Something tells me that no churches or organizations on the SPLC hate groups list will be targeted by this legislation.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/21/house-republicans-bill-nonprofits-terrorism

@Spagesgallo1 ok, thanks for the discussion.

@Spagesgallo1 I'm trying to understand how you've formed your beliefs and to openly invite you and others reading the thread to consider whether that approach is sound or not.

If our thoughts create our reality, do you think it applies in every situation? For example, how would we explain people who never feared illness but still got sick, or those who lived in fear and never experienced what they dreaded?

@Alfred in which case, I think humans have had a good run and it's time to give the cockroaches their go at civilization. What do you think?

@Alfred @gls how might one create a TikTok dance that would successfully convey this information to the widest number of Americans?

@Spagesgallo1 I may have misunderstood your point. I thought you were suggesting that the fear energy around contacting Covid may have resulted in your nephew contacting it. If you also lived in constant fear of contracting covid for 4 years, did you also contact it?

@Iresine Ooft. Time to check in on my pal in Snoqualmie.

@Jess Good for you! I never managed to cut my toxic friendship off. I often wonder how it would have gone and whether I'd feel better because I'd taken the positive step to make my life better rather than just letting events take their place. Kudos to you.

@Iresine The upside is that if the travel disruption of these storms can just persist for a week, it'll have saved a great many families from the most noxious Thanksgiving family gathering in years.

@Jess I had a childhood friend back in Scotland. He got very right-wing the last decade. It made it hard to have natural conversations, since pretty much everything about who should get what and why is a conversation in politics.

He died last year at only 53. Sometimes I tell myself that I should feel something that he's gone, but I'm slightly ashamed that I don't miss him.

It's not even as though I have a big social circle, but quality over quantity seems to work for me.

@Jess It feels like the pieces on the gameboard are all over the place.

I can see the cultural Balkanization of the USA continuing apace over the next few years.

@Spagesgallo1 In the interests of keeping CoSo the wonderful place it is, I'll say I appreciate you taking the time to reply rather than simply block.

I didn't expect to change your mind. Rather, I wanted to ensure that anyone else reading the thread who may be feeling a little vulnerable right now didn't reead your point of view and blame themselves for something that is outside their sphere of control. #MentalHealth

@Spagesgallo1 Ilove that you're choosing not to live in fear. That said, the idea that by our fearful thoughts we created that which we feared is a little problematic and risks oversimplifying how larger events unfold.

After all, none of us would suggest that the fear energy among Jews in Germany during the early 1930s was responsible for bringing on the Holocaust.

@evistre up until my retirement in August, I used to manage software teams. Huge respect to you for sticking to principles and ensuring clarity and quality.

As software controls more of our lives, your work really matters. Thankyou.

The idiots have won. Fair and square.This is what they want and I prefer democracy to the alternative.

So, I'm going to commit to protecting myself and my loved ones by idiot-farming.

I still have ethics, so I'm not going to start a religion. Instead, I'm going to buy the dip in renewables over the coming years to exploit the dislocation of our politics to the reality of climate change.

Blessed are the geek, for they shall inherit (whatever remains of) the Earth.

One things for sure, if there are further abuse allegations to be made against Gaetz, they can hardly be sent to the justice department he'll head.

Meet our new Attorney General.
Beyond his craven loyalty to Trump, I can only imagine the here idea is to use a child predators to go after other child predators. But only if they don't use Venmo to publish records of their abuse, because that'd be underhanded.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/witness-tells-house-ethics-committee-matt-gaetz-paid/story?id=111217102

With a majority of the Americans who even bothered to save us from authoritarianism electing not to do so, it's going to be a real puzzle for a fair number of my fellow citizens the next time they're asked to stand for the national anthem with those same people.

While I still have it, I will be enjoying my 1st amendment rights against compelled speech. I will remain seated. I don't stand in common cause with fascism or those who support it.