A critical on-point summary of global finance capitalism. Well worth a read (transcript below video).
Aug 15, 21 10:19 am ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
"In other words, he says the Democratic Party, as always, won’t do anything that Republicans wouldn’t agree on. Because the Democrats are an arm of the Republican Party. Their role is to protect the Republican Party from left-wing criticism."
I disagree. I believe there is only one political party. The Democratic party believes in democracy, the rule of law, science and reality. The other is an authortarian cult of personality that is fundamentally undemocratic does not believe in the rule of law or science or reality. It is only interested in power. Imo you are making a very dangerous false equivalency.
i'm sympathetic to some of this for sure, but it's too similar to xlax's constant "both sidesism," and a little too reductive imo. it's also pretty easy to refute with specific examples, such as how the biden admin just increased food stamp amounts, substantially (about 20%), and trump/republicans were constantly fighting to cut them. this might seem like it's not moving the needle much systemically, but it goes far to increase material well being for thousands of americans, and it's enough for me to see that while i don't love the democrats, they have done more than what this diagram is claiming. i'm also happy to have bernie driving the wheel behind the scenes, and to think that's not making a difference is to nihilistic to me.
Aug 15, 21 2:55 pm ·
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,,,,
The problem is with gerrymandering, the electoral college, and with 15 states with a population less than California have 30 senators there is minority rule in this country.
The points that Hudson makes about geopolitical economics in the form of rentier capitalism explains US foreign and domestic policy, which could not be achieved without the support of both political parties.
"The team considered the mismatch hypothesis, which in the context of online behavior refers to the theory that there is a conflict between human adaptation for face-to-face interpersonal interaction and the newer, impersonal online environment. That hypothesis more or less amounts to the idea that humans who would be nicer to each other in person might feel more inclined to get nasty when interacting with other pseudonymous internet users. The researchers found little evidence for that."
Dumb fuck sez he's not anti-facctser, sez young people shouldn't need to get it, doesn't get it himself. He's a fuckwit.
Sep 2, 21 7:02 pm ·
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randomised
Ivermectin is a medicine though...it even featured in a Dr. House episode(!) and has been used over 4 billion times or so by humans..., the people that developed it’s predecessor even won a Noble Prize for it. It is quite sad that people that don’t want to or can’t take the vaccine are ridiculed like this and have nowhere and no one to turn to but people like Joe Rogan.
Sep 3, 21 2:25 am ·
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tduds
Pointing out that Ivermectin is not exclusively horse paste and is sometimes used to treat illnesses that are not COVID does nothing to change the reality that people are eating horse paste to treat COVID.
What you don't understand is that not taking the vaccine effects everyone. They are endangering everyone's life. They are insane and they are idiots. Nowhere to turn? There are 3 proven vaccines. How simple could this be? Sad? Why does anyone need a sliderule to figure this out.
You know what? On second thought, I might be ok if people want to self-medicate with Ivermectin.
"From the results obtained, it is evident that ivermectin therapy has significant adverse effects on the sperm functions of male onchocerciasis patients so treated. There was a significant reduction or drop in the sperm counts of the patients after their treatment with ivermectin. Furthermore, the study showed a significant and remarkable drop in the sperm motility of the patients after their treatment with ivermectin. As for the morphology of the sperm, there was a rise in the abnormal sperms after treatment compared with the morphology before the commencement of treatment. These changes no doubt are as results of the effects of the drug on the sperm function of the patients." https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/articles/effects-of-ivermectin-therapy-on-the-sperm-functions-of-nigerian-onchocerciasis-patients.pdf
I'm telling you to not take "150µg/kg body wt of ivermectin for eleven months" ... do not do it.
Ok people, I'm bringing up the TX abortion ban thing because it absolutely enrages me and I have some things that I think need to be said. I'm *not* going to get into it further with anyone, but I want to share some experiences my wife and I have had as they might relate to it. I'm not looking for sympathy or anything (we really don't need it though you're welcome to express it if you want to), I'm just trying to illustrate that this effectively bans a person's right to abortion, by using personal, lived experiences, for those who might not understand why (myself potentially included before any of this happened even though I've always been pro-choice).
A number of years ago we were trying to conceive. The first time we got a positive at-home pregnancy test result we went to her OB to get it confirmed. When that happened they did an ultrasound and dated the pregnancy at 6 weeks, 2 days based on the size of the gestational sack. Now in our case, I don't think the TX law would have affected us because I believe it bans abortion as soon as there is cardiac activity, which this ultrasound didn't show for us. However, that doesn't really matter to my point which is that the soonest we were able to know and determine that we were successful in getting pregnant and then see a doctor about it, it was already at the point that a heartbeat *should have* been present. There would have been no option of a legal abortion (per this law) if we found ourselves in a situation where would have wanted one. And this is as we were trying to get pregnant and keeping a close watch on things (ovulation test strips, pregnancy tests, apps to track cycles, etc.). You can imagine it would be longer for anyone who wasn't actively trying to get pregnant.
For us the doctor noted that there could still be a viable pregnancy if things continued to develop, but it was too early to tell. So we went back for a second ultrasound a week later. Still no heartbeat, but hormone levels continued to rise indicating that my wife's body did think it was pregnant. Pregnancy was 7 weeks along at this point. Even with all of this, the medical standard of care was to continue to wait and see if it continues to develop. There was still research that showed that viable pregnancies can develop at this point, but it was unlikely.
The next week we had a third ultrasound where they confirmed that the pregnancy was not viable. This was now at 8 weeks and fully following the medical standard of care for our situation (I know because I looked it up after the second ultrasound). This happens from time to time where a pregnancy simply doesn't take (for lack of a better phrase ... there is probably some medical term for this I've since forgotten, but this is how I understand it). It wasn't pointing to any ability for her not to get pregnant and carry it to term, it was just that this particular combination of cells wasn't going to develop into a viable pregnancy. Because her body still thought it was pregnant (evidenced by her hormone levels) we needed to terminate the pregnancy or risk other complications. Our options were The Pill, or a D&C. After consulting with her doctor we decided that a D&C would be our best option.
The D&C was performed at an abortion clinic by her OB. For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, this is the way it had to happen in my state at that time. I'm not sure whether this is currently correct. The whole process was traumatizing in a way that it didn't need to be. She had to sign waivers acknowledging that she was terminating the pregnancy that were filled with phrases that made it seem like she was murdering a person even though we knew from medical science that this embryo was not viable and could never be carried to term and be born alive. As I said before, it didn't even have a heartbeat. There was no legitimate reason for these waivers. There was no medical reason this procedure couldn't have been performed at a hospital or other outpatient clinic. The fact that she did have to do it this way was traumatic in itself even though it shouldn't have been.
Anyway, the procedure went fine, she recovered quickly and we got pregnant for the second time a number of months later and now have our beautiful child.
But wait, we're not done yet. Due to other medical issues that have happened since the birth of our child, my wife is on a drug that will likely cause severe birth defects in a child, if we were to get pregnant while she is taking it. We are using birth control to prevent a pregnancy. Birth control is not 100% effective. We've had at least one minor scare where we had to get an in-home test to see if it could explain her cycle being off schedule. Everything was fine, but it made us realize that we'd likely need to abort a pregnancy if it occurred (we'd of course consult with her docs to determine that though). We wouldn't be able to do that if we lived in TX right now. By the time we figured out if she was pregnant, it would be too late, and as I understand it, this would probably not fall into the medical emergencies exception the TX law allows. Even if it did, it wouldn't stop someone from potentially trying sue and get their payout for enforcement.
This is what people mean when they say that access to safe, legal abortion is a healthcare right. So yeah, the TX legislature, Gov. Abbott, 5 out of 9 SCOTUS justices, and anyone else that claims they want to impose their pro-life stance on anyone else with a uterus can kindly go fuck themselves.
I agree 100%. I also find it odd that these same people are are against vaccines are saying 'my body, my choice' and lamenting about 'medical freedom'. Fucking hypocritical wankers.
I've already made my position on this issue crystal clear (and it's likely buried in this thread somewhere). The follow-up is that further limitations and hurdles to safe and legal abortions leads to less other essential services. What really grinds my goat (hey, thread crossover!) are the cunts who play with the meaning of words and emotionally vulnerable parents to push their religious garbage and make the poor parents feel guilty.
The medical attention and screening we received likely would not have been available to us if my healthcare was run by clueless bible-clutching wankers and it is certain our son would not have survived either.
Thank you for sharing that, EA. I have heard many stories from people who have had to terminate wanted pregnancies about how invasive and traumatizing the bullshit government anti-abortion procedures were *on top of* what is already an unbearably traumatic loss. I’m so sorry you guys had to go through that.
I find it weird that the people against aborting before birth are the same people aborting after birth: pro-gun, pro-death penalty, pro-invading other countries. Ones religious beliefs shouldn’t trample on others basic human rights, that’s exactly what groups like ISIS and Taliban are all about...
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:
There must be in-groups whom the law protectes but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." (source)
The hypocrisy is the point. Pointing it out just reinforces that they have the power
to do it.
Sep 3, 21 11:28 am ·
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tduds
Thank you for sharing that EA, and I'm so so sorry that you & your partner had to go through such a traumatic experience. I think it's important to normalize sharing stories like this. There's such a stigma around talking about difficult pregnancies, genetic disorders, or miscarriages, despite all of them being relatively common, and it has the effect of mis-characterizing the type of person who gets an abortion as an irresponsible libertine caricature who is much easier to dismiss empathy towards. The more people talk about who needs this healthcare and why, the more we can work towards ensuring every person is allowed access to it.
I was raised hardcore anti-abortion. It's still difficult for me to wrap by head around, and stories like yours are important for people like me who have trouble separating the propaganda from the people.
Thank you all for your comments. I wasn't sure how it would go over to be honest. I do think we need to normalize sharing these types of experiences. I've been seeing a lot of them via social media this week and while depressing, also liberating. We've never really been shy about sharing our experiences and I hope they can help others understand these complex issues better.
I want to point out the reality of the Texas abortion ban. Six weeks is counted from the date of the last period. Which means I could have a period, meet a guy, fuck him two weeks later, and only have three more weeks to both realize I’m pregnant *and* procure an abortion.
If I lived in Texas I’d probably schedule an abortion every month, just to be safe.
Donate here to help women get actual healthcare, which may mean getting the fuck out of Texas: https://www.lilithfund.org/
Good idea, Donna. I just heard about another part of the law which bans abortion-inducing medication for any reason after seven weeks. The woman writing said she had a miscarriage at something like 8-9 weeks and by the letter of the law she would have had to carry it until her body decided to birth it, likely resulting in severe infection at best. I have not confirmed this but it seems quite plausible, considering how horrible the rest of the law is.
I recently learned the "date of last period" fact and it floored me. I know six weeks is stupidly early, but six weeks *from your last period* is absurd. Without going into too much detail, my wife & I are currently, ahem, trying*, and we realized that even with counting days and taking ovulation tests and being extremely aware of our timeline it's possible for us to get to six weeks before we know she's pregnant.
The lack of knowledge surrounding pregnancy and women's health by the people advocating for these restrictions is frankly sickening.
(*is there any less-sexy word for sex than "trying"?)
Tduds, my cousin called it "the daily deposit" if that helps. The situation is indeed sickening. A large majority of Texans didn't even want the law, but R's have figured out how to work the system to their advantage.
I just realized that my story above is a lot like EA's, but I read it on Facebook, on a Rebecca Solnit post I believe. My photographer just went through something similar, twice. Ugh. And Fuck Texas Republicans.
Maybe TMI, but you can't necessarily schedule/control when the best time to conceive will be and if that happens to be the same night you are volunteering to chaperone a high school field trip ... well, sometimes you end up renting a hotel room in the city for the night only to use it for a couple hours after work before you end up meeting the kiddos at the event you're chaperoning. Sometimes that's just how it all works.
More TMI: In my experience reproductive sex was the sexiest sex ever. It just had this incredible sparkle to it. So I don’t think “trying” is unsexy *at all*.
Wonder what all the hipsters/non-hipsters that moved from states like California to Texas think about all of this. Is low(ish) rent, zero state tax and a few more opportunities good enough reason to move to that hellhole?
It is perhaps only a hellhole if it affects you, if you’re young, educated and mobile you will be able to survive and reaping the benefits will outweigh the negatives, no?
Sep 6, 21 2:03 am ·
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SneakyPete
Yes, being a self-centered, selfish, navel-gazing asshole means you'll go where it benefits you at any given time in your life without consideration to anyone else or, indeed, yourself in the future. Ayn Rand would be so proud.
Came back to this thread late, but randomized - if you are young, educated, reaping the benefits of Texas and get pregnant without wanting to, they will make you keep the baby even if you do not want to. No thanks.
I woke up this morning feeling distraught yet confident that a US civil war is coming.
Listening to NPR on the way to work, I felt a little less nervous. So I deleted Twitter from my phone. We’ll see if a week from now I still feel this bad.
Turn off the rest of the 'news' media and see how you feel.
Oct 4, 21 9:38 am ·
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Wood Guy
While some are more red or blue than others, we can't be as easily divided geographically as we were in 1861.
On the other hand, with guerilla-style warfare, such as the attack on the Capitol, maybe geographical divisions aren't as important as they used to be. We move to the right with every election; Heather Cox Richardson had a good post about it this morning. So the civil war may just be that the right keeps taking power and the left allows it because we can't agree on much of anything.
I spent the weekend away from news only to return to another ecological disaster. Think the fact that it's affecting the rich this time might matter more? Nah...
Oct 4, 21 11:50 am ·
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Non Sequitur
Some of my trees are already loosing their leaves! Winter is comnig!....
I wish I had more faith that there will be major political fallout from this, but after the past decade of massive smoking guns dropping and quickly fizzling, I'm cautiously pessimistic:
I remember exactly where I was, and how I felt, when I heard that the murderer of Trayvon Martin was acquitted. I feel the same now but times 200. This country is only getting worse. ONLY getting worse. There’s not a single systemic thing in the United States that is getting better.
And I’m getting too tired to keep trying to make it better. I’m exhausted.
I'm sorry you're feeling that way, Donna. But you're right - your country is toast, and mine is following closely behind. There are good people doing good work, but that's in spite of a system that's morally bankrupt. On a personal level, the last decade (and especially the last 5 years) have shown me just how willfully selfish and ignorant people actually are, when they're allowed the space to do so. It sickens me every single day.
For the first time, I got put in "Facebook Jail" for commenting on someone's post and asking how the whole country isnt erupting right now. Probably also had to do with the fact that I mentioned only ONE colored person being in the Jury. Goddamnit America!
The thing that I don't get is if you brandish a weapon you're considered the instigator. In such a situation you cannot claim self defense. I really don't understand this.
As someone who owns firearms and has a concealed carry permit - I agree. I don't get the glorification of firearms or the ability to carry one. The vast majority of people in America doesn't have the ability or intelligence to use a firearm in ANY type of self defense situation. Shooting for hunting and target does NOT translate to using a firearm in a self defense or combat situation.
Yup. He went looking for trouble. He brandished a weapon at people. Even in a state with open carry and stand your ground laws you can't claim self defense in such a situation. He's a murder that was found innocent because of the judge.
Yeah yeah...shoot the messenger and bury your heads in the sand, whatever...
“The man in custody over the mass casualty incident at the #Waukesha, Wis. Christmas parade has posts on his social media in support of BLM causes, George Floyd & black nationalism. He also has a post about how to get away with running people over on the street.”
I wish you all strength and wisdom handling the collective cognitive dissonance(!)
Holy cow random, what the hell is going on in Poland, what are doing about that?
Nov 22, 21 11:02 am ·
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randomised
Nice diversion tactic beta...the cognitive dissonance is hitting you hard! Too much going on in Poland, could you be more specific?
Nov 22, 21 11:03 am ·
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randomised
O wow, it’s not on Fox News yet so it must not be true, at least you haven’t lost your sense of humour WG!
Nov 22, 21 11:05 am ·
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Wood Guy
I searched google for your phrase and the first hit is from "bad kitty" on twitter--is that your source? Sounds reliable.
First I checked legitimate news sources, then Fox because they obviously lean heavily right. I did not go so far as to check the extreme right "news" sources because doing so makes me want to drive my car into a conservative crowd.
randomised, you're once again full of it. Cite your sources (I'll save you the hassle, it's Andy Ngo on Twitter, who doesn't cite or link to a single source either). Fuck your thinly veiled racism.
Waukesha Police Chief with an update this afternoon. 5 people killed, 48 injured. Lone suspect had just fled a domestic incident in his vehicle minutes before police arrived. When he encountered the parade, he continued to flee by intentionally driving through the parade.
Nov 22, 21 2:22 pm ·
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JLC-1
NOT politically motivated.
NOT retaliation for Rittenhouse.
NOT part of a War On Christmas.
NOT multiple people.
NOT shots fired by suspect.
NOT sent by BLM.
NOT because they voted for Trump.
Basically every narrative pushed by the right wing disinformation pimps dead wrong.
Beta, again, why the transparent diversion tactics? Can’t handle the inconvenient truth bomb (knock on wood) that a Black man killed a bunch of White people including children? What would your response be if I were a Black middle aged woman posting the same facts? Also useless name calling? Nowhere the post of Ngo has been proven false, afaik. I’m sure one of the people here would post that fact check that would prove Ngo wrong in a heartbeat as it would be plastered all over the internet. Instead it is easier going after the messenger and ignore the inconvenient truth (again afaik)...what a way to live your life(!)
Bball, why quoting a post saying the killer is a BLM supporter and Black nationalist makes me a racist? People not willing to admit (at all cost apparently) something could be racially motivated are apparently racially motivated(!)
So? What’s wrong with trying to discuss extremely dangerous rumours? I thought this was a discussion forum, but apparently it is supposed to be an echo chamber...
That's all you wanted to know? Then why lead with "BLM enthusiast" when that is not relevant? If you think it's important, why not share your source? Or admit that you enjoy blaming the black movement for the crime of an individual?
JLC-1 c.s., never said it was related...if a BLM-supporting pro-vaccination gun enthusiast BIden-supporter decided to kill a coyote, that might also not be related...but it might as well be
Kyle Rittenhouse also supports BLM, just as the suspect in Waukesha. It was never said the ploughing happened because of being a BLM supporter...but if the guy would have a Trump bumper sticker on his SUV we all know how the narrative would have been played out here and elsewhere, don't kid yourselves.
I find it very suspect that a suspect's past is intentionally ignored, just because it fits the political narrative. Just put it all out there...why people are so afraid of the truth?
Rando- are you OK? I ask because your post lately have been confrontational, petty, and devoid of nuanced, rational thought. It's like you're angry and just looking for a fight. I worry about your mental state.
rando- your thoughts are truly random, disjointed, and borderline unhinged. you're not saying anything smart or interesting, it's all noise and a sad attempt at trolling. just look at how many people agree with you on this thread (hint: 0).
I'm okay Chad, just find it odd that one gets dunked on when bringing up an incident that left at least 5 people dead by a sex offender that supports BLM...but let's go back to "normal" and pretend it never happened. Don't know what the fierce responses are about that I'm receiving other than some sort of cognitive dissonant reactions because some people's bubbles are being popped by what's going on out there.
And for square, the amount of people agreeing or disagreeing in this curated echo chamber is obviously irrelevant (I've seen at least one thumbs up though :-P )
I'm glad I'm out of touch with what the incrowd here seems to consider their version of reality...Copernicus and Galileo also didn't have it easy, but for all the people living in their comfy bubble, here some social media evidence that the suspect was supporting BLM and was in fact a Black nationalist or suprematist, and an antisemite too apparently...but I'm the one here out of line, for posting about this guy and his support for Black Lives Matter, what a dogmas you all must have:
-
-
Here the antisemitic post (I won't post the image directly):
here come the delusions of grandeur with the comparison to historically significant figures.
rando, i can assure you that one of them, you are not.
Nov 24, 21 9:44 am ·
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randomised
don't be such a square, comparing a little tongue in cheek with delusions of grandeur...you're grasping at straws here...now back to the facts I just posted, or is this another attempt at diversion away from admitting I was right all along?
Also, I don't think things have gone 'back to normal'. I'm still seeing a lot of reporting being done about the incident and the person charged with the crime.
Still haven't seen anything about the suspect being a child molester or a BLM supporter or that either of those things were related to the incident.
I think what we're arriving at is the fact that random is a precog, and wants to police free speech.
Nov 24, 21 10:27 am ·
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randomised
Chad, look at the screenshots from the suspect's social media...can't make it any easier than that. If you still want to bury your head in the sand, that's on you...Now if in the meantime those accounts have been scrubbed or taken down or whatever, would be difficult to link directly to them, now wouldn't it. I never said the guy's support for BLM, his antisemitism or his sex offending was related to the carnage, but I find it typical that people put all this energy in arguing here with me about this guy, trying at all cost to keep his public support of Black Lives Matter out of it all, ignorance is bliss apparently.
And poor square, all I was trying to say is, that a BLM enthusiast ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market and I was wondering wtf was going on. If that's not allowed to be wondering in times like these, well sorry, not sorry...this isn't Orwell's 1984,
Hey Mary-Lou Retton, quick question for you, because you brought this up, what is the relevancy of his support for Black Lives to his killing of people in a car?
Nov 24, 21 10:52 am ·
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square.
great, you're wondering what's going on.... but asking on an architecture forum probably isn't the best place if you are really interested in doing so- but we can see through the bullshit and bad trolling. move on.
Rando - There is no evidence that the suspects support of BLM has anything to do with the incident. As such it's not relevant. Now IF the suspect had said that he did this because of BLM or if the suspect did this during a parade that supported the alt right, or the police then it would be relevant.
Again, you REALLY suck at trolling. If you keep this up then I'm going to assume that you believe what you're typing and have to be done with you as I don't converse with fools.
Jeez square, the thread is called politics central, you're not really the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you? If not here, where else should I ask, a forum run by politicians, a forum run by BLM enthusiast antisemite sex offending mass killers?You're clearly grasping at straws if all you can resort to is silly accusations of trolling just because you can't counter in any other way, poor you...
Nov 24, 21 12:45 pm ·
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randomised
Chad, I personally think it could be relevant ( I for sure wouldn't dismiss it so aggressively as some ) that an antisemite sex offending career criminal who supports Black Lives Matter drives his SUV into a crowd full of minors at a Christmas Market, but I think it is even more relevant that so many people try to make it seem not relevant at all...at all costs trying to keep their bubble intact and their blinders firmly attached, when all I asked was wtf is going on. Good luck with the collective cognitive dissonance in trying to deal with reality.
Nov 24, 21 2:14 pm ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
It's rather fascinating that you don't know how the presumption of innocence works, or what is relevant to the future case. Two minors were killed, six adults above 50, but maybe you don't think boomers matter? It was a parade not a market. He didn't rape anyone on his way to kill people, or yell hey I'm going to kill jews at a Christian parade. You're a cluster fuck off dumb.
you're full of dumb cliches but no substance; after 10+ posts, you still haven't gone beyond "the guy supported blm." ok- so what? the burden of proof is on you to make any legitimate claim as to why it's relevant, since you made the original statement. only saying "i think it's relevant" is nothing but vapid noise, which is typical of you.
Nov 24, 21 2:32 pm ·
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randomised
b3ta, I don't want to police free speech at all, that's more your cup of tea, although you probably newspeak it into moderating...
And you really ask what the relevancy is of supporting BLM and killing white people with your car? Really? Well, it is relevant until it isn't relevant, you know, context, character, etc. all that stuff that got Kyle Rittenhouse acquitted on all charges, who by the way also supports Black Lives Matter.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it, b3ta...?(full disclosure, I also support BLM)
Oh I missed all this drama. But then realized its just Rando sitting in his utopian European life, playing the contrarian and slinging shit at minorities, mostly cuz none of this stuff will ever affect him in real life anyways....
If this is what you call drama someold...the killing of 6 people is what I would consider drama. I'm not slinging shit at minorities at all, I seem to be the only one here that considers minorities fully capable of being treated equally, I even quote a gay Asian American in the process(!)
Ok rando, got it - minorities are capable of being shitty people too (like yours truly). That said, there is no need to equate one crime with another and say "tit for tat". Rest assured, the (colored) person who plowed into the crowd will no doubt face manslaughter and live in prison for the rest of his life.
Kyle SHITTENhouse, however, had a bunch of donations from conservative parties after he committed the murders. I do not see BLM folks lining up to save Darrell Brooks or making GoFundMe accounts for him. And THAT is the difference between white supremacy and minorities.
All Im saying regarding your utopia is that you do not understand these dynamics that happen in a multi cultural nation.
Sameold, I'm glad you finally got it and caught on, you got me worried there for a minute :)
Nov 24, 21 4:40 pm ·
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randomised
b3ta, I don't care that Ngo is considered an alt-right fetishist, he was the one that made public what others were trying to keep out of the public's eye...he was the one being the proper journalist here and did the job others refused to do.
Rando, I'll write it slowly: by leading with the comment that the killer was a BLM enthusiast, you blame BLM for something they were not involved with. Why not lead with some other identifying fact about the guy?
WG, I don't blame BLM for this...but why can't I name BLM as an identifying fact, why that fact, of all facts has to remain hidden?
Nov 24, 21 5:18 pm ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
RELEVANCY. Look it up.
I have it on good authority that a few of those grandmothers were racists, All Lives Matter, and Blue Lives Matter activists. Plus, they put raisins in the potato salad.
Video game enthusiast drives into crowd. Celtics enthusiast drives into crowd. Foot fetish enthusiast drives into crowd. "Whut's wrong with stating a fact?" GTFOH
Whatever you all need to tell yourselves to make it through the day...Godspeed!
Nov 25, 21 10:12 am ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
Wait, wait a second. Targeted attempt to injure, or kill peaceful protesters, and no comment? https://fb.watch/9Hak3SYZDJ/
Dec 4, 21 8:42 am ·
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randomised
Sorry, I’m not plugged into the metaverse, but with no fatalities and no BLM connection it is not in the news...
Dec 4, 21 12:31 pm ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
No. BLM. Connection. Literally a protest about white cop, murdering black man, and no BLM connection.
To quote;
"Whatever you all need to tell yourselves to make it through the day...Godspeed!"
It's okay ffolks, no one died, though they drove into protesters on purpose.
Dec 4, 21 1:44 pm ·
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randomised
*Yawn* no BLM connection of the assailant, as with the BLM supporters Rittenhouse and Brooks. As I said, not plugged into the meta verse and it wasn’t in the news here, so what do you want from me? Go bother someone else after you down one too many Guinness ...doei doei!
Dec 4, 21 2:01 pm ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
Oh, I get it now, you only care when you're narrative is playing to form, and not when white terrorists try to take out BLM supporters. So you are in support of the alt-right. Typical. And Guinness, that's for troglodytes from Heineken country.
You clearly don’t get it, but that’s okay, you hardly ever get it. Guess you’re too blinded by your one-directional rage. I’m not in support of the so-called alt-right, I’m simply in favour of common sense :-P
JLC-1, my quiet inhibitions about a long sentence for the Kenosha shooter are that he's a teenager. He's a *kid*. He truly didn't know the magnitude of what he was doing. But: that's because but his mind is poisoned by thousands of adults making bank sowing hatred. That's fucking bad for all of us.
Influences aside, 17 is old enough to know not to go looking for trouble with a weapon. White nationalist militias are empowered and celebrating. This is only going to get worse. Anarchy follows when the rule of law is broken or ignored. This is the real trickle-down: when laws don't apply at the top why should they apply anywhere else?
Coming to Archinect is a reminder of America centric stuff,
I thought this thread would be all about Covid and us more wealthy vaccinated nations arguing the boosters should go to the vulnerable in the developing world.
Donna, of course is right in a way. But by this token, his parents are the ones that should be thrown into prison, if the kids walks free. Racism is taught at home, like most things.
What's going on (at least in the Netherlands) is that there is still around 15% of unvaccinated adults, often not the brightest bunch , definitely the more selfish kind that also don't follow mask mandates or social distancing and often not the ones leading a healthy lifestyle (very high BMI). They're the ones primarily ending up in the hospitals now (apart from some vaccinated people with preexisting conditions)...Also kids are unvaccinated here while schools and daycares are open (with some teachers in schools and daycares intentionally unvaccinated, is asking for trouble). We are also not yet giving boosters over here in NL unfortunately.
In Eastern-Europe the % of vaccinated people is simply lagging behind I suppose (for various reasons) and with the colder weather over there they are already forced to spend more time indoors I guess, which obviously increases the spread of the virus. The German government actually said that the way it is going now that after this winter all their people either will be vaccinated, will have gone through COVID or simply died from it, let's see...
"We can’t expect politicians to stop creating these sorts of terms. After all, undefined words that serve to make the other side look bad and can never be pinned down enough to make your side look like hypocrites are the pinnacle of real world political speech. What we can expect, though, is for the media not to get sucked into this stupid and meaningless game, to serve as a mechanism that reinforces the idea that unreal things are real. None of these pseudo-issues should be written about in respectable publications or spoken about on the airwaves until they have been subjected to a relentless and scrupulous defining of what they do and do not mean. I don’t care if the attempt to define “woke” in a meaningful way takes the entire length of a cable news segment, leaving no time for the ensuing talking points. The fact that coming to a realistic, mutually agreed upon definition sounds so daunting and time consuming is a sign that the underlying “issue” does not, necessarily, exist. "
wow, this is brilliant. i wasn't familiar with this mag but will definitely be returning.
Dec 9, 21 4:18 pm ·
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tduds
Hamilton Nolan was one of the best writers at Splinter before private equity ruined the Gawker-verse. I'm glad he's found other good outlets for his ideas.
Dec 9, 21 5:04 pm ·
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tduds
I'm going to post this article everytime someone uses one of the words in it, in any thread. Consider yourselves on notice.
Dec 9, 21 5:12 pm ·
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,,,,
I disagree. The other "party" has turned into a group of demagogues who have no interest in gouverning. They are only care about having power. Cruelty is the method and point of any policy they have or will have. They troll by conceptually reframing language. The term "w***" used to be used to describe an honest and legitimate realization. The definition was weaponized into a pejorative. The solution is to not play into their hands by playing their game of arguing about it. Don't use the term *w***" anymore. Make no mistake their goal is authoritarian control of this country.
Wow just read about this. Thats been the rule for the better part of a year, and likely for the foreseeable future, not sure why this is suddenly a surprise to him. Snowflake much?
Yep, I wouldn't say ineptitude. Really makes me want to work for campaign finance reform and all that though. Things I've probably said before a few pages ago in this thread if they haven't fallen victim to people getting nuked.
"Young people are not only to the left of the country, but also to the left of previous generations of young people. In national elections, Millennials have voted for Democrats over Republicans by unprecedented margins. They are far more open to various strands of socialism—including social democracy and democratic socialism.
[...]
"Why would young people feel such revolutionary fervor? Maybe it’s not because Millennials have rejected the American dream, but rather because the economy has not only blocked their path to attaining it but punished them for trying to.
"Millennials are the most educated generation in U.S. history to date. They bought into a social contract that said: Everything will work out, if first you go to college. But as the cost of college increased, millions of young people took on student loans to complete their degree. Graduates under 35 are almost 50 percent more likely than members of Gen X to have student loans, and their median balance is about 40 percent higher than that of the previous generation.
"And what has all that debt gotten them? 'Lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth,' according to the Federal Reserve paper’s conclusion. Student debt has made it harder for millions of young people to buy a home, since 'holding debt is associated with a lower rate of homeownership, irrespective of degree type,' as Fed economists wrote in a previous study. In other words, young people took on debt to pursue a college degree, only to discover that the cost of college would push the American dream further from their grasp."
This has been the program for decades - NAFTA, "modernization of financial services", gutting bankruptcy protection, etc., while giving tax breaks to the rich and direct subsidies (social welfare!) to banks and corporations. The only comment I wish to make is that Democrats are as complicit in creating these conditions as the GOP, and that voting Democrat has resulted in absolutely nothing to change this. I doubt this country will survive the 2024 election, and current military domestic warfare drills are preparing for this future. Posse Commitas will be ignored.
That was kind of the point of the Jacobin article I posted a few comments further above.
"Biden ran the standard modern Democratic campaign, making a laundry list of ambitious promises, while taking record-high truckloads of cash from the corporate interests whose profits relied on them never being enacted. He promised a public health insurance option while taking money from the for-profit health sector. He pledged to tax the rich while going hat in hand to billionaires. He threatened to break up big tech while using Silicon Valley for both funding and staffing.
[...]
"What did we just witness over the course of this year? The parts of Biden’s agenda that were backed by corporate America — namely, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package and the half-a-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill — sailed to his desk with relative ease. The parts they opposed, namely the now-shelved Build Back Better bill, with its modest tax hikes and new government powers that would cut into corporate profits, failed. Meanwhile, at the same time as Biden’s social spending was slashed over inflation concerns, the military-industrial complex just got a gargantuan new spending bill care of huge congressional majorities."
"...voting Democrat has resulted in absolutely nothing to change this."
Voting is the last and least important step in the democratic (small d) process. What are you doing before you vote to help get better options on the ballot?
Until we legislatively change the process, it rewards the candidates who raise money.
To be more baldly frank, until we as a society stop valuing everything by dollars, we will never move beyond those with more
dollars controlling everything.
Blaming democrats who are putting good faith proposals forward for not succeeding at those proposals is willfully obtuse in ignoring the wildly active counter-effort that tries to suppress policy that benefits middle & lower income Americans.
I'm convinced that if you created a left party, a right party, and a center party and did basically nothing else (save for changing elections to allow for a third party), the left party would hold a minority, as would the right party. The center party would be the majority, perhaps even a super majority at times, and everything would stay the same. Lot's of fighting and posturing and getting nothing done on the left or right for "the base," and sufficient legislation that barely gets press coverage to keep the "donor base" happy.
“donor base” is where the real problem is…creating legislation with the sole purpose of keeping the donors happy instead of doing what needs to/should be done. That’s why Bernie is/was such a threat, not having any of those big donors with big donor demands and interests to please.
Jan 12, 22 2:21 pm ·
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tduds
This wasn't as much of a problem until the supreme court uncorked the firehose of money in 2010. Things weren't perfect before, but in retrospect it really tilted the scales as much as everyone predicted it would.
voting democratic (all stripes, including socialist) in nyc (and in the state at large, securing the dem majority) has made a huge difference: marijuana legalization, universal pre-k, paid-family leave, bail reforms, increased voting access for non-citizens, new tenants protections, with the potential for things like good cause eviction legislation, among many other things. non of these were possible while the republicans (+pseudo "indie" dems, a nuance you're unable to get at) had control.
saying the two sides is lazy false equivalency; if you want to get at the heart of the matter, you have to be able to distinguish what dems have failed on, and what successes they have had.
State governments by virtue of their size must be more accountable and are a poor example when compared to the behavior of federal officials.
There are differences between the parties, in particular on social issues. But on larger issues (military spending, unending wars, money in politics, corporate welfare, etc., they march in lock step). Look at the voting on military budgets for example.
A lot of politics is posturing, acting as if you support something that has nomchance of ever happening (tax increases on the rich). Failing to recognize the abject failure of government (both parties) and imagining that one side or the other will fix things if they are in power perpetuates the divide that will blow this country apart shortly.
There are differences between the parties, in particular on social issues. But on larger issues (military spending, unending wars, money in politics, corporate welfare, etc., they march in lock step). State governments by virtue of their size must be more accountable and are a poor example when compared to the behavior of federal officials. Look at the voting on military budgets for example.
A lot of politics is posturing, acting as if you support something that has nomchance of ever happening (tax increases on the rich). Failing to recognize the abject failure of government (both parties) and imagining that one side or the other will fix things if they are in power perpetuates the divide that will blow this country apart shortly. A Gallup poll on professional honesty and integrity rank congress dead last behind used car salesmen. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1654/Honesty-Ethics-Professions.aspx
So one side that believes in authoritarian rule and one side that believes in democratic rule is not a large issue? Imo you are making an untrue argument that the government can't and has not improved the lives of individuals in this country. There are dedicated public servants who work diligently toward this end. Of course there are major problems that need to be fixed. Please don't tell me you voted for a 3rd party candidate.
saying that military spending and economics are "larger" issues than social issues shows your bias, and why you think there is an equivalency. someone who prioritizes social issues would most likely feel differently than you. i'd say same for climate issues; the two sides aren't comparable at all.
Jan 14, 22 10:36 am ·
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square.
to speak to one of your particular interests though, a clear demonstration of how a democratic administration differs in terms of economic/labor issues:
The NLRB’s general counsel is effectively the agency’s prosecutor. The general counsel also supervises the agency’s 26 regional offices, where claims of unfair labor practices are investigated and, in most instances, resolved. That gives Abruzzo enormous influence over what the federal government’s rules will be about how managers in the private sector may or may not treat their workers.*
this isn't a "sexy" issue that will be on the front page like war or money in politics, but rather a place where nuts and bolts stuff happens behind the scenes, things that affect real people's lives.
I'm not going to dare resurrect the SHoP unionization news article by posting this there, but I can't resist:
"People have been making coffee for years and have never unionized. You think if baristas wanted a union they would have formed one back in the 1900's." --Your Employer (probably)
i’ve really been pondering lately the idea that “crime is out of control so we need to give the police more money”. Because it seems logical to me that if crime is out of control that means the police aren’t actually doing anything to stop crime, so why would we give them more funding to keep doing what they can’t do right already?
I think the phrase “defund the police” can too easily be ridiculed as unrealistic. It’s really about reallocation of those funds. And I do have a deep faith in the idea that thousands of highly funded social workers could solve a whole hell of a lot of the crime that people are so concerned about.
As I understand it, the problem is that the police are being asked to do things that they are not trained to do. A better slogan might be: fund the social workers
“As I understand it, the problem is that the police are being asked to do things that they are not trained to do.“
Yes, and they are overtraining “risk management” at the cost of militarizing societal crime…too much shoot first/neutralize threat/aggressive authority, in lieu of thoughtful intervention or even just plain old patience.
It doesn’t have to be a political divide to improve policing, it affects everyone
I've literally been dealing with four different unhoused people personally this year and what I - what THEY - need is social workers to help them with housing and medical care and getting their IDs so they can get SSI and Medicare but the *only* way I was able to get fast attention to any of them was calling 911. And then begging the dispatcher to *please* consider it a wellness check, not a crime in progress, so no one would show up with guns blazing. I'm so dispirited.
So my city currently has a public survey asking for feedback on The upcoming police budget (since it comes out of city coffers, right about 26% IIRC). In any case they proposed five different scenarios - NONE of which was an option to reduce or reallocate funding. The media has caught on to this and while people are generally upset, it's not going to matter. The city councilor in charge is also the former chief of police and still sits on the police advisory board. How this isn't a conflict of interest tells me everything I need to know about how sincere they are any the feedback.
I've talked to cops in my jiu-jitsu class. One of the crazy things that I learned was that the police chief, they're the ones that set the criteria for hiring, for mental health testing, all of it. There is zero standard, and only the whim of what the police chief wants in an officer.
Sorry all. I don't normally like to post this kind of stuff but I can't stop laughing about it. Fox News anchors were building up to the release of the January Jobs Report saying it was likely to be one of the worst, showing massive losses of jobs. Turns out they were very wrong. https://twitter.com/Craigipedi...
First president in my lifetime who (so far) has ended a war and not started another one. Only time will tell where we go but, you know, we're not currently at war so...
Feb 11, 22 11:27 am ·
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randomised
Yes, and the military industrial complex doesn’t like it, they’ll make sure there will be blood…
Feb 11, 22 1:40 pm ·
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proto
Why do people insist on projecting fantasies? [personification of the "MIC" as a living & willful monster; impending us civil war; inciting war w/ russia; insisting that peace w/ north korea is imminent; draining the swamp; stopping the cabal of child trafficing dems, etc]. is it an online thing? It is speculative fantasy from what i can tell...am I wrong on that?
Feb 11, 22 1:45 pm ·
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randomised
What’s fantasy? That the US/ Biden are doing everything to ignite a conflict that will most likely weaken both Europe and Russia, and will cost many innocent lives?
Feb 11, 22 2:12 pm ·
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tduds
The Military Industrial complex is very real and the existence of people who lobby for perpetual war - for reasons of ideology or profit (or sometimes both) - is also very real. But that's *very* different from saying "war mongering by Biden"
Feb 11, 22 2:27 pm ·
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tduds
I really wish our government would simply call Russia's bluff, but our systems are not designed to do that.
Feb 11, 22 2:28 pm ·
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proto
@rando, yes, fantasy. Biden, the president that had the intestinal fortitude to drag us out of Afghanistan (ie knowing he'd get raked over the coals no matter how he did it, but did it anyway), is not trying to put us back into war with Russia.
@tduds, how does that happen?
Feb 11, 22 4:25 pm ·
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randomised
???Biden pulled out of Afghanistan because Trump made a deal to do just that…Biden only respected the agreement that was already made.
Feb 12, 22 2:09 am ·
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randomised
Instead of calling Russia’s bluff Biden is putting Putin in a position of no return, pushing for escalation rather than de-escalation…
Feb 12, 22 2:12 am ·
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SneakyPete
Rando, what would you do, since you're so fucking smart?
Feb 12, 22 2:28 am ·
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randomised
I wouldn’t meddle in other countries’ affairs and provoke armed conflicts all over the globe…for starters.
Feb 12, 22 8:33 am ·
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proto
I’m confused…please define “provoke” for me. How is the US provoking Russia into war? AFAICT, Russia initiated military exercises. They have a recent history of military annexation. The US & Europe should just sit back and watch? How does one call the “bluff” exactly? Further
100k+ deployed troops isn’t a bluff; that’s an investment of infrastructure. Rus has to move & provision them; that isn’t an empty investment. They are stationed in Belarus too. And naval capability is hovering in the Black Sea…
Yes, you are going to have to connect the dots; it’s not up to me to guess what you mean. I will just assume you are just lobbing unsubstantiated bs until you make some sense & explain your perspective.
You said: “the US/ Biden are doing everything to ignite a conflict that will most likely weaken both Europe and Russia, and will cost many innocent lives.”
Then you link a article/map of US bases. Doesn’t add up to a thoughtful perspective yet…I’m not getting how the US is trying to ignite a conflict at all
Also Russia would be preparing a coup d’état in Ukraine to install a pro-Russian puppet Murayev, which is again fake news, the guy has serious issues with major Russian politicians, has no intentions to do this and the Ukrainian government doesn’t even believe it as they haven’t taken any action against the politician…other recent fake news attempts by American have been the made up story of Russia paying taliban for each killed American in Afghanistan…Here another map that might help to understand what’s going on: https://koudeoorlogat3e.weebly.com/uploads/4/7/2/8/47281775/6950327.jpg I can’t help it if you are not versed in global politics, I’ve been to the Ukraine, have visited their capital and have first hand experience with their corrupt local law enforcement.
Every time Europe and Russia want to have better relations the Americans have to step in and ruin everything(!)
Feb 12, 22 4:26 pm ·
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SneakyPete
Da, comrade. You are the trustworthy source, no?
Feb 12, 22 5:02 pm ·
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proto
The tweet link doesn’t work. You make another unsubstantiated/speculative statement about a puppet. The map doesn’t demonstrate anything about your hypothetical. And you pretend I am not versed in global politics (certainly it’s possible, but you have no idea one way or the other). That’s pretty thin stuff…
The blatant ignorance of those who gulp down US corporate media as if it is God's truth is embarrassing. WMDs in Iraq! Russia rigged the election! Grow a fucking brain, and then put it to use.
Re: the tweet vid. It is frustratingly unverifiable, yes. But it doesn’t make it any more true or false. The concluding paragraph of the RTL link says exactly that. And the video questioner doesn’t make the assumption you do (absolute fake news/disinformation) while still hammering the podium about showing a shred of proof.
Totally frustrating, yes. Proof of fake news, not at this point. I’m not going to pretend I know the answer here. But that is exactly why I’m pushing back on your assertion; you can’t either without making assumptions not proven. I hope that at least is understandable to you, even while you clearly feel differently about the situation.
Feb 13, 22 12:18 pm ·
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randomised
Well done proto the MIC salutes you ;-)
Feb 13, 22 1:41 pm ·
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proto
Irony not lost on you, huh? Given the topic of unproven allegations…
The Gulf of Tonkin incident. WMDs in Iraq. Syrian chemical weapon attacks. Russian election hacking. Epstein committed suicide. My current favorite: "declassified evidence" of Russia planning a false flag attack in Ukraine.
Last time, when it was the other way around and Russia tried to help that little neighbour south of Florida it was almost a nuclear war because the US wouldn’t tolerate a non allied military presence so close by…now if we try to put ourselves in Russias shoes today and see how the map has shifted as they are surrounded by hostile alliances, wouldn’t you at some point put your foot down? Also remember that Ukraine is divided in a pro eastern and pro western part, with Russian being the native tongue of half the country, this includes Crimea…why the US is meddling in all this? Maybe first fix your own domestic issues (student debt, crumbling infrastructure, pandemic, endemic racism etc.) before trying to be the world’s occupying police force…
I was vague in my statement above when I said I wished the US would call Russia's bluff. To elaborate: The way I see it, war in Ukraine doesn't serve Russia's interests, but fraying alliances in Europe/US does and saber rattling about Ukraine's borders accomplishes that. It's in Russia's interest to pretend they're going to invade, but not actually to do so. I think they're smart enough to know this and I'd like to see someone in Western leadership just call it what it is.
@proto Nothing is what it seems, or more precisely what you are led to believe. Reference the Stalin Note of 1952 that proposed neutral German reunification on democratic principles with no strings attached, which was rejected by the West. Wikipedia has a fairly decent article on it.
the link proposes US military intervention? that's the link you wanted to share after telling me the US military presence is too far spread outside of its own home already? I have to admit: I did not expect that...
Feb 14, 22 5:20 pm ·
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tduds
"Also remember that Ukraine is divided in a pro eastern and pro western part" It's far from an even split.
Feb 14, 22 8:47 pm ·
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SneakyPete
Little dutch boy forgetting his dutch history in order to play holier than thou for internet points.
Feb 14, 22 10:01 pm ·
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randomised
Ouch Petey, what a burn! +1
Feb 15, 22 2:35 am ·
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randomised
And the Russians are done with their military exercises…sorry Biden, no war for you. Now the US will need to find another way to weaken both Europe and Russia. Full disclosure: This post was not sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
Feb 15, 22 6:31 am ·
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proto
Amazing how your delusion of the US wanting & provoking war is now safely unproven by the Russians showing some relenting change in their aggressive posturing. It’s almost as if the western positions are causing some reconsideration by Russia…but, more likely you’re probably right, the US is probably fuming at the missed opportunity for foreign carnage and wasteful military spending for no humanistic purpose but to pump up the “MIC”…why didn’t they rush to insert US forces in Ukraine like Mr Keir suggested?
jfc
Feb 15, 22 10:28 am ·
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randomised
You’re totally wrong proto, the US was trying to provoke a military response from Russia, even made up a bogus time line and supposedly had gained access to some intelligence info etc. It is just embarrassing how eager the US is pushing for a conflict safely far away on the edge of Europe where they can reap all the benefits, the rethoric coming from Washington has hopefully opened people’s eyes to what the US are actually about…smh
Feb 15, 22 11:35 am ·
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SneakyPete
rando, you go from rabid right winger to peacenik at the drop of a hat, and the only consistency seems to be the need to take up a contrary position. You must have been a real treat to raise.
Forget it random, you are never going to convince those ignorant of illegal US invasions and long-term occupations of foreign countries, CIA coups overthrowing foreign governments, the relative size of US and Russian military budgets, the number and location of US foreign military bases, and the long history of blatant and disproven war-promoting lies propagated by the integration of the military complex into government and media.
It was already announced ages ago that Russia would conduct these routine military exercises, and who can blame them…They don’t fight that many illegal wars as the US do, so they obviously need to have these kind of exercises. the aggressive posturing here comes mostly from Biden&co. trying to produce a crisis.
Feb 15, 22 12:16 pm ·
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SneakyPete
Defending Putin is a bold move.
Feb 15, 22 1:10 pm ·
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proto
randomised, in your opinion, was the annexation of Crimea a legitimate land swap from Ukraine to Russia?
Miles, it has nothing to do with ignorance re: the variety of situations you cite. In fact, the current situation also has nothing to do with those situations either.
This insistence that the US is trying to produce a crisis when none existed is a creation of rando's (& others) without any direct knowledge of the actors in play. It is speculation based on innuendo & implication of impropriety at odds with the facts of what is occurring.
well, there's this set of facts from Sunday -- take note of the Russian positions inside Ukraine, largest circle and all...lotta "just exercising" going on there
Not facts, just an annotated map that I’m guessing was published in a newspaper that you failed to identify. Not to mention the contradiction of the “imminent Russian invasion” if they are already in country, as the annotated map shows.
Feb 15, 22 3:23 pm ·
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proto
Go ahead & click on the pic; it gets bigger & isn't a rickroll. Citation provided as part of the content, you cynic. As for the "contradiction", it's more support for the thesis, actually. It's amazing the tortuous lengths you go to for a story you wish had legs.
but here's the story https://www.nytimes.com/intera... [lemme know if you need it quoted out to avoid paywall; it has naturally been updated since Sun as it's an ongoing story]
Feb 15, 22 3:50 pm ·
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randomised
"rando, you go from rabid right winger to peacenik at the drop of a hat,"
SneakyPete, my positions are consistent and stable social-liberal democrat (the European kind), I suppose...
Feb 15, 22 4:33 pm ·
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tduds
There's a fine line between healthy skepticism and reflexive distrust and this discussion is really hopping around on that line.
The source of the map is Rochan Consulting, a Polish company. No sources of information used to create this map are identified. I can make maps, too.
The map shows Crimea as part of Ukraine. Propaganda has almost completely subverted the internationally supervised referendum, which was a response to the CIA coup in Ukraine in 2014. As background, the coup happened after the President of Ukraine opted to sign a Regional Trade Agreement with the Russian Federation instead of joining the EU (which had decimated a number of European economies including Greece, Portugal, Italy). Neither Crimea nor the eastern parts of Ukraine recognized the coup-installed government as legitimate. The the 'breakaway republics' and the Crimean referendum.
Funny how Russia "illegally" annexed Crimea (and you don't see any Crimeans - by majority ethnically Russian - crying about it) while the clearly illegal US invasion and occupation of multiple countries for decades where they don't even speak English is irrelevant to the matters at hand (propaganda and militarism).
"Healthy skepticism" would include the NYT, especially with their constant parroting of unnamed intelligence officials, citing secret documents, cheerleading illegal wars, trumpeting the thoroughly debunked Russiagate conspiracy that now has Hillary in the crosshairs, etc. But at this point it doesn't matter what I post. The NYT is your bible and doG forbid I challenge anything they print, or even worse use their prior record as evidence of their unreliability.
Also reference Matt Lee questioning "declassified evidence" at a WH press briefing that was ignored by the NYT.
Which will obviously be dismissed without a second thought because it comes form the other side, and therefore must be propaganda, because our side would never do such a thing.
It's possible for the US and Russia to both be wrong. To both be bad actors.
Feb 15, 22 6:07 pm ·
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proto
RE: International observers: "SOURCE Russian Community of Crimea"
RE: Matt Lee, that episode has been discussed above. I have no objection to the line of questioning in that presser. But I also note the SNL skit during the Iraq war: "where are your troops & can I go & count them?" Yes, frustrating, but ultimately not proof of anything one way or the other. Further, the fact that the NYT doesn't consider badgering the speaker during a presser worthy of news isn't that notable. That's what journalists do.
Feb 15, 22 6:14 pm ·
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proto
Of course, sources matter. They do put information in perspective.
Real journalists like Matt Lee have ethical standards. They don't just parrot whatever they are told without question. That press conference was embarrassing, as bad as the bullshit about WMDs in Iraq. But hey, the US only lied then, the can't possibly be lying now.
Feb 15, 22 6:36 pm ·
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tduds
Bothsidesism requires adhering to the fantasy that there are two and only two "sides"
American “intelligence”: the invasion of Ukraine is imminent, it will happen then and then and there and there.
tumbleweeds
American “intelligence”: you see, thanks to our disclosure of supposed declassified information the invasion was avoided. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Feb 16, 22 2:18 am ·
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square.
i'm always amazed at the surety that this skepticism is voiced with, as if we have professional journalists gracing us with REAL fact checking... failing to recognize the absurdity of doing so as an artist, designer, etc on an architecture website. it's one thing to banter about this stuff, but the amount of effort and attention paid to the same topics (it's always war and economics, two quite large topics with their own respective disciplines...) is quite impressive. the lack of humility not to present it as debate, but rather to say "no no, THIS is the truth over here! trust me, i would know.." can we?
"Skepticism is asking questions. Whatever Miles and rando are doing is giving answers. There's a difference."
I obviously disagree tduds, I just don't buy (into) the US-spun narrative...it is so obviously one-sided...even the Ukrainian allies are aggravated by the American rhetoric, they are tired of the US (and UK) way of spinning things (out of control), e.g. say that you will help and stand by Ukraine and at the same time evacuate all embassy staff and diplomats.
Another thing, headline today in The Guardian: "Russian aircraft flies within several feet of US navy plane over Mediterranean Sea" could've just as easily be written up like "US navy plane flies within several feet of Russian aircraft over Mediterranean Sea"...the framing of it is just so tiresome.
Just because the US fucked up the evacuation in Afghanistan they seem to have a point to prove on the global stage...at the expense of the Ukrainians, Russians, Europeans and yes also Americans. It's exhausting and saddening...
Examples of historical facts (WMDs, Ukraine coup, etc.) are not "answers". Excuses for behavior (such as NYT lack of reporting) or believing something without evidence is not skepticism. That is reflexive distrust of any idea to the contrary to the prevailing dogma.
Feb 16, 22 5:30 pm ·
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tduds
I suppose my skepticism extends to other skeptics.
Feb 16, 22 5:35 pm ·
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tduds
My point all along is that while I agree the US narrative through all of this is rather eyebrow raising, I also think the Russian narrative through all this is equally eyebrow raising. Plenty of brinkmanship, misinformation, and ulterior motives to go around. Miles - you lost me when you essentially defended the invasion of Crimea. Like I said above, it's possible to reject American imperialism without embracing Russian imperialism.
Have you read the draft treaties from Russia to the US and NATO? Read them and tell me how this is a threat to the security of Europe and the US.
NATO was formed to contain the Soviet Union. When the Soviet union dissolved so did NATO's reason for existence. The Soviet Union tried to join NATO in 1954, after Stalin proposed neutral German reunification in 1952 - both were rejected by the west. The Bomber Gap and Missile Gap were false intelligence reports that showed the US lagging far behind in weaponry when the exact opposite was true. Both were used to justify massive increases in military spending and the development of the nuclear arsenal.
This is not conjecture or propaganda, it is history and context for analysis of current events.
Our history is filled with similar incidents, a few of which are cited in posts above. When somebody lies to me - repeatedly - I tend to look at what they say with a large measure of skepticism.
Easy for you to say...this is happening on the borders of the EU, Ukraine is only 300 miles from where my partner's family lives, the grandparents (with partial Ukrainian heritage) of my kids.
OFFICIAL LEAK: The daily plan of Pskov Paratroop Division (76 Guards Air Assault Division) approved by Putin and signed by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
06:00 Getting up
07:00 Morning toilet
08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Assault on Ukraine
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Taking of Kiev
18:00 Gazmanov's Concert
21:00 Fireworks.
Meanwhile Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov recommended that Ukrainians set an alarm clock so as not to oversleep the attack, which was scheduled by the US for Feb. 16.
Propaganda from a government that absolutely refuses to implement the Minsk II Agreement it signed in 2015, which requires the withdrawal of weapons, monitoring of the ceasefire by the OSCE and the holding of local elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics on their future status in Ukraine. That was 7 years ago. But hey those are photographs so it must be true!
tear down the institutions until we have nothing left, but at least we'll have that smug feeling of winning on the internet: "i criticized them first for that one thing they did back then" [you get a #morejadedthanthou upvote!]
When some lunatic Nazi is waving a swastika flag at a truckers protest against governmental overreach in Canada…the entire protest is branded and disqualified.
Rando, there were several nazi symbols in the occupation by the trucker cunts plus hundreds or other racist and homophobic ones. That whole convoy thing is not a protest and never was.
You know I’m living in the centre of this mess, right? I’m just about to step out of the metro and walk through the occupation in way to office. It’s much more than a few horns.
^yes, nearby IKEA (it's a landmark of sorts here...) but my office is in the closed-off area downtown next to parliament. The convoy impacts many areas of the city outside of the core.
Politics Central
Economics of the new cold war and U.S. ‘super imperialism’ with economist Michael Hudson
A critical on-point summary of global finance capitalism. Well worth a read (transcript below video).
"In other words, he says the Democratic Party, as always, won’t do anything that Republicans wouldn’t agree on. Because the Democrats are an arm of the Republican Party. Their role is to protect the Republican Party from left-wing criticism."
.
I disagree. I believe there is only one political party. The Democratic party believes in democracy, the rule of law, science and reality. The other is an authortarian cult of personality that is fundamentally undemocratic does not believe in the rule of law or science or reality. It is only interested in power. Imo you are making a very dangerous false equivalency.
i'm sympathetic to some of this for sure, but it's too similar to xlax's constant "both sidesism," and a little too reductive imo. it's also pretty easy to refute with specific examples, such as how the biden admin just increased food stamp amounts, substantially (about 20%), and trump/republicans were constantly fighting to cut them. this might seem like it's not moving the needle much systemically, but it goes far to increase material well being for thousands of americans, and it's enough for me to see that while i don't love the democrats, they have done more than what this diagram is claiming. i'm also happy to have bernie driving the wheel behind the scenes, and to think that's not making a difference is to nihilistic to me.
The problem is with gerrymandering, the electoral college, and with 15 states with a population less than California have 30 senators there is minority rule in this country.
The points that Hudson makes about geopolitical economics in the form of rentier capitalism explains US foreign and domestic policy, which could not be achieved without the support of both political parties.
I just read the Mullahs plan on inviting BIG to do a new stair at The Hamid Karzai Airport. Can we get someone to confirm?
Confirmed. It's a stair to the US.
Living with Price Above Value
An interview with Michael Hudson where he explains rentier capitalism, how it works, and what is necessary to change it.
Apropos of nothing in particular, I thought this should be shared:
Online Trolls Actually Just Assholes All the Time, Study Finds; New research indicates the internet doesn't make people act like jerks, but it sure gives the jerks a big megaphone (source: Gizmodo ... not The Onion).
"The team considered the mismatch hypothesis, which in the context of online behavior refers to the theory that there is a conflict between human adaptation for face-to-face interpersonal interaction and the newer, impersonal online environment. That hypothesis more or less amounts to the idea that humans who would be nicer to each other in person might feel more inclined to get nasty when interacting with other pseudonymous internet users. The researchers found little evidence for that."
GOOD god! Joe Rogan got the Rona! There is a Jesus!
He'll be fine, learn nothing, and publicize bad information further contribute to morons doing the wrong thing. Just like all the others...
I look forward to the day I no longer have to hear about Joe Rogan.
https://youtu.be/PloZ-GB9tzA
Dumb fuck sez he's not anti-facctser, sez young people shouldn't need to get it, doesn't get it himself. He's a fuckwit.
Ivermectin is a medicine though...it even featured in a Dr. House episode(!) and has been used over 4 billion times or so by humans..., the people that developed it’s predecessor even won a Noble Prize for it. It is quite sad that people that don’t want to or can’t take the vaccine are ridiculed like this and have nowhere and no one to turn to but people like Joe Rogan.
Pointing out that Ivermectin is not exclusively horse paste and is sometimes used to treat illnesses that are not COVID does nothing to change the reality that people are eating horse paste to treat COVID.
What you don't understand is that not taking the vaccine effects everyone. They are endangering everyone's life. They are insane and they are idiots. Nowhere to turn? There are 3 proven vaccines. How simple could this be? Sad? Why does anyone need a sliderule to figure this out.
You know what? On second thought, I might be ok if people want to self-medicate with Ivermectin.
"From the results obtained, it is evident that ivermectin therapy has significant adverse effects on the sperm functions of male onchocerciasis patients so treated. There was a significant reduction or drop in the sperm counts of the patients after their treatment with ivermectin. Furthermore, the study showed a significant and remarkable drop in the sperm motility of the patients after their treatment with ivermectin. As for the morphology of the sperm, there was a rise in the abnormal sperms after treatment compared with the morphology before the commencement of treatment. These changes no doubt are as results of the effects of the drug on the sperm function of the patients." https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/articles/effects-of-ivermectin-therapy-on-the-sperm-functions-of-nigerian-onchocerciasis-patients.pdf
I'm telling you to not take "150µg/kg body wt of ivermectin for eleven months" ... do not do it.
ok this one's good.
hehehehehe, puns for the win!
Ok people, I'm bringing up the TX abortion ban thing because it absolutely enrages me and I have some things that I think need to be said. I'm *not* going to get into it further with anyone, but I want to share some experiences my wife and I have had as they might relate to it. I'm not looking for sympathy or anything (we really don't need it though you're welcome to express it if you want to), I'm just trying to illustrate that this effectively bans a person's right to abortion, by using personal, lived experiences, for those who might not understand why (myself potentially included before any of this happened even though I've always been pro-choice).
A number of years ago we were trying to conceive. The first time we got a positive at-home pregnancy test result we went to her OB to get it confirmed. When that happened they did an ultrasound and dated the pregnancy at 6 weeks, 2 days based on the size of the gestational sack. Now in our case, I don't think the TX law would have affected us because I believe it bans abortion as soon as there is cardiac activity, which this ultrasound didn't show for us. However, that doesn't really matter to my point which is that the soonest we were able to know and determine that we were successful in getting pregnant and then see a doctor about it, it was already at the point that a heartbeat *should have* been present. There would have been no option of a legal abortion (per this law) if we found ourselves in a situation where would have wanted one. And this is as we were trying to get pregnant and keeping a close watch on things (ovulation test strips, pregnancy tests, apps to track cycles, etc.). You can imagine it would be longer for anyone who wasn't actively trying to get pregnant.
For us the doctor noted that there could still be a viable pregnancy if things continued to develop, but it was too early to tell. So we went back for a second ultrasound a week later. Still no heartbeat, but hormone levels continued to rise indicating that my wife's body did think it was pregnant. Pregnancy was 7 weeks along at this point. Even with all of this, the medical standard of care was to continue to wait and see if it continues to develop. There was still research that showed that viable pregnancies can develop at this point, but it was unlikely.
The next week we had a third ultrasound where they confirmed that the pregnancy was not viable. This was now at 8 weeks and fully following the medical standard of care for our situation (I know because I looked it up after the second ultrasound). This happens from time to time where a pregnancy simply doesn't take (for lack of a better phrase ... there is probably some medical term for this I've since forgotten, but this is how I understand it). It wasn't pointing to any ability for her not to get pregnant and carry it to term, it was just that this particular combination of cells wasn't going to develop into a viable pregnancy. Because her body still thought it was pregnant (evidenced by her hormone levels) we needed to terminate the pregnancy or risk other complications. Our options were The Pill, or a D&C. After consulting with her doctor we decided that a D&C would be our best option.
The D&C was performed at an abortion clinic by her OB. For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, this is the way it had to happen in my state at that time. I'm not sure whether this is currently correct. The whole process was traumatizing in a way that it didn't need to be. She had to sign waivers acknowledging that she was terminating the pregnancy that were filled with phrases that made it seem like she was murdering a person even though we knew from medical science that this embryo was not viable and could never be carried to term and be born alive. As I said before, it didn't even have a heartbeat. There was no legitimate reason for these waivers. There was no medical reason this procedure couldn't have been performed at a hospital or other outpatient clinic. The fact that she did have to do it this way was traumatic in itself even though it shouldn't have been.
Anyway, the procedure went fine, she recovered quickly and we got pregnant for the second time a number of months later and now have our beautiful child.
But wait, we're not done yet. Due to other medical issues that have happened since the birth of our child, my wife is on a drug that will likely cause severe birth defects in a child, if we were to get pregnant while she is taking it. We are using birth control to prevent a pregnancy. Birth control is not 100% effective. We've had at least one minor scare where we had to get an in-home test to see if it could explain her cycle being off schedule. Everything was fine, but it made us realize that we'd likely need to abort a pregnancy if it occurred (we'd of course consult with her docs to determine that though). We wouldn't be able to do that if we lived in TX right now. By the time we figured out if she was pregnant, it would be too late, and as I understand it, this would probably not fall into the medical emergencies exception the TX law allows. Even if it did, it wouldn't stop someone from potentially trying sue and get their payout for enforcement.
This is what people mean when they say that access to safe, legal abortion is a healthcare right. So yeah, the TX legislature, Gov. Abbott, 5 out of 9 SCOTUS justices, and anyone else that claims they want to impose their pro-life stance on anyone else with a uterus can kindly go fuck themselves.
I agree 100%. I also find it odd that these same people are are against vaccines are saying 'my body, my choice' and lamenting about 'medical freedom'. Fucking hypocritical wankers.
That's horrible EA. Fuck.
Thanks for sharing EA.
I've already made my position on this issue crystal clear (and it's likely buried in this thread somewhere). The follow-up is that further limitations and hurdles to safe and legal abortions leads to less other essential services. What really grinds my goat (hey, thread crossover!) are the cunts who play with the meaning of words and emotionally vulnerable parents to push their religious garbage and make the poor parents feel guilty.
The medical attention and screening we received likely would not have been available to us if my healthcare was run by clueless bible-clutching wankers and it is certain our son would not have survived either.
Thank you for sharing that, EA. I have heard many stories from people who have had to terminate wanted pregnancies about how invasive and traumatizing the bullshit government anti-abortion procedures were *on top of* what is already an unbearably traumatic loss. I’m so sorry you guys had to go through that.
I am sorry EA. That is sadistic what they put you all through.
I find it weird that the people against aborting before birth are the same people aborting after birth: pro-gun, pro-death penalty, pro-invading other countries. Ones religious beliefs shouldn’t trample on others basic human rights, that’s exactly what groups like ISIS and Taliban are all about...
The hypocrisy is astounding isn't it Rando. :(
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protectes but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." (source)
The hypocrisy is the point. Pointing it out just reinforces that they have the power to do it.
Thank you for sharing that EA, and I'm so so sorry that you & your partner had to go through such a traumatic experience. I think it's important to normalize sharing stories like this. There's such a stigma around talking about difficult pregnancies, genetic disorders, or miscarriages, despite all of them being relatively common, and it has the effect of mis-characterizing the type of person who gets an abortion as an irresponsible libertine caricature who is much easier to dismiss empathy towards. The more people talk about who needs this healthcare and why, the more we can work towards ensuring every person is allowed access to it.
I was raised hardcore anti-abortion. It's still difficult for me to wrap by head around, and stories like yours are important for people like me who have trouble separating the propaganda from the people.
Thank you.
Thank you all for your comments. I wasn't sure how it would go over to be honest. I do think we need to normalize sharing these types of experiences. I've been seeing a lot of them via social media this week and while depressing, also liberating. We've never really been shy about sharing our experiences and I hope they can help others understand these complex issues better.
I want to point out the reality of the Texas abortion ban. Six weeks is counted from the date of the last period. Which means I could have a period, meet a guy, fuck him two weeks later, and only have three more weeks to both realize I’m pregnant *and* procure an abortion.
If I lived in Texas I’d probably schedule an abortion every month, just to be safe.
Donate here to help women get actual healthcare, which may mean getting the fuck out of Texas: https://www.lilithfund.org/
Good idea, Donna. I just heard about another part of the law which bans abortion-inducing medication for any reason after seven weeks. The woman writing said she had a miscarriage at something like 8-9 weeks and by the letter of the law she would have had to carry it until her body decided to birth it, likely resulting in severe infection at best. I have not confirmed this but it seems quite plausible, considering how horrible the rest of the law is.
I recently learned the "date of last period" fact and it floored me. I know six weeks is stupidly early, but six weeks *from your last period* is absurd. Without going into too much detail, my wife & I are currently, ahem, trying*, and we realized that even with counting days and taking ovulation tests and being extremely aware of our timeline it's possible for us to get to six weeks before we know she's pregnant.
The lack of knowledge surrounding pregnancy and women's health by the people advocating for these restrictions is frankly sickening.
(*is there any less-sexy word for sex than "trying"?)
Tduds, my cousin called it "the daily deposit" if that helps. The situation is indeed sickening. A large majority of Texans didn't even want the law, but R's have figured out how to work the system to their advantage.
I just realized that my story above is a lot like EA's, but I read it on Facebook, on a Rebecca Solnit post I believe. My photographer just went through something similar, twice. Ugh. And Fuck Texas Republicans.
Nothing can kill the mood more than trying to get pregnant, keep it up tduds!
I got my wife to say "raw doggin it" among friends exactly one time and it's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Maybe TMI...
Maybe TMI, but you can't necessarily schedule/control when the best time to conceive will be and if that happens to be the same night you are volunteering to chaperone a high school field trip ... well, sometimes you end up renting a hotel room in the city for the night only to use it for a couple hours after work before you end up meeting the kiddos at the event you're chaperoning. Sometimes that's just how it all works.
Narrator: And it did work.
Good luck tduds.
More TMI: In my experience reproductive sex was the sexiest sex ever. It just had this incredible sparkle to it. So I don’t think “trying” is unsexy *at all*.
Donna: I agree! It's the word that I object to, not the act.
We have photos of the kiddo the day of conception. Kiddo is not visible, but we have the photos. It's awesome.
Wonder what all the hipsters/non-hipsters that moved from states like California to Texas think about all of this. Is low(ish) rent, zero state tax and a few more opportunities good enough reason to move to that hellhole?
This is just a preview. Over turning RvW is next.
It is perhaps only a hellhole if it affects you, if you’re young, educated and mobile you will be able to survive and reaping the benefits will outweigh the negatives, no?
Yes, being a self-centered, selfish, navel-gazing asshole means you'll go where it benefits you at any given time in your life without consideration to anyone else or, indeed, yourself in the future. Ayn Rand would be so proud.
Came back to this thread late, but randomized - if you are young, educated, reaping the benefits of Texas and get pregnant without wanting to, they will make you keep the baby even if you do not want to. No thanks.
TikTokers Are Trading Stocks By Copying What Members Of Congress
I predict prosecution of the amatuers for insider trading and modification or outright elimination of the disclosure laws.
I am making a bet to myself for beer and pizza.
I woke up this morning feeling distraught yet confident that a US civil war is coming.
Listening to NPR on the way to work, I felt a little less nervous. So I deleted Twitter from my phone. We’ll see if a week from now I still feel this bad.
Turn off the rest of the 'news' media and see how you feel.
While some are more red or blue than others, we can't be as easily divided geographically as we were in 1861.
On the other hand, with guerilla-style warfare, such as the attack on the Capitol, maybe geographical divisions aren't as important as they used to be. We move to the right with every election; Heather Cox Richardson had a good post about it this morning. So the civil war may just be that the right keeps taking power and the left allows it because we can't agree on much of anything.
What did NPR say about it?
NPR had a much more considered assessment of the current budget fight in Congress then Twitter presents LOL
I spent the weekend away from news only to return to another ecological disaster. Think the fact that it's affecting the rich this time might matter more? Nah...
Some of my trees are already loosing their leaves! Winter is comnig!....
I wish I had more faith that there will be major political fallout from this, but after the past decade of massive smoking guns dropping and quickly fizzling, I'm cautiously pessimistic:
https://www.washingtonpost.com...
BUT BUT BUT THEY EARNED IT!
GOP abdicates its own duty & authority - maybe they should resign too
https://thehill.com/homenews/s...
Practically begging them to end the filibuster.
Brainwashed / Tom MacDonald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCBNwGHPZ2M
Big Bird for Leader
Shivers down my spine when seeing that image, almost puked my guts out when watching that scene in American History X.
I remember exactly where I was, and how I felt, when I heard that the murderer of Trayvon Martin was acquitted. I feel the same now but times 200. This country is only getting worse. ONLY getting worse. There’s not a single systemic thing in the United States that is getting better.
And I’m getting too tired to keep trying to make it better. I’m exhausted.
I'm sorry you're feeling that way, Donna. But you're right - your country is toast, and mine is following closely behind. There are good people doing good work, but that's in spite of a system that's morally bankrupt. On a personal level, the last decade (and especially the last 5 years) have shown me just how willfully selfish and ignorant people actually are, when they're allowed the space to do so. It sickens me every single day.
For the first time, I got put in "Facebook Jail" for commenting on someone's post and asking how the whole country isnt erupting right now. Probably also had to do with the fact that I mentioned only ONE colored person being in the Jury. Goddamnit America!
The thing that I don't get is if you brandish a weapon you're considered the instigator. In such a situation you cannot claim self defense. I really don't understand this.
When you glorify murder-toy ownership, you get what you deserve, M'erica. enjoy. Now start digging-up instead of down.
As someone who owns firearms and has a concealed carry permit - I agree. I don't get the glorification of firearms or the ability to carry one. The vast majority of people in America doesn't have the ability or intelligence to use a firearm in ANY type of self defense situation. Shooting for hunting and target does NOT translate to using a firearm in a self defense or combat situation.
If this is about that dipshit in WI let it suffice to say that he went looking for trouble with a weapon.
Yup. He went looking for trouble. He brandished a weapon at people. Even in a state with open carry and stand your ground laws you can't claim self defense in such a situation. He's a murder that was found innocent because of the judge.
It's a metaphor for US foreign policy.
And a Black Lives Matter enthusiast has plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market...wtf is going on?
Even Fox News is not saying it's a "BLM enthusiast" so GTFO with your attempt at division.
random doing what random does. Being a djick.
You mean these?
I'm an extremist BLT enthusiast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ORCkrmn0TU
Highest quality media outlet
Yeah yeah...shoot the messenger and bury your heads in the sand, whatever...
“The man in custody over the mass casualty incident at the #Waukesha, Wis. Christmas parade has posts on his social media in support of BLM causes, George Floyd & black nationalism. He also has a post about how to get away with running people over on the street.”
I wish you all strength and wisdom handling the collective cognitive dissonance(!)
Of course. Now it all makes sense.
How about a source for your comment? The six articles I read including one on Fox News did not mention it.
Holy cow random, what the hell is going on in Poland, what are doing about that?
Nice diversion tactic beta...the cognitive dissonance is hitting you hard! Too much going on in Poland, could you be more specific?
O wow, it’s not on Fox News yet so it must not be true, at least you haven’t lost your sense of humour WG!
I searched google for your phrase and the first hit is from "bad kitty" on twitter--is that your source? Sounds reliable.
First I checked legitimate news sources, then Fox because they obviously lean heavily right. I did not go so far as to check the extreme right "news" sources because doing so makes me want to drive my car into a conservative crowd.
What is going on in the Netherlands?
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-dark-dangerous-side-of-dutch-tolerance/amp/
randomised, you're once again full of it. Cite your sources (I'll save you the hassle, it's Andy Ngo on Twitter, who doesn't cite or link to a single source either). Fuck your thinly veiled racism.
If you cite Andy Ngo, you're a racist piece of shit, and the veil is so paper thin, as to be nonexistent.
It's Wisconsin. If the guy was white and claimed self-defense he'd get off scot-free. "Look, they were throwing themselves at my car!"
Waukesha Police Chief with an update this afternoon. 5 people killed, 48 injured. Lone suspect had just fled a domestic incident in his vehicle minutes before police arrived. When he encountered the parade, he continued to flee by intentionally driving through the parade.
NOT politically motivated. NOT retaliation for Rittenhouse. NOT part of a War On Christmas. NOT multiple people. NOT shots fired by suspect. NOT sent by BLM. NOT because they voted for Trump. Basically every narrative pushed by the right wing disinformation pimps dead wrong.
Beta, again, why the transparent diversion tactics? Can’t handle the inconvenient truth bomb (knock on wood) that a Black man killed a bunch of White people including children? What would your response be if I were a Black middle aged woman posting the same facts? Also useless name calling? Nowhere the post of Ngo has been proven false, afaik. I’m sure one of the people here would post that fact check that would prove Ngo wrong in a heartbeat as it would be plastered all over the internet. Instead it is easier going after the messenger and ignore the inconvenient truth (again afaik)...what a way to live your life(!)
Bball, why quoting a post saying the killer is a BLM supporter and Black nationalist makes me a racist? People not willing to admit (at all cost apparently) something could be racially motivated are apparently racially motivated(!)
If you had legitimate sources for your statements, that would be one thing. You're repeating extremely dangerous, unsubstantiated rumors.
So? What’s wrong with trying to discuss extremely dangerous rumours? I thought this was a discussion forum, but apparently it is supposed to be an echo chamber...
Thanks JLC-1, all I wanted to know was wtf is going on...
I have posts sympathizing with blm and george floyd, but if I decided to kick your ass it wouldn't be related.
That's all you wanted to know? Then why lead with "BLM enthusiast" when that is not relevant? If you think it's important, why not share your source? Or admit that you enjoy blaming the black movement for the crime of an individual?
Plus he said he was the messenger, that's like confusing a parrot for the archangel Gabriel.
JLC-1 c.s., never said it was related...if a BLM-supporting pro-vaccination gun enthusiast BIden-supporter decided to kill a coyote, that might also not be related...but it might as well be
Kyle Rittenhouse also supports BLM, just as the suspect in Waukesha. It was never said the ploughing happened because of being a BLM supporter...but if the guy would have a Trump bumper sticker on his SUV we all know how the narrative would have been played out here and elsewhere, don't kid yourselves.
I find it very suspect that a suspect's past is intentionally ignored, just because it fits the political narrative. Just put it all out there...why people are so afraid of the truth?
Rando- are you OK? I ask because your post lately have been confrontational, petty, and devoid of nuanced, rational thought. It's like you're angry and just looking for a fight. I worry about your mental state.
rando- your thoughts are truly random, disjointed, and borderline unhinged. you're not saying anything smart or interesting, it's all noise and a sad attempt at trolling. just look at how many people agree with you on this thread (hint: 0).
The dude probably wore socks and listened to rap music at least once. Don't see those being used against him.
I'm okay Chad, just find it odd that one gets dunked on when bringing up an incident that left at least 5 people dead by a sex offender that supports BLM...but let's go back to "normal" and pretend it never happened. Don't know what the fierce responses are about that I'm receiving other than some sort of cognitive dissonant reactions because some people's bubbles are being popped by what's going on out there.
And for square, the amount of people agreeing or disagreeing in this curated echo chamber is obviously irrelevant (I've seen at least one thumbs up though :-P )
You got a thumbs up from X-jla, enough said.
I'm glad I'm out of touch with what the incrowd here seems to consider their version of reality...Copernicus and Galileo also didn't have it easy, but for all the people living in their comfy bubble, here some social media evidence that the suspect was supporting BLM and was in fact a Black nationalist or suprematist, and an antisemite too apparently...but I'm the one here out of line, for posting about this guy and his support for Black Lives Matter, what a dogmas you all must have:
-
-
Here the antisemitic post (I won't post the image directly):
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2...
here come the delusions of grandeur with the comparison to historically significant figures.
rando, i can assure you that one of them, you are not.
don't be such a square, comparing a little tongue in cheek with delusions of grandeur...you're grasping at straws here...now back to the facts I just posted, or is this another attempt at diversion away from admitting I was right all along?
Still waiting on those sources Rando . . . .
Also, I don't think things have gone 'back to normal'. I'm still seeing a lot of reporting being done about the incident and the person charged with the crime.
Still haven't seen anything about the suspect being a child molester or a BLM supporter or that either of those things were related to the incident.
what are the facts? what are you actually trying to say here? we're all waiting.
Um.
I think what we're arriving at is the fact that random is a precog, and wants to police free speech.
Chad, look at the screenshots from the suspect's social media...can't make it any easier than that. If you still want to bury your head in the sand, that's on you...Now if in the meantime those accounts have been scrubbed or taken down or whatever, would be difficult to link directly to them, now wouldn't it. I never said the guy's support for BLM, his antisemitism or his sex offending was related to the carnage, but I find it typical that people put all this energy in arguing here with me about this guy, trying at all cost to keep his public support of Black Lives Matter out of it all, ignorance is bliss apparently.
And poor square, all I was trying to say is, that a BLM enthusiast ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market and I was wondering wtf was going on. If that's not allowed to be wondering in times like these, well sorry, not sorry...this isn't Orwell's 1984,
Hey Mary-Lou Retton, quick question for you, because you brought this up, what is the relevancy of his support for Black Lives to his killing of people in a car?
great, you're wondering what's going on.... but asking on an architecture forum probably isn't the best place if you are really interested in doing so- but we can see through the bullshit and bad trolling. move on.
Rando - There is no evidence that the suspects support of BLM has anything to do with the incident. As such it's not relevant. Now IF the suspect had said that he did this because of BLM or if the suspect did this during a parade that supported the alt right, or the police then it would be relevant.
Again, you REALLY suck at trolling. If you keep this up then I'm going to assume that you believe what you're typing and have to be done with you as I don't converse with fools.
Good day.
Jeez square, the thread is called politics central, you're not really the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you? If not here, where else should I ask, a forum run by politicians, a forum run by BLM enthusiast antisemite sex offending mass killers?You're clearly grasping at straws if all you can resort to is silly accusations of trolling just because you can't counter in any other way, poor you...
Chad, I personally think it could be relevant ( I for sure wouldn't dismiss it so aggressively as some ) that an antisemite sex offending career criminal who supports Black Lives Matter drives his SUV into a crowd full of minors at a Christmas Market, but I think it is even more relevant that so many people try to make it seem not relevant at all...at all costs trying to keep their bubble intact and their blinders firmly attached, when all I asked was wtf is going on. Good luck with the collective cognitive dissonance in trying to deal with reality.
It's rather fascinating that you don't know how the presumption of innocence works, or what is relevant to the future case. Two minors were killed, six adults above 50, but maybe you don't think boomers matter? It was a parade not a market. He didn't rape anyone on his way to kill people, or yell hey I'm going to kill jews at a Christian parade. You're a cluster fuck off dumb.
you're full of dumb cliches but no substance; after 10+ posts, you still haven't gone beyond "the guy supported blm." ok- so what? the burden of proof is on you to make any legitimate claim as to why it's relevant, since you made the original statement. only saying "i think it's relevant" is nothing but vapid noise, which is typical of you.
b3ta, I don't want to police free speech at all, that's more your cup of tea, although you probably newspeak it into moderating...
And you really ask what the relevancy is of supporting BLM and killing white people with your car? Really? Well, it is relevant until it isn't relevant, you know, context, character, etc. all that stuff that got Kyle Rittenhouse acquitted on all charges, who by the way also supports Black Lives Matter.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it, b3ta...?(full disclosure, I also support BLM)
Well, it is relevant until it isn't relevant, you know, context, character, etc.
profound, as always.
square, if it is such vapid noise why do you try so hard, too hard? don't you have better things to do in your echo chamber?
it's a slow day before a holiday- i have plenty of time to call out your bullshit.
Oh I missed all this drama. But then realized its just Rando sitting in his utopian European life, playing the contrarian and slinging shit at minorities, mostly cuz none of this stuff will ever affect him in real life anyways....
If this is what you call drama someold...the killing of 6 people is what I would consider drama. I'm not slinging shit at minorities at all, I seem to be the only one here that considers minorities fully capable of being treated equally, I even quote a gay Asian American in the process(!)
A Gay Asian American Alt-Right Fetishist.
Ok rando, got it - minorities are capable of being shitty people too (like yours truly). That said, there is no need to equate one crime with another and say "tit for tat". Rest assured, the (colored) person who plowed into the crowd will no doubt face manslaughter and live in prison for the rest of his life.
Kyle SHITTENhouse, however, had a bunch of donations from conservative parties after he committed the murders. I do not see BLM folks lining up to save Darrell Brooks or making GoFundMe accounts for him. And THAT is the difference between white supremacy and minorities.
All Im saying regarding your utopia is that you do not understand these dynamics that happen in a multi cultural nation.
Sameold, I'm glad you finally got it and caught on, you got me worried there for a minute :)
b3ta, I don't care that Ngo is considered an alt-right fetishist, he was the one that made public what others were trying to keep out of the public's eye...he was the one being the proper journalist here and did the job others refused to do.
Rando, I'll write it slowly: by leading with the comment that the killer was a BLM enthusiast, you blame BLM for something they were not involved with. Why not lead with some other identifying fact about the guy?
WG, I don't blame BLM for this...but why can't I name BLM as an identifying fact, why that fact, of all facts has to remain hidden?
RELEVANCY. Look it up.
I have it on good authority that a few of those grandmothers were racists, All Lives Matter, and Blue Lives Matter activists. Plus, they put raisins in the potato salad.
Raisins! I was not going to bring hitler into this discussion... but now you leave me no choice.
Non, are you going to talk about how he loved dogs, and was a vegan?
Video game enthusiast drives into crowd. Celtics enthusiast drives into crowd. Foot fetish enthusiast drives into crowd. "Whut's wrong with stating a fact?" GTFOH
"he once walked near the metal/alternative section in a record shop... he must have been influenced by M.Manson music"
Whatever you all need to tell yourselves to make it through the day...Godspeed!
Wait, wait a second. Targeted attempt to injure, or kill peaceful protesters, and no comment? https://fb.watch/9Hak3SYZDJ/
Sorry, I’m not plugged into the metaverse, but with no fatalities and no BLM connection it is not in the news...
No. BLM. Connection. Literally a protest about white cop, murdering black man, and no BLM connection.
To quote;
"Whatever you all need to tell yourselves to make it through the day...Godspeed!"
It's okay ffolks, no one died, though they drove into protesters on purpose.
*Yawn* no BLM connection of the assailant, as with the BLM supporters Rittenhouse and Brooks. As I said, not plugged into the meta verse and it wasn’t in the news here, so what do you want from me? Go bother someone else after you down one too many Guinness ...doei doei!
Oh, I get it now, you only care when you're narrative is playing to form, and not when white terrorists try to take out BLM supporters. So you are in support of the alt-right. Typical. And Guinness, that's for troglodytes from Heineken country.
Trump Supporters
When are we going to do something?
“ Oh, I get it now”
You clearly don’t get it, but that’s okay, you hardly ever get it. Guess you’re too blinded by your one-directional rage. I’m not in support of the so-called alt-right, I’m simply in favour of common sense :-P
"And I’m getting too tired to keep trying to make it better. I’m exhausted."
Donna,
We all know this is the plan. People can't fight and struggle for change if the people are struggling to exist.
It may have taken the corporate shadow goverment 110 years to implement but it is all coming together.
https://theintercept.com/2015/...
https://www.kennedysandking.co...
Smedley Butler War Is a Racket
Divide and conquer is the basis of domestic policy.
.
JLC-1, my quiet inhibitions about a long sentence for the Kenosha shooter are that he's a teenager. He's a *kid*. He truly didn't know the magnitude of what he was doing. But: that's because but his mind is poisoned by thousands of adults making bank sowing hatred. That's fucking bad for all of us.
Influences aside, 17 is old enough to know not to go looking for trouble with a weapon. White nationalist militias are empowered and celebrating. This is only going to get worse. Anarchy follows when the rule of law is broken or ignored. This is the real trickle-down: when laws don't apply at the top why should they apply anywhere else?
Coming to Archinect is a reminder of America centric stuff, I thought this thread would be all about Covid and us more wealthy vaccinated nations arguing the boosters should go to the vulnerable in the developing world.
No you didn't.
Donna, of course is right in a way. But by this token, his parents are the ones that should be thrown into prison, if the kids walks free. Racism is taught at home, like most things.
“Democracy … was an impediment to the smooth functioning of the corporate state.” C. Wright Mills
Lawrence W. Britt: 14 Characteristics of Fascism
What is going on in Europe?
Sales push by Pfizer. "Estimated numbers hospitalized IF everyone exposed right now". OMG run as fast as you can!!!
What's going on (at least in the Netherlands) is that there is still around 15% of unvaccinated adults, often not the brightest bunch , definitely the more selfish kind that also don't follow mask mandates or social distancing and often not the ones leading a healthy lifestyle (very high BMI). They're the ones primarily ending up in the hospitals now (apart from some vaccinated people with preexisting conditions)...Also kids are unvaccinated here while schools and daycares are open (with some teachers in schools and daycares intentionally unvaccinated, is asking for trouble). We are also not yet giving boosters over here in NL unfortunately.
In Eastern-Europe the % of vaccinated people is simply lagging behind I suppose (for various reasons) and with the colder weather over there they are already forced to spend more time indoors I guess, which obviously increases the spread of the virus. The German government actually said that the way it is going now that after this winter all their people either will be vaccinated, will have gone through COVID or simply died from it, let's see...
Reminded me of this thread: https://inthesetimes.com/artic...
"We can’t expect politicians to stop creating these sorts of terms. After all, undefined words that serve to make the other side look bad and can never be pinned down enough to make your side look like hypocrites are the pinnacle of real world political speech. What we can expect, though, is for the media not to get sucked into this stupid and meaningless game, to serve as a mechanism that reinforces the idea that unreal things are real. None of these pseudo-issues should be written about in respectable publications or spoken about on the airwaves until they have been subjected to a relentless and scrupulous defining of what they do and do not mean. I don’t care if the attempt to define “woke” in a meaningful way takes the entire length of a cable news segment, leaving no time for the ensuing talking points. The fact that coming to a realistic, mutually agreed upon definition sounds so daunting and time consuming is a sign that the underlying “issue” does not, necessarily, exist. "
wow, this is brilliant. i wasn't familiar with this mag but will definitely be returning.
Hamilton Nolan was one of the best writers at Splinter before private equity ruined the Gawker-verse. I'm glad he's found other good outlets for his ideas.
I'm going to post this article everytime someone uses one of the words in it, in any thread. Consider yourselves on notice.
I disagree. The other "party" has turned into a group of demagogues who have no interest in gouverning. They are only care about having power. Cruelty is the method and point of any policy they have or will have. They troll by conceptually reframing language. The term "w***" used to be used to describe an honest and legitimate realization. The definition was weaponized into a pejorative. The solution is to not play into their hands by playing their game of arguing about it. Don't use the term *w***" anymore. Make no mistake their goal is authoritarian control of this country.
Please forgive the syntax errors in the above comment. It is 2am and I can't sleep.
yeah? well, that's just like your opinion man ;)
Big shout out to Canada for leaving the stupid Joe Rogan out!
Wow just read about this. Thats been the rule for the better part of a year, and likely for the foreseeable future, not sure why this is suddenly a surprise to him. Snowflake much?
Hot damn this take is good: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/12...
(h/t tduds twitter account)
1. American rescue plan
2. Infrastructure plan
3. 75 executive orders
4. 40 judges on federal bench
Still working on BBB and voting rights.
Done under the thinnest of majorities against a facist oppositional cult. How is this ineptitude?
Yep, I wouldn't say ineptitude. Really makes me want to work for campaign finance reform and all that though. Things I've probably said before a few pages ago in this thread if they haven't fallen victim to people getting nuked.
Another shout to Australia for kicking out that arrogant Serbian.
Being a racist xenophobic nation can have its advantages during a pandemic…
Yes, the Aussies fucked up. They should have locked up that fuck in prison for 3 years.
Apparently I missed this when it was published at the end of 2018 (no surprise). Still thought it was worth a share here.
Millennials Didn’t Kill the Economy. The Economy Killed Millennials (The Atlantic)
"Young people are not only to the left of the country, but also to the left of previous generations of young people. In national elections, Millennials have voted for Democrats over Republicans by unprecedented margins. They are far more open to various strands of socialism—including social democracy and democratic socialism.
[...]
"Why would young people feel such revolutionary fervor? Maybe it’s not because Millennials have rejected the American dream, but rather because the economy has not only blocked their path to attaining it but punished them for trying to.
"Millennials are the most educated generation in U.S. history to date. They bought into a social contract that said: Everything will work out, if first you go to college. But as the cost of college increased, millions of young people took on student loans to complete their degree. Graduates under 35 are almost 50 percent more likely than members of Gen X to have student loans, and their median balance is about 40 percent higher than that of the previous generation.
"And what has all that debt gotten them? 'Lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth,' according to the Federal Reserve paper’s conclusion. Student debt has made it harder for millions of young people to buy a home, since 'holding debt is associated with a lower rate of homeownership, irrespective of degree type,' as Fed economists wrote in a previous study. In other words, young people took on debt to pursue a college degree, only to discover that the cost of college would push the American dream further from their grasp."
Devastating.
This has been the program for decades - NAFTA, "modernization of financial services", gutting bankruptcy protection, etc., while giving tax breaks to the rich and direct subsidies (social welfare!) to banks and corporations. The only comment I wish to make is that Democrats are as complicit in creating these conditions as the GOP, and that voting Democrat has resulted in absolutely nothing to change this. I doubt this country will survive the 2024 election, and current military domestic warfare drills are preparing for this future. Posse Commitas will be ignored.
That was kind of the point of the Jacobin article I posted a few comments further above.
"Biden ran the standard modern Democratic campaign, making a laundry list of ambitious promises, while taking record-high truckloads of cash from the corporate interests whose profits relied on them never being enacted. He promised a public health insurance option while taking money from the for-profit health sector. He pledged to tax the rich while going hat in hand to billionaires. He threatened to break up big tech while using Silicon Valley for both funding and staffing.
[...]
"What did we just witness over the course of this year? The parts of Biden’s agenda that were backed by corporate America — namely, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package and the half-a-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill — sailed to his desk with relative ease. The parts they opposed, namely the now-shelved Build Back Better bill, with its modest tax hikes and new government powers that would cut into corporate profits, failed. Meanwhile, at the same time as Biden’s social spending was slashed over inflation concerns, the military-industrial complex just got a gargantuan new spending bill care of huge congressional majorities."
"...voting Democrat has resulted in absolutely nothing to change this."
Voting is the last and least important step in the democratic (small d) process. What are you doing before you vote to help get better options on the ballot?
Until we legislatively change the process, it rewards the candidates who raise money.
To be more baldly frank, until we as a society stop valuing everything by dollars, we will never move beyond those with more dollars controlling everything.
Blaming democrats who are putting good faith proposals forward for not succeeding at those proposals is willfully obtuse in ignoring the wildly active counter-effort that tries to suppress policy that benefits middle & lower income Americans.
I'm convinced that if you created a left party, a right party, and a center party and did basically nothing else (save for changing elections to allow for a third party), the left party would hold a minority, as would the right party. The center party would be the majority, perhaps even a super majority at times, and everything would stay the same. Lot's of fighting and posturing and getting nothing done on the left or right for "the base," and sufficient legislation that barely gets press coverage to keep the "donor base" happy.
“donor base” is where the real problem is…creating legislation with the sole purpose of keeping the donors happy instead of doing what needs to/should be done. That’s why Bernie is/was such a threat, not having any of those big donors with big donor demands and interests to please.
This wasn't as much of a problem until the supreme court uncorked the firehose of money in 2010. Things weren't perfect before, but in retrospect it really tilted the scales as much as everyone predicted it would.
voting democratic (all stripes, including socialist) in nyc (and in the state at large, securing the dem majority) has made a huge difference: marijuana legalization, universal pre-k, paid-family leave, bail reforms, increased voting access for non-citizens, new tenants protections, with the potential for things like good cause eviction legislation, among many other things. non of these were possible while the republicans (+pseudo "indie" dems, a nuance you're unable to get at) had control.
saying the two sides is lazy false equivalency; if you want to get at the heart of the matter, you have to be able to distinguish what dems have failed on, and what successes they have had.
State governments by virtue of their size must be more accountable and are a poor example when compared to the behavior of federal officials.
There are differences between the parties, in particular on social issues. But on larger issues (military spending, unending wars, money in politics, corporate welfare, etc., they march in lock step). Look at the voting on military budgets for example.
A lot of politics is posturing, acting as if you support something that has nomchance of ever happening (tax increases on the rich). Failing to recognize the abject failure of government (both parties) and imagining that one side or the other will fix things if they are in power perpetuates the divide that will blow this country apart shortly.
A Gallup poll on professional honesty and integrity ranked congress dead last behind used car salesmen.
There are differences between the parties, in particular on social issues. But on larger issues (military spending, unending wars, money in politics, corporate welfare, etc., they march in lock step). State governments by virtue of their size must be more accountable and are a poor example when compared to the behavior of federal officials. Look at the voting on military budgets for example. A lot of politics is posturing, acting as if you support something that has nomchance of ever happening (tax increases on the rich). Failing to recognize the abject failure of government (both parties) and imagining that one side or the other will fix things if they are in power perpetuates the divide that will blow this country apart shortly. A Gallup poll on professional honesty and integrity rank congress dead last behind used car salesmen. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1654/Honesty-Ethics-Professions.aspx
So one side that believes in authoritarian rule and one side that believes in democratic rule is not a large issue? Imo you are making an untrue argument that the government can't and has not improved the lives of individuals in this country. There are dedicated public servants who work diligently toward this end. Of course there are major problems that need to be fixed. Please don't tell me you voted for a 3rd party candidate.
saying that military spending and economics are "larger" issues than social issues shows your bias, and why you think there is an equivalency. someone who prioritizes social issues would most likely feel differently than you. i'd say same for climate issues; the two sides aren't comparable at all.
to speak to one of your particular interests though, a clear demonstration of how a democratic administration differs in terms of economic/labor issues:
The National Labor Relations Board Is Finally Doing Its Job
https://newrepublic.com/articl...
The NLRB’s general counsel is effectively the agency’s prosecutor. The general counsel also supervises the agency’s 26 regional offices, where claims of unfair labor practices are investigated and, in most instances, resolved. That gives Abruzzo enormous influence over what the federal government’s rules will be about how managers in the private sector may or may not treat their workers.*
this isn't a "sexy" issue that will be on the front page like war or money in politics, but rather a place where nuts and bolts stuff happens behind the scenes, things that affect real people's lives.
As if the trillion dollars spent on the military year in and year out does not affect people's lives ....
I'm not going to dare resurrect the SHoP unionization news article by posting this there, but I can't resist:
"People have been making coffee for years and have never unionized. You think if baristas wanted a union they would have formed one back in the 1900's."
--Your Employer (probably)
Cleveland Starbucks workers file for unionization, aiming to be first Starbucks union in Ohio (News 5 Cleveland)
i’ve really been pondering lately the idea that “crime is out of control so we need to give the police more money”. Because it seems logical to me that if crime is out of control that means the police aren’t actually doing anything to stop crime, so why would we give them more funding to keep doing what they can’t do right already?
I think the phrase “defund the police” can too easily be ridiculed as unrealistic. It’s really about reallocation of those funds. And I do have a deep faith in the idea that thousands of highly funded social workers could solve a whole hell of a lot of the crime that people are so concerned about.
It is a terrible slogan for a necessary change.
As I understand it, the problem is that the police are being asked to do things that they are not trained to do. A better slogan might be: fund the social workers
I completely agree, and have been critical of the phrase since it joined the lexicon.
The bumper sticker got out front of the message, and CRT should be taught in schools..
“As I understand it, the problem is that the police are being asked to do things that they are not trained to do.“
Yes, and they are overtraining “risk management” at the cost of militarizing societal crime…too much shoot first/neutralize threat/aggressive authority, in lieu of thoughtful intervention or even just plain old patience.
It doesn’t have to be a political divide to improve policing, it affects everyone
I've literally been dealing with four different unhoused people personally this year and what I - what THEY - need is social workers to help them with housing and medical care and getting their IDs so they can get SSI and Medicare but the *only* way I was able to get fast attention to any of them was calling 911. And then begging the dispatcher to *please* consider it a wellness check, not a crime in progress, so no one would show up with guns blazing. I'm so dispirited.
Why isn't that considered a crime?
So my city currently has a public survey asking for feedback on The upcoming police budget (since it comes out of city coffers, right about 26% IIRC). In any case they proposed five different scenarios - NONE of which was an option to reduce or reallocate funding. The media has caught on to this and while people are generally upset, it's not going to matter. The city councilor in charge is also the former chief of police and still sits on the police advisory board. How this isn't a conflict of interest tells me everything I need to know about how sincere they are any the feedback.
I've talked to cops in my jiu-jitsu class. One of the crazy things that I learned was that the police chief, they're the ones that set the criteria for hiring, for mental health testing, all of it. There is zero standard, and only the whim of what the police chief wants in an officer.
We could largely dispense with both police and social workers if we had an egalitarian society.
Also, crime - while ticking up in several areas - is not "out of control."
Wag the dog
Unfortunately I live in one of those areas. Dunno how to think about it, really, but the feelings are lousy.
Sorry all. I don't normally like to post this kind of stuff but I can't stop laughing about it. Fox News anchors were building up to the release of the January Jobs Report saying it was likely to be one of the worst, showing massive losses of jobs. Turns out they were very wrong. https://twitter.com/Craigipedi...
What’s no laughing matter is that President Biden and Lockheed Martin are pushing for a military conflict with Russia, safely far away in Europe…Biden & Co are using a false flag unsupported accusation (fake news) that Russia is planning a false flag operation in Ukraine… https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/2/3/ukraine-crisis-us-accuses-russia-planning-false-flag-attack
.
That’s murder!
Actually, this is murder.
So tired of all the war mongering by Biden, let him start conflicts in his own backyard…the axis of evil runs straight through Washington :-(
First president in my lifetime who (so far) has ended a war and not started another one. Only time will tell where we go but, you know, we're not currently at war so...
Yes, and the military industrial complex doesn’t like it, they’ll make sure there will be blood…
Why do people insist on projecting fantasies? [personification of the "MIC" as a living & willful monster; impending us civil war; inciting war w/ russia; insisting that peace w/ north korea is imminent; draining the swamp; stopping the cabal of child trafficing dems, etc]. is it an online thing? It is speculative fantasy from what i can tell...am I wrong on that?
What’s fantasy? That the US/ Biden are doing everything to ignite a conflict that will most likely weaken both Europe and Russia, and will cost many innocent lives?
The Military Industrial complex is very real and the existence of people who lobby for perpetual war - for reasons of ideology or profit (or sometimes both) - is also very real. But that's *very* different from saying "war mongering by Biden"
I really wish our government would simply call Russia's bluff, but our systems are not designed to do that.
@rando, yes, fantasy. Biden, the president that had the intestinal fortitude to drag us out of Afghanistan (ie knowing he'd get raked over the coals no matter how he did it, but did it anyway), is not trying to put us back into war with Russia.
@tduds, how does that happen?
???Biden pulled out of Afghanistan because Trump made a deal to do just that…Biden only respected the agreement that was already made.
Instead of calling Russia’s bluff Biden is putting Putin in a position of no return, pushing for escalation rather than de-escalation…
Rando, what would you do, since you're so fucking smart?
I wouldn’t meddle in other countries’ affairs and provoke armed conflicts all over the globe…for starters.
I’m confused…please define “provoke” for me. How is the US provoking Russia into war? AFAICT, Russia initiated military exercises. They have a recent history of military annexation. The US & Europe should just sit back and watch? How does one call the “bluff” exactly? Further 100k+ deployed troops isn’t a bluff; that’s an investment of infrastructure. Rus has to move & provision them; that isn’t an empty investment. They are stationed in Belarus too. And naval capability is hovering in the Black Sea…
Confused? Here: https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/9/10/infographic-us-military-presence-around-the-world-interactive
Yes, you are going to have to connect the dots; it’s not up to me to guess what you mean. I will just assume you are just lobbing unsubstantiated bs until you make some sense & explain your perspective.
You said: “the US/ Biden are doing everything to ignite a conflict that will most likely weaken both Europe and Russia, and will cost many innocent lives.”
Then you link a article/map of US bases. Doesn’t add up to a thoughtful perspective yet…I’m not getting how the US is trying to ignite a conflict at all
Check the video here in this Dutch tweets of the false flag the US are trying to pin on Russia: https://twitter.com/erikmouthaanRTL/status/1489588358829338626s=20&t=jBtoLIsOPaM7j_H7RCGaTQ
Also Russia would be preparing a coup d’état in Ukraine to install a pro-Russian puppet Murayev, which is again fake news, the guy has serious issues with major Russian politicians, has no intentions to do this and the Ukrainian government doesn’t even believe it as they haven’t taken any action against the politician…other recent fake news attempts by American have been the made up story of Russia paying taliban for each killed American in Afghanistan…Here another map that might help to understand what’s going on: https://koudeoorlogat3e.weebly.com/uploads/4/7/2/8/47281775/6950327.jpg
I can’t help it if you are not versed in global politics, I’ve been to the Ukraine, have visited their capital and have first hand experience with their corrupt local law enforcement.
Every time Europe and Russia want to have better relations the Americans have to step in and ruin everything(!)
Da, comrade. You are the trustworthy source, no?
The tweet link doesn’t work. You make another unsubstantiated/speculative statement about a puppet. The map doesn’t demonstrate anything about your hypothetical. And you pretend I am not versed in global politics (certainly it’s possible, but you have no idea one way or the other). That’s pretty thin stuff…
The blatant ignorance of those who gulp down US corporate media as if it is God's truth is embarrassing. WMDs in Iraq! Russia rigged the election! Grow a fucking brain, and then put it to use.
Sorry proto, can't spoon feed you. Here's the link that was tweeted: https://twitter.com/erikmouthaanRTL/status/1489588358829338626/video/1 It's hilarious, embarrassing and disgusting to be honest...this fake news and disinformation is simply coming from Washington.
couldn't find an english link that quickly, maybe google translate can help: https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuw...
Re: the tweet vid. It is frustratingly unverifiable, yes. But it doesn’t make it any more true or false. The concluding paragraph of the RTL link says exactly that. And the video questioner doesn’t make the assumption you do (absolute fake news/disinformation) while still hammering the podium about showing a shred of proof.
News did report on the Russian precursor media blitz before the annexation of Crimea, which lends some shred of credibility to the US announcements. One link example: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/17/crimea-crisis-russia-propaganda-media
Totally frustrating, yes. Proof of fake news, not at this point. I’m not going to pretend I know the answer here. But that is exactly why I’m pushing back on your assertion; you can’t either without making assumptions not proven. I hope that at least is understandable to you, even while you clearly feel differently about the situation.
Well done proto the MIC salutes you ;-)
Irony not lost on you, huh? Given the topic of unproven allegations…
The Gulf of Tonkin incident. WMDs in Iraq. Syrian chemical weapon attacks. Russian election hacking. Epstein committed suicide. My current favorite: "declassified evidence" of Russia planning a false flag attack in Ukraine.
Last time, when it was the other way around and Russia tried to help that little neighbour south of Florida it was almost a nuclear war because the US wouldn’t tolerate a non allied military presence so close by…now if we try to put ourselves in Russias shoes today and see how the map has shifted as they are surrounded by hostile alliances, wouldn’t you at some point put your foot down? Also remember that Ukraine is divided in a pro eastern and pro western part, with Russian being the native tongue of half the country, this includes Crimea…why the US is meddling in all this? Maybe first fix your own domestic issues (student debt, crumbling infrastructure, pandemic, endemic racism etc.) before trying to be the world’s occupying police force…
all sides, amirite?
I was vague in my statement above when I said I wished the US would call Russia's bluff. To elaborate: The way I see it, war in Ukraine doesn't serve Russia's interests, but fraying alliances in Europe/US does and saber rattling about Ukraine's borders accomplishes that. It's in Russia's interest to pretend they're going to invade, but not actually to do so. I think they're smart enough to know this and I'd like to see someone in Western leadership just call it what it is.
Economist Michael Hudson has a good read on this.
so, the first sentence describes the Iron Curtain as the way the west keeps communism out of the west...? that's quite the intro
all sides? nope…it’s totally one-sided, no other country than the US has all those occupying forces all over the world…
@proto Nothing is what it seems, or more precisely what you are led to believe. Reference the Stalin Note of 1952 that proposed neutral German reunification on democratic principles with no strings attached, which was rejected by the West. Wikipedia has a fairly decent article on it.
“The US risks embarrassing itself and its intelligence if Russia chooses an option other than invasion”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/14/the-west-invasion-ukraine-putin-russia
the link proposes US military intervention? that's the link you wanted to share after telling me the US military presence is too far spread outside of its own home already? I have to admit: I did not expect that...
"Also remember that Ukraine is divided in a pro eastern and pro western part" It's far from an even split.
Little dutch boy forgetting his dutch history in order to play holier than thou for internet points.
Ouch Petey, what a burn! +1
And the Russians are done with their military exercises…sorry Biden, no war for you. Now the US will need to find another way to weaken both Europe and Russia. Full disclosure: This post was not sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
Amazing how your delusion of the US wanting & provoking war is now safely unproven by the Russians showing some relenting change in their aggressive posturing. It’s almost as if the western positions are causing some reconsideration by Russia…but, more likely you’re probably right, the US is probably fuming at the missed opportunity for foreign carnage and wasteful military spending for no humanistic purpose but to pump up the “MIC”…why didn’t they rush to insert US forces in Ukraine like Mr Keir suggested?
jfc
You’re totally wrong proto, the US was trying to provoke a military response from Russia, even made up a bogus time line and supposedly had gained access to some intelligence info etc. It is just embarrassing how eager the US is pushing for a conflict safely far away on the edge of Europe where they can reap all the benefits, the rethoric coming from Washington has hopefully opened people’s eyes to what the US are actually about…smh
rando, you go from rabid right winger to peacenik at the drop of a hat, and the only consistency seems to be the need to take up a contrary position. You must have been a real treat to raise.
Forget it random, you are never going to convince those ignorant of illegal US invasions and long-term occupations of foreign countries, CIA coups overthrowing foreign governments, the relative size of US and Russian military budgets, the number and location of US foreign military bases, and the long history of blatant and disproven war-promoting lies propagated by the integration of the military complex into government and media.
It was already announced ages ago that Russia would conduct these routine military exercises, and who can blame them…They don’t fight that many illegal wars as the US do, so they obviously need to have these kind of exercises. the aggressive posturing here comes mostly from Biden&co. trying to produce a crisis.
Defending Putin is a bold move.
randomised, in your opinion, was the annexation of Crimea a legitimate land swap from Ukraine to Russia?
Miles, it has nothing to do with ignorance re: the variety of situations you cite. In fact, the current situation also has nothing to do with those situations either.
This insistence that the US is trying to produce a crisis when none existed is a creation of rando's (& others) without any direct knowledge of the actors in play. It is speculation based on innuendo & implication of impropriety at odds with the facts of what is occurring.
Ah, facts! What facts are those? Pray tell.
well, there's this set of facts from Sunday -- take note of the Russian positions inside Ukraine, largest circle and all...lotta "just exercising" going on there
Not facts, just an annotated map that I’m guessing was published in a newspaper that you failed to identify. Not to mention the contradiction of the “imminent Russian invasion” if they are already in country, as the annotated map shows.
Go ahead & click on the pic; it gets bigger & isn't a rickroll. Citation provided as part of the content, you cynic. As for the "contradiction", it's more support for the thesis, actually. It's amazing the tortuous lengths you go to for a story you wish had legs.
but here's the story https://www.nytimes.com/intera... [lemme know if you need it quoted out to avoid paywall; it has naturally been updated since Sun as it's an ongoing story]
"rando, you go from rabid right winger to peacenik at the drop of a hat,"
SneakyPete, my positions are consistent and stable social-liberal democrat (the European kind), I suppose...
There's a fine line between healthy skepticism and reflexive distrust and this discussion is really hopping around on that line.
my positions are consistent and stable.
My opinions are very legal and very cool.
The source of the map is Rochan Consulting, a Polish company. No sources of information used to create this map are identified. I can make maps, too.
The map shows Crimea as part of Ukraine. Propaganda has almost completely subverted the internationally supervised referendum, which was a response to the CIA coup in Ukraine in 2014. As background, the coup happened after the President of Ukraine opted to sign a Regional Trade Agreement with the Russian Federation instead of joining the EU (which had decimated a number of European economies including Greece, Portugal, Italy). Neither Crimea nor the eastern parts of Ukraine recognized the coup-installed government as legitimate. The the 'breakaway republics' and the Crimean referendum.
Funny how Russia "illegally" annexed Crimea (and you don't see any Crimeans - by majority ethnically Russian - crying about it) while the clearly illegal US invasion and occupation of multiple countries for decades where they don't even speak English is irrelevant to the matters at hand (propaganda and militarism).
"Healthy skepticism" would include the NYT, especially with their constant parroting of unnamed intelligence officials, citing secret documents, cheerleading illegal wars, trumpeting the thoroughly debunked Russiagate conspiracy that now has Hillary in the crosshairs, etc. But at this point it doesn't matter what I post. The NYT is your bible and doG forbid I challenge anything they print, or even worse use their prior record as evidence of their unreliability.
Also reference Matt Lee questioning "declassified evidence" at a WH press briefing that was ignored by the NYT.
International Observers Find Crimean Referendum Strongly and Voluntarily Supported by the Crimean People
Which will obviously be dismissed without a second thought because it comes form the other side, and therefore must be propaganda, because our side would never do such a thing.
sources used *not* identified
It's possible for the US and Russia to both be wrong. To both be bad actors.
RE: International observers: "SOURCE Russian Community of Crimea"
RE: Matt Lee, that episode has been discussed above. I have no objection to the line of questioning in that presser. But I also note the SNL skit during the Iraq war: "where are your troops & can I go & count them?" Yes, frustrating, but ultimately not proof of anything one way or the other. Further, the fact that the NYT doesn't consider badgering the speaker during a presser worthy of news isn't that notable. That's what journalists do.
Of course, sources matter. They do put information in perspective.
duds goes for bothsideism, LOL
Real journalists like Matt Lee have ethical standards. They don't just parrot whatever they are told without question. That press conference was embarrassing, as bad as the bullshit about WMDs in Iraq. But hey, the US only lied then, the can't possibly be lying now.
Bothsidesism requires adhering to the fantasy that there are two and only two "sides"
American “intelligence”: the invasion of Ukraine is imminent, it will happen then and then and there and there.
tumbleweeds
American “intelligence”: you see, thanks to our disclosure of supposed declassified information the invasion was avoided. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i'm always amazed at the surety that this skepticism is voiced with, as if we have professional journalists gracing us with REAL fact checking... failing to recognize the absurdity of doing so as an artist, designer, etc on an architecture website. it's one thing to banter about this stuff, but the amount of effort and attention paid to the same topics (it's always war and economics, two quite large topics with their own respective disciplines...) is quite impressive. the lack of humility not to present it as debate, but rather to say "no no, THIS is the truth over here! trust me, i would know.." can we?
sometimes it's good to stay in your lane, folks.
Skepticism is asking questions. Whatever Miles and rando are doing is giving answers. There's a difference.
Just want to make it crystal clear that I have no clue what's happening in Ukraine, and neither do you.
"Skepticism is asking questions. Whatever Miles and rando are doing is giving answers. There's a difference."
I obviously disagree tduds, I just don't buy (into) the US-spun narrative...it is so obviously one-sided...even the Ukrainian allies are aggravated by the American rhetoric, they are tired of the US (and UK) way of spinning things (out of control), e.g. say that you will help and stand by Ukraine and at the same time evacuate all embassy staff and diplomats.
Another thing, headline today in The Guardian: "Russian aircraft flies within several feet of US navy plane over Mediterranean Sea" could've just as easily be written up like "US navy plane flies within several feet of Russian aircraft over Mediterranean Sea"...the framing of it is just so tiresome.
Just because the US fucked up the evacuation in Afghanistan they seem to have a point to prove on the global stage...at the expense of the Ukrainians, Russians, Europeans and yes also Americans. It's exhausting and saddening...
Examples of historical facts (WMDs, Ukraine coup, etc.) are not "answers". Excuses for behavior (such as NYT lack of reporting) or believing something without evidence is not skepticism. That is reflexive distrust of any idea to the contrary to the prevailing dogma.
I suppose my skepticism extends to other skeptics.
My point all along is that while I agree the US narrative through all of this is rather eyebrow raising, I also think the Russian narrative through all this is equally eyebrow raising. Plenty of brinkmanship, misinformation, and ulterior motives to go around. Miles - you lost me when you essentially defended the invasion of Crimea. Like I said above, it's possible to reject American imperialism without embracing Russian imperialism.
Have you read the draft treaties from Russia to the US and NATO? Read them and tell me how this is a threat to the security of Europe and the US.
NATO was formed to contain the Soviet Union. When the Soviet union dissolved so did NATO's reason for existence. The Soviet Union tried to join NATO in 1954, after Stalin proposed neutral German reunification in 1952 - both were rejected by the west. The Bomber Gap and Missile Gap were false intelligence reports that showed the US lagging far behind in weaponry when the exact opposite was true. Both were used to justify massive increases in military spending and the development of the nuclear arsenal.
This is not conjecture or propaganda, it is history and context for analysis of current events.
Our history is filled with similar incidents, a few of which are cited in posts above. When somebody lies to me - repeatedly - I tend to look at what they say with a large measure of skepticism.
Yet your skepticism of the Russian state narrative appears rather lacking, despite as much if not more evidence of consistent lying.
One of my all time favorite burns:
That is superb. I belatedly bestow winner of the internet for the next month to Sneaky.
.
I guess it's good none of you is either russian or ukrainian, keep talking
Easy for you to say...this is happening on the borders of the EU, Ukraine is only 300 miles from where my partner's family lives, the grandparents (with partial Ukrainian heritage) of my kids.
OFFICIAL LEAK: The daily plan of Pskov Paratroop Division (76 Guards Air Assault Division) approved by Putin and signed by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
06:00 Getting up
07:00 Morning toilet
08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Assault on Ukraine
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Taking of Kiev
18:00 Gazmanov's Concert
21:00 Fireworks.
Meanwhile Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov recommended that Ukrainians set an alarm clock so as not to oversleep the attack, which was scheduled by the US for Feb. 16.
.
.
.
Propaganda from a government that absolutely refuses to implement the Minsk II Agreement it signed in 2015, which requires the withdrawal of weapons, monitoring of the ceasefire by the OSCE and the holding of local elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics on their future status in Ukraine. That was 7 years ago. But hey those are photographs so it must be true!
purity testing...so hot right now
tear down the institutions until we have nothing left, but at least we'll have that smug feeling of winning on the internet: "i criticized them first for that one thing they did back then" [you get a #morejadedthanthou upvote!]
Must have got the date wrong. Whoops.
look no pictures, https://www.mil.gov.ua/en/news...
Pictures here:
https://declassifieduk.org/uk-commanders-in-ukraine-met-neo-nazi-linked-national-guard-to-deepen-military-cooperation/
When some lunatic Nazi is waving a swastika flag at a truckers protest against governmental overreach in Canada…the entire protest is branded and disqualified.
When a huge demonstration in Kyiv is taking place and nationalist flags(red and black) are waving (which are nicely cropped out in western media) nobody bats an eye. Those flags are in support of the movement that committed genocide and ethnic cleansing during WWII, but whatever…the enemy of my enemy etc. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/2/12/thousands-march-in-kyiv-to-show-unity-against-russian-war-threat
Rando, there were several nazi symbols in the occupation by the trucker cunts plus hundreds or other racist and homophobic ones. That whole convoy thing is not a protest and never was.
And they were honking horns to show their love for Trudeau! https://mobile.twitter.com/PolitiBunny/status/1493919936183422980
You know I’m living in the centre of this mess, right? I’m just about to step out of the metro and walk through the occupation in way to office. It’s much more than a few horns.
I thought you were living next to ikea…my båd ;)
^yes, nearby IKEA (it's a landmark of sorts here...) but my office is in the closed-off area downtown next to parliament. The convoy impacts many areas of the city outside of the core.
your facts mean nothing to rando's agenda
https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.5783786#1.4893669
live cam. about one decent Tom Brady TD pass from my office window.
Pete I don’t have an agenda, I have a calendar :-P
XJLA, nice to know you support extremist racists.
Summary of unfolding of trucker protest: https://youtu.be/kp2nBb70u7M
Rubin Report Rofl
Rolling on the floor learning?
You have nothing worth teaching, nor any links worth following.
I’m sorry for your loss(!)
Nothing lost, nothing gained.
So when Russian forces are retreating the US need to stoke the fire (once again):
So, the Russians have now expelled the US deputy ambassador…
Just something to be aware of through all of this:
picking up x-lax's slack, eh? Good job.
Raytheon CEO Says His Company Will Benefit From Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Business as usual.
No Pete, just informing people from outside their bubble, you’re welcome…use it to your advantage or dwell in blissful ignorance, all up to you!
Isn’t/wasn’t the current secretary of defense a board member at Raytheon, among other questionable positions? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/us/politics/lloyd-austin-pentagon-military-contractors.html
Hey look at these facts! They are incontrovertible, and I have connected them with red string, which makes the string fact, too!
rando do you exist in a bubble?
My facts are much bigger than yours
My facts can walk right through the door
With a feeling so pure
They’ve got you screaming back for
stick to poetry, you're marginally better at it than the rest.
Even better at poetry,
Homo universalis is me.
Ukraine invasion rescheduled for Feb. 20.
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