My Picks for Top Tweets: 6 September 2017

by | Sep 6, 2017 | Tweets | 26 comments

I don’t have time to do many tweets today. Here’s the story.

At 2 am this morning I was woken by extremely loud thunder that went on for ages. I was very tired, but I didn’t get back to sleep for several hours.

Then this morning I got a phone call. For the third time in a week some a$$ho£€ was trying to scam me. Usually I play a game when they phone up. I see how long before I can keep them talking before they hang up on me. I keep a fairly reasonable tone, though I do swear a lot. There is a reason – while they’re talking to me they’re not talking to someone who might be taken in.

There are two flanks to my attack, but I usually don’t get past the first one. That’s to tell them things like they’re thieves and liars trying to take advantage of people who don’t know better. It includes such tactics as asking them how it feels to make a living by stealing from people who can’t afford it.

The first one this week was one I’ve never some across before. The woman on the phone said that my complaints about phone scammers in the past were successful, and a business was shut down. (Just calling a scammer a “business” is an alert.) She said the money taken from people was being held for people to claim back. Her next question was whether I had ever given such a company money.

So my tirade began. This time my tone wasn’t that reasonable; I was already grumpy. My first words were, “You people are fu€king unbelievable.” She hung up straight away! Most disappointing.

A couple of days later, I got an e-mail, purportedly from my bank, telling me all my bank accounts had been frozen and to click on the link to confirm my details. That sort of attack is very disappointing because you don’t get a chance to abuse the scammer.

When I got another one this morning, I didn’t even let the a$$ho£€ tell me what his scam was. I was asleep when the phone rang, and I’d had enough. He got a torrent of swear-laden abuse, and I hung up on him. Then I went back to bed and slept in until 10.45 am. I still feel tired and grumpy, and I don’t have much time to look for tweets.

 

Cat Tweets

Slightly better than most artists’ renderings.
(Via Ann German.)


What does your cat do at night?

 

Dog Tweets

A new unit of measurement – the corgi!

 

Other Animals Tweets

So cute! (I use that word a lot, don’t I?)

 

If you life in the northern hemisphere, take note of this tweet. For those that don’t know, hedgehogs like cat food and cat biscuits. i.e. not bread and milk.

 

There’s something about baby elephants.


 

Political Tweets

Just watch and listen.

 

The immigration issue is a big problem in the US, and I can understand why some people are against illegal immigration. What I don’t understand is the opposition to DACA and DREAMers. Something should be done to help those 800,000 people. I don’t want to hear moans that DACA was an illegal executive order by Obama. He had to do it because the GOP in control of Congress and the Senate were unable to sort the issue.

 

Scenic Tweets

Outdoors Wow!!!

 

And indoors Wow!!!

 

Croatia is another country that has so many beautiful places to see, especially on the coast.

 

Swimming in a place like this (Philippines) would be a dream come true.

 

The wonders of ancient Greece.

 

The Northern Lights. It would be better if someone hadn’t posed a church in front of them though! Iceland is in the top ten of atheist countries in the world.

Architecture Tweets

Now that’s a shower!

Space Tweets

Cool GIF.
(Via Ann German.)

 

You can listen to the gold record too.

 

Guns Tweets

I can’t remember if I’ve used this category before, but I will use it again as it’s something I feel strongly about. I re-tweeted this tweet from Ann German with the hashtag #OnlyInAmerica.

Human Rights Tweets

Excellent. (And look carefully!)

 

Iran in the 1960s. Now tell me that all women in Iran really want to dress in a sack.

Weather Tweets

The next one we’re all waiting for.
(Via Ann German.)

 

It’s gonna be a biggie.
(Via Ann German.)

 

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26 Comments

  1. rickflick
    rickflick on 6th September 2017 at 2:56 pm

    Sorry you’ve had such trouble with phone scammers. In NY State we have a No-Call list. If you ask to be on it it is illegal for anyone to call commercially(unless you already approved). We get very few calls anymore and most of them are automatically cut off after the first ring.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 6th September 2017 at 4:45 pm

      They’re from overseas, usually India. They wouldn’t even be in business if they were in NZ. I think there is a way you can do it, but I’m not sure what it is. It’s always been pretty rare until recently.

      Reply
  2. j.a.m.
    j.a.m. on 6th September 2017 at 3:59 pm

    You have inherited $10,000,000. Wire $10,000 at once to claim.

    Reply
  3. nicky
    nicky on 6th September 2017 at 4:22 pm

    I have heard that hedgehogs rely on the poison found in insects to get rid of intestinal parasites. If true it would be unwise to feed them too much cat food.

    Reply
  4. j.a.m.
    j.a.m. on 6th September 2017 at 11:03 pm

    A “psychiatrist” who would make a diagnosis solely on the basis of fake news is a quack.

    Anyway, didn’t this kind of thing go out with the Soviet Union?

    Reply
  5. Yakaru
    Yakaru on 7th September 2017 at 12:49 am

    Sad to hear that such scammers are so prevalent in NZ, but at least you didn’t elect one of them to be head of state.

    Reply
    • j.a.m.
      j.a.m. on 7th September 2017 at 1:13 am

      That’s only because their head of state is elected by God.

      Reply
      • Yakaru
        Yakaru on 7th September 2017 at 9:30 am

        That has nothing to do with it. New Zealanders have never been stupid, reckless or mean-spirited enough to elect someone like Trump.

        Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 12:43 pm

          I don’t think that just applies to NZers. The people of almost every country in the world would have preferred that Clinton won the last election, and mostly by huge margins. There are two exceptions – Russia and Israel.

          Reply
          • j.a.m.
            j.a.m. on 7th September 2017 at 2:09 pm

            You’re more than welcome to take both Clintons off our hands–plus we’ll throw in a couple of Obamas, if you promise to take immediate delivery.

          • Heather Hastie
            Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 2:22 pm

            We’d be honoured to have them. Bill Clinton visited with Chelsea. He was extremely popular.

        • j.a.m.
          j.a.m. on 7th September 2017 at 10:06 pm

          The only qualification for head of state in NZ is to be an Anglican, so technically you’re right. Trump is not an Anglican.

          Reply
          • Heather Hastie
            Heather Hastie on 8th September 2017 at 5:07 am

            You constantly and deliberately confuse the honorarium “head of state” in NZ (and other Commonwealth countries) as someone who has a role in actually governing the country.

          • j.a.m.
            j.a.m. on 8th September 2017 at 3:36 pm

            You have to admit that monarchism is an odd predilection for someone who’s always going on about the Enlightenment.

            Recall that Her Majesty is not merely HEAD of state; she IS the state:

            – Holds all executive authority; assent is required for parliament to enact laws. Consent must be obtained before Parliament may even debate a bill affecting the sovereign’s prerogatives or interests.

            – All law derives from the Crown; the monarch is the source of judicial authority. Grants pardons and immunity from prosecution.

            – Regarded as personification of the state, which is referred to as Her Majesty The Queen in Right of New Zealand, or The Crown.

            – As the embodiment of the state, is the locus of oaths of allegiance, required of many employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens. The Oath of Allegiance must be recited by all new parliamentarians before they may take their seat.

            – Employs all government staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of the New Zealand Defence Force, police officers, and parliamentarians)

            – Owns all state lands, buildings and equipment, state owned companies, and the copyright for all government publications.

            – Accredits and receives ambassadors. Passports are her property.

            – Must be an Anglican and a legitimate descendant of Sophia, Electress of Hanover.

            That’s the kind of “honorary” job I wouldn’t mind trying.

  6. Lee Knuth
    Lee Knuth on 7th September 2017 at 4:32 am

    Sorry about your troubles with scammers. Here in the US we have them also. I got innumerable calls claiming it was the IRS. Now I set my phone on night mode and so far it’s ok.

    Reply
  7. Federico Bär
    Federico Bär on 7th September 2017 at 5:06 am

    —‘I’m utterly convinced as a psychiatrist that Donald Trump is psychologically unfit to be president.’—
    Impressive testimonials, that lead me to a dumb question: Why do these professionals publish their warnings only now? Are they talking about newly discovered, pre-presedential, characteristics?
    .-

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 5:52 am

      I’ve been seeing stories like this for a while. However, j.a.m. is about one third correct with his comment – it is unprofessional to diagnose without actually seeing the patient. But the consensus of opinion has been growing steadily and there is a lot of evidence to go on now. The talk of using the 25th Amendment to get rid of Trump has been more common recently, especially with the danger of nuclear conflict his tweets are creating, so there’s more about it in the news.

      Most people who go for the US presidency have an excessive belief in themselves. A certain amount of arrogant confidence is almost a requirement for the job. I suspect initially it wasn’t so obvious that Trump’s version of arrogance etc was so much different from many leaders.

      Of course, many who knew him well, like his ghost writers, tried to warn us. But a pretty big proportion of people, especially in the GOP, thought he would act differently once in office. A lot of people were also prepared to overlook the issues for the sake of getting power themselves, and plenty were just sucked in by either his celebrity or his personal charm.

      Reply
  8. nicky
    nicky on 7th September 2017 at 5:29 am

    Two hurricanes 4+ back to back, now that is something (coming back to my comments on and earlier tweet-thread). Don’t get me wrong, I do think global warming is probably instrumental there, but we have no proof. It maybe a once in xxx years event, that nevertheless is bound to happen every xxx years. It would be better to have a line up of all hurricanes, say, of 2 or 3+ over the last half dozen decades and draw a regression line or curve. That would be a correlation. And although a correlation is no proof either, it is something more serious to contemplate.
    My point is, we have much better proofs of global warming than a worsening of hurricanes, and much more ominous things to fear, such as sea level rise (not to mention the ‘green sky’ scenario described by Peter Ward in his eponymous book “Under a Green Sky”, than that worsening of hurricanes. I realise I may be mistaken about the relative unimportance of that, of course). Moreover, even if there would be no worsening in frequency and severity of hurricanes, global warming remains real and fearsome.
    To stray a bit: I can not think of a greater win-win scenario than to go completely solar (it can be done quite easily, as shown by the likes of Mr Musk). Not only would that curb climate change, but it would also cut off the lifeblood of political Islam.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 5:58 am

      There was a Now This tweet that discusses what science knows about the connection between global warming and worse storms.

      Basically, there just isn’t data over a long enough period of time to make definitive statements as far as I can work out.

      However, the science makes sense. Warmer oceans means more fuel for storms, and more water in those storms to dump when they hit land.

      Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 6:01 am

      Btw, I agree about taking away the lifeblood of conservative political Islam. It would also screw Russia and North Korea, because that’s where they get a majority of their foreign revenue.

      Reply
  9. Federico Bär
    Federico Bär on 7th September 2017 at 5:42 am

    Sorry to hear, Heather, that you are also bothered by scammers, as we are in Argentina. I distinguish three kinds of unexpected voices on the phone. If the candidate does not immediately identify himself, or I don’t know or like the name and/or his voice, I simply hang up. Seldom do I listen to generous offers; incidentally last month I accepted a call from my telephone provider and another one from my insurance company, because both knew my name and other details of the existing relationship. Consequently, the deals were real proposals.
    .-

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 6:07 am

      Yeah, I get them from insurance companies I already have a relationship with too. They’re not as bad, though I still don’t like them.

      I’ve just remembered there was a fourth about a week ago – not exactly a scammer, but not much better. It was a time-share apartment. I hate them too!

      Reply
  10. Mark R.
    Mark R. on 7th September 2017 at 7:37 am

    At least once a month I get a call from the IRS saying they are going to take away all possessions and lock me up unless I settle a debt. I called back once and it was an Indian man. I went along with the scam and he transferred me to another Indian man; after a few more questions I was xferred to another Indian man. I could tell they were excited that I fell for the scam. Then I just hung up. To me, the scam would be far more successful if the scammers weren’t obviously from another country.

    Maybe next time I’ll call them back and give them a curse-ridden chastising like you do. I know you were pissed and weren’t trying to be funny, but I had to chuckle at your mettle.

    You still managed to put together a nice set of tweets. Thanks!

    I liked how Maher described the republicans a few weeks back. “Republicans aren’t an opposition party now, they’re the Democrats’ crazy ex-girlfriend, and job one — job only — is to make liberals freak.” The idiot’s DACA blunder is another example. A silver lining is that when liberals freak, they act.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 7th September 2017 at 8:14 am

      We never get them pretending to be from the IRD (Inland Revenue Department). About 30 years ago, a man committed suicide because of a huge tax debt he couldn’t pay. That caused a huge outcry and ever since they’ve made a huge effort to change their image. Because it’s backed up by a genuine change in attitude and policies it’s working. Their motto is “It’s our job to be fair.”

      In addition our tax system, especially for PAYE people, is relatively simple, and there’s been a consistent effort by successive governments to continue to simplify it. Most people don’t even have to complete a tax return because everything is done automatically. Everyone can access their details online and have secure email or voice chats with staff if they want to as well.

      No one likes paying tax if course, but they make an effort to make it as good as it can be.

      Reply
  11. Miss Ironfist
    Miss Ironfist on 8th September 2017 at 2:19 am

    What does your cat do at night? ????

    Reply

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