What you’re describing is the etymology of the word, but its actual meaning in public discourse has morphed to “men who see women and any real or perceived slight/rejection from them as the source of all their problems and are thus generally - sometimes extremely - hateful towards them”.

I mean yes race does intersect, it’s a longer discussion, I guess I’m just tired of this “whiteness” critique because it feels cheap and easy, hence intellectually lazy. Anything that happens in the west politically can be linked back to whiteness one way or another. I don’t think it’s been particularly helpful as a critique, in fact I think it has backfired and probably needs to go.

Very well said. I wish I could articulate this as well as you have here.

FYI, the manosphere is replete with non-white males, and that is not even including the inherent male chauvinism in other cultures. I’m sorry but the critique on whiteness is a little lazy intellectually.

Jesus Christ you guys with the personal attacks 😳

There were subtitles for fuck sake 🙄 I didn’t have to interpret anything. Also, Iranian state TV. There is very little that is ambiguous about the video or what the lady in question represents. Also, I seriously doubt she’s a “journalist” as we like to imagine them, doing investigative work, field work, serving the people, and uncovering the truth. Probably just a mouthpiece for the theocracy on state tv.

Such an excellent visual! Conveys so much, like the very gradual growth of the EU, the abrupt dissolution of the Soviet Union, the long history of both… of course the circular axis makes it look like the Soviet Union is as much present today as the EU… which is kinda misleading, but actually interesting as one could argue that it has left its mark on Europe and its legacy continues to influence geopolitics in the region.

Well, I thought I’d feel nothing if perhaps a little shock, but seeing her flee for her life as she was self-righteously wagging the finger, something that she probably does often in defense of the Ayatollah, was kinda satisfying. Let’s not forget who these people are who uphold this tyrannical theocracy, TV propagandists included. I do not condone what Israel is doing, but just for one moment this felt good.

Several comments on here read like prime examples of “anyone who opposes me is a fascist”. Of course in conservative forums it’s similarly “anyone who opposes me is a lunatic Marxist”. Try having a relationship across aisles in this climate!

The study took 30 years to conclude but I wonder whether the current political climate makes it even more unlikely that people across political divides can form really any kind of relationship. I know I have found it difficult to maintain a relationship with anyone staunchly conservative even if political leaning has never been a main criterion for me in mate selection or in friendships.

I don’t think they will, but I’ve been thinking that one way Israel could get current and potential future enemies off their back for good would be if they finally showed the world that they do possess nukes and are not afraid to use them, possibly by making an example of someone. I do hope they won’t prove quite so callous.

AFAIK they’ve tried that before and Israel beat all of them. There’s no contest.

I can absolutely see that. And I don’t think it’s AI-specific, it’s got to do with relegating responsibility to a machine. Of course AI in the guise of LLMs can make things worse with its low interpretability, where it might be even harder to trace anything back to an executive or clerical decision.

Or maybe that is part of the allure of automation: the eschewing of human responsibility, such that any bias in decision making appears benign (the computer deemed it so, no one’s at fault) and any errors - if at all recognized as such - become simply a matter of bug-fixing or model fine-tuning. The more inscrutable the model the better in that sense. The computer becomes an oracle and no one’s to blame for its divinations.

I agree in principle, and personally challenge antisemitic thinking where I recognize it, but I don’t think it’s possible to completely inoculate a protest movement (let alone an armed struggle on site) against the criminal actions of what is a de jure Jewish state from negative sentiment towards Jews. It is asking the impossible. Oppressed people and their allies will hate their oppressors and that hate will spill over to cover an entire ethnic or religious group. Until some form of justice and peace can be restored. In every case we should be against the targeting of civilians.

First souls game I played was demons souls and nothing came close to that since. You never forget your first etc. Maybe bloodborne. I know most people loved the dark souls series but to me it always felt like a rehash of much of the same that was truly novel and captivating in demons souls. Of course happy that many more people got to experience souls games with the move away from the Sony IP. Yet still for me the best souls games are those that were made exclusively for PlayStation, for better or worse.

Exactly. If there is a reason for our conscious existence, it is to observe and imbue with meaning. Otherwise the world just is.

Unfortunately that’s par for the course for any nation in capitalism. Of course it takes on special meaning given Musk’s involvement with the US administration but every capitalist nation promotes its major businesses abroad one way or another.

If only there were a sizable resistance to Putin, maybe then it would make sense.

I struggle to connect with any of those characters. I did like Niko Bellic, he was a “character”. Maybe it was his accent, his immigrant’s take on things, don’t remember, it was a while ago.

FWIW the person appearing on the thumbnail is Bassel Khartabil Safadi, a Palestinian Syrian who for all intents and purposes was just an ordinary guy who wished for democracy in his country. A husband, open source advocate, and a friend. And someone who found himself in the extraordinary situation of being kidnapped by Assad’s security apparatus during the uprising of 2011, imprisoned, and eventually executed by the regime. Just because he advocated for freedom and democracy. As we think of the plight of the Palestinian people today and the unequal fight fought by everyone who dares speak out against the autocratic regimes of the Middle East, let’s take a moment to remember him and all those who the powers that be are keen to label terrorists and a threat to national security, many of whom are people like you and me who had the misfortune to live under regimes with virtually no respect for human rights. May he rest in peace and may the people of the Middle East, be it Muslims, Jews, atheists, or Christians, rise up and demand a life of freedom, solidarity, human rights, and dignity.