The Americans who spout off about things like standing up to tyranny and how much they love having guns are not the same people participating in this protest. The government is actively supporting those people.

The protesters are the ones expecting the rule of law to eventually win, but also know how important it is to protest so that the rule of law continues to exist. It may not be as violent as you’re expecting, but it seems to me that they are walking the walk.

We haven’t done this in a while and we’re a little rusty, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t fighting.

Hello Midwestern neighbor!

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to swear on this sub so if my post gets deleted, that’s why, but it stands for “fucking Illinois bastard.” It’s super common on the southern side of Wisconsin and the people from Illinois are often aware of it and use it too in a joking fashion.

He also lost because, in his mind, money = influence. He didn’t realize that even conservative Wisconsin voters do not react well to people throwing money at them to win.

We border Illinois and constantly deal with FIBs coming to our state, utilizing our parks, lakes, and woodlands, while acting like they are better because they have money. This is particularly common in the north woods where a lot of the conservative voters are.

Illinisians also think money makes them important. The difference is that we tolerate them because they are our neighbors, and we have a long history of hating on each other but also relying on each other - similar to siblings who disagree with how the other lives their life. Musk is a complete outsider and people were not happy about it.

That’s assuming the country providing the “security guarantee” will actually do what they say they will when worse comes to worst. These days, that’s a BIG assumption.

Truth. Although at least FMLA allows us to not get fired during the 12 weeks after having a kid. You just won’t get paid, assuming you haven’t already used your FMLA time in that calendar year. Hopefully, you weren’t stuck on bedrest during the pregnancy because you only get up to 12 weeks. Period. And that’s whether it’s used before or after the kid’s birth. Also, if you’ve been working for your current employer for less than a year, you get nothing.

FREEDOM!!!.. hooray…

You’re not wrong. The link seems to be based on a couple who are very pro-babies sending the idea of the mother medal to the Trump administration. Then, the article talks about how conservatives are trying to change the national dialogue about having kids and showed several quotes posted on social media saying why having babies is great.

The author of the article seems to be the one who made the link. They probably aren’t wrong, but it wasn’t the Trump admin who came up with it or started talking about it.

They know that we know that they know that we know!

Yeah, a LOT of Americans are treating this as business as usual, and it most certainly is not usual. Just because bad leadership has blown over in the past doesn’t mean this is the same thing.

People are not panicking anywhere near the level they should because we need to take care of this NOW. Like now, now. I can’t believe it ever got this far to begin with, but you are 100% right in saying that 4 years is far too long, and by then, it will be too late.

I think it’s more like a sibling that you grew up with who was taught the same moral code as you. They were living a healthy, normal life for a while but got offered a very high paying job that is at odds with those childhood morals. They decided to take it, and at first, they did just a few unethical things. Then, they realized that they could make more money by being more unethical and the people who were supposed to be chastising them were not very good at punishing people with money and were really easy to manipulate, so they leaned in to the lack of ethics.

They know what their doing is hurting people, and they don’t care because they want to drive their Lamborghini to family Christmas and bring an ostentatiously expensive bottle of wine so that people can praise and fawn over them. But, if you call them on their bad behavior, they become enemies because how dare you?! Now we’re the sibling who is powerful but has completely gone awry due to that same power.

I’m hoping we gave a nice family reunion someday where my country has learned the error of its ways and can once again be accepted by its lovely Canadian relatives.

I’m only focusing on your comment about language here, and yes I’m aware that it’s a rant, but I feel the need to add some additional info because it brings me calm when I get irritated about similar things. I’m in no way coming at you or your opinion because the changes in language, like the most recent usage of “cringe,” are irritating and bothersome to me also:

I remember when I was in college, my best friend was really irritated by everyone starting to say “real” as an intensifying adverb as opposed to “really.” For example, instead of saying “I was really bothered by that situation,” people began saying, “I was real bothered by that situation.” For the most part, this didn’t change the meaning of what was said, but it did change the connotation a bit. While both sentences mean that the person was very much bothered by the situation, one sounds like a serious confession of your feelings, and the other sounds like the situation was crazy enough that itself was the cause of the discomfort. It changes the flavor of the sentence by emphasizing something else. It also changes the formality of the language. I’m not going to use “real” like that in a formal setting, but it does fit better when telling a crazy story to my friends.

I had also been taking a linguistics/grammar class at the time this came up, so I had very recently been discussing descriptive vs prescriptive grammar and what makes a language a living language as opposed to a dead one. While my knowledge of linguistics is definitely limited, I did take away that language constantly changes and adds new variations on meanings and expressions all the time. That’s not a bad thing! Without growth, our language dies. Our language adapts and twists and develops with or without our individual consent. But the vocabulary of the many is what shapes language. As much as it drives me nuts, if the majority agrees that this is the way we say something now, it now becomes correct in terms of lexicon, grammar, and usage. Otherwise, we would still be referring to “selfies” as “photos you take of yourself.”

I now consider these situations to be simply the growing pains of language. While they can be irritating, especially to those who learned to do things in a very specific way, they are necessary for the survival of our language. As much as I don’t love the idea of saying “cringe” as an adjective, it is the younger people’s way of saying “cringeworthy.” Once that is mainstream, it has then been added to the overall language’s lexicon. We either change with the times of language or risk being left in its dust. None of our lives are long enough that people will be unable to understand our version of the “old” language, but I think it’s important to try to grow along with the language. This is, at the very least, so that we can understand it, but more importantly, so we can appreciate the newest flavor of our language, even though it may be an acquired taste.

It’s easiest for my brain to put it in the perspective that I should appreciate that things are different because the very difference that bothers me is a sign of growth, not decay. The Guardian is just keeping up with the times. Maybe they’re trying a bit too hard to be hip, but I get it. It’s a case of grow or die. Should they be better than that? Probably, but I’m not sure why you’re expecting that of The Guardian. I don’t associate them with using the most professional word choice.

Most importantly, to end the story about my best friend, I began using “real” as an adverb often which started out as a way to piss off my friend just a little bit, but ended with me wanting to change as the language changed so I could experience the beauty of its growth.

At a minimum $10,000 a year. The COBRA option I was given to continue my health insurance after leaving my previous employer, was $1,500 per month, so $18,000 per year, and that was on the low cost end for relatively crappy coverage. I’ve seen them cost $2k-$3k per month. Of course, that’s just to have the insurance and doesn’t include copays, deductibles, or out of pocket costs.

I’m not disagreeing with you at all; I’m just always astounded by how much we have to pay to receive so little.

I used to think the cause of this was something about how you were raised or how repugnant any discussion of bodily fluids or medical stuff was in your childhood. Some of my friends can’t handle talking about any medical procedure at all, which I always thought was odd, but I chalked it up to childhood experiences. I’ve since learned that child rearing is not the cause, although I’m sure it has some influence.

My mom was a nurse, and we talked about all sorts of bodily fluids, medical issues, and, frankly, gross stuff while growing up. I developed a full tolerance for it. Similar to you, it just felt like a step on the way to treatment and healing. It does not bother me at all to see it or hear a discussion about it at the dinner table, no matter how gross. But, my brother, who was raised in the exact same circumstances, passes out when he gets stuck with a needle. Every. Time. I know that the response to needles and blood aren’t the same as medical procedures, but my point is that people react differently no matter their upbringing.

Clearly, some people are just made to react that way in emergencies. This is not throwing even a drop of shade at people who have to experience that queasiness, but I’m very grateful that I’m not one of those people. We just react differently.

Also, I 1000% respect people who work in emergency services. I don’t know if you still do it, but you guys have to deal with a lot of horrific injuries and people at the worst moments of their life. You’re absolutely essential, and I don’t think you get the recognition you deserve. <3

Not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not, but I’m being fully honest in my question. I kept up with what was being said, but I’m 99% sure that I’m missing the joke. I know it’s a faux pas, but can you explain the punchline to me?

I’m guessing it has something to do with the ruling class being shittier than the average person, but I feel like I’m missing something.

I agree. They are better looking than they are tasting.

That’s probably true, but, at least in the US, nothing will really move forward without the populace backing it (or not knowing about it to begin with). Otherwise, those politicians will never get elected again, and whatever climate policy they created will be negated by the new politician.

So it seems like she’s trying to go the route of getting the populace backing first, and then she’ll have that strength to draw on when dealing with politicians. A bunch more people at that point would be also calling for change, so she wouldn’t have to do much convincing. The fear of losing their political standing would be the impetus for change.

In my particularly weird corner of the world, we are still trying to convince people that climate change is real. I can’t imagine how much the deniers would freak out if their elected official backed something that they think doesn’t exist.