• Flying Squid
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    122 hours ago

    I’m, unfortunately, reminded me of this bit from the original Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series (which preceded even the books):

    In today’s modern Galaxy there is, of course, very little still held to be unspeakable. Many words and expressions which only a matter of decades ago were considered so distastefully explicit that were they merely to be breathed in public, the perpetrator would be shunned, barred from polite society, and, in extreme cases, shot through the lungs, are now thought to be very healthy and proper, and their use in everyday speech is seen as evidence of a well-adjusted, relaxed, and totally unf [bleep!] ked-up personality. So, for instance, when in a recent national speech, the financial minister of the Royal World Estate of Qualvista actually dared to say that due to one thing and another, and the fact that no one had made any food for awhile and the king seemed to have died, and that most of the population had been on holiday now for over three years, the economy had now arrived at what he called, “One whole juju-flop situation,” everyone was so pleased he felt able to come out and say it, that they quite failed to notice that their five-thousand-year-old civilisation had just collapsed overnight. But though even words like “juju-flop,” “swut,” and “turlingdrome” are now perfectly acceptable in common usage, there is one word that is still beyond the pale. The concept it embodies is so revolting that the publication or broadcast of the word is utterly forbidden in all parts of the galaxy except one - where they don’t know what it means. That word is “Belgium” and it is only ever used by loose-tongued people like Zaphod Beeblebrox in situations of dire provocation. Such as…

  • J'Pol
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    666 hours ago

    Trump absolutely obliterated profits from manufacturing with the steel tariffs. That’s the whole reason that I’m struggling really hard right now. It forced me to order even lower quality steel because as the buyer, you’re the one paying the markups. It isn’t the affected country. This forced me to really put my limited metallurgical knowledge to the test because I had to ship critical components that wouldn’t fail to the best of my ability. I had to adjust everything from tool paths to cutting times because they both affect the integrity of the material. I already had to charge way more for the parts I make because I’m not in India or China making $2/hr. I really hate to say it, but American made steel is just too expensive and I can get it from Japan for maybe 3/4 the price. China is even cheaper with nearly the same quality. And, no, I don’t order it directly shipped. There are distributors.

    I’ve been screaming at colleagues for years now that Trump has absolutely no clue about real world manufacturing or how it works. He wants to destroy NAFTA, which would absolutely destroy the supply chain I rely on for non-metallic (mostly glass-filled plastics) materials. I make a fair amount of G-10 and G-11 fiberglass parts for nuclear power - from GE, to Hitachi, WestingHouse, to (oddly) Mitsubishi. Want to talk about how nuclear is expensive already? Yeah, go ahead and erase NAFTA. It would go from improbable and financially impractical to absolutely impossible. Get an order from some local business to make some parts? You have to charge at least an estimate of $70/hour just for labor and machine time. With the tariffs, I’ve had to bump that to about $90/hour.

    However, because the costs for me have gone up so much I’ve had to go from making money to paying to live. I have the skill, equipment, and knowledge to run a machine shop by myself. That orange fuck set it up that if I didn’t already have well-established long term contracts, I’d be in a ditch after selling my dog for a month’s worth of food. Trump knowing manufacturing, or how it impacts the manufacturers? Get the fuck out.

    Sincerely, A trans woman that has been in manufacturing her whole life.

    Source: Being a 20+ year career machinist.

    • Blackout
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      204 hours ago

      Those tariffs did exactly what they were supposed to do. Push smaller competitors out of the market and allow price increases from the bigger companies. Even with those tariffs the price from China was still much cheaper, all he did was ramp up inflation. Literally no one won.

      • @finestnothing
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        92 hours ago

        Same thing for the meat processing/packing laws in Denver, meant specifically to drive out a small bit very high quality farm in favor of a massive industrial one. It doesn’t lower prices or increase quality (raises prices and lowers quality overall), it’s just meant to drive out the competition.

      • @paddirn
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        2 hours ago

        I wonder how much this whole cost of living crisis is due to the Trump tariffs vs how much was due to COVID? COVID seems to have provided a convenient cover that distracted the world and probably exacerbated the issue, but I wonder had COVID not happened would it have been more apparent how bad the Trump tariffs were for the economy? To my knowledge though, I don’t know that those tariffs ever really went away.

      • J'Pol
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        103 hours ago

        The whole manufacturing sector is suffering. I don’t see how any blue collar worker in any state can’t recognize that. People just wanted deer season open so they could forget for a couple of months.

      • J'Pol
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        43 hours ago

        Yeah, if you are in the space it isn’t weird. But for most, it would seem odd.

  • @P00ptart
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    426 hours ago

    I fucking love waltz. I’m fairly positive on Kamala, but I absolutely love waltz. He may be my favorite politician atm.

    • @[email protected]
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      -203 hours ago

      You “fucking” “absolutely” love waltz so i’m gonna guess you agree with his policies:

      “the expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute, fundamental necessity for the United States to have the steady leadership there”

      • @[email protected]
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        4 minutes ago

        If I was editing wikipedia and saw your statement I’d add these two tags:

        [dubious claim: discuss] [citation needed]

        I know you’re taking a quote from the debate but it seems really out of context. If I remember he was talking about Israel’s response to a potential Iranian attack.

        Not the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

      • @Z4XC
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        72 hours ago

        Citation needed

    • darki
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      25 hours ago

      deleted by creator

  • The Snark Urge
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    1049 hours ago

    A politician who tells it like it is? A guy you could, God forbid, have a beer with? A veteran even, but with working class cred and a love of video games. A total unknown on the national level, but beloved by his constituents… You couldn’t order a more perfect veep off a menu. It’s almost surreal

      • @finestnothing
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        42 hours ago

        He did a WoW stream recently that blew up in the news

      • The Snark Urge
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        124 hours ago

        Couldn’t you have just fucking killed me instead

    • peopleproblems
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      468 hours ago

      What’s even better is that this is really him. Not a character, not adapting to the political race.

      Minnesotans are sad to lose him as governor, but he’ll be great as VP and definitely qualified to step in if something happened to Harris.

    • @asteriskeverything
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      147 hours ago

      I wanna have a beer with Walsh and share a joint with Sanders.

      Or maybe visa versa. Idk either way sounds like a good time

    • @[email protected]
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      -153 hours ago

      You couldn’t order a more perfect veep off a menu.

      “the expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute, fundamental necessity for the United States to have the steady leadership there”

      The average person you meet down the street has less thirst for blood and would make a better politician.

      • @[email protected]
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        31 hour ago

        Citation needed.

        But let’s humor your point. That is pretty awful, but what the fuck is the alternative? Voting Trump/Vance who will let Israel dial their genocide up to 11; shit they will probably actively encourage it, if there is votes/power or money in it for them.

    • @jaybone
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      26 hours ago

      I hope tourte right.

  • peopleproblems
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    348 hours ago

    And people start to see why he consistently won positions in Minnesota!

    • FuglyDuck
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      157 hours ago

      I’m not even sure you can technically say he was “in” a couch.

      #tinydickproblems

    • @InverseParallax
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      56 hours ago

      That’s not true, his job was shutting down factories.

  • FuglyDuck
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    6511 hours ago

    Give ‘em a break.

    Manufacturing stuff is hard, alright? You have to get off the couch and stuff

    • Cadeillac
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      4110 hours ago

      get off the couch

      You think Vance is worried about getting anyone other than himself off?

    • @BatmansButt
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      -315 hours ago

      Exactly, this entire thread reads like bot-made comments sponsored by a DNC “social media center”.

      He’s my favorite politician! He’s so relatable! I could have a beer with him! As a trans metal worker, here’s why Trump is responsible for my bills going up…

      It’s sad because I really thought this place was going to be real. But nothing can escape the record-correcters apparently.

      • @[email protected]
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        183 hours ago

        Great job bashing the dems while contributing nothing of substance to the conversation. Do you have any points concerning Trump’s or Harris’ manufacturing policies? Also, per your last point, please tell me how that commenters grievances are illegitimate. Is it because they’re trans?

      • @andxz
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        134 hours ago

        Nobody can escape having to share the planet with right-wing dumbass fuckwits either, but here we are.