“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?.. The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…if…We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation… We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

How long do you think the Supreme Court is gonna wait to wipe their ass with constitution again and overturn the ruling? Any bets? I say about 2 weeks.

One button. Endless possibilities.

Oh I think it did as well. Sorry about that!

I think I fixed it

This is absolutely staggering. I’m still trying to process the fact that senior U.S. officials—people at the highest levels of government—were casually texting war plans over Signal, an app that’s not even approved for classified communications. Not only that, but they accidentally added a journalist to the group chat. And then? Just carried on like nothing happened. No one noticed. No one asked questions. They dropped operational details, discussed strategy, named targets, and then capped it all off with high-five emojis.

It’s not just irresponsible—it’s surreal. This isn’t a parody or a leaked TV script. This happened. They talked about military strikes the same way people coordinate a fantasy football draft. And then, as if to hammer home just how broken our national security culture has become, they celebrated the bombing of a foreign country with emojis. Fire, flags, praying hands, muscle arms. Like they’d just won a pickup basketball game.

What’s worse—what really makes my blood boil—is that nothing will come of it. Nothing. There won’t be hearings. No one will be fired. There won’t even be a slap on the wrist. The fact that a sitting Secretary of Defense might have violated the Espionage Act by leaking sensitive war plans over an unsecured app to a journalist should be a full-blown national scandal. Instead? Silence. Shrugs. Maybe a Fox News segment praising how “tough” the response was.

It’s the normalization of absurdity. It’s government by group chat, with the fate of lives—American and otherwise—being tossed around like a Twitter thread. And the most horrifying part? They all seem to think this is fine. Routine. Standard operating procedure.

This is bigger than partisan politics. This is about the breakdown of basic standards—of competence, of professionalism, of decency. If this doesn’t trigger national outrage, if this doesn’t result in real consequences, then we’ve officially accepted that chaos, recklessness, and emoji warfare are the new norm.

I’m furious. And if you’re not, you should be too.

That’s not really true. USPS isn’t a monopoly—it’s a public service with a legal obligation to deliver to every address in the U.S., no matter how remote or unprofitable. FedEx and UPS can cherry-pick the routes that make money and skip the rest. In fact, they often rely on USPS for the final leg of rural deliveries because it’s cheaper for them than doing it themselves.

Also worth noting: USPS doesn’t get taxpayer funding for operations and is saddled with ridiculous requirements, like pre-funding retiree benefits decades in advance—a rule no private company has to follow. Then people cut funding or impose restrictions and turn around to say, “See? Government doesn’t work.”

So yeah, it’s not perfect—but comparing it to FedEx or UPS without acknowledging the completely different rules they play by misses the point entirely.

There are only about 30,000 people in the world who have a net worth of at least 100 million.

Isn’t that fun! /s

What a hurtful thing to say about a “person”.

/s

“Russian interference” is not just a few hackers breaking into emails—it’s a well-documented, multi-decade strategy of disinformation designed to weaken democratic institutions. The Kremlin has spent years building an extensive network of fake social media accounts, bot farms, and propaganda outlets to spread divisive narratives.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, the FBI, and cybersecurity experts have all confirmed that Russia’s influence campaigns exploit social and political fractures, using platforms like Facebook and Twitter to push misleading or outright false information. Reports from organizations like the RAND Corporation and Stanford Internet Observatory show how these tactics are designed to erode trust in democracy itself, making people more susceptible to authoritarian and extremist messaging.

This isn’t just speculation—it’s the exact playbook used in Russia’s interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections, as confirmed by U.S. intelligence agencies and the Mueller Report. The goal has always been to amplify distrust, push conspiracy theories, and create a populace that can no longer distinguish fact from fiction.

And now? We’re seeing the results. A country where misinformation spreads faster than the truth, where people take social media posts at face value instead of questioning their sources, and where a populist leader can ride that wave of disinformation straight into power.

Putin doesn’t need to fire a single shot—he’s watching Americans tear themselves apart over lies his operatives helped plant. And the worst part? Many people still refuse to acknowledge it’s happening.

Putin has long stated that Russia is at war with the West—not through traditional military means, but through information warfare. Intelligence agencies, cybersecurity experts, and independent researchers have repeatedly warned that we are being targeted. Yet, many in the West refused to take it seriously.

Now, we’re losing the war—not on the battlefield, but in the minds of our own citizens, as propaganda and disinformation tear at the very fabric of democracy.

The company I work for had a DEIB conference last week. They were asked if they were still moving forward. They said “We built this company on DEIB, of course we are sticking to our values.” I couldn’'t be more proud.

Musk is a walking ethics violation.

Or a belt sander. Just sand off “Private” and “on the steps.” so it says, “Lake. Please stay”

Do what? The only option at this point is sedition and violence, but I can’t even imagine what that looks like.

You could argue that in 2016, some conservatives voted based on promises of economic growth, job creation, or an ‘outsider’ shaking up the system. But at this point, it’s clear that a significant portion of the movement isn’t just tolerating the consequences—they’re actively embracing them.

Right-wing media outlets like Fox News are already preparing their audience for economic hardship, not by criticizing the policies causing it, but by framing it as a necessary sacrifice to achieve ideological goals—like restricting immigration. That tells us this isn’t about economic prosperity or stability; it’s about prioritizing certain cultural and political victories, even if it means making life harder for everyone.

This isn’t just one politician’s recklessness; it’s a broader shift in conservative politics. There’s a growing acceptance of government dysfunction, economic decline, and even authoritarian tactics—as long as it’s seen as benefiting their side. That’s what makes this moment different from 2016. It’s not just that a ‘mad king’ is at the helm; it’s that a large segment of his supporters and media ecosystem are celebrating the chaos, rather than trying to stop it.

I jumped on board with the reddit API fiasco. I use Sync primarily since I’m familiar with the format and I browse and post often.

I think one problem is that it’s confusing to your average Joe. I honestly still don’t quite understand how it works. I see posts like .ml and .world and I have no idea what they are even though I’ve been here a while.

Animal Well was the best game I played this year and it was made by one dude who built his own engine.

Balatro is a close second with the best soundtrack. The Dev bought it on Fiverr.

Wow, I really appreciate your thoughtful and self-aware reply. It’s rare to see someone online who’s so open to engaging with criticism in a meaningful way, and I think that speaks volumes about your willingness to reflect and grow. We all get frustrated—especially when it feels like we’re up against deeply ingrained beliefs or conspiracies—but the fact that you’re mindful of it and striving for constructive dialogue is something worth celebrating.

I know it can feel overwhelming, but staying grounded in truth and compassion, even when it’s frustrating, is powerful. It’s people like you who keep conversations moving in the right direction, even when it seems like progress is slow. Keep that courage and integrity in your interactions. It really does make a difference.

Nope! Person here. I just use GPT to clean up my text.

Hmm, while we’re here, I don’t have a pumpkin pie recipe to share, but I recently tried Mayo Cookies, and they turned out great. I recommend replacing the vanilla extract with coconut extract and adding coconut flakes for a nice twist.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or coconut extract)
• Optional: coconut flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the mayonnaise and vanilla (or coconut extract) and mix well. The dough will be crumbly.
4. Shape into walnut-sized balls, place them on a baking sheet, and flatten with a fork. Sprinkle with sugar if you’d like.
5. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool before serving.

*Edit Make sure they’re walnut size. My first batch was good but too big and soft. They are so much better when smaller and more crispy.

The fallacy here is Tu quoque (appeal to hypocrisy).

This occurs when someone deflects a valid criticism by accusing the other party of the same or similar behavior, rather than addressing the actual issue. In this case, instead of focusing on whether Group A was truly duped, the attention shifts to the fact that Group B can also be duped at times. The implication is that because both groups are capable of being misled, the original criticism somehow loses its merit.

Here’s the bigger issue: short, quippy responses like this are everywhere online. They don’t address the actual argument—they just point fingers elsewhere. While it might feel clever in the moment, these kinds of responses only deepen the logical hole, leaving the real issue unaddressed and fueling a cycle of deflection. Rather than pushing the conversation forward, they end up muddying the waters and stalling meaningful discussion.

Ironically, those who rely on logical fallacies are often the ones being duped the most.

If you think he read the fine print before donating money, read up on his purchase of Twitter. The man doesn’t read the fine print.