Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped?

[kenberg]

[/font]

This is getting stranger and stranger.

1. Exactly how litigious is the USA? - everyone appears to have a squadron of lawyers wandering around their homes.

 

Unbelievably litigious. My father died in 1977. Almost all his (meager) funds were already in my name and I had a list of how he wanted the cash distributed but I decided to hire a lawyer anyway just in case there was something I missed. The main thing I learned was that since most of the funds were in my name and the doctor bills were more than that, I would not have to pay all the bills and, in parceling out the funds, lawyers were at the top of the list for who gets paid first. I paid them for this advice and said goodbye. And I paid the doctor's bills. Actually there was one exception to that. One doctor sent an incorrect bill, I called the office and they agreed it was incorrect, next moth they sent the same incorrect bill, I called the office and they agreed the bill was incorrect, this went on for a while until I sent them a letter saying that if they ever sent a correct bill they would get a check by return mail but otherwise I was done talking to them. They never did. Anyway, if I ever get charged with a serious crime I will call a lawyer, I am sure they have legitimate uses, but good god we are flooded with lawyers.

 

2. Are they provided by the government?

 

Well, not provided to me.

 

3. Do they drink prosecco and eat prosciutto?

 

I guess I could look it up but I have no idea what this is.

4. What happens if they stay in the bathroom too long?

 

I will not speculate.

 

5. Is it possible for the FBI to run out of special prosecutors?

 

I was once at an airport for a connecting flight when they ran out of pilots. We got updates for a while but not much was happening. I imagined the airline folks at a bar asking if anyone there knew how to fly a jet, or wanted to give it a try. Maybe the same approach could work for Special Prosecutors.

 

6. How many documents does the US government classify every day?

 

Many. We have all these lawyers and they need something to do.

 

[sharon j]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qicghSVOm0

 

ATOP SECRET: Our Classified Documents System Is [Redacted] | The Problem With Jon Stewart Podcast

 

This was both entertaining and informative.

 

Not sure the link will work. But easily found on Youtube

[pilowsky]

https://www.youtube....ch?v=qicghSVOm0

 

ATOP SECRET: Our Classified Documents System Is [Redacted] | The Problem With Jon Stewart Podcast

 

This was both entertaining and informative.

 

Not sure the link will work. But easily found on Youtube

 

Timely!

[sharon j]

Timely!

Thank You

[thepossum]

I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here but is it really April 1 in Florida

Apparently Florida have banned Pink Floyd (De Santis has anyway)

Maybe the wrong thread but people discuss all manner of ridiculous stuff here

If its the wrong thread maybe someone will move it to the hijacked thread

 

And I should find a reference in case its just satire

[pilowsky]

I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here but is it really April 1 in Florida

Apparently Florida have banned Pink Floyd (De Santis has anyway)

Maybe the wrong thread but people discuss all manner of ridiculous stuff here

If its the wrong thread maybe someone will move it to the hijacked thread

 

And I should find a reference in case its just satire

 

The 50th anniversary release of Dark side of the moon features a rainbow.

The problem is related to the well-known dangers of rainbows.

My understanding is that because rainbows are known to cause homosexuality Gov. DeSantis has ordered an emergency child protection order to prevent the display of dangerous colo(u)r schemes.

In addition, because of the risk of accidental exposure during rain when the sun is shining, Floridians are no longer permitted to go outside when it rains - except after dark.

[thepossum]

The 50th anniversary release of Dark side of the moon features a rainbow.

The problem is related to the well-known dangers of rainbows.

My understanding is that because rainbows are known to cause homosexuality Gov. DeSantis has ordered an emergency child protection order to prevent the display of dangerous colo(u)r schemes.

In addition, because of the risk of accidental exposure during rain when the sun is shining, Floridians are no longer permitted to go outside when it rains - except after dark.

 

So is it real or satire? :lol:

[pilowsky]

So its real or satire :lol:

 

In the Trump-world it's no longer possible to tell.

 

 

Back in the '70's Truman Capote and Hunter S Thompson popularised "New Journalism" where the tools of the novel were used to describe actual events.

In the post-truth world, where everyone has their own truth, fiction is no longer necessary.

[barmar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qicghSVOm0

 

ATOP SECRET: Our Classified Documents System Is [Redacted] | The Problem With Jon Stewart Podcast

 

This was both entertaining and informative.

 

Not sure the link will work. But easily found on Youtube

Another good site:

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/19/1149906531/classified-documents-biden-trump-matthew-connelly-declassification-engine

 

This is a Fresh Air interview with the author of the book The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals About America's Top Secrets.

[Czbornik]

I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here

 

The prime meridian (0° longitude) runs through Greenwich, England. Therefore, time zones around the world are calculated in accordance with GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). So US EST is GMT -4, meaning "when it is midnight in Greenwich it is 8:00PM in NYC. When it is 2:00AM in NYC it is 11:00AM in Tokyo and 1:00PM in Sydney. https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/. I hope this helps.

[Gilithin]

The prime meridian (0° longitude) runs through Greenwich, England. Therefore, time zones around the world are calculated in accordance with GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). So US EST is GMT -4, meaning "when it is midnight in Greenwich it is 8:00PM in NYC. When it is 2:00AM in NYC it is 11:00AM in Tokyo and 1:00PM in Sydney. https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/. I hope this helps.

Not to question your obvious expertise on the subject...but last I checked, EST was 5 hours behind London. When did they move the continents?

[pilowsky]

Things were a little tense between the USA and Russia (USSR) a few years back.

 

.

It's hard to imagine how the call would go between Trump and Putin ... it's great to be fine.

[Czbornik]

Not to question your obvious expertise on the subject...but last I checked, EST was 5 hours behind London. When did they move the continents?

You're right. EST is GMT-5. EDT is GMT-4. Sorry.

[thepossum]

Cbornik said "I hope this helps"

 

Not it didn't It was extremely and intentionally rude. Also just a coincidence that you randomly showed up here (never seen you before) and misrepresented one of my posts. Given the rather pathetic nature of it and the apparent targetting I am leaning towards intentional targetting again by people on this site. Can't prove that can I. Maybe I need to check timelines and see if it fits into any broader narratives. Mates of **** are we. Maybe people take exception at my need to explain and defend against such attacks. It is important as I am sure you may be able to comprehend to defend such attacks. The phrase "I hope this helps" is usually used in an obnoxious and patronising way, intended to insult and troll. That's my experience of its use. And in the context of widespread trolling on this site and others it looks suspicious does it not? But good for you. You have elicited a response because you know I have to respond to such ad hominem attack. Look on that as a compliment. The alternative is that you are an idiot. So look on the brightside. I am complimenting you for being an obnoxious troll :) And I will keep walking very tall knowing that for some reason I am worthy of your constant destructive attention. There will be people scouring my posts over the years for phrases they can use. 12 years on the site, only 800 logins, still a beginner but hey the trolls need backup

 

Do people have a problem with rhetorical devices?

 

Something of an insult to ones intelligence methinks

 

And one of my biggest and repeated pet gripe is the implicit ad hominem misrepresentation by presenting part of a post out of context. For some reason

 

Do you people do it intentionally or not realise you are doing it

 

To me the repeated behaviour such as this by so many is clearly deliberate. I could be wrong

 

Misrepresentation is very questionnable. All about some dodgy attempt to play power games in argument, or even more broadly across a whole site

 

Maybe an accident

 

In case anyone wonders some of us are expected to point out all forms of misrepresentation (and other) on any and all forums

We re not just expected to but actually want to call all forms of it out. We don't like it.

 

You even took the subset of this sentence "I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here but is it really April 1 in Florida"

 

 

Seems deliberate and possibly malicious to do that, and rather pathetic, all those who engage in such behaviour IMO

 

I've seen paragraphs taken out of context, whole posts, sentences, but parts of sentences

 

Maybe we could almost choose random words from a statement to make any sentence we like. Why stop

 

 

 

It also wastes our time and causes us anxiety that we constanntly need to be on the lookout for it

 

How possibly very damaging and serious untruth is created in such a casual way - are there people who regard these things as casual behaviour not to care about

[Czbornik]

Not it didn't It was extremely and intentionally rude.

You said, "I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here." I was simply trying to help you figure it out. US EST is GMT-5. USA CST is GMT-6. USA PST is GMT-8, Sydney, Australia is GMT+11, etc. I was just trying to offer enlightenment. If you were offended that's your problem.

[pilowsky]

Everyone knows the words...

[barmar]

You said, "I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here." I was simply trying to help you figure it out. US EST is GMT-5. USA CST is GMT-6. USA PST is GMT-8, Sydney, Australia is GMT+11, etc. I was just trying to offer enlightenment. If you were offended that's your problem.

They obviously didn't mean it literally, since it was part of a sarcastic sentence about the date (referring to April 1, i.e. April Fools Day), not the time. Replying to it with a pedantic explanation of timezones just shows how poor you are at reading.

[Czbornik]

They obviously didn't mean it literally, since it was part of a sarcastic sentence about the date (referring to April 1, i.e. April Fools Day), not the time. Replying to it with a pedantic explanation of timezones just shows how poor you are at reading.

What is "obvious" to one person is not necessarily "obvious" to another. When s/he said "I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here." I assumed s/he was serious about "I don't know about time zones and differences between USA and here." If I ruffled feathers by explaining time zones I apologize. It was well-intentioned and hopefully enlightening.

[Gilithin]

What is "obvious" to one person is not necessarily "obvious" to another.

I am sorry it was not obvious to you that the first line of thepossum's post was just a set-up to the De Santis joke that followed. Maybe you can use this as a learning experience and look for more depth in language in your future interactions.

[kenberg]

I can't resist coming in with this old but true story.

 

I am retired faculty at the University of Maryland (the Terrapins) and I was serving a term on the campus senate. This was long ago when internet communication was in its infancy. There was some controversial topic that we tabled to allow thought and discussion until the following week, and this discussion was taking place in this new medium. A strongly worded post appeared going on at legth about the Campus Code, except he consistently dropped the e so it was the Campus Cod. His email signature identified him as some sort of turtle (presumably because of our Terrapin mascot). So I responded to all that we had jusr received a message from a turtle discussing campus cod, and added "as JImmy Durante once (well, far more than once) said, everybody wants to get into the act". Of course I got an immediate response. just to me, from the turtle strongly asserting his right to express an opinion. I responded that I had intended it as humorous that a turtle was posting an opinion about cod. He saw my point but explained that he is used to seeing a smiley face included when someone is joking. I considered writing to say I expect people to understand that when I quote Jimmy Durante I am joking but I decided that we had reached a peaceful state and I would leave it be.

 

Since then I have tried to be careful. If you are speaking with someone over the phone you can detect a misunderstood comment by the tone of voice. Face to face is even better, you notice a look of shock or confusiion. Misundersandings get cleared up in fifteen seconds or less. Internet postings lead to problems such as we see here. Several days later we are still trying to straighten it out.

 

 

Fwiw, I understood Possum to be joking, and I understood that Czb took the comment about time zones literally and intended his comment as useful. I can be naive, but that's how I took it.

[pilowsky]

In any event welcome to the forum where everyone is calm and never over reacts or takes offence at anything.

[Czbornik]

In any event welcome to the forum where everyone is calm and never over reacts or takes offence at anything.

Thank you. I presume you're the moderator here?

[pilowsky]

Thank you. I presume you're the moderator here?

 

No, just moderate.

[Czbornik]

No, just moderate.

I am a great fan of moderation. Sadly, it seems to be a rare quality seldom seen in the current political climate.

[Winstonm]

Well, if you are looking for mediocre I'm your guy!