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In political terms, calling something a ‘distraction’ means it’s a distraction tactic, not that the issue itself isn’t important. The Republican party has a very longstanding history of dropping hints of major policy changes right before big elections in the hopes of getting the “hot-headed liberals” all fired up about it so we start bickering among ourselves. They deliberately drop issues that they know are hot-button topics because these are the topics that have the potential to be the most divisive. 

They’re awful but they’re not dumb. They know trans rights is an issue that could potentially split the democratic vote. It’s an issue that’s very heavily weighted toward the younger side of the party, which again, was a deliberate move on their part. If they can convinced you that the “big bad Democrats don’t care about you little trans and nonbinary kids so why bother,” then they’ve effectively won the election in a walk because the democrats went in divided–again.

Look, the democratic party isn’t perfect. Not by a long shot. But it’s literally the only party that has a snowball’s chance in hell at overtaking the republican majority right now. If we as trans and nonbinary individuals ever want our identities respected and protected, it’s the only party that’s going to be able to get us there, because it’s the party going in the direction we need to go. If you want to vote in favor of our rights, then vote Democrat. No number of videos with pennies is going to change the fact that right now, in this political climate, third party candidates are not going to have enough power to effect the changes we want. 

Warning against something being a distraction doesn’t mean “don’t look at it or worry about it,” it means, “hey, I know this is majorly upsetting, and absolutely something needs to be done, but don’t let it divide us.” It’s literally because the issue is so important that democrats are warning against it as a distraction tactic–if we want to prevent that kind of change from happening under republican rule, we have to keep our heads and not let them keep us from voting as a unified party. 

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS

A small fat bird, like the above, is the hieroglyph used in Ancient Egyptian to mean “wicked” or evil”.

The phrase above him (the inscription should be read from the top down) is “Nb s3″ or “Lord of the son of”. Genitive is usually implied in this sort of phrase without a connecting word, meaning:

The interior of the store looks like this so they save money on the annoying shelf restocking. Products remain in their boxes until being removed by customers.  No unboxing and putting stuff on shelves, and constantly having to rearrange it. Also, the boxes make inventory a breeze as a sealed box has a defined number of items in it. 

Typical American grocery stores have shelves like this

Every item has to be unboxed and neatly stacked on the shelves. If they get messed up by the customers, everything has to be rearranged back to specific rigid order. When you have to verify the inventory, every item has to be removed from the shelves to be counted and put back. Aldi’s also do not have plastic bags. You can buy reusable bags or simply use the empty cardboard boxes that are available.

Last is the carts. Most grocery stores have their carts strewn across the parking lots, rolling around and hitting cars until a store employee is sent out to collect them, after being yelled at by the manager when they were told to do other tasks in the meantime. Aldi’s chains those carts together and you have to put a Quarter in to release it. When you are done, you plug the chain back in and get your Quarter back. If others are lazy, you can collect and return the loose carts and collect the Quarters. 

It stops this…

Then the employees have to do this

For example, in the UK your employer legally has to provide you with a comfortable seat if you do work that can be done while seating. In the Netherlands you have to be provided a seat if you work at a cash register for more than 4 hours a day or for more than 1 hour uninterrupted.

The thing I love about Terry’s writing is that he loved - loved - civil society.  He loved the correct functioning of the social contract.  He loved technology, loved innovation, but also loved nature and the ways of living that work with and through it.   He loved Britain, but hated empire (see “Jingo”) - he was a ruralist who hated provincialism, a capitalist who hated wealth, an urbanist who reveled in stories of pollution, crime and decay.  He was above all a man who loved systems, of nature, of thought, of tradition and of culture.  He believed in the best of humanity and knew that we could be even better if we just thought a little more.

As a writer: how skillful, how prolific, how consistent.  The yearly event of a new Discworld book has been a part of my life for more than two decades, and in that barrage of material there have been so few disappointments, so many surprises… to come out with a book as fresh and inspired as “Monstrous Regiment” as the 31st novel in your big fantasy series?  Ludicrous.  He was just full of treasure.  What a thing to have had, what a thing to have lost.

I just read an interesting story about the way Trump likes to golf. At first, I thought it was an inconsequential puff piece, but it turned out quite revealing. Trump loves golf. He plays it constantly. Even when he probably shouldn’t. Many of his golf buddies have been interviewed about his skills on the course and they all had basically the same thing to say.

He cheats. 

Not a little bit. 

He cheats A LOT. 

It starts with the initial drive. He will often take several mulligans until scoring his first stroke. Meaning he keeps hitting the ball until he is satisfied with where it lands. However, if he does hit it into the woods, the ball will somehow magically appear back on the fairway by the time he reaches it. Due to his caddie rooting around in the tall grass and tossing the ball back to civilization. 

Then Trump gets into his cart and since the rules don’t apply to him, he drives it straight onto the carefully manicured green. No one is supposed to drive on this delicate grass. There is video of Trump doing this. And he drives with gusto too. I was surprised he didn’t do a few donuts. 

And to finish the hole off, Trump never actually takes his final putt. He calls this a “gimmie.” If the ball is close to the hole, that’s good enough for him. I guess he just assumes he would have hit the ball in. 

Some of the people who have golfed with Trump say he often brags about winning championships and setting course records. After seeing him play, all of these people say that is most likely bullshit. 

Pretty much everything about Trump’s golfing experience is a lie. Not only that, he doesn’t even try to be sneaky about it. He cheats in plain sight for everyone to see. It’s like a card hustler pointing to the cards hidden in his sleeves before a hand. I’m not even sure why he plays. I mean, technically he doesn’t really play. He just goes through the motions to make it seem like he is playing. The whole point of sport is to challenge yourself. That’s what makes it fun. I don’t understand what Trump gets out of the experience.  

I remember back when the original Doom came out for the PC. I loved that game and played it nonstop for weeks. One day I found cheat codes on the internet and at first it was very exciting. I had unlimited ammo and turned on God Mode. Nothing could touch me. Initially, it was kind of awesome. I was plowing through demons like they were paper people. I was getting to levels I couldn’t reach before. But that excitement quickly faded as I played. I discovered that I was getting very, very bored. Overcoming the odds, fear of dying, progressing through the game using my skills, reflexes, and wits… that’s what made the game fun. These cheat codes had turned this once exciting game into a total yawnfest. After years and years of playing in God Mode, how is Trump not totally bored with golf?

I guess this article struck a chord with me because it showed that Trump doesn’t even take the things he claims to love seriously. Even in a game where the outcome means basically nothing, he cannot stand to do poorly. He must lie to himself and others while playing. Nothing is more important than maintaining his ego. It seems like there is nothing too small that he will not lie about. There is nothing so inconsequential that he will not try to cheat. In every aspect of his life, that’s who he is. A liar and a cheater. Nothing is sacred. 

https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2018/1/30/16949990/donald-trump-cheats-at-golf-suzann-pettersen-lgpa

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2018/01/30/6-people-who-have-accused-donald-trump-of-cheating-at-golf/109934954/