January 2024 Current Events: I Hate This Year Already

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > January 2024 Current Events: I Hate This Year Already

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

MonkeyFit posted:

It would be nice if we could just institute higher tax brackets per house owned. And just organize them from lowest value to highest value, with the highest value homes being in the higher tax bracket. Let people own a second home with no penalty, but each additional home starts organizing your homes into tiered tax brackets.

I still like a vacancy tax, but it's probably got hidden impracticalities and snags that make it a bad idea.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2024 01:46

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 07:55

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Soul Dentist posted:

How does government funding make a police force more acceptable

It doesn't make it more acceptable so much as it makes it more likely that they'll come out on top.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2024 15:36

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Turrurrurrurrrrrrr posted:

Yeah, unless you have a cop that is also forklift certified there's just no chance.

No cop is cool enough to be forklift certified.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2024 00:49

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

My Spirit Otter posted:

im not 100% on the deetz, but the canadian forces bought their cc130h fleet in the 80s or 90s and they are still in service and flown daily. planes are so over-engineered, its bonkers. the plane probably doesnt even need both engines to fly.

skip to 1:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wHrfBs82Tk

The Herc in general is designed to be able to limp to safety on only one of its four engines. It's a workhorse bird and it's very good at its job.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2024 19:35

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

facialimpediment posted:

OK WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKS GOT PROMETHEUS IN MY ATLAS

and fun day for planes:

https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1748414891721961735?t=HQgBofORN6v5NTKBzBS7FQ&s=19

https://twitter.com/petemuntean/status/1748414446160969970?t=Ebm53ZnWUfG11dd5ywVq5g&s=19

https://twitter.com/Norm_Macdonalds/status/1748415341460361317

Norm Macdonalds here has immediately zeroed in on the most important aspect to this story. Somebody get him a WP column.

hobbesmaster posted:

A new one anyway. All NG 737s at this point have been through depot maintenance checks at this point and so you aren�t relying on Boeing assembling it correctly anymore, you�re instead relying on the aircraft owner.

Not as encouraging as you might imagine, given the tendency under corporate profit-seeking to cut corners.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2024 20:43

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

lol

Most Americans Would Discourage Young People from Joining Military as Enlisted Service Members, Report Says

quote:

Most Americans would discourage a young person close to them from enlisting in the military, but a wide majority would encourage them to join as an officer, according to a new Rand Corp. study published this week.

The study found that 54.4% of respondents would dissuade a 17-year-old relative from joining the military as an enlisted service member, though nearly two-thirds of Americans would encourage them to go the officer route, either through a service academy or the Reserve Officer Training Corps, also known as ROTC.

The study comes amid one of the worst recruiting periods the all-volunteer military has known, with most branches failing to meet goals for signing Americans up to serve. Meanwhile, Rand also analyzed public perceptions of veterans, which were "overwhelmingly positive," according to the report.

The report cited the services' current recruiting crisis as a reflection of public perception about the military, with dwindling confidence in the armed forces, the end of the war in Afghanistan, politicization of the military, and polarization of the general public all as contributors to wavering esteem for a typically bulletproof institution.

"At the same time, military propensity -- the likelihood that young Americans will enlist in the military -- and general confidence in the military are declining just as the number of veterans dwindles," the study said. "More than two years out from the end of the longest war in U.S. history, these trends raise important and pressing questions about public perceptions of the military and uniformed service."

The study found that Democrats are less likely than Republicans to encourage a young person they know to enlist in the military, but both are relatively on the same track in encouraging them to join via the officer route.

Rand also found that holding negative views about veterans is associated with a lower chance of encouraging a young person to enlist. Respondents who have served in the military themselves were more likely than their civilian counterparts to believe that most Americans look down on the armed forces, according to the study.

It measured certain veteran stereotypes, both negative and positive.

Some positive stereotypes included veterans being self-disciplined, loyal, practical and responsible. Negative stereotypes included being "cold," volatile and unsociable. Most Americans, depending on the stereotype measured, endorsed positive perceptions of veterans, though responses varied based on age and demographic.

Nearly 80% of respondents said that veterans were self-disciplined, while 20% said that veterans were aggressive.

"Negative stereotypes can lead to stigma and discrimination, which is the behavioral manifestation of such beliefs," the study said. "For example, if veterans are thought to suffer from war-induced mental illness, then individuals might avoid interactions with them. But stereotypes do not merely shape the perceptions and behaviors of those who hold them; they can also affect the stereotyped themselves, culminating most problematically in self-stigmatization."

The Rand report was somewhat at odds with another study from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which was published last month. It said that a slim majority of Americans would encourage friends and family to join the military.

Rand conducted its work for the report in February and June of 2022.

lmao

# ¿ Jan 23, 2024 02:28

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Grip it and rip it posted:

I remember finding out about the American call to service program where you got full GI benefits for 18 months active and 4 years reserve or something like that.

At the time it seemed like a much better deal than my 6 year contract with a potential 2 year extension.

A lot of my classmates at Hospital Corps School were in under this program, all going greenside. One specifically because it was the shortest route to getting "Veteran" status preferential hiring for his dream job: Boston Fire Department like his father and grandfather.

That was the year the Red Sox won the World Series. He went home on leave to put a Sox cap on his grandfather's grave.

When I told that story to my father-in-law, also from Boston, he said "Yep. Makes perfect sense to me."

# ¿ Jan 23, 2024 21:38

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Wasabi the J posted:

I guess sexual assault is unpunished if you're a brain-hosed veteran.

quote:

[Defense Attorney Joseph] Jordan described the circumstances as a �four-month situation� and said �there are absolutely no clean hands by any party to this case, including the alleged victims.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2024 22:51

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Nick Soapdish posted:

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1751044280406167692

God drat do I hate these idiots. I cannot wait until they have a massive heart attack

Is it just me or is Giuliani overapplying the bronzer too?

# ¿ Jan 27, 2024 03:07

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

AreWeDrunkYet posted:

Not really relevant at his level of inherited wealth. He could have done nothing other than maintain his dad's apartments - or stopped after the trump tower development - and easily lived the billionaire playboy image he played up to the media. Instead he went in over and over again on failed investments that were based more around image than profitability until he got to the point where he had to play a clown on TV for the cash flow. And because america, he was able to leverage his kayfabe rich person image into the highest position of power by throwing in some xenophobia and authoritarianism.

I believe it's been calculated that if he'd put all that inherited money into index funds he'd be wealthier than even what he claims today, let alone what he actually has.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2024 07:42

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

even i know that and i'm not even a yank

he big mad

he also big dumb

# ¿ Jan 31, 2024 02:41

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Duzzy Funlop posted:

I'm sure the Swifties are pretty fanatical, but the Barbs are currently on a mass-doxxing campaign because another rapper said something mean about Nicky Minaj in a track.

Now, if we could get Trump to shittalk BTS, Blackpink, and Twice, I'd wager the Blinks, Once and whatever BTS fans call themselves would just turn the 2024 election into a foregone conclusion.

The Kpop fans ran a surprisingly effective slacktivism campaign a few years ago jamming the hashtags that the right-wing media machine kept trying to make go viral. I wouldn't be shocked to see that happen again.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2024 04:06

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 07:55

Lemniscate Blue: Apr 21, 2006; Here we go again.

Kith posted:

it's almost as if slacktivism was a term invented by a purity testing rear end in a top hat who wanted to feel superior to people that weren't "doing enough"

not everyone is capable of contributing on the same level and every bit helps. talking down to folks who are doing as much as they can handle sucks poo poo

I know it's usually used to mean "feels good but accomplishes nothing because no effort" but I didn't intend for it to be a negative in my post. I think it (and the rally registration thing mentioned above also) show that there are, in fact, some strategies of effective action in the modern age that can be taken without un-assing your computer chair. "Slacktivism" feels like a good word to use for it.

If I'm alone in thinking that it's not always an insult then that's fine. I don't intend to run a "taking the word back" campaign or anything like that.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2024 07:15

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > January 2024 Current Events: I Hate This Year Already