For your safety, please don’t travel to the US. There is a very real possibility of you being kidnapped and sent to a slave labor camp without due process.

I am ashamed and afraid of my country.

It’s insane how many governments support genocide. They’re willing to destroy civil and constitutional rights to protect mass murder.

Yup, I work as a shipwright welder and have had to refuse to complete assigned tasks. When I’m tasked with welding two large steel plates together, end to end, they both need to be double beveled. If they’re not, then all I can do is make thin surface welds which are easily broken.

That’s dangerous as these steel plates are an inch and a half thick and weigh a lot. Their weight alone will break surface welds. So I refuse to do the job. They ask why I refuse and I tell them about the lack of double bevel.

I’m even willing to break out the oxy/acetalyne torch and cut the bevels myself, but they refuse. They’re in a hurry, they don’t have time to do things correctly or safely, and they don’t care about making it someone elses problem. That’s the sort of shit that’s likely to cause serious injury or death.

People are losing their minds over protests against genocide. When did genocide become a thing that was good and unquestionable?

Yes, I no longer order from Wish or Temu or any of these sketchy Chinese sites.

Purchases from Wish. A pair of block heels where the heel length didn’t match the shoe arch. Wearing them meant constantly falling backwards. It was so comically bad, the seller gave me a refund and said don’t bother sending them back.

A Gorillaz t-shirt, also from Wish. The picture on the website looked ok. However, what I received was so awful I thought it was a prank. The white shirt had what I assumed was yellow rust stains. It looked like a rag kicked underneath a disgusting kitchen frier and left there for years.

Some of the seams were on the outside and some were on the inside. The print itself was heavily pixilated, as if someone took an internet forum avatar image, blew it up, and stuck it onto a shirt.

1. Crash the economy and make people desperate to put food on the table.

2. Betray the American people who hold top secret information.

3. Mass fire everyone without warning and without consideration of their well-being.

4. People with top secret information sell it to foreign governments to put food on the table.

5. Government has shocked picachu face.

Laws are only as good as their enforcement mechanisms. And if there are no enforcement mechanisms… well…

SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom Capsule? Did a ten year old boy name this thing?

I’m a welder, and no I would not. It’s not allowed on the shipyard. But even if I could, I wouldn’t. I’m a professional and I’m working with high power tools & equipment. I need to have a clear head.

Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is a pejorative term, used to describe criticism of or negative reactions to President Donald Trump that are perceived to be irrational and to have little regard for Trump’s actual policy positions.

What policy positions?

Maybe they just didnt know what electricity was. Maybe it was lumped in with air and/or fire.

I mean, you’re not wrong.

Dems are still out in the woods, looking for their spine. They lost it decades ago.

I am a Satanist. I swear no oaths, pledge no allegances, I neither bend the knee nor bow my head. The only thing I’m loyal to is the betterment of humanity as a whole.

Skilled hands would be welcome, let’s hope it happens.

We’ll see, I guess. It would be nice to move away from the craziness. I’m still an apprentice, but I know my craft and could teach it.

I started when I was around 40, I kid you not. Born 1982, I’m currently in my forth and final year of apprenticeship. I’ve got all of my qualifications done almoat a year early.

Before, I was leaping from crummy job to crummy job when I got a fire watch gig. The job was dumb, but I worked with welders. One even encouraged me to become a welder. He also taught me a few basics.

Best advice I can give for becomig a welder is to really committ to it. Dedicate your heart, mind, body, and soul to it. Master your craft, and don’t settle for “good enough” work. Don’t worry about the money, it will come in abundance.

When instructors and employers see your passion and dedication to the trade, they’ll respect & hire you.

Also, your reputation as a welder is crucial to maintain. It follows you everywhere you go. So build up a good reputation. When you make a mistake as all welders do, own up to it and try to make it right. If you build up a reputation for honesty, integrity, and reliability, even if you’re just a mediocre welder, it will still supercharge your career.

It is definitely hard work, but it’s rewarding work. Some welders specialize in one specific thing with one specific process, but I believe this is a career mistake. A well-rounded welder should have some experience and training in every process.

There’s SMAW (often called stick), GMAW, TIG, flux core, brazing, plasma cutting, oxy/acetalyne cutting & welding, carbon arc’ing, etc.

My shipyard job almost exclusively does stick welding. Occasionally we’ll do TIG, but I can count on one hand how many times I’ve TIG welded last year.

The shipyard trained me, but I had to go on my free time and money to learn the other processes. I think it was worth it, IMO. I’m not great at the other processes, but I can do them well enough to pass workmanship inspections.

Plus if I ever lose my job (in the US it’s looking more and more likely), I still have a robust skillset to find another job. It’s a good trade to have, it’s extremely difficult for a company to hire someone overseas to do it. In a sane world, the job security from welding is great.

I’m a shipyard welder in the US and I would love love love to move to Canada right now. With Canada shifting trade away from the US and towards other countries, the need for trade ship building and maintenance will skyrocket. Ships are always in need of repairs, and being a welder means a guarenteed job.

I didn’t quit the LDS church, I was unofficially excommunicated for being born intersex and having a puberty not consistent with my assigned gender.

I have both sets of genitals. Both are small, deformed, and non-functional. The bishop at the time told my parents to keep it a secret and to raise me as a boy. Then puberty came along and I physically filled in as female.

It scared the ward members, it scared the bishop (different bishop than before), ajd it scared me. I didn’t know what was happening, nor did anyone else in the church. From their POV, a boy just physically changed into a girl.

The common sense thing to do was to consult a qualified and competent doctor about this, yet no one in the church did that. Not even my parents. The bishop gave my parents an ultimatum. Choose between God or your child abomination.

They chose God and my parents disowned & kicked me out. The church quietly turned their backs on me. They all wanted me to just go away.

I’m older now, wiser, and in a far more stable life. I’m even an ordained Satanic minister now, and I am happy. Our congregation welcomes those who are cast out. Words and deeds are more important than your physical appearance or what’s in your pants.

Edit: And before any LDS members respond with attempts to get me to rejoin, don’t bother. I no longer believe in gods, afterlives, and magic. Plus I will never rejoin the religion that cast me out for the crime of existing.