It just occurred to me that the Catholic church generally dominates mostly in Latin America and in very liberal western countries in Europe. Latin America is basically leftist or Communist.

Therefore it seems to me that ANY Pope will unavoidably be liberal. Simply because that's his actual base.

That's all.

Again a good reason for Trump to ignore the church.

Tim described glyphosate as a "dessicant", IE it dries out vegetation, and he said that big farms use glyphosate as a treatment on crops being harvested to help with harvesting.

BULLSHIT I thought. "It's just a weedkiller".

Then I hopped online and did an AI query about agricultural uses of glyphosate. BINGO *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* Timmy the Beanie was right!

Glyphosate is sprayed on all kinds of crops (wheat, barley, chickpea, canola, etc) to help with harvesting.

Glyphosate is officially in ALL of our corporate food. It's not an additive but it's used on living about to be harvested crops.

Do a search on "glyphosate inflammatory". Glyphosate fucks with your body. I have some chronic medical conditions and I've gotten very interested in "clean eating".

The point is, on even a minor geeky scientific point, he was 100% correct and I learned from his video.

Anything you hear out of Chicago is that the region is corrupt AF.

I think the pope should've stayed out of the picture. I'm not Catholic either, but it would've been better if he didn't get involved. The pope shouldn't be political, but he is.

The Pope's office is leader of Catholics worldwide. Regardless which side he leans into he's practically obliged to comment on large scale life and death events in some way. I'm not Catholic, could care less, but the church *expects* his comments.

Do a critical thinking check: is a POPE going to publicly approve of ANY war?

He is weak on foreign relations.

Non sequitor. How in the fuck is the Pope supposed to have expertise in foreign relations? He's not a congressman or colonel.

He has plenty of criticism of Trump but none for Iran's leaders that have killed thousands of innocent citizens of their country for protesting. Pope Leo has TDS.

He's a dipshit from Chicago, so sure, I can see that. First thing you've written that I agree with.

Catholics still support what Trump is doing regardless of what Pope Leo thinks.

How do you know that in particular? Is there a poll? You assume a lot.

Edit: Oh, wait, there IS a poll...

https://x.com/KevinRobertsTX/status/2044781870072627226

Oops.

There is no hill to die on here for Trump.

It is irrelevant to the US what the pope says so Trump's words were unnecessary.

The war in Iran will be over soon

So you see the future, I see. That is a lapse of critical thinking to assume ANY particular outcome. Yeah, I see reporting like that. From fart sniffing Fox News. Other sources say different.

and the world will be rid of the nuclear bully of the Middle East.

Iran has bleated death to the US since 1979. I was there, I sat in the odd/even rationed gas lines that summer....

Trump doesn't have cognitive decline at all.

Even friendly right leaning commentators and quite a few physicians disagree. You give a big fat pass to his unhingement in the last couple of months.

He just has a big mouth without a filter. He's a counter-puncher. You hit him and he'll hit you back 10 times harder. Some of his statements are cringeworthy, but what would you be saying if you were constantly attacked from all sides for 10 years now? The gloves are off.

Even if Trump is playing with a full deck, which I am uncertain about, Trump cries wolf so often that what comes out of his mouth now is just static. And he is far more unhinged than he ever was. I know, you just don't see it, I see it clearly that he's much worse than ever.

Trump had the courage to take care of the Iran problem

It doesn't require personal courage for a lame duck president to deploy an unnecessary unpopular war. It just takes ignoring his base and every campaign promise he made. As well as the half of the room that aren't neocons.

and he's winning.

Just he says so. ALL the time. Even while negotiating. If we're winning why are we negotiating? If the US is winning WHY DOES THE ADMINISTRATION SAY CONSTANTLY WE'RE WINNING?

The strategy he employed in the Strait of Hormuz is working.

That's what I meant about the news cycle. I have no idea who is blockading what. It's easy to find contradictions to what you're saying.

Iran is the only country blocked from using it now and they're feeling real economic pain.

I agree they have to feel economic pain but because the news coverage is so muddled I have no idea what their leverage is, if any.

He will get what he wants in the end, which is for Iran to give the US its existing nuclear material and for them to give up their future nuclear weapon ambitions.

You say, again. You fall into this partisan trap of labeling anything Iran does like it's a unique pathology. Iran is a sovereign nation. North Korea has a nuke and we aren't starting a war there. Neither Saddam nor Qadaffi had nukes, Iraq and Libya both fell, and both leaders are deposed and dead. If Iran is smart they will keep their nuclear weapon program active. Yes, I said it.

Yes, ideally Iran would voluntarily shut down uranium enrichment and would hand over its stockpiles. In reality it actually makes no sense for them to do so.

Maybe Trump doesn't communicate well at times, but in the end this will be a great thing for the world.

As far as a great thing for the world - yes, now the US has set the precedent that a stronger nation can invade a weaker nation for the correct reasons. Good signal to China too.

I don't see one commentator outside Fox NOT saying that this war is destabilizing.

Let's see what we're all paying for basic goods and services over this summer to see if you're right. Also let's see what happens in Asia and the Pacific region economically and also with respect to agriculture vs. famine. Right now your crystal ball seems like cope.

It's hilarious (and petty at the same time) that Trump mentioned inviting the Pope's brother to the White House and saying that he's MAGA.

I always thought O'Reilly was too mainstream so it's more of a recent thing that I've tuned into him. He seems to be somewhat of a voice of reason and will call Trump out when he sees fit, even though he considers him a friend.

That's too bad about Styx. Perhaps his fame got to him. Seem like a rational guy but it's hard buy him as credible when he keeps getting himself in trouble. I do recall the last couple videos I saw that, judging by his comments, many of his followers turned on him. He's not as smart as he portrays himself as.

Oh I was watching Steve Bannon for awhile but haven't turned in lately. He's usually on when I'm working but he tends to drone about the same stuff over and over again.

Catholics still support what Trump is doing regardless of what Pope Leo thinks. There is no hill to die on here for Trump. The war in Iran will be over soon and the world will be rid of the nuclear bully of the Middle East.

Trump doesn't have cognitive decline at all. He just has a big mouth without a filter. He's a counter-puncher. You hit him and he'll hit you back 10 times harder. Some of his statements are cringeworthy, but what would you be saying if you were constantly attacked from all sides for 10 years now? The gloves are off.

Trump had the courage to take care of the Iran problem and he's winning. The strategy he employed in the Strait of Hormuz is working. Iran is the only country blocked from using it now and they're feeling real economic pain. He will get what he wants in the end, which is for Iran to give the US its existing nuclear material and for them to give up their future nuclear weapon ambitions.

Maybe Trump doesn't communicate well at times, but in the end this will be a great thing for the world.

In general it seems like when anyone that seems to have sympathies for that other team catches Trump's attention, he declares open season.

Regardless of the pope's wokeness, everything Trump has said against him sounds outright fucking retarded. Trump "accuses" the pope of being weak on foreign relations. The pope isn't even supposed to be political, and certainly no pope will come out and declare that a war is good and righteous.

Since Catholicism seems to be expanding in the US, Trump really picked a stupid hill to die on. It would have been far more sensible to say that the Pope is just being the Pope and dismiss it.

Personally I believe Trump has changed. He seems to have had a stroke or otherwise has had some adverse changes that are affecting his behavior. Lack of impulse control, defensiveness when challenged, hypersensitivity, etc. are signatures of age related cognitive decline. Yeah, he's always had these behaviors but they've stepped up a league.

I discount everything 100% that Trump says now. He spews random noise now and aligns with globalist causes that harm America.

It takes an abject lack of realism and common sense at this point to say that he's as effective as ever or to blithely quote Trump as though he's speaking actual truth. If I want to listen to stuff like that I'll watch Fox News (and I don't.) Virtually everything Trump writes or says now is misdirection.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/you-cant-make-this-up-irans-radical-muslim/

I've seen some O'Reilly videos and generally his takes seem good but I just tend to think of him as too mainstream to follow much. (I avoid most mainstream.) But I think he's OK, he's pretty much off the Fox plantation.

Styxhexenhammer666 has fallen off of a cliff. A year or so ago he was arrested for domestic violence in New Orleans, and he had quite a few videos where he's been back and forth for court appearances. I believe he's still wanted there. At home in Vermont he had a live in girlfriend who busted him in the face and broke out a front tooth which he has still not gotten fixed. Additionally he had charges for domestic violence and/or firearms in VT. At present it seems like he's living with a different girlfriend who has mental issues somewhere in NYC, basically avoiding being arrested on these warrants. Here's his Twitter - https://x.com/Styx666Official Just check out the comments on about any post.

He's a fucking mess right now, very broken and angry and on the run. It's very sad. I unsubscribed, his stuff has gotten so bad.

That said, your advice is right on the money. It's only worth it if an employer pays for it AND one is already in a management position or on the management track.

Hoyza was 100% serious about delivering pizza. His thinking was that all of the time and money spent on an MBA could be devoted to some other activity (one of which was pizza delivery) and you'd come out ahead. I think he had a list of a dozen other things that he thought would be a better investment than an MBA.

I spoke to a manager at Domino's recently and she claimed that their driver cleared $200 the night before, $25 an hour, which isn't chump change for an unskilled position. They even provide the vehicles.

Glad you enjoyed the blast from the past. Seems that this is the last of the JOS spin offs and it's hard to believe it has been around for 7 (or 8?) years already!

Do you have a strategy for keeping up with the current affairs?

I tend to scattershot my consumption with a bunch of Youtube channels about 70% on the conservative or former MAGA side and the remainder being independent skeptics' channels such as Jimmy Dore and Corbett Report. I especially gravitate to former military channels (big example, Shawn Ryan, but there are many others) because their analysis of events seems most realistic.

The last thing I do or would recommend is just listening to one side or one cluster of opinions.

I used to have a pretty good lock on reality. Up until maybe 2 years ago. Reality doesn't even seem like "a thing" now.

I don't even know what specifically an MBA gives you in terms of additional skills. I think it's just a bolstering credential to make you sound stronger for management.

Do you think that Hoyza was actually serious about delivering pizza? I know he turned it into a running joke and signed as Pizza Delivery Guy. IT was still in good times when he used to post. A menial job like food delivery would have been inconceivable for an IT person ten+ years ago. That's why I never thought he was serious.

Thanks for the blast from the past.

I've never held a management position. Will having this degree automatically qualify me to be in the management ranks?

Or perhaps I should go back to school for a Masters in Computer Science? Does an MCSE still
Just joking of course. :)

This forum CANNOT go down without a classic "what should I do to salvage my career" type post that were so often posted back in the day, whether it be on JOS, Crazy On Tap, or the precursor to this forum.

I'm GLAD I never went for the MBA. What a waste of time and money that would have been.

My mission in life is to get a part time pizza delivery gig to supplement my income, as the legendary hoyza suggested on numerous occasions.

If you use the search box in the upper right and search Linux Mint (no quotes required in the box) you should be able to browse everything I've written about it here.

To bottom line:

FSK suggested "dual boot". I'll clarify the steps:

Download a Linux Mint DVD image and either burn it to a DVD or use a program like "Rufus" or "Balena Etcher" (both open source) to write the bootable image to a USB key. The USB option is probably less hassle.

Boot your PC from the USB or burned DVD, let it take its defaults, and when it loads, your PC will be running Mint but from the boot media, not from the hard drive (Windows will still be intact.) This is the "Live image".

If you want to install Linux so your computer actually runs Linux as default, Mint's live image has an installer available from the desktop.

If you have enough available hard drive or C: drive space you should be able to use options that let you keep Windows as a boot option. You'll probably have to compact the partitions and rearrange things in order to make this happen.

This is a thread about using Windows within Linux, as a virtual machine: https://deplorablecoder.club/index.php?id=24229

I even set up a Windows 11 virtual machine, using a free well known activation key that seems to be stable, which allowed me to use Turbotax for taxes this year.