I wonder how much this will come back to hurt the company. Musk & co. want to play dumb games? Enjoy watching all the potential Xitter users in Brazil flock to Bluesky and other platforms while your site remains in the dark.

Xitter isn’t special. People will find ways to socialize online with or without it. And the longer people go without it, the more momentum other sites will gain. Whether this stalling is deliberate or unintented doesn’t matter, the fact is they’re only hurting their own bottom line when an entire country is disengaged from their platform.

In other words, keep it up, Elon. It’s fun to see some natural consequences arise from your stupid behavior.

He even stereotyped himself in some twist of argument from authority by saying “never go against an Asian on math.”

I could understand saying that about yourself as a joke in a casual setting, the way that many people make self-aware jabs at their own stereotypes. But to say it as if it’s some “gotcha” in a serious discussion is messed up.

I don’t have a stake in this argument, as this is my first time learning about Doctorow. I just want to add that a good phrase to express the situation you described is “potential conflict of interest.”

Let us never forget that there was a chance for a Democrat to appoint a Supreme Court judge back in 2016. In fact, there was nearly a year we had only 8 justices - from February 2016 when Scalia passed away, all the way until Trump took the White House in 2017.

This only happened because Senate Republicans prevented Obama from appointing a new judge. Senate Republicans purposely kept the position vacant until Trump, predictably, filled that vacancy with a Republican pick.

It is possible abortion matters to them, just not in the way we’d think. After all, repeatedly asking their grown kids, “So, when will I be meeting my first grandchild?” at every possible opportunity sure hasn’t worked.

This was such an awful take. Church-based childcare lacks much of the government oversight that non-religious centers adhere to. There’s a great book by former senator Sean Faircloth called Attack of the Theocrats that highlights a number of disturbing facts and news stories where children were neglected, harmed, and even died while under the so-called “care” of such institutions.

Even if we were to choose to ignore those realities, there’s still the fact that Vance’s idea means spending federal money to fund religious centers.

And here comes the point where, based on previous GOP behaviors, we have to think about what changes would likely occur in order to create this “neighborhood child care” model. A reasonable person who cares about the best interest of the children would probably support giving such child care groups a way to become trained and licensed, to ensure a high quality of care and safety for the children. Unfortunately, the GOP tends to fight against oversight and regulation. Without more specific details on how they would enact this change, we can only speculate on the proposed details. However, knowing the GOP playbook, I wouldn’t be surprised if their answer boils down to more deregulation, to allow more centers to proliferate with fewer “barriers.”

I hope that isn’t the proposed case. Either way, the idea of federal funding being used to prop religious organizations does not inspire my confidence.

I’m just surprised that couches can reproduce.

Oh yes, that’s an important point. There’s no sense in talking to a brick wall.

It’s easier said than done, for many people. A lot of people prefer to avoid potential confrontation. It’s sensible to the individual, but it does end up enabling the spread of disinformation as a result.

A good tip for these situations is to make it seem like you just figured something out. Go, “Wait…” and look like you’re confused and thinking about it. Then slowly mention each point, laying out them out like puzzle pieces. Finally, and carefully, put it all back together to make the logical result.

Personally, I’ve dealt with these conflicts throughout my life (yay for autism!) and have had to learn how to handle them through trial and error. In my experience, having a positive reputation with whoever you’re talking to makes your words much more powerful. Those of you who’ve stayed quiet (or at least, apolitical) til now may already have a big leg up on this. Also if you’ve never stepped in when a group is spreading disinformation, you may end up making a bigger impact than you expect. It’s like when a quiet character in a show suddenly speaks up - you pay more attention, feeling that they’re about to say something important.

One last thing - don’t expect to change minds immediately. It takes time to process things, especially when one is confronted with logic that contradicts their beliefs. Sometimes it takes a few days, sometimes it takes a few years. Nonetheless, the more seeds of reason we sow, the better the chances that some will sprout.

Gotta be prepared for all the shit that’s about to spew out his mouth.

all women were required to be monitored monthly by a gynecologist.

At least we can rest assured on this point. As if a red state would ever make health care that accessible.

The “nanny” in this case is Vicki from Fairly Oddparents.

Thank goodness for mute buttons.

My usage of Youtube slowed down considerably when the algorithm stopped giving me anything new. I’d end up asking friends and people on social media about their own favorite videos and channels, just to get something interesting.

Whoever is designing these algorithms seems to be forgetting that our brains crave novelty. If we’re not getting it, we’re going to feel bored and start looking elsewhere.

Gas for small planes you check it by sticking your finger in it to make sure it’s full.

I know some people have different practices, but myself and the pilots I’ve known use a dipstick to check fuel level. You do you, but remember that aviation fuel contains lead, which is easily absorbed through the skin. I always use gloves when checking fuel.

I can’t deny that most pilots don’t use gloves, that there are fewer additives in aviation fuel, nor that we are trained to dump checked fuel on the ground. But I don’t see those as “green flags” for aviation fuel.

For anyone interested, here’s the Material Safety Data Sheet for aviation fuel. For comparison, here’s the MSDS for automotive gasoline. I wouldn’t want to touch either without skin protection.

Prepare for rant about the show being BIASED AGAINST ME and spreading FAKE NEWS by not accepting alternative FACTS.

If too many voters decide to go against Democrats now because they are disgusted by the Democrats support for the many heinous atrocities committed by the Netanyahu government, it would force the Democrats to reevaluate that position and force AIPAC influence out, to regain credibility with the people.

I wish that would happen, but if Democrats lost this cycle, do you believe they would immediately link back to this particular issue?

I fear that the United States would find itself consumed in pressing domestic issues if Harris were to lose. Over the past several years we’ve already been witnessing the rapid spread of disinformation, a poorly-handled pandemic, increasing racism, xenophobia, and violence, as well as women suffering from lack of reproductive care. As much as I’d hope that a democratic loss led to a disconnect from AIPAC, I imagine a presidential loss at this time wouldn’t change that. Rather, it could force relevant local issues to overshadow issues of foreign influence (which, if history tells us anything, certainly wouldn’t decrease if Trump returned to power.)