What made me unhappy today ?

[Louanne Learning]

just be aware of the agenda.

What do you suppose is their agenda?

I'd like to add, too - that I have seen corroborating evidence for a backlash currently against women's rights

 

[Homer Potvin]

What do you suppose is their agenda?

A women's organization agenda is to advocate for things that pertain to women

A writing forum's agenda is to advocate for things related to writing (like AI).

A marketing campaign for one of Homer's former restaurants would have an agenda to draw in business. Using that as an example, and headline statistics as the rubric, we could cite a study that says craft cocktail consumption is up 25% since 2023. Or we could cite a statistic that overall alcohol consumption is down 30% since 2023. I'm making those numbers up, but while both are true statements and only one fits the agenda.

And "agenda" is not a dirty word. There are the secret or insidious agendas that give it a bad name, but the word itself doesn't have a negative connotation in the statistical universe. It's just a filter used to evaluate information in the arena of persuasive argumentation. It comes up in history a lot when evaluating source material. The example I always use is that if aliens historians come to Earth 1000 years after it is destroyed and find a pile of archived news casts from Fox News and MSNBC, how would those historians go about recreating a picture of Earth's history in the early 21st century. They would need to know the agenda for each organization before they could evaluate the information being presented.

That's an extreme example, but the easiest way how I can explain that "agenda" is not a negative word in world of advocacy/argumentation.

I'd like to add, too - that I have seen corroborating evidence for a backlash currently against women's rights

I would agree with you. But this is sooooooo not the place to be discussing that.

 

[Louanne Learning]

I think it needs to be noted that Ipsos is neither a "women's organization" nor "fringe"

I'll say no more.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I'll say no more

Thank you.

 

[X Equestris]

Spring wasted no time: we’ve had tornado warnings all evening, and we’re just getting started

 

[Homer Potvin]

Spring wasted no time: we’ve had tornado warnings all evening, and we’re just getting started

Jesus... Texas?

 

[X Equestris]

Jesus... Texas?

Close. Oklahoma!

 

[Homer Potvin]

Close. Oklahoma!

Close is relative... you're talking to a guy who is a three hour drive from like 10 states. Actually, let's see:

RI, Conn, Mass, NH, Maine, Vermont, NY, NJ... call it 8.

 

[X Equestris]

Close is relative

“On a cosmological scale, it’s all nearby”

But yeah, not so much close in the sense of actual physical distance as in being a good guess, since both are very tornadic states and—much as my fellow Oklahomas hate to admit it—we’re basically Little Texas.

 

[Homer Potvin]

“On a cosmological scale, it’s all nearby”

But yeah, not so much close in the sense of actual physical distance as in being a good guess, since both are very tornadic states and—much as my fellow Oklahomas hate to admit it—we’re basically Little Texas.

You can drive across a lot of European countries in 4-6 hours. Here, it would probably take me 2 days to get to Oklahoma accounting for sleep.

 

[Set2Stun]

It took me 21 hours to drive from back home to here when I had to move. I took many breaks as I was alone (except for Mittens), but with a crew you can probably do it in 16 hours with some effort.

All within the province of Ontario !

 

[Homer Potvin]

It took me 21 hours to drive from back home to here when I had to move. I took many breaks as I was alone (except for Mittens), but with a crew you can probably do it in 16 hours with some effort.

All within the province of Ontario !

Haha. Yeah. And then there's Canada. Never was there a country so large with so few areas to name.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Texas has lots of places to name, and many of those names sound nothing like they'd sound anywhere but Texas.

 

[Homer Potvin]

Texas has lots of places to name, and many of those names sound nothing like they'd sound anywhere but Texas.

Canada is 14 Texases according to Google...

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Canada is 14 Texases according to Google...

Maybe they're related. In Rocky Mountain Canada, they call cattle guards Texas gates.

 

[defaux]

Haha. Yeah. And then there's Canada. Never was there a country so large with so few areas to name.

Have you tried driving Australia? There's a reason the guys who do pack extra fuel cans

On the weather front, we are desperate for rain, and it's "supposed" to be wet season.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

“On a cosmological scale, it’s all nearby”

"Dig, Dwemer, in the beyond. I'll know your lost unknown and rise to your depths."

"One block lifts the other! Trust Septimus! He knows you can know!”

Have you tried driving Australia? There's a reason the guys who do pack extra fuel cans

On the weather front, we are desperate for rain, and it's "supposed" to be wet season.

Haven't tried yet. Driving across the Nullarbor from Melbourne to Perth is murder on your car and yourself. Driving distance is roughly 3,400–3,500 km (2,112 to 2,175 miles), usually taking 35–40+ hours of continuous driving, often broken into a multi-day trip.

OTOH, flights take about 4 to 4.5 hours.

Which part of Australia are you in, defaux? If you don't mind me asking, of course.

 

[Homer Potvin]

Have you tried driving Australia?

1.3 Australias fit in Canada according to Google... and I bet the diagonal axis of Canada plays even longer.

We got any Russians up in here to take the throne?

 

[Naomasa298]

Waiting to recover after a hypo.

 

[edamame]

Visited a place where I had sat with a relative who has since passed away. Suddenly the memories came back and I ended up crying.