jwiggler

@jwiggler@sh.itjust.works
4 Post – 167 Comments
Joined 1 years ago

Teacher: "Slavery was bad."

Republicans: "We need to end this indoctrination of our children."

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I fucking hate how I agree with Jesse Watters when he says

It's also crazy that they call this guy a dictator and when he won they're like "Oh we're gonna help you transition,"

The Republican party is done with any sort of politeness or goodwill, to the point of not conceding elections. They are breaking the system and rebuilding it in the aftermath. You can't stop them from breaking the thing by using the thing itself.

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Jesusland makes me chuckle

Hackers acting as if they're doing a public service by bringing down a free publicly accessible tool is a new level of assbackwardness.

If the goal really was to force IA to increase their security, they would've tried to consult with them. This is more about notoriety and chaos and the hackers have no moral ground to stand on.

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That's insane.

Like, no 401k or Roth IRA? Dang. I'm fuckin hard.

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Difference is, no republican cares if Trump is mentally fit to be president, nor will being mentally unfit cause him to lose the election.

Democrats and Biden on the other hand...

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For the curious, this "Pro American Rally" Nazi rally occurred in 1939

At Madison Square Garden, the rally opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. The mood was jubilant. Attendees wore Nazi armbands, waved American flags and held aloft posters with slogans like "Stop Jewish Domination of Christian America." There were storm troopers in the aisles, their uniforms almost identical to those of Nazi Germany. "It looked like any political rally — only with a Nazi twist," said Arnie Bernstein, author of Swastika Nation.

The speeches were explicitly anti-Semitic, and tirades against "job-taking Jewish refugees" were met with thunderous applause. "They demanded a white gentile America. They denounced Roosevelt as 'Rosenfeld,' to say that Roosevelt was in the pocket of rich Jews," said Sarah Churchwell, author of Behold, America. In equal measure to the xenophobia, the speeches were loaded with American boosterism.

Sound familiar?

Source

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Not that I don't agree with the general sentiment, or want to condone slave-owning in any way, but Thomas Jefferson only had children with one of his slaves, and from the historical record it appears to have been a consensual romantic relationship, insofar as one can have one with such a vast power difference (you cannot, really). He did oppose slavery privately, however he owned slaves, himself. Although, again from the record, it appears that they were more a part of his household, and treated (relatively) well, rather than how we typically imagine slaves in the South. Again, still not right, but compared to his contemporaries, you would call Jefferson a good owner. Still fucked up to say. A further disappointing fact is that, despite the fact that he deemed slavery reprehensible, he also deemed it to be political suicide to try to change the status quo. He brought the issue up a few times during his very long political career, but quickly abandoned the efforts. Additionally troubling is that, like many other in opposition to slavery at the time, he thought the solution was to ship black people to an island in the Caribbean so that they could form their own nation. This was not an uncommon opinion during that era -- I believe even Lincoln bought into this "solution," at one point. Also fucked up, but somehow better than the at-the-time alternative of continuing slavery.

Anyways, I don't mean to undermine your point that many of the individuals who established this country did so with the idea that black and brown people, women, and the lower-class, were less-than, and established it in such a way that made it difficult or impossible for them to participate. However, I think your specific examples aren't super accurate, and since I just read a pretty fair biography of Jefferson recently called Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty by John B Boles, I figured I would chime in. Really interesting and very much puts a great (in terms of historical stature) and flawed (in terms of our modern sense of morals) man in the context of his time and place.

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No game has ever affected me as much as Outer Wilds. Out of every life changing piece of art I've ever experienced, whether it be film, television, music, literature, or videogames, this is the first and only time I've ever gotten chills by the end.

The story isn't super deep and it isn't necessarily profound -- it's not really a belief-changer, outside of, perhaps, your idea of what a videogame is -- but the experience itself is beautiful and rewarding and I'm not sure it can be recaptured.

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I'm not really doing any mental gymnastics, nor am I sucking him off. I'm just pointing out that you weren't historically accurate in your comment, despite the sentiment being correct. I also happen to think that history is interesting (despite most of it being about rich white men -- lots of credit to People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn) and that its important not to always paint over it with a wide brush soaked with our own modern sense of ethics and politics.

Edit: Also, I'm literally a socialist. You could be less reductive.

Just started Baldur's Gate 3. Never played a CRPG before (does Disco Elysium count?) so it has been quite the learning curve for combat. Pretty stuck in the Underdark, it seems. Looks like I'll have to help out a slavetrader Gekh in order to proceed because I don't think I can defeat him and his buddies...

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When are we going to protest. This is insanity.

Here is an excerpt from the dissent:

Looking beyond the fate of this particular prosecution, the long-term consequences of today’s decision are stark. The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now “lies about like a loaded weapon” for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation. Korematsu v. United States, 323 U. S. 214, 246 (1944) (Jackson, J., dissenting). The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in ex- change for a pardon Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today.

Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.

There was effectively no primary -- no legitimate other candidate was on the ballot in my state -- because they fed us the impression that Biden was totally fine cognitively.

And then the debate happened. There was no realistic way anybody but Joe Biden came out of this primary, and I think that in itself is pretty anti-democratic.

Not that any of it matters in the end, because Biden is not going to step aside and I don't think Democrats have the power to push him to the side.

It doesn’t walk in saying, “Our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution.”

Yeah but evidently it does, and people still choose it.

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Lol, that's exactly what the article says. Literally the last three lines summing it all up:

Despite Trump’s public insistence that he deserves widespread immunity, his own legal team seems prepared to have their claims rejected by the highest court in the land. Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday that many of the former president’s lawyers and political advisers are bearish on their odds of success — but it’s not all doom and gloom.

“We already pulled off the heist,” one source close to Trump said, adding that regardless of what the court decides, they’ve already managed to severely stall the DOJ’s election interference case.

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Me too :/ not only that, but it scares people off even more than just the term communism, which in itself is taboo

Radical love, mutual aid, human solidarity, and nonviolent imagery and ideals are more powerful, since they have the ability to tap into a shared ethical ideal, one that can stretch across political and religious boundaries.

Looks like Skill Up on YouTube did not recommend -- I typically trust his takes over review outlets

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It's okay that you don't want to own a house. Those are legitimate practical concerns that you bring up. Certainly renting comes with some conveniences, like being able to move, not having to worry about utilities, repairs etc. (although, if you have a bad landlord, you may still have to worry about that stuff)

But at the end of the day, you are still paying for someone else's ownership of an asset and thereby increasing their wealth at the expense of your own. They are leveraging your need for shelter to increase their own personal wealth. It's not about the pros and cons of renting vs buying. It's about the inherently unequal material relationship between you and your landlord.

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These right wing-ass fuckers ruin everything you love, and now they've come for LOTR.

Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

  • E.V. Debs

I mean, I hate white nationalism just as much as the next guy. But if you go around making it illegal to be anonymous or part of a particular group, whether they're considered terrorist or otherwise, that's bad. It gives the next party in power precedent to make being part of your group illegal. That's why freedom of speech is so important.

I think associating with a group that believes in the creation of an ethnostate should remain legal so that associating with a group that believes in the dismantling of capitalism remains legal.

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I'm going to Barcelona this week on a family trip. We're staying in an AirBnb for a day. I think they've got a legitimate cause to spray people like me, who pretty much across the board don't realize how much their privilege hurts regular working people.

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Corey Feldman's Angelic 2 the Core is without a doubt the worst album I've ever listened to. It is not just mediocre or underwhelming, it is not just a "miss," it is actively and unforgettably horrible. Definitely worth checking out.

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I'm afraid to ask this because I'm not a dev, but I have a fair amount of linux experience. Why is it that the ability to install Google Play Services on GrapheneOS makes it not FOSS/open source, while the ability to install Google Chrome (or any proprietary software, I guess) on Linux doesn't make is non-FOSS/open source?

I'm not articulating that question very well, and I'm assuming I'm missing some key component, but they seem comparable to me, as a regular user. Is it something like the level of access that GPServices has to the kernel?

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Part of the issue is that Donald Trump isn't using these words in any factual sense, but in a purely rhetorical sense. He is utilizing them as boogeyman terms to scare people away from Harris. It doesn't matter that's it's not factually correct because average people don't know otherwise.

That brings me to the other part of the issue, which is fascism is notoriously difficult to pin down. Umberto Eco talks about this in his essay Ur-Fascism. He notes that fascism isn't actually dependent on one or two attributes, such as complete totalitarianism, or support of capital, and doesn't necessarily have a single religious philosophy. He notes historical examples of things like anticapitalist fascism, religious fascism, atheist fascism, etc.

Still he notes 14 qualities that are typically associated with fascism

  • The Cult of Tradition
  • Rejection of Modernism
  • The Cult of Action for Action’s Sake
  • Disagreement is Treason
  • Fear of Difference
  • Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class
  • Obsession with a Plot
  • The Enemy is Both Strong and Weak
  • Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy
  • Contempt for the Weak
  • Everybody is Educated to Become a Hero
  • Machismo
  • Selective Populism
  • Newspeak

Much of these are relevant to Trump's campaign, even more than I had anticipated. Definitely give it a listen or check out the Wikipedia page, it's a worthwhile half hour just to hear the perspective of someone who actually lived through Italian fascism.

I find it rude when people on the bus put their bag on the empty seat next to them, so that you have to ask them to move it when there are no empty rows left. It's strangely hostile to me.

I think its just polite to leave your bag off the seat until the bus is boarded.

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What does Jill Stein do?

I'm not sure, that's why I was asking the individual to elaborate. Thanks.

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I kinda like the idea of a phone that is usually small, but I can make big by unfolding it if I want to. But I do agree that the fewer moving parts, the sturdier and more BIFL. It's just that BIFL is not really attainable anyways in the current state of the phone market due to software support obsoletion.

I'd like to see a small eink phone or the tiny matchbook from Her.

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The proof is in the pudding folks

I believe the meme should say "approval rating at 35%"

Edit: the OP corrected me below

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This sub makes me think I have ADHD. Constant multitasking (audiobooks with whatever other brainless activity), or else so hyperfixated on a thing that I forget to eat, 4 empty cups of water at my desk, putting off responding to texts and then three days later realizing i never responded at all, forgetting about a problem I need to fix or errand I need to run until something reminds me of it.

Just juggling a bunch of interests because, with a day job, there's really no way to simply hold on to each one for very long.

Oh and then smoking marijuana.

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I'm pretty sure the dude who had nuclear information in his bathroom was and is more insecure.

Not sure why we talk about any other type of insecurity.

but abortion

My GF recently introduced my to a show called Please Like Me. It's out of Australia from a comedian named Josh Thomas.

Don't look at the IMDB score or anything like that -- this show is pure art. It's got a lot of heart and the cinematography is better than it has any right to be.

Please Like Me is honestly better than Fleabag in that it is a dramedy that covers real issues, but it resolves more satisfyingly and feels more grounded in reality. It is so good and nobody has heard of it.

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The Alchemist and Song of Achilles are some popular books that I thought were mediocre. Probably not the worst book I've ever read though.

That probably goes to Sean Hannity's Conservative Victory that my grandma gave me when I was 12.

True slop. Fuck Sean Hannity.

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It's just such a tone deaf response. I sent an email to my senators and rep asking them to listen to their constituencies regarding their election fears. Not that I think it will do much. But God, waiting around for this old man to lose to Trump while feeling powerless (yes, I'll still vote) just sucks so much.

I mean, the age thing has been a concern for a while, but Democratic messaging really played it down, and the State of the Union was also a pretty good reliever in that sense. But the debate was a lot lot worse than the State of the Union, and that just completely shattered the illusion that Biden is in command, in terms of not only his own health but in the election, itself.

You're asking why now? Well, the debate is what sparked this. But now is the time because we are afraid of what a Trump presidency could mean, especially after the Supreme Court decisions last week. Now is the time because the debate just exposed Biden's greatest electability weakness (not, necessarily, his ability to make decisions based an a talented and experienced group of advisors). And now is the time because we think he won't win, and that this whole time the United States have been asking for a younger candidate, so why don't we give them one?

I don't think you really need a Republican conspiracy behind all that to explain why there is such panic in the democratic party right now. But thanks for answering my question genuinely.

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anarchosyndicalism ftw

What a mean-spirited comment! Why would anyone listen to what you have to say when you talk to people this way? Its a shame, but hey, if you enjoy talking to people like that, I guess be my guest. I'd rather meet people where they are. Have a great day

Could you describe the push you're referring to? We all saw the debate, then the poll drop, then the calls for Biden to step aside. Which of those events have republicans behind them? We all just want the best chance at beating Trump, and many of us think that's not Biden. I don't think the media is to blame for reporting on what each congressperson is saying -- that's kinda their job, and that's whats going to get clicks -- but I do think they are to blame for the opinion articles that are saying "I'm not voting, you shouldn't either." Obviously that is horseshit. If Biden's the nominee, you gotta vote for him. But I struggle to think that the drama surrounding Biden's candidacy is somehow sparked by some hidden republicans pulling the strings. The dude just performed really poorly in a debate that he himself wanted, and then he doubled down with some awful awful soundbites about him being okay with Trump winning, as long as he tried his best.

Its like dude, have some fuckin awareness. The stakes aren't low enough for you to be self satisfied with doing your best.

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