Prelude to the Apocalypse

[ExitPlanetDust]

Would you mind elaborating on these candidates? So far I've seen most WA cities defeated by trendy topics.

What better timing than when my ballot shows up?



Lets discuss local for a hot second..

I’m taking about past primaries. Bruce was basically up front that he would be Durkan 2.0. González at least had a plan, however naive it might have been. At least she wasn’t planning to sweep the homeless around the city.

Dude, don’t take pictures of your ballot and post it online. Lol

[Hoagtech]

Dude, don’t take pictures of your ballot and post it online. Lol

I checked first of course. I just wanted to get a take on our demographic so we can see a precedent in the Blue Belt and see how and why they vote based on candidate

[Air Master Burst]

Well, in my early teens, two homeless fucks tried to attack me and probably rape me in downtown Minneapolis. Good thing I can think and move on my feet. Hardly paradise.

Bad things can happen anywhere. I'm sorry you went through that, but basing your beliefs on a single traumatic personal experience instead of facts and data makes you sound just like one of those crackpot Alpha News headlines I see on billboards all over the outer suburbs and rural areas.

There are certainly places you shouldn't walk alone at night, but it's just not in any way the apocalyptic hellscape all the white people out in the country like to claim it as after parking somewhere stupid one evening and getting their fancy F250 broken into.

[neorichieb1971]

Who here benefits personally from voting and getting in who they want? Its always been lost on me. No politician helped me get a job.

There is one caveat to that, in my country Labour got in, and they are planning to build a lot of things and as a result of me working in the building trade (In I.T though) my shares have considerably gone up since the election.

Unless these powerful people control the markets, get the cost of living down I don't see how many people actually benefit overall no matter what country your in. My son in the USA pays $600 a month on auto insurance WTF?

He cannot work if he cannot drive. You Americans living it up right now must be on $100k a year, but as voters you cannot be the majority. What about the 40 hr a week folk living pay check to pay check?

[Sengoku Strider]

What about the 40 hr a week folk living pay check to pay check?

The art of campaigning is convincing those people it's all the other party's fault. Or if that fails, that bad things will become irrevocably disastrous if the other one wins.

[To Far Away Times]

After 40+ years of continuous data showing how Reagan's trickle down polices fucked over the lower and middle class, there are only three possible reasons conservatives still fully embrace trickle down economics.

1. They believe they are temporarily embarrassed millionaires, and just one lotto ticket away from being upper class.

2. The allure of racism is so strong, so intoxicating, and so powerful, that the majority of conservatives know deep down trickle down economics hurts them, but it is the price they are willing to pay to hurt the other guy more.

3. They are actually super rich and have a "fuck you got mine" attitude and want to pull the ladder up behind them.

More than 80% of conservatives supported the Trump 2017 tax changes, the big ticket item being a permanent tax cut on corporations from 35% to 21%, and a complete fucking over of the W-9 form so that way less was withheld from people's paychecks and nearly everyone owed a huge some of money to the IRS at tax time. Conservatives also snuck in a private aircraft tax deduction and purebred only racehorse tax deduction to really help the little guy. Conservatives cheered as they knew all that lost corporate tax revenue would affect local infrastructure in their area. But hey, Apple has historic retained earnings though!

[vol.2]

Bryan hasn't been here since like May.

Was sure there'd be a doomer hot take on the menu after all of this nonsense going on.

[orange808]

Well, in my early teens, two homeless fucks tried to attack me and probably rape me in downtown Minneapolis. Good thing I can think and move on my feet. Hardly paradise.

Bad things can happen anywhere. I'm sorry you went through that, but basing your beliefs on a single traumatic personal experience instead of facts and data makes you sound just like one of those crackpot Alpha News headlines I see on billboards all over the outer suburbs and rural areas.

There are certainly places you shouldn't walk alone at night, but it's just not in any way the apocalyptic hellscape all the white people out in the country like to claim it as after parking somewhere stupid one evening and getting their fancy F250 broken into.

I've had more than one experience in my life, thank you very much. I also spent a year living in Minnesota. It's better than Chicago.

Organized car theft in the Twin Cities can't possibly rival southern California or Denver metro. Getting your car pilfered sucks. It's even worse when it completely vanishes.

By the way, Minnesota was about the whitest place I've been (in country) outside of Idaho.

[Air Master Burst]

By the way, Minnesota was about the whitest place I've been (in country) outside of Idaho.

Yeah, more than about an hour outside the cities and it's mayo and spam as far as the eye can see. Conversely, I could probably go take a walk right now and see almost no white people at all. It's a real nice pretty little neighborhood that the older white people all still casually call by a racial slur because older white people are the absolute fucking worst.

No major organized car theft, but there was a pretty serious wave of stolen catalytic converters a couple years back. We're also tucked in just above the jet stream and we have tons of fresh water, so if you're looking to move somewhere climate change won't hurt quite as bad in the short-medium term I highly recommend Minnesota.

Also, lol at how quickly basically everyone who isn't a republican jumped at the chance to get behind someone who isn't visibly sundowning. Harris by at least 3 points (assuming she picks the correct vanilla man sidekick), unless she manages to goad Trump into dropping an n-bomb, in which case it could be a landslide.

[BulletMagnet]

unless she manages to goad Trump into dropping an n-bomb

Judging by his recent appearance before the NABJ he's working his way up there. Not to mention nibbling away at anti-Jewish sentiment against her husband while simultaneously accusing Harris of antisemitism.

As ever, though, I remain unconvinced that anyone on either side of the political aisle is actually surprised at any of this, nor that anyone who didn't already reject Trump and the GOP a long time ago will ever be convinced to do so now no matter what kind of abhorrent shit they pull.

[Air Master Burst]

As ever, though, I remain unconvinced that anyone on either side of the political aisle is actually surprised at any of this, nor that anyone who didn't already reject Trump and the GOP a long time ago will ever be convinced to do so now no matter what kind of abhorrent shit they pull.

You seriously underestimate how fucking dumb the american electorate is. They just need someone who looks the part telling them what they want to hear.

I can't believe the democrats are finally shit-talking properly, either. Relentless mockery is the one thing most conservative types really have no response for because they mostly suck at it. Even formerly funny people like Dave Chappelle have the humor drained from them when they turn, because rich guys punching down are never funny to anyone except other rich guys.

[To Far Away Times]

unless she manages to goad Trump into dropping an n-bomb

Judging by his recent appearance before the NABJ he's working his way up there. Not to mention nibbling away at anti-Jewish sentiment against her husband while simultaneously accusing Harris of antisemitism.

As ever, though, I remain unconvinced that anyone on either side of the political aisle is actually surprised at any of this, nor that anyone who didn't already reject Trump and the GOP a long time ago will ever be convinced to do so now no matter what kind of abhorrent shit they pull.

It felt like it took the entirety of MAGA doing a collective spirt bomb to hold Trump back from dropping an N bomb right then and there on stage at the NABJ.

I seriously doubt he makes it all the way to November without dropping atleast N bomb. You know how much he hates Obama, the black man with a funny sounding Muslim name. But imagine how much worse it is with Kalama with his well known misogyny added on top of the racism. And I'm sure he hates prosecutors in general. He definitely fears them.

[Sima Tuna]

Does Trump fear prosecutors? He was just handed a couple of free passes to escape them.

[orange808]

The Irony of It All has aged well. Feels appropriate today.

Not my favorite track for relaxing, but it's fitting. I've found these fucks everywhere I've been. Doesn't matter what village they inhabit or what language they speak. Loud mouth right wing thick cunts.

[neorichieb1971]

Meanwhile the UK is burning, rioting and going into Civil war.

[Sima Tuna]

Bangladesh government has been overthrown, or is on the way to it.

[Air Master Burst]

Harris chose the correct vanilla man sidekick. I admit I didn't expect much more than feckless centrism from him when he was first elected, but apart from calling in the national guard on mostly peaceful protesters he's actually been a really good governor.

I was half-kidding about Trump dropping an n-bomb, but holy shit it really looks like he might be working his way up to it.

Harris by 6 at this rate.

[orange808]

Meanwhile the UK is burning, rioting and going into Civil war.

It's been twenty years since the Bradford Riots. I suppose we were due. These fucks seem to get bored with their pints and football every couple decades and decide to take their pointless asshattery to the streets.

[vol.2]

Harris chose the correct vanilla man sidekick. I admit I didn't expect much more than feckless centrism from him when he was first elected, but apart from calling in the national guard on mostly peaceful protesters he's actually been a really good governor.

I was half-kidding about Trump dropping an n-bomb, but holy shit it really looks like he might be working his way up to it.

Harris by 6 at this rate.

My understanding of the situation is that the two large groups backing their political parties are going to vote along party lines anyways. If the swing voters are the ones to convince, isn't a woman a non-starter for that group already anyways?

[Air Master Burst]

Harris chose the correct vanilla man sidekick. I admit I didn't expect much more than feckless centrism from him when he was first elected, but apart from calling in the national guard on mostly peaceful protesters he's actually been a really good governor.

I was half-kidding about Trump dropping an n-bomb, but holy shit it really looks like he might be working his way up to it.

Harris by 6 at this rate.

My understanding of the situation is that the two large groups backing their political parties are going to vote along party lines anyways. If the swing voters are the ones to convince, isn't a woman a non-starter for that group already anyways?

Hillary Clinton is just about the least likable woman they could have possibly run for president, and she still won the popular vote and almost beat new car smell Trump. This time around Trump's got a loss on his record to a man he himself claims is senile and incompetent, and is running against a woman with some semblance of actual charisma.

Even without the ugly racist meltdown Trump appears to be in the midst of, this country has been DYING to vote for literally anyone who isn't him or Biden for at least the past 5 years. I'm not saying it's in the bag (democrats are pretty notorious for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory), but it's definitely hers to lose at this point.

[Sima Tuna]

Discussion of Walz may actually be inappropriate for this thread! I just had a quick peek at his credentials and it seems like he should be the one running for President, with Kamala as the VP. I agree with him on almost every issue. Particularly the excerpt from his wiki page about the Palestinian situation being a humanitarian crisis, and it's possible to hold two ideas in one's head without contradiction (those being that terrorism is bad, but so is killing civilians.)

He has historically voted against bailing out megacorporations and banks. He has pushed for the US government to relinquish its interest in private corporations. Who knows what he'd actually do if sat in the hot seat making the big plays (and subject to major pressure from corrupting influences) but he's at least said the right things and voted for common humanity where possible.

I wonder if the whole border debacle would have been solved if Walz had been assigned to it instead of Kamala...

[BulletMagnet]

It was definitely nice to see Harris pick a veep who wasn't the most malleable corporatist milquetoast she could possibly find, but what worries me is how several big Dem donors are openly calling on her to fire Lina Khan, who has frankly been doing God's work at the FTC; I really hope she's willing to rebuff them on that if she wins.

[vol.2]

Does anyone know why two teenagers would want to kill people at a Taylor Swift concert? Is it just a good target gathering, or is there something specific about Swift and her politics?

[BIL]

Does anyone know why two teenagers would want to kill people at a Taylor Swift concert? Is it just a good target gathering, or is there something specific about Swift and her politics?

About as specific as the politics of Josh Homme or Ariana Grande. Concerts are soft targets, that's all. So are busy sidewalks and restaurants.

The common factor is Western Europe, and its compounding ills of unchecked gluttony and frozen bowel, driven by an unholy alliance of rapacious capitalism and pathological altruism. Those who shouldn't be let in are. Those who should be expelled aren't. Cue drip feed of "lessons learned" and "don't look back in anger m8" from those comfortably outside the blast radii, with a "who'll clean our toilets" chaser.

edit: the last is at least honest, if unintentionally.

Balance went out the window decades ago, and this will continue happening.

[orange808]

Balance has been lost, and this will continue happening.

What balance?

Would you agree that people think "the world was right" at some given time, because they don't know any better? There's always a reference to a time when they were too young to understand, living comfortably/apathetic, or before they were born.

Swift holds no real power outside of her personal corpo brand and her politics consist of simple Phil Ochs "Love me, I'm a liberal" centrism married to modern garden variety white feminism.

If memory serves, Grande was targeted over magic ghost story book issues. But, you could target almost anyone using one of the magic books. It's convenient like that. The ghost is very angry.

[BIL]

Balance has been lost, and this will continue happening.

What balance?

In my country's case, checks and balances on immigration deliberately undone by Tony Blair and his administration. You can throw Thatcher in here too, of course, with the gutting of industry, along with the last fifteen years of Tory rule. They've all had a hand in this mess. Whether rich white people comfortably removed from consequence were simply greedy for a new client underclass, or prone to horribly destructive flights of utopianism, I don't know. I'm sure it was some awful confluence of both. The result is the same. Creaking infrastructure and the awful side-effect of self-secluding enclaves full of jihadists the authorities refuse to contain or deport until it's too late.

EDIT: fair play to them, they've just about managed to shitcan Anjem Choudary this week. Only a couple decades late, but it's undeniably a start.

Would you agree that people think "the world was right" at some given time, because they don't know any better? There's always a reference to a time when they were too young to understand, living comfortably/apathetic, or before they were born.

This would be a meaningless personal attack at the best of times, but it is a particularly stupid thing to to say to a West Indian immigrant from the former colonies.

I realise the charade of "no immigration ever VS uncontrolled infinity immigration" is very comforting, and very popular, and also very profitable for the ruling class. But it's not reality.

Swift holds no real power outside of her personal corpo brand and her politics consist of simple Phil Ochs "Love me, I'm a liberal" centrism married to modern garden variety white feminism.

It simply doesn't matter. The entertainer on the stage of the concert being attacked is so much wallpaper. As are the attendees when random jihadist #324,672A pulls the cord.

If memory serves, Grande was targeted over magic ghost story book issues. But, you could target almost anyone using one of the magic books. It's convenient like that. The ghost is very angry.

Yes orange, this is definitely good precedent to let Salman Abedi and his family into the country to disembowel a large crowd of children and their guardians. It was all an angry ghost's fault, nothing could be done to avert it or similar cases in the future.

[orange808]

In my country's case, checks and balances on immigration deliberately undone by Blair and his administration, in the service of creating a new underclass for the purposes of wage suppression.

Or perhaps rich white people comfortably removed from the consequences of their actions are just liable to make very stupid decisions in the name of "social justice." It doesn't really matter which, the result is the same.

Agreed. Looking back, Blair probably regrets importing people. Implementing more "free trade" could have accomplished the same aims and left the desperate wage slaves on distant shores.

The mechanics are the same. If you criticize, you're automatically a right wing xenophobe that hates poor people. It's similar with feminism. If I bring up any valid criticism of white feminism or pantsuit lady boss internet feminism, I'm automatically an incel. It's easy to plow forward and steamroll any opposition with shaming and paper thin talking points.

This would be a meaningless personal attack at the best of times, but it is a particularly stupid thing to to say to a West Indian immigrant from the former colonies.

I realise the charade of "no immigration ever VS uncontrolled infinity immigration" is very comforting, and very popular, but it's not reality.

You've taken a general statement personally, but I had no malicious intent. I suppose the riots and the stabbings are first in mind today.

I agree. I've openly complained about the need to politicise immigration multiple times. Nobody is interested in actually crafting a proper border policy and enforcing it. Instead, we're held hostage and forced to listen to the extremes--and there's no interest in actually solving anything. It's either no immigration or open borders, right? We (should) all know both options are not realistic, but there's little talk of striking a balance or compromise. We were told the people in charge were the sensible ones?

I agree. I was referring to the general state of affairs when I mentioned there's no balance in this world. Although, it's important to remember that National Front types will never be satisfied. Your idea of balance was their idea of tyranny.

Finally, I have absolutely no patience for religious quarrels of any kind, because I don't buy into ghost stories. All I see is a crowd of idiots fighting over nothing--and I suspect some leaders of religious organizations don't even believe in their own ghost stories. (I could be wrong about that, but it doesn't matter.) It's just job with rewards. There's no magic ghosts. With most powerful people, money is what it's really about, anyway.

[BIL]

You've taken a general statement personally, but I had no malicious intent. I suppose the riots and the stabbings are first in mind today.

I'm sorry orange, I treated you unacceptably. I have once again become a triggered twat.

You are right of course, the last week was exasperating even by England's bizarre standards. It was not so much the horror that kicked it off - these are sadly part of the national tapestry, at this point - or the feral yobs and the violent reaction they provoked from their opposite numbers.

For me, it's the police response. This is unacceptable. I try not to catastrophise, it's a bad habit of mine, but I cannot see this ending well.

[orange808]

You've taken a general statement personally, but I had no malicious intent. I suppose the riots and the stabbings are first in mind today.

I'm sorry orange, that was completely unacceptable of me. I have once again become a triggered twat.

I'm embarrassed that I didn't write the words "I'm sorry" anywhere in my post, because I genuinely feel that way. Works best without qualifiers.

Sorry that I offended you.

[BIL]

No worries bud, that was all me. It usually is ITT. 3;

Jesus. Previously, I linked the West Mid Supe's ruefully Balkanistic Sky interview. Or so I thought; the Times have chopped it up, making him sound thoroughly reasonable, and me sound even more like the BNP lads who'd chuck me and my nan into a burning dumpster. Very sneaky!

Must I resort to ripping a mainstream news interview off the twatbird? I mean "Twatbird X," the choice of the new generation? I see why the government wants it banned. A hotbed of unedited footage.

EDIT: I guess so, it's nowhere to be found. Hope it doesn't get my channel nuked. Good job I backup all my replays!