What keeps people from sliding into lumpenization and dysfunction is control. A sense of boundaries between self and the world. This goes from the basic acts of not expectorating on a sidewalk and not throwing around garbage to the more complex task of being emotionally contained in public.
When these boundaries aren’t put up around a person by means of religion, tradition, ritual and community, all that’s left to perform this function is a highly concentrated inner motivation that most people simply don’t have.
It’s easier to function and be happy when all these things keep you together.
Parental feelings aside, I’m very sad that Hunter’s shady dealings in Ukraine won’t be investigated. Burisma was property of Kremlin-friendly Ukrainian oligarchs. On the eve of the 2022 invasion, Ukraine passed an anti-oligarchy legislation that would have led to an investigation of these and other oligarchs. Then the invasion took place, and obviously the investigation was put on a very distant burner.
Biden has done everything to ensure that the war drags on. I’m not saying this is the reason but now we won’t find out.
As I’ve been saying this whole time, Trump will make an overture, Putin will piss on it because he’s a congenital idiot, and the only interesting thing is how Trump will react. Russia wants a long-term, large-scale American humiliation. It wants something like the Afghanistan withdrawal but on a world scale. And even if that happens, it will still not be enough. As with any narcissistic injury, nothing can feed the narcissist’s hunger. This is beyond logic and reason. It’s an emptiness inside the size of the universe that only grows larger the more it’s fed.
People who are hand-wringing about Biden’s pardon of his son, please ask yourselves if Trump wouldn’t do exactly the same.
Of course, he would. Anybody would. Even Pete Hegseth’s mother probably would.
“But he lied!”
Trump also didn’t end the Russian war in 24 hours after being elected, which everybody with a functioning brain understands was an electoral figure of speech aimed at the congenitally simple among us and should not be taken literally.
We all need to grow up and stop relating to politicians like they are our parents. It’s icky and immature.
Traveling is great but there’s nothing like coming back home to beautiful America.
What you see in the distance is Chicago.
Since I’m at it, here’s a reply to the most recent Q&A:
Putin’s goal is to sow chaos in the US. This has been said very openly and often. Vindman’s actions did exactly that. He used a completely fake story to rubbish both the US and Ukraine. He did enormous damage to Ukraine and inflicted harm on the US, as well. And who benefits from turmoil in the US and from an intense dislike towards Ukraine many Americans came to feel as a result of Vindman’s shenanigans? It’s not hard to guess who the beneficiary is.
I also must add that post-Soviet emigré Jews perceive themselves as Russian by language and culture irrespective of where they are from. They tend to feel profound hatred for Ukraine. Exceptions are extremely few. My father ended an inordinate number of friendships among post-Soviet Jews because they were venomously anti-Ukrainian which really came to light after 2014.
I’m not repeating anything after anybody, by the way. I have despised Vindman for years. I don’t know if he’s consciously servicing Russia or if it’s his subconscious acting out but he’s giving aid and succor to our sworn enemy. And I oppose that because see the beginning of this post.
The Canadian government is still doing a Kamala Harris, telling citizens that they are delusional for noticing the bad economy and the growing crime. “It’s not real,” politicians keep saying. “It’s just a vibe.” We all know how this worked for Harris, so it’s unclear what Trudeau is counting on with his embrace of her loser strategy.
Definitely not doña and not lo siento. I’d say “disculpe usted.”
Avoid doña completely unless you are trying to be funny. As for “lo siento”, use it when you actually feel sorry. For instance, somebody says, “my cat died”, and you respond with “lo siento.”
“Disculpe” is more like “excuse me”, so it works when you are trying to attract attention. If you want to be more casual, you can simply say “oiga”.
For German speakers, it’s like the difference between “es tut mir leid” and “entschuldigung”. Would you say “es tut mir leid, Frau” if somebody drops something?
Euthanasia is an inevitable result of socialized medicine in neoliberal times. It’s easier to get rid of the unproductive than treat them. And of course, it’s all coached on the vocabulary of choice, a word that has been wielded to unleash the most inhuman practices.
So having on your side 90% of media, academia, secondary education, and business isn’t enough? That wasn’t decisive but a dozen more influencers will be?
What will it take for the Dems to accept that the problem isn’t that the vehicle of delivery is flawed but that the ideas they are trying to deliver are bad?
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