Political Posts

[Spekulatius]

What is also noticeable  is that Trump ripped Biden for his drone strikes on the Houthi last year  because they were “not our business” and you can “talk to those people” (or something like this) and then does the same stuff basically. I guess shyte always smells better if you produce it yourself.

[Xerxes]

[Sweet]

An example of what I am seeing more and more online.  These two guys are legitimately brainwashed, or more sinister, actively working for Russia and China:

 

Edited March 27, 2025 by Sweet

[alpha]

5 minutes ago, Sweet said:

An example of what I am seeing more and more online.  These two guys are legitimately brainwashed, or more sinister, actively working for Russia and China:

 

 

It seems like Murdoch owned media combined with twitter has created a self-validating alternate reality for these people to live in.

 

And in what could be an indication the situation won't be improving anytime soon; Timothy Snyder, Marci Shore, and Jason Stanley all announced they are leaving the USA today.

 

[Sweet]

1 minute ago, alpha said:

 

It seems like Murdoch owned media combined with twitter has created a self-validating alternate reality for these people to live in.

 

And in what could be an indication the situation won't be improving anytime soon; Timothy Snyder, Marci Shore, and Jason Stanley all announced they are leaving the USA today.

 

Yeh, Twitter has become an echo chamber for some of these groups, but why blame Murdoch?

[Ulti]

https://oilprice.com/Metals/Commodities/Ukraine-Rare-Earths-Deal-Is-Nonsense-To-Mining-Experts.html

[Castanza]

Stop using social media, read more history books and stick with print news. The Economist, Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times are all very solid and balanced. Ignore opinion pieces. 
 

Also like podcasts

- War on the Rocks for Ukraine/Russia

- Financial times (The Economics Show)

- Financial Times (News Briefing)

- The Economist 

- Paul’s Security Weekly (Cyber security if you’re into that) 

 

 

[cwericb]

28 minutes ago, Castanza said:

Stop using social media, read more history books and stick with print news. The Economist, Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times are all very solid and balanced. Ignore opinion pieces. 
 

 

 

Good advice.

Problem is, there are a lot of people who either believe everything they read or what is just as bad, those who will not believe anything they read.

[Spekulatius]

The best hack to make X a  better experience is actually to block Elon. Then block everyone who makes idiotic posts like above in your feed.

 

Relentlessly weeding is key to keep your feed in the Birdsapp jungle somewhat reasonable.

 

If Elons nerfs the block button like he alluded to a couple of times, X likely becomes unusable.

[Castanza]

14 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

The best hack to make X a  better experience is actually to block Elon. Then block everyone who makes idiotic posts like above in your feed.

 

Relentlessly weeding is key to keep your feed in the Birdsapp jungle somewhat reasonable.

 

If Elons nerfs the block button like he alluded to a couple of times, X likely becomes unusable.

 

The problem with that is YOU are the moderator and everyone is subject to bias. So in a way, you will overtime self-reinforce your own biases. I don't think 99% of people can utilize social media in the way you propose. The algos are smarter than the users.  I think it's better to start with reputable sources that people from different spectrums consider generally unbiased. Then make effort to read through every article etc. Overtime I think this shifts your worldview to a more centrist standpoint, which (imo) is about the best you can be as you can "flex" one way or the other on issues, but approach them from some middle ground starting point. Always a work in progress though....

 

I've been subscribed to The Economist for over a year now and have been reading every major article in each issue throughout the week. It's been a good exercise imo. I hate reading on screens so went with the print version. 

Edited March 27, 2025 by Castanza

[Gregmal]

Yea Twitter is a waste of time, period. 

[Gregmal]

37 minutes ago, Castanza said:

The problem with that is YOU are the moderator and everyone is subject to bias

Totally. Blocking things you don’t want to hear is not exactly the way to hone in on truth. 

[Castanza]

11 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Totally. Blocking things you don’t want to hear is not exactly the way to hone in on truth. 

 

Exactly, that's why social media is silly. All it does is reinforce your personal views. This forum is the closest I get to social media these days...

[Spekulatius]

On 3/27/2025 at 11:35 AM, Gregmal said:

Totally. Blocking things you don’t want to hear is not exactly the way to hone in on truth. 

It’s not people I don’t want to hear it’s those that perpetuate BS, just plain fabrication of facts etc.

 

The problem with Elon is not as much what he posted, but that it gets amplified in X  algos and I need to see everything from his degenerate fanboys too. It pollutes the feed.

 

One of the best things I did was muting key words like Tesla, TeslaQ in my feed because it totally polluted the feed. Then blocking almost all politicians become necessary as well, especially during election.

 

Enough stuff seeps through anyways. X isnt useful uncurated but still useful curated 

Edited March 29, 2025 by Spekulatius

[Gregmal]

8 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

It’s not people I don’t want to hear it’s those that perpetuate BS, just plain fabrication of facts etc.

 

The problem with Elon is not as much what he posted, but that it gets amplified in X  algos and I need to see everything from his degenerate fanboys too. It pollutes the feed.

 

One of the best things I did was muting key words like Tesla, TeslaQ in my feed because it totally polluted the feed.

Then blocking almost all politicians become necessary as well, especially during election.

 

Enough stuff seeps through anyways. X isnt useful uncurated but still useful curated 

Yea I heard it was great at one point and briefly found some search value through using similar filters, but over time much like with Google Search it seems they keep messing with the algorithms and making it harder and harder to refine what you’re searching for. 
 

 

[changegonnacome]

Know there’s those couldn’t even bring themselves to listen to a NYT podcast but put simply….Friedman has it about right.

 

a lot of first order thinking involved in the current administration…..they are going to be brilliantly surprised when their first order thinking & plans make contact with the real world….and 2nd order & 3rd order effects play out in ways that confound them.

 

Case in point today…..you want a ceasefire/peace in Ukraine….you bring the European’s along with you or you as their boss tell them that’s the way it is…..instead Trump/Vance alienated and insulted them  ….so today the European’s didn’t agree to lift their sanctions on Russia as part of any potential ceasefire….a prerequisite according to Putin to a full ceasefire….

 

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/03/26/eu-says-no-sanctions-relief-for-russia-until-full-military-withdrawal-from-ukraine-a88494

“The European Union said Wednesday that it would not lift or amend sanctions on Russia unless Moscow agrees to unconditionally withdraw its forces from Ukraine.”

 

I can assure you……six months ago if the previous administration had wanted it….Europe would have acquiesced to America’s desire.

 

THIS is what diminishing relative power in the global system looks like…..as I said earlier in the thread….this is mana from heaven for adversaries & enemies…that it’s been actively precipitated by unforced US actions is the great travesty…the greater one is that many American’s somehow beleive that MAGA is indeed making America greater (in projecting international power & influence) when in fact it’s making the relative power of the US weaker and weaker in the system. Sad. 

Edited March 27, 2025 by changegonnacome

[whiskybravo]

I had subscribed to The Economist for years.  I seem to remember that they were fairly sanguine about large numbers of migrants coming into Europe and were quite impressed with Merkel.  I guess it’s hard to know ahead of time what is first order thinking.
 

 

[Gregmal]

I mean you can read even the most abhorrent propaganda and still get what you need to out of it. I can read the NYT and conclude that our government and others are weighing the implementation of tariffs…no harm done. You just don’t want to get tricked into listening to these shitbags opining on anything qualitative…I’m aware there’s conflict between Russia and Ukraine and can surmise that from any news outlet. I can familiarize myself with the history of the region, its politics, and its various issues…without giving any consideration whatsoever to some loser or blowhards choice of how they wanna frame the conflict or present us with their own curated versions of the “story”.

[John Hjorth]

Great to have you back posting here on CofB&F, Carl @Cigarbutt, even in this topic,

 

Thank you for the leads to books you personally consider relevant. It's much appreciated for my part. I'm going to grab [buy] them, shortly. 

[Sweet]

On 3/26/2025 at 12:14 AM, Spekulatius said:

Blocking Elon Musk helps a bit too, no kidding.

Blocked him long ago.  I’ve been doing an awful lot of blocking these past few days.  I’ve no idea what is happening over there but I’ve no interest in Nazi, Jew hating, dumbass and obviously bs conspiracy theories (chemtrails - really?), or gore.  Slight interest in barely dressed women - I’ll admit lol

 

 

Edited March 27, 2025 by Sweet

[Ulti]

https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/rise-up-europe
 

excellent article on what Europe can do to become a superpower again

[backtothebeach]

Good to hear from some of the other DOGE people. Bunch of Nazis if you believe the mainstream reporting lol.

Edited March 28, 2025 by backtothebeach

[lnofeisone]

8 minutes ago, backtothebeach said:

Good to hear from some of the other DOGE people. Bunch of Nazis if you believe the mainstream reporting lol.

They didn't want to bring big balls around? 

[formthirteen]

8 hours ago, Ulti said:

excellent article on what Europe can do to become a superpower again

 

Thank you.

 

Like in China (https://english.www.gov.cn/policies/, https://en.ndrc.gov.cn/) we can go straight to the commission to see what they are currently working on: 

https://ec.europa.eu/stories/2024-2029-commission/

 

Quote

 

Our new foreign and security policy should reflect the rapidly changing global landscape. We must focus on:

• Working towards enlargement as a geopolitical imperative to reduce our dependencies, strengthen our resilience and competitiveness 
• Strengthening our strategic approach to our neighbourhood to promote peace, partnerships and economic stability in the Mediterranean and beyond 
• Forging a new economic foreign policy to advance Europe’s economic security through competitiveness, fair trade and partnerships  
• Reshaping multilateralism to ensure a more equitable representation for all regions  

 

 

Quote

 

Europe’s unique quality of life is key to both our economy and society, ensuring no one is left behind. To preserve it, we will focus on: 

• Ensuring social fairness in today’s economy to improve the quality of life for everyone in the EU 
• Bringing people together and helping the youth to address the unease that people feel and increase solidarity among citizens 
• Working towards a Union of equality where everyone can succeed, no matter who they are 

 

 

Quote

 

To remain competitive, and ensure prosperity and fairness for all, we will focus on:

• Making business easier and deepening our Single Market to help small and innovative companies thrive
• Introducing a Competitiveness Compass to close the innovation gap, decarbonise and increase security
• Delivering a Clean Industrial Deal to decarbonise, bring down energy prices, support our industries and create more quality jobs across Europe
• Building a more circular and resilient economy to transition to more sustainable production and consumption practices
• Boosting productivity with digital tech diffusion to strengthen our competitiveness and become a global leader in AI innovation
• Putting research and innovation at the heart of our economy to succeed in the new age of invention and ingenuity
• Turbo charging investment to accelerate green, digital and social transition
• Tackling the skills and labour gaps to improve people’s careers and economic competitiveness

 

Edited March 28, 2025 by formthirteen

[Spekulatius]

Why would the Europeans lift sanctions? The sanction impair Russians economy which finances Russians war efforts. Lifting them makes only sense if the war is over with a satisfactory outcome for  Europe. Giving the Russian more money is the last thing that makes sense at this point.

Wiffkoff, the emissary to Russia has no experience in diplomacy (he is an old buddy for Trump and real estate developer).

 

For example in one press release, he stated that the ceasefire includes banning strikes and “energy and infrastructure” and the Russians quickly corrected him to “energy infrastructure” which of course is much narrower. Apparently he negotiates with low level KGB agenda that are probably there to grind the Trump emissaries down and exploit there lack of experience.