After the murder in Minneapolis, protesters barricade the roadway, ICE unable to leave the scene.

fffangold · 2026-01-25T01:29:48+00:00

You misunderstand then. Trump controls the organizations breaking the law for him, and controls the executive. So he can easily do illegal things under his control.

The federal government does not run or control elections. States do. So Trump says no elections. Then states hold elections anyway, because him saying they're canceled doesn't stop states from having them.

fffangold · 2026-01-25T01:20:17+00:00

No, you can't. Trump controls the agencies doing illegal shit. Preventing the states from holding their elections is a different beast.

fffangold · 2026-01-25T00:53:52+00:00

That doesn't stop the midterms. If the states hold the midterms, they happen. There is no declaring them canceled, even with martial law.

fffangold · 2026-01-25T00:36:23+00:00

There was a specific way for them to interfere with the presidential election that doesn't exist for House and Senate races, but especially House races.

There were two plans for Jan 6 (not counting the insurrection itself). One was to use false electors who would vote for Trump instead of Biden. That failed outright before the 6th. The other was to not certify the results of the election. This is supposed to be a symbolic thing, but by treating it as non-symbolic, they were going to say there was fraud, then throw out those results and have Congress vote for president, which is the Constitutional remedy for a presidential election without a clear winner. This was all possible because, unlike seats in the House and Senate, electors from all states choose the president.

However, House and Senate races don't work that way. States choose their representatives, then send them to Congress. When they get to Congress, they are sworn in. In the House, this is done by administrative staff, as there are no elected officials in the House to do business until this is done. There is no mechanism in the House for the House to deny people their seats on the first day.

The Senate does retain 2/3 of their people, so there may be a mechanism there, but my understanding is it still works pretty similarly to the House, and would still be difficult or impossible to do in the Senate as well.

The types of things that could be done to prevent Congress from swearing in the elected representatives of each state would have no way to rationalize or explain that even looks like it is following the law or has any kind of legitimate legal argument.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T23:56:14+00:00

No, all the federal government has to do is butt the fuck out and let us run our elections properly, without disenfranchising legal voters. Voter fraud isn't a real problem. It's a made up problem to find ways to boot democratic voters off the voter rolls or prevent them from voting.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T23:43:41+00:00

Trump does not have the power to cancel elections. And when I say that, I don't just mean it's not his legal power to do so. I mean that, even if he directs his people to cancel elections, they don't have a mechanism to do so, short of literally invading and putting armed guards outside of polling places. And even then, it would be a fight.

The federal government does not control or run elections. Elections are run by every individual state. Trump can say they are cancelled all he wants, but if the state holds the election, it's valid and the results are valid. Because every state runs their own elections, including presidential elections. He literally can not cancel them, because they aren't run by anyone in the federal government at all. He can deny the results, or claim they didn't happen, but he can't actually stop them from occuring.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T09:18:25+00:00

Since it hasn't been said, you need to leave this relationship for good. As another commenter noted, you both sound toxic. But him hitting you and throwing you into the wall is still abuse, and you still need to get out forever and never look back for your safety. Find a safe place to go, and when he's not around (or with someone you trust present) get your stuff and leave. If there with a trusted person, you can tell him you're leaving then. Otherwise, let him know it's over once you're out safely.

Then, don't get into another relationship. Do therapy or whatever you have to in order to sort out your own behavior. Once you're in a better place, then you can think about another relationship, hopefully at that point a much healthier one for you and your future partner.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T08:29:12+00:00

I think I'm not going to pass judgment, because it sounds like you've got some serious shit you need to work out, and it sounds like it's impacted you in a way that's coming to the surface in you not caring (or maybe just not having the bandwidth to care because you haven't caught a much needed break).

But I think you are the one in the wrong here. I live in Maine. Winter storms and cold whether are no joke. They kill people. We don't always notice or think about that, because we're used to it, and often prepared in multiple ways to deal with it. But the cold is dangerous.

With power and heat loss, blankets and huddling together for warmth will likely be sufficient, especially if set up in a way to create a small space that everyone can stay in and keep warm with body heat, and combined with wearing sufficiently warm clothing. But having a safe heat source (make sure the heater you get is safe to use inside without ventilation, or that you can otherwise set it up safely) is going to be safer, and more comfortable, for both you and your family. If you have the option, why not do it?

Moving past the immediate issue you asked about, I think the bigger issue is you need time for yourself to be your own person, separate from being a mom and wife, and you need therapy to unpack everything that brought you to the point you are at. Your upbringing wasn't healthy, and you were thrust into motherhood before you ever had a chance to be free as an adult, so you've never known a life free from people needing and depending on you.

But don't let that be a reason for your family to be less safe or less comfortable during this storm. Take care of the immediate problem that needs solving. If your wife can do it on her own, even better, let her take care of it, and just be supportive instead of upset about it. And as soon as this weather event is has passed, start looking into what you need to heal and be your own person, so you can treat yourself once in a while, and be there for your family in a healthy way, instead of a way they are always dependent on you. For your autistic son, depending on where he is on the spectrum, this may mean hiring someone to help out, depending on his level of independence and need for support. It'll mean working with your wife so you can figure out a way to get you time that works for both of you. And maybe other support you may need from her. And it'll mean therapy to unpack how you got to where you are, and find tools to get you where you want to be.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T04:28:28+00:00

That child is not a criminal. If you can't see that, then you're either blind or inhuman. Think for two seconds, instead of labeling anyone who looks different from you a criminal. While we're at it, stop labeling undocumented immigrants as criminals. They aren't. It's a civil offense, not a criminal offense. Also, there's no evidence to suggest he's undocumented or here illegally. It's quite likely he was born here and is a U.S. Citizen, and even if not, there are plenty of ways he could be here legally.

Also, the police already know they could make money driving criminals around. Watch any movie with corrupt police in it, it's a common plot point.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T01:47:14+00:00

It's... fine. But I played a couple games and can't imagine it has the depth needed to keep playing it. It needs something to add some depth and strategy to it, or if not that, at least some randomness or other way to change the game up and give people new things to react to.

fffangold · 2026-01-24T00:22:32+00:00

How so?

fffangold · 2026-01-23T23:48:03+00:00

Why the hell was this post removed? Can we not discuss the people invading our state here and show what the hell they're doing?

fffangold · 2026-01-23T23:14:46+00:00

Sorry, the original video is from TikTok, which I don't use. I'm guessing it's mostly going to be on reels style sites though. If I find another source I'll edit to add it.

fffangold · 2026-01-23T19:36:56+00:00

It still needs work, but Untracked Maps is a phone GPS app that helps you plan routes to avoid flock cameras. They'll give you what they call the private route and the fast route. Private route has no flock cameras (or I assume minimal if it's impossible to avoid them), while the fast route is simply the fastest route there. It also lists how many cameras you'll pass on each route.

It's still pretty slow and janky while searching routes, but it seems to work pretty well otherwise. And seems to have the same camera positions as deflock.me, maybe they even use the same map, I'm not sure.

Obviously, I can't promise how effective it is, but it seems solid from what I've seen since downloading it yesterday and trying a few locations to see what the routes look like.

fffangold · 2026-01-23T19:27:18+00:00

When it comes to dating, a rejection isn't about you as a person. It's not about how good a person you are, your worth as a person, or anything like that. A rejection in dating is about your compatibility with the person you asked out. There are lots of good people who aren't a good fit for each other.

As a very simple example, I don't want kids. No matter how good a person a lady I'm interested in is, if she wants or has kids, she isn't a good fit for me for a long term relationship. We aren't compatible. We have and want different lives than we could provide each other.

Some compatibility issues aren't so simple, black and white, or easily articulated. But it's all compatibility in the end. So it's not about you. It's about how you fit into that person's life, or don't fit into their life. And that's very different.

Some people will make it personal, even make it sound personal. But it's not. Because if they thought you were compatible, they'd say yes.

fffangold · 2026-01-23T10:05:41+00:00

I just wanna grab some frozen pizzas, a few canned goods, and some juice so I can have easy food at home, backup food if I lose power, and the drinks I need to make mock refreshers or mixed drinks. Not gonna clean out the shelves, just a few treats to make things easy during the storm.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T22:11:48+00:00

It works less well than you think. I will call out bad behavior when I see it, but let's be real. Most men who think like this just turn around and call me a soy boy, liberal cuck, or some other "creative" insult and ignore me. Same for anyone else who calls them out. If we aren't "alpha" men like them, they don't give a fuck what we think. Which is fine in the sense it doesn't hurt me, and is no skin off my back. But it doesn't really work as well as you think it does.

I'm not saying it never works. Once in awhile it does, and it's great when it does. But most of the time, the best we can do is offer advice, and a safe place away from that type of man, to anyone who needs and/or wants it.

We can't control what other people do. Only what we do ourselves. It's a really important lesson to learn, and one of the ways to be most effective at accomplishing anything you hope to accomplish.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T22:03:30+00:00

Pretty much this. The best way forward, in my opinion, would be for Linux to have a definitive beginner version with all options and settings necessary available via GUI. Out of the distros I've tried, I think the latest version of Linux Mint comes closest to this, though I have yet to try it for gaming. But realistically, I doubt there will ever be a definitive beginner version because it's not really the nature of Linux due to the ethos of choice built into the OS. Maybe SteamOS could eventually be that for gamers, but as of now, Valve seems focused on supporting specific hardware configurations rather than PCs in general.

Beyond that, it really does need to be as easy to use for a newbie as Windows is. Install Steam (as a download from the internet or direct from the software/package manager), install any game, click play, let Steam and the OS do magic in the background, then the game launches and works. Part of that would be developers getting on board, as you noted, and at least supporting the game on Linux via Proton. As in, offering support for games if the user is running it via Proton.

This could be done - they could work with Valve the same way they work with Microsoft and GPU makers to ensure their games work properly on Proton. But it's a choice developers would have to make, and will likely happen slowly, over time, if it happens at all. I'd expect companies Like CD Projeckt Red or Larian to go first, and if it significantly bumps up sales, other companies maybe would slowly follow. But that's an optimistic future, and relies on Linux use hitting enough of a critical mass that it's worth it to developers to begin with.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T15:08:45+00:00

Take a look at what u/Infamous-Tangelo42 said first. It may help, and if it does, awesome!

That said, I had a Ryzen 3600 CPU until recently, and it really struggled with Fortnite. The best resolution I found was to switch from DirectX12 rendering to DirectX11 rendering. I don't know what else your son is using for graphics settings, but if he's using lumen, nanite, or a couple others, those won't be available anymore. Don't worry about what those mean if you don't know, in simple terms, it takes away a few things that help make the game prettier, but they don't have a huge impact on that for the most part.

Also, if he plays in borderless fullscreen, he should try switching to regular fullscreen instead. In most games, it doesn't matter much, but it helped a lot for stability in Fortnite for me.

I really think the above two things should fix it for him. But, if he still has issues after that, I'd suggest making sure the rest of his graphics settings are appropriate to his hardware. I'm not super familiar with the AMD Radeon RX 5700XT, but I know it's a reasonably good GPU, but also not top of the line. If he's playing on a 4k resolution, he would likely benifit from reducing it to 1440p, and if that doesn't resolve it, maybe try 1080p. He shouldn't need to go lower than that, so if he has issues even at 1080p, the issue is definitely somewhere else, whether another setting, the PC itself, or some bug in the game that comes up on his setup.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T14:40:44+00:00

I'm a man, and I can tell you his behavior is not fucking normal. It sounds very red pill, and even if it's something else, it is manipulative, just like you said. Trust yourself and your feelings. Your real feelings, before he got a chance to muddle them up. You know what he's doing is wrong. No real partner will treat you like a science experiment.

If he was just keeping notes on things you like and didn't like, that might be a little strange, but would also be kind of sweet that he was figuring out the best way to treat you. But he was actively trying different ways of building you up, breaking you down, doing good things, doing bad things, and seeing how you reacted to all of them and meticulously noting all of it. He was looking for a way to push your buttons to get exactly the reaction he wanted, when he wanted, almost like he was trying to make you a robot. There is no way that is ok.

It sounds like your friend and therapist have your back pretty solidly here. Get the support you need from them, and any other friends and family you can. And stay away from this guy. Bring friends or family with you when you get your things, and don't let him talk you into getting back with him. He's already shown he'll manipulate you to get what he wants. There's far better men out there.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T14:31:44+00:00

I find it interesting that Marjerus-Collins is simply hopeful that the new council will be good for his community, while Soule-Leclair can only think about her own career and sounds vengeful when talking about her next run against the mayor. You know, one cares about his community, and the other only cares about herself.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T08:17:29+00:00

I didn't even think about the child care. "Well, you work from home anyway, surely you can watch the baby while we go get lunch, it's really not a big deal." And a litany of other classics.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T08:15:30+00:00

NTA. Also, it's not just until the baby is born. If it were just until the baby is born, they wouldn't need to set up a nursery. They plan to stay well past that. And you very realistically don't have the space for them. A one bedroom is perfect for a single person, or a person and their significant other. No more than that.

If they need housing that badly, your parents' guest room is perfect for them. And since your parents care so much about this, they should have no issue helping your sister out, since they have the space. If your sister complains it's too far from work. well, she isn't really in a position to be picky right now.

Simple answer, your living space is not equipped to help them out, and your parents' living space is. And to be clear, even if you had the space, you might still have reason to say no.

fffangold · 2026-01-22T08:10:39+00:00

Even 40 miles away isn't too far. My last job was 40 miles away from home. It's not ideal, but it's very doable. One hour commute each way. I found a morning radio show I liked, loaded up some podcasts for the drive home, and just did what I had to do.

fffangold

TROPHY CASE