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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 16th, 2023

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  • Just a heads up, the Washington Post is considered the an oligarch paper over here. It’s owned by Jeff Bezos and rarely is anything published which might try to push back on a finances first narrative that puts money before people. The people who still follow it are already million or multi-millionaires or believe that some day they will obtain that much money, and they might with the way inflation is going.

    It’s “Liberal” only in that it pushes for business liberty which I think is the simplest definition of Liberalism in Europe. As a USian I read that and think, “Why would anyone think WaPo is Liberal?”

    I would consider WaPo a conservative paper. But like with the definition of conservative we used until I was 25. Meaning a tight fisted, push for no spending, fewer taxes, if YOU want your kid educated YOU have to pay for it YOURSELF, but we’re cool with gays and blacks and other minorities, type of conservative.

    But that type of thinking is now “Woke” according to our far right which currently controls our entire government. And that somehow makes WaPo a Liberal paper on comparison. Advertising works I guess.

    If you want to know what progressives or really just what our big cities think I’d recommend googling smaller papers or magazines. I’m not saying there isn’t some crazy right wing stuff out there too but here’s a smattering:

    Seattle: https://www.thestranger.com/

    Denver: https://www.westword.com/

    Chicago: https://chicagoreader.com/ https://blockclubchicago.org/

    NYC: uhhh I never lived here so… Wikipedia has a list of print media! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_City_newspapers_and_magazines

    I’m not sure Westword is the same as it once was or frankly any of these but they’re all smaller than Jungle Oligarch Daddy’s paper. Possibly owned by less agent oligarchs, I don’t know but it’s a place to start.


  • I am fully expecting an attack on sovereign Venezuelan territory. Maybe not this week or next but rump is flagging, his dementia is catching up, it’s obvious and the people behind big boy rump are nervous. Classical political thinking in the US is that you cannot attack a war time president. They’ve been attacking random fishing boats and killing people and causing international problems. But we know that Venezuela is no real that to our country. Like fighting them would suck but it hurts them more than us unless a global power joins in.

    So someone orders a strike inside of Venezuela. It’s a direct provocation and Venezuela has to make a show of defending itself. rump and friends say this is a declaration of war, scramble the birds, America is under attack! Or some bullshit but it’s just the US army invading a poorer nation with a small military where the general populace doesn’t want us there and never wanted us there.

    Suddenly rump is a wartime Pres with all the social and political cover that provides. It allows the crackdown in American cities because now protestors aren’t just dancing in costumes. They are dancing in costumes protesting a country at war… Clearly that’s too far and we need to crush these Venezuelan funded terrorists… Or whatever the headline from our gov will be.

    I dunno, we’re so cooked. Anyone know groups in other countries that’ll help trans people move out of the US?


  • Yes. Yes they are, we have many reports of them hauling off citizens, tourists, and especially legal residents.

    It’s actually the reason people are upset. Obama deported way more than trump but he used courts to do it and you know what, no spectacle! It was methodical and systematic and sometimes I’m sure it was cruel and shocking but they followed a well documented legal procedure which gave people some guidance on the process.

    rump and his administration on the other hand don’t give a fuck. Chaos and cruelty are the point. The rules and proceedings that we have built up are out the window because they give people too much warning. They allow people too much understanding of the process. There is not enough fear involved if they follow procedure. They like fear and people being afraid of them. It’s part of why the inflatable costumes piss them off so much. Protestors being ridiculous and silly juxtaposed with ICE treating inflatable frogs and unicorns as a violent threat. It makes ice look small, weak, jumpy, and most of all, in the wrong.

    But yes they are hauling off tourists and legal residents to answer your question. They then revoke whatever visa they’re on including revoke permanent residence without due process… It’s what we in the business call really fucking awful.

    You can have proof that you live here, have lived here for 20 years, legally although you might have arrived without documentation. You have a spouse, children, maybe even put together money for a house. And then ICE shows up to at you claiming that a DUI you received 18 years ago is justification for removal from the country and your family and your life. Oh and we’re shipping you back to the country where you’re on a hit list.

    It’s just cruel for the sake of cruelty.












  • But it does describe an embattled hero surrounded by villains on the snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

    Heroes kill people all the time in stories. We don’t disparage the hero because they killed because it was for a good cause. And like imagine if the hero didn’t kill the bad guy and next week you’re dealing with the bad guy again. Clearly RFK and friends are fighting the good fight and have to defeat the bad guys once and for all.

    Obviously to me it’s BS but the point is that they might see the bad stuff and justify it because of the greater good or whatever. We’ve learned through countless tales that ends don’t justify the means and doing bad things for the greater good is usually bad and often terrible. But we also have an imagination and empathy. And know how to read.

    Fiction is full of stories that teach you right from wrong. The distinction gets more complicated as we get older so we use stories to explore the ideas. WE do that, our current leaders do not. And because of that they are lacking in empathy and didn’t see the patterns that they are following. And don’t see the history that they are rhyming with.