Earlier today, I took a long walk on the Hill because it's gorgeous outside. I was passing by the Supreme Court, and at the intersection was this gentleman screaming into a mic and speaker about abortion. No one was around. (short thread)
He wore a floppy hat and sunglasses and had a cardboard sign propped up against the speaker. He shouts "God doesn't love abortionists!" I pass him and mind my own business. He looks at me--because again, no one is around--and shouts: "God doesn't love abortionists, right?!"
I glanced at him, shrugged my shoulders, and simply said "God loves me" and crossed the street. He was silent for a good five seconds. Seems that he didn't know how to respond. I have no idea if he perceived me as trans or what, but the man clearly didn't know how what to say.
But as I reached the other side of the street, he shouts into his mic: "God... God doesn't love you!" I didn't turn around, but I did say out loud: "Nope, God loves me! She said so." And this pisses him off, and he starts shouting and I put my headphones in and keep walking.
I can vaguely hear him shouting at me still but have no idea what he's saying. But then, I turn left on Constitution and I get about 50 yards down, and this car pulls up beside me. A gentleman is inside, rolls down his window, and asks, "Excuse me, was he talking to you?"
I say: "Yeah, I think he was."
And the gentleman says: "Ignore him. God loves you, and you are perfectly made. Ignore him." And he drives off.
It was a very sweet moment, that this stranger took time out of his day to make sure I felt affirmed.
Anyway, that made my day. /end
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Yet again, we're in one of those moments when a college offers an interesting elective course, and clowns online get all huffy about it and whine that college education has become trivial and ask what job a student will get with this course.
The typical undergraduate education, a bachelor's degree, is 120 credit hours over four years. Just about every degree program at every college or university in the country leaves at least 9-12 of those credits open as free slots for other subjects a student wants to explore.
That usually works out to at least 3-4 courses over the entire four years. Some degree programs have more. Some students will opt to use those elective slots toward a double major. Some will use them toward a joint degree program (bachelors and masters) over four or five years.
The criticism over Zelenskyy not wearing a suit is not only foolish but more importantly: completely fails to understand why he doesn't. Of course the man own suits. That's not the point.
His clothes are intentional symbolism. A country and its leader under immediate and existential threats from a tyrannical force have no time for suits and neckties.
Notice, too, that he's not wearing a formal uniform.
He has no visible rank or medals or nametapes. He has no commander’s cap or mirror-shined shoes. He has no epaulets or brass buttons or starched creases. He isn’t even wearing patches.
If land-based nuclear weapons are launched at the United States, even in a best case scenario (ha), the odds are pretty good you're not gonna know about it until the moment the bomb detonates in your area.
It's estimated that it would take 26 minutes, 40 seconds for an ICBM to travel from Russia to mainland U.S.
The estimate from North Korea to the U.S. is 33 minutes.
So, you're thinking: well, hey, that means I'll at least have a head start, right?
The state funeral for James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States, was as well attended by dignitaries as one might expect — or hope.
(thread)
Among the hundreds in attendance at the Washington National Cathedral were Presidents Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton; Vice Presidents Harris, Pence, Gore, and Quayle; Secretaries of State Clinton and Kerry; first and second spouses...
...Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Jackson; current and former heads of government from Canada, Colombia, Japan, Portugal, and the United Kingdom; Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh...
Yesterday, just before noon, The Washington Post, through CEO William Lewis, announced it would not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
It was shocking for two immediate reasons.
(thread)
The most grave—and, frankly, terrifying—reason is that the United States is obviously at threat of sliding into a horrific dictatorship from which it’s difficult to see how we’d ever recover.
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have made it abundantly clear that they aspire to devolve our nation into the world’s most powerful authoritarian regime. One need look no further than the chilling plans outlined in Project 2025.
I’m writing this after traveling back from the future, specifically Nov. 12th.
It’s a long story, but I know a lady who knows a lady who has a friend with a DeLorean souped up with an off-market flux capacitor and the trip got made.
(thread)
Anyway, we don’t have much time, so I’ll cut to the chase.
I got some good news and some bad news and some more good news.
Here’s the first good bit: Election Night went mostly okay, though not without a lot of stress.
By 1am on the East Coast, it was basically clear that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz were going to win the bulk of the swing states, all of them by pretty small margins.