Just checking in. We're nearly a quarter of the way through the first quarter of the USian national nightmare, assuming it actually ends and there's still a USA when it does. Feels like everything's a dumpster fire. Some of my personal favorite parts are the way this administration is destroying my entire career/industry, which will cost lives -- heck, more children are already dying of preventable diseases -- and the way that the administration throwing sieg heils at the inauguration has the audacity to use fighting antisemitism as it excuse for blatant attacks on the first amendment, and the way they've destroyed a solid chunk of the net worth of almost everyone with a retirement account and are busy slashing government services and protections but are still planning to raise taxes on most of us to pay for tax cuts for themselves. I've managed to lose about 97% of my respect for Tim Walz in the last three weeks as well. So. Yeah. All around dumpster fire. But hey at least there's a new Superman movie coming soon to restore my faith in truth, justice, and the American way.

> Just checking in. We're nearly a quarter of the way through the first
> quarter of the USian national nightmare, assuming it actually ends and
> there's still a USA when it does. Feels like everything's a dumpster fire.
> Some of my personal favorite parts are the way this administration is
> destroying my entire career/industry, which will cost lives -- heck, more
> children are already dying of preventable diseases -- and the way that the
> administration throwing sieg heils at the inauguration has the audacity to
> use fighting antisemitism as it excuse for blatant attacks on the first
> amendment, and the way they've destroyed a solid chunk of the net worth of
> almost everyone with a retirement account and are busy slashing government
> services and protections but are still planning to raise taxes on most of
> us to pay for tax cuts for themselves. I've managed to lose about 97% of
> my respect for Tim Walz in the last three weeks as well. So. Yeah. All
> around dumpster fire. But hey at least there's a new Superman movie coming
> soon to restore my faith in truth, justice, and the American way.

All Americans are guilty for not doing more to stop Trump. You are a stupid and selfish society. Now you bring the whole world down with you. Assholes!

Fuck Donald J Trump
Fuck All Americans
Fuck The United States

> All Americans are guilty for not doing more to stop Trump. You are a
> stupid and selfish society. Now you bring the whole world down with you.
> Assholes!

> Fuck Donald J Trump
> Fuck All Americans
> Fuck The United States

LOL. Can't really disagree. Keeping it film score related:

Fuck Tritone Chords
Fuck Sucky Orchestras
Fuck Mark Isham

> LOL. Can't really disagree. Keeping it film score related:

> Fuck Tritone Chords

If done well, they can be rather...szintillating?

> Fuck Sucky Orchestras

A local issue?

> Fuck Mark Isham

...nope. Outside my age-bracket. Wrong religion, too.

> Fuck Mark Isham

My first reaction: Wait, hold on, why him *specifically*?

My second reaction: Oh, so that's why. Totally forgot about that.

> All Americans are guilty for not doing more to stop Trump. You are a
> stupid and selfish society. Now you bring the whole world down with you.
> Assholes!

> Fuck Donald J Trump
> Fuck All Americans
> Fuck The United States

Lest you feel left out:

Fuck You Too.

I'm not afraid of Trump. I really ought to have followed my ancestors' lead in emigrating overseas and staying there.

I'm not afraid of Putin. If I could speak Russian fluently, I'd seriously consider moving there. I know upwards of 80 religious and folk songs, plus a few in Ukrainian and even Bashkirian, and like the food...and Russia's got volcanoes!

I wasn't afraid of Covid after early summer of 2020. Still aren't.

What I am afraid of? E. g., my fellow countrymen who wanted people like me kicked out of work or put into a camp for refusing to get the vaccine. Or who sic the police to raid someone's home at six in the morning for having made fun of our big-headed politicians, all of whom I'd like to meet that ripping-people-apart vortex from 'Mission to Mars' for what they're doing to this country. And people that pride themselves for being war-mongerers, and not advocates for peace.

The Sun will continue to rise, Riley. In my country as in yours, even if it will take another couple of years. As for us...methinks that all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. Fear is not a good counselor. Trust Gandalf on this one.

Kühni

> I'm not afraid of Trump. I really ought to have followed my ancestors'
> lead in emigrating overseas and staying there.

> I'm not afraid of Putin. If I could speak Russian fluently, I'd seriously
> consider moving there. I know upwards of 80 religious and folk songs, plus
> a few in Ukrainian and even Bashkirian, and like the food...and Russia's
> got volcanoes!

> I wasn't afraid of Covid after early summer of 2020. Still aren't.

> What I am afraid of? E. g., my fellow countrymen who wanted people like me
> kicked out of work or put into a camp for refusing to get the vaccine. Or
> who sic the police to raid someone's home at six in the morning for having
> made fun of our big-headed politicians, all of whom I'd like to meet that
> ripping-people-apart vortex from 'Mission to Mars' for what they're doing
> to this country. And people that pride themselves for being war-mongerers,
> and not advocates for peace.

> The Sun will continue to rise, Riley. In my country as in yours,
> even if it will take another couple of years. As for us...methinks that
> all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
> Fear is not a good counselor. Trust Gandalf on this one.

> Kühni

This.

> I'm not afraid of Trump. I really ought to have followed my ancestors'
> lead in emigrating overseas and staying there.

> I'm not afraid of Putin. If I could speak Russian fluently, I'd seriously
> consider moving there. I know upwards of 80 religious and folk songs, plus
> a few in Ukrainian and even Bashkirian, and like the food...and Russia's
> got volcanoes!

> I wasn't afraid of Covid after early summer of 2020. Still aren't.

> What I am afraid of? E. g., my fellow countrymen who wanted people like me
> kicked out of work or put into a camp for refusing to get the vaccine. Or
> who sic the police to raid someone's home at six in the morning for having
> made fun of our big-headed politicians, all of whom I'd like to meet that
> ripping-people-apart vortex from 'Mission to Mars' for what they're doing
> to this country. And people that pride themselves for being war-mongerers,
> and not advocates for peace.

> The Sun will continue to rise, Riley. In my country as in yours,
> even if it will take another couple of years. As for us...methinks that
> all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
> Fear is not a good counselor. Trust Gandalf on this one.

> Kühni

CK, we've been friends for a long time (though not as long as you've known some of the others here), so please hear me out on this.

It's deeply unsettling to see you talk like this. I'd say this doesn't sound like you but I've gotten the sense in some of your comments, especially over the last five-ish years, that you've been drifting in this direction. I've mostly avoided engaging because I don't know what specifically is going on in your life or in Germany. I don't want to discount your lived experience and whatever you've dealt with. But in that same vein, it's uncomfortable and frustrating to see you dismissing Riley's fear and anger, and to an extent the fear and anger the Americans in this thread are expressing over Trump. The man keeps threatening to annex Canada, his goons are disappearing innocent people, they shipped a guy off to a prison in El Salvador because his tattoos looked suspicious to them, they're tearing apart any government function that's designed to actually help people, they're gutting research funding, they're demonizing and persecuting trans people, their "anti-DEIA" stance is code for resegregation, and he's steering the whole world towards a recession or worse by launching the most unnecessary, poorly thought out, and moronic trade war in history. There's plenty to be alarmed about.

It's also alarming to see a fellow scientist shrugging off covid and not getting vaccinated. I don't want you thrown in a camp for it, but I think it's very risky and irresponsible because the whole idea of vaccination goes beyond one person's choices. I'm going to assume the war-monger comment is in reference to people expressing support for Ukraine and not those supporting Putin, who, y'know, actually started the war, and that's also very troubling.

I don't know where we go from here man. It's hard for me to reconcile the friend I've gotten to know and care for over the last 10+ years with the guy posting stuff like this, with opinions that run so counter to what I know and believe about the world. Do we just stick to scores? Avoid all the other conversation topics like estranged relatives at a family reunion? Sweeping it all under the rug seems like an awkward half measure. I just don't know.

> Just checking in. We're nearly a quarter of the way through the first
> quarter of the USian national nightmare, assuming it actually ends and
> there's still a USA when it does. Feels like everything's a dumpster fire.
> Some of my personal favorite parts are the way this administration is
> destroying my entire career/industry, which will cost lives -- heck, more
> children are already dying of preventable diseases -- and the way that the
> administration throwing sieg heils at the inauguration has the audacity to
> use fighting antisemitism as it excuse for blatant attacks on the first
> amendment, and the way they've destroyed a solid chunk of the net worth of
> almost everyone with a retirement account and are busy slashing government
> services and protections but are still planning to raise taxes on most of
> us to pay for tax cuts for themselves. I've managed to lose about 97% of
> my respect for Tim Walz in the last three weeks as well.

Wait what did Tim Walz do?

> So. Yeah. All
> around dumpster fire. But hey at least there's a new Superman movie coming
> soon to restore my faith in truth, justice, and the American way.

I feel you. I quipped a month ago "Of all the moments in history to have science degrees." There are so many professions (teaching, research, medicine, etc) that have a worldview and philosophy and ethics that seem to be antithetical to what the people in charge believe. Hard not to take that personally. And yeah, I have no idea what's going to happen with the economy.

It's all a mess. I'm not sugarcoating that and I'm not trying to get into any superficial toxic positivity baloney. But I'm trying to find my hope and focus on what's within my control. Trying to take care of myself and focus on finding a job I want as a first step to being able to deal with the other things. Seeing Cory Booker last week talk for 25 hours about what's going on and giving voice to his constituents' fear and anger made me happy to see someone trying to step up. Seeing people turn out in protest last weekend all over the country, even in like middle of nowhere Idaho, was really bracing. We're not alone, and there are tons of us who are pissed off, who share our love for this country and anger about what's happening, and maybe we can find a way forward.

> Wait what did Tim Walz do?

The day that the feds rescinded billions of dollars in public health funding, including hundreds of millions to my state . . . that evening, instead of speaking to how that would affect that state's ability to serve its people, he released an out-of-nowhere, unilateral return-to-office mandate for state workers. As the state's department of health has lost a quarter of its annual funding and is going through what they keep euphemistically calling things like an "RIF exercise" and which is actually a decimation he's out touring instead of doing anything to connect with or protect the workers he says he cares about.

> It's all a mess. I'm not sugarcoating that and I'm not trying to get into
> any superficial toxic positivity baloney. But I'm trying to find my hope
> and focus on what's within my control. Trying to take care of myself and
> focus on finding a job I want as a first step to being able to deal with
> the other things. Seeing Cory Booker last week talk for 25 hours about
> what's going on and giving voice to his constituents' fear and anger made
> me happy to see someone trying to step up. Seeing people turn out in
> protest last weekend all over the country, even in like middle of nowhere
> Idaho, was really bracing. We're not alone, and there are tons of us who
> are pissed off, who share our love for this country and anger about what's
> happening, and maybe we can find a way forward.

Yeah, there are times I feel some hope, and there are others that it's hard not to be cynical. Did he roll back some tariffs because they were deeply unpopular, or did he roll back some tariffs so his billionaire investor pals could enjoy a beautiful redistribution of hundreds of billions of dollars into their portfolios? It feels like we're rapidly approaching "everyone we don't like is a domestic terrorist" territory and then no one will be safe. I really want to find a way forward without violence and I really don't want to get from "I can't afford to leave the country" to "I can't afford to stay" but I'm really concerned about the trendlines.

> The day that the feds rescinded billions of dollars in public health
> funding, including hundreds of millions to my state . . . that evening,
> instead of speaking to how that would affect that state's ability to serve
> its people, he released an out-of-nowhere, unilateral return-to-office
> mandate for state workers. As the state's department of health has lost a
> quarter of its annual funding and is going through what they keep
> euphemistically calling things like an 'RIF exercise' and which is
> actually a decimation he's out touring instead of doing anything to
> connect with or protect the workers he says he cares about.

Damn, that's frustrating. :/

> Yeah, there are times I feel some hope, and there are others that it's
> hard not to be cynical.

It does feel like we've traded off at times lol. Cynicism and despair aren't unwarranted. Also I'm mildly amused that most of the responses in the thread are from non-Americans (or in Tina's case, troll taking a non-American POV).

> Did he roll back some tariffs because they were
> deeply unpopular, or did he roll back some tariffs so his billionaire
> investor pals could enjoy a beautiful redistribution of hundreds of
> billions of dollars into their portfolios?

Bit of both, plus all of them making this up as they go.

> It feels like we're rapidly
> approaching 'everyone we don't like is a domestic terrorist' territory and
> then no one will be safe. I really want to find a way forward without
> violence and I really don't want to get from 'I can't afford to leave the
> country' to 'I can't afford to stay' but I'm really concerned about the
> trendlines.

Maybe. The thought that keeps overriding my considering where to go is "screw them, this is my home too."

Don't just embrace life's pleasures. Strap them to yourself!

> Just checking in. We're nearly a quarter of the way through the first
> quarter of the USian national nightmare, assuming it actually ends and
> there's still a USA when it does. Feels like everything's a dumpster fire.
> Some of my personal favorite parts are the way this administration is
> destroying my entire career/industry, which will cost lives -- heck, more
> children are already dying of preventable diseases -- and the way that the
> administration throwing sieg heils at the inauguration has the audacity to
> use fighting antisemitism as it excuse for blatant attacks on the first
> amendment, and the way they've destroyed a solid chunk of the net worth of
> almost everyone with a retirement account and are busy slashing government
> services and protections but are still planning to raise taxes on most of
> us to pay for tax cuts for themselves. I've managed to lose about 97% of
> my respect for Tim Walz in the last three weeks as well. So. Yeah. All
> around dumpster fire. But hey at least there's a new Superman movie coming
> soon to restore my faith in truth, justice, and the American way.

...last "novelty item" in my Book of Revelations was vaseline.

I can no longer stand talking to anyone in my family. I just can't separate their votes, ignorance, and culpability from who they are. Maybe that's happening for families all across the country. That's a lot of bad vibes in everything we do, everything we breathe. It's a loss of all stability.

I find that I simply want everyone that voted for it, to experience personal pain, however it comes for them. I wish it. Sadly, even that pain and suffering will likely not break through the propaganda and dissonance. That makes me even angrier.

These feelings are not something I'm proud to have, but I don't see a path forward with competing realities until it all burns.

I enjoy the new Wet Leg song.

(Message edited on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at 6:49 a.m.)