I think they’re saying Ukraine should have been given everything they needed to win the war quickly from the start. A lot of people believe the “slow trickle” of aid was designed to drag the war on.

The argument is that a long war is far more damaging to russia, whereas a losing a short war leaves them in a better position to recover and try again in the near future – beating russia to a bloody pulp vs giving it a black eye.

The states have limited power to defy the feds.

Case in point: legalized marijuana. That said, my fear in regards to states defying laws is:

• Targeted attacks by MAGA terrorists, particularly regarding anything LGBTQ+ or reproductive healthcare related.
• The fed withholding federal funds to punish states that don’t fall in line.

The former is particularly concerning as police and the national guard are predominately right-wing. My state passed the SAFE-T Act to address abuses in the police/justice system. Naturally, various police departments weren’t happy about this, and through obtuse interpretation of the act they’ll claim they can’t legally do vital parts of their job – something I’ve seen multiple times first hand. Refusing to do their job competently in response to MAGA terrorism isn’t hard to imagine.

The later gets tricky. Most of the states that would push back against unjust federal laws are also states that pay more in federal taxes than they receive in aid. The “obvious” solution withhold tax dollars going to the fed to make up the difference … which would be next to impossible in practice. Even if states mange to do it they’d be playing into Republican hands by defunding essential federal services.

Well, when the Nazis initially started “getting rid” of Jews they started with deportation and other countries refused to take them.

Given how that turned out I’m sure it will be fine.

The CHIPS act? You mean one of the things the Biden admin bragged about?

Good thing the incoming administration isn’t petty enough to nuke anything associated with the previous administration…

There’s “knowing” on a theoretical level, and knowing having experienced it. As the generational knowledge of people that have experienced fascism dies off the younger generations have to learn the hard way. Seems to happen every 100 or so years.

The idea of “European exceptionalism” is no different than the idea of “American exceptionalism”. People are fundamentally the same regardless of where they live – we all have the same base instincts, the same hard-coded tribalistic tendencies, and the same fears. Every population on the planet is susceptible to fascism because it preys on the aforementioned.

internalized pressure and overthinking

Yes, exactly that. What I’m saying it’s it’s a lot more common than it has any right to be – at least in the USA. I’m legitimately happy if you’re insulated from it and/or have the self confidence to see it for what it is and brush it off. I’m of the same mind on that in that I have the confidence to laugh at it and ignore it.

I’m talking about the men that don’t, and how unfortunately it’s a huge problem. My experience has been the opposite: I’m in a “skilled” male dominated blue-collar job: the amount of dysfunctional, toxic masculinity I see on a daily basis is wild. Even when I was “white collar” it was there, if to a lesser degree.

A lot of guys of all ages are deeply insecure and are falling into the “traditional manhood” grift to the detriment of themselves and those around them. The extreme examples like incels, Andrew Tate, right-wing ideas on “manhood”, “trad” idiots gaining momentum are a symptom of a far more widespread problem.

So there’s nothing you think twice about doing because society (specifically other men) will probably give you shit about it?

Sure, a healthy and confident person learns to ignore it – but it’s dishonest to say it isn’t a pervasive thing. Maybe you’re fortune enough to live in a place where isn’t it’s not as bad as elsewhere, but not everyone does.

We’re too busy doing the same thing to ourselves.

Especially bad when you consider the elevator shouldn’t have fallen in the first place.

Elisha Otis invented his automatic elevator brakes in 1853 – designed to instantly stop cars from falling if the cables snap … and the Empire State Building used Otis safety elevators.

Given how dead simple and reliable the safety mechanism is something must have gone horrible wrong.

deleted by creator

Hands you a random laptop.

“The thing doesn’t work.”

Refuses to elaborate and leaves.

I bought an LG microwave a few months ago to replace a dead 10 year old Sharp. My favorite “features”:

• The sticker on the door stating that by using the microwave I agree to LG’s TOS, including binding arbitration.
• The single 4 minutes and 30 seconds of use I got out of it before the magnetron broke.

When I returned it they customer service person asked if I wanted it serviced under warranty – hilarious. Bought a Panasonic instead.

I passed a 911 in an Opel Corsa at around 190kph (admittedly going downhill).

It was the highlight of my trip.

That’s the joke.

This is a parody of twitter posts made by actual “anti DEI/woke” dipshits. The format is identical to their posts “fixing” modern female video game characters that don’t look like sex dolls.

“Huh, interesting. Why aren’t you supposed to look at the moon?”

Most people aren’t psychopaths and actually enjoy sharing their beliefs if you ask in a respectful manner.

Option 3. Get a job as part of the 5% of the population still employed in serving the various security apparatuses protecting the rich fucks – you could be a soldier, cop, or government official.

Better to be part of the boot than be the poor fuckers getting stepped on, right? You can sleep easily knowing you have it slightly better than the other 95% of the underclass.

You’re not wrong, but the idea that “plant based” is “safe” isn’t right either. Plants can create all kinds of horribly toxic, carcinogenic compounds – especially when burned or heated.

Wood smoke of all things is mildly carcinogenic and we cook our food with it.

I remember reading FEMA conspiracies on the internet 20 years ago. The bit I remember is that FEMA is going to use a diaster to round up anyone not a milquetoast “sheeple” and put them in concentration camps as part of ushering in the New World Order. Wikipedia has an article on it that covers the basics – it dates back to 1982.

The website I saw had pictures of the backs of street signs, claiming the stickers and blemishes from the factory were “semaphores” that FEMA could use as route markers to said concentration camps. It was wild.

Don’t forget that starship launch last year. The dumbass blew up a rocket and launched giant chunks of concrete onto people’s property because he’s a impatient child.

Which is hilarious, as the eponymous Culture is the epitome of luxury gay space anarchism. Pan-sexual, non-monogamous space hippies that can (and do) change their biological sex just by thinking about it. People so past the idea of “gender” that they consider giving any serious weight to the concept barbaric.

I know it’s a rhetorical question: but is Elon stupid or something?