Hayden K. Smith

@CassieJHill @greggnunziata If the insurance companies weren’t profitable they wouldn’t be in business. Next you’ll be saying that because food and shelter are basic rights Farmers and Home Builders shouldn’t profit off their lines of work either.

@greggnunziata jfc that's not what people are asking for. They just don't want to face things like watching their child die because needed care was denied for profit.

Not my main beat, but people seem unable to grasp that every healthcare system necessarily rations care in some way. Could be the government, could be markets, could be insurers. But there's no system where everyone gets all the care they'd like, at any price, immediately.

@History__Speaks What year did your friend leave Volnovakha?

They don't want to be part of Russia. Have you met a Russian-speaker from one of these oblasts? A close friend of mine is a native-Russian speaker from Volnovakha (a city razed by the Russians). Her views are very similar to other Ukrainians. She was also literally making a living teaching Russian, which is a hilarious debunk of the propaganda. Crimea is a different kettle of fish, I'm not talking about Crimea though.

@History__Speaks @UkrainianAna 1. Volnovakha has been completely rebuilt. 2. The Russian language suppression only really began to go into force in 2019 with gradually increasing enforcement thereafter. I mean the laws are on the books for you to read.

One of my friends - who is now a refugee in America, but is from Volnovakha, Ukraine - is, like @UkrainianAna an Eastern Ukrainian & native Russian speaker. She despises the Putin regime - which razed her hometown - as does everyone she knows. She wasn't prevented from speaking Russian. She made a living as a teacher of the Russian language, for god's sake. That's how I met her. (Never did learn Russian sadly: still living with English, Arabic, and German.)

@Nero More of a scotch guy myself.

Rate this bourbon collection

you don’t fix the declining birth rate with subsidies or financial incentives. the “kids are too expensive” argument is a convenient cope. people claiming they can’t afford children are usually rationalizing deeper issues: they just don’t want them. having children is as expensive as you choose to make it, and for all of human history, people with far fewer resources managed to raise families. the problem isn’t financial; it’s cultural. we live in a society that has systematically psyopped and brainwashed people into believing children are a burden, not a blessing. women are told that motherhood is a sacrifice and a hindrance to their career, as if chasing corporate promotions or vanity metrics is more meaningful than creating life. men are infantilized and taught to fear responsibility. worst of all, we’ve cultivated a nihilistic worldview that makes people see no point in building a future. the solution starts with changing the culture. we need to instill pride in people: pride in their ancestry, their legacy, and the future they could create. optimism about what’s to come has to replace the relentless doomscrolling of modernity. kids aren’t just an "expense"; they’re the greatest investment a human can make, and we need to start celebrating that. in the short term, the most realistic strategy is doubling down on those who already value family. focus on motivating families with 2-3 kids to have one or two more. it's much easier to expand a family than to convince couples to start from scratch when they've been ideologically poisoned against the idea. finally, we need to stop glorifying the miserable, atomized single life and the media narratives that turn parenthood into a joke or tragedy. yes, parenting is hard, but everything worth doing is. the joy and purpose it gives far outweigh the sacrifices. once we get that cultural shift rolling, the financial complaints will fade away like the convenient excuses they always were

@HarmlessYardDog @Christenfuchs I mean there’s really not much Iran and Russia can do when the Syrian Army refuses to fight. I would have thought Russia would want to hang onto the Syrian coastal region though. Not sure why they’d abandon Latakia at this point.

@Christenfuchs Looks like he’s being abandoned by his allies.

Well Lads, that’s a sign.

@UpdatingOnRome The original one was overrated to begin with.

In this week’s video I discuss why Gladiator II is NOT good. The odd character decisions and why it fails to capture even a small bit of the soul of the original.

@Hcp1Hcp @esaagar Very overrated imo. Sorry.

@esaagar Grave of the Fireflies

What are some good Japanese films (with subtitles) on WW2? I watched Emperors Longest Day and it was ok. But others in that vein

@richardbranson Russia voted for Independence im 1991 also. Voting to leave the USSR does not mean they were voting for a break in relations to the of former Soviet republics

This week in 1991 - 33 years ago - Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly (92%) for their independence. In the Donbass region, the pro-independence vote was 85%. Even in Crimea it was 54%. Overall turnout was 84%. That day, Ukrainians chose to be sovereign and shape their own future.

@WarMonitors Yes.

Do you support Syrian president Bashar Al Assad?

@9mmsmg Escape from new york is very overrated

As much as I hate Hollywood, it's hard to find anyone with more GREAT movies than Kurt Russell. I can't think of a single actor with a better movie collection.

Well, as some of you have seen, @YouTube removed my latest episode with @scotthortonshow They claim that we “violated community standards” whatever the hell that means. We’re looking into it to see what can be done. The episode will be posted here on X today. Isn’t it something that greatest peace advocate in the country gets censored and the war hawks never do, even though they are literally advocating violence and it’s always based on lies? I bet no one can find one factual inaccuracy in that episode or in Scott’s phenomenal new book.

@ComicDaveSmith @YouTube @scotthortonshow Only inaccuracy i heard was that Putin fields a “conscript army”. Not entirely accurate. Also don’t know why that alone is some big moral stain.

Can we get an update on Florida, @NateSilver538?

@Cernovich Birthrates in the US had already been sub-replacement before the rise of dating apps and at home gambling. Agree about the extended adolescence being a major problem though.

Americans aren’t having kids because they are living in extended adolescence, made possible by capitalism, and enabled by at home gambling, entertainment, and dating apps. Along with lying to women re: fertility decline. Like Cindi sang, Girls (and guys) wanna have fun.

@Cernovich Recipe for stock market collapse as US goes into immediate population decline with home values and real estate plummeting. Yay we get cheaper housing I guess…

Truth is I don’t want any immigration. Especially not from Europe. Or Canada. We don’t need cucky meddlers. Afrikaners from South Africa are brilliant farmers tho. There is a case for allowing them in. Otherwise, nah, we can chill for a while.

@elonmusk @ArmchairW Glad its restored but lets be honest its not even in the top five French Gothic Cathedrals.

Notre-Dame has been restored! x.com/tvlofficiel/st…