General News Thread

[aldeayeah]

The best year was 2000 and it's not particularly close. Millenium celebrations, world mostly at peace, absurdly rampant/widespread piracy in the Internet, and Tsukihime release. Also, the year my parents bought a decent PC and a DSL connection.

*sniff*

[Deathhappens]

Oh no, it's infectious!

I (dimly) remember the Millenium celebrations. Specifically, I remember having to hear about the Y2K bug every time we watched the news from November onwards :P

[AsGryffynn]

Oh no, it's infectious!

I (dimly) remember the Millenium celebrations. Specifically, I remember having to hear about the Y2K bug every time we watched the news from November onwards :P

I dimly remember making a big fuss out of New Year solely due to my experience that year (I was in NYC and saw the ball drop up close) and how it shaped my view that New Year's Eve should be the biggest celebration of the whole freaking year.

Nothing to say about the news? I thought it'd be far worse for everyone in here.

[Historia]

I guess there's this
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-46794476

Japan never fails to meet expectations?

Maybe something that doesn't have anything to do with gender / sex stuff? Like, I dunno, ah...

... there really isn't anything, is there? I give up.

AssGriffins,

[AsGryffynn]

Maybe something that doesn't have anything to do with gender / sex stuff? Like, I dunno, ah...

... there really isn't anything, is there? I give up.

AssGriffins,

After using this name for like 8 years straight, I expected no one to bring it up. You're the first one, congrats...

And no, non gender stuff gets even more depressing or isn't newsworthy now... The only thing I can think of is the Shutdown, and that's old news (why don't you Muricans keep the staff budget separate?)

[Historia]

But gender stuff is boring, AssGriffins.

Solution: delete thread.

[Deathhappens]

Heard Hamas is stirring up the pot in Palestine again bout a week ago but... is that even news?

[Twelveseal]

After using this name for like 8 years straight, I expected no one to bring it up. You're the first one, congrats...

And no, non gender stuff gets even more depressing or isn't newsworthy now... The only thing I can think of is the Shutdown, and that's old news (why don't you Muricans keep the staff budget separate?)

Because our political system has become so crippled by tribalism from top to bottom that playing this giant game of fiscal chicken is the only way to pass legislation deemed critical to one party and anathema to the other.

At the end of the day, it's really just the Republicans and Democrats having to resort to holding the American people hostage in order to have their demands met. Actual bipartisan cooperation and compromise here can only be achieved through extraordinary measures or abnormal circumstances since the mid 90's. It wasn't historically that serious, or frequent, an occurrence, but an attitude of "take no prisoners, give no ground, stand together as one, and never surrender, " has become increasingly popular within both the electorate and the officials themselves when it comes to governance and dealing with the opposing party. Certain factions within the legislative body who have this viewpoint consider the government shutdowns and the damage they do to government employees, agencies, average citizens, businesses, and the economy as a whole to be a useful tool in passing laws or appropriating funds that would otherwise be out of reach, so they never just separate the funding. Any attempt to will inevitably end up with some Congressman or other's rider bill attached to it, triggering the whole damn process all over again.

This is one reason why the government isn't just funded all at once anymore, too. If you break up the "must pass" budget into separate events, it gives more opportunities to screw with it and attach a given partisan politician's pet project or their donors' personal agenda more chances to become "must pass" as well. It's the weaponization of the federal government against its own employees and the people it's supposed to represent for the sake of politics and the theater thereof, with the winners being whoever gets what they want, and the losers being everyone else. Especially whoever owns the blame for the shutdown.

[Mcjon01]

Thanks 👏 Newt 👏

[Tobias]

This is all the fault of hillary’s Emails

[Trubo]

This is all the fault of hillary’s Emails

Embarrassing jokes aside, this really is McConnell's fault more than anyone else's. Trump can be a belligerent manchild all he wants, McConnell is the one enabling and allowing this sort of bullshit behavior to continue by neutering Congress' ability to override the President.

[Historia]

Heard Hamas is stirring up the pot in Palestine again bout a week ago but... is that even news?

to some people. not anybody here, probably, but,

and, tribalism, now i'm imagining congress in loincloths banging sticks in a circle

[RacingeR]

and, tribalism, now i'm imagining congress in loincloths banging sticks in a circle

I don't think that's very far from the truth tbh

[SpoonyViking]

People in general are still extremely tribal in their outlooks and beliefs, only many of us now live in what's increasingly a global society.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

It's a scary time when a political party perfectly embodies their picardía. It'd be great if Pence sank with Trump and left Pelosi in power, but that's about as likely to happen as Tsukihime 2 coming out within the next few years.

[Twelveseal]

Essentially the only way that could happen, barring something that kills them both, is if irrefutable proof materialized of both of them being agents of Russia. Or something equivalent. That would make impeachment and removal from office possible, politically, on both counts. Note I say possible.

As it stands, I doubt such proof, were it to exist and be revealed, would actually be believed by the conservative base, regardless of who vouched for its veracity. There's a tremendous amount of distrust towards the media and federal agencies here, so it's quite probable such a thing would be decried as fake news and simply disbelieved by the core conservative voters that put and keep Republicans in office. Even though Congress would have a moral and ethical obligation to remove from power individuals who had done something that would so clearly be a betrayal of the American people and their offices, it would also mean political suicide for Republicans who followed through with it. Likewise, it could trigger civil unrest among the supporters of the President. Especially if they can't be convinced of the legitimacy of this hypothetical smoking gun.

[Raylen Cypher]

Wasn't there newly presented findings by Mueller throwing Mike Pence into the Russia Fray since he was the leader of the transition team?

[Twelveseal]

There were. Now consider how many people believe that the entire Mueller investigation is a politically-motivated "witch hunt," and who those people vote for.

[asterism42]

democracy was a mistake prove me wrong

[Zurvan]

Solution: delete thread.

I dont know what the context here is but this has my vote