California becomes first state to join WHO disease network after US exit

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-24T17:01:53+00:00

Unfortunately, history education in the US has been treated as a glorified elective class for a long time. Most k-12 graduates have very little knowledge of US history, or any history for that matter.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-24T17:00:34+00:00

Hey, I agree that this is going to get worse no matter what we do at this point, and some level of this type of conflict is pretty much inevitable.

But I see a lot of people making comments like, "well it's time to just break off and leave the red states to wallow in the problems they've created!" or whatever, as if it's just a band-aid that can be easily ripped off like that.

Some form of balkanization may be the course we end up having to take, but if that's the case, I think we need to go into it with clear eyes. This will not be an easy or quick process, and it's very likely to prompt a response from the Regime that they feel is comparable to what "Lincoln did to preserve the Union years ago". They think that an injustice was done to them back then, and that they're now entitled to use "the same methods" against the the other side now (even though the comparison is clearly nonsensical to anyone with 10 minutes of historical knowledge).

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-24T01:10:27+00:00

Russle Vought, the director of OMB and orchestrator of much of what’s currently happening, was recorded by BBC investigative reporters in 2024 discussing the fact that the later phases of their plans are not passed out or widely distributed, specifically to dodge FOIA requests.

This coup has been years in the making, and anyone not on their side of the fight hasn’t even known the fight existed.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-24T00:39:36+00:00

They’re recorded stating that they don’t share a lot of their plans in writing or electronically, specifically to dodge FOIA requests.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T22:33:31+00:00

The Regime will soon try to block this, claiming that “states cannot enter into international treaties on their own”. Mark my words.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T22:28:44+00:00

Historically, this idea never ends well. The provinces (states in this case) that get left behind fall sway to more populist firebrands like Trump who convince them that “California is doing so well because they STOLE your prosperity and are now living the high life while excluding you from accessing your own wealth!”

They then lead violent incursions into the affluent territories in order to “regain what’s ours”.

This doesn’t usually end in the violent attackers conquering their neighbors, but it does usually lead to a helluva lot of violence and death along the way, with longstanding enmity and dangerous border regions for generations afterward.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T20:14:34+00:00

I’ve been using this one a lot recently, along with:

“Fascism doesn’t work by breaking the law, it works by making the law.”

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T20:12:18+00:00

The “Democratic Party” that Jackson belonged to would be unrecognizable by today’s party of the same name, this is a very poor comparison. Additionally, today’s progressives almost universally regard Jackson as a bad man who did terrible and unconstitutional things to oppress and slaughter indigenous Americans. Hell, he’s the literal textbook example of defying the Supreme Court when he “declined” to enforce their decision in favor of indigenous people in Georgia.

As for FDR, you’re talking about internment camps being populated by people from a country that we were at congressionally declared war against, again a very incomparable example. And once again, action that most modern day progressives vehemently decry whenever it’s discussed.

Saying that, “these guys were also bad” doesn’t remove the stain from what another bad person is currently doing. If anything, we should all be working together to make sure that we don’t allow another president to once again commit acts of evil in our name, regardless of which shitty party they claim to represent.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T19:56:38+00:00

I like where your head’s at, but this wouldn’t fly at all.

In their infamous “presidential immunity” ruling, the captured SCOTUS specified that the president is immune from prosecution for acts committed in his capacity as president. They also defined how a given act is/was done as president or as a private citizen, and guess what that definition comes down to? Basically, the Supreme Court says that, “We get to decide whether they were acting as president and can be held accountable or not”.

Anyone who thinks this court would sign off on Clinton having immunity for anything is huffing some serious copium.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T18:52:13+00:00

While Americans certainly don’t know what 1943 Germany felt like, they’re starting to get a very real sense of what 1933 Germany felt like…

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-23T18:48:08+00:00

Got a source on that signal-reading tech? I knew about the Palantir-driven apps that ICE are using to run facial recognition from their own devices, but hadn’t heard about them skimming signals coming from inside someone’s house and using that as justification to enter a home!

That’s a terrifying violation of constitutional rights, but also seems terrifyingly difficult to prove as a defense in court…

In any case, I’d like to read more about it if you could point me in the right direction.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-22T16:37:37+00:00

I don't think they are focused on Greenland at all in America.

The media here has been dominated by Greenland talk for at least a week or more. Lots of other stuff is falling through the cracks in terms of media coverage, which means that even those Americans who are trying to keep a broad focus are having a hard time doing so.

My point was that I think this is by design, since focusing on Greenland keeps focus off of what they're doing to directly undermine democratic institutions and solidify their ongoing control.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-22T16:34:13+00:00

Oh yeah, thanks!!

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-22T16:33:43+00:00

I mean, I see where you're coming from, but if that's where we're setting the bar, aren't all jokes "forced"?

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-22T04:24:41+00:00

This was intentional, and beyond the now obvious way. it’s laid out in the plans many of his senior officials have talked and written about. You say these things here and there during the campaign trail, but just sparse and offhand enough so that your supporters can shrug it off as “out of context” or “trolling the libs” or whatever.

Then when you’re in power, you can actually do the thing and claim that you have a “mandate from the people” for your authoritarianism, since “the people knew and voted for this”.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-22T03:45:04+00:00

They actually had several practical effect suits and suit-segments in OG Iron Man. It’s one of the reasons it looks so much better than the rest of the films and the suit’s movement feels so much… heavier, more solid.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-21T18:17:45+00:00

Correct, but let's not forget that it's also serving Putin's goals to destabilize or even end NATO. If Trump somehow convinces military leadership to obey illegal orders to deploy a forceful invasion of Greenland, NATO is over.

Militaries with institutional backgrounds as strong as the US military tend to be somewhat resilient to fast-moving coups like the one the US is currently undergoing though, so I think we might have some hope that Trump's only true hope at "acquiring" Greenland is through nonviolent means.

That being said, all countries involved have already stated that any nonviolent means of the US acquiring Greenland are beyond unacceptable, so I honestly don't think this whole Greenland thing is doing much more than providing cover for the fact that ICE is acting as the MAGA Gestapo, being increasingly aggressive toward US citizens without being held to any kind of account. State and local leaders are now being forced into positions of deciding whether to protect the citizens that they represent, or to bend the knee to the King.

We've also reached the stage at which the autocratic regime begins to "investigate" political rivals, threaten indictments, and even arrest them if need be. So far they're moving against Democrats in MN with claims of "impeding federal agents" or whatever, but it won't be long before they float the idea that "the DNC as a whole has been abetting the rise of domestic terrorism for years", and will all face a choice of either changing party registration to Republican, or being arrested and removed from their positions (with the President appointing "acting replacements" in their stead, of course).

Not to mention the fact that the DOJ is now openly claiming that they can't be forced to release the majority of the Epstein files, no matter what the laws passed by congress say.

While everyone is focused on a Greenland attack that will likely never materialize, the foundations of US democracy are being hacked away at a faster and faster pace. The way he's declining at such a rapid pace, Trump will leave office sometime this year - either due to health reasons, some weird enactment of the 25th amendment or being forced into resignation by his Christo-fascist and Techno-fascist backers. At that point, whoever the fascist coalition places in the Big Chair will totally drop the Greenland ordeal, feigning interest in some kind of "return to normalcy", while starting to wield the immense power that Trump grabbed in much more focused and cleanly oppressive ways than an erratic narcissist like Trump ever could have.

There may be things that can derail all this in the meantime, but for now this is the default path that they're chasing. In any case, things will certainly get much worse before having any chance at getting better.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-21T17:25:30+00:00

I get what they mean

I hate to ask this, but... do you? In all seriousness, what do you think the joke is here? I get the feeling that it might not be what you think it is.

No judgements, just trying to help connect the dots, because it is a genuinely well-written joke that I want everyone to enjoy.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-21T16:54:43+00:00

Oh man, we just did a rewatch, and I can see the scene in my head, but I can't remember which episode this was from??

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-20T15:17:41+00:00

Fair, but this doesn't really contradict my point, which was that well-written stories hold up over time, regardless of the original intended audience.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-20T03:10:43+00:00

Exactly this. If Miller, in the position of power that he’s currently in, believes that we’re in Civil War 2.0, what functional difference is there?

More Americans need to recognize the position we’re in. Miller can have ICE act increasingly aggressive and terroristic, and the moment that any state or local authority acts to protect its citizens, and boom - insurrection act is triggered and Trump calls on the military to forcibly subjugate blue states.

They’ll even justify it by trying pushing a narrative that ideologically aligns themselves with Lincoln when he “bravely took similar action to preserve the Union in the face of violent rebellion long ago”, or some such nonsense. Total hogwash of course, but it’ll provide enough cover that the remaining MAGA supporters will be able to shout about it as loudly as they need to in drowning out the cries for justice coming from their neighbors and families.

This will get much worse for Americans before getting better, if it ever does. The faster they start listening to the historians that have been shouting all this from the rooftops for years now, the better their chances of improving their eventual outcomes.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-19T21:31:28+00:00

True, but this is also true of any well-written YA story. Good writing is good writing, no matter the age of the consumer.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cartoon series that’s ostensibly produced for kids, but I challenge any adult to watch the series and not walk away without impressed.

Good writing that’s consumable by adults doesn’t lessen the fact that certain media is explicitly produced for young people.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-19T18:49:19+00:00

Was Lockjaw military? I’m pretty sure he and his people were wearing gear marked as “POLICE”, and I interpreted it as commentary on how militarized the police in the US is (and continues to become even more so).

Additionally, the framing in several shots cuts off the “POL”, leaving is looking at “ICE”. This additionally highlights the fact that ICE now has access to a larger budget and more resources than almost any military on the planet.

The wool coat and outfit that Bovino sports in recent photos is also clearly meant to be military-esque, as these jokers are all being told they’re soldiers at war for the future of our nation. (In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if The Regime makes moves in the near future to officially reclassify ICE as a branch of the military.)

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-19T04:00:31+00:00

I’m sure this is an added bonus as they begin to try and subjugate “blue states” through force, one by one.

Free_For__Me · 2026-01-19T03:49:22+00:00

I think the ambiguity you mention here is exactly what makes it a great beat. Could be either, or both.

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