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#102965

I wonder who’ll be next week’s Prime Minister?

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  • #144587

    US military strike against Venezuela; Maduro captured

    This is completely insane. Not that we didn’t know it was coming, but… it’s just such utterly crazy shit.

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    Ben
  • #144588

    I think they’re comparable to the CDA generally speaking, but the current government is from the more extremist wing of the party. Merkel was from the left wing (which is why she got rid of Merz, who was a rival and already peddling racist narratives), and pushed him out of politics completely) and Merz and his people are kind of taking revenge on everything Merkel has established in her 16 years.

    OK, thanks for the explanation.

     

    I believe you once posted some quotes by Horst Seehofer, who was in the CSU, which were really racist. I don’t think the CDA has this problem. Our Christian parties are a bit more leftist. (Except the SGP who are very conservative protestants, theocratic in fact.)

     

    I think CDA has gotten more leftist over the last two decades. As well as the Christenunie, another protestant political party, I think you can say they are really on the left side of the spectrum, except for some points which directly impede on their Christian beliefs like abortion and euthanasia. (I mean Christenunie is on th left, CDA is more centrist)

    • This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Arjan Dirkse.
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  • #144594

    This is on more of a personal note, but I suppose it fits better here than in the Treehouse:

    I think something has got to change in how I deal with politics in this year. I’ve got to get off social media – especially watching social media video clips. There’s some useful information there, but it’s mostly making me angry, which is of course the whole point of the algorithm. So I’ve got to stop.

    At the same time, I am sure the anger will keep burning, because Germany is well on its way to becoming a fascist country. Well, that’s overstating it, but extreme right-wing to an extent that would’ve been unthinkable twenty years ago. Not only is the AfD the strongest party now, we have a chancellor who is permanently using racist rhetoric as a strategy and a government coalition that’s bent on hollowing out our social systems, setting the stage for a proper fascist takeover in a decade or so.

    So it’s time to get more serious about resistance. I am doing a lot in my job – luckily, I work in a field in which that is part of the vocation – but we’re at a point where when it comes to being active in private, joining a protest here and there just doesn’t cut it anymore. My available time is heavily restricted by having two very small children, but I do have to do do something more coordinated and active this year, or I will just explode with rage at some point. We will see.

    To keep social media useful, you have to bury the For You feed.

  • #144603

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  • #144606

    Just saying, you are one of the good ones Christian.
    Huge understatement.

    Do what you need to do.

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  • #144610

    Germany is well on its way to becoming a fascist country.

    Again?

    • This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by JRCarter.
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  • #144616

    Some people are already celebrating thinking Trump just liberated Venezuela…

  • #144620

    Germany is well on its way to becoming a fascist country.

    Again?

    • This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by JRCarter.

    Maybe it’ll work out better this time?

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  • #144630

    Next on the list: Greenland and Nigeria

    https://abcnews.go.com/International/denmarks-pm-urges-trump-stop-threats-annexing-greenland/story?id=128896995

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  • #144631

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  • #144632

    It’s why they kneecapped Bernie to boost Hilary. He would have at least tried to change the game.

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  • #144636

    The number of Dems who’s reaction to the abduction of Maduro has been to complain that Trump didn’t go through the correct process.  No question of how it’s morally wrong.  It disgusts me.

    • This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by lorcan_nagle.
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  • #144638

    Interesting how the right wingers here are crashing out over the Greenland issue. People from the FvD camp are now calling Trump evil for threatening a European country, when they were previously for Trump and Musk. Or maybe not all of them, some are Duginist and call everything from the US degenerate.

  • #144640

    The 8 democrats who gave in last shutdown, Senator Krysten Simena who held up Biden’s infrastructure bill years ago, senior Dems undermining their young and upcoming successors, Dems who switched parties. Sigh…

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  • #144643

    IMG_1234

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  • #144667

    IMG_1234

    Not true unfortunately, the Americans aren’t buffoons, they are a very scary military superpower.

     

    It’s funny right now seeing Europeans say they can confront the US when we’re dependent in every way imaginable. Well it would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.

  • #144673

    Both are true. Often stupid, high-handed and arrogant but with a great many guns, bombs and bullets, plus a trigger-happy tendency.

  • #144674

    The thing I’m wondering is how much Trump thinks of himself and how much is fed to him by dodgy think tanks like Heritage and far right influencers. (people like Musk, Thiel, Yarvin…influencers might not be the right word for them but you know what I mean)

     

    And how much is whispered to him by Putin I guess.

  • #144685

    Soft diplomacy is something Trump and MAGA simply do not understand. “Root beer doctrine” has always been a tool the US has used and had in place and was pretty widely implemented. Yet, Trump and his idiots have destroyed decades, if not a century plus, of soft diplomacy in a year.

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  • #144690

    Russia finds out too late that having kompromat only works on an individual susceptible to shame and voters who care about it.

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  • #144691

    Russia finds out too late that having kompromat only works on an individual susceptible to shame and voters who care about it.

    Even if Russia releases it, Trump and the MAGATS will just say it’s AI slop fakery.

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  • #144692

    If they cared enough about it to feel a denial was needed, perhaps but the Epstein Files say it will not be.

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  • #144694

    Both are true. Often stupid, high-handed and arrogant but with a great many guns, bombs and bullets, plus a trigger-happy tendency.

    Yeah, the current US gov is an impressive lesson on how you shouldn’t be less afraid of stupid, incompetent people.

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  • #144749

    When ISIS formed in Iraq, I thought it was awful of course, and the people were stupid for joining it. Still I think I understand now that when your country is destroyed like Iraq was things like these are unavoidable. Young men turn to terrible violence. It doesn’t even matter very much what the political goals are, they are just hungry for violence. Some people may have claimed that this was just something violent Muslims did, and I think I was susceptible to such Islamophobic sentiments, but it is human. It is just what happens when society collapses (or is detroyed in the case of Iraq), no matter the sadness the violence will cause. Some politically extreme group liek ISIS becomes to outlet for violence for frustrated men.

    There is a Russian blogger called Dmitri Orlov, who turned into a Putinist, but he said some things on the collapse of soceity and its effects, things he observed in Russia in the 90s, that I think are correct. Men in particular go crazy when this happens. Women cope pretty well, they just do whatever is necessary, they work, they try to cope as best as possible, but men kinda go crazy, especially young men (not all of them of course, but it happens frequently). They become violent and obsessive. I think this is true.

     

    I think there is increasing dysfunction in society here in the Netherlands and I’m noticing an uptick in aggression when I’m outside. People acting without regard for others, acting crazy in traffic, etc

     

     

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  • #144768

    What Musk is claiming as “free speech”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/10/elon-musk-uk-free-speech-x-ban-grok-ai?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    “Pictures of teenage girls and children were altered to show them wearing swimwear, leading experts to say some of the content could be categorised as child sexual abuse material.

    Some users began to demand to see bruising on the bodies of the women, and for blood to be added to the images. Women were shown tied up, gagged and shot.”

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  • #144790

    There is a Russian blogger called Dmitri Orlov, who turned into a Putinist, but he said some things on the collapse of soceity and its effects, things he observed in Russia in the 90s, that I think are correct. Men in particular go crazy when this happens. Women cope pretty well, they just do whatever is necessary, they work, they try to cope as best as possible, but men kinda go crazy, especially young men (not all of them of course, but it happens frequently). They become violent and obsessive. I think this is true.

    It’s certainly a part of why the AfD is so successfull in East Germany. People there had the floor pulled from under their feet; after the reunification many lost their jobs, companies and commonalities were sold cheaply to West German investors, and they were told to erase the last fifty years of their history as worthless.

    Turns out that all had some long-term effects.

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  • #144810

    IMG_1816

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  • #144834

    Why Trump’s Venezuela invasion spells doom for Canada’s trade deal – CTV News

    U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced major American oil companies will invest US$100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector in the wake of Washington’s military takeover of Caracas.

    Now, with the largest oil reserves ensconced in American possession and the administration eyeing yet another military takeover of resource-rich Greenland, this makes it even more likely, not less, that the American strongman walks away from forthcoming Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA) negotiations.

    Formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the pillar of regional economic integration for more than three decades could now be sunset by the spring of 2026. The president continues to steamroll western democracies, all the while weakening global safeguards that have undergirded international norms in his wake.

    The White House continues to strip nation states of their vast wealth like locusts. North American ingenuity and openness has been the envy of the globe allowing Canada, Mexico, and the United States to reach meteoric heights, powering technological innovations along with an unmatched manufacturing base.

    Now, with Trump’s metamorphosis to autocrat complete, all of that will soon fall to ruin beginning with the region’s signature trade compact. Even before America’s military lambasting of western powers, the twice-impeached president was already telegraphing a U.S. exit from the prized agreement.

    During a recent interview with the New York Times, Trump was asked what could potentially limit his global powers. The former reality television personality frighteningly retorted: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” He went on to add, “”I don’t need international law…”

    These remarks are another unmistakable guidepost that global treaties, norms, and safeguards are of no consequence to the commander-in-chief. Only guided by narcissistic aims and desires, the world is now consumed with dread, waiting in horrid anticipation of what nation or leader will be marked for annihilation next.

    CUSMA on life support

    Canada, America’s largest trading partner, was put on notice back in January when Trump was sworn in to a second term. The president made no secret that the Great White North should no longer enjoy national sovereignty but fall under American hegemony. Not wishing to unleash military hard power to enact subservience, the White House signalled economic force to bring a century’s old friend and ally to its knees.

    Debilitating tariffs laid the groundwork and now with CUSMA seemingly on life-support, the Trump administration is hoping such a seismic blow to Ottawa will force the nation to capitulate to its desires.

    According to a report from the Washington-based think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), economists largely agree that NAFTA benefited North America’s economies. Regional trade increased sharply over the treaty’s first two decades, from roughly US$290 billion in 1993 to more than US $1.1 trillion in 2016. Cross-border investment also surged, with U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Mexico increasing in that period from US $15 billion to more than US $100 billion.

    Moreover, the report states: “In the years since NAFTA, trade between the United States and its North American neighbors more than tripled, growing more rapidly than U.S. trade with the rest of the world. Canada and Mexico are the two largest destinations for U.S. exports, accounting for more than one-third of the total.”

    Canada specifically saw strong gains in cross-border investment in the NAFTA era: Since 1993, U.S. and Mexican investments in Canada have tripled. U.S. investment, which accounts for more than half of Canada’s FDI stock, grew from US $70 billion in 1993 to more than US $368 billion in 2013.

    Additionally, agriculture, in particular, saw a boost. Canada is the leading importer of U.S. agricultural products, and Canadian agricultural trade with the United States has more than tripled since 1994, as did Canada’s total agriculture exports to NAFTA partners. Yet, as the CFR document report points out, perhaps to its detriment, Canada became more dependent on trade with the United States, relying on its southern neighbour for 75 per cent of its exports.

    Canada’s dangerous trade dependence

    Other high-income countries tend to be much more diversified, rarely relying on a single partner for more than 20 per cent. Of course, Canada has always shared a special relationship vis-a-vis the U.S. In fact, American presidents have long shared warm relationships with Canadian prime ministers, but Trump has not hesitated to use this dependence as leverage, perennially threatening economic hardships on Ottawa if they do not comply with concessions.

    Now, the once-great partnership and the signature trading pact that has powered the economy, on both sides of the border, is not only in jeopardy, but so too is Canada’s very independence. Trump is clumsily and haphazardly restructuring the global world order.

    Yesterday it was Venezuela; tomorrow Greenland; after that, Canada. The first shot across the bow will most certainly be the end of CUSMA. Trump will take on the arduous task of trying to consume a nation that is both ill-fitted and ill-suited for his MAGA ideology. One can only hope (or not) that he does not choke on it in the process.

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  • #144838

    Labour have adjusted the digital ID so it’ll be an option instead the mandatory route they were going for on work checks.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/13/government-rolls-back-digital-identity-card-plans

    I think they should have gone with it as an option from the start. Too many people go for the hard sell, politicians seem particularly susceptible, then express surprise when it fails. Going with the softer approach might pay greater dividends.

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  • #144847

    Labour have adjusted the digital ID so it’ll be an option instead the mandatory route they were going for on work checks.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/13/government-rolls-back-digital-identity-card-plans

    I think they should have gone with it as an option from the start. Too many people go for the hard sell, politicians seem particularly susceptible, then express surprise when it fails. Going with the softer approach might pay greater dividends.

    Good.

     

    I think it is good if there is some resistance to making these form of digital “progress” mandatory. Not everybody wants to walk around with a smartphone all the time.

  • #144865

    I’ve found a lot of the time, it’s the soft option that’s far more effective than the hard, macho approach.

    Meanwhile…Cock-ups versus conspiracy in action:

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news…ief-behind-maccabi-tel-aviv-ban-still-in-post

    The “intelligence report” for the ban was a total balls-up by the Police, but not due to anti-semitism or political pressure.

  • #144948

    IMG_2237

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  • #145091

    Just checking in guys. Hope you’re all well.

    Hey, remember when some of us on the old forums were accused of Trump Derangement Syndrome?

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  • #145092

    Despite the world being madder than ever, dog and cat pics on social media are a surprisingly effective mitigation against it all.

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  • #145094

    Despite the world being madder than ever, dog and cat pics on social media are a surprisingly effective mitigation against it all.

    I go to a cat cafe here sometimes. I swear it’s better than a month of zen meditation.

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145112

    Will the Democrats do the right thing?

    Or will enough defer to their Republican masters and keep it all fucked up?

    After second Minneapolis shooting, Congress hurtles toward a partial government shutdown over DHS funding – CNBC

    The U.S. government is nearing the brink of a partial shutdown by the end of the week after federal immigration agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minnesota on Saturday, the second such incident this month.

    The Senate is set to vote this week on a massive House-passed $1.2 trillion package to fund the Department of Homeland Security, along with a wide swath of government, before the Jan. 30 deadline. But the shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis is now threatening to derail the funding package as a growing chorus of Democrats warn they will oppose it unless funding for the Department of Homeland Security is stripped out.

    “Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. I will vote no,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement on Saturday night.

    “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” he said.

    The funding package needs 60 votes to overcome the filibuster and pass the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-47 vote majority in the Senate, meaning Democratic support will be needed to pass the measure. Of the 47, two are independents who caucus with Democrats.

    …More in link…

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  • #145123

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  • #145139

    Trump news at a glance: Pretti killing a ‘wake-up call’ say Obamas as Clinton urges Americans to speak out The Guardian

    Two Democratic ex-leaders warn core American values are under assault – key US politics stories from Sunday 25 January at a glance

    Democratic ex-presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have spoken out against the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old nurse in Minneapolis, the second person to be shot dead by federal immigration officers in the city this month.

    In a statement released on Sunday, Obama and his wife, Michelle, described the killing of Alex Pretti as “a heartbreaking tragedy” and “a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault”.

    “For weeks now people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” they said.

    Bill Clinton joined the call in a post on X, saying the US is facing a historic moment that will shape it for years to come. He urged Americans to speak out and “show that our nation still belongs to we the people”.

    … More in link …

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  • #145146

    The insanity of the right-wing justification machine is really hard to believe. It’s basically, he shouted at these guys and had a really aggressive attitude. So obviously we had to execute him, I mean, that’s what you do with people who are shouting at you in the street, isn’t it?

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  • #145148

    In a statement released on Sunday, Obama and his wife, Michelle, described the killing of Alex Pretti as “a heartbreaking tragedy” and “a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault”.

    Fucking finally. Man.

    As for Clinton “joining this on X”, fuck you, we aren’t forgetting Epstein over this.

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  • #145160

    Obama’s refusal to prosecute anyone over Iraq and insistence on bipartisanship is a huge part of why the US is in this position, so he can shut the fuck up unless he apologises for that first.

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  • #145165

    Obama’s refusal to prosecute anyone over Iraq and insistence on bipartisanship is a huge part of why the US is in this position, so he can shut the fuck up unless he apologises for that first.

    Unfortunately, “taking the high road” means jack shit to Republicans.

    Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high”. No, when they go low, you kick them in the fucking face. That, they’ll understand.

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  • #145171

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  • #145172

    Obama’s refusal to prosecute anyone over Iraq and insistence on bipartisanship is a huge part of why the US is in this position, so he can shut the fuck up unless he apologises for that first.

    I really fucking hope they understand this time that just turning around and forgetting any of this happened isn’t a choice. There needs to be a true fucking reckoning, and if the Democrats fuck that up, they’ll never recover.

    Just like the US has never recovered from there being no reckoning for the Secession.

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  • #145174

    Obama’s refusal to prosecute anyone over Iraq and insistence on bipartisanship is a huge part of why the US is in this position, so he can shut the fuck up unless he apologises for that first.

    I really fucking hope they understand this time that just turning around and forgetting any of this happened isn’t a choice. There needs to be a true fucking reckoning, and if the Democrats fuck that up, they’ll never recover.

    Just like the US has never recovered from there being no reckoning for the Secession.

    I have no faith in the Democrats to do this without a complete change of leadership at the top.  The senior Dems love ICE and love deporting brown people, they just don’t want it being so out in the public eye.

    For instance, they voted to say thank you to ICE last year, they’ve consistently voted to increase ICE’s budget, Obama set up the facility that put kids in cages and Biden kept it open even as the latter used it as a cudgel against Trump’s first run.  Obama deported more people than Bush, and Biden than Trump did in his first presidency…

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  • #145176

    UPDATE: quotes from an interview with Tim Walz last night:

    I’m gonna give Homan the benefit of the doubt”

    “They should coordinate with local law enforcement, pick these people up in the middle of the night when they’re not suspecting it”

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  • #145177

    Doing the Democrat classic of being reasonable to a raving loon.

    It doesn’t change how dumb it is but was that before the news of the assault / murder attempt on Omar elsewhere?

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  • #145178

    Not sure on the timing, I only saw a clip of the interview online so far

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  • #145179

    Walz has been increasingly disappointing over the past month or so.

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  • #145182

    I don’t think democrats will get very far with an overly vengeful agenda. But some lefties will only be satisfied if they start hanging republicans.

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  • #145183

    I don’t think democrats will get very far with an overly vengeful agenda. But some lefties will only be satisfied if they start hanging republicans.

    I’m kinda at that point.

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  • #145184

    Exactly, there will be voters who demand just retribution.

    The family who lost members to ICE or a random mass shooting, a family who lost a mother to a deadly pregnancy that was blocked from abortion despite it killing them both, people who vaxxed their kids but still saw them hit terribly by measles.

    UK and european politicians aren’t great but they are nowhere near the too many psychopaths in US politics.

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  • #145189

    The point shouldn’t be to have retribution, but to have justice. The problem is to the right, they’re going to be identical because of, you know, all the shit they’ve done and how they refuse to accept how harmful it all is.

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  • #145191

    This video is interesting, leftie youtube Taylor Lorenz who is an ex-journalist for the NYT, totally sucking up to China. China is awesome! They’re totally great, their culture is much more wholesome than ours, and our propaganda lies about Chinese state control. They say “oh we’re not saying the Chinese government is perfect” but they’re making the point that criticism of China is overblown and the United States is evil and probably much worse than China. Not one word about Uyghurs btw…it’s kinda like a political journalist doing a video on Russia, saying how beautiful their churches and palaces are and how wholesome the Russian spirit is, while not saying a word about the Ukraine or Putin killing his political opponents, and saying, oh btw the US is an evil imperialist power and the West spreads propaganda about Russia being evil.

     

    Varoufakis does the same shit. I think it’s a kind of campism, or maybe they just take money from the CCP

     

     

     

  • #145192

    I don’t think democrats will get very far with an overly vengeful agenda. But some lefties will only be satisfied if they start hanging republicans.

    I’m kinda at that point.

    I know that about you, some people on this forum are at that point. But it’s fucking stupid.

  • #145198

    You and I are far away from it Arjan, if Dutch paramilitary forces were shooting people in the street you’d be posting differently. The London riots a decade back? Due to the cops wrongly shooting a man dead.

    Plus, in those scenarios I described above, further up the thread, each one is due to decisions made and legislation passed by politicians.  Being elected isn’t an all cases pass on accountability, if a politcian brings in law that kills people they have to brought up on it.

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  • #145211

    In the end yu have to share the same country.

     

    I am alright with prosecuting the real criminals, like Trump, those people in ICE who shot people, etc…but you have to watch out not to make 50 % of the population your enemy. I think it distorts the real picture of what’s going on. And it makes the future worse.

  • #145212

    After watching that Taylor Lorenz video I got more pro-China stuff in my recommendations, mainly from a channel named  East Asia Blueprint, with videos featuring Varoufakis, among others.

  • #145213

    I think we have a very limited view of how life is in the US. It’s not the cultural confection they export and a lot of what has gone wrong has been so for a long time. It’s coming to a head now, but the general attitudes behind it are much older, probably back to the early 90s when you have Gingrich talking of war and the democrats as enemies.  That’s not the attitude of someone willing to share a country.

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  • #145214

    Okay let’s have another frischer, froehlicher Krieg then. It will be fun!

     

    edit: this was maybe an insensitive reply…but I honestly don’t see what people have in mind as being acceptable solutions here. A civil war is not good, and I don’t think it is winnable. It’s better I think to take a step back from the abyss.

  • #145215

    There won’t be another US civil war, it’ll be more like N. Ireland’s troubles amped up to the max. Very messy, bloody and chaotic.

    The problem is how do you forge a practical compromise with a load of people who scorn compromise and empathy as weakness?

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  • #145216

    There won’t be another US civil war, it’ll be more like N. Ireland’s troubles amped up to the max. Very messy, bloody and chaotic.

    The problem is how do you forge a practical compromise with a load of people who scorn compromise and empathy as weakness?

    Exactly.

    To show you how complex this is:

    I live in Texas, a “red” state. But I also live in the Houston metropolitan area. Houston is the fourth largest city in the US, and it is a solidly “blue” city and has been for decades. I’m sure this is true of other states, and the blue/red aspects may be reversed.

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  • #145217

    IIRC the only state that has more democrat voters then Texas is California.

    It’s also the only state with more republican voters too

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  • #145220

    I am alright with prosecuting the real criminals, like Trump, those people in ICE who shot people, etc…but you have to watch out not to make 50 % of the population your enemy.

    Prosecuting the criminals is what I am talking about. Because the Progressives in the US have never done that, and look where it’s gotten them. They let Trump and his people get away with everything last time, and here he is again. They let Bush and Cheney get away with their war crime lies, and thus we got Trump.

    And you really can take this back to the Secession. The Southern States can celebrate their hero cult and go on about Southern Pride because back then, Lincoln didn’t hang their leaders and generals.

    Sometimes, there has to be a reckoning. But there probably won’t be. And that is what actually will lead into the abyss. I mean, look how awesome it was for the peace in Germany that they put Hitler in jail for only nine months after the Bierkeller-Putsch. Really made sure that everybody remained calm and nothing bad ever happened afterwards.

    I have no faith in the Democrats to do this without a complete change of leadership at the top.  The senior Dems love ICE and love deporting brown people, they just don’t want it being so out in the public eye.

    Yeah, absolutely. They so badly need a complete change of leadership – and the party base knows it, too. ‘s still unlikely to happen, unfortunately.

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  • #145221

    IIRC the only state that has more democrat voters then Texas is California.

    It’s also the only state with more republican voters too

    That’s why redistricting was a huge thing in both states last year.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
    Ben
  • #145237

    This is some bullshit:

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145243

    This is some bullshit:

    Very serious bullshit.

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145244

    The Trump admin abducted 4 journalists today, all of them black.  Let’s see how much solidarity they get from their alleged peers.

    4 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145248

    Some of the recent Epstein files show that Musk and Lutnick went to Epstein island.

     

    You know, it is good that the democrats are nor calling for these files to be released, but it is weird that the democrats didn’t release them when they were in charge.

  • #145249

    but it is weird that the democrats didn’t release them when they were in charge.

    No it isn’t.  They protect the interests of capital and the ruling class over the common good.

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145250

    In other news, Don Lemon is back on the street, released without bail

    4 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145254

    It’s okay everyone, the Democrats have joined the fight!  They’re going to refuse to vote for any further ICE funding unless a ban on deporting American citizens is enacted.

    A thing that… checks notes… is already illegal.

    • This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by lorcan_nagle.
    6 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145264

  • #145279

    This Epstein stuff is just sooo bad. Also it sucks that it is being used by antisemites to spread Jew hatred

    1 user thanked author for this post.
  • #145283

    Sooo… Trump shat himself in an Oval Office presser the other day. You can hear it happen in the video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_6kGluvINg

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145289

    I honestly think it’s not really a good thing when people make fun of someone peeing or pooping themselves. I mean not that Trump doesn’t deserve the ridicule, I don’t care about Trump, but it’s hurtful to innocent people who happen to be incontinent.

     

    Not mad at anyone, but I just don’t like it. Didn’t like it when people did it with Biden either.

  • #145296

    In a statement released on Sunday, Obama and his wife, Michelle, described the killing of Alex Pretti as “a heartbreaking tragedy” and “a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault”.

    Fucking finally. Man.

    As for Clinton “joining this on X”, fuck you, we aren’t forgetting Epstein over this.

    From the past, it seems there is this etiquette that whenever someone leaves office or loses an election, they would then leave/step aside and lay low after all those years of being in the media spotlight. Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, Romney, Bush, Gore, Harris, etc. They are all still around but just laying low.

    Unfortunately, “taking the high road” means jack shit to Republicans.

    Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high”. No, when they go low, you kick them in the fucking face. That, they’ll understand.

    Michelle Obama doesn’t read the room. Taking the high ground with people who would take that as a weakness.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
  • #145298

    I took “taking the high road” as having a moral compass. Doing the right thing. That is always good.

     

  • #145300

    I honestly think it’s not really a good thing when people make fun of someone peeing or pooping themselves. I mean not that Trump doesn’t deserve the ridicule, I don’t care about Trump, but it’s hurtful to innocent people who happen to be incontinent.

     

    Not mad at anyone, but I just don’t like it. Didn’t like it when people did it with Biden either.

    This seems to be an Internet / social media. Cue:

    Trump shat himself.

    You can’t say that about incontinent people.

    It’s a singular statement aimed at Trump, not plural at a group. And, if it were one of his opponents, Trump would be leading the mockery and making it as cruel as possible, so all he’s getting is a taste of his own medicine.

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145301

    It’s also a sign of the hypocrisy of the allegedly liberal media which spent months screaming about Biden’s alleged infirmity while ignoring similar issues with Trump.

    4 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145302

    I find the evidence for the alleged shat pants lacking. (Both with Biden and here)

     

    There is some noise but it could be the leather chair he is sitting on, or anything else in the room.

     

    Still, I don’t like this. If you mock Trump for his incontinence, you create the impression that incontinence is something to be ashamed of and that can be hurtful for other people. It is a huge problem for elderly people and nobody should be mocked for it.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
    Ben
  • #145303

    But it is a sign he’s literally “full of shit”.
    And a “poopy bum” to boot.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
  • #145304

    I find the evidence for the alleged shat pants lacking. (Both with Biden and here)

     

    There is some noise but it could be the leather chair he is sitting on, or anything else in the room.

     

    Still, I don’t like this. If you mock Trump for his incontinence, you create the impression that incontinence is something to be ashamed of and that can be hurtful for other people. It is a huge problem for elderly people and nobody should be mocked for it.

    I can tell you right now no one likes having the condition.

    But I seriously doubt any individual who does decide to mock everyone anyone with it did so purely because Trump got hit for it. It’s icing for a crappy person who was always going to engage in it anyway.

    But Trump? He deserves it and much more. A serial rapist psychopath who has whipped up hatred towards almost everyone different to him – sexuality, disability, ethnicity, you name it, Trump hates it. And then he gets others to hate it all too, then swears it’s nothing to do with him when people start getting killed.

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145316

    Regarding the Epstein files, does anyone know of a website or media source that does a good job in summarizing the most damaging revelations from the files that have been released so far? It’s so much and you hear bits here and there but it’s so tough to get some kind of overview of the things that have been revealed.

  • #145325

    This Epstein stuff is just sooo bad. Also it sucks that it is being used by antisemites to spread Jew hatred

    That’s also happening? Jesus fucking Christ.

    Still, I don’t like this. If you mock Trump for his incontinence, you create the impression that incontinence is something to be ashamed of and that can be hurtful for other people. It is a huge problem for elderly people and nobody should be mocked for it.

    I kind of agree. Plus, I don’t think this helps any. Making fun of this just makes him seem like a harmless buffoon, which is the opposite of what we should be doing.

    Uh, nevertheless: What makes me think that he actually did shit himself is that “Trump Takes No Question” is not an actual headline.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
    Ben
  • #145327

    That’s also happening? Jesus fucking Christ.

    Yeah there’s a lot of that in social media. “This proves Jews run the United States, he represents the Jewish elites that want to destroy the West, so they should all go back to Israel” etc

     

    Twitter has a lot of nazis spreading propaganda and this is right up their ally.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
  • #145333

    And the politics has already moved on due to the twin hits of DoJ saying there’s nothing to investigate in the Epstein files and Trump wanting to nationalise elections.

    Andor’s line about it being easier to hide with 40 atrocities over one continues being damn accurate.

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145335

    Trump wanting to nationalise elections.

    That’s not sitting well with “state’s rights” advocates.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
  • #145336

    Eh, they’ll find a way to get back in line for Orange Mussolini.

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145337

    That’s not sitting well with “state’s rights” advocates.

    Neither did invading states with his little personal fascist army, but did that matter? As long as it’s hitting blue states, the Republicans won’t say a word about it, no matter how big they supposedly are on states rights.

    And note how he didn’t say “We should nationalise the elections”, he said “The Republicans should nationalise the elections”. Weird turn of phrase, isn’t it? Almost as if he was planing on the election being completely in the hands of only one of the parties.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
    Ben
  • #145338

    Eh, they’ll find a way to get back in line for Orange Mussolini.

    That’s not sitting well with “state’s rights” advocates.

    Neither did invading states with his little personal fascist army, but did that matter? As long as it’s hitting blue states, the Republicans won’t say a word about it, no matter how big they supposedly are on states rights.

    And note how he didn’t say “We should nationalise the elections”, he said “The Republicans should nationalise the elections”. Weird turn of phrase, isn’t it? Almost as if he was planing on the election being completely in the hands of only one of the parties.

    Don’t be too sure.

    Shit is getting fucking weird here in the States. Case in point:

    Right-wing militia leader blasts DHS agents’ behavior—”History repeating”

    Right-wing militia leader Ammon Bundy condemned the shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis as “sickening.”

    A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded to his comments in a statement to Newsweek.

    “This is very simple. No one needs to be arrested. Illegal aliens have a choice. They can avoid detention by using the CBP home app, receive a free flight home and $2,600. Comparisons of illegal alien detention centers to internment camps used during World War II are deranged and lazy. These smears against our brave ICE law enforcement are no doubt contributing to the more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them,” the statement reads.

    Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, was fatally shot by federal immigration officers on January 24, just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renée Good, also in Minneapolis. The killings came amid protests over the Trump administration’s ramping up of immigration enforcement in Minnesota.

    The Pretti shooting, as well as other reports of tactics that allegedly include using a 5-year-old as bait, has drawn swift and bipartisan backlash to immigration operations. Many critics have called the shooting unjustified.
    DHS said Pretti approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a handgun. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously told Newsweek that the department viewed it as a “situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

    However, videos verified by various news outlets show that Pretti was holding a cellphone in his right hand, with nothing in his left hand, before he was shot, contradicting those claims. Prior to the shooting, federal agents had removed Pretti’s handgun, which he had a license to carry, from its holster.

    Bundy rose to prominence after leading the 2016 occupation of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which involved right-wing militias, and is well known for embracing anti-government political views. The standoff lasted for more than a month and was intended to protest federal land‑management policies. It ended with arrests and prosecutions of several participants.

    Bundy discussed the Pretti shooting in an interview with The Atlantic, saying, “It’s sickening to me, just to see the parallels of history repeating itself.”

    He added, “When it comes to the more humanitarian side of it, I think the left has it much more correct than the nationalist right.”

    His father, Cliven Bundy, engaged in a 2014 standoff with the Bureau of Land Management over grazing fees near his ranch in Nevada.

    Since the 2016 occupation, the younger Bundy has been critical of the militia movement. New York magazine reported in 2018 that he broke with the movement over immigration issues and has been critical of Trump’s immigration positions and nationalism.

    “We have been asked by God to help, to be welcoming, to assist strangers, to not vex them,” he told the publication at the time.

    Bundy has still remained active in conservative politics, leading protests in 2020 over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also pursued electoral politics, mounting a 2022 campaign for governor of Idaho—initially in the Republican primary and later as an independent. He won just over 17 percent of the vote against GOP Governor Brad Little.

    Bundy isn’t the only militia leader who has raised concerns about ICE agents. A Virginia Kekoas militia leader has also denounced the administration’s comments on Pretti as “shameful,” documentarian Ford Fischer reported.

    1 user thanked author for this post.
    Ben
  • #145339

    Oh, it’s immensely weird. After decades of numerous mass shootings, loads of deaths including lots of kids, all it took Republicans to abandon the holy second ah-mendment was a left-wing, legally carrying nurse being executed by federal agents, on film, in broad daylight.

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145344

    Oh, it’s immensely weird. After decades of numerous mass shootings, loads of deaths including lots of kids, all it took Republicans to abandon the holy second ah-mendment was a left-wing, legally carrying nurse being executed by federal agents, on film, in broad daylight.

    From a meme I saw:

    “Who knew that in America’s ugly divorce, the liberals would get custody of the NFL, the true teachings of Jesus, and *squints* the… Second amendment?”

    1 user thanked author for this post.
    Ben
  • #145351

    This Epstein stuff is just sooo bad. Also it sucks that it is being used by antisemites to spread Jew hatred

    That’s also happening? Jesus fucking Christ.

    Still, I don’t like this. If you mock Trump for his incontinence, you create the impression that incontinence is something to be ashamed of and that can be hurtful for other people. It is a huge problem for elderly people and nobody should be mocked for it.

    I kind of agree. Plus, I don’t think this helps any. Making fun of this just makes him seem like a harmless buffoon, which is the opposite of what we should be doing.

    Uh, nevertheless: What makes me think that he actually did shit himself is that “Trump Takes No Question” is not an actual headline.

    No, Trump should be mocked and belittled for every little thing, including shitting his pants.

    He holds himself to the world as this alpha male, smarter, stronger, and healthier than anyone else. He and his followers see him as the apex of humanity. He believes he is strong.

    When people mock him and make jokes at expense, they are not softening his image. They are destroying it. They are tearing down the artifice he has created. They are showing how weak he truly is.

    The man is total shit, and his soiled adult diapers prove it.

    3 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145352

    I have no faith in the Democrats to do this without a complete change of leadership at the top. The senior Dems love ICE and love deporting brown people, they just don’t want it being so out in the public eye.

    For instance, they voted to say thank you to ICE last year, they’ve consistently voted to increase ICE’s budget, Obama set up the facility that put kids in cages and Biden kept it open even as the latter used it as a cudgel against Trump’s first run. Obama deported more people than Bush, and Biden than Trump did in his first presidency…

    This is true about Obama:https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deportations-deporter-chief-or-not

    And this is how the ICE agency has had it’s budget increased:https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5674887/ice-budget-funding-congress-trump

    It would be interesting to contrast the agency then and now. Now they are a cross between the Gestapo and slave patrols/catchers back in the day. This “inspecting” and demanding of proper documentation is not unlike the “Let me see your papers.” – a popular phrase used in apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany, and right now.

    (There are video testimonies about how people were treated by ICE under the Obama administration. They all said it had due process, legal court representation etc. not like in the news now.)

    That last link is interesting how the number of agents went from 10K to 22K just last year. I would have liked to have interviewed the new 12K: “How were you recruited? Where were you on 1/6…? Are you a member of…? Do you have any distinct tattoos?”

    It’s like the 12K were told: “Ok. So now that you have all been pardoned, how would you all like a government job?”

    Wouldn’t be all that surprised tbh.

    • This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Al-x.
    • This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Al-x.
    • This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Al-x.
    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145391

    Apparently Poland seems to think Epstein was a spy for Russia…interesting but I’m not sure. In 2007 the investigation in the US into Epstein was stopped because “he was intelligence” but I would think that if it was suspected he was part of Russian intelligence there would have been sterner consequences for Epstein. That was under Bush after all and they were no friends with Russia.

     

    A theory I’ve heard is that he leant hs services to many different spying agencies, like an independent contractor.

  • #145426

    Our new government has announced there will be cuts, this is necessary to pay for increased military spending mainly. There is of course anger over this, but it is unavoidable. If you spend more money on one thing you have to spend less on others.

     

    Some people I think have difficulties understanding the second and third order consequences of their decisions. “WE NEED TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON THE MILITARY TO STOP PUTIN!!!” OK we will but then we will have to make some cuts. “NOOO NOT LIKE THAT…”

  • #145427

    We have a voting population with too many adult age toddlers and teenagers.

    But there’s also an aspect “we need more cash, where to get it from? We can’t tax the rich more.”

    There’s a UK group, Patriotic Millionaires, who have been arguing for a while that they can be taxed more. They wouldn’t notice or feel it, but the money would be active in the world instead of being part of a hoard in a bank account.

    2 users thanked author for this post.
  • #145428

    I think they will try to tax millionaires and billionaires more. There is going to be a tax in unrealized gains. Still if you tax them too much there is a risk they will move their money. Or move themselves. And then the tax revenue is actually lower. This happened in France last time they tried this.

  • #145429

    France likely over-egged it, though it might be more a risk in EU nations due to easier movement. Though that points to a EU tax rate.

    At this point there’s a good 15-20 years of data that says cuts don’t work.

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