Spyke

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Don't you think Jews and Muslims are being demonized again or is it just my algorithm?

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Respectfully, when you talk about other people's bodies in disgust it gives the impression that you don't actually care about the people who inhabit those bodies; you're just another idealogue seeking the affirmation of your own worldview, just like your opponents.

I didn't impose circumcision on my son because I want every person to be able to modify or maintain their body as they wish. Do you want the same? I'm curious if you support adult circumcision by choice and gender affirming surgery, or if you tell those people that they're mutilated as well.

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‘I hate Democrats, but I love Abdul’: voters who left over Gaza return for progressive push

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If you wish to share this or any other opinion expressed by an actual Palestinian or person who can speak to their opinion through first hand knowledge, please share.

Otherwise, please recognize that they are not characters in a fictional story for you to write your own opinions onto. They are human beings desperately fighting to be heard and have their agency respected.

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Do you think UBI will be the future of the world?

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I came looking for a comment like this to agree that we need to discuss UBI more in the context of Universal Services.

Personally, I think there's a strong chance that universal services will emerge before or alongside a UBI. Both are more likely to grow gradually rather than suddenly.

One great thing about universal services is that they don't require as much top-down oversight to deploy, imo. You can join groups now that collect and distribute free fruit. Anyone with a skill can begin giving it away; if you're a lawyer, you can give free legal services to immigrants; if you're a technician, you can join or set up fixit clinics. Every time folks begin giving away labor value, they're chipping away at the transactional structure that holds people hostage to capitalist labor markets. And as critical mass builds, more and more people are freed to spend less and less time hustling for their daily bread, and can direct more and more time to this Solidarity Economy. And unlike a UBI, you don't need the government or the rich to buy-in: you can start practicing these things yourself and with neighbors now.

If you want to build this but want something a little less anarchist, public school systems are an existing prototype of this: that's why a lot of school systems also engage in food distribution and more recently experiments in social housing. You can join advisory committees and help deploy more services using your school district to pilot universal basic services!

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How come Pornstars don't teach Master Classes? So the average joe or joness can improve relationships and get better orgasms. Who would be better than pornstars?

First, I think something like this does exist. I've heard ads for a service that sounded similar to this this on the Savage Love podcast.

Second, anyone interested in this topic should check out a new docu series on Nebula called Goonworld.

In Goonworld, video essayist FD Signifier explores America's simultaneous obsession with both enjoying and punishing pornography, sex workers, and the performance of sex.

It's on episode two, and it's very good.

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Mini, spoiler free review of *Dungeon Crawler Carl*, by Matt Dinniman

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I totally hear you. But the reason I disagree is that I think writers have a choice in how a death is supposed to strike the audience, and Dinniman is like a D&D GM who acts a lot tougher than he is.

George R.R. Martin is the real deal: he's a ruthless writer of huge stakes: Ned Stark's death is designed to be as distressing as possible. It's intended to leave the reader with the devestated feeling that the world is highly unjust; that the more honorable the character, the more danger they're in; that the reader should be in a constant state of concern that the characters they care about could at any moment not only die, but -- more importantly for fiction imo -- be rendered meaningless. He is disgraced in death, and it's deeply painful for the reader.

Conversely, Matt Dinniman is, imo, basically a softy. When good characters die, they leave a mark. Their friends mourn; they are honored and avenged; their lives leave indelible marks on the trajectory of the story. It's sad, but it's very sweet sorrow.

That might change in the later books, but so far, Dinniman has been very gentle on readers when it counts.

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Mini, spoiler free review of *Dungeon Crawler Carl*, by Matt Dinniman

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The cat goes in to the dungeon with him and is gifted with sentience immediately, becoming the protagonist's sassy partner. It's cheesey fun.

As others have pointed out, the book has a lot of over the top violence and death, so you might want to stay away. On the other hand, though, the author is far more into gore and comic book ultra violence than cruelty. Many people find Princess Donut -- the cat annoying -- but by book five no great harm has befallen her or any of the other protagonists.

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BREAKING: Israeli authorities have beaten Greta Thunberg, made her kiss Zionist flag

While I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's amazing how self-destructive this is. Greta is an internationally famous activist. Flagrantly violating and abusing a person with world renown - along with dozens of other activists - is a radically stupid way to hasten international isolation.

It is well known by most in Israel that the country simply cannot function in isolation. It will lead to collapse. In this, they are giving the flotilla far more power to eventually overthrow the ruling regime.

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Leaked Microsoft memo tells managers not to use budget cuts as an explainer for lack of pay rises: ‘Reinforce that every year offers unique opportunity for impact’

This is so backwards. I had to read this a few times to try to make sense of the memo. Apparently, the reasoning is that instead of telling employees that they didn't get a raise because of company-wide cuts, try to convince them that they just did a bad job?

That's stupid. That would obviously have the opposite effect of softening the disappointment. Whoever wrote this memo is an idiot who has no idea what employees do or what they think.

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Alarm as Pentagon Confirms Deployment of US Troops to Israel

There is a lot about this that is nuts, but one thing that really jumps out at me.

It seems like Netanyahu is planning an October surprise to shank Harris. And it seems like he is doing it in broad daylight. It certainly seems like a massive offensive strike on Iran one or two weeks before the election is a straightforward way to throw a close election to Trump.

But with this I have to ask: are Biden and Harris assisting with a plan that is clearly intended to cost Harris the election?

I want to say that they surely must've told Israel not to launch anything before election day. But based in their actions so far, it doesn't seem like they're imposing a "no election interference against us personally" requirement as a condition of their assistance.

I guess we'll see.

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Americans, what's the plan if Trump wins the election in November? (serious)

I'm shocked more people aren't already better prepared for this, but it's actually the same thing we should be doing now, and continue to do if Biden actually wins:

Organize locally. Get hyperlocal. Organize your city, neighbors, block, building, workplace, and friend group. Establish mutual aid networks, take back city councils, county boards, and school boards from the stewards of landlords and big employers.

Establish protection for those who need it, and plant the crop of future national leaders who will do the long overdue work of putting government to work for the masses. Make it harder for any president or governor to exercise state violence by getting our people in prosecutors offices and judgeships.

The Democrats are not going to save us. Biden is just planning to go down with the ship. Absolutely vote for the lesser of two evils if you live somewhere where your vote matters, but recognize that the Democratic party is not an ally to the antifascist movement, because combating fascism conflicts with the interests of capital.

That can change, but until it does, don't put faith in them. Anything positive they do will be because power-players were replaced. And that starts in your own neighborhood.

Edit: Since this has been well received, I want to say a quick word on third parties: don't be afraid of them.

Without getting into a lot of details, there are a lot of myths about the risks that third parties present, but before we parrot all of that, we should just acknowledge that there is no harm in listening to their platforms. It doesn't make you a kook to hear ideas that often get suppressed by the mainstream, or to use third parties as a way to network and meet people. I think Jill Stein has a lot of useful things to say, and if a pollster asks me, I will gladly try to bump her numbers up so that she is harder to ignore. Don't be afraid to do that.

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It’s official: The era of China’s global dominance is over

The phrase "it's official" sits right alongside "literally" for most frequently misused statements.

I was wondering if the article was about a credit rating change or something, but I'm halfway through and there is no specific event mentioned. Just generalized analysis and forecasting.

Ugh, learn to data. Maybe the analysis is spot on, but "trust me bro" is not a valid citation.