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It's why it's always been a theocratic power-grab by Christian Nationalists from day one. They sicced bounty hunters on people for trying to cross state lines from the get-go !

It was an interesting exercise for me, to see in real-time all of the bullshit pretensions like it was actually about state's rights, or children or for women that one had to wade through.

All blatant "freedom is slavery" nonsense to me, but it was a learning experience in gaslighting.

I am honestly glad not that many new users are coming to the site, sure because of that this politics chat is pretty damn dead but it can be so tiresome to do the same shit again and have things that happened years ago happen again because of generation cycles and new users learning stuff and what not.

Rather have the place be kind of dead than deal with deja-vus and shit.New users also tend to start all idealistic and nonjaded which I find obnoxious tbh.

Better things being dead than dealing with kids is what I say

Walking on eggshells just to slapfight randos on a meme website forum thread probably isn't worth it to most people.

In comedic, yet ultimately irrelevant news, some blog site called "Jezebel" was put out to pasture by the holding company that assumed control of Gawker's corpse. Nobody was reading it, nobody wanted to advertise on it, and nobody wanted to buy it, so all new posts have been suspended indefinitely and the employees have been promoted to customer. G/O Media on the whole is probably struggling pretty hard, so one or two more of their sites going under in the next few months seems fairly likely.

Hate to say it but it looks like we actually have our first legitimate instance of someone who admits he got radicalized though Gamergate. David DePape, the guy who attacked Paul Pelosi, confessed what radicalized him was watching a lot of right wing political figures on YouTube, which also lead him down the gamergate pipeline

How much you wanna bet the typical idiots are gonna use this to demonize gaming as a hobby?

That IGN article gets off to a good start by repeating the false narrative that it was a "harassment campaign".

Personally, I'm highly skeptical of this claim. It's certainly possible, but I feel as if details previously established actively contradict this narrative. Aw well, there's bigger fish to fry anyway. Like the economy.

Eh it kind of was, I mean its how its started afterwards it was way bigger but it started with a game developer getting shit on for good or for ill.

Idiots will be idiots, trying to make sure they don't have stupid ideas is pointless.

There's been notes on mass-shooters and terrorists of all stripes and political leanings (some groups produce more than others, but there's been a lot to account for most factions, which in itself is a depressing thought).

It's one reason why one needs to focus on structural and political issues, nutcases exist and will always exist, but is there a reason why they're turning violent? I can think of a few attacks from people in the name of groups I don't like, which I haven't mentioned here, because the institutions that produce them are the cause.

In this case, DePape seems to have been radicalized on youtube while living a completely miserable life, a well know toxic combination. Nothing new, but a good warning to everyone about internet overdose.

I keep reading his name as DaPepe, appropiate

Well, the new speaker is having the same problems as the old one. So come on Mr. Gaetz, do the funny!

Why do I get this weird feeling that there's gonna be Eco terrorist groups inspired by the Unabomber bombing parked cars and assassinating Republican politcians

nah m8 there wont be,

that would require them to get out of their house and phones

It's less that they don't get out of the house; many modern environmental extremists do, in fact, get outside a lot.

The problem is that they're driven heavily by rapid gratification and publicity. Building bombs can take quite a while and may not even work as intended (Ted Kaczynski only ever killed three people). And if you want to be at it for long enough to bring some real carnage, you need to remain in obscurity.

Stunts like playing in traffic or gluing yourself to pavement are much more immediate in terms of their gratification and attention. Even more subtle methods of "action", like vandalizing private property, fall along these lines; even if you don't see the fallout, you know what damage you've done once you've done it.

Assassination does give fast gratification and publicity, but it requires a good amount of long-term planning to pull off. Not to mention the fact that most modern environmental extremists tend to be aggressively anti-gun, depriving them of the most expedient way to kill a public figure. I guess they could use a knife or a sword, like Otoya Yamaguchi?

So…how long till we have a virgin incel president?

This place just isnt the same anymore….

I almost miss Greyblades….almost…

Now here's some very interesting news. The Security and Exchange Commission might be declared unconstitutional. Specifically, the Fifth Circuit found that the SEC's power to penalize people and businesses through internal systems and not the court system violates the Seventh Amendment. It's currently on the Supreme Court's plate, so we'll see what happens. Could be big, since this seems like something that could harshly reduce the power of unelected bureaucrats, if it goes through and people start prodding other agencies.

Totally not a ploy by large corporations to get out of trouble

Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state, found at 100.

(is it ok to post this news here? because afaik this is related to both us and world politics)

Good riddance to bad garbage

The lawsuit that caused this decision was a ploy by a small corporation to get out of trouble. If you look at their track record, the SEC doesn't really punish large corporations (like Wall Street) very much, if at all, so it getting defanged won't really change much in that regard.

To be more precise about what this case is about, the SEC has two methods through which it can seek enforcement of violations: "civil action", where it files a case with a district court, usually to seek an injunction to stop the violation; and "administrative action", where the case is filed internally and brought to a judge who, while on SEC payroll, is nominally independent from the rest of the process of the Commission.

The second is what's under the lens here, with the accusation being that "administrative courts" are being used to circumvent the Seventh Amendment guarantee of a jury trial in civil suits.

Though there is a second half that may prove much more interesting than agencies merely being forced to play by the rules when it comes to judicial action. It goes further and claims that Congress went afoul of the "nondelegation doctrine" when they delegated powers to the SEC. Specifically, by way of letting them pick and choose whether to use the actual courts or their own courts, Congress delegated a degree of legislative authority to the SEC (the specific reasoning is that tribunals not bound by Article III of the constitution is a power granted by Article I, the article that gives Congress the authority to legislate. think like how Congress can decide to act like a court).

Obviously, this is much bigger, since many other agencies of higher importance may also be in violation of that doctrine. I think it's likely for the Supreme Court to concur with the first half, since it follows directly from the most obvious interpretation of the Seventh Amendment. The second half is… less likely, but still possible. Seeing the Supreme Court declare a judicial open season on practically every three-letter agency would be fun, if nothing else.

Another wild one in the Supreme Court is going to affect hundreds of billions that the government get's from taxes. Specifically, the debate is around unrealized gains , which I think is a bigger issue.

As someone who allocates a significant part of my salary into investing – and not day-trading, I would potentially be affected if they can tax my investment assets.

After serving less than a year in office and dealing with many scandals, George Santos is officially expelled from the House of Representatives.
(I know CNN is not always the most reliable, but I'm using their video regarding the news since it contains live footage from Congress as well as some context and commentary.)

George Santos is now the sixth member to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

For those of you who are on the left side of the political aisle, I'd love to get some opinions on something I've been pondering about.
How important is "authenticity" in your life and your politics?

How could they do such a thing to the first gay Brazilian astronaut? The man fought in Normandy and the American Revolution for crying out loud!

You know the movie is bad when rightwing grifters refuse to defend it

Lord forbid women be more than baby factories spawning more and more people we cant even take care of and dont know what to do with…oh no …

McCarthy says he'll be resigning next year.

Nailed it
that's why the parasitic class goes after sex education and abortion because they want more unloved babies to work their menial jobs at minimum wage

Optimism is good but remember that corporations can abuse the shit out of your optimism their own nefarious ends. Look at them pretending the prices arent overinflated so you buy things at overcosted rates….

They are scheming like that.

The invsible hand of capitalism can force companies to drop prices now that the natural inflation is over….any second now….this artifitial inflation could really end sooner than later…..

Wait, people actually believe that inflation begins and ends with companies raising their prices? I thought that was some weird joke I wasn't in on. Because if people are serious… well, it reminds me of the people who think food comes "from the supermarket" and wonder why "flyover country" looks like a bunch of rectangles.

In funnier news, a satanist shrine was erected in the Iowa capital building, and the statue of Baphomet at the shrine was later toppled and beheaded.

People should stop having faith on a system that actively fucks regular person.

I mean it doesn’t but that’s a significant portion of inflation

In the face of unpredictable inflation, companies are likely to raise their prices more than is immediately necessary to compensate for the decrease in purchasing power. But in this case, as throughout all of history, the overwhelming driver of inflation is whoever runs the mints (which is usually the government, or some branch thereof).

In this case, the monetary sin is excessive printing of money, a long-term consequence of all the stimulus during the pandemic. And it's not just a US problem, it's a global issue.

Something tells me you only find it funny because it’s a cult you don’t like, but if it happened to a cross suddenly it’s a warcrime

You're good at putting words in other people's mouths; you should consider putting better ones into your own instead.

But to be more serious, the group who set up that shrine aren't literal worshipers of Satan, but rather edgy atheists who LARP as Satanists to get a reaction out of Christians. They got what they were looking for, and nobody even got hurt, so it seems like quite the win-win.

In "it's totally not about punishing women" news a woman in ohio was charged because she had a miscarriage into a toilet

like I have said before, if men got pregnant (before you say it you know damn well what I mean) and had misscarriages they wouldnt get charged

Yesterday, chileans rejected a second constitution proposal, this time made by right-wing politicians instead of the left-wing constitution proposal from last year, "on the polls held that day,"https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/chile/2023/12/17/en-contra-toma-ventaja-segun-resultados-preliminares-del-servel.shtml effectively staying with the constitution of 1980, made under the military dictatorship.

My take: either way, both proposals, the left-leaning one from last year and this one, can end up as modifiable as the current constitution, meaning that they could/can be modified even beyond recognition through constitutional reforms (like the one from 2005 under Ricardo Lagos' administration).

We are all going to die

So first billionaires say Earth is overpopulated, now they say there are not enough humans? What do they want?

Edit: Also I'm surprised no one is talking about the sex tape scandal in the senate.

A relevant Stephen Jay Gould Quote:

“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.”

Musk and Bezos are so close to unironically suggesting Family Guy advice as a real suggestion.

So first billionaires say Earth is overpopulated, now they say there are not enough humans? What do they want?

I think Musk and Bezos are part of a different clique from the depopulation motherfuckers. Not sure if their plans are better or worse; I want to know what Musk thinks about forcing people to eat roachburgers before I make a judgement call.

Edit: Also I'm surprised no one is talking about the sex tape scandal in the senate.

Not much to talk about there, but it is funny.

Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good evening.

Seems like some shit's been going on in Serbia for the last week. From what it seems, an opposition party has levied claims of electoral fraud against the ruling party in the most recent election, and demand that the election results be overturned. Hey, where have I seen this one before..?

Twenty-three years ago in Serbia, though with more substantial evidence and greater internal support for change. Given how oddly similar these events are, though, I think it's accurate to call this an attempted "color revolution".

Who gives a shit? if it ain't the Jews it ain't the news.
No one is talking about Sudan.
No one is talking about the Houthis reinstating Slavery in Yemen.
and certainly no one is going to give a damn about what is happening in Serbia.
Hell when was the last time anyone on this site even talked about the Ukraine war?

The Russia Ukraine war article gets trending here quite often

Who gives a shit?

Serbia itself isn't especially important, but this situation can make for an interesting case study: when it is considered "acceptable" to rally and riot to try and overturn a democratic election, using allegations of electoral fraud as a justification? The party leading the protests happens to be pro-EU, which is most certainly part of the answer…

The Russia Ukraine war article gets trending here quite often

There's not really much left to say about it, though, since it seems to be going nowhere fast.

Colorado and now Maine have removed Trump off their ballots for the 2024 election.

Holy hell this is giving Trump and his supporters so much fuel to reinforce their persecution complex.

This isn't gonna backfire fellas, honest /s.

I can't even imagine the absolute chaos this is going to bring when the Supreme Court rules against something like this but it's too late and this may severely impact the election.

One step further into the political divide I guess