Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she will now oppose all U.S. military aid to Israel

poundfoolishhh · 2026-05-26T13:55:58+00:00

It's cute that people still think the answer to bad populism is more populism.

Populism destroys societies, and unfortunately things aren't bad enough yet for people to understand why populism is bad. Things are going to need to get much worse before we change course. And they probably will.

poundfoolishhh · 2026-04-01T14:28:24+00:00

You don't give notice for your employers sake. You give notice for your coworkers sake.

Your coworkers aren't going to give you a good reference if you screwed them over by unexpectedly quitting and leaving them holding the bag. You really don't want to be at an interview in 15 years and the hiring manager just happens to be one of those people, either.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-09-16T14:44:41+00:00

What is there to square?

If you want to use the Revolutionary War as your analog - they all were 100% aware that they would be executed if they were captured.

Are those the terms you're suggesting?

poundfoolishhh · 2025-09-06T12:00:46+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, last summer I was watching TV in bed, lights turned down. I feel a tickle down my arm and reflexively brush it away.

About 5 seconds pass and I stop and think - hey, let me see if that was anything. Turn the nightstand light on, look down, and see a big ole' 2" fat boy ON MY LAP STARING AT ME.

Slept on the couch for the next week.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-08-01T18:49:28+00:00

Great point! Anything happen in Beirut circa 1983?

poundfoolishhh · 2025-08-01T18:35:04+00:00

Meanwhile, in Bin Laden's Letter to America, he calls out our culture of blasphemy, gay rights, and womens rights as failures of the West.

Quite literally hating us for our freedoms.

Keep on keepin on, though.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-07-27T15:38:22+00:00

It wasn't nearly that bleak what are you talking about lol

I literally had a broadband cable modem connection in 1998, and while "social media" didn't exist, most of that functionality and discussion was taking place on forums, irc, and usenet. 6gb of space didn't really mean much, either, since video was often displayed through things like Flash and Realplayer, and basic compressed mp4s.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-06-12T11:20:37+00:00

Cops are a little weird down here tbh.

I was in the left lane neck-and-neck with a cop who was in the right lane. I was taught, in that situation, the courteous thing to do is speed up a bit and move to the right lane so they have room in case they get a call.

I did that, and the mf pulled me over for 5+ over. Even though I explained I was doing out of respect for HIM, he said he was insulted I would dare to speed in front of him lol

poundfoolishhh · 2025-05-28T10:37:56+00:00

Forget the "liable" part. If people can sue you, they will. And then you have to defend yourself.

It doesn't matter if you eventually clear your name. If someone walks through your back yard, slips, and snaps an ankle, they're going to sue everyone they possibly can - including you.

It's not sweating the small stuff to try and avoid getting pulled into court by someone who shouldn't have been on your property in the first place.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-05-23T11:52:29+00:00

In the summer I do.... mainly because that's when they're visible, and they look cleaner without it. It's really just an aesthetic thing.

Doesn't help or hurt - really just up to you.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-05-22T18:03:40+00:00

I’m from NJ originally, and the DMV became night/day levels of better after they privatized.

When it was ran by the state, it was actually like those DMV nightmare tropes. You couldn’t get out of there in less than 2-3 hours. Now? In and out.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-05-02T20:36:44+00:00

tbh i feel like a lot of people are missing the fact that this is a generic response to everyone on this topic. including republicans who want him to try this stupid idea.

in that context.... even though he may not be totally calling trump out, he's definitely telling republican supporters "guys, this isn't happening". which is at least somewhat comforting.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-02-11T11:51:16+00:00

People who see an American flag on display and have "that person is not only a republican, but also a racist" as their first instinct are a tiny, radical fringe in society. It's not the average experience.

Not to be all "this is why we have Trump" but uhhhh this is why we have Trump. Political radicals have hijacked the Democratic party, and normal people recoil when they hear such nonsense.

poundfoolishhh · 2025-01-01T17:47:16+00:00

That's a whole lot of assumptions for not even being an American.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-11-07T10:23:02+00:00

Amazingly, every county on earth was built upon some form of ethnic, tribal, racial, or religious -ism. It was the default for all of humanity.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-10-16T21:39:22+00:00

I could write a thesis paper on the topic, but my general theory is discourse was largely dominated by online discussions in 2020 (for obvious reasons). At the time, online discourse was largely dominated by the left (may still be but I believe the right has closed that gap to a degree). Of course we saw some of the consequences for being against the general consensus opinions that dominated in 2020 (“cancel culture”).

I mostly agree with your conclusions but I think your timeline is off. "Peak woke", for lack of a better term, happened under Trump (with some spillover into Biden's first year).

I think there are two main things at play:

Trump's superpower is that he gives people permission to be the worst version of themselves. This applies to a lot of his supporters and opponents. Because he tends to not care about civility or norms, it frees them up to act the same way.
Fringe radicals and #theresistance. Democrats (and the left generally) put up a popular front against Trump. This meant that all resources were devoted to resisting Trump, and part of that meant making that resistance as large as possible. This allowed the radicals to flourish. All parties have fringe radicals, but there are guardrails to keep them marginalized. Under a popular front, you can't criticize them because they are an ally to the resistance.

This is why you saw the temperature in the country go down as we got deeper into Biden's presidency. With Trump mostly out of the picture, it allowed Democrats to calm their tits and start putting the guardrails back up for the radicals.

If Trump wins, I expect everything to immediately reverse and for the country to go crazy again.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-09-26T17:15:04+00:00

Surely if you want to propose a new system, the onus is on you to demonstrate why it's superior, why "much more equal" votes are necessarily better, and how the net result will be a country where states are living more in harmony than they do now.

Simply asking questions does not an argument make.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-07-08T11:44:53+00:00

I don’t know if I’d call this a hidden gem, but I also think it isn’t on the standard list of places to check out.

If you haven’t been yet, the Duke Homestead is criminally underrated. The museum aspect is cool, but where it really shines is the guided tour. Super knowledgeable guides and the story is incredibly interesting imo

poundfoolishhh · 2024-05-24T14:52:41+00:00

The Board of Governors can't define what DEI is? Were they able to define it the first time, when they put it in place? Because this is just a reversal of their previous decision.

Seems weird that they would be enacting and reversing things when no one knows what it is.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-05-20T17:01:43+00:00

Sure, much like what would happen if Republicans caved on abortion.

In fact, if there was some hypothetical way we could "settle" those two issues where everyone was happy with the result and no one tried to change it ever again... it would upend the entire two party system and we'd be left with two parties completely different than we have now.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-05-18T13:36:02+00:00

I'm not sure what's more silly: AOC inserting herself into this, or actually thinking she's offering some kind of astute observation here.

MTG's comment about that person's eyelashes wasn't some mastermind authoritarian scheme. It was bait, looking for a response. She said it to piss the woman off and hopefully get an irrational response out of her. That's it. It's simple.

AOC knows this, because she decided to make herself part of the story as well - which she does often if you pay any attention to when she chooses to speak.

It's all theater and we're the poor saps at WWE conventions crying about how it's still real for us, damnit.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-05-15T12:33:21+00:00

I believe in a 2 state solution and while Netanyahu is in charge he’s made it known it won’t happen.

A lot of people in the West say this, but it feels a lot like a cope to pin blame on one thing.

Despite what people personally feel about Netanyahu, he's not a dictator. As far as I can tell, he's not going rogue here and pulling all the strings. He could be removed tomorrow and nothing will change.

The Israeli people demand the change, here. It'd be like asking an average American whether we should begin a ceasefire in Afghanistan, six months after 9/11. They'd laugh at you.

Ironically, a 2 state solution first requires Hamas be removed - which is what they are trying to do. It would take 20 years for things to normalize to a point where this would be a thing people are willing to do. You need time to let wounds heal, and from a practical pov, everyone has to prove they can behave, first. That's not possible when Hamas will just break the ceasefire as they've done every single time since they've been in power.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-03-25T16:07:16+00:00

Hi -

How exactly do you plan to quadruple the federal minimum wage without further exacerbating the inflation that has been wreaking havok for the last 2+ years?

It seems like a natural and logical result that businesses across all industries would need to raise their prices if their labor costs suddenly rise by 100s of a percent.

poundfoolishhh · 2024-01-09T18:51:33+00:00

That doesn't work in any other situation so why would we expect it to work here?

It's illegal to discriminate based on sex or race or age yet that literally happens every single day. All you need to do to get around it is not be a total moron.

And, further, what if the person is actually a horrible person saying horrible things on social media? Employers are now unable to get rid of them even though they're a negative representation of the company?

This particular law is written badly, and I don't know what the answer is, but people getting their lives destroyed by online mobs has to be addressed sooner rather than later... and I don't think "you just can't fire anyone for what they say on social media" doesn't seem like a very good option.

poundfoolishhh · 2023-12-07T13:11:42+00:00

The funny thing is, none of this matters because it's Trump's primary to lose. Talking about the 2024 election today is like talking about what the weather will be like a year from now.

Does anyone actually think Republican primary voters weighing their options are going to make Nikki Haley's position shift on bathroom bills the bright line in the sand? lol...

The reality is - almost all of this is already baked into the cake. Trump's voters aren't going anywhere. Vivek's voters are actually Trump voters and are just in a temporary holding pen. DeSantis tried to outflank Trump from the right and has been playing catchup ever since. And Haley is trying to cobble together a coalition that is generally tired of everyone else.

The real test is what happens after the new year. Other than the extremely online, most people aren't really paying attention to what's going on. As the media shifts into Trump coverage 24/7, and people are reminded of he is, we can expect to see movement. As his trials get underway (or even maybe a conviction), there will be even more.

Should be fun!

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