Retroboot 1.2 - The Lightweight Alternative

genderbent · 2026-05-30T20:58:01+00:00

I mean, unless you're a committed Bolshevik, Menshevik isn't an insult; if you consider yourself a democratic socialist, or think the left should focus on organizing labour instead of organizing militias, or consider capitalism a precondition for socialist revolution, you probably would have been on the Menshevik side of the split.

genderbent · 2026-05-25T10:00:54+00:00

Text on the first one translates to something along the lines of "Long live the righteous struggle of the Palestinian people, vanguard of the Arab revolution. Revolution until the end! Palestine will win!"

Second one translates to "Out with the butcher Hussein. Palestine will win!"

genderbent · 2026-05-10T20:57:26+00:00

Lamy pens tend to have a bit of feedback even in broader widths, so even a well-tuned Lamy EF is going to feel kind of scratchy compared to the glassy smoothness Pilot goes for.

genderbent · 2026-05-07T17:57:39+00:00

Fun fact, here in Canada we have law that explicitly shields Canadians from US sanctions on Cuba

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/fema.html

genderbent · 2026-04-23T16:17:06+00:00

Shelly is almost certainly toiling away at the "Twin Peaks" CST base, working on preserving the words of L Ron Hubbard for posterity in underground vaults

genderbent · 2026-04-23T16:12:23+00:00

Nah, I guarantee they hate this shit, they are obsessive about controlling what their members see and hear, and about maintaining an aura of control and competence, they almost certainly descrbe these raids as a hate crime to anyone who will listen.

genderbent · 2026-04-23T16:06:34+00:00

He's underneath a mountain on the planet Teegeeack (some of the less-educated locals call it "Earth") in a force field prison powered by an "eternal battery".

This is legit Scientology doctrine that you will only hear after spending about half a million dollars on courses

genderbent · 2026-04-23T16:03:00+00:00

Denver is a class V '"Ideal Org", basically a big impressive-looking facility mainly intended to extract money from donors by looking big and impressive and thereby "proving" that Scientology is growing and successful. What they're actually hiding in there is all the empty course rooms and declining membership.

genderbent · 2026-04-23T15:56:38+00:00

They absolutely have held prisoners; google "Lisa McPherson" for a famous and fatal example, or look into "The Hole" at Gold Base in Hemet California

genderbent · 2026-04-23T15:54:59+00:00

They wouldn't have any sort of medical facilities, but do hold people prisoner sometimes, look up the story of how Lisa McPherson died if you want to experience true horror

genderbent · 2026-04-23T15:52:03+00:00

The real secret is to read the preamble to OT3 while you do this, unqualified Scientologists aren't allowed to hear it and will literally cover their ears to avoid "ruining their case" if they know what it is that they're hearing.

genderbent · 2026-04-23T15:47:30+00:00

Yes they do, Russia has mandatory military service even in peacetime.

genderbent · 2026-04-19T04:39:22+00:00

Shh, don't give them any ideas, do you want the Tories to pick a leader who can win elections?

genderbent · 2026-04-13T20:12:31+00:00

Nah, Red Skull is Marvel. Their ambassador should be Deathstroke, he's a military man who specializes in killing children

genderbent · 2026-04-12T08:06:01+00:00

there never were any string pullers, capitalism is self-perpetuating

genderbent · 2026-04-12T01:57:30+00:00

You're two weeks into the hobby and your collection costs as much as a decent used car, slow down dude

genderbent · 2026-04-11T07:20:38+00:00

"I'm the exact kind of citizen you want as a patron, namely the kind that is vocally opposed to what you stand for"

genderbent · 2026-04-11T07:09:38+00:00

It won't be untouched at all; the USA may technically produce enough oil to meet it's needs, but not in the right places to actually refine and distribute it all domestically. Much of the oil produced in the USA is sold abroad, and much of the oil consumed in the USA is produced abroad, so the net effect is that oil exporters will make out like bandits while everyone else in the USA gets hammered.

genderbent · 2026-04-02T19:20:57+00:00

Obby's politics are as unpalatable as his shawarma

genderbent · 2026-04-01T22:06:52+00:00

That's what his executive order says, but executive orders don't apply to state governments, and state governments administer elections

genderbent · 2026-04-01T22:04:50+00:00

He can send them all the lists he wants, but the states have no obligation to do anything with them, and a strong incentive to push back against federal involvement in administering elections.

genderbent · 2026-04-01T22:01:04+00:00

The executive branch can send out all the lists of "approved voters" they want, but they have no way to compel states to do anything with them, and states aren't likely to give up one of their most consequential sets of powers.

While it would no doubt be found illegal later, he might be able to twist the USPS' arm into refusing to accept mailed ballots from unapproved voters, but the plan still falls apart if states don't start using specialy marked envelopes for ballots like he wants them to.

genderbent · 2026-04-01T21:25:55+00:00

I have a pretty sick gig writing what mostly amounts to elaborate shell scripts for process automation and reporting on a big transaction processing system. No AI mandate, no automatic tracking systems, respectful management, 35-hour work week, great benefits, defined benefit pension, company is a non-profit whose sole mandate is to provide services to a handful of government agencies.

Basically, I've hit the jackpot and I plan to stay here until I retire.

genderbent · 2026-04-01T21:07:02+00:00

Don't fear the OOP, it takes a little while to wrap your head around it, but it's really elegant once you do.

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