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Brad's avatar

Becoming increasingly obvious that the Left is pro-censorship because it must repress reality, lest reality falsify all its claims.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

Lies literally might be the only thing holding them together.

And the lies aren't working so well lately.

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Rather Curmudgeonly's avatar

It neatly ties together, the children of Goebbels calling everyone else a Nazi.

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Rokko's avatar

Bingo. Klaus Schwab (WEF) actually is an old Nazi. Read a fascinating article laying it out, wish I could find the link. The same Germans who were in power with the Nazis, who didn’t get caught, just passed the torch of power to their offspring, the ideology didn’t change much. It just got whispered behind the backs of everyday citizens.

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Conservative Contrarian's avatar

I always thought it was the dry, crusty swamp scum that binds them; this includes the RINOs who wallow in and stir up the swamp scum.

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Diamond Boy's avatar

Yes uniparty is the enemy, it should not be forgotten that the republicans have been complicit.

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Danno's avatar

Complicit . . . 20 years ago the Bush/Cheney GOP were the ones leading the parade against civil rights, then Obama came in and . . . made it much, much worse.

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Diamond Boy's avatar

Bull’s-eye. The simple shorthand is uniparty.

I define the uniparty as the phenomenon of elected leaders capitulating to the managerial regime. No matter where they begin, all of them (it seems) upon entering the swamp, soon enough, learn that capitulation is profitable.

Trump really is the man for our time. And he is a specimen to behold: orange, that hair, his pissed-off wife, his quirky speech patterns, his vain glorious smirk, his genius for the bottom line.

I hold him in the greatest regard.

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Outis's avatar

Trump is a piece of work, no doubt about it.

If you had told me in the nineties that I'd wind up voting for him for president three times, I would have thought you crazy.

For all his ostensible faults and quirks, Trump seems largely alone in caring about the average citizen. Certainly the first to do so and hold that office, possibly since the flawed and oddly ineffective Carter. I voted for Obama in 2008 but NOT in 2012 despite thinking that Romney was only a less-horrible choice. I was skeptical in 2008 and I think Obama proved himself to be a fake, a hack, a sock-puppet, and an egomaniacal one at that.

I too hold Trump in great regard. An impressive man who has genuinely sacrificed -- he lost money by being president -- and literally risked his life for the opportunity to do the job and work for the American people.

Also, I reckon it's a typo but maybe you did "tell" him in the greatest regard?

:-)

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Eileen Thornton Renda's avatar

They have nothing else, SC!

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Turd_Ferguson's avatar

Has been for years. Many of us woke up to it, but sadly, millions and millions haven't come to this conclusion and still think it's the right that lies (they do, just not to the level of the pros!!).

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Kelly Green's avatar

The whole game has been how pervasively this would spread and how fast. The election showed it's far enough now, but clearly didn't happen fast enough.

One thing that reinforces it is the switching away from the MSM, though. Provably try to fool me 8 times and I'll just watch Theo Von instead of you. Now we're past the point of the MSM having much opportunity to affect the thinking of the swing voters.

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Diamond Boy's avatar

Turd, correct, the lies are the stuff of power, power dressed in ideology.

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Lindsey Michael's avatar

Glad to see someone else came out of the GL public school system not a brainwashed liberal 🙃

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Paul Harper's avatar

Illegal access to money and power are the driving forces animating this war - "left" and "right are meaningless labels meant to paper over the rape of the public purse.

All sides are stealing from the public. Period.

Update: suitcases of cash aid kickbacks https://www.reuters.com/article/markets/commodities/time-up-for-shadowy-post-colonial-francafrique-era-idUSL5E7KS7A6/

"...In return [for foreign aid] African leaders offered France loyalty, exclusive exploitation rights for firms like oil major Elf Aquitaine, since renamed Total , and generous kickbacks that financed all sides of French political life." The operative word in the France-Africa study of kickbacks is "all sides."

Sound familiar? One thing Trump and the Dems can agree on is: Ukraine's rare earths, now finally entering the discussion, - belong to Uncle Sam. Just when the Dems are talking about "protecting" democracy and Vance is talking about "protecting a free press". Surprise!

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Well, let's be truly honest and frame it correctly. The left or Democrats are fundamentally corrupt, they lie, cheat and steal, the right or Republicans are simply paid to look away and be quiet.

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Paul Harper's avatar

The notion that political affiliation is in any sense a marker of honesty or integrity is the dumbest and most dishonest claim in the free market of ideas.

That fact is especially true when assertions of integrity spill from the lips of self-described members of the "right" and "left." (I've edited my more intemperate language from this post.) Have a nice day.

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Paul Harper's avatar

Case in point: Here's Cliff May prominent conservative and founder of blah-blah grift machine on Fox bleating that only more US taxpayer money sent to Ukraine will keep America safe. Right in front of our fucking eyes - right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vELQhtHVics

CPAC is flooded this moment with America's leading right-wing grifters sucking up to Vance and Musk in the hopes of bleeding more billions from US taxpayers. And the self-described "right" sheeple will suck it all up and fork over even more tax-payer dough.

"I'm a liberal/conservative" means to me "I don't like asking difficult questions. I just trust brand X."

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badnabor's avatar

There are still "liberals" and "conservatives" in Congress, but mostly, the real divide is between globalists and nationalists and there aren't many, if any, Democrats voting against the globalists.

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Paul Harper's avatar

Agreed, you make a more useful and accurate distinction.

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Danno's avatar

Not yet, anyway. We'll see how many stay on board as the mid-terms approach.

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rob Wright's avatar

"There aren't many, if any democrats voting against the globalists". I still like Yankees versus the Wildcats.

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Starry Gordon's avatar

Globalism is a consequence of capitalism. Various kinds of tribalists, be they nationalists, racists, religious fanatics, and so on, emphasize particular differences in order to divide humans into little fighting groups and subgroups, which they can get violent control over. Capitalists don't want to fight; they want to trade and make money. Their political philosophy is liberalism, that is, the attempt to set up a system of rules in which everyone, or at least the better-off, can do whatever they want as long as they follow the rules and play the game. That sort of thing can easily be universalized. The alternative is a feudalistic war of all against all, the nationalist dead end.

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Rokko's avatar

This is the real reason.

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rob Wright's avatar

Paul. We're talking about the Yankees vs the Peoria wildcats tee ball team

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Paul Harper's avatar

If you think "conservatives" are more trustworthy than "liberals" that's your business. See my comment below. 350 billion to Ukraine to date - what percent of that got skimmed, or funneled, by self-described conservatives and members of the right. Neither side can be trusted.

"If I say I'm conservative/liberal I can be trusted (TM). (Again, I've edited this post to allow others to focus on the substance.)

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Shaun's avatar

"Neither side can be trusted."

Amen.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Putting aside the childish snark, Paul you are wrong. Which market of free ideas are you referring to? There is still a left/right construct that holds despite the betrayals of what we have come to call the Uniparty. I sense a great anger in you at the corruption that runs rampant among our political class and I share that anger. There are identifiable ideological differences between what has been traditionally referred to as left/right and/or Democrat/Republican. You can trace these differences back to the early to mid-19th century. What has changed is who belongs where and who represents them. And we are finding out very few of the elected and surely not the connected, they are too busy accumulating wealth and power while the rest of us are caught in the ideological warfare they have induced through massive propaganda. This is a much larger subject than some comment section where differences of opinion keep those ideological fault line growing.

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Paul Harper's avatar

You make some good points regarding American "leftism". Here's a good article detailing the inversion, you describe: https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/one-simple-question-for-democrats

I stand, however, on the substance of my position - the markers of "left" - "right" obscure the fundamental corruption rampant when humans and large piles of cash are involved. Matt's still trying to uncouple himself from his faith in Bernie Sanders.

Much of my own research is rooted in the years 1750-1830. Historically, both the left and right placed the individual's right to property and self-advancement at the center. You're probably familiar with the Levellers and the English religious dissidents of the 17th century.

Hume and Jonathan Edwards agreed that self-interest, irrationality, and self-deception are the norms. We end up with Mill because Mill understood that only by dispensing with labels and actually listening critically to others critique our positions can we really understand the claims we're making. So, yes - my default is to be as full of ka-ka as the next person. I've paid a substantive price for buying into my own bs and do my best to do so less frequently. I'm sure you do, too.

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Rokko's avatar

Well said. When we stop buying into our own BS, or lessen it, we can stop buying into others BS-left or right. The main problem in the world today is a refusal to see any valid points depending on what one considers themselves to be according to the line between left & right. That simple dialogue between different parties is gone, and with it the ability to see that while we differ in some areas, most of the time the gap in protecting freedoms is smaller than we realz.

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Coco McShevitz's avatar

Depends. Ol’ Mitch sure is retiring at a convenient time. And right after voting for Kash Patel too! Quite a Damascene conversion.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Mitch's vote might have been the tell-tale sign of CYA. He's likely hoping Patel will remember the vote and lay off him as he protects his ass-its and his Chinese connected wife.

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Coco McShevitz's avatar

I wonder if Trump might have told him “look motherfucker, I’ll give you one chance to slink off into the sunset without much fanfare, as long as you vote for Kash. Or enjoy the investigations, your choice.”

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Danno's avatar

Perhaps the turtle can be a state's witness.

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bhs66's avatar

Maybe at some point in the past it was about ideology, HUAC, Black Panthers, SDS, Compassionate Conservatives, etc etc. Now, to me it’s about corrupting power, who is getting paid by controlling oligarchs to control the masses by the likes of USAID/CIA, Soros, Welcome Trust, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation etc etc. Joe McCarthy or Bobby Seale never looked so good, you get my drift? Trump et al better put a huge dent in all this bullshit.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Yes, it still is among the vast majority. You can seek the ideological differences going back a long time, it's the degree among the masses that has been affected the most. We can no longer rationally discuss those differences. So, the corrupting power has a need to play those differences for their benefit which is the chaos they create hoping we don't see what they are up to and as a control mechanism. All those organizations you cite are massively ideological, that's why they need to control us. We are much smarter than they think so the totalitarian tactics are applied to keep us down and their grift undetected. That has and is changing. I agree Trump needs to shut this crap down and that starts with ending the theft and bringing indictments and jail sentences to the criminals.

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bhs66's avatar

My point Cosmo was, there used to be ideology for its own sake, good or bad. Now it’s been replaced by corrupting power as we’ve learned from many sources. The Twitter files, especially DOGE and others. So many powerful people (fill in the blanks) have lied, cheated and stolen( hard earned tax dollars). I believe underneath all the vile corruption is a bedrock called the Constitution of the United States of America. A document that doesn’t exist anywhere else. Trump et al must be excavate through all this garbage and get back to that constitution as closely as possible. Some will go to jail, most will just disappear and hopefully we get our country back eventually.

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John Kirsch's avatar

Oh, I think the Republicans are at least as corrupt as the Democrats.

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bhs66's avatar

Maybe over the long haul but no one comes close to the democrats since obozo was president.

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Rokko's avatar

Umm, that’s complete corruption, too.

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Starry Gordon's avatar

"Corruption" = the exertion of self-interest -- a basic principle of capitalism. As the saying goes "Be careful what you ask for." Virtue might be a lot worse.

"Let Government by Vice be done;

Vice hath conscience, Virtue, none."

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Rokko's avatar

Rather capitalism, where one at least has a chance to succeed, rather than socialism where the select few take complete control of the common output for their own benefit. It’s never worked once where it’s been implemented on a grand scale. It mostly leads to mass murders & demoralized populations.

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Danno's avatar

True. They've stolen billions, if not trillions of dollars from the treasury, and used some of it to censor, intimidate and prosecute anyone questioning them.

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Garrett's avatar

I now call it “before” and “after”, and not “left” or “right”, nor Republican or Democrat.

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Mike R.'s avatar

Labels? Yep. Pavlovian "ring the bell" MSM journalism for knee jerk salivation and ping pong emotionality. The obfuscating LIE by omission to placate those beaten numb by failed social and economic policy and smokescreen the criminal forced mass decent of We the People into moral, spiritual and cultural poverty. 20th Century "Ism's" are dead because the A-Bomb rattling hands in the cookie jar perps riding the DNC/EU/WEF Davos gravy train killed them. Laments that Señor Soros corrupted the American judiciary often ignores the fact that he made his bones destroying and betting against national economies. Ask the British and the Mexicans. Inflation much?

Nothing proves the observation that "talks cheap" more than a 15 minute swim in the electronic sewer flowing out of the MSM.

I see no legitimate frame of reference or engine of

survival for the American

Republic beyond the human

moral reason in our Constitution and the

determined unified will of We the People. Truth/fact based subscription journalism, RACKET being an A+ example, is empowering that reality.

(Sorry Paul--Too much Black Rifle too early.)

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JustPlainBill's avatar

As they are slowly learning, lie too often and eventually it becomes difficult to keep them all straight.

Also, we can play "pretend" and ignore the real world for just so long. At some point, failure to act in response to reality (instead of to illusion) will bring you to grief.

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DemonHunter's avatar

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Iron Mike

The plan to ignore is the easiest to shatter by a punch in the mouth.

But such plans take on overlong lifespans for lack of punchers.

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Justin's avatar

And when you want to stop "pretending" and speaking out against the government narrative is a crime.... what then? What's needed is ever-present vigilance and opposition to unconstitutional principles. Once they "win" it will take bloodshed to get our freedoms back. And sadlly, as long as people are entertained, they won't see the need to push for any changes. Maybe Noah Yuval Harari was right... just push entertainment and drugs on the masses and they'll be controllable useless eaters.

I hope that evokes a response in you.

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ResistWeMuch's avatar

democrats cannot exist in an environment of liberty including free speech. let that sink in.

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Mark Kennedy's avatar

If you're losing in the marketplace of ideas, just suppress the competition. It's the equivalent of winning a sports trophy by disqualifying all your opponents.

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Rob Bird's avatar

Actually, I think with Trump back in, they're seeing firsthand why privacy and speech protections are so important: the tools and methods developed to erode them can be used against them! (Something that so many of us have been saying for so long). Many federal employees are using Signal to speak to journalists, as one example pertinent to this article.

Another fun fact: the administration has just demanded that references to "global warming" be removed from all documents. Now, I'm always the first to say that all science is open to question (as long as you "come correct", as Omar Little would say), but politicians telling scientists what to say? Gimme a break. And such behavior will help Democrats see the importance of protected speech.

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Mike Weston's avatar

Hope so, but probably will be just a short-term thing. As long as their political opponents are in power, they'll be worried. After that, probably not, for most.

I've said what you said , over and over. In the early 2000s, to the "conservatives' [really, "authoritarian radicals" ; ) ] , & the response was "I want ALL presidents to have that power." Til 2009 that was. Then they became _CONSTITUTIONALISTS!!!!_ worried about abuse of power......until 2017, when that power was absolutely necessary.

Said the same during the Obomber years. Nope, no problem, & there was nothing to be done about it anyway. ('Cause The Great One set W's policies in stone.)

Then in 2017, it became worrying again.....til 2021.

Etc,etc,etc. +eyeroll+

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Brian Fleury's avatar

Lest reality reveals past crimes.

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Robert Hunter's avatar

Reality! Man, we can't have that; the whole fraudulent Scam which is human society would collapse overnight. Everything outside physics is a story made up for the benefit of the self serving elites.

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Gogs's avatar

Both the former government that passed the 2016 Bill and the Starmer government are right of centre - the former government being the Conservatives (Tories), so please don't be foolish enough to brand them lefties. Arguably Starmer's government is even more right-wing, though there must be handful of left-wing MPs who are finding life on the back benches (ie not in the government) very troubling right now. Both parties are authoritarian, however, so there are similarities with that aspect of communist dictatorships. The Tories certainly aren't woke, while Labour is the worst of woke nonsense, such as gender ideology, mixed in with their horrendous authoritarianism. Both parties are neoliberal and try to outdo each other in their obedience to the City and their cruelty towards working people, the disabled and unemployed, and Starmer seems to have it in for the elderly.

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Farmer Brown's avatar

Starmer's govt center-right? Patently, completely false. Even the conservatives weren't there: Their current leader (since they lost the last election) even said it herself "we talked right but we governed left". They are basically center-left Lib Dems wets.

I agree that Starmer seems to have it in for the retired.

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David  Smith's avatar

The left has lost ALL credibility and now we are seeing that the left has been a hollow creation of the CIA and FBI through USAID. Look up Operation Mockingbird and The Smith Mundt Modernization Act

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David's avatar

The battle is not right vs left, that Hegelian dialectic is the psyop of all psyops. The closer metaphor for reality is center vs periphery. It’s not about pro choice vs pro life. It’s not about woke vs non woke. It is those who are closest to the faucets of the money printers and those who are more distant. If they’re not talking about the Fed, government and corporate collusion or fractionalized reserve banking then they are trying to distract you with red herring after red herring. The sinister part is that everyone who has retirement plans needs the money printers to not stop their shenanigans if they hope to feed themselves into their 80s.

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Kelly Green's avatar

Well if by increasingly you mean that moment in the Gamecenter where it's middle fourth quarter and the win probability of the leading team goes from 99.6% to 99.7%. It's been years since the first half when the expected outcome was clear.

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JB's avatar

Europe continues to break new ground on regulation while wondering why their economy stagnates.

It’s a mystery.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

You can't say that. -- EU regulators.

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JB's avatar

Ha! And probably true!

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Marie-Louise Murville's avatar

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Good one, SimulationCommander:)

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badnabor's avatar

All seeing 👁️

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CA's avatar

I’m in Florence. Their economy now runs on gap year teenagers whose parents buy them a year of concierge travel with hotels and apartments waiting for them. The cost is a year of college. They run in packs and mostly associate with each other. No youth hostels, no ‘Europe on $5 A Day.’ But lots of Sephoras.

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DemonHunter's avatar

Fiesole is a nice place for the children to experience “the real world” and look down at the valley below… where people actually do have jobs.

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CynthiaS's avatar

Fiesole does offer beautiful views of Firenze!

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DemonHunter's avatar

If you can see through the haze. Got spoiled by one of my wife’s venders. The put us up in this hotel. It ruined us! Unbelievable luxury, service, views, food, everything.. Belmond Villa San Michele.

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CynthiaS's avatar

I took painting trips up to Fiesole - beautiful views to paint!

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CynthiaS's avatar

It’s been years since I’ve been - I stayed at Villa Corsi Salviati in Sesto Florentino in grad school while on a summer art history and watercolor painting program in 1993…many things “unspoiled” back in those days!

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Marilyn F's avatar

I assume these teenagers are Americans.

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michael888's avatar

Globalists?

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DemonHunter's avatar

Why would you make that assumption?

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CA's avatar

Many are Americans. When there is a rare day it doesn’t rain, the cargo shorts come out. And the mini skirts and tank tops with little rabbit jackets. The EU teenagers are even sloppier. I don’t give damn what they wear. But you can’t move in this city, there are thousands of them. If I were advising a college parent I’d tell their kid to choose Barcelona or Rome. And I’m Italian-American. I have family still in Posillipo.

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rod bennett's avatar

I am blown away how you all can deal with complexity at this level. Please take care!

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CA's avatar

And this is the company.

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CA's avatar

Can’t leave a photo. It’s EF Educational Tours.

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DaveL's avatar

Wonder if they censored J D Vance’s speech from the European public?

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Justin's avatar

It may very well be illegal to watch it or share it! Think about that!

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Conservative Contrarian's avatar

It's no mystery, it's a well thought out, very clever defensive strategy. European leaders know Putin has his eye on their countries. That's why they intentionally deconstructed their countries and their militaries. They have trashed their countries and populated them with millions of people with third world qualities. They cleverly created a Europe Putin would never want to invade.

Brilliant strategy!

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Billy Bob's avatar

Please…Russia has plenty of land and resources. They have no need for additional European land or resources or the headache of managing the morons in charge of them.

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DaveL's avatar

That's the myth: Russia is looking for Lebensraum, just like Hitler. We have had this crap repeated to us by our CIA and Press (one in the same, it appears) as long as I have been alive.

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Roger Kimber, MD's avatar

I don’t think so.

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Billy Bob's avatar

Yep me too. I arrived on the planet in 1953 so the dye was already cast with various projects in the works to combine the world into one big blob. It took years of independent study and research to undo the “learning” of human history as taught in educational institutions and to understand the why.

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Demeisen's avatar

That's funny. And maybe even a bit true. Block housing full of low class Muslims probably isn't too economically attractive. Russia already has chechens to worry about.

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DemonHunter's avatar

actually did chuckle out loud!

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CA's avatar

Mostly, but I saw big groups of French teenagers too. Their handler was kind enough to let me skip the line to the boarding pass area.

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FatherOBlivion's avatar

Excellent write-up. Thanks for highlighting this important topic!

Regardless of what one may think of Apple's products, as a company, they are excellent when it comes to privacy and security. End to end encryption which even Apple doesn't have a key for is the only way security can actually be maintained. By demanding a "back door" for gov't spooks, they are mandating Apple break security for every one of their users worldwide.

This should be a bipartisan issue. If the UK doesn't relent, I would actually expect Apple to pull out of the UK. It's either that or break encryption and endanger their customers worldwide.

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CA's avatar

The us wants it so they can get the info from the Brits without having draconian laws.

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DaveL's avatar

No one else makes a phone I can slip into my pocket.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Yes, they do, broaden your search a little.

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Shaun's avatar

" If the UK doesn't relent, I would actually expect Apple to pull out of the UK. It's either that or break encryption and endanger their customers worldwide."

They should absolutely just tell the UK to eff themselves- a bit of business lost for a little while until the brit populace finally decides to get rid of their bullshite government...

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FatherOBlivion's avatar

That's disappointing. Especially for UK users. At least it's not breaking security for the iPhone OS itself.

Terrible, but it doesn't directly impact users outside the UK. Just don't expect any privacy when communicating with a UK resident.

I'm not a UK resident (fortunately), and what I find most offensive about these UK (and EU) bureaucrats is their attempt at forcing their nonsense on the rest of the world. Even more than they already are (see Euro 5, USB-C mandates, etc etc)

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Yuri Bezmenov's avatar

The snoopers charter sounds like the patriot act. Glad telling the Brits to pound sand is still a bipartisan American tradition. Woke 007: oí mate - Do you have a permit for those memes on your phone?

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SimulationCommander's avatar

I want to know if they originally put it in place at "our" behest. It sounds EXACTLY like what the blob does.

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badnabor's avatar

The 5 eyes supposedly share, at least when it's mutually beneficial and in furtherance of the NWO.

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Bull Hubbard's avatar

"5 eyes" always makes me think of science fiction monsters.

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CA's avatar

Yes. We get info from them.

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Justin's avatar

If you watch some of Rob Braxman's more recent youtube videos (The Privacy Guy), he explains that there are now "agents" (client-side scanning) that run on your phones able to search what you type, visit or save, and report back what you do. Microsoft co-pilot will save screenshots ever few seconds "supposedly for training it's AI" (and being more useful as an assistant), but lets be honest - who doesn't think that this is going to be too rich of a supply of personal, private or intimate data to be broken into and stolen? How would you like your password to be stashed as a matter of normal business? Or the end-to-end encryption being bypassed because it snatches your info before it gets encrypted by the app?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bPJzLXdEcA

An apostle within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints warned the youth (and others) about the perils of AI in that we can soon learn to rely on it, rather than the spirit of God to guide us, and to avoid the establishment of improper relationships and comfort with an algorithm that is made to please us and cater to our whims, attention and affection.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/broadcasts/worldwide-devotional-for-young-adults/2024/11/13bednar?lang=eng

Indeed, the soul of man is a prize in the battle of good vs. evil. Who we succumb to will show our allegiances. Remember our divine identities as children of a loving God - our Father in Heaven, and seek Him out as a trustworthy source of love, truth and knowledge (light) and who seeks for our happiness and eternal progression without compromising our eternal worth through endless pursuits of distractions away from His loving influence.

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CynthiaS's avatar

Braxman is excellent!

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Sera's avatar

Wow. That was the first time I saw: “Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard”. She did it. Now, if she’s being followed by sky marshal goons, she can just turn around and say: “You’re fired!”

After decades’ making fun of Donald Trump I started rooting for him when he nominated Tulsi, Jay Batacharya, and RFK jr.

Now they’re all in, and combined with the weirdly sane overtures Trump is making towards peace, things actually feel different. This is certainly one I couldn’t have written ten years ago.

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Mr. Bob's avatar

Say what you will about Wyden, but he's been one of the few politicians to consistently defend digital privacy and civil liberties, even when it was unpopular.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

He even gave me some hope he'd vote yes to Tulsi Gabbard when he was questioning her about privacy concerns. I should have known better.

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Glitterpuppy's avatar

You did know better. You just had a tinge of compassion for the Lost on the left. Don’t let it happen again…

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DaveL's avatar

The Party probably told him to vote no.

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David Cashion's avatar

That line of questioning of her by him didn't make sense to me, until now.

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rtj's avatar

I would have agreed with you. But he let a lot of Biden administration stuff slide - i'm pretty sure he was on the disinfo wagon. I also distinctly remember wondering why i heard crickets from Wyden, Sanders, and Barbara Lee on something. So it was probably some military voodoo stuff Biden was pulling. Wish i could remember.

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DC Goodman's avatar

politely tell the brits to pound sand. My data, your data and any American's data is not available to foreign regimes.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

But then how will OUR regime get their hands on it? 😟

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Justin's avatar

You DO realize that any surveillance laws that stand in the way of domestic spy agencies are easily circumvented by partners in the UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand? (The Five Eyes coalition). They can snoop and sniff, hack and crack with the tacit acceptance and approval of US intelligence agencies. And vice-versa. And wouldn't you know it? They share a LOT of stuff with each other.

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Demeisen's avatar

Kind of like extraordinary rendition of your data...

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DemonHunter's avatar

Sadly, we will need to discover ways to deal with the fact that data can never be secure.

Maybe we start buying typewriters again?

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Vet nor's avatar

Homing pigeons

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Shaun's avatar

Soup cans and string...

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michael888's avatar

I remember not so long ago my printer quit working after a Windows update. I use a scanner for small things I find beach combing a lot. My friends thought I lost my printer driver, so I tried getting one from a company with drivers in its name (just another antiviral company that still pops up a year and a half later). Finally talked to some young person who told me all printers in the US nowadays require Internet access. Wonder why?

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T_rad's avatar

Holy fuckballs. I just got myself trapped in arguing on the arstechnica forums about government censorship and wow the Left, of which I used to be a part, has utterly lost it. They're arguing for hate speech laws amongst other fooloshness. When I say a German man was raised by police for calling their government official am idiot they say I'm a right winger. Fuck man this is getting bad. For the record I DON'T think Trump should have the power to go after social media companies for political reasons. NO executive should. I was simply trying to tell them that this has been going on since 2016 and all they can say is, "Trump man bad" I know I know it's totally wasted and there's no point in trying to rage about any opinions online, but they got me this time.

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Sumtingwong's avatar

Amazing free speech is a partisan issue at all, we all used to agree on this one...

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Glitterpuppy's avatar

It’s tough to engage in an argument with a raving lunatic. I know where you’re coming from.

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Rather Curmudgeonly's avatar

"using “general” warrants"

The general warrant was one of the reasons we told Britain to fuck off almost 250 years ago. I see no reason for us to modify that stance.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

I wrote a little bit about this last week, and the whole thing blew me away. I think Apple should tell the UK to take a hike and just leave, but that's easy for me to say - it's not my company.

It's deeply ironic that this request appears to break the law - what is a company supposed to do when laws conflict?

"The use of the IPA’s notice regime to undermine encryption technology around the world would also create serious conflicts with foreign law. For example, Article 32 of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation ('GDPR') imposes a positive obligation on companies to implement technical and organisational measures to protect the privacy of their users’ personal data. Recital 83 of the GDPR highlights that encryption is one means by which a company can meet its Article 32 obligations. Seeking to secretly force companies to install backdoors in end-to-end encrypted technologies in order to comply with UK law for persons not subject to any lawful process would violate that obligation."

https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/uk-government-not-your-cloud-not if you're interested in a little more about the issue

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Lawyers Guns & Money's avatar

After his friend Tim Apple attended the inauguration, the least Trump can do is tell that Max-Headroom-if-he-was-a-total-dork Keir Starmer to fuck off.

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Demeisen's avatar

Treat him like zelenskyy... "Look cosplayer, STFD and STFU. When we want your opinion, we'll give it to you."

Note I'm not saying to be rude to real leaders of conscience, but these are the usual globalist trash and *******.

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rtj's avatar

"I think Apple should tell the UK to take a hike and just leave..."

If they tried that in the US...I don't have an iPhone but i have an iMac and you can pry it out of my cold dead hands. If Apple told the UK to take a hike, do you think the UK government would have a lot of happy citizen campers?

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SimulationCommander's avatar

I sure hope not.......

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rtj's avatar

I'd suspect that they wouldn't.

I've read and watched far too many British spy books and films in my life. I found a new series - Slow Horses with Gary Oldman. Have only seen the first season, best thing i've seen in years. If the intelligence services are genuinely as big of a bunch of fuckups as the show makes them out to be, it really doesn't bode well for them. (oh, it's on Apple +, which i suppose i should get a free week's subscription and binge the next 3 series.)

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Pat Robinson's avatar

Great series

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Marie Silvani's avatar

Favorite..recommend watching

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Tardigrade's avatar

Slow Horses is excellent — I've watched the whole thing twice. Apple TV's own-produced series are among the best.

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Garrett Phillips's avatar

The buried lede here is that black guys watch soccer.

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Lawyers Guns & Money's avatar

Some even play.

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CA's avatar

Like, many.

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Demeisen's avatar

There are too many jokes here to make, and most will make me needless enemies among the bunched undies crowd.

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Jake's avatar

Mark Warner is a piiiieeece of shhiiiiit. Trust me, I live in that cunt’s state. The rich white women and rich beta male wives of these rich women in Northern Va in the population center keep electing this dick-nosed, bafflingly vapid knob. MVGA. 😂

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Glitterpuppy's avatar

I blow arteries in my head just looking at that guy. He truly is a low life

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Jake's avatar

There are worse states than VA by far. But we can do so much better than this sniveling weenie. You’re not in VA, are you?

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TeeJae's avatar

I am, and I agree 100%. Hopefully, we can unseat him next year. I tried to get Kaine out last November, as well, obviously to no avail.

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Jake's avatar

Oh God, Kaine is worse. His questioning of prospective appointees with that drunk’s red nose, beady, jaundiced eyes, and that fucking Clockwork Orange clown hair, spewing vile, easily falsifiable gibberish made me want to drag his ass behind a horse until there’s nothing left but the goddamned frayed rope.

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Bill Lacey's avatar

Oh my. I won't sleep tonight. I have an entire rap album of soccer songs sitting in the cloud waiting for public release. I'm so screwed.

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The Welsh Rabbit's avatar

Hate to nitpick but the San Bernardino shooters were a married man and woman.

I mean…she looked like a dude but was supposedly a lady.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

It was also a county-owned phone, IIRC. (He was an employee)

Employers having 'back doors' into phones they own is one thing....the FBI demanding a backdoor into EVERY device is a whole different animal.

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The Welsh Rabbit's avatar

Interesting, I didn’t know that.

And agreed 100%. No government entity should have blanket back door access to every device.

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Charles Wemyss, Jr.'s avatar

We apparently need the 21st century equivalent of the Boston Tea Party. I guess the King in this case Hizonor King Charles III and the stooges running the UK need to have their tea tossed into Baaston haaabaahh, only this go around, it is their internet and other meddling sanctimonious nonsense that needs tossing. They have wrecked their own house, made it a mess, and like a good neighbor have decided they like our couch and want to stick around to watch the game. They are headed for some kind of internal strife. We don’t need them here, and hey why do Americans drink coffee instead of tea???

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DemonHunter's avatar

Because coffee didn’t have the same taxation as tea. That and tea is to cocaine what coffee is to crack. Tea is wimpy shit.

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Current Resident's avatar

This is why the Tulsi Gabbard nomination mattered.

And JFC, these spooks are so dumb and lazy that they're insisting that Apple do the decryption work for them. At least on TV, there's some capable Chloe-like character in the mix.

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Lanny Heidbreder's avatar

There are only two kinds of encryption that matter: (1) encryption that would take a stadium full of supercomputers many years to break, and (2) not being encrypted at all.

The Azimuth device mentioned above didn’t actually decrypt anything, it just let the cops make more than ten passcode attempts before the iPhone permanently destroyed the encryption key. That’s the “brute force” method. Even with that device, if you had an 11- or 12- character alphanumeric password (or a chain of 5 or 6 random dictionary words) the spooks would never decrypt it.

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Justin's avatar

It's done by making a static copy of the OS and memory, and trying 10 times on a copy before it deletes that copy's memory. They make another copy of the original memory/contents and try again, ad infinitum until success is granted.

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Kelly Green's avatar

My password is SqueamishOssifrage1!, do you think that will hold up?

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Kevin Schilling's avatar

QUICK ! change it to SqueamishOssifrage2! before anyone else sees your comment !!

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Kelly Green's avatar

Done!

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