cobysev

I served in the US military for 20 years, from 2002-2022. At least twice that I can recall, they didn’t pass a budget in time and we were told that we wouldn’t be paid until it was resolved, but to keep working like normal and we’d eventually get paid. Both times it was a very short time before it was resolved and we did eventually get paid again. I think the longest time was about two or three weeks.

For members who used USAA for a bank (a company exclusively for military members and their families), the bank automatically deposited our paychecks in our account on time, because they said they knew the US government was good for it. Anyone who used another bank just had to wait for the government to actually pay us.

If you know anything about military members (especially young service members), a decent amount of them live paycheck to paycheck, not because they have to, but because they’re irresponsible with their money. The military pays you well, while also providing food and housing allowances on top of your pay, so your necessities are covered and your base pay is basically pocket money to spend as you like. As such, a lot of service members go out and spend that money and end up with very little in their savings.

So when a government shutdown hits like this, suddenly that safety net of a monthly housing allowance is gone and service members need to pull their own spending money to pay for rent and utilities. Which can be hard to scrounge up last-minute for some.

I was always very fiscally responsible during my service, but most of the people I worked with would go out partying and drinking every week (some every night!) and would be struggling for cash by the next paycheck. Which came bi-monthly for us; we were paid on the 1st and 15th of every month. So there was always a lot of stress and anxiety when the government announced a shutdown.

It’s not FOSS, but Plex does that. I host my music from a server I built at home (you can literally just use your desktop PC) and then I have access to it from anywhere. I like to stream it to the Plexamp app on my phone, which I connect to my car via Bluetooth, then I have my own homemade “radio” on the go. No ads, just my own music that I can shuffle through.

I paid for the Lifetime Plex Pass, which gave me full access to all their features and apps. It’s expensive, but it’s a one-time payment, vs. their monthly subscription which can add up over time.

I actually got annoyed at Plex for remembering exactly where I was in every song. I’d return to an album I hadn’t heard in a while and it would skip right to where I left off in each song instead of playing from the beginning of the song

Sometimes while trying to find a particular song, I’d skip around in a track, then move to the next until I found it. Then when I returned to that album later, every song would start somewhere in the middle. I eventually needed to turn that feature off. It still remembers exactly where I left off the last time I played music, but it doesn’t save my place in each individual song anymore. Just the last one I played.

On the app, it keeps a list of all the playlists I’ve recently played, so I can pick up on my latest playlist or scroll back in the history and start up one I played a while ago. This is great because I like to just shuffle my entire library as a playlist while I’m mowing my lawn, but my wife likes to hear specific genres or bands while we’re riding in the car together. So I can just keep alternating back and forth between playlists depending on the situation and it remembers where I left off in each one.

I think one of the big concerns is that Trump is looking for any excuse to deploy the military against our own citizens. If he can start something violent in the streets, it justifies declaring martial law and taking over Democrat-run states. But in this digital age, everyone has cameras on their phones, so he needs the citizens to start shit first. He’s not brave enough yet to directly contradict video evidence of crimes (although he’s getting there).

That’s one of the big reasons Americans are trying to keep their protests civil. If we turn it violent, Trump gets his way and we get don’t stand a chance against a military invasion on our own land. Like in California, when Trump sent the National Guard to quell protests against ICE in LA, nothing came of it because no one wanted to start a fight. Protestors showed up, but none of them directly engaged with the military. Eventually the whole military campaign fizzled and the National Guard was recalled home.

We’re dealing with that again in Washington D.C. right now. Trump created some fake crime emergency to deploy the National Guard in D.C., despite an all-time low crime rate right now. Protestors are showing up in force, but nothing’s happening because they’re not directly confronting the National Guard. Just standing their ground and peacefully protesting.

I’m all for revolution; I think the only way we’ll fix our broken system is to tear it all down and rebuild from scratch; there are too many corrupt officials, on both sides of the fence, to repair it as is. And too many corrupt laws and regulations in place to function effectively. But you can’t just go in with violence. It’s a delicate situation right now and violence should be the absolute last resort. Trump has no problem sending millions to their deaths for his ideals and he’ll gladly invade our own nation to cement his dictatorship. We can’t give him the excuse to do it.

I was serving in the US military when Trump got elected the first time, and that was a scary time for us. He spoke very favorably about various dictators and wanting to reshape America like their countries. But he had a majority Democrat government that kept slapping down every BS thing he tried, so his first term was mostly uneventful.

This time around, though, he has a majority Republican government and enough supporters in high level positions that he’s surrounded by yes men. He’s been a lot more bold. I’m really glad I retired when I did because there’s no way I could follow his unlawful orders.

I think that’s the biggest difference between the US and Europe. Europe isn’t going to deploy the military to break up violent protests and then use it to enact martial law and overthrow that nation. Trump will, if given the chance.

The right wants what’s best for their own party and will only complain about something if it hurts their image. The left wants what’s best for everyone, even if it hurts their party.

The DNC and RNC, though, are basically the same right-leaning party and don’t give a shit about their constituents. Which is why we’re in this mess in America in the first place. The DNC won’t stand up for what’s right when the RNC pulls a BS move because it hurts their own political gains too. We don’t actually have a left party in America, so most American ideals are completely unrepresented.

That’s why the DNC is fighting against Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral election. He’s an actual left candidate, not the centrist-right figurehead they wanted on the Democrat ticket (Andrew Cuomo). So when Cuomo lost the primary for that Democrat ticket, he chose to continue running as an independent, to split the vote and ruin Mamdani’s chance of winning. Because the DNC would rather have a Republican in office than an actual left candidate.

Which is why we say, “RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!” There are going to be Democrats AND Republicans on the list. We don’t care. Punish them all. Actually drain the swamp. We have no party loyalty because we don’t have an honorable party to represent us.

It seems like we didn’t vote for this guy and he cheated his way to winning the election. He made suspicious comments about Elon Musk and how he helped with the election, mentioning something about how he’s really good with that technology. Which Musk also mentioned, claiming that Trump would never have been elected without him.

Then there’s an active lawsuit going on where several counties in New York state found that absolutely no one voted for Kamala Harris in their location during the election, despite having large groups of Democrat residents. Their electronic voting machines received patches right before voting started, which is highly suspicious. That’s being investigated right now.

It appears that the election was likely stolen and we have a president who was never elected. This is how fascist takeovers start, and unless people organize against the government, they’re just going to keep enabling this downfall of our country.

The casing on the outside of my air fryer is plastic, but the inside, where my food cooks, is all metal. 🤘

Can I get a different scale? I don’t think my respect and appreciation for kids lies anywhere on this line graph.

Oh, that’s a local volunteer militia. Much different than the organizations at play here. They usually don’t have much to do with the state, except that the state govt can choose to activate them to assist with emergencies; in which case they’ll be compensated by the State for their time.

They’re basically like the Reserves for the state’s National Guard. They fill in as requested, but don’t have much to do but train. I’m pretty sure Trump can’t activate them, as they’re strictly a local militia. Federal government has no authority over them.

The National Guard IS the state guard. That’s it’s official title. Perhaps you’re confusing them for the Reserves, which is a federal militia that’s only activated as needed.

But the president can activate the National Guard as a federal entity under his control.

When they say Trump is calling in the National Guard, he’s not deploying troops to the state; they’re already there. He’s just activating them and “deploying” them wherever he needs them in the state.

The big problem here is that activating means putting them on active duty (same status as federal military troops) and giving them active duty pay and benefits. But Trump and Pete Hegseth are not currently paying them (claiming the pay will come later) and trying to limit their deployed status so they don’t need to pay them full deployment benefits.

It’s like a business ensuring you only work 39 hours a week so they don’t have to give you medical benefits or full-time employment status. If they don’t fix it soon, the National Guard may just join the protestors.

Which may be why Trump is sending in the US Marines too; to keep the National Guard in line. Or he’s throwing a bunch of conflicting groups together to start a civil war so he can jump-start his dictatorship. This is how it always starts; declare martial law, deploy troops to every major city to seize control, then start making changes to laws and citizen’s rights across the books, with no one able to stop him through courts or uprisings.

Source: I’m a retired US Air Force veteran. Spent 20 years in active duty service, the last few years under Trump’s first term. It was an absolute nightmare and we hoped he was gone for good. But here we are again, and he doesn’t have a majority Democrat govt to keep him on a leash this time, so we’re in for a rough ride.

We’ve already petitioned Canada about adopting us since Trump was elected, and they responded positively! They consider us their favorite neighbor of all the border states. 🥰

Granted, it was a joke in response to Trump’s tariffs, but still… (Source)

I care, because what he says and does can drastically affect our lives in a bad way. It’s important to be aware of what’s happening. Ignoring him just gives him free reign to be an awful person without restriction.

Honestly, it’s why most of our government is allowing someone like Trump to do whatever he wants. Because who’s gonna stop them? Who’s going to enforce the rule of law?

Most people just prefer to avoid political BS, so they complain about the way things are, then go back to their lives a few days later and no justice is actually performed. No accountability.

Most of the time, I feel like the #StopMuskSpam campaigns on social media are just teaching us to ignore him so he can get away with more evil acts.

And the fact that he’s supposedly leaving politics feels like he’s just tired of being in the spotlight and is trying to move back to the shadows so he can continue harming us without criticism.

Don’t ignore him; stay in touch with everything he’s doing so you’re informed and can respond appropriately. And that goes for all political figures in control of our lives.

He kept talking about Hannibal Lecter because someone mentioned asylum for immigrants, and the only “asylum” he knows is an insane asylum.

So he started talking about Hannibal Lecter every time he mentioned immigrants, equating them with insane cannibals who want to eat you.

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I was worrying about this change because my Plex server provides free streaming for several of my friends and family and I didn’t want them to have to start paying for it. The whole point was to get them away from Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.

But this sounds like, since I’m already a Plex Pass subscriber, my remote viewers will still be able to access my stuff for free. Do I have that right? Because if so, this change is just business as usual for me.

I mean, in that political circle, he’s highly respected. Just not with the people of the “kingdom.”

If we’re dressing them like kings, I feel the last one should be a jester, not a clown.

I must’ve been tired last night… I stared at this meme for so long, not able to make any sense of it. What does the Cold War have to do with refrigerators?! I finally put down my tablet and went to sleep.

This morning I picked up my tablet, saw this meme again, and immediately thought, “Oh, the COLD war.” Duh.

Personally, I prefer this comparison:

Reminds me of this article I read yesterday:

Adopt a Red State: How Democrats Can Expose Republican Cowards

Glad to see Tim Walz is taking this approach.