77 million / 155 million eligible voters.

this is what the ultra wealthy made them want. the lumpen's desires are as manufactured as the hot cheeto dust caked upon their lips.

Now, say it all together class:

FUCK.

THE.

OLIGARCHY.

Political parties won't help us

Corporations won't help us

Government won't help us

We have to help each other.

they knew what they were signing up for.

godspeed you glorious kamikaze children!

I believe people who study public opinion about science have noted that confidence drops during outbreaks and epidemics... if that's the case, Covid does stand out to me as the first time in my life when laypeople began misusing and misunderstanding science at scale, loudly and as part of their proclaimed identity.

makes sense that when a story of global 24/7 proportions eclipses all other news for 2+years straight, that it would become politicized and weaponized in the culture. our winner-takes-all first-past-the-post lesser-of-two-evils duopoly political system, combined with news as entertainment, and now we have folks that have made anti science their entire fucking identity.

Carl Sagan refered to it as The Demon Haunted World (good book btw). Goya criticized it in his paintings. the Catholics burned people at the stakes because of it.

History repeats; reactionary political/theological movements help ensure that it does.

Colby Jack.... tell me you're indecisive without telling me you're indecisive.

agreed. that's literally their job. oppose the other party by whatever means at their disposal. use the press, support union actions, so many ideas. be bold be creative.

they at least should stop pretending that "playing by the rules" and "trusting the system" is an appropriate response to illegal orders, illegal firings, violations of constitutional doctrine, and open defiance of judicial and legislative oversight. relevant video from InnuendoStudio, sadly aged like wine

most people aren't aware that Air Traffic Controllers are forced to retire at 55. no old, slow reaction employees allowed.

when Reagan fired thousands of ATCs in the 80s, then hired and trained all new scabs, he inadvertently created an enormous cohort who would all be retiring at around the same time due to forced retirement.

fast forward to today,

• thousands of ATCs were aging out and being replaced with less experienced people (less of a prob now than 10ish yrs ago but still staffing is extremely lean due to Reagan)
• add to that the obsolete legacy tracking tech
• add to that cost saving (corner cutting) by aerospace corps like Boeing
• add to that major dysfunction in pilot training, screening out baddies, inexperienced pilots, and dissatisfied airline workers and unions
• add to that Trump administration purges and demoralization of federal workers
• add to that Musk getting his SpaceX cronies hands all over the system to make 'upgrades'

data nerds can point to historical accident statistics from the past 20 years up to what, 2020? all you like. trend lines don't often accurately predict the future, they merely describe the past.

I recommend thinking twice before placing all your loved ones on a plane over the next couple years. there's going to be more of this.

bingo. to those accustomed to a lifetime of privilege, equality feels like oppression.

I don't believe for a second that some sleuthing podcasters have created some impeachable, wholly accurate representation of a whole ass person based solely on their goodreads posts or random trail of breadcrumbs left in Facebook selfies... give me a break with the parasocial psychoanalysis. no one fucking knows shit about anyone if all you have to go on is their posts or what their college classmate said.

more importantly, who fucking cares? folks need to stop pretending they were best friends with Anthony Bourdain or they SO RELATE to Taylor Swift. you don't know someone because you listened to a podcast or followed their insta. same applies to Luigi.

Actions >> (online bullshit, speculation, hype)

that's kind of incredible.