
Yes, Peter Thiel was the senator’s benefactor. But they’re both inspired by an obscure software developer who has some truly frightening thoughts about reordering society.

According to this YouGov poll of least <> most trusted news sources , CNN lands bang in the middle of the pack. So not as bad as FOX, but not as high as PBS or ABC.
As for my own 2¢, all the US cable news channels are varying degrees of bad. Best to avoid, generally speaking.
Aesthetics, plus the seductive appeal that pre-modern, pre-liberal-democratic societies (when the governments were authoritarian, the women were submissive, and the men "were men") have for reactionaries, incels, and cryptofacists.
And what is dropping this wikipedia link supposed to prove?
Does it contradict the scholarly article I cited which supports everything I said?
P.S. who is "you people"?
Gaddafi literally funded terrorist attacks on the US in the 80s, which led to about 15-20 years of political disruptions between the two countries.
According to the Regan administration perhaps, but not according to intelligence agencies from several European countries. There was a concerted effort to link Gaddafi to individual terrorist attacks, like the Lockerbie bombing, although there was no hard evidence to support that.
It seems we're largely in agreement then - that 1) NATO did, in fact, make a move on Gaddafi and 2) the West supported him when it was beneficial but turned on a dime the minute he stopped cooperating.
That also overlooks all the times western powers were friendly with Gaddafi. They didn't mind him following his ascent to power, nor in the post 9-11 period when the U.S. and European countries restored diplomatic ties with Libya, and Western oil companies re-entered the Libyan oil sector.
In 2007, the UK's Tony Blair visited Libya to strike up energy deals, and France's Sarkozy met with Gaddafi for military and economic agreements.
Was Gaddafi a supervillain then too, or did he only become one when his interests were no longer aligned with the Western powers?
He certainly played up to the role, presumably for egotistical reasons, but most of it was sabre rattling bravado. He wasn't seen as a genuine threat by Western intelligence agencies.
Also, NATO forces didn't have to kill Gaddafi directly in order to be instrumental to his deposition. Their air strikes were highly effective in destabilizing the regime and empowering opposition forces within Libya. Besides, you only have to look at the history of US intervention in Latin America for many examples of how regime change can be carried out via proxies and rebel groups.
Except there is strong evidence that Western powers (predominantly France, the UK and US) created the fiction of Gaddafi being a global supervillain and then used NATO forces to enact regime change in Libya, under the pretext of "preventing civilian casualties". In fact, the real objective was to secure Libyan oil reserves and open the country up to western markets.
NATO is often used an extension of Western foreign policy. To pretend it is solely a benevolent peace keeper is just as simplistic and naïve as saying that everything the West does is pure evil.
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All true, but that doesn't disprove my point. The risk was non-zero, so it was still worth investigating.
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Yes but the difference is that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that prolonged exposure to RF waves might possibly cause some harmful effects. The WHO didn't categorize radio frequency radiation as a potential carcinogen based on no evidence at all:
https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr208_E.pdf
The possibility of there being a link was not absurd, per se.
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To be fair, the evidence about a link between cell phone radiation and cancer has been inconclusive for quite some time. After all, a series of inconclusive or null results doesn't mean there is categorically no link -- it could equally mean that more research is needed.
That said, I do agree that if there were a casual link in this case then it would have made itself apparent by now, given the huge increase in cell phone usage over the past few decades.
Ear buds or IEMs typically have a much higher sensitivity than full sized headphones. The higher the output power of your PC's headphone out, the louder your earbuds will be at any given volume %.
There isn't anyway around this except to manually change the volume whenever you use your earbuds.
Actually, it's nothing more than lazy slander pepetuated by duopoly apologists.
There's zero proof Stein is "Putin backed". She once sat at the same table at an international conference and barely spoke to the man. That's it.
Meanwhile, AOC has been publicly performing as a genuine progressive for her voters and constituents all while voting and acting like a corporate Democrat behind the scenes.
Sure, because our current economic system creates governments and laws that protect private capital and short-term exploitation at the expense of the natural world.
I do see hope in the book, though. Once you look beyond the human scale, it shows us that trees are always going to outlast us, no matter how hard we try to destroy our environment. The question is - can we learn from their patience and adaptability before we screw ourselves beyond the point of no return?
I haven't finished it yet, but so far the fatalism seems to be balanced by the reminder that we are intrinsically linked to the natural world, and that it is never too late to seek solace in it.
They allowed the family of an Israeli hostage on stage. Why not afford Palestinian Americans the same courtesy to have one of their own represented? Hell, they could have stood alongside the hostage's family to show solidarity and hope for peace in the future.
The Uncommitted movement did everything the "right way" -- they went through the official channels and offered the DNC a list of speakers and gave them permission to vet the speech however they wanted. But apparently that was still too big of an ask.
It's a perfectly good source. Is there anything about their argument that you find unsound, or is it simply because it makes you uncomfortable?
I'm not advocating either way, although the horrors I’ve seen committed in Gaza are on a whole other level than anything I’ve witnessed before.
I wouldn’t blame anyone who votes third party, or even sits this one out.
I'm not advocating either way, although the horrors I’ve seen happening in Gaza are on a whole other level than anything I’ve witnessed before.
I wouldn’t blame anyone who votes third party, or even sits this one out
These people genuinely have no idea what communism is
Aid worker in Gaza: "This is the worst I’ve seen. I’ve worked in Syria. I’ve worked in Iraq. We’re seeing a new level of depravity here"
Click to view this content.
In a rare interview with an aid worker in Gaza, Casey Harrity (Save The Children team leader) describes the aftermath of the attack on the school and the general conditions on the ground:
"80 verified killed in this attack, possibly more ... Still bodies that have been dismembered under rubble.. There were children living in this shelter.. We must stop the attacks against children"
"What we know is that there were women and children living in this school as a shelter. We've seen that. We cannot verify Hamas activities"
"This is the worst I've seen.. I've worked in Syria.. Iraq.. Other places.. You cannot compare human suffering.. But we're seeing a new level of depravity in this country"
"We cannot see attacks against children be the new normal"
Yes, Peter Thiel was the senator’s benefactor. But they’re both inspired by an obscure software developer who has some truly frightening thoughts about reordering society.
Short Summary
The article delves into the unsettling ideological influence of Curtis Yarvin, a software developer known for extreme views on societal restructuring. Yarvin advocates for dystopian solutions like converting unproductive people into biodiesel and virtualizing them into permanent solitary confinement, ideas that have attracted influential figures like Peter Thiel and J.D. Vance.
Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire, and Vance, a former Silicon Valley insider and now a Republican senator, are closely aligned with Yarvin's concepts. Thiel, particularly, has funded Vance's political career, elevating him into positions of influence within the GOP. Yarvin's philosophy, labeled neoreaction or NRx, promotes authoritarian governance and dismantling traditional governments in favor of corporate-controlled micro-states called "patchworks."
Vance, shaped by his time in San Francisco and mentored by Thiel, echoes Yarvin's radical ideas, advocating for extreme measures like politica
"Why are the Arabs so violent? Why do they hate Israel?"
TIL that in 2018, thousands of Gazans peacefully demonstrated against Israel's siege of the territory.
In response, IDF forces opened fire on the demonstrators with live ammunition. Some they shot to kill, others they shot in the leg, crippling them for life. Others they shot with rubber bullets and tear gas. They shot women, children, the elderly, paramedics, and journalists.
A UN Commission found that Israeli soldiers likely committed war crimes or crimes against humanity. Investigating from March 30 to December 31, 2018, the Commission reported 183 Palestinian protester deaths from live ammunition, including children, medics, and journalists. Over 6,000 were injured by gunfire.
The House has passed legislation that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws.
'If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.'"
Pardon me, but what is this horseshit?
Why are Mastodon's trending hashtags so ... dull?
As a new user, I'm enjoying Mastodon's vibe so far but the one thing that is a letdown is the trending hashtags. I've been checking them regularly over the past couple of weeks and it seems like they're pretty much always like this.
Even on days with big news stories, people on Mastodon are only talking about what day of the week it is like company employees on some internal message board?
Is there anything that can be done to liven them up a bit?
Political mobilization among scientists has been growing in recent years. Two social scientists break down what this looks like and how it represents a culture shift among the scientific community.
Maybe people are just really bad at identifying objects.
It appears UFOs are flavor of the month again.