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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: December 14th, 2023

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  • If a member of an opposition party interrupted a press conference by the minister of justice and security or the head of police or something, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were removed by security, no. However, I wouldn’t expect them to be forced to the ground or handcuffed.

    Article 1 of the Dutch constitution states that given equal circumstances people should receive the same treatment. The article goes on to say that discrimination based on things like race, gender religion etc is forbidden. It doesn’t say anything about positions of power in the government, but I feel that generally that shouldn’t affect things either. I’d want security at a press conference to treat me and a member of Parliament the same, if neither of us was supposed to play an actual part in said conference.

    I must admit for some reason I thought this guy was in the California state Senate. The fact that he’s a federal politician does change my view slightly.

    I’d like to note that it wasn’t Noem or even the DHS that detained him, though. They were FBI agents. It’s possible that she asked them in advance to crack down on any kind of disruption, but it seems hard to pin this specifically on Noem or the DHS.

    The senator’s actions were clearly inappropriate. Surely there are more appropriate venues to raise questions with the head of DHS. IMO at least he should have waited until she started taking questions. However, the FBI agents should have realized he was a senator and that roughing him up would be a very bad look for them, and by extension, the Trump administration. It does seem like they were technically within their legal purview to do what they did, though.

    I can see why the optics of this are very bad for the FBI and the Trump administration, but at the end of the day, a senator being treated the same way a protester would be when interrupting a press conference, doesn’t seem nearly as outrageous to me as all the other things happening in the USA. Things like the National Guard being mobilized because of a limited number of protesters resorting to vandalism or violence, people being deported to a foreign prison/death camp without due process, ICE running around and rounding people up without wearing recognizable uniforms, or showing ID or warrants, a mayor being arrested under false charges at an ICE facility, African Americans, women, gays and other minorities being erased from history, trans people having their rights trampled, important government institutions being defunded and/or dismantled, students being deported for criticizing Israel, environmental policies being removed, Trump trying to ignore judges, etc, etc…



  • I think it’s too early to say how this will impact the polls. A lot of people are still processing what happened. Blowing up the government over immigration didn’t work out great for the VVD (liberal right), but perhaps Wilders’ party will fare better.

    It was the protest vote that won the PVV (Wilders’ party) the last election and the BBB (farmers’ party) the Eerste Kamer (Senate) elections before that. Now that the PVV and the BBB have been in the government and achieved basically nothing, those voters are more likely to vote for left-leaning parties or stay home.

    If Wilders can push the narrative that the rest of the coalition forced his hand by blocking his immigration policies, perhaps he can win the election. However, considering that even the FvD was criticizing Wilders today that might be a tall order, even in the alt-right bubble.

    If Groen Links/PVDA (green/labour alliance) can convince protest voters that the solution to their problems is to tax the rich and invest that money in social programs and environmental policies, maybe they can win the elections.

    (Winning the elections in this context means becoming the largest party. Nobody ever gets an absolute majority.)




  • A good mother will prioritize the wellbeing of her children over winning a conflict with her (ex) partner. It is completely unfair of her to ask you to pick a side or go no contact with your father. Hopefully she’ll realize this once she’s had some time to process her (understandable) emotions. In the mean time, best of luck to you!

    NGL, IMO your dad sounds like kind of a piece of shit (based on the limited information available to me). However, at the end of the day he is still your father and it’s not your job to punish him for that. That’s your mother’s lawyer’s job.

    Be there for your mother if you feel up to it (and you love her), but keep in mind that it’s a parent’s job to emotionally support their children, not the other way around.






  • Comedy:

    • The Young Ones
    • Red Dwarf
    • Bottom
    • The Office (UK)
    • Coupling
    • Peep Show
    • Little Britain
    • Roseanne
    • 3rd Rock From the Sun
    • Futurama
    • 30 Rock
    • Arrested Development
    • Broad City
    • Joe Pera Talks with You

    Science Fiction:

    • Star Trek: TNG
    • Firefly
    • The Expanse
    • Battlestar Galactica (2004)
    • Travellers
    • Real Humans/Äkta Människor
    • Foundation

    Drama:

    • Six Feet Under
    • Breaking Bad

    Anime:

    • Golden Boy

    Dutch:

    • Rembo & Rembo
    • Zaai
    • Dunya & Desie
    • Jiskefet
    • All Stars



  • Other Debian-based distros with XFCE are going to be very similar, yes.

    Xubuntu is going to install Snaps if you install some software through apt, though, which imo is kind of gross. That’s the reason I switched to Mint. But if you like Snaps, it’s arguably a better choice.

    Debian might be slightly harder to set up. However, from what I hear, it’s easy enough for most people now.

    If you’re already familiar with regular Mint, XFCE Edition is going to have the same key bindings, update manager and driver manager, so it should be slightly easier to use.