Pidesco

How do you think a permanent white population in South Africa affected it and differentiates it from other sub Saharan African countries?

Avowed forces you to hear politics at about the same rate as both Pillars of Eternity games. Hope that helps.

As far as I know there isn't a retail version of Avowed. So far, anyway. I also want an addition to my physical Obsidian collection, so I have been looking for it. A ver se temos sorte.

He is right that the moderate left has effectively abandoned the working class, but he is wrong that they abandoned it in favor of liberal elites. The moderate left has in fact abandoned the working class, but in favour of moneyed interests, be it multimillionaires, large corporate conglomerates or banking giants. This is true of moderate left parties across all advanced economies. In the US you could rephrase it to say in favor of the lobbying class. Fundamentally, due to Reagan's administration outsized influence in US and world politics, the moderate left got infected by supply side economics from the 90s onward, later known as trickle down economics. Another way of putting it is that the Economy Overton Window moved clearly and definitely to the right. The main consequence of this was depressing lower and middle class wages across the board, in every advanced economy since the 80s. First and foremost, over time this created an undercurrent of resentment, due to a disconnect between expected purchasing power and effective purchasing power among the traditional left-wing base. This decrease in the revenue of the general population, also inevitably led to a decrease in tax revenue, which has had a definite negative effect on all public services, especially healthcare and education. And while this has been terrible enough during left-wing government tenures, right wing governments have been only too happy to make things even worse than left wing governments are making them. Also, given the extended timeline under which this has been happening(30 to 40 years, depending on the country, I'd say), it's beyond the ability of any well meaning government to effectively turn this tide and significantly correct economic outcomes for working class families. This means that we are literally in an era of economic inequality that would make late 1800s robber barons blush at even the thought of it. And the only parties that have been able to effectively profit politically from this state of affairs are far right parties, meaning parties propped up and financed by the same financial interests which are making things worse economically for those who are poorest.

Just for the record Musk is not a particularly successful businessman. He is just, like most multimillionaires, rich enough to be effectively immune to all the stupid crap he has done to his businesses. He is more successful than Trump, but that is such a low bar you'd have to be shorter than the Planck length to limbo under it.

I'm not talking about Americans or even just Americans who voted for Trump, though. It's the same here in Europe. Or say, entirely randomly, in places like South Africa.

What still surprises me is how so many people have an idea of Trump that does not track with reality in any way. Despite what he is being right there in everything he says and does openly and plainly.

From TPM.

If you vote in a platform that is explicitly undemocratic, democracy definitely does not win.

The principle in the US, unlike in most of the developed world, is that people should not be forced to have a form of ID. So if not everyone has to have an ID, and not everyone, additionally, has easy access to a form of ID, due to specific socio-economic constraints, requiring ID to vote is a targeted form of suppression. Essentially if you require ID to vote you should provide ID to all who are eligible to vote.

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/30/g-s1-30644/supreme-court-virginia-elections Why the US may already be screwed. The Supreme Court effectively nullified a law, by fiat, in a move favouring Trump's election.

That's the only counter argument I will really consider. That nothing will change because things are already irrevocably in the crapper and Trump's term already derailed things enough.

Uh, statistics say that's just not true. The cost of living has increased a lot more than wages, and life is now costlier on average than it ever was in the post war period. This new robber baron era of extreme deregulation and lower tax revenues will only exacerbate this tendency, as the lower and middle classes lose social protections and purchasing power. With the House and the Senate being increasingly unable to legislate anything and the Supreme Court insulating the presidency from consequences for any bad actions it may take the US are in for a really bad time, with guard rails significantly weakened.

https://bsky.app/profile/sonic.bsky.social/post/3l7lkwmn6ks2t Kamala Harris' campaign has set up an island in Fortnite, another foray into the gaming space for Democrats. Trump's campaign also has an in-game presence as the antagonists in the classic franchise "Wolfenstein"

The American political class has really sold their country down the river. If Trump wins you guys are definitely set on a catastrophic path you'll never get away from. And maybe the world too.

The problem with Afghanistan wasn't if it was legitimate but rather how the US handled everything after the successful invasion. No follow through.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/pierre-christin-dead/

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1841644041219256496.html A helpful thread.

It has also been established several times that Trump is lying about that and only started lying about that when it became clear project 2025 was deeply unpopular.

I don't think pointing this out will help any, but if one candidate is stating facts, or at least well founded opinions, and the other is just stating bald faced lies, someone saying both candidates need to tone down their rhetoric strikes me as either ignorant or just dishonest. And specifically dishonest in favour of the liar.

My problem with Taylor Swift is that she isn't even bad. Just so bland, generic, nondescript.

A lot of people are just that ignorant of the world around them, and not in the conspiracy rabbit hole sense. They are ignorant of things just because they are for the most part entirely uninterested in things that are consequential.

It was twenty degrees here at midnight yesterday, which was weird.