So what does it mean?

[DazzleHP]

Brexit=TICK

Trump=TICK

 

Could it possibly be that the world has HAD ENOUGH of politicians and the BS that they bring?

"I promise" blah blah false, lies, never happens...

I did'nt dare think it till now, but may be shit gotta happen...

I'll leave that with y'all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RIP-Felix]

 

 

 

Sigh...

My profile pic Also applies!

 

 

 

This is why we have a 4 year (8 max. heaven forbid) term of presidency. In the mean time though, I guess I'll be uninsured again. It does however make for good political satire. So there's that to look forward to!

Question:

• Is there any kind of Medical / Psychological screening for potential Presidential candidates? I've taken psychology and I'm pretty sure Trump checks all the boxes for clinical narcissism:
  Spoiler

  DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder include these features:

  1. Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
  2. Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
  3. Exaggerating your achievements and talents
  4. Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
  5. Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
  6. Requiring constant admiration
  7. Having a sense of entitlement
  8. Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
  9. Taking advantage of others to get what you want
  10. Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
  11. Being envious of others and believing others envy you
  12. Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

  Apparently, I'm not alone. (Link) Shouldn't the president be declared (by a documented professional) psychologically fit, before the nuclear codes are handed over? IDK, seems like a reasonable precaution, but what do I know.

[tthurman]

I've heard some top 10's "you'll never hear" this week, some stood out.

"Boy this primary system of ours has proven itself to narrow the field down to the best two candidates"

"I think I'll just vote for who Katy Perry tells me to"

There is little to no difference

We had two poor choices, I voted for the bad one, not the other bad one. 

It is what it is, we need to move on.

[Adultery]

Who's to say it'll take 4 years? Granted I'm saying that after they tried to oust Scott Walker in my home state. So take that under advisement.

[stigzler]

Hopefully he'll tap in the wrong co-ordinates and aim the nuke at his own sociopathic, narcissistic head. 

I did try really, really, really hard not to say anything. Sorry! My condolences America.

 

[RIP-Felix]

 

1 hour ago, Adultery said:

Who's to say it'll take 4 years? Granted I'm saying that after they tried to oust Scott Walker in my home state. So take that under advisement.

He'd have to do something impeach worthy while he's a sitting president, you can't impeach for actions prior to the presidency. Now, if he has to do time for fraud and/or sexual assault I wonder how that would work. Can he pardon himself? You wouldn't think so, but then we live in the reality where Donald Trump got elected president of the United Stated of America. So you can throw reason out of it. 

 

2 hours ago, tthurman said:

There is little to no difference

We had two poor choices, I voted for the bad one, not the other bad one. 

It is what it is, we need to move on.

The sesame street of american politics always presents 2 bad choices for Americans (if you define "American" as the majority of it's population, and not the top 5%). The oligarchs who wield the most influence in America though, end up with someone better that they would otherwise (in a true democracy). The true purpose of the two major party primaries are to weed out candidates, not to select the most qualified  Even then it's for show. By the time any candidate has gotten that far, they have already been compromised by years of either begging for money or screwing people out of it. It pays to be rich, then you can string the politicians out like the addicts they are, for your own agenda and not those of interest to the majority population. #NoConspiracyHere #ThatJustHappened

Here's an interesting stat:

42% of all American workers earn less than $15/hr.

Is there any wonder why Donald Trump doesn't want to raise the minimum wage? Just saying...

The United States is in the grips of political cival war, there's no other way to put it.

[DazzleHP]

@RIP-Felix We call it "being up one's own ass, and liking it"

 

Be thankful that he has no true power, in fact none of us laymen do. We are all at the mercy of the elite (nope, trump is not one of them). Trump is a rich tool, being played as much as you and i. He's just a wealthy, blinded, power hungry moron. He doesn't run America, never will run America, and anything he proposes will be laughed out of the White House in seconds every time.

 

Coz he's a MORON.

 

And also a "true democracy" will NEVER exist in a monetary system. It just can't happen.

[RIP-Felix]

2 hours ago, DazzleHP said:

And also a "true democracy" will NEVER exist in a monetary system. It just can't happen.

Truth...

What follows is emotional rambling and frustration, aided with the help of blended whisky. So take it with a grain of sentimental salt:.

Spoiler

Look, I get where he's coming from, it's frustration with the status quo of political sentiment. The uncertainty of getting an adequate return on investment and the stifling regulations on businesses seem to chain the American dream to the floor, but they are there to prevent unconstrained greed from ruining the now global market in the same way all markets since the inception of monetary economies have been undermined and eventually collapse. Monopolies rise to the surface, powerful oligarchies form, the middle class disappears, the poor revolt, the system resets with a different political ideology (sometimes with he help of foreign rulers). History is full of these shenanigans. Political revolts rarely achieve the goal they hope to. The only thing that will unite America again is understanding and compromise. We have to live together, plain and simple. If we can agree to look out for one anther's needs, and negotiate each others wants fairly, then we'll be fine. We all have to be able to live, not just eek out a worms existence, but make ends meat!  Eventually every civil war ends where neither side is satisfied. Political divisiveness will only serve to weaken America. We have to pull out of this. I hope Trump realizes this, and is prepared to shoulder the load of helping the middle class out of its 40 year eradication. He needs to understand our serious vulnerability. In this market, one false move is devastating to a family living from paycheck to paycheck. We work harder than any other demographic, and are compensated to the bare minimum. We'd achieve more, but are too busy trying to pay the bills...and failing at that. Please give us more opportunity, that's all I want.

 

[DazzleHP]

hmmm, hate to say it but you do know how trump made his fortune right? He's not gonna help any of you. He will bleed you dry for 4 years, take what he can and run.

 

And while he leeches 4billion dollars, he'll donate 1 million, (0.4%) to charity and everyone will say what a good guy he is.

[Draco1962]

I hope the IT market gets better. When I lost my job a few years ago, help desk jobs became few and far between. About the only way to get hired was to get employed on a contract basis and hope that the company liked you enough to choose you from the pool of external and fellow contractors for full time .  As a contractor, they wold only pay about $15 an hour. I  finally got hired full time a few years ago, starting at around $19 an hour. I am making well over that now, but it has taken me almost 6 years to make an income that is slightly more than what I was almost 6 years ago. 

[RIP-Felix]

Similar story for me. I've been working for 10 years at the same employer. The first few years they strung me out for 10-12 hours/week of part-time at $8/hr (This has kept pace with inflation and the minimum wage to stay about $1 more than the minimum), but these hours have decreased steadily to about 2-4/wk (barely worth the gas and mileage it puts on my car). I still do this job, just to keep my foot in the door (It pays for gas). About eight years back I got some additional hours seasonally from another department, and thus it came from a different budget fund, so I had to fill out 2 separate time sheets. Then about six years back I was offered a Half-Time (20 hrs/wk, 175day) seasonal contract. That actually paid about $15/hr with step increases every year for 15 years + prorated benefits (I pay 50%, so for me my group health insurance does not meet the minimum standard of the affordable care act = Obama care). So once Obamacare came along, I could finally afford health insurance.

Spoiler

I pay between 45-85/mo with a better plan than most people I've spoken with have. So I'm a fan of it, it's one of the few things government has done to help the lower-middle class (I'm technically impoverished, but that's by choice; I invest in a TSA for retirement to lower my taxable income and to qualify for the Highest Tax premiums, thus lowering my healthcare cost. Then I take further advantage with a HSA and FSA for qualifying expenses). I just don't like the fact I'll be charged a penalty if I don't get covered. That seems a little too agressive, but I get the reason for it.

I kept my other seasonal work, so then I was filling out 3 time sheets. About 3 years back I was laid off. Actually, I was bumped by a senior employee who was laid off. So it was nothing I did. I took the opportunity to go back to school and finish my degree (which I did in 2015). During that time I took the vacancy left by the layoff of the employee who bumped me, So essentially we switched places, except she was contracted (in my old job) and I was Part-Time at a much lower rate than they were paying her (Contracted in her old job). Yes, I'm a man being paid less than the women in my field. Good on my employer for breaking stereotypes? Regardless, I had my hand full working 100hrs/wk between school and 3 jobs (same employer, different departments, different budges and thus pay rates for each). When I graduated last year, the person who bumped me retired and I got my old job (the contract) back and kept the other 3 PT jobs. So now I currently work 4 jobs (same employer, different departments, different budges and thus pay rates for each) amounting to just under full-time. Why just under you ask? Because if I work a combined 926 hrs/year in my Part-Time jobs, they have to offer me a full-Time contract (which they don't want to do). I've been there now for 10 years, and they still don't want to give me full-time work. I make about 22K/yr (6K of which I save for a future I hope will be there).

To make a long story short, my employer has found a way to separate my job duties, and pay me accordingly. If you were a head chef for a restaurant, it would be like they paid you minimum wage for the time you spend washing dishes, $15/hr when you were cooking, and $19/hr when you were actively managing and teaching the cooks. Of course this would add up to huge savings, if it were legal. Maybe it would be if they separated the dishwashers, cooks, and management into departments paid from separate funds. Then made them apply for their jobs separately and keep track of their time on different time-sheets.

What follows is emotional rambling and frustration, aided with the help of a hangover. So take it with a grain of sentimental salt:

Spoiler

Wow, I think I just cracked the payroll problem. I know what big companies need to do to make more profit. Place time-card readers in the bathroom so employees can punch out before use and back in after, and next to every workstation deemed to have a specific rate of compensation. Then we can pay employees based on the merits of their contribution! And once we perfect those EEG mind readers we can begin paying them when they are actively thinking about their job and not when they're day dreaming. I mean really, our employees are all just a bunch of slackers. They don't deserve what we're not paying them anyway. We do!!!

It makes me this guy:

I act professional, do my job to the best of my ability hoping that one day my hard work will be merit a livable wage, but I'm burning mostly with feeling of insignificance and vulnerability. Donald Trump says to get another job if you don't like the one you have. But that's exactly what I've been trying to do for the last 10 years! Maybe if I keep saving, I can look forward to a decent retirement. Unless the economy fails, unless I die before then, unless god knows what else happens to rob me of my future.

This is why I play retro games. It takes me back to when things were fun and easier to deal with.