)subtle commentary on Facebook. Of all the things I've had to deal with thanks to the Trump presidency, near the to is him forcing me to appreciate Kirk's soapbox moment at the end of that episode.


That's really crossing a line!
What exactly have you had to deal with due to Trump, if I may ask? As a white working/middle class male with family that ranges from poor to the 1%, I really can't say I see much in my day to day life change due to this hatemonger clown in office. I count myself to have had a fortunate life and I do somewhat dread what the hateful conservatism will do to a fiscal conservative/social moderate such as myself. I suppose I am not at a point where ANY presidency has really impacted my life, other than some insanely high insurance premiums post-2009.

Interestingly, most of the staff I manage tends to come from a lower/working class ethnically diverse group and from my conversations with them have revealed is that their day to day lives haven't changed all that much either.

This is not a poke - it is a genuine question from one (hopefully) intelligent person to another - what have you had to deal with because of Chump?
I had a long detailed reply written up and then my connection crapped out. Let me try to rebuild it

In essence, I will agree as far as my day-to-day life goes I have not experienced much inconvenience from Trumps policies (or lack thereof).. In fact as a white, mostly middle-class male, I doubt I will see any real impact even if he manages to pass any legislation (maybe from the so-called Tax Reform package depending on how it shakes out). My issue comes from his words, and actions and the fact that we have managed to elect a man who is destroying every vestige of dignity, respect, and normalcy associated with the Office of the President. In no particular order we have elected a man who:
  • Mocked a reporter with a congenital medical condition on the campaign trail
  • bragged about mistreating women because he is rich
  • Considers legitimate press agencies to be the enemy of the American people
  • Appointed spectacularly unqualified people to cabinet positions (Devos, I'm looking at you! You too Perry and Pruitt)
  • Gutted the State Department with no plans for replacement
  • Dismissed the U.S. Attorneys - including those he initially asked to stay on -- with no plans for replacement
  • Constantly blames his opponents for those vacancies despite the fact that he never nominated anyone to fill them anyway
  • Constantly blames his opponents for legislative failures despite the fact that the GOP controls the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. There is no excuse.
  • Is quick to praise so-called strongman leaders (Putin, Duterte, etc.) and criticize our own Western, democratic allies
  • Thanked Putin for helping reduce our payroll when he announced the dismissal of Russian embassy staff
  • Fired the Director of the FBI because the FBI was investigating potential Russian ties to his campaign
  • When handed a political softball where all he really had to do was come out and condemn Nazism and violent attacks in the US: couldn't do it
  • Spends more time on vacation than governing, the exact thing he accused his predecessor of
  • Using the office to enrich himself by traveling on the taxpayer dime to resorts owned by his family/company
  • I'll stop here for now
We saw who Trump was this weekend. All he had to do was say we will not tolerate Racism and violent attacks in America and that this is not how we act on things. He couldn't do it. If none of those piss you off, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say.

For shits and giggles, I did just find this: Trump Golf Count
"All this has happened before --"
"But it doesn't have to happen again. Not if we make up our minds to change. Take a different path. Right here, right now."
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Captain Picard's Hair »

Sonic Glitch wrote:
Bryan Moore wrote:
Sonic Glitch wrote:Today I felt compelled to post McCoy's line about evil triumphing unless good is very, very careful as (not so)subtle commentary on Facebook. Of all the things I've had to deal with thanks to the Trump presidency, near the to is him forcing me to appreciate Kirk's soapbox moment at the end of that episode.


That's really crossing a line!
What exactly have you had to deal with due to Trump, if I may ask? As a white working/middle class male with family that ranges from poor to the 1%, I really can't say I see much in my day to day life change due to this hatemonger clown in office. I count myself to have had a fortunate life and I do somewhat dread what the hateful conservatism will do to a fiscal conservative/social moderate such as myself. I suppose I am not at a point where ANY presidency has really impacted my life, other than some insanely high insurance premiums post-2009.

Interestingly, most of the staff I manage tends to come from a lower/working class ethnically diverse group and from my conversations with them have revealed is that their day to day lives haven't changed all that much either.

This is not a poke - it is a genuine question from one (hopefully) intelligent person to another - what have you had to deal with because of Chump?
I had a long detailed reply written up and then my connection crapped out. Let me try to rebuild it

In essence, I will agree as far as my day-to-day life goes I have not experienced much inconvenience from Trumps policies (or lack thereof).. In fact as a white, mostly middle-class male, I doubt I will see any real impact even if he manages to pass any legislation (maybe from the so-called Tax Reform package depending on how it shakes out). My issue comes from his words, and actions and the fact that we have managed to elect a man who is destroying every vestige of dignity, respect, and normalcy associated with the Office of the President. In no particular order we have elected a man who:
  • Mocked a reporter with a congenital medical condition on the campaign trail
  • bragged about mistreating women because he is rich
  • Considers legitimate press agencies to be the enemy of the American people
  • Appointed spectacularly unqualified people to cabinet positions (Devos, I'm looking at you! You too Perry and Pruitt)
  • Gutted the State Department with no plans for replacement
  • Dismissed the U.S. Attorneys - including those he initially asked to stay on -- with no plans for replacement
  • Constantly blames his opponents for those vacancies despite the fact that he never nominated anyone to fill them anyway
  • Constantly blames his opponents for legislative failures despite the fact that the GOP controls the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. There is no excuse.
  • Is quick to praise so-called strongman leaders (Putin, Duterte, etc.) and criticize our own Western, democratic allies
  • Thanked Putin for helping reduce our payroll when he announced the dismissal of Russian embassy staff
  • Fired the Director of the FBI because the FBI was investigating potential Russian ties to his campaign
  • When handed a political softball where all he really had to do was come out and condemn Nazism and violent attacks in the US: couldn't do it
  • Spends more time on vacation than governing, the exact thing he accused his predecessor of
  • Using the office to enrich himself by traveling on the taxpayer dime to resorts owned by his family/company
  • I'll stop here for now
We saw who Trump was this weekend. All he had to do was say we will not tolerate Racism and violent attacks in America and that this is not how we act on things. He couldn't do it. If none of those piss you off, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say.

For shits and giggles, I did just find this: Trump Golf Count
It'd be hard to have had a great impact this soon in his term - and if one were to be pedantic the congress has a lot of influence vis a vis the legislation that the President signs into law. Of course, I'm glad Trump hasn't passed much of a domestic agenda since the bills proposed by the GOP caucus range from awful to far worse. This of course includes the huge (and hugely regressive) tax cuts combined with massive cuts to health care access they're trying to sell as health care bills, not to mention the infamous border wall which would cost taxpayers vast amounts of money (far more than his uninformed campaign estimates) for little benefit.

On that note, while Trump may not have literally deposed of Omaba's central piece of legacy yet he's already hurt the little people by his sabotaging of the ACA. Despite his claims to the contrary, the ACA is not fundamentally flawed. However, Trump has made deliberate choices which impede the functioning of the law (as opposed to any attempt to improve it's shortcomings) which have contributed to higher premiums, fewer choices of provider in many areas and generally poorer performance. He's effectively working to make his words seem true but while the existing law may be a complicated kludge (because the American conservative base would go completely apeshit if the idea of single-payer were even considered) it's far from beyond redemption. Plus, unlike the GOP replacement proposals, it is actually an attempt to improve health care in more than name. So, yes, in at least one way Trump has already hurt the daily lives of ordinary Americans (of all races, genders, religions and sexual identities). I'm glad as one dependent on medicaid for medication treating chronic physical and mental conditions/disabilities that he hasn't yet done worse (though not for lack of trying).

I've been shielded from Trump's throwing of a monkey wrench into the works of the ACA since the GOP hasn't yet figured out how to boot people like me from medicaid, and also shielded from racial and gender prejudice as a white male in what is now a minority-majority nation. This is a relatively uncommon privilege by historical standards but growing less so by the day. Even if Trump himself hasn't directly assaulted most minorities, women, jews, and other "out groups" in America, his very election, continued inaction, and continued equivocal rhetoric have emboldened the bigot brigade of the "alt-right." Long before Charlotsville, the bigoted element of American society has been throwing a party. From the day of his election, acts of hate have risen. The reaction may have started eight years prior as an ugly but predictable response to the historic election of a black POTUS and Trump himself may owe his election partly to the Obama backlash but his very presence in the Oval Office damages these target groups (collectively, a significant majority of the population). His refusal to disown the movement despite numerous clear opportunities speaks volumes.

Beyond all of this he finds new ways to desecrate the office of the President every day. The day of his election didn't only spark the bigot brigade but immediately diminished the global prestige of the Presidency and indeed the whole nation overnight. He hasn't needed to do much aside from simply be the deplorable* human he is. As noted, his administration reeks of general incompetence, collusion, and other ethical shortcomings.

*Deliberate word choice, in case you're wondering
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Captain Picard's Hair »

On a brighter note, I finished the activities meant for my time off by redeeming that ticket to the Intrepid museum. There were exhibits noting the esteemed battle history of the ship herself, life aboard the vessel, aircraft on the flight deck - and a space shuttle! That would be the Enterprise, the prototype which is now sitting in an enclosed pavilion at the rear of Intrepid's flight deck. I decided against waiting through lines to see the bridge decks and the submarine USS Growler docked alongside Intrepid but still had a nice time, getting a decent number of additional pics.
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Bryan Moore »

Nice CPH.

Glitch, I pretty much agree with 100% of everything you said. But the wording of "That I've had to deal with..." is what caught me, in regards to something beyond Trump's scumbaggery.
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Re: What's the latest in people's lives?

Post by Bryan Moore »

I have 10 days off starting in about 74 minutes - first full week vacation I've taken since I started here a year ago, and basically had to burn the days or lose them. I'll probably head down to NYC for a day and blow money on food and vinyls, then headed with the girlfriend to the happiest whitest place on earth - Maine. Nothing says "trendy scene" like beaches, restaurants, and novelty shops filled with middle aged white people dress like they belong in a Land's End catalogue!
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