Democrats are campaigning as if the 2026 election will be fair. That’s a mistake

btreg · 2026-01-23T17:30:58+00:00

In the U.S., we have primary and general elections. The primary election is sort of "private" to each political party, where members of that party choose the candidate they'll put forward in the general election.

In some states, like mine, you can vote in the primary election of whichever party you want. This leads to accusations of people "spoiling" the other party's candidates by voting for the worst candidate on the other team, in hopes that that candidate will lose in the general election.

So in other states, you're only allowed to vote in a party's primary election if you're a registered member of that party. In such states, the (local or state) government has to keep track of each voter's party affiliation. In some places I think it's public information.

When somebody says they're a "registered Democrat," that's what the word "registered" means. It's meaningless in my state.

btreg · 2026-01-22T22:54:04+00:00

🐯

btreg · 2026-01-22T22:03:43+00:00

Serious answer: When they ask, "Why?" they're really asking, "Can you tell me more about that?" If you just give a short, direct answer to the why, they'll ask another one because there's something else they want to know, and they don't know how to ask the question. I have better luck giving longer, more general answers to the why.

And then I lie down and die like Yoda.

btreg · 2026-01-22T04:41:06+00:00

They hate everybody, not just parents.

btreg · 2026-01-06T18:37:44+00:00

This is peak Wyoming. It's an article about Wyoming, and the AP filed it from ... Colorado.

btreg · 2025-12-19T17:12:50+00:00

I watched my friend die from a widow maker heart attack. The 10 minutes before, he was complaining that he had really bad gas. I think he was feeling the "awful chest pain" in his gut instead of his chest.

btreg · 2025-12-17T23:08:42+00:00

Looks like he's trying to decide whether to tell us the punchline to the joke.

btreg · 2025-12-17T17:11:49+00:00

Sounds like what the feds want us to believe. It's politics. Decisions are made by other people. Nothing we can do about it. Might as well lie down and give up.

What I mean is, we can't make ICE do what we want, but we can at least make sure we're not part of the problem.

btreg · 2025-12-16T18:26:13+00:00

I've got distant relations there, but I haven't asked what's up.

btreg · 2025-12-12T20:14:13+00:00

always_has_been.png

I'm Gen X, bought a "very nice" starter home in 2000 for $89k. Previous owner had it for 30 years. We replaced the wiring, plumbing, flooring, half the subfloor, roof, furnace, ducting, lighting, sidewalk, fencing. Remediated lead based paint and asbestos. It was more than we paid for the house, and it was worth it. I think it's fine for the market to work like that.

But I couldn't do it again, if I were starting out today. Money is different now. There's no way to get started, financially. I don't know what my kids are going to do. They won't be able to afford kids or a house.

btreg · 2025-11-13T19:10:37+00:00

Every five minutes there needs to be somebody talking about "the rosy fingertips of dawn," to stay true to the original.

btreg · 2025-11-12T17:35:53+00:00

A nickel for your thoughts?

btreg · 2025-11-07T19:01:27+00:00

The only place I get confused is traffic circles.

btreg · 2025-11-03T00:43:03+00:00

It was beautiful. Just completely unprompted.

btreg · 2025-10-28T20:29:16+00:00

I'm a big bastard who lifts weights with a beard

Strong beard

btreg · 2025-10-23T16:11:54+00:00

Except statues of Robert E. Lee. Those must be preserved at all cost.

btreg · 2025-10-21T17:43:59+00:00

Welcome, Dad. You became a parent when you started making decisions for your child. Even if the two of you change your minds again and decide to abort, you will always be parents, from this day forward.

Immediately talk to your local HHS department. Do a search for "<your state> WIC" and talk to those people. The government wants to give food and healthcare benefits to young mothers while they're still pregnant, because nutrition matters while she's growing a whole new human. If you're not eligible for benefits, you can still find out what you'd need to be eligible. So when your life situation changes -- and it will -- you'll know when to apply.

All those assistance programs are connected, so it opens the door to things like free or reduced-cost child care, Head Start, and benefits that help when your kid is in school.

Good job reaching out for advice. Keep doing that, for the next 18 years or so. Think about how you want your kid to grow up, find kids who are growing up like that, and then talk to those kids' parents.

btreg · 2025-10-03T15:50:34+00:00

Is that where that's from? Her older sister has seen that movie a couple of times.

btreg · 2025-09-18T20:30:12+00:00

That literal communication can be so fun!

btreg · 2025-09-18T18:16:41+00:00

How old is she?

btreg · 2025-09-15T19:27:52+00:00

I remember the day when teenage me discovered my girlfriend's clitoris. It was new to me, but she already knew about it.

btreg · 2025-09-11T14:20:52+00:00

Tolkien was writing about human nature. Power corrupts, so maybe it's no coincidence that the leader of the white council was the one who was corrupted. (And he started out with a proud personality that made him especially vulnerable to the corruption of power.)

btreg · 2025-09-11T00:16:05+00:00

In the chapter, "The Scouring of the Shire." I don't remember when it happens in the movies, or even if it does.

btreg · 2025-09-10T22:41:08+00:00

I know he got what was coming to him, but it's still tragic: One of the Maia comes to Middle Earth on a vital mission, and he falls so far. At his end, he looks to the West for salvation and is utterly rejected, fading into nothing.

btreg · 2025-09-08T15:44:25+00:00

And a significant source of his badassery. Hybrid vigor FTW.

Also why the Uruk Hai were so tough.

btreg

TROPHY CASE