This makes me feel old, but not as much as realizing I’m less than 10 years from senior discounts

Someone has got to start talking about “inclusion” instead of division

You know what…I’d rather live in the Looney Toons universe over whatever the hellscape we’re living in now is.

Also I seriously want to visit an arcade now.

Stairway to Heaven / Highway to Hell

I agree with your version of entering hell being a trap door. Heaven would look like an alien abduction.

I think that’s very subjective to each person doing the recommending and also the person wanting said recommendations preferences.

Song; Hunger Strike by Temple Of The Dog

Bands: Linkin Park and Soundgarden

Kurt Cobain was the first death that really freaking hit me as a teenager, but I am not bothered by Nirvana.

When Dime got killed it took me a while to be able to listen to Pantera again. That was a damn gut punch.

Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington still haunt me to this day because I felt like I was seen when I listened to their music — especially Chester. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life and have attempted 3 times (along with being an alcoholic). Those two bands just remind me of the dark times and I never want to go back.

Hunger Strike just because Cornell was part of that band and I loved the hell out of that song.

Bonus song: Bother by Stone Sour

Take everything I said above and multiply it by 100 with this song. Every word feels like a mirror on my soul and things get ugly

Ben Stiller

I just can’t. He makes me anxious just seeing him on screen. I so want to watch Meet the Fockers because DeNiro is one of my faves, I just can’t do it.

I dunno, I enjoyed the hell out of his acting in Sons of Anarchy

Holy cow!

Any guess as to what will happen? The US also has a debt ceiling issue coming up very soon too

I have both Medicaid and Medicare because I don’t make enough on SSDI to be able to afford Medicare premiums but it’s a requirement of SSDI to have it.

“There are 18 very important trading relationships, and we are currently negotiating with 17 of those trading partners,” Bessent told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on Tuesday. “Approximately 97 or 98% of our trade deficit is with 15 countries, 18% of the countries are our major trading partners. And I would be surprised if we don’t have more than 80 or 90% of those wrapped up by the end of the year, and that may be much sooner.”

Uhhh…I’m not sure you understand the gravity of the self-made situation when you have major retailers saying shelves could be empty in weeks because of this stupidity.

“Obviously, we’re working as expeditiously as possible, but we’re not trying to make deals that are Band-Aids for the sake of making deals,” the official added.

But…the whole point of Medicaid was that it is there to cover those who are poor because they wouldn’t be able to afford health care otherwise.

I’m on SSDI and get Medicaid and Medicare with the only cost to me being the Medicare Part B coverage that is close to $200/month. I don’t pay copays or for any of my prescriptions. However I have noticed the quality of my healthcare from the same doctor that I had while on private pay health insurance has taken a nosedive. My guess is the office doesn’t want to deal with Medicaid or Medicare more than they have to. Or my health could just be that bad, either way it’s worse.

If this proposal ends up as legislation I would end up having to pay copays for health services and prescriptions I use right now that would most likely not be financially viable. If Medicaid gets taken away from me completely I lose all access and if stopping medications doesn’t kill me then the lack of oxygen due to extreme sleep apnea will.

I’m so sick of being terrified the last few months (SSDI, Medicaid/Medicare, and HUD housing). Just fucking do it already and get this over with instead of fucking torturing those of us at the bottom more than we’ve already been tortured just going through the process of trying to get access to these programs.

Oh, I’ve been absolutely terrified ever since I became a member of the “parasite” class:

From my standpoint as an American citizen of at least 3 generations, I don’t think balkanization will be happen here, just because the divisions aren’t neatly aligned as of 2020.

Cities tend to be Democrat, rural areas tend to be Republican – regardless of state. It’s not like the Civil War where it was more easily divided.

What’s more likely to happen is a full on economic collapse soon. Where things go from there is anyone’s guess – but I don’t see balkanization as a part of it. If Trump and team declare martial law and start doing even more human atrocities it might be the spark for WW3. Does that happen before China attacks Taiwan and start WW3?

Regardless of what happens, this is going to be ugly and a whole lot of people are going to die.

Jokes on them! I’ve been “disabled” my whole life.

Whatever work they get out of me will be about as productive as having an elephant try to do needlepoint.

I don’t know if it’s necessarily a problem with AI, more of a problem with humans in general.

Hearing ONLY validation and encouragement without pushback regardless of how stupid a person’s thinking might be is most likely what creates these issues in my very uneducated mind. It forms a toxically positive echo-chamber.

The same way hearing ONLY criticism and expecting perfection 100% of the time regardless of a person’s capabilities or interests created depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and attempts specifically for me. But I’m learning I’m not the only one with these experiences and the one thing in common is zero validation from caregivers.

I’d be ok with AI if it could be balanced and actually pushback on batshit crazy thinking instead of encouraging it while also able to validate common sense and critical thinking. Right now it’s just completely toxic for lonely humans to interact with based on my personal experience. If I wasn’t in recovery, I would have believed that AI was all I needed to make my life better because I was (and still am) in a very messed up state of mind from my caregivers, trauma, and addiction.

I’m in my 40s, so I can’t imagine younger generations being able to pull away from using it constantly if they’re constantly being validated while at the same time enduring generational trauma at the very least from their caregivers.

Yeah I saw the public broadcasting defunding one. To be honest, I lost track of all the things going on because I’ve been so focused on Social Security, Medicaid, and HUD because anything that happens to them affects me in some way more than anything else being on disability and in HUD housing.

I imagine once things come up in the Supreme Court we’ll see a flurry of activity regardless of their decisions

St. Upid

I was born and raised as a Catholic, did my time in Catholic school until I graduated high school. Too many years later (more than I care to admit) and several different beliefs later I still automatically don’t see the abbreviation and see the “Saint” instead. It was ingrained in my damn DNA.

I was like… Saint Upid? huh? Then it hit me and I almost busted a gut laughing so hard.

No, only states do. Although territories have members in congress, they can’t vote on any legislation. They have a government set up by Congress and pretty much oversee themselves with no ability to influence elections or laws in the states. The last territory to become a state was Hawaii. Territories are land grabs, statehood comes after that.

Canada would unfortunately be a land grab for the resources and nothing else for Trump. It would be ravaged and the people of Canada would suffer greatly for it without an ounce of ability to do anything about it.

I don’t think Trump is actually running the white house anymore. Watching the project 2025 checklist, it’s far too complete for Trump to be able to dictate any of it.

What bothers me more is that it’s been stuck at 42% complete for what seems like a month. Things have taken a nose dive compared to the first couple of months. Makes me wonder if we’re going to go from 42% to 80% with martial law all at once soon.