We were in SF a few months ago, and wandered around the Union Square area. I snapped pictures around the city because I actually adored it and sent them to my MAGA parents, telling them they promised me human shit on the sidewalks and hoardes of homeless people harrassing me, so I wanted my money back. I told them I was also promised looters and cars being smashed into right in front of my face.

They were not amused and said something along the lines of: “Yes well Trump has been president so cities are cleaning up their acts!”

They both live on the fucking east coast and have never even set foot in CA for a second.

Oh good, we’re another step closer to 1984 becoming reality.

Thankfully this shit hasn’t made it to my installation. I’m guessing these eight bases “world-wide” have to be targeting the USMC.

The Marines get the absolute bottom of the barrel treatment even as far military members go.

My husband and I, who are both Enlisted, have been saying for years that the military is proof that a form of socialism CAN work in the US. It’s not “true” socialism because we still have an owning class, but ffs, it’s a goddamned start. And its not just Active Duty who gets taken care of. Its also dependents, veterans (to an extent), and retirees. So there is the proof that the model is scalable.

At this point, I honestly believe that the biggest reason reason the government won’t let the US have free or even affordable Healthcare isn’t solely because of profits. It’s because they won’t be able to dangle free healthcare over the heads of poor teens to get them to Enlist. Same thing with the pension for re-enlistments.

I feel like those two items are purposefully withheld from the public to keep the military stacked.

As someone who only recently got the opportunity to flee Texas to Cali: Fuck yes.

People who have never lived in a place like TX, FL, MS, MO, AL, etcetcetc have no idea what its like, and the purists who were against this move have zero idea whats at stake. The fact that this is time capped speaks volumes, and was intentional. Again, I urge people to look at how Texas did it. There is no limit, and the people didn’t vote on it. You don’t want that kind of government.

This was already legally happening in Texas. Cali did this in response to Texas being allowed to heavily gerrymander their state in Republican favor.

Editing to add: And it’s a time-constrained deal. This new map will only exist until 2030 when the maps would be redrawn anyhow. Cali put this up to a vote. Texas just…did it without a vote. Its near impossible for on-the-ground voters to get anything on a ballot in Texas due to the way the state Constitution is written.

Honestly I think there is a non-zero chance of this happening as well. We live in an apartment and neither of us have ever been “prepper” types so we don’t have a huge hoard or anything, but I have dedicated a cabinet in our kitchen to this situation.

I told my husband that I don’t think it’s unlikely that at some point we’re going to have to go without utilities for a couple weeks, so we needed to have stuff on-hand. After a few weeks, I feel like all bets would be off anyway and society would basically become feral so it doesn’t make sense to have a huge hoard that you can’t haul around easily. Unless you live in a house with Purge-Night style defenses, then I guess it makes sense.

I say this all the time as some who has bought/sold two houses and is currently a renter.

It IS really nice having the “forced savings” of buying a house, and knowing that if you pay off enough and SHTF you can always sell for a chunk of change, but holy shit, people VASTLY underestimate the maintenance costs.

Most people think: “Haha, I would rather have a $10K roof replacement every 20 years” or “I could handle a $1K water heater NBD”, but its not that. At all.

We had a pipe bust underneath our house that home insurance wouldn’t cover because it didn’t directly affect the house itself, and that was an unexpected $30K hit and digging under our home in multiple locations. People like to tout the foundation/roof being good, but I’m telling everyone, dont sleep on the hydrostatic leak tests. And if I ever buy a house again, that is something I’ll get done like every other year, because our pipe burst after we had owned the home for over 10 years.

Right now though, I am HAPPY knowing that the only “emergency” I’d have to cover would be vehicle issues, and my savings are going to largely stay my savings.

We never used it but I did look into it when we lived in Nevada for a friend who had been celibate for over a decade at that point. Nice dude, but extremely quiet and just has zero confidence/game.

I loved that the ladies were independent contractors who set their OWN rates, and they advertised what THEY were comfortable doing/ their explicit “no-go” list. There was also a strict consent banner on the site I used that said any of the ladies could kick anyone out at any time and there were panic buttons in the rooms.

Never actually did end up contacting them because we ended up being too poor at the time. Wasn’t mad though, those ladies were setting prices that they deemed fair for their bodies and I have mad respect for that. Whether people agree with prostitution as a concept or not, its not going away and its referred to as the “world’s oldest occupation” for a reason. The best thing to do is protect the people who are choosing to engage in it/ensure they’re getting paid extremely well for their time.

Thank you so much for this dope ass comment laying everything out! I genuinely appreciate it!

Honestly, you’re right, the people of Minnesota have been a beacon of light and optimism in this fucked up time period. I don’t doubt that there will be many who flock there in the near future. Renee Good and Alex Pretti would be so fucking proud of the way that Minnesotans have banded together to fight back. I am still, as I’m sure many are, fucking gobsmacked that their tragic deaths occurred in the first place, and even more outraged that their murders may go completely unpunished.

As for the climate, I’m a four-seasons girlie, and I’ve been living in primarily extended hot climates for much of my adult life. It’ll be nice to break out the “winter clothes” tote and pack away the “summer clothes” for a bit. You’re right that I’m going to miss the national & state parks though. We’ve only been to Sequoia since moving here, and it was breathtaking. Got pretty much all of them on the list though!

Our friends who already live in Minneapolis also did a brief stint in Madison for an internship, and they had nothing but glowing things to say about it. It makes me excited to go and visit! And Chicago is also on our list of places to live if we could make it work financially. We’ve been there a handful of times and we LOVE IT. It also helps that my BIL and wife live there, and my BIL is like my husband’s best friend. Having an easy way to get there where we don’t rely on a car is also a huge plus. Honestly, I can’t see hardly any downsides to moving to Minnesota.

I’m sure Wisconsin did break your heart when it went red. I was really attached to Las Vegas and wanted to move back (and still do occasionally) but Nevada went red in 2020 as well. I get it. It sucks. But hopefully, around the country, people are starting to wake up to the sheer idiocy & pure evilness of the MAGA movement. I’m trying my very best to be optimistic.

Awww see I live in NorCal now, and we’re trying to decide where to go when we retire, and St Paul/Minneapolis are one of the top spots on our list. We’ve never been there, but we have a handful of friends who moved there when they exited the military and they LOVE IT.

I need a blue city in a blue state with 4 seasons and good public transportation. Giving up the beauty of Cali is gonna be HELLA hard though.

I want to be a public defender (specifically in a red state because those people are going to be who MAGA laws will fuck the most), but I don’t want to LIVE in a red state. Figured I could live in St Paul and go to law school/take the bar in Wisconsin.

Me too, for free still as of this comment!

I think its dependent on their base. I firmly believe Beto O’Rourke would have unseated Fled Cruz if there wasn’t an emotional sound bite of him saying “Hell yeah we’re taking your guns!” After a WalMart in his hometown was shot up.

Ted Cruz (and Greg Abbott in the ensuing gubnatorial election) both played the FUCK out of that clip, and Beto lost both elections but only by a slim margin.

I’m not a 2A person, but I personally think if there was someone progressive like AOC or Bernie Sanders AND they touted gun ownership, they would be a winning candidate every single time.

Bruh I agonized over this on jury duty. It wasn’t even a violent crime but dude was still facing jail time. I cannot IMAGINE how stressful a Judge’s job must be on the day-to-day.

Man, that’s the last one I couldn’t find and I finally gave up to scroll for the answer. My eyes flicked to the clock like 3 times and I just shrugged it off! Lame.

Haha, you provided me an opportunity to do one of those shitty pun threads that I always come across too late after all the good ones are already taken, so I appreciated the typo anyhow!

Ughhhh my husband and I used to LOVE this show when it was airing.

Went off the rails a bit towards the end though.

Tbf, if they invited them too late, that’s just bad breadiquette.

This is how my husband is.

Then there’s me, a Detroit: Become Human enjoyer, and I give thanks to Fred, my off-brand roomba, when he does his job well.

And they are, which is so fucking frustrating. I will never not be salty about Colin Allred losing to him. I really thought they’d be irate over him fleeing Snowpocalypse and Texans actively dying INSIDE their homes in 2021.

But no, he won the fucking popular vote. Again.

Also, as someone who moved from Texas to Cali: Fuck off Fled Cruz we don’t fucking want you or your ilk in this state.

Also, also, I find it extremely funny that he’s leaving Texas ahead of the winter storm again, and I’m heading back to Texas tomorrow to surprise a friend for her birthday. I wish I wasnt living through Snowmaggeden 2: Electric Boogaloo to be quite honest.