I'm heartened by this story of a 19 year old texan activist who was shamed by the insectoid suspected pedophile Matt Gaetz for being ugly and overweight. She used the high profile insults to raise over 100k for abortion rights 😆.
https://twitter.com/thelilynew…xbNfgS3uJJo5PVuZlnfA&s=19
Edit: update, she has raised 400k now. She also challenged him to stop this Twitter fighting nonsense, and asked when they can settle their differences like adults: an arm-wrestle. She's brilliant.
Pawciob1, this information is out there. You have to perform research to find it.
TGA
I think he or she just did.
If Phil could do an album like Johnny Cash's last few efforts, or Neil Diamond's albums with RIck Rubin, I would eat it up, not to mention that songs like that would take us back to his peak, i.e. the first two solo albums.
Warren Zevon's last effort comes to mind as another good comparator, if this hypothetical Phil album were to emerge.
How about this for an idea? A Republican and Democrat must run on the same ticket, guaranteeing that something gets done for the people and not the party.
Not so sure. They have a similar arrangement in Northern Ireland with a first minister and deputy first minister, where the first minister comes from the party with the largest Republican or unionist share of the vote, and the deputy from the largest party of the other stripe (even if that party wasn't the second biggest overall). The idea is to force opponents to work together. Since the start the first minister has been a unionist, but in the last elections a Republican party won the biggest share of the vote, and do you think there's a Republican first Minister now? Not a chance. The largest unionist party refused to form a government. In addition, there have been months and years long stretches where the government ceased functioning because of impasses. I'm not convinced Dems and the GOP would be any better.
I'm also very cynical and believe that, rather than 'party first', US politicians are bought and paid for, and it's actually 'lobbyist first'. I think this is presently true more for repubs than Dems, but look at the situation that's been created. Dems control all three branches of government and are losing on all the major issues their supporters - and the majority of the electorate by most polls - care about. Minority views on abortion, gun control, the climate, healthcare provision etc prevail. And in any debate or argument repubs in future elections can say 'how is it our fault, we weren't even in power '. It's an appalling situation and the Dems need to grow a backbone rapidly. I question whether they have it in them to overcome the poison of vested interests.
Argh. WMG blocked it in the US on copyright grounds.
Rammstein. I can't get enough of them. I may even have to print out the lyrics so I can read them & then look at the translations.
Have you seen them live? I can't remember if I asked elsewhere as I know you've commented before on being a huge fan. I saw them in Dublin once. Amazing show but HOT 🥵.
I guess they wouldn't have an MP elected as PM, as USA president is not a current senator or congressman, but as for preferring the American system, with a person chosen by the electorate, look how well that has worked out for the US. Trump? Biden, W, to name but three. Among other issues with that system is that you have to be incredibly rich to qualify. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it shouldn't be a qualification, or a bar.
Just to point out the obvious, only one of the 3 you mentioned were really chosen by the electorate, Trump and W lost the popular vote.
On the topic, I wonder who the candidates will be in 2024. Biden will be seriously old for running a campaign. I can see DeSantis or the like coming out on top in the republican primaries. But who on the Dems side? Warren or Buttigieg maybe?
I feel like this will be heavily contingent on when you were born.
For me, the 1990s hands down. Followed by the 80s, then 2010s then 1970s. I haven't listened to enough 60s or older music and the 2000s were dreadful, with some highlights here and there.
We had our first warning for heat that I can recall, it's persistently in the mid 30s but humid. The fire service have a few events where they hose down kids for fun/to cool them off 😀.
Not happy with the way climate change is apparently becoming manifest though. It's a very big ship to turn around.
Display MoreAnd will be a slightly different flavour of shit from Johnson. Her voting record is terrible on social issues, very much in line with the classic tory mindset of helping the rich by voting for tax breaks for high earners and against mansion tax while voting down any proposals to increase benefits at least in line with cost of living. As disability minister under May she was awful and seemed disinclined to do anything to help disabled people. She's wholeheartedly leapt aboard the Culture War Express and rowing back on comments she previously made regarding gender recognition.
But it almost doesn't matter who ends up as PM, whether it's PM as PM or someone else. Nothing much will change. Instead of being served a plate of fox turds, we'll be given a bowl of hog's vomit. How the fuck are you supposed to choose between them?
Yes, many regard her as a sort of Thatcher analogue. I detested Thatcher but compared to what we have now, as objectionable as she was she actually had honour and integrity, both currently absent in much of global politics.
EDIT: Just seen that her campaign video, which featured people without their permission who've asked to be removed, also mentions nurses while showing footage from a Madrid hospital.
She'll definitely win.
Ugh. You'd almost feel for the rare politician that's honest.
I am curious... Do you think Scotland will make another push for independence and rejoining the EU in years to come?
Clearly none of you guys has ever been travelling with trains in Germany.
As it happens, you've just reminded me that during my time inter-railing - mentioned above - my friend and I had a particularly rough sequence of nights out at one point with very, very little sleep had. All nighters in Tresor in Berlin. We were then traveling through Germany en route to somewhere else, maybe Switzerland, and when the ticket inspector came around I showed him mine, but my friend was unconscious. Like seriously the guy's Glasgow Coma Scale would have been close to 3. He was totally unresponsive. The inspector stood there for 10 minutes shaking him and bellowing "junger mann! Junger mann!" before giving up.
Solid input guys! Think I'll go with the train. Flying is so unpleasant nowadays. And the pricing is so cynical - an $89 ticket if you want to choose a seat, get something to eat or drink, check a bag or sometimes even just carry on, priority boarding so the overhead space isn't full and you end up checking your 'carry-on' etc etc end up being $230 or something. Not to mention security lines.
I might spring for a first class ticket for the trip down, where the train is already 60% full, to mitigate against the crowding issue, and get a regular ticket back where it's only at 10%. This will nudge the price just over the flight, but not by much.
Should I get the train from Boston to Philly, or should I fly?
Train is about 5 hours and cheaper. Flight is an hour and a half, but add in going to the airport two hours early, and it's more expensive.
My sensibilities lean towards train travel as flying has become a ghastly ordeal. I inter railed through Europe a long time ago, and generally like traveling by train. However, the northeast corridor is busy and I have been on a couple of very crowded trains. An hour and a half for the flight sounds very short.
So, train or plane?
Not many covers by Genesis, but the topic reminds me of this site which has over a hundred (I think) examples of Genesis songs being sampled by other artists. Always get a kick out of really old songs like The Knife featuring in rap songs. And there's an absurd remix of Suppers Ready in there somewhere.
Found this lovely Smashing Pumpkins demo I remember hearing twenty years ago and not since.
Part 2 of season 4 Stranger Things streams this Friday. Cannot wait as this will conclude this story.
It was very, very overwrought but I enjoyed it immensely.
Best part was the music - Siouxie's Spellbound chronologically appropriately seeing things out, and Moby's majestic When It's Cold I'd Like To Die totally chronologically inappropriately (but majestically) appearing when someone was about to die.
For me, it's probably the most touching song on ...BS
I lost my father quite unexpectedly a few years ago
Very sorry to hear that Christian. Music can be so powerful in stirring up the exactly right emotions.
https://twitter.com/Thom_Hartm…KSdNG7W37CQCiLK08Vqw&s=19
Biden seems like a good guy but if the Dems don't grow balls (or prove me wrong about where their interests really lie) and start fighting really dirty really fast we are all going to be in deep shit.
This scotus case is real.
He has tools at his disposal, he just won't use them.
Also occurs to me that red states are supposedly dependent on blue states to some extent, financially. Some states contribute to the federal coffers while others rely on them. Yet those red states seem to have the more populous blue states by the throat despite the fact that the so-called democrats run all three branches of the executive.
It's *almost* as if they could change it if they want to, they just don't want to. Some political commentator claimed the US has one political party, the "business" party, with two wings, the republican and democratic wings.
I don't know what to think about that but it does look like the regular joe and Jane soap are at the heart of no one's interests.
It's taking me a while to get into the new Foals. I do find them a bit hit-and-miss. I got into them via Total Life Forever. Working my way back, I've never got on with Antidotes. Really like the run of albums after TLL until ENSWBL 1 which I thought mediocre... But then really liked part 2.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the new album, it's a bit one dimensional compared to their prior outings. I had a similar thing with the ENSWBL albums, and only listened to the second one for ages. When I went back to the first it was better than I remembered. I'm just getting into TLL and the two that followed. They're dense which makes getting into them all the more enjoyable. Really liking their stuff.
