Ric

Henceforth I'm blocking all accounts that use AI to write their posts or comments for them. I don't care how 'big' they are or how many posts I'm missing. Even if I'd agree with them on something, I'm simply not interested in reading their posts if they can't be bothered to write them like the rest of us do. Whatever they're sharing, it can't really be that important. Not if they can't spend a minute or two thinking about what they want to say and then writing it. I'm here because I like to discuss various topics and read real people's opinions. I'm not here to serve in someone else's passive income scheme. These people aren't here for meaningful discussion or anything. By automating their post writing and spamming the same predictably structured nonsense, they simply use this platform so they don't have to find a real job and do something useful for society. Thinking about it, it's pretty disrespectful to the authentic, human users on the same platform. It may not be easy to block all these AI posters, but at least it'll be satisfying to know that, with each block, I'm no longer contributing to this nonsense.

Even the far left makes some good points now and then, I guess. (Though in reality criticism of American interventionism has by no means been an exclusive thing of the far left.)

So you were fighting the wrong fight for decades. Cause that's how long what you call 'cartoonish' interpretations of American interventionism have been accurate.

@lugaricano One dumb administration? I assume you were alive when Bush invaded Iraq? Or when regime change, prolonging civil war was carried out by supporting 'rebels' (read: terrorists) in Syria? If you spent decades fighting the fight you mention, you were wrong for decades.

Many of us, liberal Europeans, spent decades pushing back against the European extreme left's cartoon version of America ( it's all oil/ imperialism/getting rich at the expense of others) and then one dumb administration walks in and performs the caricature to perfection.

That's not what your defence spending is wasted on anyway. Look towards the fact that both your navy and air force have more airplanes than any other country in the world and you've got aircraft carriers touring the oceans all year long. For example. That stuff, that power projection costs money. But it has little to do with keeping Swiss bankers safe.

@RnaudBertrand Your points are valid, but as an American, I will be happy when the average citizen is not paying taxes to keep Swiss bankers safe. Trump is an abomination, but at least this unhealthy dependence might finally end. Europe is rich. Figure it out.

And it's precisely people like you - whose ideology is, unfortunately, that of the majority of European elites - who did immense, irreparable harm to Europe. It's now beyond painfully obvious that if Europe had at least applied basic common-sense precautionary principles and told itself that maybe, just maybe, it was insanely dangerous to bet the prosperity and security of 450 million Europeans on the assumption that the most aggressive, interventionist power in modern history would forever make an exception for Europe - we might still have some sovereignty left. This isn't an "extreme left" vs others thing (and the fact you think it is shows you still don't get it at all), it's just a logic vs dumb thing: how can you observe a country systematically destroying anyone who gets in its way over decades and conclude "yes, let's make ourselves entirely dependent on these people, what could possibly go wrong?" That's not liberal sophistication. That's the dumbest bet in the history of geopolitics.

@RnaudBertrand Yep. At least those in power in European capitals are finally waking up now, I guess. With Germany, the UK and France doing their best not to repeat the mistakes of the early 2000's. Better late than never, I suppose.

Twitter needs a setting where you can auto-block people who block you. It’s weird to scroll the timeline and find out a random account you’ve never interacted with has blocked you. Almost feels emasculating. We need blocking reciprocity. The haters deserve payback.

@WhiteHouse @POTUS

@JefferyThomas @hollywoodscifi @StarTrek "We don't get a lot of good sci-fi and even less StarTrek shows" And we shouldn't, if this is what we're getting. Better no ST than very bad ST. Oh, and if having some standards and not mindlessly consuming stuff because CBS stamped 'ST' on it makes me toxic, then so be it.

I signed. I liked the show. It wasn't even close to perfect, and had some truely terrible moments, but we don't get a lot of good sci-fi and even less @StarTrek shows. For a clumsy 10 episodes it has potential to tell good stories which is all any of us want. The "post burn" setting sets up to ask "what is Starfleet supposed to be" in a time when many are asking the same question about America. This is similar to the TOS as it was a commentary on much of what was going on in 1966. The character of Sam has potential to be incredibly interesting in the same way that Spock and Data were interesting. That being said the feckless, toxic fanboys who seem to object to it seem to be oblivious to the fact that NOBODY is forcing them to watch - and some of them are REALLY more upset than they need to be about the "Klingon in a dress". (Now a few dozen incels and frustrated fools will tell me how wrong I am. Some will even call me names🤣)

Did you, or would you sign?

@808_38hz @MaMoMVPY Maybe, but that will obviously only remain true for as long as Lars's predictions don't come true. Things lose their value pretty quickly if we stop valuing them.

@MaMoMVPY In fairness, you don’t hold Treasuries for friendship, you hold them on the merits of the investment. US treasuries have been some of the best sovereign investments for decades, relative to peers.

Maybe it is time to once again remind everybody that running a global reserve currency necessitates that you have a lot of wealthy ALLIES willing to hold your Treasury bonds and your currency. If you piss off your allies they will not in the long run hold on to these assets and you will have to pay a lot more to fund your enormous public debt.

@Apparatchik_1 Wim stond duidelijk niet vooraan bij het uitdelen van de peertjes.

ik ga denk ik gewoon ultra lib worden want ik trek dit niet meer

@FreeManDespair This has nothing to do with our defence. Fight your own wars.

It's very simple really: The United States which bankrolled European security since 1945 discovered that the chief beneficiaries of the arrangement behave like hostile powers when America is in a conflict partially to defend them too.

Let me get this straight: You are locked in a war on the other side of the globe, completely dependent on European infrastructure literaly begging for us to join and you feel like flexing against a continent of several former empires with unmatched history of warfare is good, because former commie empire is digged in 2nd world country for 4 years unable to even stop the destruction of its own oil infrastructure. Buddy, you are not gonna believe that, but Germany stopping being gay, green and woke is not bad for us, but for you. Your entire world dominance stands on a deal that Europe will not militarise and will follow your lead.

@curtdoolittle 'Chinese aggression' Right, cause it's China that has been starting countless wars the past few decades.

(From Elsewhere) NO, IRAN IS PLAYING OUT JUST FINE TOO It just means we, israel, or the arab monarchies need to decapite a lot more people in the IRGC (Similar to russia and china). So, as far as I can tell things are playing out accordingly. Russia has lost. Iran, is losing and like russia will take time. The USA has control of a quarter of the world Oil supply. And it's a stranglehold on Chinese aggression. As for costs, well you, pay now or you pay later. This is the cheaper way to pay. This administration is doing more in one year to reorder the world than we have since the fall of the Soviet Union - forcing the world to carry the costs of the postwar order of sovereignty, finance, transport, and trade if it wants to continue to benefit from it. And at the same time ending the imperial ambitions of the three hold-outs we did not defeat totally enough in the second world war, to bring about a world of sovereign nation states, federations of them - ending the age of empires. Western civ has a problem of 'not defeating an enemy completely' because of our european history of only fighting until we gain control of a territory and is resources. That only works in Europe among Europeans. Everyone else has different victory and submission conditions. Cheers

@AJENews Pyromaniac sets a house ablaze and then threatens everyone who won't run inside with him.

BREAKING: US President Donald Trump threatens to halt weapons supplies to Ukraine unless European countries agreed to join a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported.

@TheRickWilson Eww.

Donald Trump is Putin's slobbering bitch, part 9472.

Dit lijkt me wel een goed moment het te vragen: Wat is dat voor onzin dat mensen zichzelf nu 'AI astronaut' noemen?

Bruce maakt best leuke muziek, maar die politieke uitingen van hem gaan me steeds meer tegenstaan. Als multimiljonair kun je vanuit je villa van meer dan 25 miljoen ook wel heel makkelijk negeren waarom gewone mensen Trump verkozen en wilden dat er wat werd gedaan aan illegale migratie. Ook Trump doet dingen fout, steeds meer helaas de laatste tijd. Maar het is allemaal wel wat complexer dan wat een rockzanger in een microfoon erover roept. #Springsteen

@chrisklomp Ja, die ook maar niet alleen.

@progressief_lib De gevestigde kliek zoals de PVV en de VVD?

'De jongen is aanhanger van rechts-extremistisch gedachtegoed. Hij is voorstander van een rassenoorlog en een witte etnostaat'. Looking at the domrechtse partijen die dit klimaat geregeld hebben. nos.nl/artikel/260857…