The US didn’t even get the excuse of being forced to pay obscenely high war reparations to justify their fascism. Instead, it’s dissatisfaction with inflation which, in turn, is the predictable combination of the exponential depletion of scarce resources (real estate, water) and the consolidation of property into the hands of an ultra wealthy minority. If one must frame the emergence of fascism in a “war” context, then the cause is plutocrat beligerantes strategically fighting a social class war while most of everyone else think it’s a culture war.

Here’s a video of the full speech, timed at the two salutes.

Background:

Benjamin Weiser. (2015-05-29). “Ross Ulbricht, Creator of Silk Road Website, Is Sentenced to Life in Prison”. New York Times. Accessed 2025-01-21.

Ross W. Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, a notorious online marketplace for the sale of heroin, cocaine, LSD and other illegal drugs, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Mr. Ulbricht, 31, was sentenced by the judge, Katherine B. Forrest, for his role as what prosecutors described as “the kingpin of a worldwide digital drug-trafficking enterprise.”

Mr. Ulbricht had faced a minimum of 20 years in prison on one of the counts for which he was convicted. But in handing down a much longer sentence, Judge Forrest told Mr. Ulbricht that “what you did in connection with Silk Road was terribly destructive to our social fabric.”

By pardoning the January 6th insurrectionists, Trump legitimized political violence so long as it is done in his name. This is fascism since it views political violence as an acceptable means for strengthening nationalism. The pardon bolsters his political power by quelling dissent from those who may check his power (e.g. the Supreme Court, Congress) since they show he will physically attack them through his supporters.

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Americans have been so fat and happy that they’re literally sick. They need a few more LA fires and pandemics to wake up from the intellectual coma they’re in.

Aaand, that’s why alcohol is frowned upon in Christian circles. It mentally disarms you, collapsing conservative cognitive dissonance into plain bigotry.

Driving time distance from any interstate highway would reveal regions most likely to attempt seceding from the Union.

we need it to be more than this

That goes without saying?

Come and get me.

So, League of Legends is officially a hostile foreign adversary to the US?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_investigator

In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often used as a synonym for “head of the laboratory” or “research group leader”. While the expression is common in the sciences, it is used widely for the person or persons who make final decisions and supervise funding and expenditures on a given research project.

(Via Masto)

AM radio, FM radio, PM radio, XM radio…

I wonder what that particular scenario’s Gini coëfficient versus Cumulative Assassinations plot looks like. Sounds like the plot for a new season of Death Note.

Two responses, channeling the defenseless future conscripts forced into this world literally to fill a “recruitment” quota:

“Don’t build a person if you do not intend to be their ally.” — The Terraformers (2023)

and

“No! No! No! No! No!” — Team Four Star

Literally the plot of Shin Sekai Yori (2008).

Every story needs an Arthur Dent to ask dumb questions for the audience. It gives the author an excuse to worldbuild without pontificating. So, on the bright side, maybe our crumbling civilization has a lot of authors collaborating with mind-bogglingly panoply audiences, each of which needs their own lovable idiot hero to be a character in our world.

This sounds like a Discworld plot invoking relatable 21st century Roundworld problems like absentee landlords and lack of housing.

God, I wish Terry Pratchett hadn’t died so soon.

More of such laws, please.