The News Thread

Blurry_Dreams · Jun 1, 2021

CiG · Jun 2, 2021

The Trump cult is really wild.

LMFAO.

zerostatic · Jun 2, 2021

Goddamn. I need to get out of here before 2024.

zabu of nΩd · Jun 2, 2021

zerostatic said:
Goddamn. I need to get out of here before 2024.

And go where? Most of the other developed countries have pretty shit economies / job markets. The US may seem like a hellhole of political violence when you focus on the headlines, but statistically speaking you're still highly unlikely to be a victim of it, and the US has unquestionably the strongest major economy in the world. Not to mention that Big Pharma saved our asses with vaccines while other developed countries are stuck with a vaccine undersupply.

Even for a country like Australia that looks pretty solid economically and politically, you have to wonder how much they really control their own fate with the US and China throwing their weight around (the most amusing recent example being Google strong-arming the Australian media into paying up for search placement to avoid having Google Search shut down through the whole country).

CiG · Jun 2, 2021

I don't think he's worried about being a victim of political violence mate.

rms · Jun 2, 2021

CiG said:
LMFAO

lol even when it was going on the dudes on my social media were acting like they're ANTIFA plants. Wild fucks man

zerostatic · Jun 2, 2021

zabu of nΩd said:
And go where?

That is a fantastic question! My better half has looked at Canada. She she has enough points to get us both in, but I worry Canada may not be far enough. We are both in education, she is in higher ed and I can teach K-12. Have looked at some European countries and while it seems getting a one year gig isn't too difficult, landing a secure long term position can be tricky. I dont want to be all doom and gloom but after January 6 I expect more violence and possibly even a civil war before the end of 2024.

zabu of nΩd · Jun 2, 2021

zerostatic said:
That is a fantastic question! My better half has looked at Canada. She she has enough points to get us both in, but I worry Canada may not be far enough. We are both in education, she is in higher ed and I can teach K-12. Have looked at some European countries and while it seems getting a one year gig isn't too difficult, landing a secure long term position can be tricky. I dont want to be all doom and gloom but after January 6 I expect more violence and possibly even a civil war before the end of 2024.

Canada is arguably less politically stable than the US when you look at the separatist movements in Quebec and Alberta. The movement in Alberta in particular has been gaining popularity (almost half of Albertans favoring secession), largely because of how wealthy Alberta is compared to the other provinces (i.e. highest GDP per capita and lowest debt to GDP). Alberta is also the biggest net contributor to the federal budget, paying far more in taxes than they get back in distributions.

Peter Zeihan said:
The core issue is pretty simple. While the Québécois—and to a slightly lesser degree the rest of Canada—now need Alberta to maintain their standard of living, the Albertans now need *not* to be a part of Canada in order to maintain theirs.

Even if Canada's weak federal gov't manages to hold the provinces together, their economy is running on a growing national debt like the US, but without a US-like ability to issue bonds as a reserve currency nation, and with a much smaller share of young people (by % of total population) to pass on the tax burden to. And there's the aforementioned issue of how much policy control a superpower like the US wields over a small country like Canada. Canada has a trade deficit with the US, and is far more dependent on trade with the US than the US is on trade with Canada.

Einherjar86 · Jun 2, 2021

Right-wing nationalism is popping up all over Europe. I wouldn’t feel confident in escaping the lunacy here by going across the pond.

I’m amazed to watch the QAnon conspiracy evolve in real time. It’s a truly incredible, terrifying, and fascinating phenomenon.

CiG · Jun 2, 2021

Wait @zerostatic are you actually worried you'll be a victim of political violence?

zerostatic · Jun 2, 2021

Political violence against myself? Not so much. I worry about more civil unrest and possible civil war in the next few years. The Q cult is scary and it is crazy that the GOP continues to support Mr. Trump after he encouraged his followers to overturn the results of an election.

zabu of nΩd · Jun 3, 2021

I guess anything's possible, but another civil war seems highly unlikely. The US is a completely different country today than in the 1860s - far wealthier (i.e. lazier), less religious, more economically and socially interconnected between states, a stronger central government, and the modern military + intel community is far more capable of suppressing rebellion. You'd probably need a big schism among senior military/defense officials to make civil war possible, and judging by how many such officials publicly condemned Trump during his presidency the military community as a whole seems pretty moderate.

CiG · Jun 3, 2021

zabu of nΩd said:
judging by how many such officials publicly condemned Trump during his presidency the military community as a whole seems pretty moderate.

Weren't several people who took part in the riot army reservists, guardsman and ex-military? Wasn't the female rioter who was shot an air force veteran? Michael Flynn literally said what's happening in Myanmar with the military coup should happen in the US.

Einherjar86 · Jun 3, 2021

CiG said:
Weren't several people who took part in the riot army reservists, guardsman and ex-military? Wasn't the female rioter who was shot an air force veteran? Michael Flynn literally said what's happening in Myanmar with the military coup should happen in the US.

I have no expertise on this, so take it with a grain of salt—but I get the sense that there’s a crucial difference between ex-military and current military, especially the higher ranks.

Ex-military are feeding off values of U.S. nationalism, quasi-religious fervor, and general patriotic notions. Current military are more materially and immediately concerned with defending the country. Obviously these still entail nationalist beliefs and patriotism, but there’s also a pressing concern of legitimate danger. So current military people just want to continue being funded and supported—and for now, Biden and the Democratic Party at large poses no threat to either the country or to curbing military funding.

zabu of nΩd said:
I guess anything's possible, but another civil war seems highly unlikely. The US is a completely different country today than in the 1860s - far wealthier (i.e. lazier), less religious, more economically and socially interconnected between states, a stronger central government, and the modern military + intel community is far more capable of suppressing rebellion. You'd probably need a big schism among senior military/defense officials to make civil war possible, and judging by how many such officials publicly condemned Trump during his presidency the military community as a whole seems pretty moderate.

I agree with this.

I think we will continue to see the ideological animosity grow between general U.S. liberalism and the radicalism of the far right, especially as the right refuses to make widespread condemnations of politicians who court and cultivate radical sentiments. And I won’t be surprised when this animosity overflows into violence; but I’m not sure it will reach the level of a war.

CiG · Jun 3, 2021

He said "military community" so I assumed he meant all of it, not just active service members, but fair enough.

Einherjar86 · Jun 3, 2021

He being Flynn? I guess I mean that he’s also ex-military, so it doesn’t surprise me that he would project these kinds of notions and impulses onto the military writ large. I’m not sure that active military personnel partake in these same fantasies. He’s a unique case because even though his tenure was recent, he was more of a political actor than a military one (although these things certainly overlap).

But again, I could be very wrong, as my knowledge of military attitudes generally speaking is minimal. If anyone could shed light, Dak probably could.

CiG · Jun 3, 2021

zabu of nΩd said:
the military community as a whole seems pretty moderate.

^

Einherjar86 · Jun 3, 2021

Ah my bad. At any rate, I would distinguish between active and ex-military.

rms · Jun 4, 2021

These dudes are now jumping in on the fauci emails. Only thing Ive seen is the anti.mask ness fauci was..but I remember him not being for masks and being wrong...what's the right wing angle here? :lol:

CiG · Jun 6, 2021

Trump is telling people he thinks he'll be 'reinstated' as president in August, according to a report.

Haberman, who broke some of the biggest stories of the Trump administration and has been covering him for decades, added that Trump had been “laser focused” on election audits in states whose results he is still trying to overturn.

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