Fuckin brexit.

And lies about emissions.

TBF I’m pretty sure that cheap Chinese EVs are a pretty big factor here. Of course, all the nazi shit doesn’t help.

No no it’s freedom.

Yeah, I voted remain and like you I could clearly see the harm that leaving the EU would cause, but I couldn’t get the leave voters in my life to listen - so fuckin frustrating! And yeah, it’s hit lower paid workers harder, and even those who’ve had pay rises have rarely had ‘rises’ that meet inflation.

For me there was also the added element that I very much appreciated freedom of movement. I’ve lived and worked and had relationships and made myself at home in several EU countries and I intended to do so again in the future. So few people seemed to value the incredible opportunity this was - fuck off abroad, get a job and a flat, learn the language, make a home. Now I can only spend I think 90 out of any 180 day period in an EU country because of all those dimwitted bigots who voted leave.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling angry about this.

Here in the UK it’s pretty fucked. I earn a fairly low wage, and I live in a van because housing is so expensive. I could just about afford to pay rent, but I couldn’t afford much else. The van thing isn’t ideal - I’m in my 50s, hot summers and cold winters are challenging - but this is the only way I can afford to be able to do stuff and even save a bit.

Even though it’s not intelligent at all, chatGPT seemed groundbreaking when it arrived. Big promises were made and implausible amounts invested, and it doesn’t really seem to have gone anywhere since. It’s the same thing, just a bit better.

I think it’s also down to windows 11 being increasingly enshitified, and unwanted AI stuff being forced on users. A lot of people are frustrated and are more open to alternatives.

Get drunk?

You can get banned there for such a multitude of things, you’d have thought ‘Being in prison for trafficking children’ was on that list. Apparently that’s fine, though.

The HDMI forum blow goats, every month, by the silvery light of the moon.

I dunno, I bet disease and famine. But yeah, that greed won’t help at all.

I somehow feel things have changed. Maybe it’s the internet, lack of education, consumerism, whatever. I hate to say this, bit I feel like a lot of people, when they get hungry, would steal from their neighbours. Far too many folk don’t understand that the wealthy are the author of their suffering and won’t know where to target their anger. Not to mention that oligarchs are hard to catch, whereas your neighbour with a slightly newer car is right there, and may be of a different race. People don’t understand who they should be angry with.

Yeah he has no shame at all. It’s only a week since he posted the AI thing with him wearing a crown and shitting on the American people.

One of those guys does the blindboy podcast now, it’s well worth a listen.

Yeah I guess I was thinking about pearl harbor as an attack on American assets. But yeah it’s a tricky line to draw.

Yeah, IIRC I wouldn’t say that was a war of defense but it was certainly defense of an ally. Yeah the US got blindsided, then MacArthur got it into his head that he could unite Korea and loads of American and allied soldiers died. From what I’ve read, it was a bad one. I’d highly recommend the coldest winter by David Halberstam for ppl who want to learn about this monumental fuck up.

I didn’t forget about pearl harbor, that’s why I said arguably WWII, I think that’s the last time the US experienced a military attack. I’m not including terrorism here, but you could argue 9/11 was a military strike. I wouldn’t tho.

TBF it does what it says on the tin. American hasn’t fought a defensive war in decades, arguably since WWII.

We only see each other two or three times a year and have mutually agreed not to discuss politics since the unfortunate Christmas dinner of 2016, just after the brexit referendum, when I’d had a few drinks and rose to the bait. And they always liked to bait me, knowing I was involved with direct action and am pretty hard left. They got more blowback than they anticipated. I love them, I can even understand their positions, but they’re not going to change and neither am I, so we just don’t discuss it anymore.