Politics

[MR2 Fan]

I have hope that, if you ignore Florida, pro-Trump extremism is no longer as popular as it was (DeSantis and Trump don't like each other, but DeSantis is just as right-wing, if not moreso)

[Tom Servo]

The Elon Musk show continues to just be an absolutely idiotic clusterfuck. Now there are accounts with the verified checkmark for George W. Bush saying that he misses killing Iraqis, Eli Lilly saying insulin is now free, and Twitter's head of marketing promising to not let people announce new ass-flavored Oreos.

Just breathtaking watching this incredible self-own. And, shockingly, he's pivoting to the alt-right as he does it, because when you hit that Dunning-Kruger effect you double-down like Superintendent Chalmers.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I have hope that, if you ignore Florida, pro-Trump extremism is no longer as popular as it was (DeSantis and Trump don't like each other, but DeSantis is just as right-wing, if not moreso)

Making Trump irrelevant is important. We've seen how dangerous he could be.

At least I hope we won't have to impeach DeSantis twice and still unable to truly get rid of him...

I don't mind right wing or left wing... as long as they're wings, then maybe we could fly somewhere. Trump has proven himself to be a pussy grabbing cancerous tumor who's only interested in making trump great again.

I'm so relieved to see red voters are realizing this. However, asking red voters to turn blue right away is probably too much to ask.

[Rare White Ape]

Video game news sites are reporting ‘verified’ accounts for Valve, Nintendo, and others, which are also sprouting nonsense.

It’s comedy in 2022, and legal on Twitter!

[Tom Servo]

Oof

https://i.imgur.com/2DUFL5t.png

[neanderthal]

Yeah.

People are just mocking Musk, and i'm all for it.

He bought a 42 billion business as a pet project and undid it completely in just a couple of weeks. Twitters one great feature was the ability to disseminate real news quickly. It's wasn't really a social platform like your facebooks etc.

Now, advertisers are cutting back, and the core users are refusing to pay $8 a month to be verified and a bunch of other people are gladly paying the $8 a month but are not who they purport to be. Hence the George Bush, Tony Blair, Eli Lilly, Tesla, etc posts.

He's lost a fuck ton of money on this and his hubris wont let him gracefully exit before burning more piles of cash. Many of the fired twitter employees are suing (there's a process to fire people Elon!) many are saying they won't go back even if he bows out. He's taken a viable business and fucked it up in a short span of time.

Just like Trump. And, he too is a narcissist just like Trump. Fuck Elon!

[neanderthal]

Have y'all seen the "red wave" clips from Faux News being played on MSNBC?

lol

[Rare White Ape]

https://i.imgur.com/PieNRXb.jpg

[FaultyMario]

Video game news sites are reporting ‘verified’ accounts for Valve, Nintendo, and others, which are also sprouting nonsense.

It’s comedy in 2022, and legal on Twitter!

"Who is in charge of corporate relations?? I wanna talk to your boss, young lady!!"

[Tom Servo]

Last Friday: Will Twitter survive another year?
Sunday: Will Twitter survive 2022?
Today: Will Twitter survive the week?

[Cam]

That escalated quickly.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I don't have a twitter account and rarely look at tweets unless if quoted by some article or by one of you guys... So to be honest, I couldn't care less about twitter regardless of who owns it.

I think even Elon has admitted things won't be easy going forward, bankruptcy is definitely on the table. Something Elon has faced multiple times with Tesla and SpaceX as well. The difference is that he saw Tesla and SpaceX as his babies and he just would not let them die..., but how does he view Twitter? Is it really just a toy that he bought on impulse or is it key to fulfill the original vision of Paypal?

Anyway, I certainly won't bet against Elon using my own money. I won't buy any Twitter stocks either. :p

Hopefully the imposters will continue to pay money creating more imposter accounts to keep twitter afloat...

[HondaKid86]

Pack the ducking Court, Joe.

Be a man and do it.

Abortion, affirmative action and now student debt relief, legislated from the bench: if that's how Republicans are gonna set the game, it's time for Democrats to play by their rules.

Bipartisanship is a quaint relic, a myth, and only practiced by Republicans when a hurricane hits their state and they want more welfare. I'm tired, and I hope the youth in this country are tired, too.

[Rare White Ape]

I already imagine Gen Z looking like Bafflek after a smoke

[HondaKid86]

The Trump-DeSantis catfight is going to be messy and very public, and I am here for it.
🍿 🤠 💅

[Rare White Ape]

I am guessing this is the giant douche vs turd sandwich fight that South Park alluded to?

Doesn’t matter who wins. The big loser would be trump’s ego should De Santos gain nomination. There’s a meme with General Hux (https://imgflip.com/memetemplate/295089902/I-dont-care-if-you-win-I-just-need-X-to-lose) that could describe this.

[HondaKid86]

It's petty and it won't last, but I'll take the short-term delight of Republican infighting when I can get it.

DeSantis is young, savvy, bankrolled and guiltlessly electable. Trump has a motivated base of way more white supremacists (and their sycophants/sympathizers) than most people realized. Either one of them will trounce whatever Democrat runs in 2024. I'm not kidding myself: Democrats just don't have a candidate with the momentum, name recognition and star power that Republicans do. Either way, they're going to win.

Modern national politics are a new game. It's not enough to be an effective leader: celebrity is essential of any viable candidate. It only gets stupider from here, folks. President Logan Paul. If we're lucky.

[Crazed_Insanity]

GOP fuck ups energized young voters and that Trump DeSantis cat fight divided their bases..., but dems really should should not count on those things to win elections.

I wish dems could generate some blue waves rather than just sighing with relief that red wave failed to materialize.

Blue side needs to generate bigger waves by accomplishing something and have better candidates rather than counting on conservative in-fights and fuck ups.

Biden could still win if he could accomplish something meaningful for all... like a better overall economy.

[FaultyMario]

celebrity is essential of any viable candidate.

And I thought WE were fucked.

Thanks second pink tide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_tide)!

[HondaKid86]

Not a Morena fan? 😅

Maybe you can expound a little on the current state of Mexican politics for us.

To me, Amlo is a mixed bag. We needed a Mexican neighbor who'd tell Trump to screw right off, and boy, did we get that.

His refusal to condemn the Ukraine action is concerning.

Strolling CDMX, the monuments and plaques to certain workers and past victims commissioned under his tenure were quite charming.

He's a mixed bag for sure. Wondering how you see it.

[FaultyMario]

AMLO has -ingeniously- been defined as an "extremist of the radical center".

IMHO my country has three kinds of problems:

Structural, stemming from our long history of colonialism, extractive industries, classism, racism and exclusion.
Geopolitical, our physical position in the world is both a blessing and a curse.
Political, we tolerate authoritarianism and we have denied ourselves the opportunity to build a nationwide system of governance from the bottom up.

President Obrador has done nothing to address those problems. He embodies the ethos of the "power to be" when what we really need to enact is the "power to do".

[HondaKid86]

So this anointed "pragmatist" is not pragmatic enough, then?

Was he still the best option?

I visited CDMX during his sham "referendum" (a very Trumpian move). No one I talked to planned to vote. Not one.

[FaultyMario]

No, no, no, that fucker is an electoral athlete, he is the quintessence of pragmatism. I shit you not, that guy would be LOADED if he were to take a consulting job in the aftermath.

FWIW, the obradorista brand of centrism is our best option for the foreseeable future. I mean, the apparent backlash against Trumpism and the aforementioned second pink tide should open up some opportunities for the region, but the centrists currently in power will do everything they can to squander those opportunities. :shrug:

[Rare White Ape]

NewsCorp, which is Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and the no longer great New York Post (bring back Col!), is all in for Governor Ron DeSanctimonious, an average REPUBLICAN Governor with great Public Relations, who didn’t have to close up his State, but did, unlike other Republican Governors, whose overall numbers for a Republican, were just average—middle of the pack—including COVID, and who has the advantage of SUNSHINE, where people from badly run States up North would go no matter who the Governor was, just like I did!

Anyway, why do they call it oven when you of in the cold food of out hot eat the food?

[neanderthal]

Dems win the senate after NV is projected to go to the Democrat.

We still need Georgia to dilute the tyranny of SineManchin.

Congress still up in the air although the one pollster i've been paying attention to (cant remember his name right now, he started Bot Sentinel) reckons its gonna go to the Democrats too. If that's the case we get to keep nominating and confirming judges. If you don't realise it, when the houses of Congress are at an impasse, the judiciary is sometimes what keeps things going.

[Tom Servo]

This really feels like a referendum against the election deniers and Trumpers. I mean, traditionally the party in power loses the midterms. There's inflation, Biden's not wildly popular, the list goes on. And yet, what should have been a gimme for the GOP didn't end up going that way at all.

I have a feeling it was in no small part due to the Roe v. Wade decision, that was a little bit of Icarus getting too close to the sun, I think.

[MR2 Fan]

Gen Z turned out HUGE this election cycle, due to Roe or many other important reasons...but without them it would have been a red bloodbath

[MR2 Fan]

Also, thoughts on Georgia Senate Race and the runoff...having Dems already with 50 means that it's no longer AS important BUT that could play into the Dems hands...

The Republicans know the Dems are already over their limit (50 +1 vote from the VP) and Walker was probably aided a lot by people voting for other people on the ticket in Georgia, so they may not come out as much for Walker as they would if the Dems were still at 49

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I think we definitely have Supreme Court to thank for this unexpected blue wave!

[Dicknose]

Runoffs!! If only there was a way to sort that out the first time you vote!

[FaultyMario]

People are too dumb to make more than one choice on election day, Mr. Nose!

:rolleyes:

[neanderthal]

Also, thoughts on Georgia Senate Race and the runoff...having Dems already with 50 means that it's no longer AS important BUT that could play into the Dems hands...

The Republicans know the Dems are already over their limit (50 +1 vote from the VP) and Walker was probably aided a lot by people voting for other people on the ticket in Georgia, so they may not come out as much for Walker as they would if the Dems were still at 49

It's important because it establishes who has actual control of the house. When it's 50/ 50 it's shared control, and that means chairmanships of committees, etc etc. 50 + 1 means control. A fact I dond't know until just a couple of days ago thanks to twitter.

[neanderthal]

This really feels like a referendum against the election deniers and Trumpers. I mean, traditionally the party in power loses the midterms. There's inflation, Biden's not wildly popular, the list goes on. And yet, what should have been a gimme for the GOP didn't end up going that way at all.

I have a feeling it was in no small part due to the Roe v. Wade decision, that was a little bit of Icarus getting too close to the sun, I think.

If you pay attention, you'll hear complete silence on the state of the economy and inflation, fuel prices and all that from Republicans right now. All because it was being drummed up for their lemmings.

[neanderthal]

Gen Z turned out HUGE this election cycle, due to Roe or many other important reasons...but without them it would have been a red bloodbath

And 70% of white women still voted for them (Republicans.) Not gen Z, the rest.

Always interesting who votes against their own best interests.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Russian missile landed in Poland, a NATO member, but Russia denied responsibility.

Somebody is really eager for a WW3.

[MR2 Fan]

so Stable Genius announced he's running for president...didn't mention the party? I really hope he starts his own party, that will torpedo any chances in 2024 for him or the GOP nominee!

[Rare White Ape]

I thought it was pretty well accepted that he was running in the GOP.

[MR2 Fan]

I thought it was pretty well accepted that he was running in the GOP.

Is it though? Seems some of his "allies" were promoting the idea that the GOP is dead, like Josh Hawley, which signals to me that he either runs independent or as a new party

[Crazed_Insanity]

It'd be cool to have a 4 way fight: Sanders, Biden, DeSantis, Trump

But of course there's no way Sanders would run against an incumbent liberal president.

Anyway, I get the feeling that Trump is just being desperate? Running to run away from the law? Unless things go really bad economically, Trump shouldn't win. Unless DOJ is really dumb, Trump should be behind bars by then?

Worst case scenario is that we have a WW3 and Trump wins the WH again. Then we're probably fucked. With additional war powers, it'll probably be super easy to become a dictator... I pray that won't happen.

[HondaKid86]

*Love* that my rights/personhood are still up for Congressional debate in 2022. 🙄

[neanderthal]

I think Trump is running so he can hide behind the "democrats are interfering with the elections" if he does get charged. Bad news for him, him getting charged is completely independent of whether he is running. Merrick Garland just needs to hurry up and charge him already.

That said, by tossing his hat in the ring, he is tacitly admitting that he lost the vote in 2020. If he'd won, he would be president and unable to run for a third term.

I hope he runs as an independent and really fucks up the voting for the GOP incumbent. I want them to lose so badly that they go away and throw away their entire playbook.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Not sure whether to post it here or at crypto thread, but it's unfortunate the disgraced FTX CEO was the 2nd largest donor to the DNC thus giving rise to more bad conspiracy theories...

One of which, I think is plausible, was that FTX was dem establishment's attempt to capture the crypto-currencies... Anyway, this kid CEO's beginning was really sketchy. Started off back in 2013 at age of 21 buying and selling crypto... wonder where he got his initial money from. If there's really money laundering going on, who's gonna know?

Even Bernie Madoff sat on SEC's advisory board as well... so it's hard to say whether these swindlers played the system well or perhaps they were being used by the 'establishment' as one of their pawns...

[neanderthal]

Glenn Youngkin has just introduced a proposed K-5 curriculum that completely removes MLK from the history books.

The "small government" crew that wants to tell trans kids where to go to the bathroom, what books to read, who you can sleep with/ marry/ fuck, etc etc etc.

I think it's a smoke screen. Watch them closely, they may be doing the Trump taxes thing in the background while we agitate about the history books.

[neanderthal]

All through this last election cycle you heard Republicans bewailing inflation.

And their first action as the majority will be ... looking into Hunter Biden.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That is their play book all along. They believe dems are just bunch of evil crooked commies! Of course that's not entirely true. I just wish dems could treat their interns better... don't get their hands caught in the money jar... and also be able to explain to the american public that 'democratic' socialism isn't really that evil. Historically socialism only turned evil because of the dictators in charge...

Look, I didn't really mind Bill Clinton abusing his powers with his intern that much. However, I really became disillusioned when Obama failed to be transparent as promised. Snowden probably became even more disillusioned.

Yeah, democratic party isn't the same as republican party perhaps, but is it really better? Imagine the world we'd be in right now if Bill Clinton did not have that character flaw? If Obama could be more transparent? If Hunter Biden would just stay away from foreign companies?

Things would be so good that GOP candidates won't have a chance and Trump won't have any opportunity to run... and none of the conspiracy theories would be believable to anybody.

[MR2 Fan]

All through this last election cycle you heard Republicans bewailing inflation.

And their first action as the majority will be ... looking into Hunter Biden.

and that will really affect Hunter Biden's government position............oh wait

[Crazed_Insanity]

Let me preface by saying I do not prefer Trump nor GOP control of anything. I do believe dems to be somewhat better in general, but my confidence in the dems establishment continues slipping more and more...

DOJ couldn't get their story straight, claiming police opened the door, but body cam footage confirm Mr. Pelosi opened the door himself.

SEC is also more focused on Elon and Twitter and completely failed to notice FTX.

Anyway, one of the main reasons why I'm a proponent of Elon is because at least he has created something tangible. EVs and rockets are real and they are moving humanity forward..., whereas Trump built a lot of bogus crap. FTX's SBF created even more crap!

I think I'm beginning to understand why Biden doesn't like Elon and why Elon has pivoted away from the dems and moving away from CA. It's so weird that both Trump and Musk started off as dems, right? It is true that as people get older, they become more conservative, but their pivots are just too freaking extreme...

In order to truly make America greater/better... we need to be creating more solid and real stuffs and be able to work together... just my wishful thinking I guess.

[Rare White Ape]

Free speech daddy must be so happy with the way things are going.


On Thursday morning, Twitter’s internal Slack messaging system appeared relatively quiet, according to two employees and logs seen by The Times. Mr. Musk’s team had spent part of this week combing through messages or tweets that criticized him and the company, which led to the firing of about two dozen workers on Tuesday.

https://archive.ph/3DY4q?mibextid=Zxz2cZ

[Tom Servo]

Especially given reports that his "go hardcore and deal with long hours of high intensity work or resign" gambit appears to have lost him about 75% of the workers that are left. Reports that he's now trying to set up one-on-ones with some engineers that told him to go pound sand to try to convince them to stay. Those that are left are mostly H1B workers who, if they don't have another job lined up within a month or so are subject to deportation. You can guarantee that they are in the process of lining up that next job.

It has been astonishing how incredibly horrible he's been at this. Also, it's been a little thrilling seeing a more hysterical disaster on Twitter than the Ever Given getting stuck in the Suez Canal.

[FaultyMario]

LOL

[MR2 Fan]

The aura of Musk is wearing off for a lot of people I think. He could have stayed the billionaire "folk hero" but instead he had to get involved in trolling and more trolling by purchasing twitter thinking he was invincible and that somehow people will just follow him? Sad

[Rare White Ape]

Musk’s musk was stale back when he accused that diver of being a paedo.

I was off him prior to that. One doesn’t cultivate a cult of personality like that without some sort of rotten stench. The diver thing just solidified it for me.

Plus there is the whole diamond mine thing.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I really don’t understand why the diver needed to insult Elon for wanting to help and why Elon cannot insult back.

No insults should take place at all, but insults happened. Elon was definitely wrong, but I can understand why he tweeted that.

Anyway, there were plenty of Tesla short sellers. Probably even more Twitter short sellers now. Personally, I wouldn’t bet against Twitter. I won’t buy Twitter either. :p

However, I get the feeling Twitter could be turned around unlike FTX. Elon is a weird dude since he was born. Nobody likes him and nobody would hire him so he had to start his own company. Can’t judge an abnormal person as if he’s normal.

I’m an still glad Elon exists. I am particularly glad he started SpaceX.

If the ultimate goal for Twitter is really to compete with central bankers, I hope Elon will succeed too.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Plus there is the whole diamond mine thing.

I think it’s an emerald mine, but anyways… I just found this interesting snopes article detailing how they could not find any evidences to support that rumor/conspiracy, yet, the rumor isn’t rated as either true nor false… so people may believe whatever they want to believe then. ;)

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/11/17/elon-musk-emerald-mine/

[HondaKid86]

Christ.

The banality that keeps us from having a little utopian refuge.

[FaultyMario]

Ora, ora wey!

¡Yo pago mi mensualidad y eso me da todo el derecho de ser banal en el GTFXXX!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Banal? I thought it was quite original for snopes to find a rumor/conspiracy that they couldn't find evidences for and yet couldn't conclude whether if that it's true or false. Let's just wait and see... maybe we'll be able to dig up some evidences! ;)

Here's something more banal I just saw on FB:
I really hope Elon won't get into a scandal because Elongate will probably drag on forever! :p

[George]

So tired of hearing about Elon Musk. I wouldn't care or even notice if Twitter stopped existing. Tesla can go to hell too, for all I care.


[Musk was] thinking he was invincible and that somehow people will just follow him?

^ that reminds me of Trump.

They both need to just go away.

[MR2 Fan]

As much as twitter has a lot of good and bad, it has become important in the quick dissemination of information when news breaks. Yes, that also leads to a lot of potential for misinformation, but when you know of trusted sources, you can follow them. I often check twitter instead of checking mainstream U.S. news media outlets for updated information.

It has a very "town square of the internet" feel that most other sites do not, the way it is structured and even places like Mastodon won't really make up for that if Twitter goes away due to the different structure.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX failed because of lame leadership, surely there'll be another guy that comes along to keep those things going if there's really a huge demand for it. In our capitalistic world, I doubt business folks will pass up on whatever money making opportunities.

I just find it funny that news medias would pump these up and coming billionaires up as some sort of heros or saviors and then would mercilessly attack and destroy them once they're down as if they have nothing to do with their meteoric rise in the 1st place. Elon has at least created something more tangible. EVs, rockets and helped Ukrainians communicate better thru Starlink. What has SBF of FTX billed as possibly the next Warren Buffet by Fortune magazine done? Generated billions out of thin air... plastered its name all over the place including Mercedes F1 championship winning cars... donated to political parties... funneled money to/from Ukraine... Anyway, at least that's still better than Trump? Who's probably never even a billionaire? Who failed a multiple businesses and even failed to overthrow a government! What a loser... :p

I just find how the media... or the people who'd love and then hate some 'celebrities' in such a rapid pace amazing.

Anyway, it's probably this kind of rapid falling in love which help created monsters like Elizabeth Holmes and SBF and Trump.

I highly suspect people like Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk have some sort of mental/antisocial issues... they don't really care what other people think and they'll just keep on doing what they believe is the right thing to do. I think I might be sick with the same mental condition like them, just that I'm not as successful as them. :p Hopefully someday I can have some successes like them regarding making this world a slightly better place...

[HondaKid86]

They both need to just go away.

Has America actually tired of Trumpism, or was the recent GOP weakness just because Trump himself wasn't running?

I haven't gotten the sense of any kind of moderation in the conversations I overhear. Have you?

I'd love to believe America is exhausted by The Trump Show by now, but honestly, I doubt it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Compared to DeSantis, clearly Trump has lost his edge.

However, on a national level, we probably cannot always count the blue wave always able to beat red wave. Marginal blue victory doesn't mean GOP is now weak.

Ideal situation is DOJ putting Trump away before 2024 so we don't have to find out what might happen... and hopefully we can contain DeSantis in Florida... and,lastly, we end up with a democratic president who'd actually care for average american citizens more than rich american citizens.

[MR2 Fan]

If Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX failed because of lame leadership, surely there'll be another guy that comes along to keep those things going if there's really a huge demand for it. In our capitalistic world, I doubt business folks will pass up on whatever money making opportunities.

Sure, like Myspace, Friendster, Google+....

[Rare White Ape]

Tesla is about to receive a big reckoning. It will soon have to truly compete with actual well established car brands in the electric space, which they’ve had all to themselves since they started.

They’ve been able to get away with selling $20k cars with a $40k price tag for over a decade. How are they going to compete with VW and Hyundai and Toyota and all the rest of them when they start selling electric cars for $20k?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sure, like Myspace, Friendster, Google+....

Companies do come and go, but Facebook became the social media platform. Google replaced yahoo as the search engine. Names obviously might change, but the final end product will probably be very similar and also better.

There’s no reason to believe no EV makes will ever surpass Tesla. Twitter might even disappear, but similar platforms for sure will take its place if demand is really there.

No point lamenting that we don’t have horse carriages anymore or no more public phones or no more news papers… Twitter will either survive or something better will take its place.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Tesla is about to receive a big reckoning. It will soon have to truly compete with actual well established car brands in the electric space, which they’ve had all to themselves since they started.

They’ve been able to get away with selling $20k cars with a $40k price tag for over a decade. How are they going to compete with VW and Hyundai and Toyota and all the rest of them when they start selling electric cars for $20k?

Bolt EV is now the cheapest at $28k. That’s what I’d buy if I need a daily commuter in the future.

However, Bolt is like a regular android phone, but Tesla cars are pitched as Apple phones…

[Tom Servo]

New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.

Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.

You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.

Lol, first order of business is instituting shadowbanning, the main thing the ultra-right claimed Twitter was wrongfully doing to them.

Sorry George. I'm happy to start a "Let's watch Elon step on many rakes" thread to get his nonsense out of here if you'd like. But I am getting so much schadenfreude-y entertainment out of this, I know I won't be able to stop myself from posting.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think it's definitely worth considering having a dedicated Elongation thread so that we can document the implosion of twitter or perhaps a rebirth of twitter? No question Elon is unorthodox, but if anyone's gonna change and improve anything for the better, he's probably the guy. He did so with Tesla. He reinvented the rocket, doesn't matter how the russians and the apollo astronauts were laughing at him... so... yeah. Let's wait and see if he's still the same old Elon or did he lose his mind...

[George]

Sorry George. I'm happy to start a "Let's watch Elon step on many rakes" thread to get his nonsense out of here if you'd like. But I am getting so much schadenfreude-y entertainment out of this, I know I won't be able to stop myself from posting.

Oh, no. You guys please go on! I'll even join in, as I guess I already have.

It just seems like he's on every news source all the time lately. Give us a break! Isn't there some other news? :)

[neanderthal]

As much as twitter has a lot of good and bad, it has become important in the quick dissemination of information when news breaks. Yes, that also leads to a lot of potential for misinformation, but when you know of trusted sources, you can follow them. I often check twitter instead of checking mainstream U.S. news media outlets for updated information.

It has a very "town square of the internet" feel that most other sites do not, the way it is structured and even places like Mastodon won't really make up for that if Twitter goes away due to the different structure.

There are so many people who rely on twitter to disseminate real information. People in countries with authoritarian governments, etc. I believe the spring uprising (or whatever i was called) was dues to agitators having access to twitter and being able to spread real information, not propaganda. same thing with the current Iran uprising.

There aere disabled people who rely on it and other small marginalised peoples.

Fuck Elon Musk.

And of course billi would be the none wanting to sniff his jock ...

[Rare White Ape]

Bolt EV is now the cheapest at $28k. That’s what I’d buy if I need a daily commuter in the future.

However, Bolt is like a regular android phone, but Tesla cars are pitched as Apple phones…

I'm talking about when small 3-door hatchbacks become available in massive quantities.

I'm talking about when small 3-door hatchbacks are sporting 200 kW AWD electric powertrains in a 1000 kg body.

I'm talking about when Leon gets a second-hand GR Yaris with three electric motors making 400 HP (car #112 he will shout) and takes it rallying.

Tesla may have advanced electric cars with some Apple-style marketing and presentation, but it will never be able to exist alongside established mass-market manufacturers who actually know how to build a quality car. They will sink, and someone like GM or Ford will scoop up the pieces.

[Crazed_Insanity]

There are so many people who rely on twitter to disseminate real information. People in countries with authoritarian governments, etc. I believe the spring uprising (or whatever i was called) was dues to agitators having access to twitter and being able to spread real information, not propaganda. same thing with the current Iran uprising.

There aere disabled people who rely on it and other small marginalised peoples.

Fuck Elon Musk.

And of course billi would be the none wanting to sniff his jock ...

Not really sniffing anything nor do I really want to be that hardcore and work for him… just saying I used to laugh at him throwing away his own money building EVs and reuse able rockets…, but now he’s probably laughing at me and the company I’m working for…

Yeah they’re all billionaires and acting like dicks sometimes, but I really don’t think Elon’s companies are anything like Trump’s or FTX or Enron or Lehman bros…

I just don’t blindly support whoever dem establishment supports or attack whoever dem establishment attacks. Wait and see is probably a better approach in times like these.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I'm talking about when small 3-door hatchbacks become available in massive quantities.

I'm talking about when small 3-door hatchbacks are sporting 200 kW AWD electric powertrains in a 1000 kg body.

I'm talking about when Leon gets a second-hand GR Yaris with three electric motors making 400 HP (car #112 he will shout) and takes it rallying.

Tesla may have advanced electric cars with some Apple-style marketing and presentation, but it will never be able to exist alongside established mass-market manufacturers who actually know how to build a quality car. They will sink, and someone like GM or Ford will scoop up the pieces.

I’d totally believe you 10 years ago. At this stage, not sure why you think GM and Ford can beat him…, unless Biden does something to help? Tesla is already eating Mercedes and BMW’s lunch and they can’t build enough to meet demand!

For sure Tesla valuation is too high, but I don’t see how it’s market share would suddenly implode and sink. Tesla quality has always been lagging behind, but it's slowly improving. This year, I'm shocked to find Mercedes at the bottom of the list in consumer report...

As usual Toyota/Lexus is on top as with most asian automakers. However, EV tax credit will give US built EVs some advantage. At $7500, Bolt EV will really be a $20k car! I do hope GM and Ford will be able to do well too, but car makers don't have to be Tesla killers in order to be successful. :p

[Tom Servo]

Oh, no. You guys please go on! I'll even join in, as I guess I already have.

It just seems like he's on every news source all the time lately. Give us a break! Isn't there some other news? :)

They say that every day on Twitter, someone is the main character, and your goal every day is to not be that person. Elon has managed to make himself that person for a couple of weeks straight.

[sandydandy]

Trump is back on Twitter.

Um…hooray?

[Rare White Ape]

Shit gon get messy.

Excellent.

[HondaKid86]

Trump is back on Twitter.



Never been more confident and glad in my decision to uninstall Twitter and leave a permanent away message.

And I'm thrilled my colleagues in automotive OEM marketing are thinking along the same lines.

More than ever, Trumpism has caused society to consider what is "politics" versus what is common human decency. We have uncovered some ugly American tendencies. But now that they're exposed, hopefully we can work through them — despite all the whining and crying from "conservatives" who only care about conserving white supremacy.

[HondaKid86]

I wish the impending pathetic hillbilly infighting had at least one Palin involved. If we have to face the second Dark Ages head-on, we could at least add slutty pumps and drunken brawling to the mix.

Maybe that's why Australia and Mexico and Hong Kong follow our politics. We're not the global conscience anymore, but damn, do we know how to cast a trainwreck.

[Rare White Ape]

Trumpism has caused society to consider what is "politics" versus what is common human decency.

Damn that's such a good way to view it.

[FaultyMario]

businessman that he is, he did not bite. he knows his dumpster fire of a social media service can benefit from twittergeddon.

[Tom Servo]

I'm also seeing reports that in Truth Social filings with the SEC, Trump is contractually obligated to post things on Truth Social first and then wait at least six hours to post anywhere else. So this might not be him being smart.

[Rare White Ape]

A narcissist like Trump would be eager to get his opinions out to the biggest audience.

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/11/eli-lilly-ceo-says-insulin-tweet-flap-probably-signals-need-to-bring-down-cost/amp/

Something good might come out of this Twitter dumpster fire?

Eli Lilly can hopefully lower their high insulin cost by no longer advertising on Twitter? Healthcare cost is just nuts in US making affordable healthcare impossible. Thanks to the impostor for bringing this to national attention.

[HondaKid86]

“You can draw a straight line from the false and vile rhetoric about LGBTQ people spread by extremists and amplified across social media, to the nearly 300 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this year, to the dozens of attacks on our community like this one,” GLAAD’s president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, said.

[Tom Servo]

In the meantime, "Libs of Tik Tok" is taking a victory lap by posting about another upcoming drag queen brunch elsewhere in Colorado. Guess five deaths ain't enough for her.

Oh, and *shockingly*, she's one of the people that Elon's been nice and chatty with.

[Tom Servo]

An Army Veteran Says He Went Into ‘Combat Mode’ to Disarm the Gunman (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/us/colorado-springs-shooting-club-q-hero.html?unlocked_article_code=ktme2vtq16ZYlfYK1j la1MBgKgBRn8QMLt3n9NqfOpL9dSRxuYe3bMPFRNQKqoezCMxq JybDgK8_83zG-7VEDTdGSjw0QTIzs5zXorgAe4R1F8-uSjhr_dk1K0SBz8hPoplMAHFeR-D7-q9fHA4ReMIn310D7TxkEem_KevdR9Cebq0i2V9AmRtkM34OUdM 1QVsimbUQvl449jsI9SykrxQEp0l6QVH2jN3OiAdfVOTBKwDGi f8wVgnjg4kbXlbvHGTq8UQ4J2qkyHnwJReAJqP9c6GRGVq2XE9 BYK4pMrUoHnBcAciM-crpju1e8y99eItjFzc4PUlSkuDA18FDfTygBSVXrLGwwVk&smid=share-url)

[Crazed_Insanity]

It’s really depressing that we Americans need to get ourselves into combat mode on American soil… what is wrong with us?

Anyway, still very thankful for this hero though, could’ve been a lot more casualties if it weren’t for him.

[2ndMoparMan]

It’s really depressing that we Americans need to get ourselves into combat mode on American soil… what is wrong with us?

Anyway, still very thankful for this hero though, could’ve been a lot more casualties if it weren’t for him.

Well, if we wern't passing laws against the LBGTQIA community...

[Crazed_Insanity]

AFAIK, we did not pass laws encouraging or legalizing slaughtering them. If we do have bunch of laws limiting LBGTQIA community and oppressing the hell out of them, why would that encourage haters to kill more of them?

Just as if we could continue on with slavery, that'd encourage the slave owners to kill more of their properties? If we ban slavery, then white supremacists would all of a sudden cease to be racists and not harm black people? Racists will be racists. Killers will kill.

Our issues are deeper than just laws.

[Rare White Ape]

It's because of normalisation, Billi. The ones who hate queer people push to introduce laws against them and say a bunch of shit in the media.

That normalises it.

Then that normalisation has a darker underside, which is radicalisation. I am sure you have heard of it. I should not need to explain it.

It causes people to commit acts of violence against communities they hate, for whom we have some very close friends.

And it is caused by religion.

The fact that you continue to be part of a religion and fail to use every last ounce of your energy to condemn it means that YOU are part of the problem.

End of story.

[Crazed_Insanity]

You think I believe Jesus Christ is for killing LBGTQIA people? The scripture I've read never talked about killing sinners (we are all sinners, including myself), doesn't matter what letter you think you are. The fact that you think Jesus and Christianity and I am part of the problem means that we must be the problem.

So yeah, end of the story I guess. Yeah, I suppose you're right. Billi and people like him are the problem. If only we could kill them all off, the world would be a better place. Fuck Billi and his kind... them mutherfoquers!:mad:

[Rare White Ape]

The word 'religion' and 'religious' come up 28 times in this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia

The first occurrence is at the end of the second sentence in the first paragraph.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yes, foque the bible. We can now just use wikipedia to justify our hatred for Billi and his kind. Foque them!

If only Billi and religions could go away, humanity would be able to totally embrace homosexuality and cease to hate one another simply because they can't agree on stuffs. People are now in combat mode all because of religion... That dead Jesus on the cross clearly demonstrated we all need to be more combative... or otherwise we'll get nailed!

[HondaKid86]

Let's just keep debating whether rhetoric leads to violence as blood spills in the streets.

How do you guys have the patience?

[Crazed_Insanity]

That wasn't a debate. It was unanimous! Billi and religions caused homophobia. We ended the debate right there. No more need for patience. If one day we could kill them all off, you'd have your utopia.

[HondaKid86]

You don't need to be killed off, Billi.
You need to learn when to back off your ideology.

Way to make this about you, though.
A very common theme among both Christians and conservatives in a time of tragedy.

[HondaKid86]

Billi after a mass shooting: "Nobody actually *said outright* they wanted to kill gay people, guys."

Also Billi: "Why are you guys calling for Christians to be killed off?"

The gaslighting so common in American "politics", right here on display for us. And politicians are all too willing to exploit these new behaviors for their own gain — no matter who actually has to die for it.

[Tom Servo]

I thought when I stopped engaging with him he might be less off-the-rails. I am saddened to find out I was wrong. Doesn't mean I'm about to start engaging though.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Billi after a mass shooting: "Nobody actually *said outright* they wanted to kill gay people, guys."

Also Billi: "Why are you guys calling for Christians to be killed off?"

The gaslighting so common in American "politics", right here on display for us. And politicians are all too willing to exploit these new behaviors for their own gain — no matter who actually has to die for it.

Hey, I’m just agreeing with RWA that religion sucks! People who believe in Jesus like myself also suck! If they don’t exist, humanity would’ve embraced homosexuality without any problems. I wasn’t debating anything.

[2ndMoparMan]

Hey, I’m just agreeing with RWA that religion sucks! People who believe in Jesus like myself also suck! If they don’t exist, humanity would’ve embraced homosexuality without any problems. I wasn’t debating anything.

You're correct.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Exactly! So why are people still upset with my agreement?

[2ndMoparMan]

Exactly! So why are people still upset with my agreement?

Probably cause they think you were being sarcastic. I wasn't.

[Tom Servo]

Huh, Chad Loder, a left-wing activist (and, imho, an extremely annoying one) just got banned on Twitter for no discernible reason.

It's almost like Elon Musk isn't actually a free-speech absolutist even on his own platform.

EDIT: I see the reason. He called out Elon's claim that no left-leaning person had ever been permabanned by listing off a number of people who had been. Then he got permabanned. Way to show 'em, Elon, that'll totally prove that they hadn't been banned.

[neanderthal]

It's because of normalisation, Billi. The ones who hate queer people push to introduce laws against them and say a bunch of shit in the media.

That normalises it.

Then that normalisation has a darker underside, which is radicalisation. I am sure you have heard of it. I should not need to explain it.

It causes people to commit acts of violence against communities they hate, for whom we have some very close friends.

And it is caused by religion.

The fact that you continue to be part of a religion and fail to use every last ounce of your energy to condemn it means that YOU are part of the problem.

End of story.

billi always professes naivete with the world while he sides with many of the people who are empowering and emboldening the very people he claims to naive about. Mr "both sides are the same" can never parse the difference on all manner of items, claiming insinuating that the Democrats shortcomings are hurting the working class as much as the GQPs lies and rhetoric.

He also embraces his religion and touts it when he is literally the least christian person I can profess to knowing. "Jesus was a radical," he shouts, "he wouldn't have watered down Obamacare to cater to Republicans" while ignoring that Jesus, Christ Almighty, could have smote the entire Roman colonial powers with a few words, but chose to take on the body and form of man for his mission. I'm pretty sure a radical Jesus would have plagued the Romans with any number of ailments up to and including death, but no, he lived as a man, and was abiding by the rules and norms of society.

But lets not let that distract is from how fucking feckless he (billi) is.

[neanderthal]

So, 7 days, and 7 mass shootings.

That's it. That's the entire post.

[Crazed_Insanity]

You might as well blame all those shootings on radical Billi and religions as well? If God and people like Billi don’t exist, this world could be utopian! Strike that, God obviously doesn’t exist, if religions could cease to exist, humans should be able to get along without any problems!

[Yw-slayer]

In another jurisdiction, finally:

Rakyat Hidup, Bersatu Dan Maju

[Rikadyn]

Huh, Chad Loder, a left-wing activist (and, imho, an extremely annoying one) just got banned on Twitter for no discernible reason.

It's almost like Elon Musk isn't actually a free-speech absolutist even on his own platform.

EDIT: I see the reason. He called out Elon's claim that no left-leaning person had ever been permabanned by listing off a number of people who had been. Then he got permabanned. Way to show 'em, Elon, that'll totally prove that they hadn't been banned.

Dude, the number of left leaning groups and people getting banned right now is ridiculous. Elm Forks John Brown Gun Club who recently protected a drag show from right wingers was banned, Crimethinc got banned because Andy Ngo urged Elon to. At the same time as all the neo-nazi's get amnesty.

[Tom Servo]

Yep, I've been seeing that too. Both Ngo and Ian Miles Cheong appear to have direct lines to Elon to just get him to ban people. Interesting that Elon's running around banning a bunch of left-leaning accounts while simultaneously claiming he's bringing about "amnesty" for all accounts that haven't said anything that would be illegal.

But hey, he did re-instate Romana Didulo's account, so now the QAnon-adjacent self-professed Queen of Canada can go back to posting. Oh, and he's reinstating the accounts of some of the nice folks at The Daily Stormer, the Neo-Nazi site.

Every time you see Musk start a tweet claiming he's politically neutral, read it in the same voice you would read "Look, I'm not racist, but..."

[Rare White Ape]

Some happier political news: to nobody’s surprise (and to the Murdoch press’s infinite annoyance) the Victorian Labor party has been returned to government for the third election in a row.

Premier Dan Andrews has led the most progressive state government in Australia for a number of years now. People in our country are good at seeing right through the bullshit and right now we are the most progressive that this country has ever been.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yep, I've been seeing that too. Both Ngo and Ian Miles Cheong appear to have direct lines to Elon to just get him to ban people. Interesting that Elon's running around banning a bunch of left-leaning accounts while simultaneously claiming he's bringing about "amnesty" for all accounts that haven't said anything that would be illegal.

But hey, he did re-instate Romana Didulo's account, so now the QAnon-adjacent self-professed Queen of Canada can go back to posting. Oh, and he's reinstating the accounts of some of the nice folks at The Daily Stormer, the Neo-Nazi site.

Every time you see Musk start a tweet claiming he's politically neutral, read it in the same voice you would read "Look, I'm not racist, but..."

I’d like to think that I’m pretty neutral. You guys tend to think that I’m a racist, homophobic sympathizer… and folks like roofer would think that I’m a communist. ;)

Anyway, if I were to make fun of or insult GTX admins and logon as impersonators, what would happen to me? People on the left are leaving Twitter anyways… to me, it’s similar to the Thai diver incident. It’s okay for him to insult Elon for trying to help, but as soon as Elon insults back, oh that’s all of a sudden so offensive?

There’s some sort of double standard going on. We can’t have conspiracies when we question people on the left; however, it’s perfectly okay to assume Elon is probably a racist and his family probably owned slaves that mines emeralds… even though we don’t have solid evidences yet. It’s okay to just assume that because it fits the racist narrative. A rich white guy is probably a slave owning nazi. His EVs and rockets also naturally suck. If possible, we should cancel him and everything that he created because we don’t need anything the racist wanker created? If you like Tesla or SpaceX, you must be a nazi too?

Look, nobody’s perfect. I really don’t think we need to politicize everything like this.

The left is trying to cancel Elon, is it really unreasonable for him to NOT also try to piss off people on the right too?

Billi can afford to truly stay neutral and piss both sides off because I’m not a business man and I have nothing to lose. So I can afford to stay true to myself.

FWIW, I do think Elon has pivoted a bit too much to the right. Again, just like when he called that rescuer a pedo, I can understand why and not get so totally offended. If I can be so offensive and you can’t bear reading my post, naturally you probably can’t stand Elon even more. Still, I wish you and most folks on the left can not get so easily offended.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Some happier political news: to nobody’s surprise (and to the Murdoch press’s infinite annoyance) the Victorian Labor party has been returned to government for the third election in a row.

Premier Dan Andrews has led the most progressive state government in Australia for a number of years now. People in our country are good at seeing right through the bullshit and right now we are the most progressive that this country has ever been.

I’m honestly happy for you guys. I think this pandemic has demonstrated how a more progressive govt helped saved more lives all over the globe!

I wish US could be more progressive too. However, I also have to give credit to US for coming up with most effective vaccines. Some of our crazy freedom loving citizens probably died needlessly, but their ‘sacrifices’ probably also helped us open up and get used to this virus faster compared to other nations? Covid 0 policy has been shown to be the least effective at this stage.

[Dicknose]

Some happier political news: to nobody’s surprise (and to the Murdoch press’s infinite annoyance) the Victorian Labor party has been returned to government for the third election in a row.

Premier Dan Andrews has led the most progressive state government in Australia for a number of years now. People in our country are good at seeing right through the bullshit and right now we are the most progressive that this country has ever been.

Labor (left) didn't really gain much support, but the Liberals (right wing) lost support to independents who are marketed as "teal". These are basically very middle of the road right voters who can afford to be left leaning on social issues. They generally dont like the right moving more extreme and now have a viable option. Since Zali Steggal got elected as an independent using this teal style it seems to have grown. Its not a party, just a style.

But it shows that here that many of the right voters, who wouldn't vote Labor, would happily vote for a more middle independent than our right wing party.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I keep on forgetting your liberals are on the right… thanks for the parentheses… :p

Bernie Sanders should start a Labor Party just like you guys!

[Rare White Ape]

But it shows that here that many of the right voters, who wouldn't vote Labor, would happily vote for a more middle independent than our right wing party.

This is what the LNP is missing. They're too busy chasing the cooker vote and protecting the interests of coal mining exploiters to realise what the fuck's going on. It's truly hilarious. Maybe they should look after their own interests for once and actually try to form government. The NSW LNP risks the voters going teal and losing to Labor. The writing is on the wall.

I predict the teal movement will form into a party and displace the LNP. Now is a good opportunity to do it. In 10 years time they might replace it outright, but I have my fingers crossed that it doesn't mean that we simply end up where we are now.

And hopefully it pushes Labor further to the left, but only slightly. I am super comfortable with where it stands now. If you were to ask me what I would have Labor change, I'd say wind back the police stuff, and increase welfare.

[Yw-slayer]

Presumably Billi is wailing that the DPP got whacked big-time lol

Result is not in-line with western English language media lionisation narrative of course.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Seriously, I think I'm politically neutral... whether in the States or in Taiwan. Of course being neutral most of the time means neither side likes me. ;) I have no issues with Taiwan reunifying with China, just that I don't want it by force. China has enticed Taiwanese businessmen with money and that worked to lure them in. Other similar policies need to be in place to lure other types of people in. If most of the Taiwanese end up wanting to reunify, that'd be great! Now for such desire to even be possible, dictatorship must end 1st. That is not up to the Taiwanese.

Hopefully the Chinese people will be able to do that. I'm sure the Western media is lying about protests happening all over china against the covid 0 policy. Regardless of whether those reports are true or not, my prayer is for Xi and Putin to eventually go away or repent of their current ways. There are better ways to fight the West and make this world a better place.

Back to Taiwan mid term election, its supreme court didn't really make any stupid calls like US... so nothing major happened to rile up the younger voters... so the nationalist's tsunami wave won bunch of local mayors/governors... even the proposition to let 18 yr olds vote failed to pass. It was not the best outcome, but somewhat expected though. Younger voters typically have more important things to do than to go back to their home district to cast a vote when they're not energized with anything... In the US, we really have the Supreme Courts amazingly stupid ruling to thank for canceling out the coming red tsunami.

My wife and her family are pure Taiwanese and pretty 'green' and they were wailing for a bit. My side of the family is pretty 'blue' and they were probably cheering. I was surprised to learn my mom actually loves Xi! She actually has a separated sister who lives in China but she hates Xi though. Should I side with my own mom who escape the communists to live in Taiwan/US or should I side with my aunt who actually lives in China and experienced CCP first hand? I think my mom's main issue with the green progressive party is because they are for gay marriages. Her mind is just too conservative and that's why she prefers having the dictator in place to just force everyone to fall in line... but the world just doesn't work this way mom... BTW, she was also trying to prevent me from getting baptized because we're suppose to be Buddhists. My mom likes to rule with an iron fist. Of course I won't let her rule me anymore, but I do try to have an otherwise good relationship with her as long as I play the System... don't talk about politics, religions and sex. ;)

[Tom Servo]

DPP

The Diabetes Prevention Program?

[Tom Servo]

Dude, the number of left leaning groups and people getting banned right now is ridiculous. Elm Forks John Brown Gun Club who recently protected a drag show from right wingers was banned, Crimethinc got banned because Andy Ngo urged Elon to. At the same time as all the neo-nazi's get amnesty.

Yep, it's not just us noticing this.

https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/

[Crazed_Insanity]

Dude, the number of left leaning groups and people leaving twitter making fun or insulting Elon right now seems ridiculous too!

Anyway, Trump, president of the US, really shouldn't be banned. Similarly, journalists shouldn't be banned. However, considering that there's a mass exodus of users and employees and the company is near collapse, do you guys really expect Elon to run a tight ship without any issues?

Elon is an experienced expert at pushing out original founders of near bankrupted company and then turn it around to be a huge global leader. (See Tesla)

If anyone's gonna turn Twitter around, it'll be Elon Musk.

Of course, it's also very possible that Elon has lost his mind like Howard Hughes near the end? I don't know him personally, but time will tell.

For now, if you really hate Elon, feel free to personally cancel him. Don't use Twitter, don't buy Tesla and don't fly SpaceX! Actually I don't have a Twitter account and have no intention to sign up now... I also can't afford a Tesla nor can I afford a ticket into space yet... So I guess I'm against Elon too! :p

I still think it's freaking ridiculous that Biden believes GM is the global EV leader. If you were Elon Musk, why would you still be a democrat? Yes, extreme political ideologies will cause people to see alternate realities. The right tend to ignore fundamental sciences such as evolution or climate change and the left will ignore progress and probably think Tesla and SpaceX are a threat to climate change. People really need to stop migrating toward the poles and come back toward the middle equator some more...

[Rare White Ape]

Yep, it's not just us noticing this.

https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/

Hooley Dooley, thanks for posting that. It’s educational.

Nobody says this in the article, and the article author doesn’t outright state it, and I’m drawing my own conclusions…

BUT

It seems like Musk may be taking direct action at the behest of certain groups.

Seems like.

I dunno…

Without evidence it’s pretty slanderous.

And I can’t say for sure.

But it seems like it’s happening.

But maybe he is all about the freeze peach and he’s just playing a joke because he has a billionaire brain and we just don’t see it yet.

But until then…

It doesn’t look that way, does it?

[Tom Servo]

It sure does look like he's another red-pilled dipshit, doesn't it?

[neanderthal]

Dude, the number of left leaning groups and people leaving twitter making fun or insulting Elon right now seems ridiculous too!

Anyway, Trump, president of the US, really shouldn't be banned. Similarly, journalists shouldn't be banned. However, considering that there's a mass exodus of users and employees and the company is near collapse, do you guys really expect Elon to run a tight ship without any issues?

Elon is an experienced expert at pushing out original founders of near bankrupted company and then turn it around to be a huge global leader. (See Tesla)

If anyone's gonna turn Twitter around, it'll be Elon Musk.

Of course, it's also very possible that Elon has lost his mind like Howard Hughes near the end? I don't know him personally, but time will tell.

For now, if you really hate Elon, feel free to personally cancel him. Don't use Twitter, don't buy Tesla and don't fly SpaceX! Actually I don't have a Twitter account and have no intention to sign up now... I also can't afford a Tesla nor can I afford a ticket into space yet... So I guess I'm against Elon too! :p

I still think it's freaking ridiculous that Biden believes GM is the global EV leader. If you were Elon Musk, why would you still be a democrat? Yes, extreme political ideologies will cause people to see alternate realities. The right tend to ignore fundamental sciences such as evolution or climate change and the left will ignore progress and probably think Tesla and SpaceX are a threat to climate change. People really need to stop migrating toward the poles and come back toward the middle equator some more...

Jesus H fucking Christ, you are dense. Elon Musk shoots himself in the foot and people, rightfully comment that, dude, perhaps you shouldn't be doing this, and you say they are attacking him? well, lets see.

He bought Twitter. After not nearly buying it. Then, he fired the execs, and fired a bunch of people who told him what he was doing wrong or getting wrong about the numbers and how twitter works. Rightfully, a bunch of mostly minority and disabled people commented that since he purchased it, they were being attacked more and being verbally abused. So, he, of course, disbanded the unit that mostly dealt with that. He also let anyone be "verified" if they paid $8, which led to multiple scam/ spam/ false accounts being registered and Eli Lilly amongst others, losing billions in market value. Now he's picking a fight with Apple, who have a huge share of the phone market, and is basically goading them into banning the app from their platform. Then ...

Dude, he's fucking around and finding out. Dassit. But you just love sucking up to him don't you. You love to sniff his jock strap.

Trump literally incited violence and people died, Twitter, rightfully, banned him, and you're "he shouldn't be banned" because you like siding with fascists and dictator types.

You are a rock dumb fuckwit. And that association is an insult to rocks. and fuckwits.

[Tom Servo]

When antisemitism becomes a moral necessity.

https://i.imgur.com/y8nogia.jpg

[Crazed_Insanity]

When antisemitism becomes a moral necessity.

https://i.imgur.com/y8nogia.jpg
Tweets are short. Read the last part of the sentence. Hell is about to break loose when THAT happens. He’s not saying discrimination against Jews is morally necessary.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Jesus H fucking Christ, you are dense. Elon Musk shoots himself in the foot and people, rightfully comment that, dude, perhaps you shouldn't be doing this, and you say they are attacking him? well, lets see.

He bought Twitter. After not nearly buying it. Then, he fired the execs, and fired a bunch of people who told him what he was doing wrong or getting wrong about the numbers and how twitter works. Rightfully, a bunch of mostly minority and disabled people commented that since he purchased it, they were being attacked more and being verbally abused. So, he, of course, disbanded the unit that mostly dealt with that. He also let anyone be "verified" if they paid $8, which led to multiple scam/ spam/ false accounts being registered and Eli Lilly amongst others, losing billions in market value. Now he's picking a fight with Apple, who have a huge share of the phone market, and is basically goading them into banning the app from their platform. Then ...

Dude, he's fucking around and finding out. Dassit. But you just love sucking up to him don't you. You love to sniff his jock strap.

Trump literally incited violence and people died, Twitter, rightfully, banned him, and you're "he shouldn't be banned" because you like siding with fascists and dictator types.

You are a rock dumb fuckwit. And that association is an insult to rocks. and fuckwits.

He used Twitter to tell those people to go home!

Let’s lawfully convict him of something and lock him up before we try to ban or cancel him please!

Eli Lilly is a scum bag of a company charging way too much for insulin. That tweet forced its ceo to rethink their ridiculous pricing.

All you guys can think of is Elon is the scum and feeling sorry for Eli Lilly?

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/11/eli-lilly-ceo-says-insulin-tweet-flap-probably-signals-need-to-bring-down-cost/amp/

Vial of insulin priced at $275. Even generic version is $80 when it costs them $2~6 to make…

[Yw-slayer]

The Diabetes Prevention Program?

Now he's angry that you don't know about his true love forever party.

[George]

You are a rock dumb fuckwit.

*spits out coffee*

:lol:

[JSGeneral]

The Diabetes Prevention Program?

YOLO GOLO!


(/s)

[Tom Servo]

Well, Ye's big presidential campaign sure started out with a bang today, didn't it?

[2ndMoparMan]

I just don't understand how people can still support him.

[MR2 Fan]

technically you couldn't see his face because......he's kanye....now he can claim plausible deniability or some bullshit. I'd say he's gone off the deep end but that was a while ago, he's way past that

[Tom Servo]

Well, he did have a bunch of other people, including Jones, tweet from his account via his phone. Makes it harder to claim that much deniability. He also went on to post about it on Twitter. I think maybe some of the weirder QAnon corners of the internet might claim there's a possibility it wasn't him, but I don't think it'd make it any farther than the people who think that Joe Biden is a clone.

[Rare White Ape]

Ye had been…

Wait for it…

Banned from Twitter

lolololololololololololol

[Rare White Ape]

Maybe Musk DOES know how to make jokes out of things other than himself.

[Tom Servo]

Maybe, but he also claimed it was for "incitement to violence." It is, in no way under a US legal definition, an incitement to violence to express support for Nazis and Hitler. A lot of the anti-trans accounts like LibsOfTikTok are arguably closer to that definition (but do a good job of skirting what's legally permissible) and they are not facing the same scrutiny.

He's mad about the picture of him getting hosed down that Ye posted and, like @dril, does not want the newspaper to post that he was mad.

[HondaKid86]

Is Kanye trolling, episodic or sincere?

It's hard to believe these are seriously his thoughts.

Is there a long game we're missing here, or am I just desperately trying to avoid the reality of just how stupid our simulation has become in the last 20 years?

Were the 1990s really like this?
Pointless Russian wars (I guess it was way worse)
Trumpism (organized actionable racism)
Zillionaires behaving badly
Pandemic
Calamity

I just feel like the '90s was about saving the whales and stopping Aids and excellent music and the worst thing that happened was an extracurricular beej.

[Tom Servo]

I think they're absolutely sincere, but they're the thoughts of a man with untreated mental illness that's been caught in the thrall of people like Nick Fuentes and Milo Yianopolous.

There's no way this is just straight up trolling.

[Rare White Ape]

I think it’s just a cycle of RWFWs making themselves look like absolute dunces every now and then, and it’s reaching a crescendo.

They haven’t peaked yet.

But keep a weary eye on them.

[Rare White Ape]

Latest I’m hearing on the grapevine (via my union) is that the numbers of Twitter employees sacked over the last few weeks are leading to the largest industrial action from tech employees in the USA since the dotcom boom in the late 90s.

These internet (and other, including Musk-owned companies) megaliths have been slowly chipping away at making sure their wage bills stay low, and this has seen a huge influx of people finally taking action to battle for their rights in the workplace.

What a fucking clusterfuck for the money hoarders among us. I’ll lose plenty of sleep over this, I am sure.

[sandydandy]

I think they're absolutely sincere, but they're the thoughts of a man with untreated mental illness that's been caught in the thrall of people like Nick Fuentes and Milo Yianopolous.

There's no way this is just straight up trolling. Agreed. It's sad to watch Kanye's public meltdown. He needs to be institutionalized because he's saying things that shouldn't be said, and it's costing him everything.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Is Kanye trolling, episodic or sincere?

It's hard to believe these are seriously his thoughts.

Is there a long game we're missing here, or am I just desperately trying to avoid the reality of just how stupid our simulation has become in the last 20 years?

Were the 1990s really like this?
Pointless Russian wars (I guess it was way worse)
Trumpism (organized actionable racism)
Zillionaires behaving badly
Pandemic
Calamity

I just feel like the '90s was about saving the whales and stopping Aids and excellent music and the worst thing that happened was an extracurricular beej.

As detailed in the crypto thread, I’m beginning to think these cycles of centralization and individual freedom is about 40 years apart. Right now is probably a period of peak centralization, when it’s more popular to think in terms of ‘we’. ‘We’ all should come together to fight climate change. Green new deal can be possible if dems win more seats… Europeans are also joined together in an union… fighting against that, such as Brexit, seems like a dumb move, but inevitably during period of peak centralization, some people will continue to fight against that in the name of individual freedom.

40 years ago was the complete opposite. During the 1980s, ‘l’ was more popular. Republicans were also more popular! We had a movie star President and we had this odd ball unique looking celeb Michael Jackson, probably the best symbol of individualism? There’s just nobody like him! Artistically, there were also lots of cool original works! Top Gun Maverick wasn’t a team player and that was cool. 40 years later things only got worse for Maverick, not to mention movies seems mostly to be sequels…

Anyway, so my point is that in order to compare our current history more appropriately to the past, we probably need to go back another 40 years… 1940s! During that ‘we’ time, we really achieved the New Deal! But we also had somebody worst than Trump in Germany…

Silver lining is that at least we were NOT as bad as we were during the 1940s… hopefully things won’t progress any worse… perhaps history was on track to repeat itself again, but thankfully a global pandemic dampen things down a bit? Trump was removed, but we also didn't quite get the Green New Deal...

Anyway, if this cyclical trend repeats itself, now is likely the time the trend reverses itself. ‘I’ movements will gain momentum until it peaks 40 years later in 2060.

As for Kanye…, who really cares? Will he be part of our political history at all? Hope not. :p He might be a very famous 'free thinking' celebrity if he were living during the 1980s or 2060. At around 2020 when free individual thinking is frowned upon, it's just not good time for him. Not to mention admiration for Nazism probably will never become very fashionable at any time periods. He's kinda like the blind black KKK member portrayed by Dave Chappelle a while back... :lol:

[Drachen596]

technically you couldn't see his face because......he's kanye....now he can claim plausible deniability or some bullshit. I'd say he's gone off the deep end but that was a while ago, he's way past that

He's worn outfits like that before to major events like the super bowl and even just out on the streets.
Some of his fans still think its some 4d chess move stuff about free speech.

He's been sliding down the slope with increasing speed lately. I think he believes the stuff he's spouting.

[Tom Servo]

I definitely think that his divorce has goofed him up, and suddenly one of the slimiest white supremacist holocaust deniers got his ear and was like "none of this was your fault, it's the jews controlling everything" and now he's 100% on board.

[neanderthal]

Twitter got rid of one anti Semite (fuck Kanye) ... and reinstated the account of neo Nazi Andrew Anglin who was banned from Twitter in 2013.

Free speech, ... amirite billi?

[Crazed_Insanity]

It’s funny Rolling Stones magazine was saying anglin endorses Ye’s presidential run. :|

So is he serious about nazism?

Anyway, if I’m Elon Musk, I’d create a paid subgroup hellscape version where anything goes. I need you to pay up not just for me to be profitable but also be able to track you so FBI can easily track you down. Also these hellscape tweets/discussions won’t be available for public consumption unless you pay up, or unless it has sufficient thumbs up.

[neanderthal]

It’s funny Rolling Stones magazine was saying anglin endorses Ye’s presidential run. :|

So is he serious about nazism?

Anyway, if I’m Elon Musk, I’d create a paid subgroup hellscape version where anything goes. I need you to pay up not just for me to be profitable but also be able to track you so FBI can easily track you down. Also these hellscape tweets/discussions won’t be available for public consumption unless you pay up, or unless it has sufficient thumbs up.

So, <thinks, assembles correct words> you're not only completely ok with promoting unbridled hate speech, but you're also FOR commodifying it and making it a ... premium feature.

Did I get that right?

[sandydandy]

Ye is acting like a useful idiot for vile and despicable far right maggots, who are applauding him openly yet calling him the n-word behind his back. Same with Herschel Walker. A paradox that both of them are incapable of seeing.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Neanderthal, You’re putting words in my mouth.

I’m okay with free speech, but not hate speech. However, although I’m not okay with it, I’m not going suppress others hate speech because I can self censor hate speech. I don’t need Elon Musk or anyone else telling me what I can or cannot read. Also hopefully hate tweets will have lots of thumbs downs than ups.

All public tweets need to be rated PG. more intense and controversial topics will be rated R and I’d suggest monetizing it because free speech shouldn’t actually be free of everything. If you can’t put money where your words are and need to hide behind anonymity, that’s not the kind the free speech I want. If they are going to spew hate, might as well take some of their money. However in this hypothetical darker Twitter world, people can discuss other controversial topics and try solving problems rather than just spew hatred. Free speech is not all about hate speech.

Now is Elon a free speech absolutist? Obviously not at this stage… but with Twitter at the brink of bankruptcy, I’m not expecting much from Elon now. Past history has demonstrated the Elon often failed to deliver his initial promises. However, even with his late deliveries, he usually delivers them way ahead of his peers. Hopefully Twitter will survive and be transformed into a better social media platform, but of course lots of folks are hoping to see him crash and burn. We’ll see how things go as time goes on…

[Rare White Ape]

So, <thinks, assembles correct words> you're not only completely ok with promoting unbridled hate speech, but you're also FOR commodifying it and making it a ... premium feature.

Did I get that right?

Yeah nah but it becomes free if you can get enough people to signal boost your shitty takes.

[FaultyMario]

We gun' blow like Ye.

[FaultyMario]

Matt Taibbi is responsible for a lot of things, most of them being a big dummy.

Huh!

[Drachen596]

I have zero clue whats actually going on with the Twitter Hunter Biden shit.

Seems republicans are mad photos of him naked were taken down?

[Tom Servo]

Huh!

I wasn't gonna say nuthin', but yeah

[Tom Servo]

I have zero clue whats actually going on with the Twitter Hunter Biden shit.

Seems republicans are mad photos of him naked were taken down?

Here's the best I can sum it up.

We all know Hunter's a fuck-up. He apparently dropped off a laptop for repairs and then forgot to collect it, at which point the repair person turned it over to some reporters.

It's got lots of footage of him in compromising situations involving drugs and sex.

The far right think that it's also got incriminating information showing that Joe Biden was involved in some sort of corruption, despite that never having been reported.

Matt Taibbi worked with Elon Musk's Twitter to show that basically all major political figures have direct lines to Twitter to request that things be taken down, and those things often are, mostly because they're TOS violations to begin with.

The only outlier here is that Twitter chose on their own to lessen the outreach of links to the NY Post article about Hunter's laptop based on them (correctly) believing it was poorly sourced. It was a poor choice on Twitter's part, as all it did was attract attention to the article.

All of that conflates into "the government violated the first amendment and forced Twitter to hide Hunter Biden's sins despite the fact that none of it directly reflects on Joe Biden and also he wasn't in the government at the time it all happened."

It's like Benghazi. It's a combination of "things that happened" with a dash of "things that didn't happen" conflated with a bunch of "finding correlations that we immediately assume are causative" and just running hog wild with it.

[neanderthal]

Neanderthal, You’re putting words in my mouth.

I’m okay with free speech, but not hate speech. However, although I’m not okay with it, I’m not going suppress others hate speech because I can self censor hate speech. I don’t need Elon Musk or anyone else telling me what I can or cannot read. Also hopefully hate tweets will have lots of thumbs downs than ups.

All public tweets need to be rated PG. more intense and controversial topics will be rated R and I’d suggest monetizing it because free speech shouldn’t actually be free of everything. If you can’t put money where your words are and need to hide behind anonymity, that’s not the kind the free speech I want. If they are going to spew hate, might as well take some of their money. However in this hypothetical darker Twitter world, people can discuss other controversial topics and try solving problems rather than just spew hatred. Free speech is not all about hate speech.

Now is Elon a free speech absolutist? Obviously not at this stage… but with Twitter at the brink of bankruptcy, I’m not expecting much from Elon now. Past history has demonstrated the Elon often failed to deliver his initial promises. However, even with his late deliveries, he usually delivers them way ahead of his peers. Hopefully Twitter will survive and be transformed into a better social media platform, but of course lots of folks are hoping to see him crash and burn. We’ll see how things go as time goes on…


It’s funny Rolling Stones magazine was saying anglin endorses Ye’s presidential run. :|

So is he serious about nazism?

Anyway, if I’m Elon Musk, I’d create a paid subgroup hellscape version where anything goes. I need you to pay up not just for me to be profitable but also be able to track you so FBI can easily track you down. Also these hellscape tweets/discussions won’t be available for public consumption unless you pay up, or unless it has sufficient thumbs up.

I literally stopped reading the rest of the drivel you posted after reading the bolded part. Because the second bolded part. Which you said first. Then claimed I was putting words in your mouth

Free speech absolutionists (the people who are the least affected by unbridled free speech) never seem to understand that "free speech" means "hate speech is gonna get directed at me" to the people most affected by unbridled free speech. Elon buying twitter directly led to many black women on twitter experiencing much more hate speech directed at them. Immigrants. Gays (all the letters.) The handicapped. Etc.

But lets not put common sense in the way of something as sacrosanct as free speech.

[neanderthal]

Here's the best I can sum it up.

We all know Hunter's a fuck-up. He apparently dropped off a laptop for repairs and then forgot to collect it, at which point the repair person turned it over to some reporters.

It's got lots of footage of him in compromising situations involving drugs and sex.

The far right think that it's also got incriminating information showing that Joe Biden was involved in some sort of corruption, despite that never having been reported.

Matt Taibbi worked with Elon Musk's Twitter to show that basically all major political figures have direct lines to Twitter to request that things be taken down, and those things often are, mostly because they're TOS violations to begin with.

The only outlier here is that Twitter chose on their own to lessen the outreach of links to the NY Post article about Hunter's laptop based on them (correctly) believing it was poorly sourced. It was a poor choice on Twitter's part, as all it did was attract attention to the article.

All of that conflates into "the government violated the first amendment and forced Twitter to hide Hunter Biden's sins despite the fact that none of it directly reflects on Joe Biden and also he wasn't in the government at the time it all happened."

It's like Benghazi. It's a combination of "things that happened" with a dash of "things that didn't happen" conflated with a bunch of "finding correlations that we immediately assume are causative" and just running hog wild with it.

Creating the narrative is a favorite Republican strategy. Benghazi. Her emails. Obama was born in Kenya. Immigrant hordes at the border. They were going on and on about inflation just a month ago, and gas prices and I haven't heard diddly squat about them since the election. Etc etc etc.

It's amusing to me that Republican voters fall for it every single time.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I literally stopped reading the rest of the drivel you posted after reading the bolded part. Because the second bolded part. Which you said first. Then claimed I was putting words in your mouth

Free speech absolutionists (the people who are the least affected by unbridled free speech) never seem to understand that "free speech" means "hate speech is gonna get directed at me" to the people most affected by unbridled free speech. Elon buying twitter directly led to many black women on twitter experiencing much more hate speech directed at them. Immigrants. Gays (all the letters.) The handicapped. Etc.

But lets not put common sense in the way of something as sacrosanct as free speech.

I really don’t think we’re talking about free speech absolutionists. I know that’s most likely a typo because that’s not really a thing, but perhaps subconsciously that’s what you believe? That free speech absolutists believe even haters need to be granted free pardon for whatever BS said?

I don’t think that’s how it works. Free speech certainly allows people to speak, but doesn’t mean I need to agree with/pardon everything they said! Free speech definitely includes hate speech, but certainly free speech is not all about hate speech. Plenty of what I said can be offensive to some of you and I’m pretty sure I’m not all saying hateful stuffs. Just controversial stuffs. Now, if you don’t want to debate Neo Nazis, can you just leave that task to people like me? Rather than suppressing them like the right would suppress minorities and shut them up, can you let us engage in dialogue and try to have a discussion 1st?

If all talks failed and we absolutely need to pull out our guns, then so be it. I just hope that’d be the sequence of events. Try talking 1st. Perhaps even let those mass shooters to try to vent by talking 1st! Try to actually listen to what they have to say and hopefully avoid disaster rather than just receive bullets from them instead.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Creating the narrative is a favorite Republican strategy. Benghazi. Her emails. Obama was born in Kenya. Immigrant hordes at the border. They were going on and on about inflation just a month ago, and gas prices and I haven't heard diddly squat about them since the election. Etc etc etc.

It's amusing to me that Republican voters fall for it every single time.

Creating fog is also something dems do very well. Bush was definitely not very transparent, but Obama admin wasn’t very transparent either.

Snowden wanted to wait for the Obama admin to blow the whistle, but guess what? Doesn’t matter.

Jeff Epstein also conveniently died by suicide in prison.

You also wish to impeach trump about his corruption in Ukraine but Biden’s son was also conveniently in the thick of things in Ukraine…

Republicans are definitely being assholes about things ever since Ken Starr… chasing that stained dress and focused only on bringing a president down at all cost… assuming Monica wasn’t an agent sent to compromise the horny Clinton, how Clinton and the republicans treated that intern for their own gains were pretty despicable. It also showed us how convincing Clinton was at lying…

I’m sorry, I think it was probably at that point that I’ve lost trust for both parties. Obama gave me new hope, he did much better than most presidents, but he’s still a disappointment to me. He was then the Bernie Sanders to me, but then I found out apparently he has switched to support Hillary, the very same person he campaigned hard against during the primaries.

Why should we go backwards?

[Rikadyn]

Creating the narrative is a favorite Republican strategy. Benghazi. Her emails. Obama was born in Kenya. Immigrant hordes at the border. They were going on and on about inflation just a month ago, and gas prices and I haven't heard diddly squat about them since the election. Etc etc etc.

It's amusing to me that Republican voters fall for it every single time.

Bro, I worked with the two biggest Q-idiots at my job for 7hrs the other day. The amount of just brain dead shit... Democrats are harvesting blood for vampires, and are lizard people or aliens... Down to Flo from progressive being a robot and clouds are signs of government weather control...

They fall for it because their brains only provide packing so their heads don't implode.

[Yw-slayer]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/losing-my-religion-how-the-uk-is-leaving-the-church-and-gaining-conspiracy-theories/ar-AA14SMTZ?ocid=emmx-mmx-feeds&PC=EMMX01

But wait, isn't organised religion the biggest conspiracy theory of them all? Lollolplpl

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think we’ve all learned from Star Trek that Q can be problematic. Glad Jesus is nothing like Q! :p

Seriously though, when God is dead, people can often times not know where to put their faith, hope and love… and end up worshiping and believing even weirder things that end up hurting themselves and others. If only people were logical beings, then we’d not have any of these problems.

If you’re gonna fall for something, might as well fall in love… and fall for God. (Not Q)

[Tom Servo]

https://twitter.com/TheLincoln/status/1599075110757044225


The problem with Taibbi agreeing to unnamed conditions from Musk isn't just that he let a source dictate reporting, but that he's enacting the *very thing* he's claiming to expose: the secret rules the rich and powerful use to shape narratives.

[Rare White Ape]

This is what happens when you let the unions run government:

https://jacobin.com/2022/12/australia-labor-party-unions-industrial-relations-laws

[2ndMoparMan]

I think we’ve all learned from Star Trek that Q can be problematic. Glad Jesus is nothing like Q! :p

Seriously though, when God is dead, people can often times not know where to put their faith, hope and love… and end up worshiping and believing even weirder things that end up hurting themselves and others. If only people were logical beings, then we’d not have any of these problems.

If you’re gonna fall for something, might as well fall in love… and fall for God. (Not Q)

Stop stealing my oxygen.

[Tom Servo]

Goddamn, he's still just word-association.

[Rare White Ape]

Stop stealing my oxygen.

Those are pixels on my screen that I'll never get back.

[HondaKid86]

At some point, political rhetoric incites violence.

That's what we saw in North Carolina: a domestic terror attack against electrical infrastructure, urged by paranoia over drag queen story hour.

This won't be the last time anti-gay terrorists attack this country over theology.

[HondaKid86]

When rhetoric begets terrorism, is that "politics"?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Stop stealing my oxygen.
I don’t understand. There’s plenty of oxygen to go around! It’s not like we’re on Mars already.

[Crazed_Insanity]

When rhetoric begets terrorism, is that "politics"?

If the only way to stop stupid ass rhetorics is to silence them…, that’s pretty sad.

Couldn’t we at least counter them with opposing stupid rhetorics? Or actual dialogues? Granted, sometime people just won’t see eye to eye, so we’ll also have to learn to agree to disagree as long as nobody’s hurt.

[Tom Servo]

I do not have a good answer about where free speech ends and inciting violence begins.

And nobody else has for the past couple of centuries, especially Elon Musk.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Precisely. Since nobody knows, then we should appoint nobody to decide who to silence and who should be allowed to speak.

In the unfortunate event when violence does happen, we’ll just have to find ways to fight back and protect as much as we can. One thing we do know is that fighting with speech won’t be enough. Silencing haters will also not be enough. Only way to convert haters is to show them love.

[Yw-slayer]

I do not have a good answer about where free speech ends and inciting violence begins.

And nobody else has for the past couple of centuries, especially Elon Musk.

Billi begs to differ, his Brainwashed Bros from 2019 were perfect to him, especially as they loved forcing everyone to only say and do things that they agreed with!

[Rare White Ape]

I do not have a good answer about where free speech ends and inciting violence begins.

And nobody else has for the past couple of centuries, especially Elon Musk.

The latest Veritasium video on YouTube which is about wave dynamics has a good analogy that I could point you to. Something-something about small breezes creating ripples which turn into larger waves which eventually break.

But what good are analogies if certain you-know-whos continue to be wilfully ignorant?

We spent so long building a voice trying to help de-platform bona-fide cunts like Stormfront and Kiwi Farms, and some tone-deaf billionaire rolls in and fucks it in an instant.

[Crazed_Insanity]

At some point, political rhetoric incites violence.

That's what we saw in North Carolina: a domestic terror attack against electrical infrastructure, urged by paranoia over drag queen story hour.

This won't be the last time anti-gay terrorists attack this country over theology.

I just got up to speed about this story...

Anyway, if this attack was indeed cause by the drag queen show, then I'm pretty sure all those North Carolinans won't be cheering and praising God in the cold because some idiot stopped a drag show.

As far as I know, God loves everyone.

Warped theologies/ideologies will cause terrorist action for sure. Hopefully we can stop these things with dialogues 1st. If not, then of course we'll settle it with bullets.

It's not like we've never fought white supremacists before. They lost during US civil war. They lost during WWII. They just can't win... because evil can never triumph over good... if God exists, the darker hateful side simply cannot win in the end.

[HondaKid86]

Billi.

Will you ever cut the shit?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sometimes I do suffer from constipation, but usually I shit everyday! ;)

Or did you mean do i physically cut shit? No, I don’t usually mess with it and would just flush it…

Or were you asking a rhetorical question? :p

Anyways, point is that I don’t think I’ve been warped by theology/ideologies to become a hateful person.

If following Christ is being considered as willfully ignorant, then so be it. I'm just very curious about what will happen if I follow him til the very end. If Jesus is really BS, oh well, at least I'm the only one wasted my time. Rest assured that my pursuit of Jesus will not cause me to commit any acts of terrorism against you or others. I will also not vote to take your rights away. Those things are not something Jesus would do. Jesus loves. Political issues could be solved in this willfully ignorant way. Too bad most people choose to be so wise and decided that it's better to just hate one another.

[Dicknose]

If Jesus is really BS, oh well, at least I'm the only one wasted my time.
So maybe stop wasting our time. Pretty much everyone has said they are tired of you making every post about your religion.
Just keep to the topic and stop derailing.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That may not always be possible. Just as the left wish to silence anything unpopular such as religion. Yeah the left has no problems talking about the negative aspects of religion…

We can just have one sided discussions. Only talking about whatever you agree with and then for the rest, you just want Wesley to shut up! :p

If we cannot even tolerate other’s speech, what hope do we have at tolerating one another? Of course I want more than to tolerating. I want love.

I have no problems supporting CCP if Xi can show me how much he really loves China and the people inside. He doesn’t need to believe in Jesus, but he needs to believe in love.

Btw, plenty of people here can save their time with ignore feature. It’s perfectly fine to self censor. I have nothing against that. I most certainly don’t expect everyone to like me. :p

[Rare White Ape]

I saw the below image on Facebook this morning and I like, well... I dunno... I had to share.

https://i.imgur.com/pjBxyQ1.jpg

Sometimes I feel sorry for people who don't see irony as strongly as we do in Australia. This post is dripping with comedy gold. Soaked in it.

I am SO entertained by all that is happening, but also just horrified at the implications from what can happen here. If it wasn't so dangerous for those who are marginalised by the section of society (63% of Americans!) who only "want love" and don't see the problem with their own bullshit then it would really be funny.

But because it IS dangerous, we can only tell these people to SHUT THE FUCK UP.

I have friends who are

Black

Gay

Transgender

And they ALL have genuine and renewed fears for their own safety because of recent developments.

[Tom Servo]

There's already one random Twitter employee who got doxed by his idiotic stunt that's getting death threats now.

That said, I thought that image was faked because I did not want it to be real. It is real, I found the post.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I saw the below image on Facebook this morning and I like, well... I dunno... I had to share.

https://i.imgur.com/pjBxyQ1.jpg

Sometimes I feel sorry for people who don't see irony as strongly as we do in Australia. This post is dripping with comedy gold. Soaked in it.

I am SO entertained by all that is happening, but also just horrified at the implications from what can happen here. If it wasn't so dangerous for those who are marginalised by the section of society (63% of Americans!) who only "want love" and don't see the problem with their own bullshit then it would really be funny.

But because it IS dangerous, we can only tell these people to SHUT THE FUCK UP.

I have friends who are

Black

Gay

Transgender

And they ALL have genuine and renewed fears for their own safety because of recent developments.

I used to think kyle’s case is clear cut, but after learning about the race of the 3 persons he shot…

White

White

White

All of a sudden the case is no longer that black and white to me. It’s basically white folks fighting against white folks! What exactly were they fighting for? Was it worth dying for?

Shut up Billi just shut up Billi! If you can’t see that he is a right wing nut job racist then you must be one too! Just shut up and leave so we can have our little utopia here!

Hey, I consider this place home too.

[neanderthal]

I do not have a good answer about where free speech ends and inciting violence begins.

And nobody else has for the past couple of centuries, especially Elon Musk.

I think the lack of prosecution for inciting violence etc is EXACTLY why we have so much hate talk. If telling someone to act violently against others is getting repeatedly and successfully prosecuted, first thing that's going to happen is the likes of Alex Jones are going to think twice about saying things like "take back our country."

Take it back from who?

We already have mass shooters who have said they were influenced by "thought leaders and others" on various social media sites. The New Zealand shooter, whenever that was comes to mind. Also, the one in Norway several years ago.

[neanderthal]

I used to think kyle’s case is clear cut, but after learning about the race of the 3 persons he shot…

White

White

White

All of a sudden the case is no longer that black and white to me. It’s basically white folks fighting against white folks! What exactly were they fighting for? Was it worth dying for?

Shut up Billi just shut up Billi! If you can’t see that he is a right wing nut job racist then you must be one too! Just shut up and leave so we can have our little utopia here!

Hey, I consider this place home too.


And yet your repeatedly shit in it.

You are the least christian (small c used deliberately) person I know. Much of your free speech bullshit sides with people who are actively harassing or intimidating marginalised people. Jesus, in the parable of the sheep and goats, clearly stated that many will be cast aside, and he will say "get away, I never knew you, for I was hungry and you never fed me, naked and you didn't clothe me" etc etc etc. You, are right at the front of that fucking lot sir.

You don't get to side with people actively harming others, then claim to be Christian (capital C used deliberately.) Followers of Jesus, are supposed to EMULATE him.

[Yw-slayer]

https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/a-threat-from-a-common-enemy-may-no-longer-unite-polarized-americans-study-suggests/

"A threat from a common enemy may no longer unite polarized Americans, study suggests"

lololllolololo0l gogo Billi government!!!

[Crazed_Insanity]

And yet your repeatedly shit in it.

You are the least christian (small c used deliberately) person I know. Much of your free speech bullshit sides with people who are actively harassing or intimidating marginalised people. Jesus, in the parable of the sheep and goats, clearly stated that many will be cast aside, and he will say "get away, I never knew you, for I was hungry and you never fed me, naked and you didn't clothe me" etc etc etc. You, are right at the front of that fucking lot sir.

You don't get to side with people actively harming others, then claim to be Christian (capital C used deliberately.) Followers of Jesus, are supposed to EMULATE him.

I questioned whether Kyle is really a racist. Initially I thought the kid was just using the opportunity to shoot some black people, but clearly that’s not the case. So having some doubt about that narrative means I’m siding with him and therefore your enemy? This can be anything. Any of your unauthorized narratives cannot be accepted… such as the possibility of thinking perhaps the government could be orchestrating something? That alone was enough for Swervo to blow up. I don’t know the whole story and I’m just questioning and trying to piece together what might have happened, but if I don’t accept the leftist authorized version as the one and only truth then I’m suppose to just go to hell? ;)

Based on the evidences, I think it’s clear Kyle did not use the opportunity to shoot black people. I hope we can at least agree on that.

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/a-threat-from-a-common-enemy-may-no-longer-unite-polarized-americans-study-suggests/

"A threat from a common enemy may no longer unite polarized Americans, study suggests"

lololllolololo0l gogo Billi government!!!

You also go CCP government!

Xi is obviously doing really well! Glad to see him actually listening to the will of the people and not insisting on Covid0 forever!

[2ndMoparMan]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/manhattan-jury-finds-trump-org-guilty-of-tax-crimes?ref=author

HA!

[MR2 Fan]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/manhattan-jury-finds-trump-org-guilty-of-tax-crimes?ref=author

HA!

:hard:

[sandydandy]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/manhattan-jury-finds-trump-org-guilty-of-tax-crimes?ref=author

HA! Good news, but I'll celebrate when he's behind bars where he belongs.

[2ndMoparMan]

Good news, but I'll celebrate when he's behind bars where he belongs.

Much as I want that to happen...

[Crazed_Insanity]

That’s odd. Trump organization is guilty on all charges, but trump himself is not charged. How the fuck did that happen?

Hmm…, remind me of 2008 financial crisis, CEOs are just so smart and able to walk away from murder and possibly make another run for the WH!

Doc love’s System is cool, but our current system still needs reforming.

[21Kid]

Good news, but I'll celebrate when he's behind bars where he belongs.
Unfortunately it wasn't against him... but his organization.

[21Kid]

It's messed up. Fox news seems to be pro-Russia because the democrats are against the war.

Literally anything and everything to fuck over the 'other team' at all costs.

[Dicknose]

That may not always be possible. Just as the left wish to silence anything unpopular such as religion. Yeah the left has no problems talking about the negative aspects of religion…

We can just have one sided discussions. Only talking about whatever you agree with and then for the rest, you just want Wesley to shut up! :p


I think most people enjoy a discussion, if its kept on topic.
But it doesn't seem to matter the topic, you post "god, jesus, love" in response to everything.

Fuck even your retort goes off about China and jesus. Shit man, just keep it to the topic at hand. Im probably one of the few left that haven't blocked you and Im close because its so annoying and repetitive. Maybe think "hmm if I need to mention god them maybe I shouldn't post because everyone has heard it all a billion times from me"

[Tom Servo]

Literally anything and everything to fuck over the 'other team' at all costs.

I do think there's a strong contingent among the right where literally the only ideal is "owning the libs." Even if it means advocating for policies that actively hurt them.

[Tom Servo]

I think most people enjoy a discussion, if its kept on topic.
But it doesn't seem to matter the topic, you post "god, jesus, love" in response to everything.

Fuck even your retort goes off about China and jesus. Shit man, just keep it to the topic at hand. Im probably one of the few left that haven't blocked you and Im close because its so annoying and repetitive. Maybe think "hmm if I need to mention god them maybe I shouldn't post because everyone has heard it all a billion times from me"

That part is unpleasant, but what eventually drove me over the edge was this incessant need to be "devil's advocate", to the point where he literally started defending nazi sympathizers. Like, I don't know if I ever saw him say "oh, I agree with that", everything had to be a battle even up to that point, and my mental health is far better having blocked him.

[Rare White Ape]

I bet you saved a lot of your own spare time in not having to prepare lengthy rebuttals to his tone-deaf nonsense which he’d just find a tiny loophole through and then circularise into the same old argument anyway.

[Crazed_Insanity]

DN, I think I end up pushing different peoples buttons differently.

However, not sure if it’s possible to only stay silent when people can continue to talk trash about God. Also, not sure if I can stay silent when people start talking BS about Elon Musk.

Elon or God doesn’t really need me to defend them, but I get the same urge to talk to Q believers just as much as folks poisoned by left wing ideologies. Of course most of the time people block me, but so be it. Can’t just blindly agree with them just to make peace.

We already have a bunch of crazy right wingers, but on the opposite end, momentum is also building to cancel Tesla, SpaceX, Elon, God or anything else that doesn’t fall in line with the leftist ideology. If you agree with us, you’re cool. If you dare come out of the closet with a different political orientation, then we’ll crush you, along with your stupid EVs and stupid rockets.

Yeah, sure, you guys could tell me to just fuck off and go back to China, but not sure YW wants me back either. ;)

[Tom Servo]

I bet you saved a lot of your own spare time in not having to prepare lengthy rebuttals to his tone-deaf nonsense which he’d just find a tiny loophole through and then circularise into the same old argument anyway.

Oh, absolutely.

[neanderthal]

I do think there's a strong contingent among the right where literally the only ideal is "owning the libs." Even if it means advocating for policies that actively hurt them.

I can't even think of a single point on the RepubliQan platform right now.

Small government? OK, get out of womens uterus' then.
Law and order? Um, tell us about Trump, tell us about the Jan 6 terrorists please?
Family values? You have a lot of perverts in your party whom you haven't expelled; sexual assault, etc etc etc.

Their entire party has been taken over by the incessant need to own the libs. It's sad.

No, it's not sad, it's pathetic.


But fuckem. They chose this.

[MR2 Fan]

and if it wasn't for gerrymandering and the heavily flawed electoral college, they would be losing congressional majorities and every major presidential election in the past 20+ years.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I respect some conservative values but I have to agree with Neanderthal that I can’t stand with GOP’s double BS standards. Dems look a lot better in comparison.

Also I think electoral college was probably designed to prevent the majority bullying the minority, but unfortunately it has now become the minority bullying the majority!

Anyway, parties aside, I do believe both sides of the political spectrum are needed. Take the pandemic as example, we can’t live under martial lockdown laws forever, likewise we shouldn’t be so free to the point of complete disregard safety of others. Depending on the situation, we might need to swing left more or perhaps right more. Point is to strive for a healthy balance rather than swinging only in one direction.

If conservatives can embrace minorities by allocating them more rights and liberals can embrace ‘conservatives’ as part of their diverse group, then we might have utopia.

[sandydandy]

Yeah, sure, you guys could tell me to just fuck off and go back to China, Uh no, wrong crowd. If this were a right-wing community then perhaps. You’d have all kinds of roofers telling you that.

I too respect some conservative values, and see myself being a moderate conservative just right of center. I can tolerate only a handful of Republican personalities, (ie. GWB and the ex-Vice Poodle :lol:), but find the overwhelming majority of them to be execrable. The fact that you actually feel the urge to talk to Q “people” makes me question your sanity.

Anyway, I saw that Warnock is going to win tonight. That’s a relief. America just avoided becoming even nuttier than it already is.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Hey, people is people. We’re all uniquely different but still people. Even insane people are still people! ;)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Okay, hopefully this post won’t push anyone’s buttons, not playing devils advocate nor mentioning God… just making an observation and wondering why?

Just like Obama seemingly carried out the ways of W…, Biden is now continuing the ways of Trump internationally.

Inflation Reduction Act has been seen as protectionist by Europeans. We’re also seemingly profiting off of them by selling them weapons and expensive natural gas. Europeans are definitely not happy. I think perhaps Putin has achieved his main objective to fracturing the west?

Anyway, that’s just conjecture, I’m not Putin so I don’t know his motives for sure. However, Biden really needs to be clear about what he will do to help Europeans and actually deliver instead of saying one thing and then act like trump. Anyway, I think Europeans felt back stabbed. They thought Biden would be friendlier than Trump.

If current trend continues, globalism should be over soon. There probably also won’t be much cooperation fighting climate change when Europeans are having trouble staying warm…

[neanderthal]

I respect some conservative values but I have to agree with Neanderthal that I can’t stand with GOP’s double BS standards. Dems look a lot better in comparison.

Also I think electoral college was probably designed to prevent the majority bullying the minority, but unfortunately it has now become the minority bullying the majority!

Anyway, parties aside, I do believe both sides of the political spectrum are needed. Take the pandemic as example, we can’t live under martial lockdown laws forever, likewise we shouldn’t be so free to the point of complete disregard safety of others. Depending on the situation, we might need to swing left more or perhaps right more. Point is to strive for a healthy balance rather than swinging only in one direction.

If conservatives can embrace minorities by allocating them more rights and liberals can embrace ‘conservatives’ as part of their diverse group, then we might have utopia.

There you go again with your casual racism.

You, can fuck off with the rest of them, and stay fucking off.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wanting conservatives, especially those freaking Supreme Court justices to give women, gays and other minorities more rights is casual racism? Ok. Whatever you say.

[21Kid]

... my mental health is far better having blocked him. Same.

I'm surprised other people still put up with, and bother responding to him.

I've skipped most of Mo's posts because they are mostly angry responses to him.
And we know there's no point. Billi is going to keep on being the troll he is.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Jesus, these people talking about blocking me as often as I talk about you!

Seriously, at least on the previous page, I didn’t even referenced you, right Jesus?

Anyway, it's perfectly fine to protect your own mental health by using ignore feature. I seriously have no problem with that. I understand not everyone will like me. However, to simply classify people with slightly different political orientation as trolls is probably not the greatest attitude to adopt. No wonder you guys don't like free speech.

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/metzger-restaurant-cancels-reservation-for-christian-family-foundation/

Christian event cancelled because the restaurant felt uncomfortable with them.

To be honest, I’m okay with that. If I’m the owner and my staff feels uncomfortable with these ‘patrons’, I most definitely would not force them to serve them. Further, these patrons can alway go eat at Chick-fil-A. It’s not like they’re starving and I let them starve to death.

Now, let’s say GTXF were a restaurant. I think it’s obvious now that a lot of folks here feel uncomfortable with me. I personally don’t think I’m a hatful troll, but if even the admins feel the need to ignore me for their mental health, then I probably should leave you guys be and go troll roofer instead! ;)

I don’t know who are the admins now, but any one of you can ask me to leave and I will respect your wish.

[neanderthal]

Brittney Griner freed by President Biden in exchange for Alexander (?) Bout.

All the conservatives asking "how come they didn't get Paul Whelan?" While completely overlooking that he was in jail when Trump was president but they didn't care about Phelan till Biden was president.

[Rare White Ape]

I saw some commentary on this wondering why the Christian conservatives were upset about it.

It mentioned that she was an outspoken black female lesbian but that would have nothing to do with it surely. That’s just unrelated chatter that the Christian conservatives would not be worried about at all.

[Tom Servo]

It does seem like a lot of people who were recently very concerned about women's sports suddenly aren't all that concerned about them.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I saw some commentary on this wondering why the Christian conservatives were upset about it.

It mentioned that she was an outspoken black female lesbian but that would have nothing to do with it surely. That’s just unrelated chatter that the Christian conservatives would not be worried about at all.

You’re definitely right regarding most of them; however, not all of them.

At least this baptist pastor realizes the error of his way earlier and repented.
https://baptistnews.com/article/why-arent-we-defending-brittney-griner/#.Y5LDJ_eIbDs

I still have faith and hope that Americans and even all earthlings can eventually come together even with all of their differences…

[edit]
Holy cow! I just noticed Swervo is now an admin!!! Good thing he can't read my posts... or else if he tells me to leave... I'm gonna have to respect his wish and leave this forum... fingers crossed that he doesn't hate me THAT much... :p

[Crazed_Insanity]

Senator Sinema's decision to leave the Democratic party scared me a bit until I realize she's not really going to the other side... so GOP still does NOT have senate majority because of this. Whew.

Anyway, based on her reasoning, sounds great to me. However, will she be true to her words? We'll see.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/12/09/sen-kyrsten-sinema-of-arizona-why-im-registering-as-an-independent/69712395007/

I had been really pissed at Sinema and Manchin for voting down raising the min wage earlier. However, I am impressed by Machin's act to totally piss Mitch off and I'm also impressed by how Sinema along with Chris Murphy to get gun safety deal buy-in from GOP... of course we still have plenty of gun violence around the nation, but the fact that they were able to move the needle a bit was impressive to me.

Anyway, Machin and Sinema are not my state's senators..., so glad I don't have to be the one deciding their fate. For sure I'm kinda conflicted with them... I still don't really like her that much, but I like her reasons for leaving the party. Hope she stays true to her words and not just saying stuffs to make it to the news.

[neanderthal]

Senator Sinema's decision to leave the Democratic party scared me a bit until I realize she's not really going to the other side... so GOP still does NOT have senate majority because of this. Whew.

Anyway, based on her reasoning, sounds great to me. However, will she be true to her words? We'll see.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/12/09/sen-kyrsten-sinema-of-arizona-why-im-registering-as-an-independent/69712395007/

I had been really pissed at Sinema and Manchin for voting down raising the min wage earlier. However, I am impressed by Machin's act to totally piss Mitch off and I'm also impressed by how Sinema along with Chris Murphy to get gun safety deal buy-in from GOP... of course we still have plenty of gun violence around the nation, but the fact that they were able to move the needle a bit was impressive to me.

Anyway, Machin and Sinema are not my state's senators..., so glad I don't have to be the one deciding their fate. For sure I'm kinda conflicted with them... I still don't really like her that much, but I like her reasons for leaving the party. Hope she stays true to her words and not just saying stuffs to make it to the news.

She's a corporate shill/ sellout (voted against taxing corporations and 1% more) and you're <blinks> ... completely ok with it? :twitch: Which doesn't quite jibe with your past statements.

Which really just goes to show that you're, um, selective in applying your outrage. Which just handily explains the non defined all over the place bullshit.

[neanderthal]

IMO most of the problems in this country, that can be fixed with money, can be addressed by simply-

taxing corporate profits more, a lot more
adding a tax for stock buy backs (they only help shareholders, and the CEOS who get bonuses by increasing "shareholder value")
adding a tax for CEOs making more than 10X their least paid employees,
removing the cap on social security but keeping the payout fixed where it is,
taxing extra on any home that isn't a primary home
creating a basic workers package (3 weeks vacation, 10 days sick pay/ personal time, maternity/ paternity, 401K, health and dental, vision and hearing, childcare credit, etc) and taxing all employers who don't meet said package,
subsidised childcare,
making state universities free,
increasing teacher pay (significantly!)
pegging COLA raises to inflation,
raising the minimum wage,
enacting actual national healthcare,
etc

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think the entire dem party is a corporate shell. For sure amongst the dems, I hated Manchin and Sinema the most! However, like I said, they’ve also impressed me with some of their recent accomplishments.

I agree with her reasons for leaving the party, but will her future actions be in agreement with her words? I guess we’ll see.

As for taxing the rich, I really have no problems with it. I wouldn’t even mind paying more taxes myself to fix our problems. However, pretty sure dems will also be able to provide tax loopholes for corporations to save on taxes… not to mention we often end up with lots of government waste. For example Covid relief funds/loans falling into the hands of rich and fraudsters…

I just want more politicians who’ll truly represent the people instead of rich corporations. Bernie Sanders type is just hard to find.

[MR2 Fan]

I think...

https://media.tenor.com/Ic2C-5KDblwAAAAd/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-dont-panic.gif

[neanderthal]

6 more attacks on power stations in the northwest. (https://www.yahoo.com/news/attacks-pacific-north-west-power-060055776.html)

Black people been saying for years "where was he radicalised" and the FBI and government have just been coddling white peoples insecurities by not going hard after domestic terrorists.

Here we are.

NO, I don't know that whoever is doing this is white. But, can you take a guess based on recent and past events?

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://media.tenor.com/Ic2C-5KDblwAAAAd/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-dont-panic.gif

I think; therefore, I ow!!!!! :lol:

[2ndMoparMan]

I think; therefore, I ow!!!!! :lol:

If you thought, you wouldn't belive in the Bible.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Faith is not against thinking or reasoning or science...

Of course if we place our faith on the wrong things, that could lead us astray. Similarly, we could also go wrong by thinking, reasoning and doing science incorrectly. Incorrect is not only reserved for politics. :p

Anyway, better shut up now. Shouldn't talk about faith too much. Maybe we can focus more on hope an love? ;) Bible isn't all about faith, but also hope and love. Without these 3 things, humanity would be lost.

[Tom Servo]

Article from the Atlantic I think nails it. I'm not sure that Elon is actually a redpilled idiot, but he is more than happy to be one if it means that people will like him. He's never found a group of sycophants like this, where he can just pitch out low effort unoriginal shit and they all cheer. I think all he's ever wanted is for people to think he's funny, because he is constantly trying to be. And failing miserably every single time.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/

[Dicknose]

That part is unpleasant, but what eventually drove me over the edge was this incessant need to be "devil's advocate", to the point where he literally started defending nazi sympathizers. Like, I don't know if I ever saw him say "oh, I agree with that", everything had to be a battle even up to that point, and my mental health is far better having blocked him.
I have a good mate who is great at the devils advocate. I actually really enjoy chewing over topics with him.
I dont feel its that way with Billi. He does love the "two options, therefore we should consider them equal".

Its mostly the dragging the topic back to his single focus.

[Dicknose]

IMO most of the problems in this country, that can be fixed with money, can be addressed by simply-


Australia could do with a few of those, but our min wage, health and working conditions are generally good. 4 weeks vacation!
We did have free university educations for a while (lucky me!)

I like your idea on CEOs but really it would need to be a whole upper management thing - maybe a system of having 1 @ 10x, up to 5 @ 8x and then cap all others @ 6x
You would have to include other payments in this - eg stock options.
Totally understand that these people work stressful jobs, usually at much longer hours than normal etc. But they are paid an amount that is bordering on obscene compared to some workers who struggle to make ends meet.

But Im probably left of centre even for Australia!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Article from the Atlantic I think nails it. I'm not sure that Elon is actually a redpilled idiot, but he is more than happy to be one if it means that people will like him. He's never found a group of sycophants like this, where he can just pitch out low effort unoriginal shit and they all cheer. I think all he's ever wanted is for people to think he's funny, because he is constantly trying to be. And failing miserably every single time.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/

I personally just think that he's just pissed off. Just as he was pissed off at that diver, that's why he insulted him back with a pedo guy tweet.

Similarly, the dems have pissed him off. So he's now getting back at them in a similar way. In a way I can understand his hurt... so work so hard and then have Apollo Astronauts look down at you and spacex... or Biden pretend to not even see the existence of Tesla and claiming GM is the global EV leader...

Anyway, I hope he can get over those people's opinions and just focus on his work... also stop wasting time tweeting stupid comments. Focus on saving Twitter 1st dude... and SpaceX and Tesla!

With regard to Fauci, I do wish to have some sort of investigation going..., but I suppose just like the financial crisis, financial leaders never had to be held responsible for the financial crisis they cause. Even if Fauci were responsible for collaborating with the Chinese doing dangerous research... so what? We can't admit to that anyways.

[neanderthal]

Australia could do with a few of those, but our min wage, health and working conditions are generally good. 4 weeks vacation!
We did have free university educations for a while (lucky me!)

I like your idea on CEOs but really it would need to be a whole upper management thing - maybe a system of having 1 @ 10x, up to 5 @ 8x and then cap all others @ 6x
You would have to include other payments in this - eg stock options.
Totally understand that these people work stressful jobs, usually at much longer hours than normal etc. But they are paid an amount that is bordering on obscene compared to some workers who struggle to make ends meet.

But Im probably left of centre even for Australia!

Yeah mate. These are just the bullet points, there are lots of details on each one.

On the CEO pay it would have to include stock options. There's many ways to slip money to a CEO in ways the public don't know/ understand.

What a lot of people (in the US) don't understand, is that having a lot of vacation time, and disposable income, is a nice easy way to get cheap mental health for much of your population, and also increase the tourism part of your economy. That's an easy way to get money into some of those communities where there's not really much going on. I'd go to a lakeside hotel in the middle of nowhere to just enjoy the peace. I'm sure many would.
Pay people well. Give them time to enjoy life. And you've just got yourself a happier population and a boost to your economy.

I'm actually starting to collect my moto camping kit ready for summer. I think a 2- 3 week bike ride is calling my name after I get back surgery. Not right after, mind you, but a few months down the road. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, etc. We'll see if that plan comes to fruition. My doctor might have some input for me on that one too.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I have a good mate who is great at the devils advocate. I actually really enjoy chewing over topics with him.
I dont feel its that way with Billi. He does love the "two options, therefore we should consider them equal".

It’s mostly the dragging the topic back to his single focus.

In politics, people tend to see their way as right and the opposing view as wrong, but the 2 options of right and left are simply action reaction.

Same with sex, there’s no right and wrong with male female. You can’t just get rid of one.

As for religion, same thing, we have both good and bad or yin and Yang… can’t just be one sided. Or if we were to debate about God’s existence… well, I think God might be like Schrödinger’s cat… depending on your level of faith… ;)

I think it’s the paradoxical both sidedness of these topics that made them so controversial. I personally enjoy discussing these controversial topics with opened mind.

[Dicknose]

And that's made me move to the ignoring him list...
oh I see now (or dont see).. This message is hidden

[neanderthal]

We're all fairly open minded here billi. What we aren't is tolerant of racism, islamophobia, homophobia, sexism, etc etc, which, you constantly defend in the name of devils advocate.

[Crazed_Insanity]

As a believer of Christ, that does not automatically make me a white supremacist nor Islamophobic nor homophobic nor sexist.

In a political thread, expressing my worldview in Christian terms shouldn’t really be That offensive. My interpretation/understanding of the Bible may also not be fully in line with the mainstream Christian’s…, I'm sure some christians probably find me offensive too.

Anyway, it’s totally understandable that people need to dismiss/ignore people who disagree with them. With freedom of speech, people should also have the freedom to not listen to others speech. I’m cool with that. It’s just too bad because I really enjoyed talking with Swervo and DN. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned some stuffs from you as well, but mostly you just shout obscenities at me. :p

[Tom Servo]

One can only explain the paradox of tolerance so many times before one gives up.

[Crazed_Insanity]

One can only explain the paradox of tolerance so many times before one gives up.

No hard feelings. I totally understand. One is entitled to protect one’s sanity from the insane! Once you’re ready again, maybe we could try again? Or maybe not! :p

[Yw-slayer]

Lollll Marshall Law lololollllloll

[sandydandy]

Kari Lake has filed a lawsuit to overturn the AZ election. :|

When I Googled her name I accidentally typed Kari Lame. I think I’ll stick with that.

[2ndMoparMan]

Kari Lake has filed a lawsuit to overturn the AZ election. :|

When I Googled her name I accidentally typed Kari Lame. I think I’ll stick with that.

Would work for all repubs.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Race was tight, but not tight enough to trigger automatic recount I don't think.

So what's a MAGA candidate suppose to do? Grab them votes by the...

Hope Ms Lame suffers the same fate as her endorser. Hope we can find a legit way to lock her endorser behind bars..., not just his organization. (I don't like Hillary much, but at least the Clinton foundation was never found guilty of anything...)

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/elon-musk-says-getting-booed-185746052.html

I'm really amazed by Dave Chappelle's attempt to make peace amongst his audiences and Elon Musk. Dave is a good guy.

I think the incident has demonstrated Elon might have been a bit too 'isolated' and was actually surprised by some of the people booing him.

Hopefully Elon will begin to wake up a bit.

[neanderthal]

As a believer of Christ, that does not automatically make me a white supremacist nor Islamophobic nor homophobic nor sexist.

In a political thread, expressing my worldview in Christian terms shouldn’t really be That offensive. My interpretation/understanding of the Bible may also not be fully in line with the mainstream Christian’s…, I'm sure some christians probably find me offensive too.

Anyway, it’s totally understandable that people need to dismiss/ignore people who disagree with them. With freedom of speech, people should also have the freedom to not listen to others speech. I’m cool with that. It’s just too bad because I really enjoyed talking with Swervo and DN. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned some stuffs from you as well, but mostly you just shout obscenities at me. :p

You being a Christian has nothing at all to do with you being a cunt. Don't try to invoke Christ's name in justifying your behaviour. You being a cunt has everything to do with you, ... being a cunt.

[neanderthal]

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/elon-musk-says-getting-booed-185746052.html

I'm really amazed by Dave Chappelle's attempt to make peace amongst his audiences and Elon Musk. Dave is a good guy.

I think the incident has demonstrated Elon might have been a bit too 'isolated' and was actually surprised by some of the people booing him.

Hopefully Elon will begin to wake up a bit.

Dave Chappelle is friends with Elon, and a top comedic performer. He was my favorite comic until recently. His last special about trans people didn't go over very well with "the sensitive people" and as someone trying to be more in tune with other peoples hurts (no, not you billi, fuck your feelings) I decided to reevaluate my passion for his work. So, I still haven't seen it.

One thing you have to know about him is that he's very smart. And as a performer, he has to be in tune with the crowd. He's got to work the crowd and bring them along on his set, set them up with a story and give them a punchline, etc. I highly doubt that he thought it was a good idea for Elon to get on stage. I think Elon twisted his arm to do that, not realising that the crowd was very receptive to Dave, but wouldn't be to him.

But we will never know until someone tells us what went on backstage.

Each of these incidents makes me think that Elon has no friends.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, enough about Billi. Even I’m tired of him. :p As for a guy who walked away from a multi million dollar contract, you think Elon was able to twist his arms? With multi billion dollars?

Anyway, I think Elon has definitely moved a bit too much to the right. Dave OTOH is probably near the true center. That’s why the mutherfoquer was able to make fun of both left and right.

Yeah, not sure why Elon was there, certainly he was not an asset and more of a liability for Dave, just like his trans jokes. I think Dave either wanted to help Elon or help Elon become more aware of the situation or something. Whatever ‘it’ is, I’m really not sure how that incident helped Dave in any way. It’s an act of a true friend. Hopefully it opened Elon’s eyes…

[Tom Servo]

Dave Chappelle is friends with Elon, and a top comedic performer. He was my favorite comic until recently. His last special about trans people didn't go over very well with "the sensitive people" and as someone trying to be more in tune with other peoples hurts (no, not you billi, fuck your feelings) I decided to reevaluate my passion for his work. So, I still haven't seen it.

One thing you have to know about him is that he's very smart. And as a performer, he has to be in tune with the crowd. He's got to work the crowd and bring them along on his set, set them up with a story and give them a punchline, etc. I highly doubt that he thought it was a good idea for Elon to get on stage. I think Elon twisted his arm to do that, not realising that the crowd was very receptive to Dave, but wouldn't be to him.

But we will never know until someone tells us what went on backstage.

Each of these incidents makes me think that Elon has no friends.

Man, all I know is Dave's attempt to deflect by blaming the boos on the poors in the cheap seats won him very few friends.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I don't think he's in the comedy business to do WHATEVER necessary just to win friends or to make money... he just want to be funny and authentic. Not only do I think the dude is funny, but I also respect that he was able to walk away from money and be able to sustain a marriage for such a long time in Hollywood. Anyway, let me stop thinking now before I get attacked again... :p

[Tom Servo]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fj87ufVVEAIkoUM?format=jpg&name=large

Well, I suppose that's notable, at least he's that committed to...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fj87ufUUoAE_08X?format=jpg&name=large

Oh.

[Phil_SS]

:lol:

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, as far as I can see about Elon's commitments being true are the ones business related. Pretty sure he's not so good with marital commitments... probably isn't a good father either. Even with various product launches, he's consistently late. However, even by failing to deliver his new teslas or new rockets as promised... he was still light years ahead of his competitors though.

I'm not sure where 'free speech' falls in his heart... hopefully he'll be late in his delivery but still do a better job than others? Now, even with his failed marriage, to have your ex-wife still being fond of you still says a lot about a person. Judging by their divorces, I have more respect for Elon than Jeff.

However, when it comes to respect for rich celebrities, Dave Chappelle is really up there for me...

[Rare White Ape]

I told you guys, Musk is funny! You just don't see it yet.

Neither does he :lol: