They’ll just be afraid.

I could say that singing ability differs between various things that can be called singing in various cultures, and anything depending on spectator’s evaluation (pleasure) is subjective, but these are obvious, so whatever, hold a cookie

Ye-es, but nobody in the West said so. Maybe if in that one moment things went differently, Russia would be at least a very flawed democracy today.

Russian Supreme Court in 1993 when ruling that Yeltsin and the parliament should both resign and have new presidential and parliament elections. Yeltsin’s opposition agreed, Yeltsin said he’s the president and it’s democratic and legal that he decides everything and sent tanks.

Since the US was friendly with Yeltsin, this was considered business as usual.

Those mass disinformation campaigns are being done by (sometimes “almost”) nation state level actors. Governments are going to counter only some of them.

As for my own opinion - in 2020 during Artsakh war there were a few Turkish immigrant events in European countries where they’d march, yell Turkish neo-Nazi stuff, yell that they are looking for Armenians and so on. I don’t remember governments of those countries (who are already in charge of regulating fascists on their streets) doing anything about that.

I think this is going to be the same here - a regulation is a price tag in disguise. Smaller actors will be barred from doing those disinformation campaigns, bigger ones or friendly with the right governments will not be.

Killing and splitting corporations is better, but the previous part about price tag is the exact reason they are not doing this. Those governments want to have bot campaigns of their own, to manufacture consent, to see what people are saying, to control the public discourse. They just don’t want others to do it too.

This is a toad fucking a viper, as they say in Russian.

I guess his PoV is that Xitter is his property, thus when he does whatever there, it’s not censorship, but when state demands from him to do whatever there, it is.

But his position would be easier to defend were he not Elon Musk.

Most of all about neo-colonial politics. Many actions presented as the opposite of that are in fact neo-colonial. Such as the kind of governments and forces and “recognized borders” all European and related countries (including USA and Russia) support very firmly (as in - helping suppress every movement contrarian to them with any amount of cruelty being allowed).

Where does that capitalization style come from? Asking as somebody who’s never been in the USA.

Well, thx, but I already have a couple of noname Chinese cables with braided cover (to avoid breaking) which seem to be as good as anything else I’ve touched, and were kinda cheap.

No strategy was involved in buying them, though, so I’ll remember you advice.

Impaired social abilities mean smaller attack surface for propaganda and groupthink.

Seems obvious, that’s the main thing autism is, that’s why it’s called a u t i s m .

“This shit” was said in the context of a society exactly opposite to anglosphere, where being “poor” is an indulgence for violating every moral rule, every promise, every obligation and every law.

More than that, it was said about the exact people who are, relatively speaking, not poor, rather almost privileged, but are hateful and envious of everyone actually doing useful work, and consider corruption good because in their opinion a bureaucracy worker stealing something entrusted to them is “a respected in the society person collecting rent from their position” or something like that.

The profession of a schoolteacher in Russia pays shit, which is why 3 kinds of people want that - those who are too dumb for other work, those who are idealistic, and those who want to feel that they are important and powerful (power over children) even more than to be paid well.

There are more people of the 2nd kind than you think, but those were of the 3rd undoubtedly. 1st kind is almost extinct - it’s not hard to find a job that pays better, if you don’t want power over children.

I think it’s clear how the 3rd kind intersects with sympathies to sociopathic behavior, and sympathies for corruption and organized crime.

EDIT: Oh, I just realized you thought they were bootlickers and hateful of poor people in this memory of mine. No, they considered that BS to be good for poor people. Basically hateful of capitalism most when it’s many small businesses honestly competing, but thinking oligopoly and state capitalism would be better. They considered me to be on the side of some “rich” people who hurt the poor. While big company owners and such were not, because they are apparently doing lots of charity etc and are respected people. So the “rich” they’d hate would be the “middle class”, not the “boss class”.

Being successful and not talented doesn’t make you talented even if success pays the bills better.

Doesn’t mean Taylor Swift is not talented in her own way, I don’t get what triggered all you guys. It seems sometimes that the expected variety of thought among English speakers is less than among Russian speakers. Where even in the toxic Russian Web people would ask first, you guys go stampeding.

Just like, say, Azerbaijan having oil to bribe politicians and wage war doesn’t mean they have history and culture and Armenia doesn’t. They would very much like to buy history and culture, but they can’t.

Judges are not supposed to work for the majority. They are supposed to work for justice.

Justice in most cases means opposing political power (formal in this case).

Thus they should be selected in some way radically different from how political power is formed.

Sortition is one way, if you don’t want some entrenched faction reproducing itself. Would be better than US too. But still sortition from the pool of qualified people, that is, judges, and not just every random bloke who applies, of course.

I mean, Australians won’t care a lot after Europeans have scraped their continent

OK, where I live the price difference is not the same.

Now, what does it say about you - to pull all this shit out of your imagination without any real reason whatsoever?

Also

That you didn’t and continue to attack anyone who questions your silliness

… is a normal reaction, behave like a moron - receive all kinds of insulting responses. Just admit it and move on.

and you know it will charge your phone at the fastest speed it’s capable of

Are you really advocating for buying an Apple-branded USB-C cable?

That’s not surprising, but if that doesn’t change, things won’t get better.

Objectively, she has a net worth that pisses off quite a few liberals because we tend to think having billions of dollars is millions of people living in abject poverty.

Good that you noticed.

By all objective measures, this woman is a really damn good singer.

There’s no such thing as objectively good singer.

That said, my initial comment didn’t make my opinion any more “objective” than yours - one subjective opinion against another.

The numbers I cited above, taken from Billboard are very objective numbers based on how often songs are bought and streamed. While it’s very subjective for individual viewers (and I agree, she’s not my cup of tea either!), the objective fact is that Swift speaks to a lot of people, and your personal disdain for her doesn’t change that fact one stinkin’ bit.

Disdain? Could you stop whiteknighting please?

It’s a very Salty Rightie thing to do to come in an attack a woman with some serious musical awards and accomplishments and say just because he didn’t like her, she’s no good.

You have a weird mind.

Anyone pulling this crap right now really looks defeated, humiliated, and just plain utterly SAD, a sad sack of a bitter and scorned rightie angry that a pretty girl rejected their Emprah and endorsed the other side.

I don’t live and don’t vote in the USA ; that aside, Trump winning would mean existential risks for part of my family.

Now, what does it say about you - to pull all this shit out of your imagination without any real reason whatsoever?

You don’t want oligarchy and she’s on oligarchy’s side. Please remember what made Trump win the first time.

I don’t expect her to improve things at all. Only compared to what would happen if Trump would win.