base698

At this rate it will be the same as 2019.

It started before pedo incident. He grew frustrated with growing negative press and started attacking the press himself which spiraled: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/tesla-hit-lawsuit-called-hotbed-racist-behavior-n820651 https://www.inverse.com/article/31478-spacex-settles-underpaid-workers-lawsuit-for-4-million

Damn! I was going to go pick up some raw milk and help the Mennonites raise a barn this week.

I was adding humor. I'm aware of all the 1 in 30,000 edge cases. Conflating a real thing like androgen insensitivity with a 13 year old girl who wants to be different or a 50 year old man who wants to go in women's spaces as all one homogeneous group is silly. Both sides do it.

https://x.com/xDaily_Know/status/1899455815628538006

Unless the dollar and systems regulating it are already cooked and powers abroad aren't onboarding into our control. The hope is Bitcoin based financial systems founded in the US could be under the US thumb.

This could be a great list! Unhoused Gender affirming care Reproductive rights Undocumented workers Pre-existing condition Gun control Stay home together Mostly peaceful protest Public health crisis Domestic terrorist Current right wing Groomer Election integrity Cancel culture 911 era right Enhanced Interrogation Enemy combatant Regime change From Politics of the English Language, 1984s companion > The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’. The words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice, have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of régime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different. Statements like Marshal Pétain was a true patriot, The Soviet press is the freest in the world, The Catholic Church is opposed to persecution, are almost always made with intent to deceive. Other words used in variable meanings, in most cases more or less dishonestly, are: class, totalitarian, science, progressive, reactionary, bourgeois, equality.

Positive Implications of a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve A Bitcoin strategic reserve could hedge against inflation and currency devaluation with its capped supply, offering the U.S. a diversified reserve asset while reducing reliance on dollar-dominated systems like SWIFT for geopolitical leverage. It might signal innovation, attracting blockchain businesses, tech talent, and investment to position the U.S. as a digital economy leader, potentially spurring financial sector growth through new products like Bitcoin-backed bonds. Additionally, speculative price appreciation could offset national debt, and government involvement might legitimize Bitcoin, encouraging broader adoption and fostering U.S.-based fintech ecosystems. Negative Implications of a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve A Bitcoin strategic reserve introduces significant risks, including Bitcoin’s volatility, which could destabilize national finances if prices crash, and cybersecurity threats from hacks targeting government-held assets, with stolen Bitcoin nearly unrecoverable. It might centralize control over a decentralized asset, eroding Bitcoin’s ethos and inviting regulatory burdens that favor large institutions over startups, while potentially straining international relations if other nations oppose or compete with their own digital currencies. Public backlash, political exploitation of failures, and global financial imbalances further complicate the gamble, especially without proven long-term stability.

1/4 to half the cases in a given year are also in vaccinated.

> The company released an over-the-air software update in October to address the issue but did not file the recall report until this week. As of January 23, 99% of affected vehicles in the U.S. have installed the update, Tesla said.

I recently saw a talk claiming it's actually impossible. I've seen one crater from billion market cap to worthless personally and think that's probably close to correct. Beyond window dressing or rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic it's impossible. The core team has to be really tight other wise it crumbles to any pressure.

Historical where an area gets conquered and the spoils go to the victor. Like when we annex Canada the tax base will increase and we get extra access to raw materials and resources. Assuming we could actually win a war and not bankrupt ourselves. Both of which are unlikely.

Your standard DNC takes really don't add anything. I can leave and you can go back to, "hur dur maga people can't read CNN, look at what they said on Fox."

Posts list of a dozen political books I've read. MUST BE THE KIDS AND THEIR MEMES!

You misspelled loot the government and Treasury and give it to people they define as making good decisions.

Chomsky the big Randian socialist. Several of them are explicitly left. Haidt would be considered right by a shitlib but in 2010 he was solidly a leftist. Lasch could safely be considered right wing, but it's quite old. Milosz maybe right from the authoritarian left view. I used an LLM to generate the author and themes, got all of them right except Beyond Belief: Here is a list of the authors of the mentioned books, along with insights into their political leanings and the themes of their works: 1. "Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator" Author: Ryan Holiday Political Leanings: Holiday's work primarily critiques modern media practices rather than promoting a specific political ideology. Book Theme: The book exposes how online media can be manipulated, drawing from Holiday's experiences in marketing and media strategy. 2. "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business" Author: Neil Postman Political Leanings: Postman was a cultural critic concerned with the impact of media and technology on public discourse, often highlighting the erosion of rational communication in society. Book Theme: The book argues that television and entertainment media have transformed serious public discourse into superficial entertainment, undermining critical thinking. 3. "Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology" Author: Neil Postman Political Leanings: As above, Postman critiqued the uncritical acceptance of technology's dominance over cultural and social institutions. Book Theme: This work discusses how society's submission to technology leads to the devaluation of traditional cultural norms and human-centric values. 4. "Propaganda" Author: Edward Bernays Political Leanings: Bernays, known as the "father of public relations," utilized his understanding of mass psychology to shape public opinion, often aligning with corporate and governmental interests. Book Theme: The book explores the mechanisms and ethics of manipulating public opinion, advocating for the deliberate use of propaganda in shaping societal attitudes. 5. "Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life" Author: Rory Sutherland Political Leanings: Sutherland, a British advertising executive, offers insights that blend behavioral economics with marketing, without a pronounced political bias. Book Theme: The book delves into unconventional and creative approaches to problem-solving in business and marketing, challenging rational decision-making models. 6. "Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade" Author: Robert Cialdini Political Leanings: Cialdini is a psychologist whose work focuses on the science of persuasion and influence, remaining largely apolitical. Book Theme: This work examines how setting the stage before delivering a message can significantly enhance its persuasive power. Apologies for the earlier oversight. Here's the corrected information for the book "Beyond Belief": "Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933–1945" Author: Deborah E. Lipstadt Political Leanings: Lipstadt is a historian and professor specializing in Holocaust studies, known for her work in combating Holocaust denial. Her scholarship is rooted in historical analysis rather than political advocacy. Book Theme: This comprehensive study examines how the American press reported—or often failed to report—on the persecution of Jews in Europe leading up to and during the Holocaust. Lipstadt details how media outlets downplayed or ignored reports of Jewish persecutions over a twelve-year period, contributing to public ignorance about the unfolding atrocities. 8. "The Captive Mind" Author: Czesław Miłosz Political Leanings: Miłosz, a Polish poet and dissident, critiqued totalitarianism and was an advocate for intellectual and artistic freedom. Book Theme: The book provides a profound analysis of how intellectuals in Eastern Europe rationalized their acceptance of communist ideology under oppressive regimes. 9. "The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations" Author: Christopher Lasch Political Leanings: Lasch was a social critic who examined the decline of communal and familial structures, often critiquing both liberal and conservative perspectives. Book Theme: The work discusses how post-World War II America fostered a self-absorbed culture, leading to societal and psychological implications. 10. "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion" Author: Jonathan Haidt Political Leanings: Haidt is a social psychologist who studies moral psychology, aiming to understand and bridge ideological divides without advocating for a specific political stance. Book Theme: The book explores the psychological foundations of morality and how they influence political and religious divisions. 11. "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media" Authors: Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky Political Leanings: Both authors are known for their critical views on corporate and governmental power structures, often aligning with leftist critiques of media and politics. Book Theme: The book introduces the "propaganda model," arguing that mass media serves the interests of dominant, elite groups in society. 12. "Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda" Author: Noam Chomsky Political Leanings: Chomsky is a linguist and political activist known for his critiques of U.S. foreign policy and mass media, often from a libertarian socialist perspective. Book Theme: This work discusses how propaganda and media

None of those were popular. A true representative democracy or democracy would not have instituted any of them.

Biden literally advocated and tried for mandates at OSHA covering all companies. What is this fucking gaslighting? It was struck down by the supreme court, but before that happened it was a full court press about firing the unvaccinated and removing them from public life.

Almost none of those are conservative books, and some are probably considered far left in most circles. Media corruption used to be a left issue before Trump took it over with his fake news.

What actions of the US government in the last 40 years look like the actions of a democracy to you? NAFTA? Iraq War 1 and 2? Bank bailouts? Destabilizing the Middle East? Quantitative easing through the Fed?

You absolutely cannot raise taxes out of it. Taxing the top 10% ($160k a year average) at 90% gets you 2.7 trillion. Our debt payment alone is $1 trillion. You have to cut deep, raise taxes, and explore other income options (tariffs, war, expanding the tax base) if you want to turn it around.

At the time it did not seem that way, I predicted enough pressure I would have to lie or quit. You gaslighting like it wasn't a huge fucking scary thing to those of us that aren't pharma bros is insulting.

They instituted a vax mandate which I got around for remote workers, partly because of the pushback myself and another person gave. Another company I was at had a attestation that you could check in a portal that they did not verify. My wife's company which was a startup would have fired her over it but she left the workforce due to kids. I was never fired over it. I've never actually been fired at all. I expect that to change when all of the fallout from the return to office in the government and all the fallout from the funding pools and government workers getting fired bleeds into the private sector.

Everyone has priors. And yes there is media hijacking to influence and propagate stories. You can search the payments on government websites for internews. Maybe they were paying $490 million for something other than directly influencing and censoring media narratives, but it looks pretty damning. Especially in light of the internet censorship that we saw 2016 to about 2022 coupled with what Zuckerberg himself has stated was done to meta to get them to comply with censorship. Also, Elon but you probably don't believe the Twitter files story. In addition, on Reddit, every single subreddit, including ones not related to politics, were completely spammed with Kamala and pro DNC messaging.

I believe the theory "the iron law of oligarchy" is more correct than "we live in a democracy (or even republic." There are various cases made and discussions about why this is the case in "The Machievellians" which is regarded as one of the most insightful books on politics in the 20th century. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy#:~:text=The "iron law of oligarchy" states that all forms of,large groups and complex organizations. What career failings do you mean? I was a director of engineering at fortune 5 companies and owned two airplanes. I recently had my third kid and am working remotely at a fortune 20 while I spend time with them. As for DOGE we are close to debt spiral and running off a cliff. Someone had to do something.