Trump presidency

[CorruptUser]

Of course the calls of "fake news" are about as meaningful now as calling your opponents Nazis. It doesn't detract from the idea that CNN is pulling some manipulative bullshit that they shouldn't be, and that the calls of "fake news" are indeed in part caused by the conscious decisions by CNN and others.

[Thesh]

Donald Trump killing British tanning bed industry:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 91096.html

Finally, something positive about Trump.

[CorruptUser]

So what other trends need to die, that we can get Trump to do?

[Thesh]

Twitter.

[Chen]

Twitter.

Yeah that should have been long dead if people followed the logic of "if Trump does it, the rest of us shouldn't do it"

[Sizik]

Twitter.

I hear they've finally started to make money.

[Yablo]

Twitter.

I hear they've finally started to make money.

As a concession to those of you on the other side of the political aisle from me, I'll be the first on my side to predict Trump takes credit for it despite the fact he had a negligible (if any) effect.

[jewish_scientist]

That article on Trump getting less people to tan links to a video on how to make yourself look like him. I am at school, so I had to watch it with the captions. Still, it is about as funny as it sounds.

[sardia]

Trump's average approval rating is gonna crack 41-42 %, not good for the Democrats. Time will tell if the Congressional ballot average will diverge or follow Trump's rise in approval. This does not indicate whether or not the growth is linear, or diminishing returns or what. I wish someone did a breakdown analysis on Trump's approval. I'm guessing the small swing voters are coming back. Remember, the Democrats either need a polling error, or 7%+ to take back the House. Even 6% lean towards Democrats will still mean a GOP controlled Congress thanks go Gerrymandering and Democrats selfsorting into dense urban areas.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/co ... id=rrpromo
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/tr ... id=rrpromo

[CorruptUser]

We really need a constitutional amendment to eliminate gerrymandering.

And it's pronounced with a hard "g", like in "girlfriend".

[Sheikh al-Majaneen]

We really need a constitutional amendment to eliminate gerrymandering.

And it's pronounced with a hard "g", like in "girlfriend".

Actually, you pronounce it g as in 'gif'.

[CorruptUser]

Or the g in "garage".

[Zamfir]

Actually, you pronounce it g as in 'gif'.

In Dutch, that's pronounced as the Ch in Loch. For some reason, that option never pops up in anglophone discussions about gif-pronunciation.

[Soupspoon]

Or the g in "garage".

I thought it was a cross between the 'g' in 'gnome' and the ones in 'enough', 'though', 'plough', 'Edinburgh' and 'hiccough'?

[Mutex]

Actually, you pronounce it g as in 'gif'.

In Dutch, that's pronounced as the Ch in Loch. For some reason, that option never pops up in anglophone discussions about gif-pronunciation.

People in England, and as far as I can tell, America, pronounce "loch" the same as "lock". That whole throat-clearing thing isn't a sound in English or American English.

[Soupspoon]

(As a person (mostly) in England, despite admitted Celtic roots, I do try to pronounce "loch" the way it's supposed to be pronounced. Also the related Irish "lough" and Welsh "llwch". And compared with things like Ecclefechan, Dun Laoghaire or Ystradfellte, it's a doddle to say, so I don't know why more people don't.)

[ObsessoMom]

We really need a constitutional amendment to eliminate gerrymandering.

And it's pronounced with a hard "g", like in "girlfriend".

The pronunciation of "gerrymander" was discussed on the public radio show A Way with Words last summer. The hosts said that originally, the word was pronounced "GARY-mandering" with a hard "g," but the currently preferred pronunciation is with a soft "g."

Spoiler:

Pronunciation of Gerrymander

A listener in New York City wonders about how to pronounce gerrymander, which means “to redraw the lines of an electoral district so as to favor a particular political party.” The term comes a joking reference to Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry, who in 1812 presided over such a redistricting. Gerry pronounced his name with a hard g (like the G in Grant) and for a while, the gerrymandering retained that pronunciation. In the absence of audible mass media, the name spread, but the pronunciation slowly shifted. By 1850, for example, an Indiana politician alluded to this variation, declaring, “You are constantly gerrymandering the State, or jerrymandering, as I maintain the word should be pronounced, the g being soft.”

[Yablo]

... but the currently preferred pronunciation is ...

We have rules for a reason. If we allow people to pronounce words the way they prefer, we'll descend into chaos. It's a slippery slope. Before you know it, it'll bleed over into writing, and we'll wind up with people who only use capital letters, or worse, people who use numbers (or even pictures!) in place of words. It'll be a world written by the same people who think their vanity license plate is clever despite the fact no one else knows what it's supposed to say.

[CorruptUser]

But the Descriptivists have won every single time we've had this debate. Words are pronounced however we think they are, and so long as communication is preserved it's not a problem.

[Pfhorrest]

Making other people get fed up and stop talking to you isn't "winning".

[sardia]

Making other people get fed up and stop talking to you isn't "winning".

Unless of course the detractors die off, and there's nobody to oppose the new Theory. Then yea, you won.

PS the consumer protection bureau is now officially defanged, as opposed up de facto defanged.

[elasto]

We have rules for a reason. If we allow people to pronounce words the way they prefer, we'll descend into chaos. It's a slippery slope. Before you know it, it'll bleed over into writing, and we'll wind up with people who only use capital letters, or worse, people who use numbers (or even pictures!) in place of words. It'll be a world written by the same people who think their vanity license plate is clever despite the fact no one else knows what it's supposed to say.

Language is practically Darwinian in its evolution. You can attempt to constrict it in minor ways for short periods of time, just as you can try to tame nature, but ultimately it's equally futile.

Fortunately, the changes you speak of are mostly 'unfit cul-de-sacs' in evolutionary terms; Changes that more efficiently communicate ideas and/or are more memorable than what came before will stick around; Ones that don't will eventually die out as each generation playfully reinvents the rules they inherited from their 'elders and betters'...

[DaBigCheez]

Before you know it, it'll bleed over into writing, and we'll wind up with people who only use capital letters, or worse, people who use numbers (or even pictures!) in place of words.

[Sableagle]

... and then nobody will be able to read The Lord of the Rings except one old professor of literature who still has a rare fifth edition locked away somewhere.

[Sizik]

... and then nobody will be able to read The Lord of the Rings except one old professor of literature who still has a rare fifth edition locked away somewhere.

They just added elf and wizard emoji in Unicode 10, so a translation is theoretically possible.

[Thesh]

I think they are still missing a balrog emoji.

[Zamfir]

You thought you were joking, right?

http://www.sparknotes.com/mindhut/2013/ ... -in-emoji#

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jarrylee/one-e ... e-them-all

The balrog is nicely done in the second link:

[CorruptUser]

I feel like the emoji hobbit is going to cause more confusion for future archaeologists than the voynich dungeonmaster manual.

[Sableagle]

That ain't a Balrog.

This is a Balrog:



... and this is a Hobbit:



Should any of you meet either of these species, it may be very useful to you to be able to tell the difference.

[Quercus]

It's just struck me that emojis are the ultimate retro fashion... all the way back to pictograms

Edit: huh, this is the trump thread apparently, I thought this was fleeting thoughts

[ObsessoMom]

Edit: huh, this is the trump thread apparently, I thought this was fleeting thoughts

It's hard NOT to equate Trump with fleeting thoughts, isn't it?

[SDK]

Or Balrogs, for that matter.

[Quercus]

Or Balrogs, for that matter.

Nah, can't see it: Balrogs seem too competent at what they do

[jewish_scientist]

Also, Trump flies on an airplane bought and fueled by tax-payer dollars and Balrogs use their own wings to fly.

Sits back with popcorn hoping a show will start.

[Sableagle]

I think of Drumpf as a Half-Orc in "human flesh tone" make-up and a wig made from a dead polecat he found. That'd make Steve Bannon Grima Wormtongue and somebody, somewhere, Saruman The Once Wise But Now Corrupted i.e. Bonkers. A Wet Rag Stuffed Into a Tailpipe, perhaps? Does he seem the type to call himself Sharkey to impress a mob of knuckle-dragging arsonists?

[CorruptUser]

But what DO Balrogs do? Act all tough but lose fights to crippled old men?

[Sableagle]

Crippled old men who can wield the power of the Sun?

Never mess with old men or little girls who can channel the entire power of the Sun.



At least the Balrog doesn't terrify the man only to get spanked by the man's shrubbery-looking friend. At least the Balrog put up quite a fight.

[Yablo]

Every once in a while, a news story will pop up about a WWII vet straight-up destroying an attempted burglar. They might be able to do the same to a Balrog. It would be further support for Tom Brokaw's claim they're The Greatest Generation.

[Sableagle]

To get back on topic,

Trump Says Classmates Knew Florida Shooting Suspect 'Was a Big Problem' and Should Have Reported Him

Trump says: “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”

Spoiler:

Related:

In the 2016 election cycle, 19 federal election candidates in Florida races received a total of $834, 165 from the NRA’s Political Victory Fund, the Political Action Committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who ran for both the Presidency and the Senate, raked in the highest donation, receiving $9,900. As a PAC, the NRA can give up to $10,000 per candidate in an election cycle, $5000 for a primary election and $5000 for a general. Rubio also received an A+ rating from the NRA.

Scott who is strongly considering a Senate run to challenge Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, is like Rubio, a favorite among the NRA, who noted in 2014 that he had signed “more pro-gun bills into law — in one term — than any other Governor in Florida history.” Nelson and Scott have contrasting ratings from the NRA: Nelson has an F and Scott has an A+.

When asked Wednesday evening about gun control laws following the shooting, Scott said there would be a time for those conversations in the future.

Florida shooting: Parkland school student calls Donald Trump a 'piece of s***' over tweet of condolence

The reply by “Sarah” to the US President’s public comment on the mass killing went viral after she urged him to introduce gun control measures instead of platitudes.

Mr Trump had tweeted his “prayers and condolences” to the families of those murdered, adding: “No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.”

The account chaddiedabaddie, which purports to belong to a girl attending Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, near Fort Lauderdale, replied: “I don’t want your condolences you f*****g price (sic) of s**t, my friends and teachers were shot.

“Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead. Do something instead of sending prayers. Prayers won’t fix this. But Gun control will prevent it from happening again.”

By Thursday morning her message had been retweeted 65,000 times and liked by more than 154,000 people.

After responding to Mr Trump’s message of condolence, she tweeted: “Today has been the worst day of my life. I’ve been crying helplessly for hours. Thank you to everyone for your support. I’m going to try to sleep now.”

[idonno]

To get back on topic,

Trump Says Classmates Knew Florida Shooting Suspect 'Was a Big Problem' and Should Have Reported Him

Trump says: “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”

How many kids is this true of that don't go on to shoot up schools? What would the authorities do with a report? Even if they could afford to monitor every kid that fits this criteria, they aren't legally allowed to do that.