i was thinking a bit today about the fentanyl flood, mostly because i saw a dude just cold zonk out standing up at the sandwich place and smack his head on the corner of a table.
anyway, one of the fever swamp theories is that the chinese govt is pumping the US full of cheap fentanyl just to nakedly weaken and kill americans, and/or for the money. there's no good reason at all to believe this, but if somehow it turned out to be true i wouldn't be at all surprised. why not? it is exactly what the british empire did to china, and what US intelligence did to americans more than once
the recent nyt story about this (relying on a book by Ben Westhoff i haven't read) only identifies china as the source, or source of the raw materials that go into it. trump pressured china to ban all varieties of fentanyl, which apparently they did, but china is still named as the ultimate source of the ingredients. the nyt story says nothing on this point, but the invitation is there to suppose that if the precursors were still being exported to the same suppliers with a wink, the chinese state would have to know about it
i'm extremely skeptical of major US journalism about china these days. just something that came to mind.
― goole, Wednesday, 24 November 2021 05:04 (two years ago) link
Probably my most hardcore, far-right opinion:
https://www.methodsman.com/blog/gas-stove-statistics?fbclid=IwAR1ZH3rDX3-f9XFl3CHBcC7jLKNFwsAiGNgkR2TLyFhKgRHSuf19igCEKdA
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 03:18 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1LjDgzntvI
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 03:19 (one year ago) link
idk you also were toying with the notion of buying guns to defend your suburban homestead from imagined home invaders
― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 03:54 (one year ago) link
pretty sure you're talking about the thread where I was talking about buying a gun because of fear of fascists, but ok
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 04:34 (one year ago) link
But here, you can read all of my posts about it in this thread, or, if you prefer, just make some up to support your strawman of me
Are you considering purchasing a gun?
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 04:37 (one year ago) link
the gas stove post is completely idiotic
― flopson, Wednesday, 15 February 2023 04:46 (one year ago) link
Is this another American thing where gas means petrol
― kinder, Wednesday, 15 February 2023 16:41 (one year ago) link
it means farts
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 16:48 (one year ago) link
no "natural gas" -- America had a brief post trump stress disorder flashback seizure where some govt agency made a probably misguided suggestion to ban gas stoves, conservatives seized on it as they're coming for arr freedom, and then liberals had to reflexively take the polar opposite position and started throwing their stoves out the window. In reality, there are probably some decent environmental arguments for phasing out gas stoves (assuming we can actually make our electric grid cleaner, which it isn't yet), and induction stoves are very energy efficient and, though expensive, starting to come down in price. However, one of the main "facts" that has been cited against gas stoves is that they are "responsible for" some large % of child asthma cases, and that is just not true, it's based entirely on bad use of statistics.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 16:55 (one year ago) link
America had a brief post trump stress disorder flashback seizure where some govt agency made a probably misguided suggestion to ban gas stoves
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-09/us-safety-agency-to-consider-ban-on-gas-stoves-amid-health-fears
in reality, one official (trumka jr) raised banning it in an interview, and in the same interview also suggested that other options, including setting standards on emissions from the appliances.
(assuming we can actually make our electric grid cleaner, which it isn't yet)
by the wording of this, i assume you mean "clean", and it'll never be 100% clean, so that's not a very good goal. if you mean "cleaner", as in, "improving",
https://i.imgur.com/AlfxKTK.pnghttps://electrifynow.net/fact-the-electric-grid-is-getting-cleaner-every-day
that was before the pandemic. but clean energy is now much, much cheaper per MWh than coal, and recently the costs have even dipped below natural gas. and many states have passed laws mandating 100% clean energy by 2035, 2040, 2050, etc. the winning argument, as always, is to be very cynical and say that those states will never get there. but they are doing better and making progress toward it, especially the states that aren't run by conservatives.
― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 17:43 (one year ago) link
Claims about 'capitalism' producing a bad life condition (like, say, 'being a slave to the clock of the working day') are often implicitly predicated on a better alternative which once existed, whereas, unfortunately, in actual history (eg absolutism, feudalism, and arguably Stalinism also), it didn't.
This isn't truly a 'conservative' argument because it is, I hope, consonant with the Marxian view that capitalism represented progress and needs to be developed further / built on for something better, not reversed.
― the pinefox, Thursday, 16 February 2023 16:24 (one year ago) link
Pre-covid I remember having an argument with a fellow anarchist friend about this ... and he was kinda in denial about feudalism, and kept referring to some version of land stewardship by peasants minus kings/lords that seemed to be the exception to the rule
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:28 (one year ago) link
ecologically, tho, capitalism could well yet prove fatal to humanity
― satori enabler (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:32 (one year ago) link
Like we agreed on the goals for the future, but were arguing about his premise that Capitalism was some "exile from Eden" thing whereas I was saying, "life was shit prior to Capitalism, there was no pre-Capitalist Eden"
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:32 (one year ago) link
xp - I'd argue that humanity could well prove fatal to humanity
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:33 (one year ago) link
it's the Lou Reed fallacy ... romanticizing being born 1000 years ago and sailing on a great big clipper ship ... dude would have gotten scurvy and been miserable tbrrwu
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:35 (one year ago) link
we're talking Lou Reed here lol
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:36 (one year ago) link
Also clipper ships didn’t exist 1,000 years ago
― Alicia Silver Stone (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:40 (one year ago) link
well Lou Reed is dead now so
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:49 (one year ago) link
Have to agree strongly with Sarahell. Life was bad back then - unfortunately.
Tend to agree with N Vague also. Capitalist infliction of ecological damage very dangerous for humans, as well as others.
So, agree that ecological case vs capital is a strong one, though from purely human POV, return to sustainable serfdom not a good plan.
― the pinefox, Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:57 (one year ago) link
She said hey babe
Take a sail on a clipper ship
And the colored girls go
ahoy ahoy ahoy hoy hoy hoy hoy ahoy avast avast ahoy hoy
― tajmahalia jackson (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 16 February 2023 17:59 (one year ago) link
apparently life was pretty swell in precolonial Hawaii
― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Thursday, 16 February 2023 18:26 (one year ago) link
I don't understand UK politics
― sarahell, Thursday, 23 March 2023 05:36 (one year ago) link
at some base level we're just talking about stronger people exploiting weaker people, with "strength" and "weakness" determined largely by economic status. And that's a tendency that far, far predates the industrial world that birthed Marxism, right?
otm
― sarahell, Thursday, 23 March 2023 15:38 (one year ago) link
Don't see how that's conservative but I'm willing to hear the case.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 23 March 2023 15:52 (one year ago) link
As in, America is way more conservative than the UK
― sarahell, Thursday, 23 March 2023 15:58 (one year ago) link
Ah. Just about, I guess, but the UK is catching up quickly and is insanely conservative compared to most of Europe. UKILX posters v much not representative, lol.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 23 March 2023 15:59 (one year ago) link
At least the US has legal weed and depending on which state you're in you might not be burned at the stake for being trans.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 23 March 2023 16:01 (one year ago) link
some of the US has better weather ...
― sarahell, Thursday, 23 March 2023 16:04 (one year ago) link
I like how Mr. Bean gets presented as this aloof little dumb guy when in reality he's a massive dick to everyone he comes across. maybe I just don't get the UK mentality
― frogbs, Thursday, 23 March 2023 16:04 (one year ago) link
is Mr. Bean related to Bosom Manor?
― sarahell, Thursday, 23 March 2023 16:05 (one year ago) link
Mr Bean easily the most successful British cultural export within my lifetime, beloved around the globe, everyone loves a massive dick. lest we forget this recent international incident:
http://news.sky.com/story/next-time-send-the-real-mr-bean-the-bizarre-feud-between-zimbabwe-and-pakistan-surrounding-t20-world-cup-12732125
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 23 March 2023 16:22 (one year ago) link
I prefer the older, less problematic British entertainment like Benny Hill
― carne asana (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 23 March 2023 20:02 (one year ago) link
Mr Bean easily the most successful British cultural export ... everyone loves a massive dick
TIL
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Thursday, 23 March 2023 20:05 (one year ago) link
That's OK, I don't understand US politics.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 March 2023 20:07 (one year ago) link
i don't think those of us that live here do either
― hootenanny-soundtracking clusterfucks about milking cows (Neanderthal), Thursday, 23 March 2023 20:13 (one year ago) link
after listening to some deranged republican congresswoman railing against Tik Tok earlier I'd say US politics can be the politics of envy sometimes
― calzino, Thursday, 23 March 2023 20:19 (one year ago) link
Envy, fear, anger and resentment.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 23 March 2023 20:39 (one year ago) link
New board description?
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 March 2023 21:45 (one year ago) link
90s Napalm Death album
― hootenanny-soundtracking clusterfucks about milking cows (Neanderthal), Thursday, 23 March 2023 21:50 (one year ago) link
An unpopular view that I increasingly hold is:
"I can't be anti-X, some of my best friends are X" is a statement that is automatically ridiculed, at best. But actually this statement is a natural and intuitive thing for anyone to say, if the second half of it is true.
I think the formulation's extremely bad reputation must come from it being so often used when it is not true. If Donald Trump is accused of racism and says "They say that about me, but some of my best friends are black", thinking of the time he had one black advisor - then this response is false.
But if someone is accused of homophobia and immediately thinks: "Wait a minute, my two closest confidants are gay, I'm giving a speech at a lesbian wedding next month, I work with an almost all gay team in my job at the LGBT bookshop, and my wife volunteers at the local gay LGBT archive" -- then that person may, in fact, have quite good reason to be puzzled by the accusation.
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 08:05 (one year ago) link
i rather think the issue is more likely to be the first half of the statement tbf
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 08:55 (one year ago) link
Bigotry does not confine itself to open hatred, it is perfectly possible to have amiable relations with members of a group while still holding prejudiced views against that group. Hell, it's possible to be in a group and hold those views about it!
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 09:18 (one year ago) link
Every decent person agrees that using slurs is racist. It's evil, let us say, and directed at a person.
Most decent people will not see how housing and immigration policy are racist. They're abstractions, not directed at a neighbor, a child, or, worse, a friend.
― the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 09:21 (one year ago) link
xpost yeah, that's where the "you're one of the GOOD ones" trope comes from
― hootenanny-soundtracking clusterfucks about milking cows (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 14:00 (one year ago) link
it does seem true that every person who is adamant that undocumented immigrants should be deported and forced to "do it the right way" cannot name a single person they think should be deported
― frogbs, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 15:03 (one year ago) link
Grand National protesters should be shot
― contrapuntal aversion (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 15 April 2023 16:28 (one year ago) link
Would make a change from the horses being shot.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Saturday, 15 April 2023 18:00 (one year ago) link
I dunno if this is "conservative," but I still believe that most, if not all, people are capable of redemption.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 15 April 2023 19:07 (one year ago) link