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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Here’s a story about how Putin became the ideological head of the international far-right and why Trumpism embraces Russia. I’ve been saying it for a few years now, but Pat Buchanan was Trump’s political forebearer in the US. You can also see this thinking in Steve Bannon’s infamous Vatican speech from a decade or so ago when he proposed uniting Christendom in the Northern Hemisphere against liberal secularism and the Muslim world. Gift link to NYTimes Magazine (10-15 minute read): How the G.O.P. Fell in Love With Putin’s Russia
  2. Wordle 1,393 5/6 🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩 ⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #671 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1174 4️⃣5️⃣ 6️⃣8️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  3. I read about this last time around. He said he's tired of picking up his own trash because the high school has janitors for that. Here's an old article: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/438178-dem-lawmaker-takes-aim-at-miller-re-emerged-video-of-high-school-speech/
  4. El Paso's on deck with three new cases. Gaines County continues to see the most infections (75% of new ones since Tuesday), with 27 new cases. Here are New Mexico's numbers. Lea County (Hobbs/Lovington) is just west of Gaines County. Okies won't say where their cases are, but I think it was mentioned a while back they were somewhere in northeastern Oklahoma. Southwest Kansas outbreak. Three cases total are reported in Colorado: Pueblo, Denver, and Pagosa Springs. So far as I know, all the above in these other states can be traced to the outbreak in Gaines County.
  5. I've got a really shitty track record. I initially supported Bradley over Gore and Dean over Kerry in the primaries because I viewed them as more progressive. By the end of the primaries, I was "okay" with Gore and Kerry as the nominees. Hell, I was on the Governor Moonbeam bandwagon in '92. Obama is the only candidate I've fully supported throughout the primaries who actually ended up getting elected president.
  6. True, but TrumpWorld has redefined anti-semitism to mean talking shit about Israel. They’re totally fine if you talk shit about Jews, though.
  7. Wordle 1,392 3/6 ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #670 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1173 7️⃣6️⃣ 5️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  8. Stop it. You're such a tease, AHB.
  9. I imagine lots of wives whispering in a hushed and seductive tone to themselves, saying, “It's so big.”
  10. That view from the bottom of the stairs looking up at is an impressive sight.
  11. Six-minute interview with the attorney who represents protesters and was detained coming back to the States at the airport where they insisted on searching his phone: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/nx-s1-5357455/attorney-detained-by-immigration-authorities It sure is comforting to know we commingle daily with tacit fascists, who are too cowardly to even speak out on an anonymous message board, and outright Nazi wannabes who have a hard-on for this kind of shit.
  12. You don't see how those blue bars get shorter over time, but when they turn red they start to hang lower?
  13. We've seen it over and over again.
  14. Don't give credit to a toddler who continues to touch the hot stove. It hurt, so he recoiled. It's like a game of whack-a-mole. He'll place his hand on another hot burner soon. Once he's finished scorching his hand with that other one, he'll come back to this one and do it again.
  15. That guy sure has disappeared. He's still lurking, as you can see if you hover over his name tag, but I just checked, and he hasn't actually posted since February. Weird. Is he on an extended timeout?
  16. He's been a Never Trumper from the get-go and has been quite vocal about it on social media, though I don't recall him getting many invites on the talk show circuit the last decade or so and he doesn't have an army of buffoons out there waiting to kidnap him. But, yeah, fucking Whitmer just lost a lot of my respect. Show some balls, lady.
  17. I wholly agree with your point regarding the use of algorithms that manipulate and radicalize people by putting them on a particular ideological path along which people follow a trail fo crumbs leading them down a rabbit hole of radicalization. As @G650's excellent article points out, social media sites benefit tremendously from steering people toward inflammatory and often false information (clickbait lies). That same article raises an interesting question: What is the purpose of free speech? Is it to lead us to the truth, or is it to enrich the media moguls and truth be damned? Is free speech all about expressing opinions, no matter how ludicrous? Is there a place for fact-checking and accountability, as we see in academia and traditional newspapers where publications have to go through a vetting process? Are we all completely satisfied with the current environment in which cable news, radio, and social media mix reporting with opinion, leading to a befuddled audience that makes poor decisions because they rely on infotainment? Anyway, I do recommend going back and reading the FT piece that G650 posted above. I know it's an off-topic discussion, but it's a big part of how we found ourselves in a fucking multifront trade war with the world.
  18. Personally, I think they're going to dig in, betting that the Chinese public can withstand more pain over the short term than the American public will tolerate from the Trump regime. Hell, the Chinese tolerated being locked up in their homes with the doors nailed shut. They weren't happy about it, but they mostly complied and eventually got through it. With that example in mind, how did we react to a not nearly so harsh faux "lockdown"? Americans damn well nearly revolted: storming statehouses, attempting to kidnap governors, etc. If you take that one example into account and consider how Xi and the CCP are plugging that into their decision matrix, they might be making a sound bet. Edit: Further, just look at our history. A big reason we revolted against the British Empire was over tariffs.
  19. Wordle 1,390 3/6 ⬛⬛🟨🟨🟨 ⬛🟨⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #668 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1171 5️⃣6️⃣ 7️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  20. Clear communication about what's going on. Coherent and logical response to changing conditions. Compassion for the people/businesses facing the crisis.
  21. Wait until you hear how the head of education for the State of Oklahoma has placed her on some blue ribbon committee for school curriculum or some other shit.
  22. @UTEE97 Dude, let me help you out since you're new to the CR. I hope this doesn't come across as condescending or disrespectful, and I've never found you to be trollish but vaguely recall you having a general disinterest (perhaps disdain?) for discussing politics. I hope others will back off a little bit, because I've always found you to be sincere. There's a long history in the Cloak Room of posters coming in here with complaints about how the Dems are ALWAYS AT FAULT EVERYTHING, even when those posters aren't trolling. The Dems aren't doing enough to stop Trump. Why aren't the Dems impeaching Trump over this shit (read that one today)? Why do they keep pushing trans shit on us? They're pushing away the moderates. If only the Dems would be more tolerant of sexists or homophobes or racists, they'd wind. The Dems need to be more respectful. Basically, Dems can never do anything right because they're held to a much higher standard than Republicans...on everything. There's an expectation of perfection and an enormous double standard. I think you got a taste of the backlash when you first came in here last week(?) saying that Democrats had moved too far left in pushing the social agenda stuff when the actual Party (the organization and most of its candidates) often runs as fast as they can away from those issues except on the general grounds of "They're citizens, so they should get equal rights, standing, and protection under the law." We progressives/liberals/generic Democrats only talk about his stuff IN RESPONSE TO Republican/racist/conservative attacks, which then makes all that shit an issue. It's really tiresome and annoying to be blamed for trying to protect people from bullies. Now, in this latest instance, you come in with a statement saying something to the effect of, "If the Dems can't take advantage of these tariffs and the economy, it's going to be their fault!" At least, that's how it's interpreted by people who've seen all the same blame game stuff. Yes, the Democrats are generally terrible at marketing. I think one big reason for that is that explanations aren't generally pithy and can't fit on a bumper sticker (if you're explaining, you're losing). And, yeah, this is going to sound "elitist," but the GOP base is also full of a bunch of uneducated, prejudiced rubes and religious nut cases, too, so it's really hard for us to reason with them. Plus, the Republican base can easily get distracted from any economic argument when The Party and its multitude of media megaphones find some bullshit culture war goose chase posed by some dangerous "threat" from a marginalized population: welfare queens, affirmative action, CRT, DEI, woke, BLM, trans, the gays, kids are using litterboxes in kindergarten, liberals are pedophiles, etc. In every single case, the GOP (conservatives in general, really, throughout history) finds some marginalized group to scapegoat and turn into an enemy. And, of course, progressives have a natural tendency to stand up for the little guy. It's in our DNA. Do you see where I'm going with this? The two examples I've cited where you've come in and blamed the Democrats simply sounds more like all the same that we keep hearing. Anyway, all of this is to say that it's a real sore point that you keep picking at. I'm not trying to censor you or even tell you to censor yourself -- just trying to be helpful and explain why you get such strong pushback on it. I hope this is helpful context and not just another long-winded dickish lecture that makes you hate liberals even more.
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