Joined the Mayqueeze.

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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • The origin of left and right come from the French revolution. In the first assembly, the pro-monarchists were sitting on the right and the “let’s try something different” folks sat on the left. So strictly speaking, the US political spectrum was entirely on the left (until a narcissist was elected and wouldn’t mind being crowned king).

    What’s in a label? The problem is the lack of debate. This team think that makes every idea from the other side stupid by default. A parliamentary system will fail when people stop talking to each other.

    And socialism is really only a red rag with a yellow hammer and a sickle in the US. It’s your cold war hangover. Socialists or social democrats exist in most democracies.


  • Per your definition, the effects of loyalty are always per se negative. I don’t doubt that in many situations this is true. I don’t think it’s always true. And a lot of it has to do with how we socialize. We need strong bonds. On a purely rational level, I’d be inclined to agree with you. We aren’t very rational though.

    If my hypothetical friend, out of the blue, got drunk, got behind the wheel, and ran somebody over, many people might turn away. If I stayed by their side, helped them arrange themselves in this new life of guilt, helped them make restitutions, and kept them from sliding into isolation and depression, my loyalty could be seen as a force for good in a bad situation. I could still donate to cover the victim’s medical costs or funeral. There are bonds that keep us together even when we effed up.

    Now, if I had willfully ignored all signs of alcohol abuse before, I think I’d be back on your page. So what I’m saying is we can create scenarios of loyalty with good outcomes. So the categorical dismissal as something negative isn’t true.


  • Album ≠ album. There are certainly ones worthy of listening to them as a whole. But there are plenty of albums that are just utter garbage too. The war on the single by record companies in the 90s produced a number of albums that were at best a couple of okay singles plus 8-10 pure fillers. Name another Chumbawamba song, you can’t without googling.

    In a way we are reverting back to the 1950s where the single reigned supreme and albums were an afterthought. Now the single song does better than an album again. Some musicians release every streamlined Spotify curated 2 minute song as a “single.” Since most of it is done digitally only why not?

    Dogma is useless.




  • 47, like his erstwhile buddy Epstein, deals in favor/counterfavor. The sheiks who paid for the jet scratched his back in exchange for a US favor, possibly pushing the repeat Nobel peace laureate runner up into war on Iran. And if he and his own can get rich in the process, no, wait, that’s plan A. All the rest is just theater and headline generation. I suspect the ballroom is just helping direct tax funds into construction companies that are owned by his former fixer’s neighbor’s third cousin’s dog’s groomer’s husband. The NYT will enlighten us in time.

    I think the US military will be able to inspect the plane and discover any hidden bugs. You don’t really need to track the plane; it’ll be on the news. As for the White House, even if a republican wins the next election, I’d fire the entire staff and send the military counterintelligence outfit through there with a fine toothed comb. A Democrat incumbent will probably sleep somewhere else for a while, pointing to “necessary” renovation work. I don’t think that that would be paranoid.