WTF-Beta

Speaking of which (ok, we’re not really speaking of this, but…) I often read this guy’s column in the NYT. he’s a self-described conservative, and while he often makes points I disagree with, I usually appreciate reading his perspective…. But this week… I feel like he’s really missing the point with his article, “ Why the Kirk Assassination Is a Warning to the Left”
The link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-left-violence.html

He wrote:

How do you love your country when it’s governed by a man you hate?

It’s not about whether people “hate” Trump. It’s about what he and his are doing to this country.

What makes life worth living if the course of history isn’t what you thought?

It’s not about the course of history. It’s more like, what makes life worth living when people fear that they’re going to lose their jobs for very unfair reasons.

If everything feels like power relations, and power has slipped from your fingers, where can you find the good, the beautiful, the true?

It’s not about power, it’s about the ability to buy food at the grocery store, marry who you want, freely travel abroad, speak your mind, get a vaccine, see scientific research continue, be a legal immigrant, be confident in our food safety and weather forecasts…. Be proud to be an American….

I won’t go on, but this guy is missing the point…

To me, Jimmy Kimmel is another example of everything that’s happening in this country that is wrong and truly, deeply unAmerican.

I agree, @Bernard . I don’t watch American TV and haven’t ever watched the show, although I would see snippets of Jimmy Kimmel that people would post. So this doesn’t affect me directly, but it affects all of us.

This country is no longer “the land of the free,” we do not have free speech here anymore.

@CHAS Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this!! I hope you're able to get the doctor's verification you need!

@Bernard It sounds like a wonderful place! I love the idea of group class you're in! Not at all what I think of when I hear "group piano."

You'll have to post back as things progress and share how it goes!

@Bernard that sounds wonderful, I would love to do something that!

What kind of school is the place where this class is held?

@Bernard That's awesome!!! You pick a beautiful piece to start with!!

Can you tell me how the class works, since I always think of group piano class as something for beginners.

@Piano-Dad said in Rest in peace, Robert Redford:

Robert Redford as "death" in the Twilight Zone. Perhaps the most watched episode of that series...

https://bsky.app/profile/ditzkoff.bsky.social/post/3lyxgfyj5s22m

Wow! Thanks for posting that! He would have been 26 then? So handsome!

Bittersweet indeed.

Oh cool, thanks @Axtremus I missed this thread when you first started it.

@Axtremus said in Long Connection at Heathrow ... what to do?:

This 21 hour layover at Heathrow seems too short to really do much and yet too long to waste

That's so frustrating, isn't it!

@Amanda yep, it’s really and truly awful. It makes no sense. Taking money away from truly impactful activities, while spending money on ridiculous things (like rebranding gov’t departments…)

Obviously @AndyD has the best advice specific to London, but I will say this: if there’s a physically hotel attached to the airport, consider staying there. This solves the problem of what to do with your luggage, is especially great if you’re exhausted or have travel delays, and makes things easy for the next morning as well.

When we go to Japan, we always have a domestic flight after we get to Tokyo. We could arrange our air tickets so that we catch that flight the same day we arrive in Tokyo, but we also have an additional train ride before we can get to our actual final destination, and if we did it that way, we would get in super late, so the whole thing is just a little too exhausting after the international flight etc.

So we always stay at an airport hotel for our first night in Japan. We pick up our luggage, go through customs, can walk to the hotel, leave our luggage there (even if it’s before room check in) and then depending on the time, can either go into Tokyo or just spend time at the airport, which is fine because Haneda Airport has tons of fun things to do, and lots of good restaurants. Then we sleep at the hotel, have lots of options for breakfast either at the hotel or somewhere in the airport. It makes it just an easy morning, getting to our flight and getting that train etc.

The hotel we stay at is a bit on the expensive side, but it makes everything so much easier that it’s more than worth it.

@Axtremus said in Stop AI plundering:

If only we have chosen a serif font.

I say this to myself all the time.

@Piano-Dad said in Now Charlie Kirk:

One can hold two thoughts simultaneously.

yep.

Happy belated birthday, @jon-nyc ! I hope you can relax and do something fun after all your traveling is finished!

@Steve-Miller said in Now Charlie Kirk:

“It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”

Charles Kirk

Yes. I won't go so far to say "you reap what you sow," because I'm not willing to blame the victim (however vile the victim might be). But the rhetoric he espoused contributed to the toxic climate we find ourselves in.

@Bernard said in Now Charlie Kirk:

It's sad and tragic. Both that he chose to promote vile ideas and that he was assassinated.

I agree.

@pique said in Breakfast Cereals:

I started making my own muesli because the premade stuff is so ridiculously expensive.

This is another frustrating thing. It seems like the less sugar something has in it , the more expensive it is.

@Bernard said in Breakfast Cereals:

I started having cereal for breakfast a few months ago and have noticed a difference in how I feel.

I assume IU mean you feel better? What did you eat for breakfast before then?

I eat a combo of all barn and granola mixed into Greek yogurt for breakfast. Sometimes the kind of granola I want isn’t available, and then it takes me about 12 hours of reading through the nutrition labels on the available options to find one that’s not loaded with 100 times more sugar than my usual option. So frustrating.

But even my usual option has added sugar, and so does all bran.

@Rontuner that second link worked, thank you.

Shock and awe by the government on Americans...

the link seems to be broken, I poked around but couldn't find the article.