Exactly. I have always had Siri turned off, ever since my very first apple devices, and never had a reason to turn it on. Same with all the AI features. I don't want them so I keep all AI options turned off, always.
I still have a couple devices on the cloud but only for shit I don't actually care about, and whenever I get around to cleaning those up I'll get rid of it there as well. Still on the original 5GB, too: I don't believe in paying others to store my data when I can and should store it myself.
When it comes down to it I don't even know why I started turning all that shit off, beyond the fact I found it annoying to speak twice (or more) when I could just quietly type once. I'm no prescient genius, but I am now very glad of whatever luddite instinct made me shut it all off, lol.
Funny, that book. I went to find it on Wikipedia to see if it's something I'd read and there's recurring disagreement on the talk page about it. One gets the impression there is an effort to discredit the entire work, with an overt emphasis on calling it conspiracy theory along with the omission of anything positive.
I went to one of the review sources used, and it's true: the wiki author really did only quote the first line of the paragraph from the Boston Magazine article. The rest of the Boston Magazine article supports the praise, but the Wikipedia author chose to include only this:
Family of Secrets was trounced by the mainstream media: “There are more crutches in these pages,” wrote the Washington Post, “than in the grotto at Lourdes.”
Here's the rest of the source paragraph, the part they left out (emphasis mine):
And yet it’s an impressive feat of reporting, its pages filled with constellations of intriguing and often troubling facts. Baker’s editor, Peter Ginna, told the New York Observer in 2009, “I worked at Oxford University Press for 10 years and published several Pulitzer Prize–winning historians, and I have not published any book that was more extensively documented and more impeccably footnoted than this one.” Gore Vidal called it “one of the most important books of the past 10 years.”
Interesting editorial choices. It's almost like someone doesn't want anyone to take it seriously. But if it's that well researched and documented, and it appears to be, then it's not just an unfounded conspiracy theory, is it.
I'd read it just to find out what someone's so upset about in there that they have to try to make it look like a hack job. And Gore Vidal, for all his personal foibles, was prescient about what was going on in this country long before the rest of us had any idea the fascists were taking over, and a recommendation from him was high praise: I'd read it just for that.
It appears to be a valid site and valid copy, but I went in with uBlock Origin fully loaded so I can't guarantee it. I suggest the same for anyone else.
I mean, you might throw up in your mouth a little, sure. But that's one effective way to go. I'm not even joking. Something that permanently links Vance with Trump, but as the forever lesser of the two. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
Vance is desperate to distance himself from Trump, yet must keep Trump happy: he has to remain in Trump's orbit long enough to pick up the mantle of power when it inevitably drops. So he is walking a tightrope of old man crazy that he hopes will drop him in the president's chair, meanwhile trying to quietly leak enough inner circle info that he thinks makes him look good but also doesn't get him outed.
(If you read through that entire unlocked NY Times article, the info very clearly came from inside the Oval Office, and it leaves Vance smelling the best while throwing everyone else under the bus.)
So if you wanna make Vance cry, but with a message lowkey enough to make people think you're a sincere believer, wear a red shirt and tie him to Trump in the loudest, most worshipful and sincere way you can, any thing that convincingly says, "I will never think about you without also lovingly remembering Daddy Pedo Warmonger Trump!"
"Best VP ever!" or "Thank you for supporting our President!" is also a jab, but maybe just a hair too lowkey to be obvious.
The president dozed off at multiple points during the event Friday, slumped over in his chair with his eyes closed and his head hanging down while everyone else onstage—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Melania Trump, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—was clearly awake.
They name the names like it's admirable the rest stayed awake, but I think they are all just bracing for the inevitable cropdusting. Dude likes to shit while he sleeps, going by the videos I've seen. Note how there is no one behind him, and his wife is seated far enough away to allow plenty of airflow between them.
Also note the unevenness in his face: the right side of his mouth (his right; to the left in the pic, last one in the article) is markedly different from the left, even when he appears to be facing the camera directly, and that entire side of his face is somewhat slumped compared to the other. Seems to be getting worse these days.
The Senate does NOT permit that for floor votes, and never has. Committees are a very different thing, but even then it's proxy voting and not remote voting: iow, you have to actually be a senator on that committee and physically present to do it on behalf of your absent fellow senator.
Be very careful with "they say" statements; I am hearing so many now that are just blatantly false, and usually to the end of making people feel more powerless and helpless, like this one.
The rumor of McConnell participating in some kind of absentee voting in the Senate actually came up about a month ago in discussion if you'd like to read about it here -- it was refreshing because both parties brought the receipts.
It's far worse than that. He's trying to get them to take a vow, to make a personal promise -- literally "so help me god" -- so that those who promise will then believe they will be held accountable before "god" to fulfill.
He's literally trying to make this promise have religious consequences for failing to live up to it in the minds of those who took it.
People who think this is all imaginary have no idea how real it is for those heavily propagandized in this way, who have had their real faith hijacked by Christian nationalist propaganda. It's no joke. It's all VERY legal, tick the box, "You said this and now you're bound by it" with actual threat of hellfire attached at the end. Just like Trump did here. Most of us would laugh; MAGAs do not.
This exact dynamic is why Republicans are so terrified of James Talarico down in Texas: he's offering the MAGAs who have equated Christianity with MAGA Christian nationalism a real off ramp from Trump that allows them to keep their church, faith, and local community.
If you're in a rural area where all you know are the 500 people that live in your mostly MAGA town, and you can't afford to be ostracized or you'll literally have no community left, it's a big fucking deal.
This faux "Christianization" of politics is very real, and that's what he's trying to capitalize on by making the rubes take a "repeat after me, so help me god" kind of vow.
Fortunately, he fucked it up, so they all have plausible deniability if they want it. But that's why he was struggling so hard to get them back on track and to repeat the whole thing: he knew exactly what he was doing, and to what end.
I'm in the same boat, sort of. I was a true believer, but the words-in-red kind, not like this lot. Got all the way out just in time, and I could not be more relieved. I literally do not know how I'd still be functioning if I were still a believing Christian and this was somehow my own twisted circus-mirror faith being reflected back to me.
Yup. Same here. There's not a printer in our house I haven't fixed. But I do not reliably get good results with tearing out hardwired components and I don't want to brick a new tv, so I figured I'd ask.
That's why I posted the definition. We're not a community dedicated to religion, here in c/atheism, which is to say we may not be the same "make it up as you go along" types you seem more used to. There is an actual, formal meaning to the terms I linked, and you don't get to exclude Christian nationalists from Christian nationalism.
When you have to rearrange formal, well-understood definitions of social constructs in order to come back at someone saying something you don't like, it's probably time for you to recognize you have no real argument, and are just trolling.
It's a core part of the end-times fascism springing up all around us as an answer to the current world crises by trying to evade them altogether for some religious fantasy world.
Let's just have a quick look at the definition of Christian nationalism, shall we? Because I guarantee you that all of these adherents of Christian nationalism not only consider themselves Christians, they consider themselves to be the BEST Christians:
Christian nationalism is an ideology that espouses a form of religious nationalism that focuses on promoting the Christian views of its followers in order to achieve prominence or dominance in political, cultural, and social life.
In countries with a state church, Christian nationalists seek to preserve the status of a Christian state.
Christian nationalism has been observed to overlap with antisemitism, racism and ethnonationalism.
And I can tell you they are none too friendly when it comes to LGBT and trans, either. Even the European ones.
Exactly. I have always had Siri turned off, ever since my very first apple devices, and never had a reason to turn it on. Same with all the AI features. I don't want them so I keep all AI options turned off, always.
I still have a couple devices on the cloud but only for shit I don't actually care about, and whenever I get around to cleaning those up I'll get rid of it there as well. Still on the original 5GB, too: I don't believe in paying others to store my data when I can and should store it myself.
When it comes down to it I don't even know why I started turning all that shit off, beyond the fact I found it annoying to speak twice (or more) when I could just quietly type once. I'm no prescient genius, but I am now very glad of whatever luddite instinct made me shut it all off, lol.
Funny, that book. I went to find it on Wikipedia to see if it's something I'd read and there's recurring disagreement on the talk page about it. One gets the impression there is an effort to discredit the entire work, with an overt emphasis on calling it conspiracy theory along with the omission of anything positive.
I went to one of the review sources used, and it's true: the wiki author really did only quote the first line of the paragraph from the Boston Magazine article. The rest of the Boston Magazine article supports the praise, but the Wikipedia author chose to include only this:
Here's the rest of the source paragraph, the part they left out (emphasis mine):
Interesting editorial choices. It's almost like someone doesn't want anyone to take it seriously. But if it's that well researched and documented, and it appears to be, then it's not just an unfounded conspiracy theory, is it.
I'd read it just to find out what someone's so upset about in there that they have to try to make it look like a hack job. And Gore Vidal, for all his personal foibles, was prescient about what was going on in this country long before the rest of us had any idea the fascists were taking over, and a recommendation from him was high praise: I'd read it just for that.
You mean this?
It appears to be a valid site and valid copy, but I went in with uBlock Origin fully loaded so I can't guarantee it. I suggest the same for anyone else.
If a few true words are all it takes to tire him out, he clearly doesn't have the stamina for the presidency. Like his boss, Sleepy Don.
or
I mean, you might throw up in your mouth a little, sure. But that's one effective way to go. I'm not even joking. Something that permanently links Vance with Trump, but as the forever lesser of the two. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
Vance is desperate to distance himself from Trump, yet must keep Trump happy: he has to remain in Trump's orbit long enough to pick up the mantle of power when it inevitably drops. So he is walking a tightrope of old man crazy that he hopes will drop him in the president's chair, meanwhile trying to quietly leak enough inner circle info that he thinks makes him look good but also doesn't get him outed.
(If you read through that entire unlocked NY Times article, the info very clearly came from inside the Oval Office, and it leaves Vance smelling the best while throwing everyone else under the bus.)
So if you wanna make Vance cry, but with a message lowkey enough to make people think you're a sincere believer, wear a red shirt and tie him to Trump in the loudest, most worshipful and sincere way you can, any thing that convincingly says, "I will never think about you without also lovingly remembering
Daddy Pedo WarmongerTrump!""Best VP ever!" or "Thank you for supporting our President!" is also a jab, but maybe just a hair too lowkey to be obvious.
Thanks for the transcript. I do not let that motherfucker speak in my hearing if I can help it.
They name the names like it's admirable the rest stayed awake, but I think they are all just bracing for the inevitable cropdusting. Dude likes to shit while he sleeps, going by the videos I've seen. Note how there is no one behind him, and his wife is seated far enough away to allow plenty of airflow between them.
Also note the unevenness in his face: the right side of his mouth (his right; to the left in the pic, last one in the article) is markedly different from the left, even when he appears to be facing the camera directly, and that entire side of his face is somewhat slumped compared to the other. Seems to be getting worse these days.
Yeah, he was trying to be threatening. It apparently didn't have much effect: she doesn't back up at all. If anything she moves in a hair.
The Senate does NOT permit that for floor votes, and never has. Committees are a very different thing, but even then it's proxy voting and not remote voting: iow, you have to actually be a senator on that committee and physically present to do it on behalf of your absent fellow senator.
Be very careful with "they say" statements; I am hearing so many now that are just blatantly false, and usually to the end of making people feel more powerless and helpless, like this one.
The rumor of McConnell participating in some kind of absentee voting in the Senate actually came up about a month ago in discussion if you'd like to read about it here -- it was refreshing because both parties brought the receipts.
It's far worse than that. He's trying to get them to take a vow, to make a personal promise -- literally "so help me god" -- so that those who promise will then believe they will be held accountable before "god" to fulfill.
He's literally trying to make this promise have religious consequences for failing to live up to it in the minds of those who took it.
People who think this is all imaginary have no idea how real it is for those heavily propagandized in this way, who have had their real faith hijacked by Christian nationalist propaganda. It's no joke. It's all VERY legal, tick the box, "You said this and now you're bound by it" with actual threat of hellfire attached at the end. Just like Trump did here. Most of us would laugh; MAGAs do not.
This exact dynamic is why Republicans are so terrified of James Talarico down in Texas: he's offering the MAGAs who have equated Christianity with MAGA Christian nationalism a real off ramp from Trump that allows them to keep their church, faith, and local community.
If you're in a rural area where all you know are the 500 people that live in your mostly MAGA town, and you can't afford to be ostracized or you'll literally have no community left, it's a big fucking deal.
This faux "Christianization" of politics is very real, and that's what he's trying to capitalize on by making the rubes take a "repeat after me, so help me god" kind of vow.
Fortunately, he fucked it up, so they all have plausible deniability if they want it. But that's why he was struggling so hard to get them back on track and to repeat the whole thing: he knew exactly what he was doing, and to what end.
I'm in the same boat, sort of. I was a true believer, but the words-in-red kind, not like this lot. Got all the way out just in time, and I could not be more relieved. I literally do not know how I'd still be functioning if I were still a believing Christian and this was somehow my own twisted circus-mirror faith being reflected back to me.
Knowing it's all a lie is a VAST relief.
This is truly helpful. Thank you for taking the time. Much appreciated.
I'll call you from lockup, maybe you can help me post bail lol
Haiku in the wild
That's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.
Yup. Same here. There's not a printer in our house I haven't fixed. But I do not reliably get good results with tearing out hardwired components and I don't want to brick a new tv, so I figured I'd ask.
Yeah, it hit me hard when I first saw it. That's how I still remembered it well enough to go back and find it. It was a gut punch.
That's why I posted the definition. We're not a community dedicated to religion, here in c/atheism, which is to say we may not be the same "make it up as you go along" types you seem more used to. There is an actual, formal meaning to the terms I linked, and you don't get to exclude Christian nationalists from Christian nationalism.
When you have to rearrange formal, well-understood definitions of social constructs in order to come back at someone saying something you don't like, it's probably time for you to recognize you have no real argument, and are just trolling.
No one else is invested in defending it.
In a community dedicated to the discussion of atheism, no less.
You're fooling yourself by refusing to see what you'd rather not see.
Christian nationalism is flourishing in Europe as much as it is in the US and the UK right now: look at that long list of European countries on the Wikipedia sidebar.
It's a core part of the end-times fascism springing up all around us as an answer to the current world crises by trying to evade them altogether for some religious fantasy world.
Let's just have a quick look at the definition of Christian nationalism, shall we? Because I guarantee you that all of these adherents of Christian nationalism not only consider themselves Christians, they consider themselves to be the BEST Christians:
And I can tell you they are none too friendly when it comes to LGBT and trans, either. Even the European ones.