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[PTTG??]

Today is the 100th Armistice day.

[hector13]

Trump is receiving criticism for apparently canceling a visit to a US cemetery in France ‘cause of rain, but will visit a closer one in Paris.

Not sure if people are getting bent out of shape ‘cause it’s Trump or if there’s something particularly special about the one he isn’t going to see.

[Loud Whispers]

Trump is receiving criticism for apparently canceling a visit to a US cemetery in France ‘cause of rain, but will visit a closer one in Paris.

Not sure if people are getting bent out of shape ‘cause it’s Trump or if there’s something particularly special about the one he isn’t going to see.

I thought it was a really shitty thing to do until I got the full context of their helicopter being grounded by bad weather

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Oh good, Trump is terrible for not being a top-tier troop respecter. Thanks, liberals. You're really on ball with all that.

2020 is gonna be something, alright.

[Starver]

Today is the 100th Armistice day.

Have you seen the colourised and otherwise cleaned up WW1 filmstock, courtesy of Peter Jackson (and various other wizards, of course).
One link among many, though many are opinion pieces and that's, if it isn't georestricted from you, probably what I saw on TV before I went out this morning to the local 11am cenotaph gathering*.

Personally, I found it all the more moving. And I'm slightly moist-eyed, now, in the telling of it - but that's maybe just me.


I don't have any notable relations (to my knowledge) with any who served directly in any of the last century's conflicts, as it happens (those I know anything about were engaged in War Work on the home front, of various honourable kinds), but I try never to forget to honour an Armistice Day (Sunday and/or 11th), wherever I find myself that year and time of day. Not wishing to be preachy about it, just saying so given the subject has been raised.

Life goes on, of course, but mainly because others played their various parts. You don't need my word-soup to tell you that, I know.


* Honestly not a comment on YouKnowWho, who I'll skim over entirely if I can, but just to say that as the everyday people stood there outside awaiting the church service ending, for those who 'did that kind of thing', it started raining. Not hard rain, but could be uncomfortable. (The local hostelry brought out some plastic cups of hot soup, for those already gathered, though I pazsed on that to help it go further amongst those who may have been there before my arrival.) It kept raining as the flags were brought out (possibly the Royal British Legion, then the Scouts - including Venture Scouts, Cubs and even two Beaver Scouts with their own smaller flag-staffs - no Cadets, Boys/Girls Brigade, etc, this year?) and the congregation as a whole came to join us. The rain then eased as the Reverend opened up the traditional outside proceedings, and stopped almost as the pre-Silence bugle was first blown for the flag-dipping. Past the Silence, then, and as the bugle piped up to sound the 'arising' section of the ceremony, the sun shone through a break in the cloud. Couldn't have been stage-managed better to suit the occasion.

[Starver]

I thought it was a really shitty thing to do until I got the full context of their helicopter being grounded by bad weather

(Oh go on then, if I must. "There's always a rain plan" is how an Obama-era person described the situation regarding this sort of thing, which probably shouldn't even have defeated the capabilities of Marine One. The rain appears to be an excuse for spending time on something else. Theories abound what that might have been.)

[WealthyRadish]

I can't speak for the 15.5 to 19.2 million people compelled to die so that the right imperialists could color more of the map, but I suspect they'd prefer anger over moist eyes about "honor" and "service".

[MrRoboto75]

I don't have any notable relations (to my knowledge) with any who served directly in any of the last century's conflicts, as it happens (those I know anything about were engaged in War Work on the home front, of various honourable kinds), but I try never to forget to honour an Armistice Day (Sunday and/or 11th), wherever I find myself that year and time of day. Not wishing to be preachy about it, just saying so given the subject has been raised.

Oddly, I have relatives on both sides of WWII.  My Great-Grandfather on my dad's side served as construction brigade in US pacific theater, and my Great-Grandfather on my mom's side was a German fighting the Russian front.  The former survived and passed of old age, the latter was a POW in some Siberian prison, he never returned.

We even had photos of my grandfather being in the Hitler's Youth.

[Folly]

Trump is receiving criticism for apparently canceling a visit to a US cemetery in France ‘cause of rain, but will visit a closer one in Paris.
Not sure if people are getting bent out of shape ‘cause it’s Trump or if there’s something particularly special about the one he isn’t going to see.

I thought it was a really shitty thing to do until I got the full context of their helicopter being grounded by bad weather

Yeah, except they also have cars. Which is how all of the other dignitaries got to the ceremony.

[MrRoboto75]

Trump is receiving criticism for apparently canceling a visit to a US cemetery in France ‘cause of rain, but will visit a closer one in Paris.
Not sure if people are getting bent out of shape ‘cause it’s Trump or if there’s something particularly special about the one he isn’t going to see.

I thought it was a really shitty thing to do until I got the full context of their helicopter being grounded by bad weather

Yeah, except they also have cars. Which is how all of the other dignitaries got to the ceremony.

[Loud Whispers]

I thought it was a really shitty thing to do until I got the full context of their helicopter being grounded by bad weather

(Oh go on then, if I must. "There's always a rain plan" is how an Obama-era person described the situation regarding this sort of thing, which probably shouldn't even have defeated the capabilities of Marine One. The rain appears to be an excuse for spending time on something else. Theories abound what that might have been.)

As a distant observer, ignoring the obvious to focus on nebulous theories and the musings of unspecified persons does not become of me; from what information I have, the rain grounded their helicopter and they couldn't arrange for a secure motorcade replacement in time. The rain has been unusually heavy in France to the point of causing flash floods in October (right now I'm seeing precipitation at 95% at midnight), while similar weather incidents have occurred in North Korea regarding foggy weather. Making your living subordinates risk their lives unnecessarily so you can publicly honour the fallen is an inherently self-defeating concept, because you are only honouring the fallen in front of the camera for good publicity, whilst actively putting your subordinates at risk as they will have to be the ones putting their lives in danger to keep you safe from the myriad number of people who want you dead. I can make no comment regarding whether someone who served the prior administration would have any possible motive for stirring controversy against a political opponent, and I frankly want May, Macron and Trump to all shut the fuck up about who is the most honoured of all the honouring

It's Obama's marine umbrellas all over again

[Max™]

Trump has successfully prevented a clear discussion of how climate change has caused this California fire season. Never mind the impossible drought and severe, unseasonal winds that drove the fire spread.

And yes, if Trump said the Sky was blue, I would be pretty confident that the sky was red or green or anything else besides blue, sight unseen.

Except that draining aquifers, mismanaging the water drained from them (HEY LETS GO THROW WATER AT THE DESERT GUIZ), fucking exploding fire trees, people refusing to let any burns happen until they explode, and the worst sin of all: living in California which clearly hates humans. Climate change or not, California is going to burn, acting like this is surprising or due to something besides stupid policies involving everything about living in California is ridiculous.

[Starver]

I came back in here, kicking myself, for forgetting that an uncle (father's brother-in-law) to was a motorcycle messenger who served in the Italy campaign (amongst other roles, amongst other theatres, but this was where his most memorable stories given to my cousins came from), as I more fully learnt at his funeral earlier this year.

(Though my father was a little younger and never served oversees, or extended his service time beyond the minimum, he was also called up for National Service. But that was just the base state of affairs for anyone his age, and near-contemporaries of his also got sucked into the Korean War, etc, such is fate.)

[PTTG??]

Oh good, Trump is terrible for not being a top-tier troop respecter. Thanks, liberals. You're really on ball with all that.

2020 is gonna be something, alright.

What, you think liberals hate troops or something? Aside from being disrespectful, his lame excuses like "Whaa I can't fly in a big helicopter right to the stage, so I guess I won't go" is lazy even for him. I mean, it's his job to look at things somberly, and he can't even do that right.

But let's take a step back and talk about the actual policies we need, in no particular order:

1: Apollo-scale carbon sequestration program.
2: Immediate and abrupt end to all fossil fuel subsidies.
3: Establishing a Federal Electoral Standards Commission to standardize and improve elections around the country. Every election is gonna start with you making a hole in a paper ballot that is then immediately counted electronically. Individual voting machines report their total counts to a public repository of information, so that statisticians can test it for signs of tampering. (machine #3255 reports it got 20,000 votes for Candidate Y?)
4: A tax hike on corporations, plus a capital gains tax and laws forbidding offshoring of wealth. And since we live in a meritocracy, where you should receive only what you have earned, a progressive inheritance tax so that nobody can inherit a billion dollars.
5: Single fucking payer healthcare.
6: A proper educational system.
7: Actual commitment to space exploration. I'm talking a funded mandate for boots on mars and asteroid mining subsidies. Earth can't handle this many people, it's time to get off this rock.

Trump has successfully prevented a clear discussion of how climate change has caused this California fire season. Never mind the impossible drought and severe, unseasonal winds that drove the fire spread.

And yes, if Trump said the Sky was blue, I would be pretty confident that the sky was red or green or anything else besides blue, sight unseen.

Except that draining aquifers, mismanaging the water drained from them (HEY LETS GO THROW WATER AT THE DESERT GUIZ), fucking exploding fire trees, people refusing to let any burns happen until they explode, and the worst sin of all: living in California which clearly hates humans. Climate change or not, California is going to burn, acting like this is surprising or due to something besides stupid policies involving everything about living in California is ridiculous.

If you think California's not worth living in, I guess we're going to have to evacuate the midwest (the only place on the planet which reliably has tornadoes), and the south (those hurricanes are only getting worse) and the east coast (due to proximity to New Jersey).

And yeah, I know California's prone to fires. Despite that, this is the deadliest and most severe fire season in decades. If it was due to policies, we'd see this stuff happening every year, or else reliably every few years, not clustered in the past 5-10. This firestorm is due to terrible conditions and lack of rain, both of which can be attributed to climate change.

Of course, policy can mitigate the loss due to fire. We can mandate stone houses and defensible spaces. We can insist on firebreaks around every town. But don't act like there's someone out there who said "I'm a Republican, and if we have a Democrat in office, that will lead to the state burning to the ground for any reason other divine judgement."

[Starver]

[the rain grounded their helicopter and they couldn't arrange for a secure motorcade replacement in time.

"There's always a rain plan"

Incompetence of the current organisation, maybe, if you don't like the alternative.

The rain has been unusually heavy in France to the point of causing flash floods in October (right now I'm seeing precipitation at 95% at midnight),

95%-in-air-by-volume? Or might it be 95% chance of rain (the 'heaviness' thereof being a separate measure)?

Whatever, it seemed like other leaders (if you'll excuse the implication coming from the word 'other') managed to get there, obviously by magic and/or transporter beam.

But if he didn't want to go, he didn't want to go. I just find blaming the rain to be... well, typical... but (as usual) not exactly convincing.

(As for Obama's umbrella-thing, the cooking up of which by those partisan complainants leaves me no problem at all delving into Trump's portfolio of perfidy from out here on the sidelines, we know that Trump has no umbrella sense at all. Can't use the things properly, seemingly has difficuty keeping them intact, and can't collapse them if he does. I probably wouldn't point that out as reasons for impeachment, or anything, but given how 'the other side' ranted about that one occasion when the West Wing was on the other foot... Well, you've got to put it down as an indication of pre-existing hypocrisy if illumination must be shone upon this subject.)