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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 1, 2024

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Or maybe they’ll slip something into his drink. Nobody would be surprised given his age.

Someone else suggested a false-flagging MAGA assassination. I'm prone to despairing that "Nothing ever happens," but if this were carried out convincingly it would be devastating for discourse. And yet I can't predict whether or not it would even lead to a D victory in November.

but not really—the robots won’t play trivia and if they do, the questions will be a lot harder

Two robots can play chess with each other right now, but humans still do it because it's fun and challenging for us. I walk in the park even though jets can outpace me.

but not really—the robots won’t play trivia and if they do, the questions will be a lot harder

Two robots can play chess with each other right now, but humans still do it because it's fun and challenging for us. I walk in the park even though jets can outpace me.

I think the implication - possibly tongue-in-cheek - was that robots will replace humans within 200 years.

If someone with a MAGA hat somehow managed to kill Joe Biden, there would immediately be conspiracy theories that it was a false flag. Probably most Americans would believe him- he's the friggin' president! Anyone well functioning enough to be capable of killing him is well functioning enough to know that the best move for MAGA is to have slow joe at the top of the ticket against Trump! This isn't a small town mayor where a sufficiently dedicated homeless schizo could assassinate him- he's one of the best defended figures on the planet. Tell me, what's more likely- an organized conspiracy by people who regard him as nonthreatening due to senility and incompetence which is capable of penetrating the secret service and yet so clownish as to betray their motivations or an organized conspiracy by people who really want him to stop kicking own goals which they try to pin on the other side?

After Covid you simply cannot convince me that we can assume the most likely explanation for anything will even be mentionable in polite company. I know you like to explain to us how the real blue-collars are talking to each other, but man, the people with nice houses and nice jobs are really, really careful about observing what they're allowed to say.

This is a fair point, but most people do not have nice houses and high status jobs, and voting is a game of, well, the masses.

...And even amongst the people with nice jobs and nice houses there are plenty who live in "Red" areas.

I feel like there's a tendency here to forget that there are tech jobs outside of FAANG and Silicon Valley startups, and that there is serious engineering work being done in states like Tennessee and Texas.

But as you say, voting is a game for the masses, and perhaps this is why the democrats suddenly seem so keen to "protect" democracy from bad outcomes. Ie things the masses might vote for.

Well yeah, that’s definitely not everyone with nice houses and important jobs. Actually nice houses being what they are(much more affordable in red areas), nice house owners probably tilt red. You can be a petroleum engineer and have, fairly openly, whatever opinion you want.