Hopefully fax machines, but these things seem incapable of dying.

I’m sorry, Dave…

That’s pretty much what a medieval feudal lord would say. I think people like this have exactly this understanding of themselves: they claim a vague, God-given right to rule over their subjects – a crude excuse for their crimes and inhumanity.

“Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

If you cannot identify this line…

“Obviously, you’re not a golfer.”

The Republicans control both houses of Congress. But the usual rules don’t seem to apply anymore. Isn’t Trump currently starting a war without the approval of Congress?

German here: The overwhelming majority of politicians in my home country are also doing everything they can not only to silence voices denouncing the genocide of the Palestinians, but also to actively support these crimes against humanity, among other things by supplying weapons - all this while invoking “our historical responsibility.” This seems almost worse to me, especially because I am convinced that the majority of the population firmly rejects this and wants the opposite course - namely, to hold these monsters in Israel accountable for their crimes.

I am truly ashamed to be German, and I think many of my compatriots feel the same way when they read the daily horror stories from Gaza and have to admit that we are actually promoting this barbarism on the part of Israel. It’s enough to make you cry.

Yes, it still amounts to billions in additional tax revenue, which is of course paid for by US citizens rather than the manufacturing countries – but this sum is probably already reserved for the planned tax cuts for the super-rich.

The plan is presumably to finance Trump’s private army through additional cuts in healthcare, environmental protection, education, and all other areas that are counterproductive to fascism.

I’m not a US citizen, but I think this country is screwed.

It’s clear that ICE is morally bankrupt, but I thought that its restructuring into a secret police force would be financed by these absurd import tariffs, which are so broad in scope that they are basically tantamount to a massive VAT increase.

This article was just one not pay walled piece I found right away - I figured I’d at least mention some kind of source. I’m sure there’s much more information on this to be found elsewhere.

It is also interesting to note that there is speculation among historians that Da Vinci may have deliberately included errors in the designs of his war machines, as he was probably more of a pacifist.

This is mentioned, for example, in this article on the design of the Da Vinci tank:

Some scholars argue that Leonardo, a known pacifist, may have deliberately included this flaw to prevent his design from being used for warfare. Others, however, believe it could have been an oversight.

Source

That would be great.

Sure. But what I’m getting at is that this way of consuming information likely leads to people being anything but well informed. Because of this social media “newswoth” logic, they mainly read content that isn’t very well thought out – if only because it was written under time pressure.

{Placeholder for a particularly witty comment next time}

Why shouldn’t you get a well-considered answer? I’m sure you’ll take another look at the thread. It does happen, but then you’re usually one of the few people who read these well-considered answers.

I’m not saying that there aren’t well-researched answers on social media, I’m just getting at the fact that there’s time pressure if you want your answer to reach a certain audience.

Yes, but there’s no guarantee that this topic will ever be discussed again. It’s a bit like when you think of a good comeback after a verbal exchange - you have the right argument, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Next time, you’ll be prepared, but next time may never come.

What I mean by this is that every topic is treated like breaking news on social media. However, news reports are characterized by the fact that they are usually outdated by the next day because they are only relevant for a limited period of time. This is not true for many topics discussed on social media. In fact, it is even possible to repeat something after a certain period of time (e.g., reposting memes), which is impossible with actual news reports.

That’s true, of course. But these responses are hardly visible to most people. Of course, the thread is still online years later, but since people today generally only use social media apps, they no longer see these responses, no matter how valuable they may be. If anything, they only perceive these delayed responses as part of the data sets of LLMs – but then mostly without reference to the original content.

I mean, the quality of content hardly matters if you’re late. If you waited just one day to respond to this post, no one would notice your comment.

My parents always said: “No path in vain.” By that, they meant that I should - for example - always take some plates with me and put them straight into the dishwasher when I’m on my way to the kitchen anyway. That’s probably why my place looks pretty tidy today.

If I didn’t still do that, the household chores would eventually overwhelm me.

That doesn’t surprise me, because Drump’s absurd import tariffs are interpreted by numerous economists as a sign that the US is actually bankrupt.

Judging by its national debt and weak economy, the US would probably have been bankrupt years ago if the dollar weren’t a reserve currency. That’s precisely why it’s so absurd.

The so-called Mar-a-Lago Accord, which is anything but an agreement, seems to me to be a desperate attempt at blackmail, playing off the (conventional) military power of the United States against the rest of the world - as far as I know, most economists consider this to be completely bonkers.

I, on the other hand, think that this serves two main purposes: to maintain the illusion among the US population that the US is still the superpower it was in the 1980s (it is not), and to personally enrich the US president and his partners.