The thing that really gets me down is the futility of my job. I am a public servant, so i don’t have to worry about being exploited by the rich in the same way. I work decent hours and have good benefits. However, a lot of the work i do seems aimless and poorly thought out. Many of my projects get cancelled after months of work due to changing priorities. When i get home, i tend to ruminate over the pointlessness of it all. If i sit there and really think about how i am spending my life, i get really down. Video games and hobbies occupy my mind to the exclusion of bad thoughts.

Thanks, Trudeau!

You say ‘politics’ like it is some trivial thing. Politics involves beliefs on personhood, human rights, racism, equity, crime and punishment, and fundamental ideas about morality. I think it is totally appropriate to make judgments about a person’s character based on their politics.

Hi! I use a fountain pen all the time. I learned to use one as an exchange student: at my school in Belgium, all work needed to be completed in fountain pen (this was in 1996, which i just now realize is almost 30 years ago).

i hate talking on the phone and i zoom all day at work, so i recently decided to start sending longhand letters to my old friends and distant family. I’ve had pretty good response, though a few people seemed puzzled.

I write essays and short fiction, and writing on paper is just better for me. On a word processor, i tinker with wording too much: one sentence can take me ten minutes to finish. On paper, i move on and fix things when i type it up later. I think paper lets me build momentum.

Now JD Vance should cosplay a Wal-Mart greeter: “Salutations, fellow human”

I really hate Trump and it feels weird to defend him, but i think everyone is freaking out over what is the closest thing to a witticism that Trump has ever uttered. He’s stupid and has low self-awareness; however, this sounds like a facetious comment - possibly tinged with self-deprecation. Am i giving him too much credit?

The only thing any person sees in him is money, and Taylor has her own.

This is the perfect answer. Self-reinforcing loop

Imagine needing to other someone so badly that you have a tantrum because someone created a name for the “default” category. Peterson views trans people as so subhuman he doesn’t even want there to be a word for non-trans people.

Apostropheline.

Rooting for the winning team.

Hi! With the OED, it has been like that at least since I started university in 2007. However, lots of public libraries have subscriptions. I just go to my library website, login, and follow the link to the OED. There are many other reference tools that are also included in my library card. Libraries rule!

Edit: you can check merriam-webster for free, I think

Different child field? This is like my first two read-throughs of a new paper in my own specialization!

I didn’t know the republican party operated in Germany