I used to tell my friends to vote. I would never tell them who to vote for, and I wouldn’t harangue them. Basically, I would say that voting is useless at worst, and might move some needle at best, so why not just do it? I kind of still feel the same way, but I also am so disgusted with this bullshit right now, that I’m not telling anyone to vote. I actually apologized to a friend recently, for all the times I argued with him about voting.

All of them.

I blame tankies for tanking Biden’s confidence. If we had all just united and pledged to vote for him super hard, he could have capitalized on our combined psychic energy, and done a hadouken on Trump.

You ever hate the left so much you fuck a dog?

Your credit will eventually recover, and you already have a house!

How is it deflecting when you call me a “white savior” for having an outsider opinion about this genocide, if I hold your opinion to the same standard? Have you considered that the rank and file of Hamas live in Palestine? The ones that are fighting and dying? That they themselves are the children and orphans of Palestine?

I’m am sure that there is a variety of opinions among the Palestinian people, just as there are among the Israelis and Americans. I am aware of the limitations of my own perspective, but all I can do is apply my knowledge and principles to the situation as I see it. You’re doing the same, and I don’t really see any point in continuing this conversation. Take that as you will.

Oh shit. Do you live Palestine?

You talk of lust, but it seems like you have a fetish for the genocide of Palestinians.

Ah, now I see who you are. You embody the liberal ideal that dying nonviolently is nobler than violent resistance. So useful to have “military capacity” and not use it while your people are slaughtered and yours lands stolen, eh?

So that’s a no then? I thought you said that armed resistance to Israeli violence was the job of the PLO. Now you dodge and call it bloodlust to understand the impulse to resist occupation.

Is the PLO offering any armed resistance to the genocide occurring right now? Does it offer any armed resistance to Israeli occupation generally? I cannot find any evidence that it is, but I would be happy to read anything that says otherwise.

I’m glad to hear you say that. Intend to see the Republican view be more generally carceral. I think your ideas are fine, and in fact there’s a lot of basically that happening around the state. Ever since the pandemic, California has been converting hotels (along with some new construction) to ‘transitional’ housing. Part of this program is working with counselors and DHHS to help people with some of their underlying needs. I think this is pretty good, but needs a lot more funding, especially for the supportive services.

Unfortunately, homelessness is a huge and growing issue both inside and outside of California. There are a lot of systemic issues that contribute to the cycle of addiction and childhood trauma which I believe are at the heart of most of it. Add in poor job prospects and high cost of living (especially housing), and we have a ton of work to do to reverse this trend.

Hamas and the variety of militias comprise the Palestinian armed resistance to Israeli occupation. They are made up mostly of orphans. They are not “the big bad”, they are Palestinians. I’m not going to justify everything they do, but neither will I condemn them. What is Palestine’s alternative?

I’m not saying they are all “just as bad” as one another. I’m trying to move us beyond the word “terrorism”. IDF is worse than Hamas because of the context. IDF is an occupying force.

The CIA is often in charge of designating drone targets.

Not everyone who is targeted is an “insurgent commander”

Even “insurgent commanders” have families who might not have much choice about their proximity.

US military prisons like Abu Ghraib and Gitmo were famously filled with victims of grudges and bounties. Basically the US pays informants for targets, and informants just point at whoever they want. Military “intelligence” has a lot of holes in it to rely on it as an authority on who lives or dies-- and that’s before we even get into “collateral”.

Speaking of “collateral”, yes that is a weasel word, much like “terrorist”. Don’t allow the perpetrator to define the terms for you. If there was one US general in the twin towers, would that have made the other 3k victims “collateral damage”?

I agree that the California liberal establishment is not tackling the serious issues we have here, particularly with housing, but what kind of “forced intervention” are you hoping for from Republicans?

This right here is what keeps me from charging for Jellyfin access.

You’re here. You made it. That’s all it takes for your life to have as much value as anyone else’s. Plenty of people have children in less than ideal circumstances. That’s their own lives. This is yours.

Haha awesome.

When I was growing up, the only bar in town open after 2am was a gay club.