Never mind, I found it . . . . my brain hurts.
https://secondnexus.com/paul-gosar-anime-aoc-biden?fbclid=IwAR2OzHpH5akJBxOs-TAPd4cEPn3900MXWJgdOeDv7dRx1yAV4NqGUOtihx4
Dumbass obviously doesn't know the anime community at all.
Never mind, I found it . . . . my brain hurts.
https://secondnexus.com/paul-gosar-anime-aoc-biden?fbclid=IwAR2OzHpH5akJBxOs-TAPd4cEPn3900MXWJgdOeDv7dRx1yAV4NqGUOtihx4
Dumbass obviously doesn't know the anime community at all.
Twitter deleted it. What did it say?
Only a right-winger would get angry at fucking Big Bird.
Is it me or are right-wingers never happy about anything?
Bullshit reference involving Attack On Titan don’t need to point out whose portrayed as the Titans and whose portrayed as the heroes.
Given how Attack on Titan ended, Eren as a right-winger isn't all that far fetched…
There's a mess of arguments in some of the quote tweets for that video,
mostly about whether or not Eren was "vindicated in the end".
Polarizing and somewhat unpopular ending, from what I heard.
I never actually got into it, personally.
I didn't vibe with the art style.
Is there room to be a normal right-winger in the US ? From what I see Trump roped the entire GOP in the far-right
Given how Attack on Titan ended, Eren as a right-winger isn't all that far fetched…
I don't know much about Attack on Titan, but I have heard the phrase "Eren Jaeger did nothing wrong" used by right-wingers.
Yeah, that was really cringey.
AOC had a nice response, bless her.
https://secondnexus.com/aoc-paul-gosar-anime-video?fbclid=IwAR0M3J1IFRnxfWg15d2zeyUGs0PlAP6gv1AEoVPi8gOxcMS_OqtWgeDP-ic
Mr. Douche here though says, "The creativity of my team is off the hook". Yeah, sure.
Given how Attack on Titan ended, Eren as a right-winger isn't all that far fetched…
That’s the fucked up part except Eren was a well intentioned extremist where as modern Republicans are just extremists.
Is there room to be a normal right-winger in the US ? From what I see Trump roped the entire GOP in the far-right
No considering how republicans have chased out/turned off most moderates.
Pretty embarrassing how the MSM is covering this dumb tweet. It's cringey and gross but reporting it as "an animated clip showing Gosar killing AOC and attacking Biden with two swords" misses a massive amount of context. Dems calling it a threat or for an investigation aren't helping either.
It's dumb and clearly inappropriate but its ultimately more trolling than any kind of real threat or harassment. Don't blow this out of proportion exactly like far-right douchebags want.
Just heard things about Rittenhouse's trial and those prosecutors doesn't seem very good at their jobs.
Just heard things about Rittenhouse's trial and those prosecutors doesn't seem very good at their jobs.
Yeah. The main thing I've heard is a prosecution witness, one of the people shot, testified that he wasn't shot by Kyle Rittenhouse until after he actually pulled out a gun himself
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59216106
I haven't paid strict attention, but it seems to be a mix of bad prosecution and the facts of the case actually supporting Rittenhouse's self-defense claims.
Edit: The judge is a real piece of work, too
It's dumb and clearly inappropriate but its ultimately more trolling than any kind of real threat or harassment. Don't blow this out of proportion exactly like far-right douchebags want.
Please enlighten me as to at what jobs it is acceptable to make cartoons of murdering your co-workers and then spreading them around for thousands of people to see?
Any other job in the world he would have been fired 30 hours ago.
Here's the thing. No, the 80 year old senator isn't going to go out and personally attack AOC. That's pretty obvious that yes, it's just an awful joke. . But, how many twitter followers can take it seriously or as an endorsement to go attack her?
"Trump didn't TELL the mob to attack on January 6, he just said over and over for months that it would be a good thing if someone did something on that day to stop Biden because the election was a fraud.."
Remember that guy that shot up a pizza hut because he thought Hillary Clinton had a child trafficking ring in the basement?
Also, depicting even a joke threat about murdering the president is a huge offense that in any other case, would have the secret service having a talk with you.
Also lets not forget this particular congressman had his own family running against him because they said he was deranged and messed up.
Yeah. The main thing I've heard is a prosecution witness, one of the people shot, testified that he wasn't shot by Kyle Rittenhouse until after he actually pulled out a gun himself
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59216106
I haven't paid strict attention, but it seems to be a mix of bad prosecution and the facts of the case actually supporting Rittenhouse's self-defense claims.
Edit: The judge is a real piece of work, too
Yep the prosecution has been shaky but the judge most definitely has been making things much worse and even better he has a spotty history of overstepping his bounds/making questionable decisions.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2021/11/10/day-295/
Day 295: "Willful disregard for the law."
1/ The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot issued new subpoenas to 10 former Trump White House officials, including Kayleigh McEnany and Stephen Miller. The chairman of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, said his panel “wants to learn every detail of what went on in the White House on January 6th and in the days beforehand,” including “precisely what role the former President and his aides played in efforts to stop the counting of the electoral votes and if they were in touch with anyone outside the White House attempting to overturn the outcome of the election.” Among those subpoenaed to provide testimony and documents include John McEntee (former White House personnel director), Christopher Liddell (former deputy chief of staff), Keith Kellogg (national security advisor to Pence), Ben Williamson (former deputy assistant to Trump and senior adviser to Mark Meadows), and Nicholas Luna (Trump’s former personal assistant). The subpoenas come a day after the committee issued subpoenas to six former Trump administration and campaign officials, bringing the total number of subpoenas issued to 35. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / NBC News / CNBC)
2/ A federal judge rejected Trump’s attempt to keep more than 700 pages of records from his White House secret. The decision by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan clears the way for the National Archives to release the documents requested by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol beginning Friday. Trump’s lawyers had argued that the documents requested by the House committee – including White House call logs, visitor logs, and schedules related to Jan. 6, as well as three pages of handwritten notes from Trump’s then-chief of staff – were covered by executive privilege. In her ruling, however, Chutkan noted that the Biden administration had approved the release of Trump’s White House records, saying there can be only one president at a time, and that Trump’s assertion of executive privilege “is outweighed by President Biden’s decision not to uphold the privilege.” Chutkan added: “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.” (Reuters / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / NBC News)
3/ At least 13 of Trump’s senior aides campaigned illegally for his re-election in violation of the Hatch Act – a law designed to prevent federal employees from abusing the power of their offices on behalf of candidates. The Office of Special Counsel report described a “willful disregard for the law” by senior Trump administration officials who “chose to use their official authority not for the legitimate functions of the government.” Special Counsel Henry Kerner said Trump’s “refusal to require compliance with the law laid the foundation for the violations,” which he called “especially pernicious considering the timing of when many of these violations took place.” The list includes several Cabinet officials and top White House aides, including Mike Pompeo, Mark Meadows, and Kayleigh McEnany. No punishments, however, are expected because the president in office at the time is the only person who can discipline their top employees. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)
4/ Nearly 1 million kids aged 5 to 11 will have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in their first week of eligibility. That represents about 3% of eligible children, with an additional 700,000 have appointments scheduled in the coming days. (NPR / Associated Press)
5/ The Biden administration will invest an additional $785 million to combat the spread of the coronavirus in communities hit hardest by the pandemic and those at the highest risk of death and disease. White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said the additional American Rescue Plan funding will also be used to build vaccine confidence in communities of color, rural areas, and low-income populations. (Washington Post / The Hill)
6/ People are dying from Covid-19 at a rate three times higher in counties where Trump won at least 60% of the vote than in counties where Biden won a similar percentage. In October, 25 out of every 100,000 residents in “Trump counties” died from Covid-19, compared to 7.8 per 100,000 for “Biden counties.” October was the fifth consecutive month that the gap between the death rates in Trump counties and Biden counties widened. (New York Times / Business Insider)
7/ Nancy Pelosi called for investigations by the House Ethic committee and law enforcement into Rep. Paul Gosar for posting a video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and swinging two swords at Biden. Gosar shared the altered, animated video from both his personal and professional Twitter accounts Sunday. Despite violating Twitter’s hateful conduct policy, the tweets have not been removed, but instead labeled with a “public interest notice.” Pelosi urged House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to join in condemning the “horrific video” and supporting the investigations, saying “threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated.” (Washington Post / NPR)
8/ The Labor Department reported the largest annual increase in consumer prices in three decades. The worse-than-expected inflation report showed that prices rose 6.2% in October compared with a year ago. Joe Manchin, meanwhile, pointed to the pace of inflation as a reason to pause on the $1.75 trillion social spending and climate package, saying the “threat” of inflation is “getting worse,” and that lawmakers “can no longer ignore the economic pain.” Previously, Manchin suggested that the spending package could worsen inflation and that he wouldn’t support a bill to expand social programs if it “irresponsibly adds” to the national debt. (NPR / Washington Post / NBC News / New York Times / CNBC)
poll/ 65% of Americans support the bipartisan infrastructure deal, which Congress passed last week. 62% of Americans support the social safety net and climate bill. 42% of Americans, however, approve of the job Biden is doing as president. (Monmouth University)
Imagine believing the claims that Rittenhouse just came to the scene for first aid and help putting out fires. If that's what he was there for, why in the world did he have a flipping assault rifle? Make it make sense.
Bannon indicted on contempt charges for defying 1/6 subpoena
An Excerpt:
Steve Bannon, a longtime ally to former President Donald Trump, was indicted Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress after he defied a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department said Bannon, 67, was indicted on one count for refusing to appear for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena. It wasn’t immediately clear when he would be due in court.
The indictment comes as a second witness, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, defied a similar subpoena from the committee on Friday. The chairman of the panel, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said he will be recommending contempt charges against Meadows next week.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Bannon’s indictment reflects the Justice Department’s “steadfast commitment” to ensuring that the department adheres to the rule of law. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days of jail and a sentence of up to a year behind bars.
Bannon’s attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Garland has caught a lot of flack for his seeming unwillingness to act on Bannon's charges, so hopefully this will do something about that.
Imagine believing the claims that Rittenhouse just came to the scene for first aid and help putting out fires. If that's what he was there for, why in the world did he have a flipping assault rifle? Make it make sense.
That’s not even the most asinine aspect of it all you have people who justify his killing and injuring people because they threaten him with one of them being a sex offender.
None of these reconcile all this would have been avoided had Rittenhouse stayed home instead of traveling somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be doing something no one asked him to do.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2021/11/12/day-297/
1/ A federal grand jury indicted Steve Bannon on charges of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Bannon faces one contempt count for his refusal to appear for a deposition and another for his refusal to produce documents to the congressional investigators, the Justice Department said in a statement. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the indictment reflects the Justice Department’s “steadfast commitment” to ensuring that the department adheres to the rule of law. If convicted, Bannon could face up to a year behind bars and a fine of up to $100,000. Law enforcement expects Bannon to self-surrender on Monday and appear in court that afternoon. (NBC News / CNN / NPR / Washington Post / ABC News / / Politico / CNBC / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)
2/ Mark Meadows refused to appear for a deposition before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, setting up a potential criminal referral to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress. Meadows’ lawyer said the former White House chief of staff “remains under the instructions” of Trump to not comply with the House subpoena on claims of executive privilege. Biden, however, has refused to invoke executive privilege for Trump officials and records in the House’s inquiry. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said Meadows’ “willful noncompliance” would force the select committee to “consider invoking contempt of Congress procedures” that could result in a criminal referral to the Justice Department, as well as the possibility of a civil action to enforce the subpoena. (CNN / Politico / NBC News / The Guardian / CNBC / The Hill)
3/ A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the National Archives from turning over Trump’s White House records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol – a day before the committee was set to receive the first batch. On Tuesday, a lower court ruled that Biden can waive Trump’s claim to executive privilege over the documents, saying a former president’s claim to executive power to withhold records from Congress after leaving office does not continue in perpetuity. Less than an hour after the ruling, Trump filed a notice of appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit then granted a temporary injunction while it considered Trump’s request to delay the release of documents and to “maintain the status quo” pending the appeal. The court will hear arguments on Nov. 30. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / Bloomberg)
4/ Trump justified his supporters’ chants to “hang Mike Pence” during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, saying it was “common sense” and that Pence was “well-protected.” Trump defended the chants, telling ABC News’ Jonathan Karl during an interview for Karl’s new book, “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” that “people were very angry” that Pence hadn’t overturned the election. Trump then repeated his baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election result was fraudulent. (Axios / NBC News / Washington Post / CNN / Business Insider / The Hill)
5/ House Democrats introduced a resolution to censure Republican Paul Gosar for tweeting an altered video that depicted him killing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and swinging two swords at Biden. “For a Member of Congress to post a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden is a clear cut case for censure,” the Democrats said in a statement. “For that Member to post such a video on his official Instagram account and use his official congressional resources in the House of Representatives to further violence against elected officials goes beyond the pale.” The Arizona Republican had defended the video as a “symbolic” fight over immigration policy and the “battle for the soul of America.” Violent threats against lawmakers, meanwhile, are on track to double this year. (CNBC / Washington Post)
6/ Top political officials in the Trump White House repeatedly tried to block public health warnings and guidance from the CDC last year about the coronavirus pandemic, according to newly released documents from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. The emails and transcripts detail how in the early days of the pandemic Trump and his allies in the White House blocked briefings and interviews with CDC officials, attempted to alter public safety guidance, and instructed agency officials to destroy evidence that might be construed as political interference. Several interviews also described efforts by Trump appointees to alter or influence the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to better align with the White House’s more optimistic messaging about the state of the pandemic. (Politico / CNN / Washington Post / The Hill)
7/ Biden nominated Robert Califf to lead the FDA despite his ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Califf previously led the agency in 2016-2017, and has long been a consultant to drug companies. If confirmed by the Senate, Califf would oversee an agency that is responsible for more than $2.8 trillion worth of food, medical products, and tobacco. Joe Manchin and Richard Blumenthal both voted against Califf’s nomination in 2016, and signaled their opposition again over concerns about his ties to the drug industry and the FDA’s track record on opioids. The FDA has been without a Senate-confirmed administrator since Biden took office. (Politico / NPR / ABC News / The Hill / New York Times)
8/ A record 4.4 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in September, the Labor Department reported. The number of people quitting in September constituted 3% of the workforce, which was up from the previous record set in August, when 4.3 million people quit their jobs – or about 2.9% of the workforce. The number of available jobs, meanwhile, has topped 10 million for four consecutive months. Prior to the pandemic, the record was 7.5 million job openings. (Politico / CNN / New York Times / Washington Post)
reading about the rittenhouse case woah this is just like taxi driver (1976)
It's fucking ridiculous is what it is.
Education department cancelling another 2 billion in student loan debt.
My take on this is the same as it was in Juily.
@Robby:
That is AMAZING. That is absolutely fantastic, not complaining. Especially only six months in! Keep it up! But, the actual numbers are so, so bad that's just a drop in the bucket, barely touching the actual problem.
$1.71 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt. 44.7 million Americans with student loan debt.
A trillion is just such a magnitude past a billion our minds can't comprehend it. But remove the zeroes and it becomes 15 cancelled… out of 10710.
It's a start, it's great! but only a drop in the bucket.
So this will put us at what, 35 cancelled out of 10710?
If they cancel that much every week for the next three years they'll have still addressed less than1/3 of the problem.
I won't complain about a positive. But they can do so much more. But 1/306 IS better than what it was.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2021/11/15/day-300/
Day 300: "We're finally getting this done."
1/ Biden signed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan into law – the largest federal investment in infrastructure in more than a decade. In total, the measure contains $550 billion in new funds to improve the nation’s highways, roads, bridges, ports, rail, pipes, and public transit systems, as well as upgrades to the electrical grid and expanded access to broadband internet. Before signing the legislation, Biden said “we’re finally getting this done” in a nod to Trump, who repeatedly tried and failed to secure a bipartisan infrastructure deal. “My message for the American people is this: America’s moving again, and your life’s going to change for the better.” Trump, meanwhile, said the 13 Republicans who voted for the bill “should be ashamed of themselves” for giving Biden and Democrats a victory. In the House, Democratic leaders expect to vote on the roughly $2 trillion climate, safety net, and tax package this week and send it to the Senate, despite uncertainty over the measure’s cost. The timing of Senate vote, however, is complicated by a Dec. 3 deadline to avoid a government shutdown, address the debt limit, and pass the annual defense policy bill. If the social safety net and climate bill passes the House and Senate, the total increased infrastructure spending as a share of the economy will eclipse Roosevelt’s New Deal. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / Bloomberg / ABC News / CNN / CNBC)
2/ Nearly 200 nations reached a climate agreement intended to propel the world toward more urgent climate action, but it falls short of what’s needed to avert a crisis. After two weeks of United Nations COP26 talks, delegates left Glasgow with Earth still on track to blow past the 2015 Paris accord goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. The Glasgow Climate Pact doesn’t reflect the urgency expressed by international scientists in their “code red for humanity” climate report, after delegates agreed to “phase down” the use of coal power (the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions), phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies, and defer more action on reducing fossil fuel emissions to next year. The U.N. Environment Program reported that countries’ current COP26 commitments between now and 2030 would give humanity less than a 20% chance of keeping warming to 1.5 Celsius. The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, meanwhile, reported that the world needs to roughly halve emissions over the next decade in order to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / NPR / Bloomberg / CNN)
3/ A federal court kept its block on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers, saying the Labor Department “grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority.” The order from a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals instructs OSHA to “take no steps to implement or enforce” the federal mandate that all large employers require their workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing starting in January. Lawyers for the Justice and Labor departments, meanwhile, said stopping the mandate from taking effect will only prolong the Covid-19 pandemic and “would likely cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day.” (Politico / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / USA Today)
4/ The Trump administration covered up a 2019 airstrike in Syria that killed 80 people, including women and children. Immediately following the strike, an Air Force lawyer reported the incident as a possible war crime to his chain of command, which required an independent investigation. The military, however, never conducted the investigation into the bombing. Following complaints, the Defense Department’s inspector general office launched an inquiry into the March 18, 2019, strikes, but the report was delayed and ultimately “stripped” of any mention of the bombing. The Baghuz strike – which included a 500-pound bomb and two 2,000-pound bombs – was one of the largest civilian casualties in the war against the Islamic State, but it wasn’t publicly acknowledged by the U.S. military until last week. (New York Times / Reuters)
5/ Former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos dropped her defamation lawsuit against Trump. Zervos sued Trump in 2017 after he denied allegations that he had sexually assaulted her. A judge had recently ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in the case by Dec. 23. Zervos did not give a reason for ending the case, but her attorneys said she “no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience.” Last month, Trump’s lawyer sought to file a counterclaim against Zervos for allegedly “harassing, intimidating, punishing or otherwise maliciously inhibiting” Trump’s free speech rights. (Washington Post / NBC News / CNN)
6/ Steve Bannon surrendered to federal authorities, three days after being indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions from the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Each count of contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $100,000. Bannon did not enter a plea and was released without bail after surrendering his passport. He is due back in court on Thursday. Following the court appearance, Bannon said his supporters should remained focused on taking on “the illegitimate Biden regime” because “we’re going to go on the offense on this […] Stand by.” Republicans, meanwhile, warned Democrats’ that forcing Bannon to comply paves the way for them to go after Biden’s aides for unspecified reasons if they take back the House in 2022. Separately, Adam Schiff said the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection will “move quickly” to refer Mark Meadows for criminal contempt for not cooperating with its investigation. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / CNBC / CNN / Associated Press)
7/ Republicans have added a net of five seats in the House based on redrawn district maps so far, while Democrats have lost one. Democrats currently hold 221 seats to the Republicans’ 213. So far, 12 states have completed the mapping process, which will continue, state by state, before next year’s midterm elections. In all, GOP-led legislatures and governors will redraw 187 House districts, compared with 75 for Democrats. Republicans need to flip five Democratic-held seats in the 2022 midterm elections to take back the House majority. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
poll/ 41% of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance, with 53% disapproving. In June, Biden’s approval rating stood at 50%. (Washington Post)
poll/ 51% of registered voters say they’d support the Republican candidate in their congressional district if the midterm elections were today, while 41% say they’d support the Democrat. That’s the biggest lead for Republicans since November 1981. (ABC News)
I won't complain about a positive. But they can do so much more. But 1/306 IS better than what it was.
We have to take every bright side that we can.
Looking further into it its actually worse than I thought.
To qualify, you have to have made at least 120 payments, meaning you've been saddled with it for ten years already, AND you have to currently not have a job.
Basically "we'll cancel it if you're going to default on it anyway but have already spent your entire adulthood being crushed."
Like again, something is better than literally nothing, and I'm sure its a blessing for those getting it, but wow that's bad.
Having to pay 100k or close to that for a college degree is mindboggling to me. Actually having to pay for superior education is mindboggling to me.
I confess it was a major factor in why I never pursued higher education. I never had anything important enough to be to merit the time and monetary commitment.
I am one of the few extremely lucky and privileged people who's tuition was paid for by her parents. Education was so important to them that they went out of their way to pay for it (to be fair, they said in return they will never pay for any car or one cent of my wedding). I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I am.
Fun fact: Despite being well off, we were not rich, so my parents did take out a loan. HOWEVER, apparently there is a program where you can put it all in the name of one parent/person, and if said person dies, then it all gets WIPED. No more payments or debt transferred to the student, it disappears with the person. Since my father was older (45 at my birth) they put it in his name figuring he had a higher chance of dying than others (my parents were nothing if not pragmatic). I later found out that it includes not only dying, but if the person becomes disabled as well. My father had a stroke and afterwards required assistance living, so he qualified. They still payed most of it, but it was nice to see at least the last part get taken away.
Most unfortunately, while I think my parents originally planned to be able to pay for college for my younger sister and myself, the recession was not kind to us; between that taking out most of their savings, and tuition assistance programs being absolutely lousy at gauging how much parents can actually afford to pay (seeming to assume basically that your parents will starve and make no payments on anything else else besides your college tuition), we had to use loans to cover nearly all of my first three years; even though we did get some assistance once my sister started college as well after that, it wasn't enough and the vast majority was still paid for with loans.
Between my bachelor's (4 yrs) and Master's (1.5), I think I ended up with a total of $200k-ish in debt, with half of that under my own name (I pay all of that every month) and the other half under parents' name as a Parent Plus loan or something (they pay something like one-third to one-half of that, while I pay for the rest). Student loan payments end up taking about a third of my net monthly paycheck. It's definitely not fun, and the sad thing is, I know I'm still relatively lucky compared to many people.
Especially since, for all the many shitty things about this pandemic, one silver lining is that, since I've had steady employment throughout, I've been able to continue making my payments or at least putting some money down almost every month, when payments aren't due and interest hasn't been accumulating. In fact, before this happened, I was literally not making any progress at all on paying off the loans because, each month, your payment goes towards any outstanding interest you have before being applied to the principal loan, and the interest accumulated each month was higher than payment. A friggen pandemic was the only way I was able to actually put money down on the principal, and shaved years off my loans as a result. Many, many others have not been so fortunate, especially if they lost their jobs during this time. The system is just broken, and it sucks ass.
And sadly, I live in an area with a lot of conservatives around, and when student loan payments come up in that group, they just act like anyone who's in favor of even some level of student loan forgiveness is just looking for handouts, not willing to "accept consequences" because of "borrowing money and not wanting to pay it back", trying to cheat the system, all sorts of bullshit like that. And basically implying if you can't afford to go to an "elite" or even decently good school without taking out loans and you choose to do so anyway, then, tough titties, having loan payments is what you get for that. Apparently not realizing or caring how insanely classist that viewpoint is, or realizing that they're much older and the student loan system is vastly different than what it was when they were college age. I've tried to explain how messed up the whole thing is to them multiple times, but it seems like it's only had marginal effects on their attitudes.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2021/11/17/day-302/
Day 302: "We must draw the line."
1/ The House voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar for posting an animated video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking Biden. Gosar was also stripped of his committee assignments. The vote was 223 to 207, with two Republicans – Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger – joining Democrats in favor. Kevin McCarthy called the vote an “abuse of power” by Democrats. Nancy Pelosi, however, deemed the social media post an “emergency,” saying: “We can not have a member joking about murdering another. This is about workplace harassment and violence against women.” In a speech from the House floor prior to the vote, Ocasio-Cortez said: “As leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country, and that is where we must draw the line, independent of party or belief. It is about a core recognition of human dignity and value and worth.” Gosar, meanwhile, claimed that the video was “mischaracterized,” but did not apologize. (Politico / Associated Press / New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post)
2/ Trump asked a federal appeals court to block the National Archives from sending his White House records related to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol to Congress, arguing that the Constitution gives a former president the power to keep files confidential even though they are no longer in office – and even though Biden refused to assert executive privilege over them. Last week, a Federal District Court judge sided with Congress and the Biden administration that while Trump could invoke executive privilege, whatever residual secrecy powers he possessed were outweighed by the sitting president agreeing that the documents should be turned over to House investigators. The appeals court, however, temporarily put a hold on the ruling, and a three-judge panel is scheduled to review whether Trump can control records the National Archives is set to give to the House after Thanksgiving. (New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)
3/ The now-infamous shirtless insurrectionist wearing face paint and a horned helmet during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the attack. Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” pleaded guilty on Sept. 3 to one felony count of unlawfully obstructing an official proceeding. During the attack, Chansley left a note for Pence on the Senate dais that read: “It’s Only A Matter Of Time. Justice Is Coming!” Chansley’s sentence of roughly 3.5 years is the longest sentence handed down to any Jan. 6 participant so far. (ABC News / Washington Post / CNN)
4/ The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights appointed the Republican attorney who helped Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election to a federal election advisory board. Cleta Mitchell was named to the Board of Advisors for the federal Election Assistance Commission. While the advisory board can’t directly make policy, it does recommend guidelines for the EAC, which certifies voting systems and advises on federal election compliance. On Jan. 2, 2020, Mitchell joined Trump on a phone call where Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes to overturn the election in his favor. (Associated Press / Business Insider)
5/ The seven-day average of new hospital admissions with Covid-19 climbed in 25 states from a week earlier. Two weeks ago, only 14 states saw a rise in hospital admissions. (Bloomberg)
6/ The Biden administration will purchase 10 million courses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill once authorized. In a clinical trial, Paxlovid reduced the rate of death and hospitalization by 89% when given to people at high risk of severe illness within three days of symptoms. Paxlovid could become available at pharmacies within weeks pending FDA authorization. The FDA, meanwhile, is aiming to authorize booster doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for all adults as soon as Thursday. The CDC’s independent committee of vaccine experts is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the booster dose’s efficacy and safety. (Washington Post / New York Times)
7/ More than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021 – the first time that drug-related deaths have reached six figures in any 12-month period. Overdose deaths were up almost 30% from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year. (NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
8/ Biden called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether oil and gas companies are engaging in “illegal conduct” by keeping gasoline prices high. In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Biden said there’s “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies,” noting that gasoline prices are rising even as the price of unfinished gasoline goes down. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.41 – that’s $1.29 more than a year ago. “This unexplained large gap between the price of unfinished gasoline and the average price at the pump is well above the pre-pandemic average,” Biden wrote. “Meanwhile, the largest oil-and-gas companies in America are generating significant profits off higher energy prices.” (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / CNBC / New York Times / USA Today)
poll/ 40% of voters agree that Biden “is in good health,” while 50% disagreed – a 29-point shift since Oct. 2020. Biden turns 79 on Saturday. (Politico)
This is 100% real.
Big Bird, Bert, Ernie and Elmo have been banned from the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference.
This is 100% real.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEf3LWWXwAQ1dJt?format=jpg&name=large
Big Bird, Bert, Ernie and Elmo have been banned from the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference.
What? But I'm sure so many conservatives had their hearts set on the annual Muppet visit at their political convention…...the fuck?
I also want to point out they did a terrible job cutting them out in photoshop and there's a super jaggy outline but they just had someone use a magic wand tool, they didn't have an actual professional mock that up.
Or if they did the profesional overcharged them and laughed about it
Fuckwad Matt Gaetz apparently is inviting Fuckwad Jr. Kyle Rittenhouse to be a congress intern after graduation. Fucking twat.
Oh wow. That's just disgusting.
Fuckwad Matt Gaetz apparently is inviting Fuckwad Jr. Kyle Rittenhouse to be a congress intern after graduation. Fucking twat.
Did he already walk? I haven't heard about a verdict.
[hide]
[/hide]
From Trumps website. Seems like they've learned to not allow polls to have any answers except the one you want.
[hide]
https://scontent.fybz1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/258148688_10160006216763615_5944983693752791889_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=P3SKATGZpvYAX8oMJwv&_nc_ht=scontent.fybz1-1.fna&oh=9cf08cf03bb76877266a59ed5c1b6616&oe=619C1C1D
https://scontent.fybz1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/258188187_10160006216778615_7063603974048979750_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=8qYzPJx1BmMAX9VpO03&_nc_ht=scontent.fybz1-1.fna&oh=f1009cbb036406e3bec8cf623e7bb9ef&oe=619DAB72
[/hide]From Trumps website. Seems like they've learned to not allow polls to have any answers except the one you want.
Joe Biden and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad presidency, lol. (This is a joke.)
@The:
Joe Biden and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad presidency, lol. (This is a joke.)
It's more important than ever to specify these things now, given the RNC has unironically banned Sesame Street.
@The:
Did he already walk? I haven't heard about a verdict.
He was declared not guilty.
NOT GUILTY: A white teenager got his hands on a semiautomatic rifle, showed up at a protest in support of Black lives, killed two people and wounded another, traumatized a community — and due to our lax gun laws and culture of extremism, no one was held accountable.
NO ONE is denying that he murdered people, and that he had no reason to be there, or that he brought an assault weapon to a peaceful protest. But still, not guilty?
In a case where the judge refused to allow evidence that the public has seen, and had a clear bias. Where he would allow the white boy's mother to cry in court, but removed the jury when the black mothers got emotional. Where he refused to allow photos of the murderer celebrating after the killings. Where he allowed the murderer to stage an emotional breakdown with no tears.
If he was brown or black he'd be in jail for life, or have been killed on the scene.
[hide]
[/hide]From Trumps website. Seems like they've learned to not allow polls to have any answers except the one you want.
Trump's polls have always been this way. When he was in power, the polls that came out never had any poll options that could say that Trump was doing poorly.
This is absolutely not the mark of a good leader, but I don't think I have to tell anyone here that.
He was declared not guilty.
NOT GUILTY: A white teenager got his hands on a semiautomatic rifle, showed up at a protest in support of Black lives, killed two people and wounded another, traumatized a community — and due to our lax gun laws and culture of extremism, no one was held accountable.
In a trial where the judge refused to allow evidence that the public has seen.If he was brown or black he'd be in jail for life, or have been killed on the scene.
But you know, can't ruin a young white boy's promising future. Just because they raped a girl behind a dumpster or murdered some people, nothing wrong with that. Gotta give them a job working with a congressman!
I mean, did anybody expect anything different? Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I always assume these shitbags are gonna walk.
Fuckwad Matt Gaetz apparently is inviting Fuckwad Jr. Kyle Rittenhouse to be a congress intern after graduation. Fucking twat.
Is he still being investigated for sex trafficking?
@The:
I mean, did anybody expect anything different? Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I always assume these shitbags are gonna walk.
Possibility was always there but the blatant bias & stupidity of the judge was not foreseen.
From what I've gathered, this whole mess is from a mix of factors. The absurd judge, an incompetent prosecutor, and some of the facts of the case legit not being enough for a murder charge. As an example of the last two, one of the prosecution's witnesses who was one of the people Rittenhouse shot, testified to the effect that Rittenhouse didn't draw/ open fire until he himself grabbed his gun.
Man, it sure is great to be a well-off white man in America. You can do whatever the hell you want and get away with it.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2021/11/19/day-304/
1/ The House passed Biden’s roughly $2 trillion social and climate spending package to “build back better.” The 220-213 vote came after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delayed the vote for more than eight hours with a meandering speech criticizing the bill and Biden’s policies. Centrist House Democrats had also demanded that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office release a full analysis of the legislation prior to voting. The CBO found that the package would add more than $367 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. The White House, however, said that figure didn’t include revenue expected to be generated from beefing up tax-enforcement efforts at the IRS, which could capture roughly $400 billion in additional revenue. The package would provide universal pre-K for all children ages three and four, subsidize child care and expand family leave, cap certain drug costs, and expand financial aid for college. The bill would also set aside more than $550 billion to combat climate change, promote greener energy, and provide new incentives and tax credits for renewable energy and electric vehicle purchases. The legislation would also provide relief from deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants, provide hungry Americans with access to food, and promote affordable new housing nationwide. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future. “For the second time in just two weeks, the House of Representatives has moved on critical and consequential pieces of my legislative agenda,” Biden said in a statement, referring to the recently enacted $1 trillion infrastructure bill. “Now, the Build Back Better Act goes to the United States Senate, where I look forward to it passing as soon as possible so I can sign it into law.” If passed by the Senate, the legislation would be the most significant expansion of the social safety net by the government since the 1960s. In a floor speech before the vote, Nancy Pelosi said “with the passage of the Build Back Better Act, we, this Democratic Congress, are taking our place in the long and honorable heritage of our democracy with legislation that will be the pillar of health and financial security in America. It will be historic in forging landmark progress for our nation.” (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Politico / NPR / USA Today)
2/ All American adults are now eligible for coronavirus vaccine boosters. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky authorized the booster doses hours after the agency’s independent panel of vaccine scientists unanimously endorsed opening up eligibility to everyone 18 and older. The panel said that all American adults “may” opt for a booster, while those 50 and older “should” get a booster. Earlier in the day, the FDA authorized Pfizer and Moderna boosters for people 18 and older. (Washington Post / Politico / Bloomberg / CNBC / Axios / New York Times)
3/ Biden nominated two new members to the U.S. Postal Service’s board of governors, replacing key allies of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Biden nominated Daniel Tangherlini, a Democrat, to replace board Chair Ron Bloom, whose term is expiring. Biden also nominated Derek Kan, a Republican, to replace Republican John Barger, whose term is also expiring. DeJoy, a major donor to the Trump campaign as well as other GOP groups, was hired after then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin threatened to withhold funds from the Postal Service unless the Trump administration could take over decision-making authority at the agency. Within weeks of taking office in June 2020, DeJoy implemented cost-cutting measures that were faulted for slowing mail delivery during the 2020 election. (Washington Post / NPR / New York Times / Axios)
4/ Trump endorsed Rep. Paul Gosar a day after he was censured and stripped of his committee assignments for tweeting an anime video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and swinging swords at Biden. Trump praised Gosar as “a loyal supporter of our America First agenda, and even more importantly, the USA.” He added: “Gosar has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Gosar, meanwhile, has claimed that he wasn’t promoting violence and has not apologized for the video. He is also reportedly soliciting the names of Democrats who should be stripped of their committee assignments in a Republican-controlled House. In February, the House removed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her two committee seats for embracing baseless conspiracy theories and supporting violent rhetoric against Democrats, including the assassination of Nancy Pelosi. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, however, said that under a hypothetical Republican majority in 2022, he would give Gosar and Greene better committee assignments. (Washington Post / NBC News)
5/ A Wisconsin jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of homicide, attempted homicide, and other charges. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, fatally shot two men and wounded another during protests over the shooting of a Black man by a white Kenosha police officer. Rittenhouse testified that he shot all three men with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle in self-defense and pleaded not guilty to all counts. Seven months prior to the shooting, Rittenhouse appeared in the front row at a Trump rally in Des Moines. His social media presence at the time was filled with him posing with weapons, posting “Blue Lives Matter,” and supporting Trump for president. Biden, meanwhile, acknowledged that the verdict in the trial “will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included,” but urged Americans to accept the verdicts and remain peaceful in protest. “Look, I stand by what the jury has concluded,” Biden said. “The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.” The verdict cannot be appealed. (NBC News / CNN / New York Times / ABC News / Washington Post / CNBC)
poll/ 60% of Republicans want Trump to run for president in 2024. Overall, 28% of Americans would like to see Trump make another run for the presidency, while 71% do not want him to run again. (Marquette Law School Poll)
poll/ 46% of voters say they want the Republican Party to win control of the House of Representatives, while 41% prefer the Democratic Party win control. 46% also say they want to see the Republican Party win control of the Senate with 42% saying they want to see the Democrats win. (Quinnipiac)
@Johnny:
Man, it sure is great to be a well-off white man in America. You can do whatever the hell you want and get away with it.
Most of the time not always.
Just ask Bernie Madoff how fun those last few years in prison treated him.
Bernie made the capital sin of American legal system, he also stole from the rich.