I am ashamed to admit - I haven’t worked at all.

I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize we were supposed to be working! (Also, I am a ditch digger by trade, and alas, I see no way that my skills could be of service…)

I’d get a Prime membership if I could order one of those, for sure! Go Iran!

Proton VPN.

I use the paid version, but I’m pretty sure you can get a free version without data caps.

It lets you set the location of your VPN endpoint, meaning that you can spoof your location to just about any country on the globe. Very easy and intuitive interface, works on mobile, and no I don’t work for these motherfuckers, I’m just excited to share my experience because I only recently decided to start using a VPN.

Other options, according to Google: PrivadoVPN (10GB/month), Windscribe (10GB/month), and Hide.me

This is perfect, I think! The last thing we need is a unified religious front that’s “cleaned up God’s house”. Much better to have traditionalists offended by Machine Gun Jesus and in-fighting.

In fact, maybe replace Jesus’ face with Trump’s. Hit 'em with some blasphemy and see which Xians cheer it and which ones look away in shame and second-hand embarrassment.

Article summary: THIS JUST IN: TRUMP LOVES OIL, HATES CLEAN ENERGY

Yeah. We know.

I’m very disappointed that the term “petrodollar” is not used anywhere in this article, because the concept of a petrodollar explains (at least partially) why Trump has done what he’s done.

Saudi Arabia has a deal with the U.S. They have agreed to trade only in U.S. dollars. By protecting that deal, Trump protects the U.S. dollar as the international currency of choice.

Any article about the oil trade and/or Gulf nations should mention this. It’s a foundation of U.S. foreign policy. And, while it’s an underhanded way to exert disproportionate control over global energy markets, it benefits the U.S. consumer greatly. It keeps the value of the dollar high, even as U.S. manufacturing dies.

In a just world, this arrangement would never have happened. But it did happen. If the petrodollar disappears tomorrow, there will be even more misery and hardship for working class Americans. Imperialism should be dismantled carefully, lest the innocent be crushed beneath it.

Poor Rickless bastards.

<laughs in Christoper Columbus>

It’s an incorrect/misleading title.

Shatner was mocking people who think new Star Trek is too “woke”.

The original Star Trek was known for its very progressive (at the time) themes, and especially for its integrated cast. Don’t have the energy to google it rn, but I think Shatner was one of the first white TV actors to kiss a black co-star onscreen.

Nothing personal to you, but posts like this one might be one reason why so many places on the internet are echo chambers.

No explanation, no analysis, no factual data or source. So, if a person unfamiliar with the context (like me) stumbles across this post, the conversation is already over. It just looks like a bunch of tribal finger-pointing (in the sense that this “tribe” is right and another “tribe” is wrong).

Strange that you didn’t repost your source(s) here in this thread…

“So you have Tik Tok just smashing our young people’s brains all day long with video of carnage in Gaza”

Funny how that works. Smashing the brain with Gaza, and the Epstein files, and ICE and heretofore unseen levels of financial corruption and on and on.

If the bar gets any lower, we’ll need to start digging.

I think there’s room for both.

Assembling even a dozen like-minded people for a coordinated protest is out of reach for most folks. What usually ends up happening is that a huge protest happens and everyone goes and then most of them are finished. They did their part.

The big protest ends up being a performative event, for both the protesters and the administration/police. The big protests usually happen on a weekend, so that everyone can attend. Usually in an urban area, where office and government buildings are closed on that day. So you end up with a downtown area packed with police and protesters and nobody else.

And even if you end up with a consistent, long-running, well attended protest, the chances are slim that it impacts anything. We did this for a year in Portland in 2020, and it made no difference. Maybe 25-50 people during the day would hold vigil over the park, watch other people’s belongings and just be present. They’d chat with passers-by and make new signs, etc. But when evening came, things would ramp up as people got off their day jobs and came to join the crowd. The crowd would balloon to 5 or 10 thousand people sometimes, but even if it was only 500 or so people, they still had nightly clashes with police. At least two people died that summer.

It. Meant. Nothing. No meaningful change was affected. The police chief and the DA ended up resigning, and there were a few minor policy changes around how to better handle civil unrest.

I’m wondering, though, if we had been in a wealthy residential neighborhood, would things have been different? Probably. But could we get all those people to a suburb? Being in the city center provided all of the momentum. The foot traffic and downtown rush hour, drawing people’s attention, that sort of thing. I don’t know if that sort of excitement could be generated outside the city?

So…those a bunch of meandering thoughts, thanks for coming to my TED talk. :)

Yes, protests can be inconvenient. Freedom is messy.

The people who view protesting as “anti-social” aren’t ever going to join your cause. They don’t care about freedom, they care about safety and security.

Speaking of horses, did you know that house flies and horse flies can look almost identical, but are different species?

The possum is not the same species as the opossum. A rabbit and a hare are different species. A buzzard and vulture are different species.

It’s all about DNA. If two bugs (or any organism) can mate and produce viable, fertile offspring - that’s a species. If they can’t, then they are different species.

“Did you like that video I sent you?”

“Are you kidding me?! I LOVE that you sent me that video!”

I’d feel the same way. And yet…it’s still effective.

“Why were you late?”

“Protesters.”

“What were they protesting?”

And just like that, the conversation has started.

I think you don’t even have to bump. Just turn on your hazard lights and start slowing down in the middle lane. In medium to heavy traffic, this should cause a standstill.

Relevant gif.

As long as APAIC is funneling money into US politicians, everything Israel does is tangential to US politics.

In the 2022 midterm elections, AIPAC spent roughly $27 million, a figure that more than tripled to over $100 million for the 2024 cycle.

The US provided about $4 billion in aid to Israel.

We are right now engaged in a war - sorry, armed conflict - with Israel leading the charge.

So, yeah, have fun in your echo chamber where US politics is entirely divorced from the rest of the world.

More info here, but I can’t speak to the veracity of this source.

https://www.trtworld.com/article/938b226c9f43

Strook is a mother of eleven and a grandmother of twelve. In 2007, a Palestinian boy was found severely beaten and bleeding after escaping an alleged torture session.

It was later revealed that Zviki Strook and his friends had entered a Palestinian neighbourhood, captured a 15-year-old boy, handcuffed and beat him, stripped him, and allegedly hit him with an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) before leaving him tied up in a field. The victim escaped hours later, suffering from severe injuries.