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Post by funhouse on Apr 12, 2023 13:15:06 GMT -5
The Beatles don't have a single album that is genuinely great(9/10 or more).
The first half of Abbey Road is in-cre-di-ble, but never was a fan of the medley...
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Post by funhouse on Mar 31, 2023 18:05:28 GMT -5
Why did no one tell me about this guy until now??? Incredible ear for melodies.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 23, 2023 20:37:36 GMT -5
It almost hurts to admit it, but I just realized from listening to Nevermind for the first time in a few years that I don't love Nirvana as much as I did, or thought I did. The production bothers me even more now, as does the chorus to In Bloom and verses of Breed. The second half works better for me(Territorial Pissings, hell yeah), but it's so obvious to me that In Utero is the way better album.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 23, 2023 20:27:43 GMT -5
It sounds wrong but if the voting percentage keeps dropping and dropping maybe the politicians might start considering changing their approach too. After all they're all potential voters that have not decided to use their vote. If there's a future where this tactic will have lead to a change of approach among politicians, by that time positive change will likely be even harder to achieve because Republicans will have benefitted from said tactic(their voters are generally more enthusiastic, and old, which also leads to a higher turnout) and been able to tilt the system even more in their favor. People choose between the lesser of two evils every day. Doing so once every four years(or depending on your country, but in this case USA was the example) is a small task. Disheartening yes, but it can always get worse. That's not an argument, simply an undeniable fact.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 22, 2023 5:23:40 GMT -5
Frank Zappa ♥️
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Post by funhouse on Mar 18, 2023 12:01:35 GMT -5
You realize you can work for change in various ways *and* vote, right? And that things get even worse when Republicans win, right? And I don't view it as strategy as much as basic surviv al instinct. Again, I will vote when there is a candidate worth voting for. Right now that is Marianne Williamson. If the dems sabotage her like I know they will, then that might be Biden contingent on IF he supports a new, younger VP with a strong progressive record, because I do think Biden will die in office and I don't trust America in the hands of "Do not come." Kamala.
It's not survival to keep doing the same thing over and over each time expecting a different result. That behavior is complicit in how we ended up where we are. How many times must your 'survival instinct' fail, before you change your behavior and try something different?
I reached my limit ... I hope you eventually reach yours. I hope most of America reaches their limit too, because I don't see how we organize a national strike unless Americans become convinced that their vote isn't working.
It would save a lot of time if you just admitted that you think Republicans winning is necessary for people to eventually start voting for progressive Democrats.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 18, 2023 5:12:31 GMT -5
I mean that's an infinitely better option than just waiting for Dems to magically get better. By my estimation, that's quite literally what you're doing when you lack a voting standard and check anybody with a D next to their name no matter if they intend to actually represent your interests or not. It's a faith based position, not so different from magic.
It's like buying a cheap Chinese product off of Wish.com and hoping they ship you something luxurious. If you vote for shit, you're only going to get shit in return. Your position is the Pascals Wager of politics and I am opposed to that strategy of voting just as I am opposed to it as an argument for god.
I'm not just waiting around for dems to magically get better. I am doing my part, just in a different way. Plus, it makes a little $$.
You realize you can work for change in various ways *and* vote, right? And that things get even worse when Republicans win, right? And I don't view it as strategy as much as basic survival instinct.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 17, 2023 17:52:08 GMT -5
Once again I'm not arguing that Dems are great at stopping fascism and I certainly won't deny that they paved the way for this, but you can't possibly argue that if Trump won things wouldn't be even worse. There is an actual difference between the two parties, that's a fact no matter how bad the Dems are. Claiming otherwise, especially now with the horrific anti-trans shit is honestly just irresponsible. "The best thing that you can do right now to force the democratic party into taking action, is to join other Americans in organizing a national strike." That's a good and constructive idea, that would actually accomplish something - as opposed to not voting which doesn't do anything at all. As you know and I know too, Democrats don't care if Bernie-or-busters don't show up because they'd rather lose as long as they have the support of corporations. Push for change and shit on corporate Dems *and* vote for them if they are the presidential candidate. Doing both things is not contradictory, it's just the logical thing to do. Still, I have my standards and philosophy. What sort of person would I be if I changed my standards at convenience? I suppose I'd be a politician! The democrats either earn my vote or they don't. There's still time. Earn back my trust. If they can prove they are willing to do whatever it takes to stop fascism, stop climate decline and help the working class, then they get my vote. But I'll require more than platitudes and promises. I need action.
When it comes to irresponsibility, it's not non-voters you should point fingers at. It's the people that made them non-voters, the politicians that drove them away and lost their trust. Maybe it's worth giving a call to local senators and congressmen to remind them of how to win those people back ... Doing something reluctantly is not changing one's standards, at least not in my view. It would be one thing if you had to kiss the boots of Biden, but dude... it's just voting. "Maybe it's worth giving a call to local senators and congressmen to remind them of how to win those people back ..." I mean that's an infinitely better option than just waiting for Dems to magically get better.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 17, 2023 12:52:34 GMT -5
I'm not mainly talking about what Democrats do, but what they *won't* do. Democrats could have literally *nothing* to offer and they would still be preferable because fascists must be stopped, period. Republicans running things is like a car heading straight for the edge of a cliff and voting for Dems won't stop the car, but slow it down considerably. Is that good enough? Of course not, but it's the best option of the two because you don't want to drive into the canyon. But I assume you're under the impression that America being driven further and further into fascism will somehow make the left more viable in the future? I struggle to see how that would work. 4 years of Trump didn't(sadly) make people want Bernie even more, most of them were shitting themselves out of fear and voted for Biden simply because the only issue they cared about was who could beat Trump. The corporate media told them all day it was Biden and that's all they cared about so that's why he won the primaries despite being a wreck. Fear doesn't lead to great change. After 8 years of Obama Bernie did better than after 4 years of Trump, despite much better name recognition the second time around. In my mind that is a good example of why you should always vote for Democrats no matter how much you rightfully hate them. Democratic politicians aren't stopping fascism. They've paved the way for it to take over (through weak policy and bipartisan efforts). We saw the same thing occur in the Weimar Republic, that was just a faster decline spurred by The Great Depression near its end.
What do you suppose happens here if we were to enter a depression of similar scale? That literally might be a reality we face considering the state of the world economy at the moment.
Doubling down on a party that has proven it's not interested in actually solving problems in the hope that they *might* this time around, is lunacy. It's a faith based position. Faith is not a reliable pathway to anything.
What must happen for democracy to survive is party reform. That cannot be accomplished if you continue to put them in some position of power, because they are only interested in keeping the status quo. Dems aren't slowing the car, they are stepping to the side and allowing it to drift by.
A politician like Bernie Sanders will never win unless there is reform. Because the system is fundamentally too corrupt to allow him have any real power. This is our reality. If you aren't pressuring for reform, you're only pushing us to the end of this republic and it won't be pretty.
I don't know if being a non-voter will frighten the democrats enough to force reform or just collapse the system. But I certainly know with 99% confidence that casting a vote for more corporate democrats isn't working, just like it hasn't succeeded in the past 60 years. Moving the goalpost further away every single election is not a logical solution and that's literally all that democratic voters do. Meanwhile, the republican party actually has some level of unity and are accomplishing their goals ... Because democrats have made it easy for them. Honest question, at what point do you look at the vote and admit that it's not working? Where is your ceiling? Because if you're staring at regime change, you're too late ...
Once again, I must reiterate, the solution to all of our problems right now is for the democrats to deliver for the working class. Franklin Delano Roosevelt also faced rising fascism in the United States. He ended that just by delivering for the people. The New Deal. It was so popular and so successful with the people on both sides that nobody could beat him in an election. The Republicans literally had to introduce term limits to prevent democratic presidents from retaining power. We were so close to getting the second bill of rights. If democratic politicians started delivering for the working class, which includes democrats and republican voters, democrats would not lose another election. Conditions would improve. People would be happier. They would not turn to extremist views as a result and you would end the rise of fascism. It's that simple. Biden can use his executive authority to do a great deal for the working class. He chooses not to. Spend time pondering why.
If you think they can't deliver for the working class, then I fear you've bought into propaganda. They don't do it because it's not in their best interest anymore. And that interest is money and power. It's corruption.
The best thing that you can do right now to force the democratic party into taking action, is to join other Americans in organizing a national strike. That is the sort of act that will frighten politicians. Because it harms their wallet. If you hurt the corporations, you hurt the politicians who receive generous campaign "donations" and insider trading tips. Other than this, there is nothing that I can think of that will actually be useful for achieving progressive change. When you play a rigged game, you always lose. Stop playing their game. You must upset the system.
Once again I'm not arguing that Dems are great at stopping fascism and I certainly won't deny that they paved the way for this, but you can't possibly argue that if Trump won things wouldn't be even worse. There is an actual difference between the two parties, that's a fact no matter how bad the Dems are. Claiming otherwise, especially now with the horrific anti-trans shit is honestly just irresponsible. "The best thing that you can do right now to force the democratic party into taking action, is to join other Americans in organizing a national strike." That's a good and constructive idea, that would actually accomplish something - as opposed to not voting which doesn't do anything at all. As you know and I know too, Democrats don't care if Bernie-or-busters don't show up because they'd rather lose as long as they have the support of corporations. Push for change and shit on corporate Dems *and* vote for them if they are the presidential candidate. Doing both things is not contradictory, it's just the logical thing to do.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 17, 2023 7:33:23 GMT -5
But they would never push hundreds of anti-lgbtq bills. That alone is a difference that makes voting for Democrats essential if you're a non-fascist. You won't accomplish nearly as much as you'd like, but there's a lot of deranged shit that *won't* happen when Republicans aren't in charge. That's your pride talking. Fuck pride in this case honestly. It happens one time every four years, and you showing disapprovement by not voting accomplishes just as much as voting third party - nothing. Unless you've influenced enough people by the time there's an insanely close race again(like in 2000)and then you'd literally help the Republicans to win. The democrats aren't doing anything about anti-lgbtq. Not really. There's not been significant push back comparable to the scale of the assault. Biden just had some good comments on it, but where's the action? Acta non verba! There are many solutions to the current issues, but they do not want to do them. Every single election I hear the same thing "But this time is the most important time to vote." "Vote this time and the next time you can be more selective." It's just a wheel that keeps on spinning even as the spokes twist and break off, and nobody has bothered to fix the wheel. It's just became the same exact narrative every single election that moves further and further to the right no matter how many people go out and vote for the new corporate democrat shithead probably approved by some shadowy ultra rich prick who also owns the media.
Things haven't gotten better. We are 60 years into a national decline. The dollar is failing. We face a new recession. Wages are stagnating. The infrastructure is decaying. We are seeing rising crime, violence, and fascism. We are facing WW3, likely to involve nukes, we are running out of water (even with the atmospheric river flooding), and staring down the barrel of a climate apocalypse if we don't drastically change course and get rid of fossil fuels. And that last one is important. Our grandchildren by the end of the century will face mass famine and tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of deaths because of politicians right now who aren't solving the problem. Some of us might even still be around to see it all go down and think back to this moment wishing they didn't follow a 50+ year old voting pattern that has consistently failed to pull us out of decline.
If they were doing their jobs and not wasting our time, we wouldn't have lost Roe v Wade because they would have codified it with numerous opportunities over a period of decades. When SCOTUS overstepped, Biden should have expanded the court or at least threatened it. He did neither. And still hasn't. When Florida passed Don't Say Gay, what was the response? They are failing and millions of Americans have become so familiar with expecting nothing from them that they perk up and applaud every rank fart that spews from a politicians fat gullet. These politicians take more vacations in a single year than most Americans have in an entire lifetime.
I'm not mainly talking about what Democrats do, but what they *won't* do. Democrats could have literally *nothing* to offer and they would still be preferable because fascists must be stopped, period. Republicans running things is like a car heading straight for the edge of a cliff and voting for Dems won't stop the car, but slow it down considerably. Is that good enough? Of course not, but it's the best option of the two because you don't want to drive into the canyon. But I assume you're under the impression that America being driven further and further into fascism will somehow make the left more viable in the future? I struggle to see how that would work. 4 years of Trump didn't(sadly) make people want Bernie even more, most of them were shitting themselves out of fear and voted for Biden simply because the only issue they cared about was who could beat Trump. The corporate media told them all day it was Biden and that's all they cared about so that's why he won the primaries despite being a wreck. Fear doesn't lead to great change. After 8 years of Obama Bernie did better than after 4 years of Trump, despite much better name recognition the second time around. In my mind that is a good example of why you should always vote for Democrats no matter how much you rightfully hate them.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 16, 2023 20:36:41 GMT -5
While your single vote won't change that one way or the other, I would vote Democrat simply to spite Republicans who, as you are clearly aware of, are only getting more and more deranged. I think democrats are too weak, too corrupt, too disorganized and too divided to accomplish anything of substance. The Alaska oil deal was basically the final straw for me. We have simply moved too far to the right and I am deeply uncomfortable with it.
Voting for the party shows approval for their actions. I do not want more of the same BS. If there were say a no confidence option on ballot, I would gladly choose that instead to signal my disapproval to democratic leadership (and by doing so maybe encourage party reform for 2028). But we don't have that in America.
So my option to show disapproval are to register and vote for the opposition (fuck that), vote independent (which is pointless anyway), or simply skip the presidential part of the ballot.
If democratic politicians want more people to get out and vote to keep them in office, the solution to big numbers is wildly simple ... just deliver for the working class ... The onus is on them. Eventually they will figure it out ... or not ... But more likely, they will allow a fascist to legally seize power just like in the Weimar Republic.
But they would never push hundreds of anti-lgbtq bills. That alone is a difference that makes voting for Democrats essential if you're a non-fascist. You won't accomplish nearly as much as you'd like, but there's a lot of deranged shit that *won't* happen when Republicans aren't in charge. That's your pride talking. Fuck pride in this case honestly. It happens one time every four years, and you showing disapprovement by not voting accomplishes just as much as voting third party - nothing. Unless you've influenced enough people by the time there's an insanely close race again(like in 2000)and then you'd literally help the Republicans to win.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 16, 2023 17:23:20 GMT -5
Alright, then I hope you live in a blue state! Florida. I don't expect we will tip blue for quite some time. While your single vote won't change that one way or the other, I would vote Democrat simply to spite Republicans who, as you are clearly aware of, are only getting more and more deranged.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 16, 2023 16:59:02 GMT -5
(with 2024 I meant the presidential election if that wasn't how you interpreted it) Yes. Alright, then I hope you live in a blue state!
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Post by funhouse on Mar 16, 2023 16:51:00 GMT -5
What I meant to ask is if you won't vote for Biden in 2024 if that doesn't happen? Correct. If he switches VP's, if that can happen, and Marianne does poorly in the polls, I might consider voting Biden still, but I won't be happy about it based on his performance so far. I don't expect his performance to improve with time and age and I am not convinced he will even make it to the end of the second term. I feel like voting Biden again is a vote for whatever VP he has. If it's Kamala, I'm 100% not participating in a vote.
(with 2024 I meant the presidential election if that wasn't how you interpreted it)
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Post by funhouse on Mar 16, 2023 16:30:43 GMT -5
In the presidential election? It's my understanding that a VP cannot be removed by the president. They have to resign. Whether a President can still change VP's for second terms, I have no idea and think it's unlikely to happen even if it is. I don't recall it happening since FDR replaced Wallace with Truman. What I meant to ask is if you won't vote for Biden in 2024 if that doesn't happen?
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Post by funhouse on Mar 16, 2023 16:04:17 GMT -5
Combine that with DeSantis gearing up for a 2024 run and yea, it's not a good time. I'm hoping Biden officially announces his 2024 run soon and continues to be strong. For a man his age, he's showing off all the experience and tenacity you could ever want. Keep it going for 4 more years and I hope to God some of those far-right ideologies die on their collective, rotten asses. Even if they do, we still have serious issues to face outside of assholes taking away people's rights to focus attention away from those other serious issues... Only way Biden gets my vote is if Kamala resigns
In the presidential election?
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Eurovision
Mar 11, 2023 15:59:33 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by funhouse on Mar 11, 2023 15:59:33 GMT -5
Aaaaand now it's official - Sweden will once again send some self serious and boring shit to Eurovision for like the tenth year straight. Yay.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 10, 2023 6:01:22 GMT -5
Now this is a blast from the past.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 6, 2023 20:25:15 GMT -5
This needs to be recognized as one of Soundgarden's finest moments.
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Post by funhouse on Mar 2, 2023 6:23:58 GMT -5
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Post by funhouse on Feb 26, 2023 7:54:23 GMT -5
Best verse to chorus transition ever?
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Post by funhouse on Feb 24, 2023 16:43:24 GMT -5
21801.
This video is so dark both because of its subject matter and considering the fact that AI voice technology will kill us all - but I've watched this ten times straight and it's the funniest shit ever.
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Post by funhouse on Feb 15, 2023 15:51:53 GMT -5
Rewatched Pulp Fiction for the first time as an adult(actual adult, not legally speaking) and in my head I told myself it wouldn't be as good as I imagined it, and I was right - it was better.
I'm sure I'll be disappointed as I rewatch Inglorious Basterds and his post Django stuff(honestly Pulp Fiction is the only of his movies that I really liked), but for now I'm just going to feel good about this unexpectedly delightful movie experience.
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Post by funhouse on Feb 15, 2023 7:34:12 GMT -5
I'm tempted to watch this, but I have a strict "no listens before the competition policy", which helps me stay interested every year!
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Post by funhouse on Feb 15, 2023 7:23:04 GMT -5
Watching this video made me feel validated and even more certain that this is easily Coldplay's best song, and one of the best of the 2000's.
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