Zompist Bboard Again

Have you been following the thread? He's literally just admitted that he's pulling Stefanik's nomination because he's afraid of the results of a special election. https://apnews.com/article/elise-stefanik-united-nations-ambassador-trump-96ef705d7498f080f9f399416b647f99 I assumed that's just the &qu...

Since I don't think Trump does any political calculations, I don't believe he is psychologically capable of stopping short of anything. He will plunge himself, America and the world into an abyss. Have you been following the thread? He's literally just admitted that he's pulling Stefanik's nominati...

I haven't looked into it, but from what I understand, a new executive order effectively allows Musk to purge voters he doesn't like. No he's not because elections are organised and administered at the state level, not the Federal level. As someone pointed out on the socials, an EO isn't a law, it's...

Random unrelated question: Does the 1995 movie Apollo 13 count as any kind of science fiction? Yes, I know, it's not in a fictional future, or any kind of fictional setting. It is, in fact, based on a true story, and one decades in the past when the movie was made. But, that said, it is about space...

Collins called Signalgate "troubling", which is her patented move. I feel like Collins gets way too much credit for occasionally very lightly criticizing her party. LOL. I think most folks see through the game she's playing. In an online discussion of Signalgate, one of the posters asked ...

One thing I note is that the Signal leak seems to be the first time where the Congressional Democrats have really pushed back on the Republicans since Trump was inaugurated... It's just so fucking egregious. Plus the Republicans have been saying for decades that we can't trust national security to ...

If I tell someone "substitute X for Y", does that mean that I want the final outcome to contain X or to contain Y?

(Concrete example: "Substitute regular mayo for chipotle mayo.")

Speaking of spelling pronunciations, how do you guys pronounce figure (the verb)? I am familiar with two pronunciations, /ˈfɪɡər/ and /ˈfɪɡjər/, and apparently the latter is a spelling pronunciation. I have both in my speech. Not sure what governs usage other than that in the expression "Go fi...

Is the "t" in "often" silent? I think I learned it that way long ago, but now I've seen videos where people pronounce it. It can be either. I don't know if it is loss in some places, or loss everywhere and then a spelling pronunciation. "of t en" is a recent spelling p...

Lindemann likes to give his words a darker tone when he sings; few Germans actually speak like that. I once heard a comedy act who was caricaturizing Hitler, and he spoke in a similar way. Interesting. So lowered vowels sounds "darker" to you? (This is particularly germane to my speech, s...

Turkey's main opposition leader is jailed and there are hundreds of thousands on the streets for days despite a ban on demonstrations. I can only look on with envy.

(Of course, the US news media is hardly reporting on this, but that's another rant.)

It makes me sad and scared that my mum, who works in the US on a work visa, might get randomly wrongfully detained and held in detention for being Canadian. And chances are she won't be able to go to my Aunt's wedding this summer for the same reason. I'm sure you've heard the truism that dystopia i...

One thing I noticed from listening to the song Nebel by Rammstein is that Till Lindemann pronounces the word geküsst as what sounds like gek [ø] sst to my ears. Note that while Till Lindemann sings in StG, I have heard things from Germans saying he pronounces it with a noticeable accent beyond mere...

I feel like I've asked this before, but what other adjectives do folks accept after any besides different and good?

(I found myself saying "any good-looking" the other day and I think I've used "any special" before.)

At the root of it, I think that unless you have law enforcement on your side (as happened in South Korea), it’s very difficult to force lawbreakers to stop. Hence people hoping for the court rulings. Which Trump is now openly defying. Apparently Federal courts can deputise state law enforcement age...

Is it just me, or do other people get the impression that there is a very large number of people in the USA wha are shocked! SHOCKED! by what the Trump administration is doing, especially when it's clearly illegal or nonsensical, but seem utterly incapable of doing anything at all about it? It's no...

Ouch! I hope you're doing better. Have you been to a doctor? I wouldn't go for one cold, but a succession of them might be something else. It's been an historically bad flu season this year. Unfortunately I'm not the only person in this boat. I did consult someone for one of my ailments and he told...

Thanks, everyone! I've had an absolutely miserable start to the year. February I was sick more days than I was well. I'm not entirely out of the woods, but at least I'm doing better. Fingers crossed it holds. That's just like me! The first week back after the New Year is the only one I had no time o...

My father died in 2019, but with one thing (e.g. worldwide pandemic) and another, we just got around to distributing the last of his ashes this past Saturday. We'd wanted to do this a couple of years ago when my stepmom was still alive, but the weekend we chose turned out to be the weekend the state...

It really seems like you lacked some life coaching from your family. Try asking a relative or a co-workers how to handle a speeding ticket. My dad used to "fix" speeding tickets all the time. (He was--as y'all may recall--a small-town lawyer in Troy, MO.) I've had an absolutely miserable ...