US Politics, September 2024 -- “I’m Not Going to Apologize For Posting a Joke”

when does the media age start

xp it also feels like they're using 30s Germany style tactics there, just say the most outlandish and racist shit, then admit it's probably false but that people should still say it, all with a grin on your face

Gotta love Trump’s “there will be no third debate because Kamala lost and wants a rematch too bad” spin. Clever guy.

everyone knows he's a coward

pretty much how all this shit works xp frogs

I imagine it's a risk/reward thing, with "how likely are we to win without a third debate?" on one side and "we know he's horrible at this" on the other, and right now, "horrible" outweighs the other. If Harris's polling picks up noticeably in the next couple of weeks, I'm sure they'll do a 180.

also if he can stand her calling him a coward

xxxxxp There are really interesting moves being made in "community self-reliance" -- not only on communes in the wilderness!

Kingston, NY has for 15+ years hosted an annual arts fest called O+ ("O positive") in which medical practitioners sign up to donate their medical services (check ups, phys therapy, dentistry, even other procedures that can be scheduled for a future time) in return for artists and musicians, writers, poets, etc donating THEIR services in the form of free performances, public art, readings, making objects, and basically exchanging services WITHOUT fees.

In Detroit, a community-based reliance/resiliency project called Avalon Village worked with the group Solar-darity to build/install solar-powered street lights after the city withdrew services. They put the solar lights on private land in cooperation with home-owners, and I think there's even a self-powered wifi network component.

There's more. Of course urban gardens are in no way sufficient to meet the food needs of densely populated areas, but they can add much needed nutrition and/or lessen the impacts of food insufficiency for some. And so on.

Honestly if I could, I would move to [redacted small city] in Michigan right now and fully become the weird lady on the corner who turns her lawn into a food forest and leaves produce on a table. There's nothing I want more.

(xpost) He can always work on comeback zingers like "I know you are, but what am I?" (See Hank Kingsley practicing to be a roastmaster.)

when does the media age start

visual media, general availability of televisions. I'd mark that as a seismic change in the dissemination of information

while you're at it make sure you mention how much Orban loves you just in case there are any Polish folks in this country thinkin about staying home on election day

Er...

the various american civil rights movements of the mid 20th century had militant aspects right, the troubles in northern ireland off the top my head, feel like i can see the shape of the argument but im not totally sure what it is xp

the sikh separatist movement thats some gnarly shit

I think clem is right, it's kind of hard to imagine him passing on the chance to be the center of attention for what is hopefully the last fucking time in his life, that said it doesn't really feel like his heart's in this anymore

The headline on this Politico article made me laugh.

‘The Most Important Thing That the Harris Campaign Can Do’
A veteran Democratic strategist on how the campaign should approach the race’s final chapter.

Ooh, a "veteran Democratic strategist"! Is it Mark Penn? James Carville? Ruy Teixiera? Maybe we'll get really lucky and it'll be Bob Shrum!

(It's none of those guys. It's somebody I've never heard of, and there's absolutely nothing of value in the article.)

wrt climate stuff above, I recently finished up Ken Burns' National Parks doc (amazing) and it was astounding to see how the very genesis of the parks was powered by a powerful convergence of spiritualism/art (beauty and God in nature, the written word and imagery that impassioned others) that motivated collective activism which also aligned with moneyed interests (railroad companies were huge proponents of the parks from the get go). It also necessitated allies from the ruling class (Lincoln and both Roosevelt presidents, for example).

I don't see how we transition out of our current cultural climate without some combination of the above. The battle for Hetch Hetchy was especially relevant, as it involves many of the same themes discussed in this thread (i.e. resource extraction to help humans at the cost of natural environs). Some balance/sacrifices will have to be met, natural environments are fundamentally unable to be preserved in their entirety in the face of some aspects of post-agrarian civilization. Shit like vertical farming and releasing arable land back to the wild is something we very much could do, but you still need to build those vertical farms, which requires extracted resources.

These are problems that, even in potentially solving them, isn't going to make everyone happy or have perfect solutions, if we're lucky enough to solve them at all. But I hope we solve them.

It's important to remember how powerful the opposition to those parks were, and that they were still yet defeated.

i think one issue is the shift towards this sort of psychotic culture of oil and vehicles and guns and what constitutes freedom, and the imagery these days isn't what was written about in america the beautiful, that's for sure. you can see it in the reactions to anything that's even remotely green or sustainable, there's this absolute nihilistic undercurrent to the opposition that such things are for the weak and woke, vs the whole strongman vibe so many right wing types want to get across. there's zero toughness to be had for them in the concept of environmental protection or altering our course in terms of climate.

i think theres still a lot of nature appreciators in america even amongst right wingers, but the situation has for sure been politicized to the max

probably another way social media has wrecked us. it's probably also just breeding an entire new generation of sociopaths who are completely unable to empathize with others let alone care about the future of the planet. that's probably too cynical, i know.

i still think there's enough pushback among normal folks to keep the ravaging of our national parks at bay, for now.

xp OTM - That's more a testament to how powerful modern propaganda is. What really drags me down is just how effective our technology has become at psychologically keeping us at bay and at each other's throats.

Maybe we really need a giant solar flare to knock out the world's electrical infrastructure after all

I dunno if this story went national, but my boy DeSantis suffered a pretty formidable legislative defeat last week when a bipartisan coalition fought the PR and ballot box battle to -- get this -- build golf courses on state parks.

So people care about parks.

thomas piketty’s new book is all about the link between climate change and inequality btw

i think theres still a lot of nature appreciators in america even amongst right wingers, but the situation has for sure been politicized to the max

I've mentioned this before I think, but one of the most contentious issues in Montana is asshole Republicans trying to limit people's access to public lands and waters — hunters and fishermen are really up in arms about this shit. If Ryan Busse wins the governorship, this might be one of the issues that pushes him over the top.

Access to nature and the connection the vast majority of humans have to it is something that has historically transcended political divisions in the post-industrial world.

Alfred - what's up with DeSantis's door-knocker election police? re: the reproductive rights ballot measure, and folks who signed the petitions. That seems like some straight-up fascist shit

Alfred - what's up with DeSantis's door-knocker election police? re: the reproductive rights ballot measure, and folks who signed the petitions. That seems like some straight-up fascist shit

Seems like something to be wary of volunteering for in a Stand Your Ground/Castle Doctrine state, too.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2024/09/04/florida-desantis-abortion-amendment-petition-signatures-fraud/

I heard something like: they were going to send cops out to the addresses on the petition to confirm the signatory lived there... total voter intimidation

i think theres still a lot of nature appreciators in america even amongst right wingers, but the situation has for sure been politicized to the max

I think there's a lot of Christian Dominionists amongst the right wingers who are committed to burning the earth because it's God's Plenty to do so

i do sometimes think about re-reading the monkeywrench gang except not for fun this time

― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, September 12, 2024 11:41 AM

Enh. Ed Abbey can go fuck himself from beyond the grave. Small-minded action from a smaller-minded racist

good writer though but he can still go fuck himself

agree, fuck ed abbey.

the complex that generated the american national park system isn't going to be relevant at all when it comes to doing something about climate change.

scott's line about nature regulating us is just about the only otm thing i've read in this conversation tbh. we sure think we can do a lot about things. silly humans.

i mean tbf we did warm the whole planet

I always thought Abbey was obviously a curmudgeon, but...

Oh wait, I'm thinking of Wallace Stegner, nevermind

both suck ass lol

i mean tbf we did warm the whole planet

― lag∞n, Thursday, September 12, 2024 11:24 PM (nineteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

but was this a choice? i have my doubts.

My uni's chapter of United Faculty of Florida. When DeSantis threatened to decertify if we didn't hit 50% paid members; we exceeded this goal. Yesterday we secured a rather impressive raise/bonus package from the administration effective in a few weeks: the best of my time here. Again, it feels good.

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, September 12, 2024 2:11 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Fuck yeah, way to go. I'm in WI so we don't have bargaining rights, but things are very slowly moving in a positive direction.

Btw it's head spinning that FL public sector unions are better off than in WI

https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/humble-brag-ak-1024x756.jpg

Congratulations, Alfred!

thanks!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/650-foot-tsunami-greenland-fjord-180212833.html

Last September, seismologists around the world detected vibrations unlike any they’d picked up before.

A monotonous hum seemed to be emanating from Greenland. It would last for nine days.

“This very, very weird signal showed up that I’d never seen before at some of our stations in the North,” said Carl Ebeling, a seismologist with the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Soon after the vibrations began, a cruise ship sailing near fjords in Greenland noticed that on the remote Ella Island, a key landmark — a base used for scientific research and by the Danish military for sled dog patrols — had been destroyed.

The events drew an international group of seismologists, the Danish military and oceanographers into the mystery: What had struck the island, and where did it come from?

On Thursday, researchers released their conclusions in the journal Science. The island had been hit by one of the biggest tsunamis ever recorded, they said, with waves that left a watermark about 650 feet high.

It was the result of a series of rare, cascading events set in motion by climate change.

The initial trigger came when warming temperatures caused the tongue of a thinning glacier to collapse, the researchers found. That destabilized a steep mountainside, sending a rock and ice avalanche crashing into Greenland’s deep Dickson Fjord. That displaced a massive volume of water, so a towering wave traveled across the narrow fjord, which is about 1.5 miles wide.

The tsunami waves — some at least as tall as the Statue of Liberty — ran up the steep rock walls lining the fjord. Because the landslide struck the waterway at a nearly 90-degree angle, waves bounced back and forth across it for nine days — a phenomenon scientists call a seiche.

Yeah Alfred, great news for sure. Also:

I dunno if this story went national, but my boy DeSantis suffered a pretty formidable legislative defeat last week when a bipartisan coalition fought the PR and ballot box battle to -- get this -- build golf courses on state parks.

Very much saw some stories on this, also on how the guy who essentially whistleblew to get it to everyone's attention was fired by some DeSantis minion, I'm sure, but put up a GoFundMe and blew past his goal easily. So that was kinda great!

I'm kinda glad that this Loomer lady is the Rasputin whispering in Trump's ear... hopefully she'll tell him more about the 9/11 'inside job' and chemtrails and lizard people

shes such a rando to get his ear genuine d lister considered a joke even amongst those jokers, maybe she raised her profile when she ran for office idk

mightve gotten to the bottom of it

This is why Trump is hanging out with Laura Loomer. Watch them with their hands all over each other at Mar-a-Lago. Note: He’s married. pic.twitter.com/GKdSMjDnvD

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 12, 2024

Eewwwwwwwwwwwwwww