Trump Admin II: Orange Fascist Boogaloo

Yeah, that is closer. While I do see some Republicans getting angry, their representatives are pleased as punch they have so much power to wield like a child with a loaded gun.

Speaking of a manchild with far too much power, Elon Musk is once again emitting high concentrations of Nazi particles:

Musk Retweets ‘Hitler Didn’t Murder Millions’ Message Amid Ongoing Nazi Controversy

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoni...llions-message-amid-ongoing-nazi-controversy/

I am actually half-Indian (dad's side) but, oh man, where do I begin. As as Westerner visiting the Indian sub-continent your experiences are going to be way, way different than someone who was born/raised there for a time (till I was 17).
Generally: people being stupid, politics being bad, no safety guarantees, roads and driveways being dirty and messy, having to secure homes with bolts and steel and everything inbetween, foiling kidnapping plans every fucking month, banks losing your own cash, etc. Ask any local if they'd want to relocate to any country in the West and 9 times out of 10 they will say if they could, they would. Watch the video by baldandbankrupt on youtube. You'll get the idea why my family and most my friends left it all behind.

I believe he is a westerner visiting his wife’s family.

What would be the point of the Democrats shutting the government down now? The Republican Party wants government drowned in a bathtub. They love shutdowns.

The Republicans are currently shutting down whatever parts of government they don’t like (see Department of Education having halved their staff yesterday and the rest told to be prepared) while keeping open or reopening those that get enough pushback from the Republican base.

Shutting down everything until the Rs agree that a budget is an actual budget (as in funds allocated to a program get disbursed to that program) and not just a Trump/Musk slush-fund that they shift around as they wish means that programs Rs like and not just one Ds like (and to reiterate, everyone voted for) close until such an agreement is reached.

The basic question then becomes: Does the government shut down for everyone or just Democrats?

Sister's husband is Indian.

But Tasvir is correct that I'm likely getting a sanitized version, even if the big cities a better than the rural towns and villages.

That's nice! I am guessing you're drowning in Hyderabadi cuisine? Your BIL's family could hook you up with some homemade biriyani, though go for the chicken one, anything else is a crime against humanity!

If you are in the city though you're probably in the middle to upper-middle class area, I'd advise not to go out alone in certain neighborhoods, it's really not safe unless you have some Indian family with you.
And for the love of God don't go to any hawkers markets! They see a Westerner and they'll try to sell their cheap wares with extra fucking markups, and they'll follow you around until you give in. Something I was always embarassed about in front of my Western friends when they'd visit me at home, and eventually stopped taking them out in town unless we went in cars from point A to B without stopping.
Hope you're enjoying your trip!

@Bickendan , did you experience any loadshedding yet whilst your stay there? I hope you didn't but during my last visit back I was experiencing multiples in one day!

I did back in Feb 2020 when I went for the first time -- my brother-in-law's brother was getting married, and we had to deal with some of that at his family's house in Bardhamann. Every visit since has been fine -- Agra and Kolkata in 23, Bangaluru last year, and here in Hyd so far. It's actually been nice walking around checking out the cities, but like you noted, some shop keepers are pushy as fuck. There's a shit ton I want to see (Mumbai, Nagercoil, Chennai, Delhi proper, Darjeeling, and that's the short list), but I think a trip to Europe is next up, as it's been too long since I've been to Belgium to visit family.

As for my current visit, well, the lady I'm visiting is quite lovely

From the horse's mouth:

Chuck Schumer: Trump and Musk Would Love a Shutdown. We Must Not Give Them One. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/....gbPa.hibxOqAMC45s&smid=nytcore-android-share

Someone bumped an old thread. Get over yourself.

I understand that but the average voter wouldn’t. The narrative would be that the Democrats are hypocrites who aren’t standing up for the federal workforce. It would be cast as playing politics to try to make Trump look bad. As far as I’m concerned Trump does a great job sinking himself. Don’t interfere with that.

AFSCME came out in support of a shutdown until a clean CR that protected the workforce from Musk’s illegal cuts.

Not sure what the point of that is, Trump and Musk will ignore it anyway like they’re ignoring existing protections for them.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually hoping for AOC to primary him at this point.

I meant no offense. I just don't reside in Fantasyland. Happy Friday.

Mm, yes you did. There literally no reason to make a point of misgendering someone on a message board otherwise.
That's a real Uncle Albert move to make.

Bold of him to assume people will wait that long in the face of what is going on right now.

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/14/jvp_sitin_trump_tower_mahmoud_khalil

They look like tourists to me!

Not at all. Similarly, I don't believe that people identify as animals are in their right mind either. They have mental problems.

That being said, it's their life. I'm just not playing along.

There is no reason to act on it at all. People don't get to make demands of each other. When they try, there will be conflict.

The AFGE also opposes the CR. See their letter at the link:

https://bsky.app/profile/jbendery.bsky.social/post/3lke6m4b7h222

https://action.openmedia.org/page/165729/action/1?locale=en-US

This sucks so much. I've always wanted to visit Canada. :/

You get all Drill Sargent-y all the fucking time, and I point it out every single time, so don't pretend you have amnesia.
You goddamned fraud.

Taking $200 Out of an ATM Should Not Trigger Federal Financial Surveillance
No, not even if you do it in a county that borders Mexico.

it occurs to me that if we had someone whose job it was to add to this thread every shitty fascist thing Trump & Co. did we would owe that person a full time salary and a fuck-ton of overtime.

Item:
Trump's State Department quietly terminated a contract that was in the process of transferring evidence of Russian abductions of Ukrainian kids to European law enforcement, two sources familiar with the situation tell me.

Trump Admin Nixed Contract Helping Kidnapped Ukrainian Children | The New Republic

A Hmong American woman who has lived in the Milwaukee area since she was 8 months old was deported last week to Laos, a country she has never visited, and says she is stranded in a rooming house surrounded by military guards.

South Milwaukee woman deported to Laos is stranded with few options

In a speech at the Justice Department today, the president declared that every non-right wing media outlet is breaking the law when they report things he doesn’t like. He also encouraged federal prosecutors to monitor those outlets.

(Congrats to all those voters deeply concerned about Free Speech so they voted Republican)

Trump baselessly accuses news media of ‘illegal’ behavior and corruption in DOJ speech | CNN Business

The Trump/Musk/RFK administration is getting rid of many OGC staff. All it will do is make hospital patients and nursing home residents less safe -- and, ironically, make it harder for HHS to collect money it's owed.

Trump Administration Plans To Close HHS Legal Offices That Fight Fraud | HuffPost Latest News

Been unhappy with postal performance lately? Buckle up!

USPS Signs DOGE Agreement To Slash 10,000 Jobs - Joe.My.God.


Profits for the Plutocrats
Poison for the rest of us.

A fair rule of thumb for what the Trump/Elon regime wants:
Repeal the last 100 years.
Trump talks about the McKinley administration with admiration but that was followed by Teddy's imperialism and Wilson's resegreagation. The "Roaring 20's" were more or less like the gilded age - booming wealth for the plutocrats, hard living for most labor, union power not yet really a thing, women and minorities "knew their place" and were expected to stay there. A social structure that Hitler and the Nazis studied and drew inspiration from.
1925 is their idea of the golden age when America was "great"
Bonus point if you know how that period ended.

I posted elsewhere that if someone tells Biff that "The Gay 90s" made up part of the Gilded Age he thinks so highly of, he might change his opinion.