That’s fair. Rule of law is under assault from every direction in the the US. It is hard to write a concise headline that includes the words “and yet another…”

Not forever, obviously. But a lot of very small portfolio investors have bought meme stocks in enough quantities to prop up the price for a while. Take DJT, the Trump media stock. The company made less than one well-paid lawyer last year and has no serious business prospects, yet the price goes up. It sure as heck isn’t berkshire hathaway or some big institutional investor buying THAT hot garbage. If someone who rolls coal owns stock in Tesla, it’s not because they believe in decarbonizing the economy; they liked Musk’s nazi salutes and nazi tweets and his proximity to trump. “Owning the libs” is not a tested investment strategy, but my personal opinion is that a whole lotta small-time investors will lose their (very modest) life savings when the stock price of these BS companies eventually collapses.

Are any Americans uncomfortable about the fact that your leader has the mental age of a 6-year-old? To put it mildly, this would be a poor use of funds.

LOL - THAT’s what’s threatening rule of law in the US? Not extrajudicial arrests and deportations to unregulated prisons in foreign countries?

Whelp, movies just got added to my boycott of US crap.

To a Trump worshipper, this headline reads “buy, buy, BUY!”

He left already? Then it’s finally time for his going away party!!!

If you’re an american scientist, please consider moving to Canada. We value knowledge here, and we need your help. When things completely fall apart in the USA, your shithead president will have to start a war to distract from his evil and incompetence. Any expertise you bring (and deny the fascists) will be a great help!

I know you’re right, but think how funny it would be…

At this point, my grudge is with the entire board and any investors who didn’t sell their shares when they were over $400 and the CEO was tweeting hate speech and throwing Nazi salutes. Elon can walk away or stay, I don’t care. If you hold Tesla stock, you are either a Nazi or ok with Nazis. I will never pass a Tesla without spitting on it.

There is so much irony floating around. I like to pretend that some big-brained environmentalist bugs-bunnied Trump into doing this: “pwease mr trump, don’t shrink the american carbon footprint! it would be tewible if you ended mass consumerism and geometric economic growth! and pwease, pwease, don’t end american exceptionalism and global hegemony!”

Seriously, though, we have to make sure that the history books emphasize that all this was due to blundering and not calculation, or Trump could forever be admired as the wokest president in history.

If i need wifi, bluetooth, or an app to use a product that shouldn’t need it (eg a toaster, toothbrush) i will not buy it. i also won’t buy a wireless device (say a bluetooth speaker) if it requires an app. I would be willing to pay $500 more to have a tv with no smart features than a ‘smart’ tv. corporations: keep your shitty malware. my phone is a temple.

It was nice to read your reply! Digital tools are fine but i find nothing beats paper for making art.

I was also pleasantly surprised to have a comfortable one-on-one with my minister. Her thinking is very sophisticated - even when it comes to her own faith - and she is completely sincere about recognizing and making amends for historic wrongs committed by the church.

So at my church, we just stream the sunday service on Youtube. I would rather use peertube or something but I am not sure how some people would react to the change. At least one of our viewers uses a screen reader to browse; i don’t want to complicate her life.

SCOTUS gave trump blanket immunity for all crimes committed while he is president. In any case, he has already defied the courts with impunity. Cops and military are overwhelmingly Trump supporters, and most of them know so little about the constitution that any pledges to uphold it are meaningless. Your next election will be engineered to have one outcome: victory for Trump. Americans need to realize that there are no longer any legal methods to resist.

I want to second your comments about social media and algorithmic marketing. I completely stopped watching youtube unless a human recommended the video or i searched for the content myself. I don’t take recommendations from machine learning models - especially not ones designed and tuned to enrich billionaires at the expense of health, society, and democracy.

This probably sounds quaint, but i have returned to paper for my news/arts/culture stuff. I figure that if it is worth printing, it is more likely to be worth reading. Audio books can be nice, but I limit even them because they can intrude too much on my thinking time. I think part of the stress and fatigue i used to feel was related to a lack of reflection. It is good and healthy to just think. I am starting to wonder if daydreaming is a bit like daily exercise- not doing enough will really fuck you up.

One more thing i started doing that helped with my anomie was getting involved in helping people. I started volunteering at a church. Now, I am an atheist and very open about it (without, i hope, being a dick). But i found a church that is compatible with my beliefs and they do some nice community outreach. No one there has ever tried to convert me, so i extend them the same courtesy. The work is nothing heroic: i help stream the service so the elderly and disabled members (congregants?) can watch from home when they can’t make it, i help with the semi-annual food drive, and every now and then i make coffee for the old ladies while they have their meetings. It has made a huge difference in how i feel about my community. When i go out, i see friends and friendly people throughout the city. I feel like i am plugged into a mutual aid society and (try not to laugh) it makes me feel important in a way that work, school, and gym never did.

i’m not actually angry at journalists. i was making fun of the click baity headline. i don’t know how many variations of “even the most pessimistic x didn’t expect trump to be THIS bad.” Yes, i did.

I’m so fucking tired of journalists underestimating the fear that scientists felt when shithead got reelected. How could reality exceed my worst fears when i am expecting the literal fucking apocalypse?

drop the flop.

Because in the official narrative, China is paying the tariffs, out of the goodness of their hearts. Just like mexico paid for that yuge wall around your country