2024-11-09
not literally Hitler, empty counter-cultures, Lesbian separatism, economic perspective, Billion with a B, liberal tears, Iranian assassins charged, Jews attacked in Amsterdam, Norks love porn
Worthy
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Wish there was more of this: What if My Tribe Is Wrong?
Anything that remotely looks like fascism really triggers me. There is a well known propaganda film from the US Army called “Don't Be a Sucker” which warns Americans about the dangers of prejudice, discrimination, and fascist rhetoric. I watched this a few times over the years and it still makes me wonder how people can fall for that kind of rhetoric. But is it really all that hard? Isn't that happening today again? I have a very hard time supporting what Trump or Musk are standing for or people that align with them. Trump's rhetoric and plans are counter to everything I stand for and the remind me a lot of that film. It's even harder for me with Musk. His morals are completely off, he seems to a person I would not want to be friends with, yet he's successful and he's pushing humanity forward. It's challenging to reconcile my strong opposition to their (and other's) rhetoric and policies with the need to maintain a nuanced view of them. Neither are “literal Hitler”. Equating them with the most extreme historical figures oversimplifies the situation and shuts down productive conversation.
etc
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The Hollow Vault - by Dave Greene
I suppose what made the Steam Punk scene so enticing to me is how close it came to the things that I wanted. I was terribly aware of the deficit in the contemporary culture. There was a spirit that I had encountered in older books and authors that had affected me deeply, and for which I could not find a modern equivalent. And there was a spirit of creativity that I remembered so vividly in American popular culture before the 2000s. What better group to bring these forgotten energies together into something new than the creative types who spent their time writing, doing music, and inventing board games, but who still kept a connection to those powerful old traditions. It sounds silly in hindsight, to think that this group of grating narcissists could pretend to anything more than extended self-flattery. And one by one the illusions dropped away. Even with all of their fascination with Victorian aesthetics, I was one of the few people who had read any book written before the 20th century outside of a school assignment. Steampunk’s one pretension to anything objectively meaningful was politics. But it was an entirely reflective politics. The opinions that they had gotten from John Stewart precluded them from any criticisms of modern materialist and consumerism. But ultimately the most telling indictment of the “Steampunk community” was that it couldn’t produce any interesting literature.
What was not clear to me then, and became clear to all of us over the years is that the existence of frauds and imposters within a society creates a strange social feedback loop that creates a natural political coalition. The man with the empty vault knows that he is a fraud, but his business and power rely on creating thriving inside an economy of pretense. where the appearance of wealth and power is the only thing that matters. Therefore the second, a true king were to come to power, or a true economy implemented, these people would be immediately exposed and lose whatever position they had. Thus there is a natural conspiracy of those men with hollow vaults, to keep the bubble going, to keep the illusion in place, to make sure that real politics and real spirituality may never awaken inside humanity under any condition.
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This elephant learned to use a hose as a shower. Then her rival sought revenge
Horseshit
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Schneider Electric ransomware crew demands $125k paid in baguettes
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Boycott men? South Korea's 4B movement gains traction in the U.S.
Following President-elect Trump’s victory — which was fueled by male voters and to many looked like a referendum on reproductive rights — some young American women are talking about boycotting men. The idea comes from the South Korean movement known as 4B, or the 4 No’s (bi means “not” in Korean). It calls for the refusal of dating men (biyeonae), sexual relationships with men (bisekseu), heterosexual marriage (bihon) and childbirth (bichulsan). Interest in the 4B movement has surged in the days since the election, with Google searches spiking and the hashtag taking off on social media.
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43 monkeys escape research center in South Carolina and have not been captured.
Musk
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
TechSuck / Geek Bait
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"lowercase" gets complicated for unicode Friday Facts 436 - Lost in Translation | Factorio
The root of the issue was that until now we searched by casting each "code letter" to lower case via a standard function. However, internally (in the Unicode representation) any letter with accents or outside the latin alphabet takes up multiple "code letters" and therefore wasn't recognized or converted at all. Furthermore, Unicode letters are quite a mess, since the table has grown gradually over the years. Many letters are scattered all over. Out-of-the-box solutions are usually bloated to accommodate edge cases for many scripts and languages we can't even render in Factorio (Hieroglyphs, Sumerian Cuneiform, Emoji...). My solution was to write my own custom mapping focusing on languages we officially support.
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
Crypto con games
Economicon / Business / Finance
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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This was an election on the US economy. And for many Americans, the economy sucks
A high-growth, high-spending economy is not necessarily a sign of a healthy economy. Many Americans are spending a high proportion of their money on rent, healthcare, and food, not discretionary items — and fuelled by debt.
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We Know One Big Loser in This Election: The Mainstream Media
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Paper by political scientists predicted election results in October
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The Issue That Drove the Amish to the Polls in Pennsylvania.
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Missouri will legalize sports betting with a slim margin by 2025
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Boston mayor cites "miscalculation in formulas" for shortage of ballots
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Legacy Media Indict Themselves When They Blame The 'Right-Wing Media Ecosystem'
Reflecting on Trump’s success, Barrón-López mused, “Maybe it’s not so much Democrats policies or messaging or the words that they use specifically, but there is an entire right-wing media ecosystem doesn’t exist on the left, does not exist in center or mainstream, and people are getting their information in very different ways now.”
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FEMA Official Ordered Relief Workers To Skip Houses With Trump Signs
Harris / Democrats
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(Oct 29 2024) The Harris Campaign Manipulates Reddit To Control The Platform
I discovered massive “astroturfing” campaigns operating across multiple platforms. “Astroturfing” is a political and marketing term that describes creating swarms of coordinated and/or paid messages and posts to deceptively create the illusion of support from ordinary people. Essentially, “astroturfing” is the opposite of grassroots support. In this case, there is a team of volunteers who spam social media with posts that specifically promote Kamala. They then have other users pretend to be random individuals who just happened across the post and decided to comment. It’s no different than a shady company paying a team to write a bunch of fake Amazon reviews about their product to make it appear to be a better and more popular product than it is.
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After raising over $1 billion and left with $118 million in the bank as of October 16, the Harris campaign ended the 2024 election season with "at least $20 million in debt," according to Politico's Christopher Cadelago.
What’s more, this Kamala campaign staffer said several people who were working for the Kamala Harris for President campaign are still awaiting several overdue payments they were promised for their work. IE, they didn’t pay the staff.
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Harris, Biden camps blame each other for loss
One person involved with Harris' team told Axios: "The 107-day Harris campaign was nearly flawless. The Biden campaign that preceded it was the opposite."
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How Kamala Harris plowed through $1B
The Harris campaign and its affiliated committees dropped more than $654 million on advertising from July 22 to Election Day, whereas Trump spent $378 million, or 57% less, in the same category, according to data from AdImpact. Payroll and the taxes that accompanied it accounted for $56.6 million of the Harris campaign’s spending. In comparison, the Trump campaign reported spending $9 million on payroll — employing hundreds fewer staff members. There was also the army of political, digital, and media consultants who were paid over $12.8 million by the Harris campaign, filings show. One vendor, Village Marketing Agency, received over $3.9 million and reportedly worked to recruit thousands of social media influencers to boost Harris online.
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Democrats Begged Team Kamala Harris Not to Campaign With Liz Cheney
several Democratic operatives and insiders tell Rolling Stone they tried to convince the Harris campaign and her allies that palling around with the Cheneys was a bad idea with little upside — and could harm Harris’ support among disaffected Democratic voters. The sources requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intraparty matters. One source close to the Harris campaign tells Rolling Stone they reached out to several staffers in and around the campaign to voice concerns about the candidate embracing Dick and Liz Cheney. “People don’t want to be in a coalition with the devil,” says the source, speaking about Dick Cheney. They say a Harris staffer responded that it was not the staff’s role to challenge the campaign’s decisions.
Following the Harris campaign’s crushing loss to Trump, there’s an argument to be made that Democrats never really stood a chance this election cycle, given Joe Biden’s unpopularity and Americans’ unhappiness with a brutal economy. But Harris exerted far more effort attempting to appeal to Republicans, moderates, and independents than the Democratic base — which has been demoralized, in part, by Biden’s continued support for Israel’s brutal war in Gaza.
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Elizabeth Warren: The Plan to Fight Back After 2024 Election | TIME
everyone who feels like their heart has been ripped out of their chest, I feel the same. To everyone who is afraid of what happens next, I share your fears. But what we do next is important, and I need you in this fight with me. As we confront a second Donald Trump presidency, we have two tasks ahead. First, try to learn from what happened. And then, make a plan. Many political experts and D.C. insiders are already blaming President Joe Biden’s economic agenda for Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss. This does not stand up to scrutiny. Even though the Biden economy produced strong economic growth while reining in inflation, incumbent parties across the globe have been tossed out by voters after the pandemic.
Biden Inc
Trump / Right / Jan6
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Europe, Wake the F Up! - Defrag Zone
Dear European citizens, politicians, and leaders, here’s the blunt truth: it’s time to WAKE THE F*** UP. Trump is back in office in the U.S., doubling down on "America First," and that leaves us, Europe, at a crossroads. If we don't start getting serious about our own self-interest, we'll be caught flat-footed yet again, reliant on allies who look out only for themselves. Enough with the sleepwalking.
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Jeff Bezos says he’s a climate guy — why is he kissing the ring? - The Verge
Jeff Bezos might just be the biggest climate philanthropist out there, which is what makes his swift embrace of Donald Trump as the next US president particularly cringeworthy.
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Asked About Dropping Trump Charges, DOJ Says Policy Is to Not Prosecute Presidents | The Epoch Times
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment on whether the office will drop its cases but directed The Epoch Times to a 2000 memo from the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel. It states that “indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”
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Guardian staff offered Trump therapy over 'upsetting' result | The Spectator
the newspaper has reached out to its employees to offer, er, Trump therapy. In a company-wide email, editor Katharine Viner sympathised with staffers saddened by the outcome of the ‘dramatic night’. Assuring journalists she knows ‘the result has been very upsetting for many colleagues’, Viner has encouraged UK workers to contact their American counterparts – as ‘they will be most directly affected by the result’.
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Elon Musk Joins Trump in Early Talks With World Leaders
According to a Friday report from Axios, Musk sat in on a Wednesday phone call between Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president-elect has made a dubious promise that he can end the war between Russia and Ukraine in a day, and has decried the continued provision of funds and aid to Ukraine’s military operations by the U.S. Musk is also involved in the war effort through the provision of Starlink communication terminals to the Ukrainian army. The billionaire drew criticism for placing geo-fencing restrictions on the terminal’s use outside of Ukraine’s borders — meaning they cannot be accessed by the Ukrainian military while operating in Russian territory — and for reportedly engaging in direct discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pentagon officials raised concerns that Musk was acting not as a military contractor, but as a rogue actor who could influence the war effort on a whim.
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I wonder how much Cook dithered over that cheerful-looking exclamation mark. I hope he regrets it. I wonder whether the latter four knowingly made the error of addressing former president and president-elect Trump as “President Trump”. Our nation only has one president at a time, and that president remains Joe Biden. I wonder how much it stings to be reminded that all the money in the world cannot buy dignity. I wonder too, what taste Cheetos-dusted 78-year-old testicles leave in one’s mouth. Whatever the flavor, I hope it lingers.
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
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Mississippi District Attorney, Mayor, and Council Member Charged with Bribery
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Project Veritas’ Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN Can Go Forward.
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Concerned cops: iPhone units are mysteriously rebooting, can't be unlocked
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FBI brass 'stunned' and 'shell-shocked' over Donald Trump reelection - Washington Times
Others on the 7th floor of the FBI are so concerned about their own jobs that they are likely to flood the Washington, D.C., private security job market, sources say. According to most of the sources, no one in the FBI at a GS-14 level or higher is safe from losing their job after Mr. Trump is sworn in, and they fully expect the president-elect to “smash the place to pieces when he gets in,” and that it will be a “bloodbath.” Former FBI whistleblower George Hill told The Washington Times that people in the agency say the current state of the FBI is “frazzled.” “I have friends still at the Bureau telling me that no less than 50 Senior Executives (SES) are scrambling to retire ASAP,” he said.
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It's legal for police to use deception in interrogations. Some want that to end
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
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3 charged in Iran-linked plot to assassinate Donald Trump, sources tell ABC News - ABC7 Los Angeles
Three people have been charged in an alleged Iran-linked plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, an Iranian-American activist and two Jewish Americans living in New York, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday in New York. Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt are charged with murder-for-hire, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Rivera and Loadholt have been arrested, while Shakeri, who the FBI described as an "asset" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is believed to be in Tehran. The IRGC tasked Shakeri with surveilling and killing Trump to avenge the death of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force, in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020, according to the complaint.
World
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At least ten injured, three missing in Amsterdam pogrom
Multiple outlets are reporting that anti-Israel mobs are chasing down Israelis and savagely beating them on the streets of Amsterdam Thursday following a soccer game between Maccabi Tel Aviv FC and Amsterdam's Ajax.
- Dutch authorities say 10 Israelis were injured and they have lost contact with two individuals.
- About 57 suspects have reportedly been arrested.
- Israel has dispatched two rescue planes to bring Israelis home.
- The situation is still ongoing with hundreds of Israelis being instructed to lock themselves in hotel rooms and not go outside.
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'Hell Joseon' and the South Korean generation pushing to breaking point
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Coffee, sandwiches, underwear, beer: a day in the life of Japan's konbini
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The New Face of British Conservatism Is Black–and Female: Kemi Badenoch
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Airbnb rentals linked to increased crime rates in London neighbourhoods
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
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Too much fun not to report: US can't confirm North Korean soldiers in Russia hooked on porn after getting internet access
Hardened soldiers, indeed. North Korean military men who joined the war front in Ukraine on behalf of Russia have unfettered internet access for the first time — and may be using it to watch tons of pornography, according to a report that a Pentagon official was unable to confirm. Warriors from the hermit kingdom engaged in battle in Ukraine for the first time Monday — but they purportedly started fighting different demons before stepping foot onto any field, according to a report.
Health / Medicine
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
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Bird Flu Cases May Be Spreading from Cat Owners to Their Pets
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Seasonal influenza adapted and evolved during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Hm. I recall "lockdowns and masks worked so well that one variant of flu went extinct" stories.