driving to the store to buy the latest funko pop but they’re all sold out so you drive back to your mchouse empty handed, like Bush Jr said, just keep buying stuff

subscription based services

now that we’re settled in, surprise, it turns out we need to do more neoliberal austerity on people

good day fellow sea urchin, just passing by

I think they choose those talking points strategically because they don’t want to talk about money too much because they’d get exposed quickly as being pro inequality and immoral (the classic you only deserve to live well if you are ‘worthy’ ie a small business owner) so they try to cover it up by focusing on anti climate change reforms, pronouns, trans sports people, and things like that to scare their listeners/viewers about the left, classic calculated fearmongering where they try to pick tabloid level stuff they think will land with their base. It’s another question why it even lands when it’s mostly about personal liberation, from abortion to trans rights.

Btw another funny thing they do sometimes is also paint liberals and centrists as ‘far left radicals’, put them in the same bin, like I heard ‘Von der Leyen is a communist’ not long ago lol.

both the right wing and the libs have been very aggressive and over-militarized about this border thing, they could put that energy into building processing centers for migrants at the border instead of moving the military around and larping like they’re these big strongmen and it’s ‘crisis time’ (if this is a crisis then what does a real crisis look like?), also they started this back and forth with Belarus by helping organize anti-Lukashenko protests a few years ago

real

I often wonder this too

makes me wonder what kind of stuff will go down regarding construction in LA in preparation for the olympics in 28

everyone step aside, ‘unquestionable man’ coming through!

‘and let it not be forgotten that in an unprecedented act of goodwill to the community we exempted charity bundles from install fees’ 🙏 we operate only in good faith, we are Unity

because uh… ‘lawlessness and turmoil’, bit like when Israel does stuff they’ll write something like ‘a bullet was traveling through the air and happened to hit someone’

Read and liked, space/sci-fi oriented: Planetary, Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman, Annihilation, Annihilation Conquest

Haven’t read but heard they’re good: Gotham Central, Silver Surfer by Slott & Allred, Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender

Mark Russell does some good political satire and Tom Taylor does good action/pacing/character work. I like Jim Starlin’s ‘psychedelic space fantasy’ style as well.

I think the Burning Man event in particular was taken over by rich tech bros who by attending want to be seen by others as zen like, spiritual, and hip. There must be other outdoor gatherings with a more authentic vibe though, and who knows some might even have a groovy dope ass bear in attendance.

All right, I’ll skip the old ones, thanks

Do you think it’s better to take the time to replay 1 and 2 before trying 3, or are the retcons so bad that it’s better to not even know what happened earlier in the story? I played a bit of 1 a long time ago and don’t remember anything.

There’s that too, there are anti-Russian, anti-Polish, anti-everyone really sentiments in their ideology writings

He condemned the Polonophilia, Russophilia, and Austrophilia of various segments of contemporary Ukrainian society. In his writings, Dontsov called for the birth of a “new man” with “hot faith and stone heart” (гарячої віри й кам’яного серця) who would not be afraid to mercilessly destroy Ukraine’s enemies.

In my opinion Poland’s ‘Law and Justice’ party in power right now has started taking up some politically tricky (historic and economic) issues regarding Ukraine right before the election in October because they know their conservative and nationalist voter base is somewhat split about Ukraine by now, especially the local agribusinesses which had some financial losses from the cheaper Ukrainian grain that came in last year without any checks or oversight. The party promised to publish a list of companies that then re-sold the grain and undercut local businesses but it hasn’t happened which suggests to me some members of their party might have been involved, or there was some backroom intervention from special interests to stop it. There’s also an alt-right/libertarian party (bit like AFD) that has around 10% in the polls and has been making Ukraine war skeptic and Ukrainian migrant skeptic statements, so maybe ‘Law and Justice’ doesn’t want to get outflanked by them. Btw, the main opposition (lib/socdem coalition) doesn’t have this issue, their lib voters are all pro-Ukraine.

From Ukraine’s side I think they’re responding to the Polish gov’s pre-election jabs and punching back when they feel like it. I think the grain issue will come back in September because the EU and a few central European countries will have to figure out if they extend the grain block or not (and allow more cheap grain in). I think Ukraine has negotiated an increase in the amount they can move through Romania in the meantime. This grain also partly belongs to US companies like Cargill, so it’s maybe not fair to even call it Ukrainian.

I also think there’s a race going on between the Polish and Ukrainian governments to see who’s the bigger political vassal of the US for the region. The bootlicking levels were off the charts when Trump was in office.

RT - US doubles uranium imports from Russia [24/08/2023]

The US bought 416 tons of uranium from Russia in the first half of the year, more than double the amount for the same period in 2022 and the highest level since 2005, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing data from the US statistical service.

The US also significantly increased its purchases of uranium from the UK in the first half of this year, up 28% to $383.1 million, bringing it to just under 18% of all imports. Imports from France soared to $319 million (15% of US total imports), compared to $1.9 million for the same period in 2022.

According to a recent New York Times report, roughly a third of enriched uranium used in the US is imported from Russia. GHS Climate, a clean-energy consulting company, states that one out of every 20 American homes and businesses was powered by Russian uranium last year.

The US and the EU have sanctioned Russian oil, gas, and coal over the Ukraine conflict, but have continued to allow the purchase of enriched uranium from Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, as they race to cut reliance on fossil fuels.

Al Arabiya - Ukraine needs 130 fighter jets to achieve air supremacy over Russia: Air Force [21/08/2023]

“Ukraine needs 128 fighters to replace the old aircraft fleet – this number is prescribed in the vision of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” said Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Air Force Command of Ukraine, according to state news agency Ukrinform.

TASS - Poland to remain Ukraine’s ‘close friend’ until end of military action — Zelensky’s office [05/08/2023]

Ukraine will consider Poland as its close friend until the end of combat but afterwards Kiev will fiercely defend its interests, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, has asserted.

“Poland is the closest partner and friend we have these days. And, generally, it will remain this way until the end of the war. After it’s over, of course, we will have a competitive relationship, of course, we will compete for various markets, consumers, and so on. And, of course, we will clearly adopt pro-Ukrainian positions, protect these interests, fiercely defend them,” he told Ukraine’s Dom TV channel.

WaPo - Russia recruited operatives online to target weapons crossing Poland [18/08/2023]

The case also has political sensitivities for Warsaw, where officials have not publicly acknowledged that 12 Ukrainian refugees are among those in custody, anxious to avoid the backlash Russia likely intended. Others arrested include one Russian and three citizens of Belarus. In interviews, officials emphasized that while most of the Ukrainian suspects were from eastern provinces traditionally more aligned with Moscow, they appear to have been motivated more by money than ideology.

The postings used to lure potential recruits were scattered among job offers, housing tips and internet scams that litter the Telegram channels frequented by refugee groups in Poland, officials said. They promised pay ranging from a few dollars for painting a graffiti-like message to $12 for hanging a poster, said the ABW investigator. There were fliers and banners that said, “POLAND ≠ UKRAINE,” “NATO GO HOME” and “DO NOT BE BIDEN,” according to information provided by the ABW.

DO NOT BE BIDEN! 😄

NYT - The Smartphone Game That Ukrainian Soldiers Play on the Front Line [21/08/2023]

“Why would we play World of Tanks when it’s right here?” one soldier asked, referring to the real war. Instead they play FIFA, another soldier added, a nod to a popular soccer video game.

Some important front line investigating there from NYT… what’s the Ukrainian army’s gaming situation??

I heard one that it was Russia BUT the Wagner revolt 2 months ago was still an inside job, lol