So a reincarnation based religious system that spans countless realities, creatures, and millennia is somehow beholden to this reality’s 76 year old country led by a dictator? Makes sense.

The US uses up the entirety of the Colorado River. It’s an arid riverbed by the time it reaches the Mexican border. These water treaties need to be overhauled before wars start over them.

I occasionally see comments to the effect of, “Oh, really? Can you tell me more about that?”

Fuck. Am I a bot?

Gattaca theme music intensifies.

Wild to see my hard-earned tax money’s going to people who are paid to watch porn.

The morality police in the UK strike again. They’re slowly turning into Saudi Arabia the longer they keep this up.

We used to have vehicles that didn’t need over the air updates for over a century. If they had a problem then a technician could simply perform an onsite diagnostic. Why the hell are we keeping them in a network like they’re computers or no longer supported IoT dongles?

Manzo Rodríguez, who some nicknamed “the Mexican Bukele” in reference to the tough security policies of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, took office as mayor of Uruapan after winning that year’s midterm elections with an independent movement.

It’s hard not to have mixed feelings about this particular political assassination. There are hundreds more that seem way more tragic than this one.

Can’t the rest of the world just start boycotting trade with the US already? BRICS is a fine start but it needs to speed up and stop giving them any more support if they’re turning from the world’s police to its bully.

These motherfuckers are about to start World War III in the Muslim world.

Ah yes, maybe they offer Agua de Culo.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qydjVbLJk&pp=

The one constant with China is change. There have been plenty of dynasties whose power waxed and waned over the years. Much of the current Chinese territory is being held through force, like East Turkestan or Tibet. As long as the people keep experiencing better living conditions they’ll tolerate the tyrannical governance of the CCP. The government’s betting big on censorship and shows of force, but I doubt it’ll suffice if enough civil discontent rises at once. China’s not a very resource independent country and all it takes is a shortage of food or oil to quickly destabilize its economy and its hold on power by extension.

Since much of the world still relies on China’s factories for so many general goods there’s a balance on its power through trade. As production and logistical chains continue to diversify outside its territories though, it’ll have a harder time keeping its citizens in check through economic growth. It’ll either have to start shifting into a service economy with good relations on its trade partners and neighbors for goods, or it may start to take a more nationalistic path. There’s an argument that both paths are actively being followed.

China heavily investing in trade and infrastructure with African countries may keep things peaceful as it continues to grow economically. This prosperity will only delay the inevitable though. People will eventually want to move away from factory work into more lucrative but limited service jobs as inflation starts to take hold due to an ever increasing amount of money in circulation. Its expected population decline will also start to kick in as the much higher population of older citizens would burden the comparatively smaller one child policy generation that would be needed to take care of them.

China promoting nationalism will distract the resentment of its people from the government to outside powers instead, but it would come with some severe geopolitical consequences. It’s already pissed off all its maritime neighbors by trespassing and overfishing in their waters, along with intentionally using its navy to attack fishing vessels. It’s also trying to claim vast swathes of international waters by dumping a bunch of sand and establishing forts on them all over the South China Sea. China and India routinely fight in border skirmishes using sticks and stones to try to keep the conflict from escalating. Eventually all the regional countries might decide to form a coalition and starve China out of its oil via a few strategically placed blockades either on the Strait of Malacca or along Sri Lanka. The economic damage over something like this might provide enough domestic unrest to force the government to change.

The CCP can’t hold its iron grip on power forever. One day HK will regain its ability to choose its own destiny. I only hope these people will still be around to see it.

To be fair I kept buying models that cost $20 to $30 so maybe the higher end ones would last longer. That said, my Moondrops wired headphones cost the same but are way more reliable.

Step 2: Blow out your ear drums.

Same. I can’t find any Bluetooth headphones whose batteries don’t die in 4 or 5 months anyway. Meanwhile my Moondrop wired headphones have been going strong for almost 3 years.

For those wondering without wanting to click, the title is “Reversed Front: Bonfire”. It’s supposed to depict an independent Taiwan and Hong Kong which is what obviously pissed off the delicate sensibilities of the CCP.

A significant portion of society’s lost respect for devastating and easily preventable diseases. I don’t think we’re getting it back until we dismantle its misinformation machine even if antivaxxers catch it themselves.

Staple carb. It’s supposed to be the bare minimum in cheap and regularly consumed food. After that society’s just a few missed meals away from people rioting.

Few words are dirtier to Republicans than “nationalize”. They must be torn between following their god-emperor’s hurt feelings and allowing Musk’s company to be taken over by the government. The best I see them doing is cancelling all contracts and subsidies with SpaceX/Tesla and passing them off to its competitors.