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eightpix

@ eightpix @lemmy.world

Posts
7
Comments
251
Joined
3 yr. ago

Been a student. Been a clerk. Been a salesperson. Been a manager. Been a teacher. Been an expatriate. Am a husband, father, and chronicle.

  • Venezuela’s acting president says she has had “enough” of US orders

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  • Bye, Del-cy-sha.

    Ok, I don't wish her harm or any ill will. I just know that, in this meat grinder of international diplomacy, theres a cost if she tries to push back on Lord Farquaad's wishes. He's already promised he would harm her — like every other woman he's ever encountered.

    Beneath the politics, almost certainly, Delcy Rodriguez and María Corina Machado both want what will benefit Venezuelans. Or, perhaps, they only want to serve their own supporters. Regardless, neither of these women will gain from participating in the Game of Thrones that Washington has engaged.

    Also, Angela Means's quest to vindicate Felisha has merit. Much is assumed about her. Few, if any, care for her. These are the stories we promote. This is the world we promote.

  • Open letter from more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies | Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

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  • Note to the CEOs:

    Which EXACT side of history are you on? What are you willing to do to help... heal this country?

    CEOs, all of you, can change everything. You can (somewhat) free yourselves of culpability by abandoning this violent system. End exploitation, support communities, prioritize people. This system cannibalizes us all. Do what it takes to not get eaten.

    Set a new standard.

    What your people, your state, and your nation need is a new course forward. Not riches. Not power. Not influence. Not dominion. Not any of the colonial values. No more. Abandon those hopes. Build back better.

    Care. Not just "Minnesota nice." Human security for all.

    Build. Sustainable, science-based solutions.

    Action. Recognize, understand, apply, and create a future that depends on promoting people, not capital.

    The next iteration of the American experiment awaits.

  • YSK: 1930s Germany used Jim Crow America as a model, which was a resurgence of Antebellum American racist policies — segregation, imprisonment, enslavement, and homicide.

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  • Its centered on the US because they're harming themselves and everyone else all at once. "Flooding the zone" as it were. What's there to be done but stand on principle and dominate the narrative.

    Inception, followed by a kick.

  • YSK: 1930s Germany used Jim Crow America as a model, which was a resurgence of Antebellum American racist policies — segregation, imprisonment, enslavement, and homicide.

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  • Thanks for that. And true, Durden was not the best to offer. I meant it to be jarring. I meant it to reach out to the disaffected youth and the millennials and the middle of the road white boys. It is anachronistic. And, you might note, it's no longer about Douglass in that last sentence. It's us. We, now, are, and should be, pissed off.

    The thing is, black anger has always been regarded a threat. My anger has always been a threat. So, I picked one of my heroes as a picture. One of the first of 'the other' to take command of his own photographic image. But the current state of affairs — which has never changed — caused me to co-opt the words that, in some readings (like the one you shared), spurred on the Tea Partiers, the "basket of deplorables", and the Red Hats. An inversion, or, if you like, a suplex for those words.

    It was not the smartest, or most apt move. But, it's what I chose. And published. And am responsible for.

    Thanks for your insight.

  • So it's treason, then?

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  • Wexit is like Brexit but way more petty, stupid, and pointless. An independent Alberta couldn't defend themselves against ICE stationed in Montana, let alone the US military proper.

    And, since America is taking custody of oilfields in this hemisphere under the Monroe Doctrine, the Tarsands are a likely target. Danielle Smith better get comfy cosy with the idea of living in a detention facility, charged with "insulting the Dear Leader under her breath" (slander) or "being a woman in power" (blasphemy).

  • YSK: 1930s Germany used Jim Crow America as a model, which was a resurgence of Antebellum American racist policies — segregation, imprisonment, enslavement, and homicide.

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  • Added it to my list of upcoming reads.

  • What's your favourite historical photo and why?

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  • That's an incredible quote. I still need to read more Douglass. Thank you!

    Also, nice turn toward the positive there at the end.

  • What's your favourite historical photo and why?

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  • Oh, it's much, much, much less than that.

    0.0000416%, 1/24 millionth of the sky.

    Here, a .gif on Reddit

    It confirmed the cosmic insignificance of Earth, the profound vastness of space and time, and — at the same time — the rarity, beauty, and fragility of life. Human perception, memory, and understanding is tiny. But, it reaches toward infinity.

  • D'ohracle

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  • I know, I know, the billionaires are fast-tracking another generation of Cylons. I promise, it'll be different this time.

    Or, maybe not.

  • D'ohracle

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  • What's your favourite historical photo and why?

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  • this portrait of Frederick Douglass—an escaped slave who had become a lauded speaker, writer, and abolitionist agitator—is a striking exception. Northeastern Ohio was a center of abolitionism prior to the Civil War, and Douglass knew that this picture, one of an astonishing number that he commissioned or posed for, would be seen by ardent supporters of his campaign to end slavery. Douglass was an intelligent manager of his public image and likely guided Miller in projecting his intensity and sheer force of character. As a result, this portrait demonstrates that Douglass truly appeared “majestic in his wrath,” as the nineteenth-century feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton observed.

    https://www.artic.edu/artworks/145681/frederick-douglass

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  • This one will make it sound like I'm a fan — I'm not — but I was a kid when Owen Hart entered the WWF and an adult when he died in the ring.

    Wrestling had already lost its shine and appeal to me, early in the 90s. The characters, storylines, and action bled fake. And, as I grew up, I came to understand it was no different than any other staged play, entertainment, or storytelling. What really bothered me wasn't the fake drama, or the dumbing down of storytelling. It was serial betrayal, shameless advantage-taking, and the smooth-brained jingoism of it all. It became the refuge of every shameless American impulse.

    Then Owen Hart died on camera. There was a brief reality check. Then, on with the show. The change, though was an acceptance that real death was no reason to stop, slow, or change directions on the machine. If anything, the show, the drama, the merch, and the culture became the basis for an entire political bloc.

    Lest we forget: Linda McMahon is now Secretary of Education. Hard to think of a person worse than Betsy DeVos, but here we are.

  • Mark Carney's full speech on middle powers navigating a rapidly changing world

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  • Just posted this on Bluesky because I just watched it too.

    The standing ovation, rare for Davos (and for whatever it's worth), recognizes two things:

    1. Canada's proximity to the hegemon mentioned.
    2. Carney's stature in the world of finance.

    That's it. The content, the message tilted toward an activist approach, in my opinion. It is consistent with the calculations and moves made so far. But, it is not revolutionary or beyond the scope of the established political moment.

    There is merit in developing the "networks" he mentioned. There is truth in the act of "taking the signs down". None of it is new. -2 burned the US sign on the White House lawn exactly nine years ago.

    Courting China is basic math at this point. Canada's resources — fossil fuels, rare earth metals, water, the Arctic Ocean — go a long way in that conversation. Too bad it'll cost Canada's reputation for environmentalism, attempts at reconciliation, and other human rights championeering. It is a Brave New World, though much like the old world, now with AI.

    As long as we are playing a zero-sum game — enforced by military-industrial actors, a capitalist-loving system, and fractious bets on future value — winners, offensively, seek power by force; and losers organize defense against attacks. The rhetoric is the opposite: winners play victim; losers stage victories. What a circus!

  • YSK: A real American Civil war will NOT be like Battlefield or COD.

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  • Im glad you've said this. Before I saw The Death of Yugoslavia, I honestly believed that modern warfare was clean, clinical, and restricted to willing combatants. That the Geneva Conventions, various constitutional statements, and human honour and decency were a part of modern wars. At least since Vietnam.

    No. I was disabused of that notion by this documentary. Yes, I agree, the BBC shouldn't have the last word on a war in Eastern Europe. The BBC probably shouldn't have the last word on anything. However, they did happen to have the first word — to me — on the importance of understanding how modern wars get started, how they progress, and chillingly, why they don't end. It's a sad, slow, solemn march into oblivion.

  • YSK: Unfortunately, at this point, ICE has "Erik Princed" a US city; over a traffic violation. And the Administration is lying, gaslighting, and giving it cover.

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  • I'm not going to argue the utility of the comment.

    I said, didn't I?, it was a throwaway line — vaguely connected for a 7-minute, TikTok-friendly scene with a cameo by a pretty solid character actor. Anything to keep 10% of readers interested for one more paragraph — this attention economy is the pits.

    You seem like a film/media purist. What consumable, catchy, full-length film helps you to make sense of Mr. Toad's wild ride into authoritarianism?

  • YSK: Unfortunately, at this point, ICE has "Erik Princed" a US city; over a traffic violation. And the Administration is lying, gaslighting, and giving it cover.

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  • Not pertinent.

    ...

    ...

    Yet.

    ech@ is right. I threw that reference in there for no good reason.

    Yet, that Jesse Plemons scene (spoiler!) is feeling pretty chilling to some. But that's all. For now. I had Kyle Rittenhouse vibes off of that. Linked article reminds us, he was acquitted.

    But for whatever an answer to the question is worth: It's a solid 6.5/10 movie. I've not felt the need for a second viewing. Watching America tear itself apart in real-time is a little more pertinent.

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  • Weekend

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  • In addition to the other thread descendants, staring with u/jjjalljs@ttrpg.network:

    For all the bitching about capitalism, which basically every country on Earth uses for an economic system

    This is only the case because it was instituted at gunpoint. The exploration, colonization, settlement, expropriation, amassment, warfare, thievery, and conquest of the world's economy is soaked in blood, laden in exploitation of people, places, and things and destruction of the commons. You'd know that if you were subject to it. Or, if you'd paused to read, ask, or think about it for 5 seconds.

    And, I can't believe I'm saying this in public, "just because everyone is doing it, that doesn't make it right."

    • We can vilify, undermine, and lead smear campaigns against unions under capitalism.

    • We can break, or prevent, unions under capitalism.

    • Our governments can attack us using local, state, provincial, and federal police forces whenever there is a perceived threat to capitalism.

    Everything works fucking horribly with those 2781 billionaire capitalists robbing the world blind while blaming the victims.

    Imagine that.

  • Unfortunately, at this point, ICE has legally "Erik Princed" a US city; over a traffic violation. And they're lying, gaslighting, and giving it cover.

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  • I forgot to say this in my previous response: I'm sorry that this happened in your state and I hope that Minnesota can do exactly what you're describing. I heard the AG of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, talk on Democracy Now!

    Wherever the shooter is, the state of Minnesota needs to take custody of him and any evidence. State-level courts need to try him for the homicide he committed. Minnesota needs to convict him at the state level.

    If he's only ever federally charged, the regime could try the case to appease public opinion. Even if he was convicted federally, -2 could/would pardon him.

  • Unfortunately, at this point, ICE has legally "Erik Princed" a US city; over a traffic violation. And they're lying, gaslighting, and giving it cover.

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  • That's the thing. The regime says it's legal. They're lying. The state has a right to investigate federal exercise of power. If that right is removed, you no longer have a United States. It's a fief.

    I feel for you all. As I did 2001-2009.