This seems to have massively taken off in Aus in the last few months, particularly after Dan Andrews one the Victorian election on a platform of “These people are the enemy, and I will make their lives hell”…
The sheeple/NPCs here call them “cookers”.
Essentially, not just SovCits, but anyone who doesn’t conform to/tow the party line…
To most of them, if they knew that I didn’t play along with their bullshit (acknowledgements of country, vaxx, not questioning stupid government/institutional decisions, etc), they would class me as a “cooker” and try to have me “cancelled”, too…
But yeah, the media campaign demonizing such people here is REALLY ramping up, and they’re no longer even bothering with facts - it’s just rumors and pulling unrelated things (opposition to the Covid bullshit, number plates, conspiracy theories, taxes) together to claim what “the enemy” believes…
I feel like they’re laying the groundwork for something much worse, but who knows, could just be a distraction, I guess…
The number of references in Australia to Waco, lately, and to Trump as some sort of “enemy figure” who will lead the breakup of the US/lead to another Civil War, is rather alarming…
TDS-by-proxy all over again…
I know we focus on the trans issue here, which makes sense, given that one actually has biological consequences, and it’s certainly… Concerning, especially with the explosion of teenage girls deciding they are “trans” or “non-binary” or “queer”, but…
The drag thing, man… Even beyond the “drag queen story time” shit, they’re everywhere…
It’s not even online, it’s fucking ubiquitous in Australian metros. Ads, billboards, “drag queen bingo” at pubs, bars and every casino in the country; every public library (in cities) has to have “story time”…
I just don’t get this. It’s the most obnoxious, in-your-face “LGBTQ” thing I have ever seen, even beyond gay marriage.
I know this varies by country, but my impression is that the UK, US and Canada are pretty damn similar in this respect.
Conspiracy theories aside, this just seems like a very strange thing to me. Even as a “cultural signifier”, it’s still just bizarre, lol…
At some point, did we go from “inclusion” being a reasonable thing to actively celebrating the bus window-licking, pants-shitting freakazoids..? Because fuck does it ever feel like it right now…
And yeah, I’m talking adults with diapers, here… Not “adults changing baby diapers”…
🤮
I very recently moved from one part of Australia to another, and, while it was still apparent where I was before, it is much, much more apparent in the new city just how successful "Covid" was at transferring wealth from the bottom end to the top end.
Almost everything here is cashless, including fucking vending machines (so you can't get change) and public transport (which must now always be prepaid). The suburb I am in has lost the majority of its small businesses, which either sold up and flogged off their assets, or are in the process of doing so. These "vacant" sites are then being replaced by towers. Expensive, shiny, poorly-built towers, financed almost solely by Chinese money.
I also just had someone overcharge me massively for what the products she was on-selling are worth, only to say "Covid" as the justification (in reality, lack of competition in the immediate area is the real reason). She also justified "Covid" for why I can't get a fucking electrician to come fix something in my apartment (a fridge - long story)...
Covid, Covid, fucking Covid. Or if it's not that, it's "security" or "sustainability". Like my University cutting back on services, staff, facilities, and even teaching (I study and work in Science, right. They've cut field trips, because the lecturers can't be effed. Meaning one of the only really useful areas of my courses are now gone)... You now even need to apply for "special permission" to use the library after hours, which you have to "justify" by carrying the "permission" around with you on a brand new, specialised app...
I realise Australia may be a fairly extreme outlier, on certain things (never mind that the building I am staying in is owned by a Hong Kong shell company, and all the writing on signs is in Chinese. And never mind the fact that the University is utterly compliant to the Chinese, too), but still, this all feels very... Off. Most of my friends seem able to see it, too, to some extent (though some of them blame it on everything from "racism" to "teh patriarchay!" to "capitalism"), and even the local subreddits seem to be waking up to it...
So yeah, while "Agenda 2030" may not be a reality yet, I really do think that "our leaders" are 100% committed to it, as is much of the business community... It's happening, and unless people really do start to push back, I do think that's where we're headed. We shouldn't bury our heads in the sand about that fact.
/endrant
Because that’s what it feels like. At least in Australia…
Most amusing part of the day? Watching male simps fall over themselves to “acknowledge stronk women” and/or say how bad men are, and/or call for the abolition of their own gender… 😑
Much cringe.
How many days a year do we need like this, honestly?
All the “Shut the fuck up, there’s an International Men’s Day too, reeee!” just makes this all the more amusing…
Funny how woke corporate only mentions the “other” day on this day, and only then as a “comeback” to people complaining…
Eugh.
It was extremely “cult-like”, and I only saw them on public transport/in various public places…
The entire city shut down (it has a habit of doing that, ngl), for fucking Harry Styles…
As I was stuck at an unrelated, but affected event/location… Two hours I waited for an Uber that never came (cancelled on me twice), followed by taxis that never came… Ended up having to walk about 5km. At midnight…
Fuck that stupid fucking crossdressing douche. 👎🏻
Did give me the opportunity to meet two out of town women (separately) on public transport, though. One of whom was like… Let’s say extremely compatible…
Was that worth it? Fuck no. But it’s just about the only positive I got out of it, lol…
But yeah, seeing women in their 40s and 50s wearing feather boas while “squeeing” over a degenerate..? Yeah that’s something, lol…
Here's a good little insight into how bullshit life is in Aus, in this regard, right now (without having any sort of "Social Security Numbers", it's worth pointing out).
I have an appointment this week with a private doctor. In order to have my private health cover, which I already pay for, cover part of the costs of this very expensive appointment, I have to download three apps, one for the insurer, one for the government health care system (Medicare), and one for "MyGov", which you need to use to even access the Medicare one.
I then have to "link" the Medicare and MyGov accounts, which is an extremely tedious process, and can only be done via computer. For some reason, my name is listed slightly differently on one of the two (middle names...), which may mean that I have to either go in in person to a so-called "service centre", to sort the shit out, or else be on hold on the phone for six hours, in order to get that "fixed"...
Then there's Uni, which now also requires me to download an MFA app to my phone (specific to them, of course. They just had to make their own), in order to access literally anything. But that's not enough - oh no, you also have to have access to any old phone you have previously used, and have the app on there, in order to set up your new one, to then jump through 10 more hoops, and then maybe, just maybe, you might be able to get in to your Uni "account" and actually do shit like enrol, and access email...
And this is the bare minimum shit I have to have on my phone, just to be able to do basic shit, let alone banking or state government services (licensing et al), Covid apps/proof of "vax status", etc.
I'm so fucking sick of this nonsense. It takes up space, and time, and is just so... Unnecessary, frankly. Let alone when one of these "services" decides to arbitrarily update, or stop working...
Grr...
I imagine this isn’t so uncommon in this day and age, but…
10 years ago, I “worked” (unpaid) as a teacher for a company that was massive in its field…
At one point, it was the biggest company doing what it did (without going into too much detail - international work and travel stuff). It’s actually where we get the term “gap year” from - the company originally coined that term…
Anyway, I just looked them up - after a series of scandals, they’ve been completely liquidated. This happened during the “pandemic”, which would no doubt have eaten into their revenue streams, but still…
I would never have expected this.
Quite a weird feeling. I’m never overly surprised when it’s something like a sports team or a festival or a local business, or even a (minor) political party, but for a multinational company that I once worked for, and nearly continued working for, in the years that followed, to just cease to exist like this..? Feels a bit weird.
Like how ex-Blockbuster or RadioShack employees must feel, I guess… Or people who worked for airlines and travel companies…
It’s just… Gone.
No wonder they stopped sending me promotional emails! 😅
I was thinking about this today, because I realised that pretty much none of my Facebook "friends", who live in the same state as I currently do, give a flying fuck about this particular "hobby"...
It's actually quite rare to meet people who do like, and admit to liking, motor racing, these days, around these parts.
I go to track meets. I wear motor racing t shirts and gear sometimes (people tend to ask about band tees much more than, say, a Bathurst tee). I've been to the Bathurst 1000 twice, which is... The mecca of Aus car racing. I've always been into this since I was a kid. But yet... I've never really made friends out of it, oddly (excluding an ex who raced karts, and our mutual friend, who is an arsehole, so I won't be contacting them, lol)...
Anyway, just figured I would see what any "rev heads" here were up to, in this regard. I'm going to go to another "track meet" in a few weeks, which is like... One of the highlights of this time of year. Should be good.
Anyone else been to any races lately/planning on going to any? Obviously there's plenty of stuff on the TV, and a few decent "latest generation" games, but... In person is generally better, for this, IMHO.
What's big in your part of the world? We've established by now that I know a bit about Indycar and (less so) Nascar, but in Europe, I don't really know that much apart from Enduros, rallying and F1, lol...
Anyway, just a conversation starter, if anyone shares this common interest!