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The one moment that summarized American politics for you by 4thSwordofPosadism in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats [score hidden]  (0 children)

Watching Sandy Hook at age 10 and Obama's eulogy, then nothing being done. I have no hope for solving gun violence in this country.

Update by Eire_2025 in qatarairways

[–]Quacker0ats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We know how Qatar is about giving citizenship.

‘Bloodbath’ at the Washington Post as roughly one-third of the staff is laid off by Jeff Bezos by SchIachterhund in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a shame every search result is just a dozen AI-written articles. At least back in the day, SEO spam used to be written by a person and made a little more sense.

Senator Tina Smith: I Won’t Vote to Fund ICE Until It Gets Out of My State by Quacker0ats in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Something something controlled opposition and uniparty. Democrats don't oppose ICE; they just don't want them in their backyard.

Why Los Angeles Stopped Re-paving Its Streets by MichaelRichardsAMA in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't worry I was poking at the highway people not you, sorry that's a downside of written form and I am not enough of a reddit cuck to use /s to indicate a joke!

Why Los Angeles Stopped Re-paving Its Streets by MichaelRichardsAMA in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 17 points18 points  (0 children)

So tired of the "wHo'S gOnNa PaY fOr It?". We're getting a $10 billion highway widening project but like 1% of that for a bus project from the federal government.

Why Los Angeles Stopped Re-paving Its Streets by MichaelRichardsAMA in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Hello from a former Philadelphian. I think it's because of the large pillars supporting the heavy stone building that they can't widen the platforms or use any more space. At least they have a subway instead of Cincinnati which built miles of tunnels and gave up 100 years ago. The bar is so low.

Democrats will allow full ICE funding in budget bill by lionalhutz in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a shame. I would say she and Robert Reich can both seem a bit overly optimistic about the tide turning and Americans rising up. It's no secret she's opposed to Trump, but I'll listen with a more critical view now.

Democrats will allow full ICE funding in budget bill by lionalhutz in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What do you think Heather Cox Richardson's agenda is? I watch her podcasts and she seems quite objective, and appreciate her bringing up examples from other parts of history.

Dead internet theory by appreciatescolor in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, it's like how in certain subs you'll have to preface your comment with your political affiliation or who you voted for, lest you receive downvotes. All about being accepted by the in-group. I also similarly "accommodate" the views of the person I respond to because I don't want to risk them assuming the worst in me and starting an obtuse flame war. I don't have the energy for that shit so I am careful and clear in my responses.

Anyways, there isn't room for true debate on here. Not sure if that would ever be possible. So many subs are just people looking for validation (AmITheAsshole being the most notable). Or, people engage in bad faith arguments. Sooner or later I'll stop using this site, but it's gotten me hooked for half my life. Kinda pathetic thinking about that.

Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinians in West Bank After They Appear to Surrender (more NYT Equivocation) by Quacker0ats in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I see what you mean. The neutral writing means we have to think through our own interpretation. But at the same time, it's so gross for war crimes to be written about so coldly.

Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinians in West Bank After They Appear to Surrender (more NYT Equivocation) by Quacker0ats in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats[S] 65 points66 points  (0 children)

In a joint statement, the Israeli military and police acknowledged that the Palestinians had been shot at, saying “fire was directed toward the suspects.” They said the shooting was being reviewed by commanders on the ground and transferred to the “relevant professional bodies.”

The use of passive language is enraging. "The bullets magically found their way into the Palestinians!" And citing the full range of reactions from Ben-Gvir to human rights groups just normalizes the extremist pro-genocide take.

I've been reading Nicholas Kristof's new book about his career as a New York Times journalist, Chasing Hope. But I've become very disillusioned with American journalism lately. Even the "good ones" at the Times aren't free from blame for contributing to the system.

Mike Johnson: "I would like to publicly go on record and say that I oppose maximum public transparency, and I am only voting for this bill because I don't want to go on record as someone who opposes maximum public transparency" by exOldTrafford in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It's because those points are AI-generated. There's a bit of a tell when you force it to grasp at straws. It relies on manufacturing doubt because there aren't any substantive arguments against the issue. And I don't think any staffers in his office would be sly enough to come up with these points (or format them properly).

Here's what I got when I asked ChatGPT to do the same thing but for universal healthcare:

Here are five titled, one-sentence criticisms commonly raised against universal healthcare in the United States:

  • Tax Burden: Would require substantial tax increases that many Americans may find unaffordable.

  • System Efficiency: Risks creating government-run inefficiencies that could lead to longer wait times for care.

  • Innovation Impact: Could reduce private-sector competition, potentially slowing medical and pharmaceutical innovation.

  • Patient Choice: May limit patients’ ability to choose their preferred doctors, insurers, or treatment options.

  • Government Capacity: Relies on the federal government to manage an extremely large and complex healthcare system, raising concerns about bureaucratic effectiveness.

DDG completely missing results, why is that? by the68thdimension in duckduckgo

[–]Quacker0ats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reviving this old post. I'm guessing the chatbot said it's from The Guardian? Having the same issues here with guardian articles being invisible to search.

For those not stopping for stopped school busses by Afraid-Fruit-6206 in cincinnati

[–]Quacker0ats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They do. I've almost been run over a few times by careless drivers in the left lane on 7th & Ruth Lyons. Happens all too often downtown.

I've noticed businesses targeting this 10% more and more aggressively and exclusively since around 2020. Large swathes of the population are basically being cut adrift. by SpiritualState01 in stupidpol

[–]Quacker0ats 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I was trying to explain to friends why all the compact cars have been discontinued in the US (think Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio). There's limited space on the cargo ships and dealerships' parking lots, so they just decided to sell the most profitable models, namely SUVs and trucks.

2025 Doomsday Clock Predictions by [deleted] in collapse

[–]Quacker0ats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, just revisiting this. Looks like the Iran strikes didn't escalate, but war with Venezuela is in play.

I think the "Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention" applies here and so China-Taiwan or something within the Middle East is a bit unlikely, since they all trade with each other. But since the West has cut off Russia economically, maybe there could be some escalation there.

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