TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
No bio...
User ID: 616
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
... and that this is in many ways a much worse thing. Public officials dealing with an emergency can't treat complaints like they're political conspiracy theories, not because such foul play is unimaginable -- I can give examples! -- but because the alternative is imaginable. Disasters are by definition the breakdown of normal systems, with lives on the line dependent on our ability to respond to those gaps.
Yeah I think this is my main issue. When the default response becomes "the other side is trying to smear us with insane conspiracies" then the government becomes basically immune to any criticism.
Extremely worrying development.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Good to know. And wow, yeah.
I sincerely hope crypto takes off. But like I said with politics, seems like the cultural forces that led to its creation are dying out.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Ahh I thought you were talking about Helene, not Katrina.
Still though, what a mess. Every time I think I can't hate the government more...
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
When the local police are joined in on the looting and a state senator is diverting national guard assets to get material from his personal home, there's not terribly much an organization like FEMA can do.
Wait do you have examples or sources of this? Would be crazy if it turned out to be true.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
I know!! Exactly it's just... comically thin.
But then again political and news discourse has been degrading at a dramatic rate.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Ugh I hate that so many conservatives are genuinely wackadoodle. I guess that's why we're all exiled here.
Alas. Also who is MTG?
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Great to see. We need more of his energy.
It's a shame that the libertarian anti-authoritarian anti-government strain of U.S. politics got totally co-opted by Trump and MAGA. I wish that the grey tribe still had a voice in the broader political discussions.
Also I wonder if Assange likes bitcoin?
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
What really pisses me off is that the head of the DoT Pete Buttigieg is calling Elon Musk a conspiracy nut for claiming this, and dozens of other articles are calling it misinformation and 'blatant lies.'
And yet if you go to the Asheville regional website it literally says that no flights may land without prior permission.
I know at this point I shouldn't be shocked anymore by the blatant lies of the media, but it continues to baffle me how blatant and idiotic they are about it.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
As far as the conservative Christian father's concerns about paying a shitload of money to put his daughter in this environment, being a promiscuous alcoholic drug addict dropout is trivially easy for any American woman over the age of 16 or so. The sorority actively polices both pledges and members so that they do not get a reputation of a bunch of dumb drunk sluts, and in a way that is fanatically more authoritarian than what he could ever hope to get away with.
Hah this is a fascinating point, yes the amount of social control women can put onto each other is far worse than than what an authoritarian father figure can do, especially nowadays.
I wonder how much of it is reputational versus actual morality though. Probably mostly reputational.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
I mean automation directly means less jobs and that people will be fired. Why wouldn't they fight against it?
The union's job isn't to increase productivity, it's to protect the workers.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Wow I really haven't been paying attention to this conflict. Okay this seems like much more of a nothingburger than I had thought.
Iran has launched hypersonic missiles into the center of Tel Aviv.
This is shocking to me - I knew things were heating up in the Middle East, but now Iran is officially firing back at Israel. To be frank I was kind of not paying attention to the situation much until this happened, but seems like a major inflection point.
What are the implications of this for further war? For nuclear action in the area? Other countries getting invovled?
What are the implications for the U.S. election, and what do you think the U.S. will do in response?
How do we find a way towards peace now that Israel has been bombed in a civilian area?
EDIT: Almost goes without saying, but Iran has officially declared war on Israel.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Woah these links are super concerning. For people not on twitter, basically none of the military units at nearby Fort Bragg are being deployed, even though they were deployed for Hurricane Katrina, Sandy, etc. pretty much immediately.
Very huge issue if true.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Fair points here! Thank you for providing a counterbalance.
You're right I haven't done any sort of objective or statistical analysis. I'm also fired up because I have family in some of the affected areas.
I'd be curious to see a more detailed and thorough breakdown of the response over time.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Generally if you're going to link to outside sources here, especially your own writing, we ask that you quote the entire thing and not make us go outside of the site to read.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
I'm reposting a top level comment that got posted yesterday, because I don't think it got enough discussion.
Historic flooding in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Whole towns washed away. People retreating to their attics as water levels rise. People losing everything.
Tragic. Horrific. But this is the Culture War thread so I am going to ask the insensitive question, what does this mean for the election in <40 days?
My first thought is that there is a certain irony that these states are among those that just limited the forms of ID allowed at a voting booth. Someone who has lost their house is less likely to have all their documentation, and getting new copies will take longer than the time before the election.
Rural areas that were wiped out will have a harder time finding their polling location under the mud and timber. Mail-in voting will be difficult without a mailbox.
People are going to watch the Biden-Harris's administration to see how they respond.
Do these factors make it more likely for these swing states to turn Blue or Red? Buncombe County, one of the hardest hit, went 60% for Biden in 2020.
I want to add, as I commented, I am beyond frustrated by the federal response. Biden just put out a press release today, over 5 days after it happened, and he just sounds so tired and apparently has a cold. That being said, he says a lot of the right things even if the delivery is bad.
But why has it taken so long to get things out there? As another commenter said, why aren't planes and helicopters air dropping supplies and Starlink in?
And if there has been a major relief effort, where is the news on it? The left controls pretty much the entire mainstream media, so where are the videos of airlifted supplies? I know internet is out, but people on X have shared plenty of videos of waters washing away homes etc.
I'm just shocked at how poor the response has been, though I guess I shouldn't be. Also man, those videos really are something to watch. Reminds us how fragile things really are if Nature decides to make us face her wrath.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Awful stuff, the devastation is insane. And as others have said, there hasn't been any major flooding in these areas since 1791, apparently.
I am normally all for government incompetence and infrastructure failures being pointed out, but honestly this just seems like an act of God. I don't blame anyone in Asheville or the surrounding areas for not being prepared.
But I do blame the federal government for not doing more - where are the jets and helicopters going out there? Where is the televised response and shipping in of starlink and other supplies? I know there's been a FEMA bill signed to give funding but c'mon, this should be an easy publicity win for the left. I have 0 clue why they aren't making more of a big deal out of this.
If anyone does have videos or responses from the White House pls link, because I'd love to see it.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Bro you gotta drop the red pill/PUA/game ideology. It will lead you nowhere good. Please trust me, I went down that road myself.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Wow, such eloquent savagery. Well deserved. Thanks for the good work.
TheDag
Per Aspera ad Astra
1mo ago
Yeah this is actually a pretty fascinating take I hadn't thought of before, but I tend to agree.
Same thing with the financial system. The brutal competition means the people who make the rules are way out on the tail of the distribution.
Avatar the Last Airbender is probably the best, most well-rounded show ever created. Fight me.
More options
Context Copy link