Some, although surely not all, of all the noisy violence that go with things like “Operation Midway Blitz” is to try to instigate things like this to happen.

Boy, you must be super pissed at Russia and critical of a lot of their people then. If support for arguably-neo-Nazi figures is the metric. I mean, lots of them speak highly of Stalin, they have statues of him for fuck’s sake, and he made a deal with actual Hitler and fought alongside him to invade Poland. He wasn’t just a cosplayer.

According to Vyacheslav Likhachev of the Institut français des relations internationales, members of far-right (including neo-Nazi) groups played an important role on the pro-Russian side, arguably more so than on the Ukrainian side, especially during early 2014.[240][241] Members and former members of the National Bolshevik Party, Russian National Unity (RNU), Eurasian Youth Union, and Cossack groups participated in recruitment of the separatists.[240][242][243][244] A former RNU member, Pavel Gubarev, was founder of the Donbas People’s Militia and first “governor” of the Donetsk People’s Republic.[240][245] RNU is particularly linked to the Russian Orthodox Army,[240] one of a number of separatist units described as “pro-Tsarist” and “extremist” Orthodox nationalists.[246][240] ‘Rusich’ is part of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary group in Ukraine which has been linked to far-right extremism.[247][248] Afterward, the pro-Russian far-right groups became less important in Donbas and the need for Russian radical nationalists started to disappear.[240]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazism#Ukraine

Or is that side of it not a big deal?

Only the side where it makes Ukrainians look bad in some way? For some reason?

BTW, I just gave $50 more to Ukraine via https://u24.gov.ua/ on the big “Donate Now” link in the top right. Hopefully they can buy some weapons with it, and keep playing Bandera songs if that’s what they want to do while they are blowing up Soviet-era equipment that’s trying to kill their people.

In fairness, it has negative thirty votes, and the top comments are all people shitting on the OP.

On the other hand, there’s this which can fuck all the way off. I also like Yogthos’s assumption that people in Ukraine don’t realize that the West doesn’t care about them dying all that much, like it’s escaped their notice so far, and they’ll be big mad once they finally figure it out for the first time, because just like him they’re just kind of bebopping around saying stuff, not really thinking about or aware of these issues.

Read writing from people in Ukraine. They’re well aware.

However this does not give Putin, or any other neighbouring country, the right to invade and all willy-nilly demand territories from Ukraine.

Almost as if it is possible for two bad things to be happening at once at the same time, without it meaning that one of them is actually a good thing now.

I’m reminded of the run-up to the 2nd Iraq War, near enough to the dawn of the mainstream internet that there was one Iraqi blogger who was well-known in the West. He was kind of a minor celebrity and people read him attentively to figure out what the reality was like for people in Iraq, up to and including the beginning of the war. One thing that he said that always stuck with me was, more or less: Yes, things are bad here. Some of the things the US is saying are true. But it is INSANE to think that anyone here wants the US to invade to “save” us from any of it, or that there’s any chance that it will make anything any better. It will make things ten times worse. It’s insane to me that people who are supposed to be qualified at world events are saying that the US is trying to “help,” or that anyone wants this or will “welcome as liberators” the people coming to bomb our cities and make our government even worse.

“Things happen.”

Hey remember when that lady asked a question that wasn’t your favorite question?

“IT’S A FUCKING WAR CRIME AND I TELL YOU SHE NEEDS TO BE FIRED INTO THE SUN”

The US is providing about a quarter of Ukraine’s defense budget at this point, the EU another quarter, and Ukraine the remaining half.

For the size and money disparity between the countries, it is surprising that the US is doing so little. The US military industrial complex has a bad habit it gets into where it often will give enough aid not to lose, but also not enough to win. Dan Ellsberg called it “The Stalemate Machine” and explained how it works in pretty heartbreaking detail.

1. Branding. Have recognizable stuff, people get a little hit of dopamine from seeing your logo and the style when it is unique and they recognize it.
2. Production values. Have them.
3. Consistency over a long time to let the algorithm build up an audience, as it does. Presumably, how people react to your videos has a lot to do with it.
4. Hire some dudes in China to play it a few thousand times in one of the those big racks of cell phones.

Check out the whole line of cars that could be getting through right-to-left, but there are two jerkwads who insist on not moving their car a foot or two apart to open up the little space and let them proceed.

Turns out the real America was in the hearts of the world this entire time

It’s crazy to me that none of the people in the right lane of traffic are just escaping off to the right. Everyone’s just sitting.

Maybe there was a process of natural selection, where all the people sensible enough who could get out got out, and it was 100% stubborn people remaining by the time the picture was taken.

I do think of that mentality “But I don’t want to go right, I want to go straight, I’m not turning, everyone needs to get out of my way so I can go straight, I’m waiting here until that happens” as an American thing, but I guess we don’t have a monopoly on it.

Sao Paulo: AMATEURS

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                              (tentative)  
                         Well, Will, I'm not exactly sure 
                         what you mean, we've already offered 
                         you a position..  

               Cut to reveal: Chuckie sitting across from the executives, 
               hair combed down, wearing his Sunday best.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         Since this is obviously not my first 
                         time in such altercations, let me 
                         say this:  

               Chuckie rubs the tips of his fingers together, indicating 
               "cash." The executives are baffled.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         Look, we can do this the easy way or 
                         the hard way.  

               The executives are completely blank.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         At the current time I am looking at 
                         a number of different fields from 
                         which to disseminate which offer is 
                         most pursuant aid to my benefit.  
                              (a beat)  
                         What do you want? What do I want? 
                         What does anybody want? Leniency.  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         I'm not sure--  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         --These circumstances are mitigated.  
                         Right now. They're mitigated.  

               Chuckie puts his hands up, as if getting a vibe from the 
               room.  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         Okay...  

               Chuckie points to the third executive.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         He knows what I'm talking about.  

               The third executive is baffled.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         A retainer. Nobody in this town works 
                         without a retainer. You think you 
                         can find someone who does, you have 
                         my blessin'. But I think we all know 
                         that person isn't going to represent 
                         you as well as I can.  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         Will, our offer starts you at eighty-  
                         four thousand a year, plus benefits.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         Retainer...  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         You want us to give you cash right 
                         now?  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         Allegedly, what I am saying is your 
                         situation will be concurrently 
                         improved if I had two hundred sheets 
                         in my pocket right now.  

               The executives exchange looks and go for their wallets.  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         I don't think I... Larry?  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         I have about seventy-three...  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         Will you take a check?  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         Come now... what do you think I am, 
                         a juvenile? You don't got any money 
                         on you right now. You think I'm gonna 
                         take a check?  

                                     EXECUTIVE  
                         It's fine, John, I can cover the 
                         rest.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                         That's right, you know.  
                              (turns to #1)  
                         He knows.  

               Chuckie stands up and takes the money.  

                                     CHUCKIE  
                              (to exec #1)  
                         You're suspect. I don't know what 
                         your reputation is, but after the 
                         shit you tried to pull today, you 
                         can bet I'll be looking into it. Any 
                         conversations you want to have with 
                         me heretofore, you can have with my 
                         attorney. Gentlemen, keep your ears 
                         to the grindstone.  

This is pretty standard, pretty much any big lawsuit will involve the sued party moving to dismiss at around this stage. Because why not? It might work, and even if it doesn’t, it will cost the opposition money and energy to respond to.

“Tesla Service will inspect the light bar and install an additional mechanical attachment or replace the light bar using tape to adhere the light bar to the windshield as well as an additional mechanical attachment as necessary, free of charge.”

Why is the tape there Elon

If there’s an additional mechanical attachment which yes is usually the method they use to put cars together and congratulations for that but I just want to know why the tape is there also

Answer me Elon

Yeah. There are insidious little features like the way they encourage toxic and hostile behaviors towards “outsiders,” so that it’ll be very very hard for anyone to talk sense into them, because it’s always just a fight. And on their side, they therefore won’t feel comfortable (they’ll feel like everyone’s being hostile to them) if they go outside their little bubble. And so, eventually, they can only really talk to people in the bubble, and so they get more extreme over time with no one to really check them.

That’s like 30% of the people in the US right now. I think we’re fucked. I don’t think there is a way forward for us that leads to anything. I’m completely serious. The amount of damage that lemmy.ml itself can do is pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things, but I 100% agree, those types of little propaganda bubbles and total fantasy-worldviews are a huge factor in why civilization is stuggling so much right now to maintain itself. A lot of people don’t have the blessing of a whole other community just one server over that doesn’t operate that way.

Yeah, kind of. The other way to look at it is that they’re getting increasingly isolated over time to the point that they have their own little hivemind (at least on political matters) that just doesn’t interact with the rest of Lemmy.

It didn’t used to be that way. Previously, they had their viewpoint but it was a back-and-forth where everyone on .ml / Hexbear would yell at you if you were one way, and people on lemmy.world would yell at you if you were the other way. Now it’s becoming just a monoculture on .ml. There’s no yelling (except for isolated intruders who are driven out pretty quickly), there’s just agreement.

And yes stuff like hearing them joking about Ukrainians not wanting to die in the war and how funny it is that they don’t want to die in the war was pretty horrible to me.

Two people can both be pieces of shit. And it’s actually pretty common for disingenuous trolls to get behind obviously popular causes, it helps build their brand. And additionally, it’s certainly possible that Peter Thiel wants to destroy the Democrats and thinks that removing Chuck Schumer will disrupt some watered-down anti-fascism that the Democrats are doing in congress any time they get their heads out of their asses, and also that removing Chuck Schumer is an absolutely vital step to reduce the horror in our governance and the ceaseless losing of elections by Democrats.

The problems in Washington are a lot deeper than any given individual and are mostly bipartisan. There is a reason why these absolute corrupt spineless buffoons keep getting elevated to these vaunted positions, and removing one buffoon is not going to right the ship. That’s one thing that makes zero sense to me about “Democrats are part of a corrupt system, so therefore stop voting for Democrats and presto the corrupt system will be fixed!” But, also, a change of leadership away from the absolute worst that the Democrats have to offer can absolutely be a good thing even if it disrupts in the short run.

In case the relentless and horrifying “singing” hadn’t given it away

Got it. That does make more sense. It’s also a super weird thing to do on all sides at an NFL game.

“Schumer is a bunch of dog shit smirking in a suit all hunched over like Igor” does not sound like a defense.

I mean clearly it’s not lol. The other person is just suffering from Lemmy reading comprehension.

Schumer finds himself stuck in the middle, trying to balance his allegiance to his corporate masters and Netanyahu with Trump’s fascism and the needs of the American people.

You misspelled “trying to conceal his allegience to his corporate masters and Netanyahu and not bothering to put much effort into the ruse.”

I am 100% assuming that last night’s capitulation was engineered by Schumer with a handful of people designated who can afford to take the fall for it. If Schumer ever bothers to explain his feelings about ending the shutdown, I guarantee he will make some general noises but definitely he will not say anything that sounds like he thinks ending the shutdown without ACA funding was a bad thing.

“See, now I’m in a better position, because the next time he wants my lunch money I’ll be able to say I already gave him some the other day.”