Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Please do not spam at the top level. If you have a lot to post each day, try and post them all together in one top level comment
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Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
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Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
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If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evolving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Rules For the rest of the Site also accessible on the sidebar.
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I do not get envious of people. however with what I am seeing in today's USA. I am envious. When I joined the Military when I was young, this is what I was hoping for. Instead I was disappointed in basic training and seen the beginning staging of LGBTQ. I questioned it then and was told to hush.... Don't ask, Don't tell...
changing the DOD to the DOW... my goodness, that all by itself it a huge signal.
I am envious of not being able to be young and join in todays USA.. it is heating up. :)
How are you keeping your focus upward during the week? It's easy to do on Sunday, going to church. But what do you do Mon to Sat? Podcasts, videos, devotionals. I'm just feeling so bitter, angry, and need a reset to combat feelings.
Writing code using GPT-5 keeps me well motivated!
Spirituality enhancing nap. Before you do though write down 10 or so praises or things you are grateful for, ten requests, and ten moments in the past you recognized answers to prayer. Think on those while you go to rest. Or read a chapter of the New Testament and then rest for 15-20 minutes. God wants our attention and for us to see things from His perspective which is best for us. Still praying for you fren. Hth.
Can Christians get high?
Peter Thiel obsessed with the antiChrist. Palantir is frightening
https://youtu.be/W9y9ChoyZaU?si=f0nNurULU08n837D
King of Hearts
https://youtu.be/SmgbC1yTgV4?si=tN8X_1lg5lw7Kd_6
I saw the nails
I heard the hammer
King of the Jews
Carved into a wooden banner
Made you a crown
Bloodied your temple
You could have come down
But in silence we both trembled
You gave your life
I gave you nothing
You poured me grace
I poured you poison
Still you drank
My cup of shame
With all that I’ve done
Could I be forgiven
Is there still a way
To enter your kingdom
I’m just a thief
Beside a king
King of Hearts
I looked to my side
I only had seconds
Please remember we met
When you’re seated high in Heaven
He spoke in a whisper
Looking deep in my eyes
Said son this time tomorrow
We will be in paradise
You gave your life
I gave you nothing
You poured me grace
That blood keeps on running
A love so great
You took my place
After all that I’ve done
I’ve been forgiven
Those scars made a way those
To enter your kingdom
On golden streets
Beside a King
(Redeemed and free)
(A Beloved Thief)
Right Beside His King
King of Hearts
King of the poor
King of the lowly
King of the broken
King of the lonely
King of the hopeless
King of the gone too fars
King of hearts
King of the lost
King of the guilty
King of the misfits
King of the filthy
King of critics
King of the brand new start
King of hearts
After all that I’ve done
I’ve been forgiven
Those scars made a way those
To enter your kingdom
On golden streets
Beside a King
Redeemed and free
(A Beloved Thief)
Right Beside His King
King of Hearts
Musk’s Wealth 2012: $2 billion 2025: $436.3 billion
Bezos’ Wealth 2012: $18.4 billion 2025: $244.2 billion
Zuckerberg’s Wealth 2012: $17.5 billion 2025: $257.8 billion
Federal Minimum Wage 2012: $7.25 2025: $7.25 Imagine tripling the fortunes of Musk, Bezos, and Zuck… but telling workers $7.25 is all they deserve. That’s not an economy, that’s a scam.
If you want the real joke:
https://greatawakening.win/p/17siNvzcWN/minimum-wage-isnt-the-problem-fr/c/
Honk.
I think we had a timeline shift because I remember it going up to 13.75. anyone else remember this?
It goes by each state. In Texas the current minimum wage is $7.25 and has been this same rate since 2009.
hmm my liberal state is apparently raising ours
I lived in Arizona for a little while before moving back to Texas, and the minimum wage in 2014 when I left was $7.90 per hour. It is now somewhere around $15 an hour there. Most jobs in Texas pay above minimum, likely staring wage around $12 an hour I believe, but the minimum would probably still apply to school aged kids I assume.
Ahhh I see. Does this make the economy better or worse though....
It depends. I have two close friends who have lost their businesses in AZ because they cannot afford to hire enough staff at $15 an hour, so they are now working for some other company, rather than owning their own businesses anymore. I also have have some friends in AZ who are making the higher minimum wage, but are still barely making ends meet. Here in Texas minimum wage earners would definately struggle I am sure. I do not personally know any business owners here, but I would just assume that hiring at a lower wage would be beneficial to them, however, I have never seen any job listing for minimum wage here. Most of the starting wages are $12 or more an hour.
Am I the only one popping in this morning to go hunt down the Sunday Funnies?
I have been posting them just after midnight Sunday Central time (USA). The mods usually light them up with a sticky fairly soon after that.
I think this is it, posted nine hours ago.
https://greatawakening.win/p/1AR0C3Fd3f/sunday-funnies/c/
That SOB PM Ishiba here in Japan resigned. During his speech, he still insists on importing a ton of Africans to set up some colony here. Even though this was the icing on the cake to inspire people to take to the streets to demand his resignation, he wants his successor to implement this. What a sack of crap.
https://greatawakening.win/p/1AR0C4LozI/japans-prime-minister-shigeru-is/c/
His fate was sealed the day before the US trade deal was announced. I am sure everything was timed perfectly. He lost majority and the next day the US trade deal was announced. Quickest surrender next only to France in WW2.
Ouch! Nous n'oublierons jamais!
I wonder what Mike Pence's legacy will be after all this once the big operation is concluded.
Will he be seen as a traitor by the public, with only a select few knowing his true heroics that were necessary to save the republic?
I don't know, just had to get this thought out there.
I still think Vice President Pence was (and still is) playing a role as a patriot rather than being put into submission.
Only time will tell.
The recent blockage of users served to make me appreciate this place even more.
It drove home to me, that we're scattered all over the globe, yet in here it feels like we're all together in a lounge somewhere, yapping, drinking, smoking and we miss and worry about the regulars when we don't see them come through the door.
I thank the Lord us die-hards are still here, God bless us all!
"Bar keeper! Get this fren another drink. While you're at it, get everyone a drink. Put it on my tab. And moar popcorn too."
"Garçon, garçon!" 🫰🫰
🍾🥂🍷🍸🍹🍺🥃🍻🥤🧋🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
📲 🧾 💸💸💸💸 👀
What would we do without you, Unc! 😉
I was blocked and I thought that I was somehow banned for whatever reason. I'm glad to still be here.
Glad you're still here, too. I enjoy your unique perspectives, you being a stranger in a foreign land, (although I assume you can speak and read the language).
Also glad that asshoe there is resigning, hope his successor doesn't try to pick up the mantle. Curious question, don't answer if you don't want to, but, are you allowed to vote in any elections there?
BTW, when I talk to you, I imagine us sitting on cushions in a Japanese steak house, sipping on sake.
Ha, yeah Japanese steak is so incredibly great. Very marbled and fatty, and melts in your mouth. I'm not at all fluent, but somewhere between level 3 and level 2 (level 1 is totally native and even many adult Japanese cannot pass that exam). No, I cannot vote in Japan because I am not a citizen. I can only imagine that I would get into bigtime trouble if I tried. You must be a citizen to vote, you must register, have ID, and you must write the candidates' names yourself. There's no simple checkbox for voting. If you cannot write the names in kanji, then your vote is invalid. They don't mess around. Unfortunately, election season in Japan is extremely annoying because candidates have vans going through neighborhoods with loudspeakers repeating the same message ad nauseam. If you've seen the movie Lost in Translation with Bill Murray, you can see an absurd (although not unrealistic) example of this. It's why Kamiya is so interesting. He is certainly grassroots, getting his start via YouTube with his "Japan First" message.
In Japan, pretty much every child is on "welfare," so to speak. Parents get 10,000 a month, paid in sums every other month or 3x a year. Healthcare (except for stuff like dental clinics) is free for children. This certainly helps, but it's atrocious how the educational system in Japan is set up to basically extort parents. As an American, if I showed up to class, paid attention, did my homework and studied for tests, I could pass classes with at least a B. In Japan though, it's set up so that parents must shell out lots of money on supplemental education, such as cram schools. We've never done that for our daughter, but they do have a home study equivalent that my wife felt the need to shell out the money for. I've helped my daughter with her algebra homework and the way it's set up is crazy. From my experience, you'd have one problem, do several problems of that same type, and then go on to the next one. But my kid's homework is just one problem, then it goes to an entirely different problem. Not enough repetition. If you want repetition, pay up for supplemental education. It's scandalous, I think. One of the many reasons why people don't have many kids, or any kids at all.
Or imagine the motor vehicle department where you must pay the equivalent of a thousand dollars to get your driver's license. Let's say there is a test proctor who keeps failing people during the practical test, then tells them to enroll at the driving school down the street. Let's say this guy has quite a warm relationship with that driving school to the point where he gets kickbacks for sending so many customers their way, unofficially and under the table. I've no idea how often that happens here, but I imagine it's probably commonplace. As an American, I am extremely unusual because I passed the test on the first try. I lucked out, I guess.
We know that the music industry is super innocent, so when a song comes out that’s just nice and platonic with a catchy jingle, like Mmm-bop, and is pushed on the radio ad infinitum, it [was] easy to make it take off with young people. Throw in a line dance and you’re golden.
This was the case with 2002’s Aserejé from Las Ketchup. Just a relatively innocent song that took off worldwide.
Oh, and it was backtracked, of a sort.
Yep.
Matthew 6:25-34 = https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.6.ESV
Do not be anxious for any event that comes upon us.
meant for me. I had wicked dreams last night. almost cried upon waking. thanks for the reminder, fren
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.