After school club banned

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2023:

Hail Satan, lol!

In 2006, billionaire Warren Buffet said “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2023:

I am a proud socialist, and the professional managerial class are what socialists like me call the coordinator class, as they do the work of the 1% in managing the rabble, feeding them propaganda, shaping opinions, etc., and most importantly, distracting them and keeping them focused on issues irrelevant to the class war, like PC, culture war stuff, and identity politics, while all the while, these members of the coordinator class hide behind the political label of liberal. I know, I've seen many of them up close and personal at Unitarian churches. They talk a good game of being social justice warriors, etc, but when you scratch them deep enough, you find that they are just as materialistic, greedy, selfish, and classist as any conservative or Repub when it comes to issues of class and income inequality. They are fine with the status quo, as it serves them well, and they don't want to give an inch on their comfy spot in the top 10% class economically.

No questions, just pictures. This is Puff.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 22, 2023:

Puff's cuteness deserves to be shared with the world.

New Rule: Parliament Fights | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 18, 2023:

He has a point, but making a work of art and compromising and cooperating on governing, where getting elected and staying in power to do it, involves not only accomplishing things, but getting enough credit for it is key to winning elections, is a whole other thing than making movies or TV shows. Because actors and directors can still keep getting work and making big money, even if they don't get all the public credit, as long as they are regarded as being highly talented in the industry, and even more so, if they are popular with the public and can draw viewers.

There Are No Permanent Allies

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 18, 2023:

I despise identity politics too. It allows people who are just as callous, greedy, and selfish as the Repubs to identify themselves as liberal Dems and hide behind that, when in actuality, they are just as greedy, callous, and selfish as the Repubs they profess to hate, only because of culture war issues. That is what MLK realized near the end of his life, that the movement needed to go beyond racism and identity politics, and embrace socialism wholely, if it was ever going to defeat racism, because all of the above issues Hedges mentions are inseparably connected to matters of inequality in power and wealth.

"The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 17, 2023:

Still classic and still true, the insatiable thirst for profits over people, the evil root of capitalism.

Pastor charged for texting minor about smelling underwear | U.S. News

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 17, 2023:

File under " People With Issues", lol...

Happy Friday LMAO!!! 🤣🤣🤣 I can't read the subtitles, but this is SO funny without.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 17, 2023:

They are such entertaining creatures.

THE MOST POWERFUL FIGURE IN U.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 17, 2023:

All of that is proof that we no longer have the rule of law and have also become a lawless country, where nobody who is rich and powerful is held accountable anymore, from either major party. Thus, we have become a clearly failed democracy, and I don't see it ever being reversed in my lifetime, if ever. Because that would involve the sheeple finally waking up and dumping both the major parties, voting in third parties in DC, and then eliminating the big money in politics. None of that is ever going to happen, with the power of the corporate media, and the ignorance and gullibility of most Americans.

[tiktok.com] Go nana go 🙌🙌🙌🙌♥️♥️♥️

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 17, 2023:

You have a delightfully twisted sense of humor, Pralina, same as me.

I'm sitting in company break room listening to conversations while eating lunch.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 16, 2023:

It's baffling at times, isn't it, how these people never listen to themselves and have no clue how idiotic they sound. Sounds like you have a similar workplace to my last one before I retired.

I apologize for the length of this post.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 15, 2023:

I have no idea of your age nor that of the women you are talking about. It is always nice to have too many options and prospects, rather than too few or none, which is how the dating game goes, at least for most men like me. It's always feast or famine. Glad I seem to be finally ready to retire from the game for good, as I seem to have met my unicorn a few weeks ago. So if it lasts, and she doesn't get ill or die prematurely, I should have a partner for the rest of my life. As to your situation, I think that with how horrible the dating game is these days for anyone middle aged or older. Because of that, I think that many or most women who are single or in your age group, as well as mine, like to protect themselves emotionally, as well as keep their expectations in check, by saying they are "only interested in a friendship", etc., early on after meeting a man, as well as on dating sites in their profiles. Their reasons for this are to not only fend off and discourage the men who are either wanting to drag them into bed as early as possible after connecting on a dating site, as well as men who are more sincere and interested in genuine and lasting relationships, from putting too much pressure or seriousness on them early in the dating process, etc. But make no mistake, I suspect that most of these women are actually looking for something deep and lasting with a man, despite their statements saying they are more interested in just friendships, etc., for the forseeable future. And they know that time is not on their side, nor that of men who are also single and in the dating market. So, no matter what they are saying, or even what you may be sincerely saying and wanting, these women do see the other female friends of yours as competition and potentially someone who will prevent them from being able to enjoy a lasting romantic relationship, whenever in the future they might feel ready and honest enough to admit that is what they want with you and are willing to take the risk of being rejected for that, or, if you accept their proposal of a romantic committed relationship, being disappointed in how you pan out for that. Best of luck, as the singles world these days, esp. the online dating part of it, are a real jungle, at best, or a cesspool, at worst, depending on your perspective. PS- I'm amused by your reference to Literate Hiker and her many stories about her experiences with men in the dating game, as I blocked her long ago after getting fed up with how she constantly was engaging in low key male-bashing by always putting the blame, fault or deficiencies leading to incompatibility on the men, and never owning up to any of her faults or her own unreasonable or unrealistic demands on the men for qualities they lacked. At least you seem to...

Nobody talk to me till I’ve had my coffee

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 15, 2023:

Uh oh, now that kitty might be awake for a whole hour or two!......

Schools become flashpoint for Republicans eyeing 2024 presidential race | PBS NewsHour

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 13, 2023:

My fav is the cigarette smoking, burned out teacher.

Red State Republicans Propose Using Children to Fill Labor Shortages Faced with low unemployment ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 13, 2023:

Yeah, why not go back 100 years in social conditions, instead of just to 1950? These assholes want as much regression as they can get.

Saturday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 11, 2023:

Another black cat plotting world domination, between naps, of course.

'Last month, ICAN, through its attorneys, sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 10, 2023:

Yet another example of how private industry has captured the govt. agency assigned to regulate them. Glad all commercial planes have two pilots, since we can no longer depend on the govt. to make sure the airlines provide us safe and healthy pilots, since that would get in the way of their max profits.

White evangelicals desperately want their kids to have the same faith

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 10, 2023:

I think it's not just that they want their kids to like-minded clones of them, but they are also very scared of their particular church declining in numbers, and eventually becoming irrelevant in America. To them, those things are an existential threat to their identity and their life having any meaning or purpose.

Thursday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 9, 2023:

Preparing to scale the tree in the hunt for birdies.

Sunday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 5, 2023:

Proud, but sad, Mama cat.

Re-branding Jesus?

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 5, 2023:

I have seen those commercials many times and found them to be creepy and manipulative. Now I know who is behind them, I find them even more so, tho the news here is not surprising. Trying to manipulate and control the masses by the rich is nothing new.

Oh, no more for me thanks...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 3, 2023:

Most of them sleep 20 hours a day as it is...

Florida Demanding Girls Report Menstrual Info to the State in Order to Play School Sports Florida...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 3, 2023:

This guy is giving other pricks a bad name... In other news, his continuing to be popular in FL, proves that the state has gone off the deep end mentally, at least the majority of voters, and is no longer a liveable place to be if you are intelligent and sane, kind of like my state, Iowa, better known to people like me as Mississippi North. Fortunately, I live in its largest city, which is a fairly diverse, liberal enclave, but I have to wonder how much longer the state's ruling Repub Party will allow us to be as we are, in our sort of free-zone part of the state.

Friday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 3, 2023:

Biracial feline family..

It is a slow transition becoming a cyborg j/k.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 2, 2023:

Before you know it, you can be Robocop....

How many remember these from school?

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 2, 2023:

My elementary school principal had one of those hanging on the wall in his office, only it didn't have the holes like that. But it did have the words Board Of Education on it. Guess it showed that he at least had a sense of humor. I never had it used on me, and only visited his office to be notified of something once, from my parents.

I have been making this argument for years, but people would rather fund wars in Central and South ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 1, 2023:

I always loved Chris Farley's character of the motivational speaker living in a van down by the river, lol. Too damned funny and true to life...

Careful y'all, the dates are getting litigious! Man sues woman for $2.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 1, 2023:

Sounds like the legal system there has much different laws and standards about sexual harassment than here. And this guy clearly belongs in the category of "People With Issues"...

I have been making this argument for years, but people would rather fund wars in Central and South ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 1, 2023:

Most Americans are too dumb, ignorant, distracted, apathetic, or all of the above, to be capable of looking upstream at the root causes of our problems.

I’ll just keep your pizza warm for you…

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 1, 2023:

I don't doubt there are cats that will eat a pizza, if they can find a way to chew it, they will eat it. I already saw a cat eat lasagna on TV.

Governments don’t want an intelligent population because people who can think critically can’t ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 1, 2023:

The collarary to this is that they want people just smart or trained enough to run the machines and keep the profits of capitalism being made, but too dumb and scared, to ever think of rebelling and revolting against their ruling class masters.

I've moved to Vancouver, BC.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 31, 2023:

I think the accountability group for women to call out and identify the men on dating sites that are fakes, assholes, scammers, cheats, etc., is a great idea and hopefully a counterpart group is out there or will be formed for men to do the same for the women who act badly as well, on dating sites. Because the dating sites themselves, are reluctant to get involved in that, except for the ones who are obvious fakes and scammers, as well as those who are abusive, harassing or stalking someone. But I think those groups like the one you joined are a good thing, because they can also identify who is simply a bad actor, like those who play games, string people along for weeks with messaging, and then ghost them, or stand them up for the first in person meeting, etc. I can't count the number of lying, game-playing, ghosting with no legit reason women I encountered in my four years of online dating. The only thing the groups need to be concerned about is to avoid lawsuits for libel, slander, defamation, etc., from the people they call out, by not using anyone's full real name, and that way they should be in the clear from that, as long as they use the offender's screen name or dating site usernames, etc., instead of their real full name.

It still amazes me how much more the typical agnostic/atheist knows more about the Bible than a ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 31, 2023:

It's the same thing as how so many foreigners who are well traveled and intelligent are actually much more informed and insightful about the US than all the native citizens here, who are instead ignorant and brainwashed about American exceptionalism and superiority. It is usually those outside a culture and a group that are the most objective, informed, and astute when it comes to seeing what's going on and and what the object group is really about.

55% of adults think Jesus will return to Earth (this includes 1% of atheists. [allisrael.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 31, 2023:

I'm an Agnostic, not an Atheist, and I don't believe in Jesus, but do think if he did exist as a supernatural being and returned to earth, I have a feeling he would be very pissed off, esp. at his supposed followers...

Students at Sydney private school told sex before marriage makes you 'dirty and unusable': ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 30, 2023:

The same type that gives guns more rights than women.

I've moved to Vancouver, BC.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 30, 2023:

It's still worth the risk, you just have to be thick-skinned, determined, discerning about the profiles you encounter and the people you actually connect with thru messaging, then, along with all that, have the patience to weed thru and screen out all the liars, scammers, cheaters, and other people who are either too damaged or not serious or sincere enough to be interested in the type of relationship you want. I know of what I speak, I have been doing online dating actively for four out of the six years I have been widowed, been ready to give up a few times, never did. Dated two nice women for six months each, at different times, recently joined three additional sites, in addition to my longtime paid subscription to Match, one paid, to E-Harmony, and two free, Bumble and POF. And, lo and behold, I appear to have finally found my unicorn, on Bumble, where she and I connected about a week after NY, messaged for ten days, met a week ago, and have gone out on four real dates since then. So, it only took four years, but it looks like it can happen and did happen, even for someone as mismatched as me with my local dating pool. Why did she and I click so well and have such good and obvious compatibility? Because, as I alway knew my unicorn would probably need to be, she is a transplant to the Midwest, from MA, who came here in her early thirties, after already being culturally and socially formed in her lifestyle, from out there, instead of Iowa, raised in a blue collar family, so she wasn't into being very materialistic or concerned with social status, etc. In other words, not made incompatible for me with all the usual Midwest values that I hate so much and have rejected all my life, etc. So there is hope for outliers like me who don't fit their local dating pool, but it obviously involves a lot of time and luck waiting for the stars to align enough for the right person to end up on the same dating site as you, at the right time as well, which is something really rare, when most of our fellow outliers are rarely willing to use dating sites, and even when they do, like the woman I just started dating, they usually experience so much rejection, frustration, and disappointment, that they don't stay very long, and instead just quit trying, give up, and drop out, at least temporarily, and usually for good. That is why, for us outliers in our local dating pools, we have so few prospects that fit us at any given time in the online dating pool. So it is truly a waiting game and a numbers game. The rest of the dating pool is always full of the incompatible mainstream folks, as well as all the damaged, toxic, and dishonest. I wish you well and the best of luck.

When the heck is Trump going to be indicted in Georgia?

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 27, 2023:

My magic eight ball says "Never going to happen", the same way he will never see the inside of a prison.

I won't go into too much detail but, I've been sick for over 2 months now and mostly bedridden.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 27, 2023:

He knows his job and cares about his mommy...Glad you have him..

Relationships What are your views on remaining in contact with ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 25, 2023:

Depends on how things were at the end of the relatonship, friendly vs. bitter and resentful. I am still friends with a woman I met from Match and dated for six months, nothing serious, but we are clear with each other on where things stand, and were also, at the time we broke up. She is occasionally dating another guy she met on Match, after me, and I just recently met someone I am really attracted to and compatible with, so we are both good with continuing to be friends with occasional contact thru messaging. No issues or jealousy, even before I finally met someone else after her to date steadily.

I consider myself equal parts jock, hippie, business professional, and nerd.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 25, 2023:

Rotsa ruck, Bill. This site was never much good for finding dating partners, but in the last few years it has dried up completely as a dating pool, even for LD dating. My advice, based on recent experience with dating sites, would be to try Bumble, Zoosk, and E-Harmony. Best wishes...

Japanese Man Spends Rs 12 Lakh To "Become" A Dog

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 25, 2023:

Sometimes the truth is even more surreal and bizarre than a story in The Onion. At first I thought this was a fake story from The Onion..

Wednesday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 25, 2023:

One of these is different..

Monday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 23, 2023:

The ma and pa have different markings, interracial feline couple?

Jesus is the reason for the treason

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 22, 2023:

I really don't think religion was a motivation for most of the rioters on Jan. 6, unless you count Trump worship as a religion, which I suppose you could. Their motivation was their love of and loyalty to the Trump cult.

She still hides alot and doesn't want to be petted, but came out to watch the aquarium with me in ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 19, 2023:

They do love watching fish and birds, cat TV...

Games not to play

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 19, 2023:

They will, because most of them are way cuter than most of us hoomans..

I think a part of the appeal of religion is from nostalgia.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 19, 2023:

I don't listen to the same music over and over, and neither did my late wife, who was 15 years older than me. She loved listening to modern singers, like Bruno Mars and Adele, etc., just as much as oldies, and really liked alternative and indie bands of today, same as me. But what really irritates the hell out of me, as a music and karaoke snob, is all the singers I see at karaoke, of all ages, but most noticeably and more commonly, the older people, is how many of them sing the same damned boring, stupid songs all the time there, every week, which gets really boring when you go to the same shows every week, and can usually predict exactly which songs they will sing, within an array of the same five songs or less. You can't tell me that these people only know five songs that they could sing as well as any other. I can't understand how they can't get bored with themselves or their repetition, but they don't seem to care and they sure don't care about boring the audiences at the shows. I just refuse to condone and approve their selfish boorishness, so when they sing, I duly ignore them, and then give them the perfunctory pity clap when they finish, no matter how well they sing. Because, whether they recognize it or not, this ain't American Idol, and they aren't singing it perfect, nor do they get any better at the songs with the repetition...

Monday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 16, 2023:

Halloween colors..

Alabama Attorney General Wants Women Who Use Abortion Pills Prosecuted Alabama Attorney General...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 15, 2023:

Until men can get pregnant, they all need to STFU about abortion, unless they want to support women and be pro choice.

My son's houseplant, in full bloom.....

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 10, 2023:

Apparently, no boxes were available at the time...

The ginger genes run strong in this family 🥰

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 10, 2023:

Gingers tend to be very loyal, loving, and affectionate.

You have to understand that most people are not ready to be unplugged.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 9, 2023:

Sad but true. To me, a lot of people seem to be so consumed by social media and the internet, that for them those things are like The Matrix, and they don't even realize how dependently plugged in they are to it. And that's also true for all the reality TV and celebrity-worshiping junk TV they are also hooked on.

Feed me NOW hooman!

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 8, 2023:

The cat is always right, rather than the hooman..

My ice cream cone! Mine! [twitter.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 7, 2023:

The hooman has forgotten their place in the proper order of things... Kitties like milk, which ice cream is a form of, so why wouldn't they like it?

What is the most bizarre dream that you've ever had?

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 6, 2023:

The most frequent dream I have had over the years is an odd and negative one, but not that surprising for me. In a couple variations of it, I am back at one of a few old jobs I had and grew to not like. And in each dream I end up having to go back temporarily, for some indeterminate amount of time, and work at that particular job. I suppose the dreams are all about some form of regret or feeling I had some unfinished business at each job, maybe feeling that I wish things had gone better at them, etc. But in each case, I wake up later, remembering most of the dream, and conclude that my unconscious was probably processing some unresolved feelings about that particular old job I was in.

Mister turned 3 a few days ago.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 6, 2023:

Already enjoying the easy, leisurely life of most human retirees...

I want to get off my chest, it seems like a disproportionate amount of time I run into arguments ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 6, 2023:

I voted for the first one, because these are always people who don't really know me at all, much less what I have experienced, so they usually make an argument that boils down to, "Be grateful for what you have and thank God for it, etc. because it could be worse, other people have it worse, etc.". And that is bullshit, because unfairness is something real and not easy to be happy about. Secondly, even if I need to adopt that attitude, it's already all there in psychology and therapy, that does not have to involve religion or a God in any way, so they can blow it out their ass, as far as I'm concerned, with their grateful to God and believing in him will solve all of your unhappiness crap. To me, that would be using religion as an anti depressant drug, and just another addictive crutch, same as Marx's remark about religion being the opiate of the masses..

We're not human beings having a spiritual experience.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 4, 2023:

Who fucking cares, either way? Certainly not me..

Why are Lyft and Uber letting Christian drivers preaching at passengers? - YouTube

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 4, 2023:

I will stick with rides from friends, or, if not that, take a taxi. The cab companies still have some standards, and I would always rather support them, rather than the more exploitive ride share companies. I almost never need rides with friends these days, and so I will mainly need taxis if I end up traveling by air, in the place I fly to, as that is far better than renting a car, if I'm going to visit a major city, or esp. if i finally go overseas somewhere.

Tuesday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 3, 2023:

Maine Coons are so furry and majestic...

The sad truth!!!

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 3, 2023:

And I'd be willing to give my life to fight the fascists that support Trump and want to turn this country into a fascist, white supremicist, Christian Nationalist dictatorship. That is a cause worth finally dying for, unlike all the wars of choice during my lifetime, that were for oil and empire.

Nostalgias nice, but it was never as rosy as we remember.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 2, 2023:

The good ole days were great, as long as you were white, male, straight, and religious. Not so much if you were something different than that...

More people need to hear this.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 2, 2023:

Ever since Reagan, the above philosophy was replaced with Greed Is Good....

Thought this belonged here...

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 2, 2023:

I wish I still had the confidence and swagger of that kitty...

It'z my burfday! I iz ayt!

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 1, 2023:

Such a cute birthday boy or girl.

Cheaters are going to cheat, big surprise.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 1, 2023:

To Repubs and their followers, cheating, and esp. getting away with it, is a badge of honor, rather than shame, despite all their phony talk about being morally superior to Dems and liberals. We all know that is crap, but many people lack critical thinking skills, so they are gullible to all that phony talk about morality from Repubs. To entitled, privileged rich brats like Trump, the rules are only for other people who aren't like him, suckers, slobs, etc., who don't have or deserve his status. He laughs at people who take any rules seriously, sees them as naive and stupid. At his age, going to prison and doing real time, would never improve his character, but it would rub some of that arrogance off of him, from finally getting caught at and punished for something..

Cheaters are going to cheat, big surprise.

TomMcGiverin comments on Jan 1, 2023:

Well duh... In my experience, by the time someone gets out of college, if not before then, their character is already pretty much set for life, so who they are back then will tell you everything you need to know about who they are now, and have always been... I have seen very few people change over their life, as far as their character, between their 20s and their middle aged selves. Changing in other ways, sure, but not as far as their character... And that is also why, at least for me as a voter, I want to know about someone's past behavior, going back to their young adult days, esp. if they have never run for office before, because I want to have some idea about their character as a private citizen first, before I trust them with the power of elected office.

Happy New Year kitty lovers!

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 31, 2022:

Too cute! I want to pet them all..

Just think how much better the years 2017 -- 2020 could have been.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 31, 2022:

I think more how much better the last six years would have been if we'd had Bernie as prez, but, suit yourself.

I guess they put him in his place.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

Appropriate shelf placement, for a human douchebag...

Don't blame the wrong people.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

So true, but the haters never are deep enough thinkers for that, and they are also too chickenshit and selfish to bother with actually opposing those who are powerful and connected enough to create refugees... Same as seeing the poor as their enemy, instead of as fellow victims of the system and the rich, same as them, but that would mean actually opposing and blaming those they envy, admire, and aspire to be someday, and would also involve making some personal sacrifice to practice class solidarity. It's much more effortless and convenient to just bash the poor and vote for whoever is cruelest to them. The people who create refugees are in both major parties in DC, and they collude to create trade and foreign policy that cause wars and economic dislocation..

When corporations are convicted of felonies, their CEOs should also be charged for the crime.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

Agreed, but don't doubt for a minute that even if going to jail might be an occupational hazard for CEOs, there will still be plenty of them willing to risk it, in exchange for the obscene money they are paid... They can still easily afford early retirement in prison, with a golden parachute awaiting them after they are removed from their position...

The poor little rich boy entitlement is strong with this one.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

Which makes you wonder why so many "regular people" keep voting for Repubs, since it never results in lower taxes for the peasants. My guess has always been that their motivation for voting Repub is either their delusion that they will be rich someday or, more likely, that the Repubs do a better job than the Dems of playing to their hatred of those who are different than them, ie, immigrants, colored people, queer folk, liberals, etc. With the latter, even tho the Repubs will never help them economically, they at least get the satisfaction of feeling they are sticking it to The Other-their perceived cultural enemies.... as well as owning the libs, etc.

🚨 Chris Cuomo on No Lie Podcast

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

I would love to have RCV here in the US, because it's the only way to break the stranglehold of the duopoly on fed elections, by allowing third party candidates the chance to win, instead of being seen as spoilers that people are too afraid to vote for. The only other ways to do it would be eliminating big money from politics or having fully funded campaigns for fed elections, and we all know that neither of those is going to happen, until both major parties are thrown out of power.

We all have our personal standards, some of them are more realistic than others.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

On the one hand, I can see ending up alone as the crazy cat lady being a sort of karmic justice for women who are too demanding about who they will date. On the other hand, it is a positive for all those cats, that they have a home and are loved, presumably. The point is valid tho, for men and women, that having unreasonable standards will ensure you ending up alone in the dating and mating game, unless you are very rich, great- looking, or both.

With age, the things that are really important seem to become much more clear.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 30, 2022:

I wish I had one more year with my late wife, alive and still healthy.

Good Samaritan finds cat frozen to the ground in Muskegon | kens5.com

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 27, 2022:

Glad he didn't end up as a catsicle. A neighbor of mine across the street from where I lived many years ago, would cruelly leave her cat out in the cold and not let him in, because he kept wanting to go outside on sunny days during the winter. I would let him go inside our garage to get out of the wind, and would bring him back home later, making them let him back in. My wife ended up reporting them to Animal Control for abusing him.

Continued Gains for Humanists and Atheists in the 2022 Election - TheHumanist.com

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 27, 2022:

I can tell you that the lone pol from Iowa is pissing in the wind at the state legislature, where she will serve, since Iowa is very much a one party state these days, and the Repub Party here is very controlled by the religious right. My state is very religious, and intolerant as well, of those who are non-religious. No doubt this official happened to be from one of the very few districts in the state that is blue and not so religious.

I have 4 cats and had many failed attempts at a group photo for Christmas.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 26, 2022:

I love how grumpy all of your cats look. They are all so adorable..

Conservatives are upset their kids don't want to spend Christmas with them

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 25, 2022:

All of it is so well said, and it also explains why I will not be friends with or date any conservatives or evangelical Christians, as they live in alien silos from me and share none of my values, so why waste the time and effort with them? Same as with my family of origin, who never shared my values, even the siblings that shared some of my politics, I realized long ago the less contact and relationship I had with them, the happier I would be, so I cut my ties pretty much with them.

As someone that spent too many years not doing this, I encourage everyone to begin as soon as ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 23, 2022:

I adopted that attitude many years ago, when I became a proud socialist, while others would instead bash me and insult me for supposedly being lazy or lacking ambition, because I didn't join the bandwagon of being a submissive, loyal, deluded wage slave. I had plenty of ambition tho, ambition to be my own man and not be owned by anyone. And I inherited enough money that I even got to retire early, so my plan to eventually retire and tell the bosses to kiss my ass, finally happened. It's so nice to no longer live in fear about anyone having power over whether I could have the money to pay my bills, eat, or survive. But so many Americans of my generation bought into the con, that if they worked hard, were loyal to their employers, etc., they would eventually be rich someday, or at least be able to move up the ladder and be the boss someday, or at least get a cushy job in management or something better than entry level jobs their whole life, sort of like a plantation slave buying into sucking up to the master or the overseer and moving up from being a field slave to a house slave. The actual terms for those last ones involve the N-word, but you get the point. Ain't no diff between being a wage slave and a plantation slave these, days, except that you do get paid in money these days, and you are free to move on to the next wage slave job, instead of being tied to the same plantation your whole life. But either way, you spend most of your life, just working for the man, every night and day, etc., like John Fogerty used to sing in CCR.

How any woman can make herself instantly unattractive to any thinking man: wear a necklace with a ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 23, 2022:

Unfortunately for me, the vast majority of women in my local online dating pool are religious, and usually strongly so, so they always reject me, even the ones who are only moderately religious, that I am willing to accept and tolerate, because, why should they be open-minded and make it a two-way street of tolerance and open-mindedness, when they have three other men, usually fellow believers, to choose from instead of me, in our local dating pool? I am so screwed in my local area, and even with a larger dating pool of two hours away, because almost always, the women there are not willing to date long distance, even if I am and I am otherwise compatible with them.

I bet they feel betrayed, it breaks my heart (not).

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 22, 2022:

Fundamentalist religion, just bigotry dressed up in Bible drag, a line stolen from the comedy character Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian...

You got all that?

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 22, 2022:

Serial killer of birds, lol...

I'm tired of being single I needed a companion

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 19, 2022:

"I'll take Scammer for $500, Alex"...

Such a nice, thoughtful kitty.....

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 19, 2022:

Hopefully, the mouse is smart enough not to fall for it..

After eviction, Christian hate-preacher Jonathan Shelley can't find a new home

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 19, 2022:

They have no shame, but they do get angry as hell after they say the quiet part out loud, and justly get called out as the bigots they are. In other words, I have the right to free speech, but you don't, because I'm right, you're wrong, so you have no right to call me a bigot, etc. To them, it's all a one-way street... Once a shithead, always a shithead....

I have been reading the dating profiles on Facebook.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 18, 2022:

I think you are being too technical in your interpretation. Like many dating profiles I have seen from women, the women may be either not quite as literate and educated as you or I, so their wording is rather misleading and imprecise. What it appears, at least to me, that they mean is, that they are serious about getting married to someone compatible, instead of just dating indefinitely or casually. Some people, men and women on dating sites, are just not that good at using language clearly or precisely, so they are often misunderstood, even if the writer is being honest and sincere. Your example also shows, the hazards of not having someone literate and at least as smart as you, or smarter, proofread your profile, before you finalize it, because that way the obvious and less obvious errors will be found and corrected. I recently saw the POF profile essay of a male buddy who got me to join POF, after he was already on there. He was a newbie himself, to online dating, and it showed, in his profile essay. A woman on there had replied to his initial message to her with a one word reply, "Fake!". Her reason for that was understandable, after all the scammer profiles I have seen, both on here and real dating sites. He said in his essay, three things that were inappropriate and suggestive of being a scammer, so she tagged him as one, even tho all three things were the truth, but they were what I called rookie mistakes. He said that he had worked in Antarctica, was 195 pounds for his weight, and that he had no prison record. The second item was just unnecessary, unusual and weird, so she was suspicious of that, the first one sounded like typical scammer stuff about working abroad, and the last one, even tho it was meant to be humorous and light, seemed very inappropriate and suggested he was lying and probably had done time. I told him to eliminate all three of those things in his essay, and he would be fine, as his photos were good and the rest of it was fine.

From our Stark Contrast Department:

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 17, 2022:

I wouldn't get too cheery about the Dem record. Food prices are still sky high, Assange is still getting shafted, DeJoy and Powell are still in their jobs, as Trump appointees, we traded Afghanistan for Ukraine, in the MIC making their profits, our manu jobs are still all overseas, corporations still have way too much power to price gouge, and the Dems do nothing about that, or even talk about it, health care costs are still way too high, Medicare and Social Security are still way too inadequate to give everyone decent healthcare and a decent retirement, the mass shooting continue every day, and are getting worse..... I could give you a lot more. The Dems are marginally better than the Repubs in DC, but not much.

Cat safe after hair-raising rescue from Pelican Bay storm drain

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 17, 2022:

I am very happy for the cute kitten, but I am disgusted at how likely these same people wouldn't care a fraction as much about some adult person, or possibly even a child, who was poor or a racial minority, for example, who needed to be rescued from poverty or homelessness. Something to think about...

Saturday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 17, 2022:

A Lynx?

Looking for a new profile photo which one works the best?

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 13, 2022:

For what my opinion is worth, as a man, I would go with the second one. All I do know is that I am turned off by women with profile photos that have the fish lips or duck lips face, as well as other goofy faces. It makes them seem either spacey or trying to be showing off. I prefer just a warm smile, as if they were being comfortable with a friend, or maybe a bright, big smile. I stay away from women with no smiling photos or no teeth showing, because that could mean missing or bad teeth, or simply their bad personality, that my female friends call "Resting Bitch Face".

Said every cat at 3 am

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 13, 2022:

It's nothing personal...

Before we criticize, the current generation for their enthrallment we should remember

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 12, 2022:

To be fair, some of the Gabor sisters did have talent as entertainers, the Kardashian kids, not so much...

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will...

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 12, 2022:

Something tells me the OP is way under 50 yo...

Don't forget your little ones this Xmas

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 12, 2022:

Hard to tell if the kitty is excited or scared, lol..

Has anyone seen the new friends feature on the Facebook dating?

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 12, 2022:

I am on FB, but know nothing about it. Does it cost you any $ if you are already on FB? I am wary of using it, as I could see the potential of scammers using it even more than normal dating sites. Scratch that. I looked it up on Google, there is no web version of it yet, probably never will be. You need a smartphone to use it, which I have no interest in getting.

A very interesting discussion and worth the watch although it is a bit long.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 11, 2022:

In some ways, I feel it has already begun, at least on the part of the right wingers. Witness the steep increase in attacks on places where black, queer, Jewish, and immigrant people are gathered, and it's clear that one side has already begun fighting a civil war against the groups that they feel are their cultural, racial, ethnic, and political enemies. As to a point made in the video, I am retired, widowed, and not nearly as busy as most Americans, and I am also a born pessimist, so am also not inherently hopeful. Maybe that is why I tend to see things more clearly and realistically about how America is falling apart, saw Jan. 6 coming, and, like Chris Hedges, tend to see things coming more clearly than most Americans. I do know that I see things way more clearly about what is going on than my married friends with kids, who are totally clueless about what the author in the video calls, "the nuances of what's going on in politics herea". I only wish that everyone was required to be aware of those nuances, in order to get to vote,... As for the video overall, I generally don't have the patience to watch anything over a half hour long, since most times the videos are too long, either from repetition, or the presenter having too much filler or elaboration of their points being more detailed than it needs to be.

Who’s giving Americans spiritual care?

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 11, 2022:

As far as providing spiritual care, ministers are being, and have been replaced, for some time now, by mental health workers, like social workers, therapists, and counselors. It used to be that most religious people went to their ministers for counseling, because it was less embarrassing to them and they already knew the person. Nowadays, as more people become secular, and mental health therapy is less stigmatized, they go to secular helpers.

Here's a chestnut that often comes up when a religious person finds out that I am an Atheist.

TomMcGiverin comments on Dec 11, 2022:

Going to church, or even simply claiming a religion, makes someone a moral person no more than sleeping in a garage, makes you a car...