Board 8 > Politics Containment Topic 455: You should be thanking us for these topics

(+) Yeah! (+)

LightningStrikes posted...

Theresa May in 2017: Hold my beer.

There is always an expectation to campaign and big leads can vanish if you do not.

Tbf I think him being focused on fighting the war would be seen as a good excuse for not heavily campaigning by most Ukrainians

May Zelenskyy outlive Putin and Trump by several decades

Gavin Newsom launched a new podcast and on the very first episode he sits down with Charlie Kirk and agrees with Kirk on trans women in sports (and accepts Kirk's framing of "no men in female sports.")

so he can fuck allllllllllllll the way off and hopefully this tanks any chance he has at his transparent positioning to run in 2028

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-TANCVoHlc

nothing different than ive been saying for years, and Drew Gooden is kinda a more kid-friendly channel. But fuck social media, modern technology, algorithm culture, and culture in general since 2007.

Thorn posted...

Gavin Newsom launched a new podcast and on the very first episode he sits down with Charlie Kirk and agrees with Kirk on trans women in sports (and accepts Kirk's framing of "no men in female sports.")

so he can fuck allllllllllllll the way off and hopefully this tanks any chance he has at his transparent positioning to run in 2028

Jesus what the fuck lol

I've been screaming about how much this guy obviously sucks for years but I didn't think he was this bad

Yeah, I've been screaming much the same in this thread the past 2-3 years but this was basically another level. He's been telegraphing his betrayal of trans people for at least a year now but jfc what a way to make it front and center.

Guess I should have provided a link before so I'll do that now.

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/06/gavin-newsom-charlie-kirk-podcast-trans-sports

Newsom also said in the same podcast that there were "issues" with BLM leadership and was praising and asking Kirk for advice given his "success" as an influencer.

just so fucking gross all around

Forceful_Dragon posted...

And to discourage continued face punching you might be in a situation where you have to punch them back even though you know that your own hand will get hurt.

In the history of face punching, punching back has always been the best way to encourage more face punching. The only exception is if you knock the other person out in one punch, which cannot happen in this case.

Fact is, retaliatory tariffs are bad for the home country and do prove Trump right about trade war. There are better ways to win.

Within the past few days they have confirmed:

-We are absolutely supposed to be in the office full time next week despite not being given the appropriate amount of notice for changes to our telework agreement.

-All overtime has to be worked in the office.

-Oh by the way, overtime is cancelled effective next week.

-There might not be enough room in the parking garage available for us, so be prepared to park further away and pay for parking at a different location.

-We may or may not be getting moved from our current desks because for some reason they went ahead and randomly reassigned all desks despite everyone already having a desk they didn't share with anyone else. (Well, it's shared with 1 other person, but they work night shift so they arrive 30 minutes after we leave)

All among having to read in the news about just how much we're supposed to be getting gutted this year.

https://twitter.com/margbaramerica/status/1897769081052307965?s=46&t=v9nzYLLBIiNYrqldFs9NWQ

You know theres probably a timeline where Trumps broadway career took off and he went a completely different direction.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Defeat_Project_2025/comments/1j4y0at/trump_is_revoking_legal_status_to_240k_ukrainian/

Holy fucking shit. Even if you are a white European Christian immigrant, you are not safe from being deported from the US.

Special elections coming up in Georgia on the eleventh, and for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 9 days.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/powerful-speeches-from-trans-dems

some hopeful news

Powerful Speeches From Trans Dems Flip 29 Republicans, Anti-Trans Bills Die In Montana

if that can happen in montana maybe not all is completely lost

The pendulum swing is gonna be so strong it will flip around to the other side

Very good to see.

Not an expert on the area by any means but isnt Montana like Libertarian central? So it is the type of red state that would not necessarily be down for that oppressive flavour of social conservatism.

Trump signed an EO explicitly targeting a big Dem law firm for revenge:

https://twitter.com/asfleischman/status/1897791592255070581?s=46

You put a gun to a white libertarian's head they will vote republican 95+% of the time so I dont think its swinging much. Also the libertarian to maga pipeline is pretty real, so i'm not sure if i'd even call some of those big sky states libertarian anymore if they ever were.

would... would the law firm be able to defend themselves in federal court when they obviously file suit against this?

or is this a thing where they'd hire another firm anyway?

also as someone who worked in the intelligence community, seeing the fall of five eyes in real time is absolutely mindblowing

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-plans-study-into-vaccines-autism-sources-say-2025-03-07/

fml.

FFDragon posted...

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/powerful-speeches-from-trans-dems

some hopeful news

if that can happen in montana maybe not all is completely lost

Can they come speak in Iowa next?

Did anyone post the dems' choose your fighter video yet

LightningStrikes posted...

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-plans-study-into-vaccines-autism-sources-say-2025-03-07/

fml.

But they already did this study

Yeah but now we are going to spend millions to do it again!

They know the study will find no link. Their intention for wasting all that money likely is to further reduce public trust in vaccination. Which will have global impacts and especially affect vulnerable populations worst of all.

LightningStrikes posted...

They know the study will find no link. Their intention for wasting all that money likely is to further reduce public trust in vaccination. Which will have global impacts and especially affect vulnerable populations worst of all.

The annoying orange's #345678 atrocity.

Antivax is already having some issues that could grow to be fairly big considering the current TB and measles outbreaks in the US. People seriously lack proper education on it because muh Facebook said vaccines is bad

I fully expect a non-trivial amount of dead unvaccinated kids over the next decade. It was trending towards this even before Trump and this will make it all worse. I have no idea if that will swing things back to "oh wait vaccines are actually not bad" or if these people will just dig their heels in more though. I suspect the latter.

Suprak_the_Stud posted...

I fully expect a non-trivial amount of dead unvaccinated kids over the next decade. It was trending towards this even before Trump and this will make it all worse. I have no idea if that will swing things back to "oh wait vaccines are actually not bad" or if these people will just dig their heels in more though. I suspect the latter.

Drawinism at its finest.

Suprak_the_Stud posted...

I have no idea if that will swing things back to "oh wait vaccines are actually not bad" or if these people will just dig their heels in more though. I suspect the latter.

I kinda feel like it'll take either a disease with a very high mortality rate that a vaccine basically takes to zero (And I mean really high, like 50/50) or one that may be survivable without a vaccine but cause permanent physical disability - that, again, a vaccine basically prevents entirely.

...COVID sorta exhibited both traits but not at a high enough level (I guess. You'd think millions of deaths would move the needle but I guess not!)

USA did relatively well on COVID vaccination rates thanks to the actions of one Joseph Robinette Biden Jr but it did not seem to extend to broader attitudes towards vaccination and now Trump and cronies are making it much worse.

LightningStrikes posted...

USA did relatively well on COVID vaccination rates thanks to the actions of one Joseph Robinette Biden Jr but it did not seem to extend to broader attitudes towards vaccination and now Trump and cronies are making it much worse.

All Trump had to do was not be a moron with covid and then he wins 2020 easily as we are unlikely to boot a sitting president in a crisis.

DoctorPiranha3 posted...

Drawinism at its finest.

It's only Darwinism if the anti-vaxxers die. If their kids die that's just manslaughter via child neglect.

Kenri posted...

It's only Darwinism if the anti-vaxxers die. If their kids die that's just manslaughter via child neglect.

Drawinism also has to do with culture and society. It's definitely deplorable that these peoples' negligence is basically killing their children, it's also likely that the children would also adopt the anti-vaxx stance that their shitty parentd and their greater community will influence and beat down on them.

Darwinism applied to society, eh?

PerfectChaosZ posted...

But they already did this study

yeah but now they can get the results they want!

Kenri posted...

It's only Darwinism if the anti-vaxxers die. If their kids die that's just manslaughter via child neglect.

if your genes don't pass on it's the same thing

Lots of invisible posts these last few topics huh

It was also Darwinism when people died of COVID for not wearing masks properly.

Sheep007 posted...

Lots of invisible posts these last few topics huh

No kidding. Someone still has me blocked, it seems lol

I received 3 interesting emails at work today.

Email #1: From our new HR overlords to let us know that we need to make sure all our information is up to date and inform us about the upcoming Reduction in Force (RIF) that is going occur as a result of the orders from DOGE. The RIF proposal isn't available yet, but this is the first acknowledgement about it that is coming from official channels. Everything I knew about the RIF already was from articles online.

Email #2: About 90 minutes later we get another email telling us that we are required to sign a new telework agreement. They are refusing to acknowledge our very legal telework agreement from December and are now they are forcing us to sign a new agreement and to do it immediately. We had less than an hour in which to respond.

This second one is particularly suspicious because the terms of the new agreement effectively make it a NON telework agreement. Presumably they will point to it and say "I know we aren't supposed to be allowed to ignore that December agreement, but look, they willingly signed this shiny new one that says they don't get to telework!".

The timing meant that we had next to no time to reach out to the union or get their official position on how to respond. The quick response we got from the union was very half hearted and indicated that it would be our own personal decision if we wanted to sign this new telework agreement or not. They provided us some with language to include if we decided to sign.

I believe the majority of my unit decided not to sign it. If I hadn't just purchased my house 3 weeks ago I might have had the courage to join them, but instead I elected to sign the new agreement and I included the recommended paragraph from the union. It effectively states that I object to being forced to sign this agreement when I have a perfectly valid agreement from 3 months ago and that if they have to recognize the December agreement it should take priority over my newly signed one. Still, as a 1-2 punch the threat of the upcoming RIF followed by the telework paperwork demand was a very effective way to scare me into signing something I definitely did not want to and otherwise might not have signed.

.

And Email #3? This one came in 15 minutes after my shift had ended and it was to remind us that today is "Employee Appreciate Day". Well they can fuck right off with that, lol.

yeah i hope they get taken to the cleaners for clearly trying to get you all to sign contracts under duress

we know they won't though

LightningStrikes posted...

USA did relatively well on COVID vaccination rates thanks to the actions of one Joseph Robinette Biden Jr but it did not seem to extend to broader attitudes towards vaccination and now Trump and cronies are making it much worse.

The vast majority of US anti vaxxers took the jab because they didn't want to die. It's a private choice and does not stop them from being anti vax publicly. So there isn't really a way to stop the anti vax movement even with a much deadlier disease. Any disease will always seem minor since modern vaccines are so good.

Forceful_Dragon posted...

And Email #3? This one came in 15 minutes after my shift had ended and it was to remind us that today is "Employee Appreciate Day". Well they can fuck right off with that, lol.

That is some Hollywood level of comedic timing.

https://www.newsweek.com/military-remove-enola-gay-photos-dei-rules-2041029

It's astounding that even when asked that's defended. Like just admitting you're too lazy to enact your own policies beyond using a word filter is something they can't even put the thought into.

v_charon posted...

It's astounding that even when asked that's defended. Like just admitting you're too lazy to enact your own policies beyond using a word filter is something they can't even put the thought into.

I don't know if it's that surprising. If these people gave a shit about history and facts, they probably wouldn't be conservatives. It makes perfect sense that they value censoring any use of the word "gay" much more than they value photos of an old plane.

Propublica is godlike rn

https://www.propublica.org/article/telegram-terrorgram-collective-bratislava-murders-neo-nazi-online-hate

Kenri posted...

I don't know if it's that surprising. If these people gave a shit about history and facts, they probably wouldn't be conservatives. It makes perfect sense that they value censoring any use of the word "gay" much more than they value photos of an old plane.

kinda like the transition services for special needs people- that's not what they were gunning for but I'm sure they don't mind axing it anyway

Just got a message from my supervisor that my telework will continue until further notice.

The only source I can find for this right now is a reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/s/rHN6PPo1Li

So it might only apply to phone CSRs, but the logic is that making us return to office would reduce our performance and harm taxpayers during the tax season. If that's not an admission that we work BETTER at home then I don't know what is.

Personally I have far fewer tech issues when I'm working from home and I get a lot less complaints from people saying that can't hear me. I have my own private room at home to work privately from, but I'm within close proximity to a bunch of other people in the office.

I'm still stressed that they took away our overtime for the next pay period, and that the funding might lapse Friday and that they might just fire us all in a few months regardless... but at least this is one less worry for the moment.

You do understand that your new bosses (Vought, Musk, Trump) want to make your job terrible so you quit right? They don't care at all about process or productivity right now.

Someone in your managerial chain does though, I guess? Do you know who is the highest executive who is still trying to keep things productive? That would be very interesting to know, because they are effectively at the front lines of the resistance.

If your goal is to keep your job during this period of crackdown, as a form of protest, I think it would be prudent to find that executive and tell them you are committed to defending your agency. They probably don't know how many allies they have under them.

That said, fuck the IRS.