Annie_Tobak

Elon Mu$k $till not doing well, I $ee: Political Power Edition. I'm here for it.

No offense, but that's personal and potentially self-doxing. Like I said, there is literally no difference to me or you or anyone else whether you believe ME or not that I was vaccine injured, the question was more generally "do you believe that Covid vax could cause a vaccine injury AND would that count as long Covid because it was indirectly caused by Covid or Covid-adjacent reasons?"

Okay, so you at least acknowledge the existence. Personally, I could not care less if you believe I was or wasn't as you don't pay my medical bills, but the vaccine injury deniers are equally as absurd and ignorant as the anti-vaxxers.

Sir, is it your position that you don't think in a large enough population group, there is such a thing as vaccine injury and that there isn't a % of people-- no matter how small-- that weren't vaccine injured? I'm trying to understand your opinion based on your initial comment which seemed completely dismissive, so please clarify so I don't make a bad inference.

Didn't take you as a vax injury denier. Weird you didn't know that exists. There's even a government reporting mechanism, believe it or not! https://vaers.hhs.gov/

Wait, weren't you the one who was vomiting all over threads a couple days ago about how "I'mma JUST look out for ME! It's OVER. No more helping anyone, just focus on ME! You are an IDIOT if you care about helping anyone! I was a fool, don't be me, learn from my mistakes! Me me Me Me Me...." to paraphrase? I don't fundamentally agree that it makes things harder for poor/middle class as you think is the inevitability, but since you do believe it-- seems like someone like you with the self-professed selfishness would be in favor of this and want something transactional that benefits you.

I was vaccine-injured, does that count for long covid?

So it's not really the idea or concept of a Government Efficiency and rationalization project, it's the personality that was put in charge of it (I guess, hence the response in this thread versus a CR response). Makes sense-- I personally don't mind the cronyism (politics 101) but can understand how it can be seen as bad optics. To that I say fine, just give full CEO control to Vivek Ramaswamy. Would you have a problem then?

There was a cyber truck for like $92k I saw listed near me. I had a good year, thought of buying it, but my wife would be mad. My opinion: Cyber trucks are like the Audemars Piguet of vehicles. Sure they are ugly and ridiculous, but they are uniquely ugly and ridiculous, and that actually IS it's virtue. IYKYK.

This is where I'm at. Just win, baby. Beat A&M and go to the SECCG (and assure a playoff spot) in our first season in the SEC? That's wildly succesful for this season.

Serious question, then knowing this: Why do most D's have such a kneejerk response to this if it's a nothing-burger? They just want to gripe about everything now that they've lost? Let's pretend that this isn't a do-nothing job-- why are people outside the beltway concerned about career politicians and bureaucrats having their honeypots taken away, in the interest of tax paying Americana? I get that the risk is that some things are cut too deep or haphazardly, but just assuming the government will crumble without a bunch of middle-men and women running around with funded pensions and inflated salaries seems like a very big reach. I say all that to say, I'm in favor of austerity (generally) and government efficiency (generally) and rolling back the IRS hiring from last year or so (specifically) so you know my position before responding.

My only regret is that I have boneitis. And that I didn't buy at like $48k like originally planned because I am a wuss. I genuinely think we can get to $1mm a coin at some point. I've heard it said everyone will own bitcoin at some point and that you will buy it at the price you deserve.

@Brisketexan is this you?

John Wick 2 The deaf assassin (Ruby Rose) is so miscast it's hard to suspend disbelief, which kinda sucks becuase JW1 did such an amazing job of world building with underworld of right under your nose. Also the contrived line about "duck fat, makes all the difference" is cringe to me because it comes off as what an average person would think the rich and elite and powerful would say. Food fried in duck fat is accessible to the middle class in America and it's not that gourmet or epicurean. A small nit I know, in an otherwise amazing series.

It's always been me, Crispin Glover. Anyhoot-- I'm guessing that those in the first 6 pages who thought the Cloak Room sucked, are going to probably start to like it. And those int he first 6 pages who said it didn't suck and it was a free market of ideas and just have a thicker skin, they are going to start thinking it sucks. So it goes, Poo-tee-weet, Poo-tee-weet.

I think the answer you are looking for is a different "-ology". It's epistemology. Echo chambers are epistemic tribes. Evolutionarily and socially this has mostly been a good thing. The tribe can anchor around moral or ethical epistemic referents (e.g. God is Good all the time, etc) The problem with echo chambers (or specifically surly's cloakroom) is that the ethical or moral groundings-- the literal aximoatic groundings-- are a winner take-all. Either you believe this XYZ or you are out. You see it in multiple forms from the basis of the classic "If you aren't part of [my] solution, you are part of [the] problem": Cloak Room flavors: "If you don't believe all cops are bastards, you are part of the problem" "If you vote for Trump, you are a Nazi/Fascist" "[Progressive Position] is a natural right and if you disagree you are hateful and an enemy" All this to say, there is definitely an identity of the Cloak Room and an echo chamber. And it's one that, in 2024, was at a risk of not seeing the bigger, broader picture until the collective shoulders were shaken to it.

That tells me the "progress" is not progress Americans want to make then, if they want someone to golf and putz around and be an entertainer rather than a change agent. And it makes sense for the upper middle and upper class to want this-- Goldman Sachs, JPMC, Evercore, Blackrock, all the money makers and aspiring money makers have long said-- a gridlock in the government is best. It gives the invisible hand of capitalism to work. The risk and problem though, is that America has given the President a mandate. That's scary. That's the opposite of the gridlock desired. And yea, the lower class want a provocative, disruptive animal to champion them and make them feel better about being poor and a loss of privilege. But those guys were voting Trump in the SEC states anyways. That's not the Blue Wall that fell. That's not the latinos and that's not AZ/NV.

This feels extremely Latin American / South American. Where else have we seen leaders get deposed or lose elections, face legal consequences (and even sometimes exile), only to be brought back with a hero's welcome after unpopular leaders who follow fail to energize or please the populace? We saw it in Brazil recently if memory serves and I think it's happened in Nepal recently as well. Lastly, just a comment about President Elect Trump being a rapist and felon. I get why people want to emphasize and repeat the epithets of "rapist" and "felon". Felon is 100% factually true. Rapist too. But the majority of Americans view Trump's title as a rapist as a bit of revisionist history with the modern interpretation of the word rape (e.g. power dynamics, not stopping at no's, non-consensual or murky, anything except explicit consent) versus like a Cosby or Mike Tyson definition. I think there are a lot of people that a) don't believe he even did it and b) don't understand it as rape, so the name-calling gets mentally dismissed. With "Felon" it's as simple as, so what? You can become a felon for a myriad of different reasons, whether it be "good trouble" or "witch hunts" to borrow a phrase from each party to justify illegal behaviors. Most Americans who vote for Trump either ardently view it as persecution or hand-wave it away as "breaking eggs to make omelettes" and a cost of the messy business of politics to continue to fight for the people. These are the reasons why I think the majority could elect a rapist and felon.

But that's what I'm saying. Something is fundamentally broken when the majority of the electorate does not feel like it's fear, hate or greed, but about another half does.

The Cloak Room is interesting because, as obviously witnessed last night with the resounding rout and the people speaking (e.g. winning every swing state, popular vote, both the house & senate, etc.), it is very clearly an echo chamber of a minority opinion. I’ll go further, it’s an echo chamber of a minority opinion (macro/US) in a minority opinion (micro/Texas). The “danger” in cultivating an echo chamber of an echo chamber, and drowning out and actively running off any counter beliefs and opinions, is that you become completely tone deaf to reality. Anyone who is in some form or fashion “shocked” or “at a loss” should reflect on their political consumption and take a couple of steps back to look at the bigger picture as America has spoken. Loudly and in a complete beatdown. You don’t have to like it, but you oughta try and figure out why. And “because the majority of voting Americans are garbage human beings” is just going to keep you confused, if you somehow draw that as the lesson from all this, IMHO.

You can see some cut and definition in his arms for once in his career:

YUGE

We can all agree that Quinn vs Vandy is a job interview tho, right?

That is QUITE hilarious ngl.

Also here is an Indian Rapper that is hip with the desi's and gen-z Indian Americans (I, too, have worked with Indians/tech):