First, a bit of background.

I've detested politics since I was a kid and listened to my Dad talk politics every chance he got. He didn't do it all the time by any means (he had other interests too), and wasn't obnoxious about it, but he really cared and expressed his opinions without pushing them. But, for me as a little kid with other interests, it was overexposure. If someone had told me ten years ago that I would hang out in a political forum, I would have told them something along the lines of "you're nuts."

What got me to come here? That thing that infested our country via the Oval Office a few years ago. But I've learned a lot here, among them being how left and right wing media outlets report the name bit of news. The Douchey-Psaki saga is an example: many posters here have suggested that Faux Noise edits their exchanges to make it seem like Douchey "gets" Psaki when it's the other way around.

So I'm curious whether a YouTube show, focusing on how specific bits of news are reported by both sides, would be interesting to the masses. For instance, the RW scandal over Kamala's cooking pot vs how it was reported elsewhere, or how Jen Psaki answered Peter's question vs how Faux edited it. Basically a Brian Tyler Cohen type of show, but long on the actual news clips and short on extraneous commentary.

Hope that's clear. If not, I'll elaborate.

Whaddaya think?

I like to get my ducks lined up way ahead of time, so here goes.

Got a notice from Gmail this morning that starting Dec 8 they'll go to two-step authentication. "Watch your cell phone for a code after you enter your password." Didn't say anything about it being an option. So, if it turns out it's not an option, I'm going to drop Gmail.

So I'm shopping around for ideas. I already use Outlook for a volunteer org I belong to, so that's a possibility. But I'd appreciate any leads.

Thanks.

Seems you can't get on a web site anymore without a "cookie policy" notice. Don't want cookies? You can't get in.

When I want cookies, I go buy some and have them with coffee. In the meantime, my browsers are set up to delete cookies and other bullshit every time I close, and I go thru them manually now and then anyway.

I don't give a rat's ass about "your" cookie policies, assholes. "Better online experience" is flat-out bullshit. My policy is, it's my computer and I don't want your fucking cookies.

So you can shove your cookies up your rear ends.

Whew. Sorry, but that felt good.

for taking phone calls during the trial?

Whether or not they were from tfg, it seems inappropriate for a judge to do this.

We've been hearing all about the bullshit in Washington for several years now, and many of us agree that the media is pushing bad news and controversy because it sells.

So... are these times really a new chapter in the decline of democracy? IOW, are these repuke assholes really the worst ever, or has this happened before and we just hear more about it now because of technology? I remember the police brutality problems in the mid-sixties, and the stories about Watergate, and reading about Joe McCarthy in history books, and such, but I don't remember being as inundated with bad news previously as we are now.

What made me think of this was a news clip about Kevin McAsshole doing the longest speech ever to delay the BBB vote. That clip reminded me of a football commentator: "THAT WAS THE LONGEST PASS EVER!"

So, are we being treated to a bunch of media hype because history is repeating itself, or are we really in trouble?

I wish we could do more to have him have daily or twice-daily meltdowns. A lot of us did for four years.

Does anyone else find football announcers and commentators annoying? That tone of voice all the time -- I can just imagine them at home:

"HONEY, THE CAT WANTS TO GO OUT. HE'S PAWING AT THE DOOR... TURNS AROUND... FADES BACK... BACK TO THE DOOR... BACK AND FORTH... HE'S JUMPING FOR THE HANDLE... "

Meanwhile the color commentator: "This is the fifth time this week Fluffy has tried that play. He's really made an improvement from when he was a kitten... "

Suddenly: "HE JUMPED HALFWAY UP THE DOOR... HE REALLY WANTS OUT... "

I dunno, I've never been all that much of a sports fan, but I can figure out for myself what's happening. Turning the volume down helps, but wondering if anyone else here feels the same way.

More and more over the past few years, I see people making decisions apparently by shooting from the hip, with no consideration of results or consequences. I see it at work all the time, and it's noticeable mostly because those decisions either cause problems later or need to be changed (again by shooting from the hip) when it's realized that they don't work.

So I'm wondering if this is a generational thing or just how some elements of our society are moving forward.

George Washington didn't win the war by playing nice-nice with the British. The North Vietnamese didn't kick ass by playing nice-nice with us. The Afghans have been kicking ass for centuries by not playing nice-nice. And there are other examples. And the repukes are doing the same.

Do our elected representatives bother noticing?

It's time to grab the bull by the short hairs, folks.

I need a couple of ideas for "dealing with" or "responding to" people who like to talk and go on and on about stuff they're interested in, regardless of whether you are or not. We know a few of these, and they're not assholes or self-absorbed -- they just like to talk.

Sometimes I want to say something or ask a question, but I'm afraid that it will just prolong the (mostly one-sided) conversation after it's gone on for a while.

I can handle it if they're conservatives talking politics -- I just say I don't like to talk politics and that generally works.

Any thoughts?