Spyke

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Flag flown upside down as sign of distress outside of US State Department building today

It's funny to think that any of these comments are relevant. Are you new to the internet maybe?. The best I can do is hope to influence. The best an American can do is contact people already working to correct this and ask them what needs doing. This leads me to wonder how all the Americans are posting in this thread, being that they are all so exhausted. Why not go to sleep? Then wake up later and get in touch and involved.

It's almost like Americans are here trying to convince themselves there is nothing they can do.

How brave of you. What a testament to your freedoms. What a fine demonstration of what it truly means to be American: A blame shifting, feckless inheritor of a once great country. All hype. No substance, apart from the folds of blubber around their mid sections. What a legacy. All your talk of freedom backed by nothing. FREEDOM!

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Trump official declaring ‘anyone who preaches hate for America’ will be deported worries users: ‘They just skip the First Amendment’

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As we all know, a person defines themselves through their actions. So does a country.

Imho, saying Trump(ism) isn't America is like people who do evil, but still think they are good people. Admitting you have a problem is the first step in getting better. You need to hate what America has become. Shifting the blame to the current administration just lets people feel good about themselves. They shouldn't. There is work to do.

The second step is meeting up with others in your community already working to fix it.

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Flag flown upside down as sign of distress outside of US State Department building today

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You did choose this through decades of inaction, apathy, laziness, fecklessness. The world kept telling you that something was wrong in your "democracy" and the canned response was, "Haha, not in America - land of the free, home of the brave!" Then one day, with your rights stripped away you all finally say, "Not my fault!" It was, it is, and it will be solely Americans fault. And the longer it takes you to own it and fix-your-shit the more costly it's going to be. As always. Imagine how much easier it would have been had you just mass protested after Citizen's United, for example.

No one is coming to save you. The people who have been standing up to fix it couldn't motivate the rest of you to get off the couch. My suggestion is to stop parroting excuses like, "We are too exhausted to do it", and do it. Look to history for examples on how, and for what real exhaustion looks like. The first steps are usually meeting with organizations already doing something and ask what you need to do.

"But I'll lose my job!" If 50% of the country loses there job then there will be a lot of job opportunities. "But my family!" Ok, then sit there and let your fear keep you from action. Keep waiting for someone to save you. Watch how bad it gets as Americas military falls under the control of a facist regime. Watch as your educational system becomes even more of an indoctrination engine. I wonder which, if any, heinous act by your government finally motivates you enough. The kids-in-cages wasn't enough, I wonder what could be? Possibly nothing.

"Home of the brave". Fucking ha ha ha. "Land of the free". Sure. I have no sympathy for people just waking up now. Where the fuck have you been?

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Huge crowds gather in 'Hands Off' rallies nationwide in protest of Trump administration

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The protests matter.

History shows us how and why. It also shows us that thinking they don't matter is pretty common. If even 10% of Americans showed up to protest you would see instant, dramatic changes the next day. And it tends to snowball. Americans are not as powerless between elections as they have convinced themselves they are.

I think that deep down they know all this, but it's easier to claim it won't matter.

To better protect myself from cognitive biases I try to put my faith in the consensus of the experts. Otherwise we all just waste time cycling through old, ego-fueled debates that have been fully explored before we were even born.

In the case of protesting: the overwhelming consensus is that protests matter. If you don't have the time/inclanation to defend a disertation as to why they don't: you should listen to those that have. Unfortunately the experts don't have the resources to play whack-a-mole with every objection any person can claim on any platform. If you want that you need to go to school. Until then trust and protest. The longer you wait the harder it will be.

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Canada’s health care crunch has become ‘horrific and inhumane,’ doctors warn

Government needs to leverage mobile technology better so people can wait somewhere besides a fucking waiting room. I wouldn't give a shit if I had to wait 20 hours if I could wait at my house.

Also, the whole idea that I either wait 3 weeks to see a doctor or go to the emergency room is ridiculous. There needs to be a step in between.

Also, People need to fucking chill and stop expecting health care at fast food speed.

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Do i need to install a driver?

Don't let the Pigeon drive the fucking bus.

I know you've read the warning thousands of times, but the Pigeon could have a mouse, and he is sneaky as fuck, so... you know what? Fuck this shit man. I'm not being paid to be some bus station security guard. Fuck you bus driver man. Hey Pigeon, I say you should live your dream. I'm not stopping you. Go drive the fuck out of that bus. Some rando bus driver telling my kid to do his job for him? Fuck that. Don't let people take advantage of you - that's what we should be telling our kids. This world is going to hell.

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Switzerland to host Ukraine peace summit at Zelenskyy's request

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Ukraine should do what they want and what's best for them. The rest of us should fully support Ukraine. Their lives are worth more than our guns. For as long as their government can field troops we make sure they are equipped and trained. It's supremely arrogant of us to suggest how these people should or shouldn't conduct any peace agreement with Russia outside their request for our thoughts. They will run out of soldiers long before we run out of guns.

But...

The rest of us should continue to isolate Russia. Not a single sanction is lifted, and we continue to isolate them harshly, even after they claim peace with Ukraine. More sanctions. More restrictions. No invitations to world events. More seizure of Russian assets. Entire sections/ministries of our governments created to deal with Russia and their ilk. More security against Russian actions and their corrupting money in other countries. Russia is a cancer that works against us all, we need to treat it as such. Even when Putin is dead in his bunker from old age we show no mercy for the kleptocracy Russia is. No easement without Russia peacefully returning all occupied land to Georgia (in Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Moldova (in Transnistria), and Ukraine (in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia) AND full, transparent, overseen democratic election process, and then very very slowly. We relentlessly isolate them more and more.

Countries are like organic cells. We need to isolate and starve the bad cells or else they infect those around them.

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Dune or Hyperion

Dune, but both are excellent.

Here are some of my subjective rankings:

Foundation is the front runner of "Epic" sci-fi, by far. It's relatively easy to follow. Some of the individual stories are memorable, and a few are less memorable when compared to the others. Foundation is my favourite sci-fi series of all time.

Dune is epic when compared to any series apart from Foundation. The earlier books are more memorable, but the later books are still excellent. I prefer the more nuanced political plots in Dune compared to Foundation.

Hyperion is more about some top-tier stories that spill over in to epicness. Some of these stories are more memorable to me than the individual stories in Foundation and Dune. Political intrigue is developed later and isn't as central to the overall plots.

Whichever you pick you win.