Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
In the meantime, those of us who stand for democracy and oppose Trump should embrace the term "patriot".
Burkburnett to the Bronx to Buffalo. Preserve democracy. Patriot. Retired microelectronics engineer. Grandmother. USAF Brat.
542 followers 476 following 4,034 posts
view profile on Bluesky Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
In the meantime, those of us who stand for democracy and oppose Trump should embrace the term "patriot".
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Do we know that
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
ΠΠ΅ΠΌΠ½ΠΎΠΆΠΊΠΎ. I studied again recently, planning to go back. Then pandemic. Then war.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Yep. Spoke passable Russian at the time, too. 3 week trip. Long story how it came about, but I joined a camping-driving tour.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm on blocklists as anti-trans, "Zionist", "shitlib", "reactionary", and for having "patriot" in my bio. And for some of my follows - yep, I'm evul just for following people (said people being never-Trumpers mostly)
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Reading this - he helped this woman then was travelling again when he got hit from behind. So the reason to bring up that he helped that woman was - - what? It's not even like he was hit from behind because he was stopped and that's why he was stopped. It's just gratuitous information.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
The part where he was hit from behind - maybe. The part where he was stopped because he wanted to help a woman being abused in a domestic violence incident - um, I'm gonna say nah.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
One of my most cherished childhood memories was me and cuz's catching river trout in Wisconsin. There were so many we threw them into buckets. Took them home, my aunt taught us how to clean them (YUK!). We were rewarded at dinner with fried trout filets piled up on the platter with more coming.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Heh. It only gets worse.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I had loaded my car and was just just had gotten underway on a cross country trip from NYC to Palo Alto CA. Not six weeks since I returned from a trip to the Soviet Union.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I recall when I got my ASUS router's firmware updated, by connecting by laptop to the modem directly through a LAN cable, downloading the file, unzipping it, and placing the .exe in the correct path. It felt like:
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
(how did Libya get into this?)
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
But what were the current *recommendations* for public health, is the question. Consensus on the science takes some time after studies are published (I'm published myself, in a different field), let alone public policy. I remember the precipitous shift, from verboten to "OK for protests".
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
"typical social post exaggeration" is kind how - MAGA - excuses what Trump spouts π€¨
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
And it's even worse than that - journalists in plainly marked vests were killed because they entered the scene after a bombing and the exact same place was bombed again - a double-tap strike. Which they are, astonishingly - trying to pass off as maybe a mistake. Doing it twice. A mistake.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Yep. A textbook example of proportionality is a hospital with a sniper posted on the roof. Bombing a hospital to eliminate a single sniper would be a war crime. But the IDF blithely tells us "we had to do it Hamas had a *camera* there!" www.cnn.com/2025/08/26/m...
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Well, read back in the thread - most people vote on impression, not policy. We Dems need to understand that, if we care about any policy.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Is that account possibly a parody? I think the left's tendency to authoritarianism is more in terms of enforcement of their ideals. Rather than an attraction to central power by a ruler or ruling class.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
It's about integrity of advice by experts (public health experts in this case) and public trust. Not about what the right does, esp. re covid which was insane.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
The right was already doing that. Like in the Michigan state house. *Before* George Floyd was murdered. Tom isn't claiming protest and resistance from the right against covid restrictions was because of how health experts OK'd George Floyd protests.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Tom's basic point is how public health experts were *at the time* advising against any large gathering. Outdoors too. But, come the George Floyd protests, the advice changed explicitly because it was for a cause they supported. That hurt their credibility, and faith in experts in general.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I agree with you But in real life I've had my fill of how people read the DSM-IV and run around diagnosing everyone they don't like with this or that personality disorder So I'm a little reticent about exactly what is wrong with the man. Other than "disordered and dangerous"
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
This is about what public health experts were saying at the time. None were saying Sturgis was OK.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Well yeah, by comparison. And we voted between the two (basically).
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Not at that time
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
But Sturgis was an exception, causing a lot of controversy. Then the public health experts turn right around when it's about police brutality not about motorcycles.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
And that did create a lot of infections including deaths in that region. Though later that is thought to be from the indoor gatherings in bars, etc.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Or the urban canyons of Manhattan ...
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Yeah. As long as we don't confuse our suspicions with what's factually known. Especially where it my coincide with wishful thinking.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
They still show restraint regarding Trump. Specifically citing that they haven't examined him professionally. So, yes.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
(her mask is down around her neck ...) (he's got a *dust mask* on ...) (next row back it's over the mouth and not the nose ...)
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
"To a some small extent, others" ??! That was everyone they come home to, come in contact with in their lives the next several days. Masking was made political by the opponents who appeared almost immediately in 2020. This reversal regarding street protest just confirmed that from the left.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
The difference in dispersal making a huge difference in infection - was not understood **at the time**. This rationale came later. I remember this. It went from closed beaches to massive street protests in the space of a week.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
No. "SJW's" don't threaten families and the like. They were explicit (read the article) about the *benefit* of standing up against racism (not even of protest in general) vs. the cost of covid. I recall this clearly as a jarring reversal. And I'm generally sympathetic to BLM.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
That wasn't understood *at the time* though. The guidance turned right around about public gatherings, explicitly because of the "importance of the demonstrations".
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
hat does not go to the point of ethnic cleansing from Gaza. And I think for myself thankyouverymuch. "They" aren't lying to me.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
So lets just all make up words and shift meanings and stop communicating?
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
So you'd like to say that the IDF is undercounting, when they'd be doing so against their interests. When they're even denying famine. Because it suits your point. Such generous credulity.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
At the least, Hamas government members are counted as if they're military. Finally- Palestinian losses are so huge, it's just plain ghoulish to quibble over this.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
So you're saying that the IDF doesn't have good intelligence (let alone the issue of IDF credibility). Since *Israeli hostages* have been mistaken for Hamas and killed, plus these assumptions the numbers are large, I suspect (not a claim) that all military aged males are taken as Hamas.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Amnesty was founded to put international pressure on those nations holding political prisoners. One it became another human rights organization,it lost its effectiveness.
Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) reposted
China didnβt take it. America gave it away.
Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social) reposted
"So that you will learn by experience that I do not tolerate interference, I will now detonate the nuclear warheads in the two missile silos. Let this action be a lesson that need not be repeated." AI has always haunted our nightmares. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I knew members of Amnesty, and considered joining. Problem was - they got into issues that aren't their core mission (Israel-Palestine, immigration).
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
And let's go back to 1948 - there is a history to this.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Actions taken (and not taken, allowing settlers to do their work) in the West Bank go to showing intent as well.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
"Ethnic cleansing", BTW, does not require that *all* members of an ethnic group be displaced. It's the crime of a nation or group with more power, deciding they want some land and depopulating that land would suit their interests.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
In the West Bank they are being displaced. And in Israel proper they are also Palestinians.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
All this goes to ethnic cleansing vs genocide. Including your reference to "OTHER countries".
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Palestinians are also being displaced in the West Bank. They're letting a different process happen there, but that is what it is. In Gaza, the intent to displace Palestinians has become explicit.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Yep! And we end up not actually talking about the situation's horrors.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
"Terrorist"
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
War crime. Which we aren't talking about very well because every damn convo that touches this devolves into "is it genocide".
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Source? Because I strongly suspect that any military-aged male in Hamas is counted as Hamas.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
*ETHNIC
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
But noooo - you think your pro-Palestinian bona fides are cemented if you run around saying GENOCIDE GENOCIDE GENOCIDE and you can't even talk about what is happening. I searched your posts for "West Bank" - nada.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
No he's making a point. Gaza is a war zone. Palestinians elsewhere, aren't subject to the actions taken in Gaza. On the other hand, if you *really cared* about Palestinians, you'd be talking about actions in the West Bank to displace Palestinians and understand that it's all about ETHIC CLEANSING.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Read it again. Maybe think. If every willfully caused death is "evidence of genocide" - every war will involve genocide.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
So here's an idea to quit arguing semantics: stop using words where they don't apply.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Uh oh
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Handsome
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I dunno. At best it's "we've destroyed your home and neighborhood hospitals schools and killed your relatives and here's s check". Erhic cleansing doesn't necessarily mean displacement to annihilation. Even the Trail of Tears wasn't that (though it was close).
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Maybe not about hate, maybe it's about recognizing and refusing to participate in quixotic "pay attention to us else we won't vote for you we'll let the worse guy win" campaigns.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
It's catastrophic. Palestinians aren't going to simply dissappear into other countries, as their pursuers hope.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Military members stateside too, many of whom maintain a single permanent address as they frequently move. For my parents, it was Pima county Arizona.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Absentee ballots used to be the GOP's favorites. From military and older voters.
Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) reposted
Exactly. Whatever the problem is - and every state, red and blue, has plenty of problems - dictatorship is not the answer.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I was in Jr. high, and I was glued to TOS.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
"you're soaking in it"
Dan Nexon (@dhnexon.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
There are things we can influence, of course. Most of what we can do right now is prepare, especially for participation in collective mobilization against the regime β and here I mean everything from becoming involved in local politics and civil society to learning the tactics of mass protest.
Dan Nexon (@dhnexon.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
We have a decades of scholarship on how pro-democracy forces win in competitive authoritarian systems: they form a united opposition that brings together people with otherwise profound political disagreements.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
π€£ great choice for the soundtrack
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Trump says it's about drug cartels. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/u...
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
And our media isn't covering this. At all.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Uh - if that's a real warrant he has to show it. Those ICE guys were bs.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
He definitely should have doubled down on the carry guns in war thing, definitely a soldier can meaningfully carry a gun during war but outside a war zone. Guard duty for instance.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Congrats!
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Yeah - Walz is "tainted" by just having run and lost. It's maybe unfair but that's the way it is. Newsome comes off as a smooth Kennedyesque pol. I like what he does - he's great as CA governor but please lets not run the guy or gal that's done splashy resistance stuff.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Watching him. He might be That Guy. (it's not Newsom)
reginaldedward3 (@reginaldedward3.bsky.social) reposted
As a veteran, I have a major hard spot with giving military honors to a seditionist that was killed while attacking the US Congress and the Constitution she once swore to protect and defend.
reginaldedward3 (@reginaldedward3.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
As an I sir. 23 years of military service to support an ideal of defending my country from people that attacks our Constitution. Babbit was a seditionist that died while attacking the US Congress that was carrying out their constitutionally mandated duty. She's not deserving of any military honors.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Glad Dad didn't live to see this. I've been saying that on many occasions especially since Helsinki.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
π Wordle 1,533 2/6 π©π¨β¬π©β¬ π©π©π©π©π©
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Yep. The world took that second look at Trump and what he does, and notes it's not a passing anomaly, and is moving on without ut. America is on the decline.
reginaldedward3 (@reginaldedward3.bsky.social) reposted
What's concerning is that as Trump continues with plans to alienate the US from its friends and allies, Putin is working to cultivate more alliances. We're on the descent and Russia is on the rise
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Not completely πββοΈ
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I've seen it in my professional life, heck we've all seen it in the schoolyard. It's a visceral thing about people that we Dems ignore at our peril.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
It's an attraction to a strong confident manner and style. People sense that if someone is confident he must be successful and Trump is apparently rich (yes I know his bankruptcies etc. but I'm talking impression he's a lot more successful than 99% of his voters)
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I think that after the debate, where are big difference in cognitive ability was also very apparent, it was a done deal.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
I see what you're saying, but Trump isn't just louder. He's confident in his manner and speech. (Yes I realize that's partly because he confidently *lies*, but still confidence is what he projects). In our personal lives people see how elders age physically at different rates, too.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
Some of them. Regarding the rest - you can hate on every Trump voter or you can win.
Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) reposted
Question: Why did US put big tariffs on India despite major national interest in cultivating a strategic counterweight to China and trying to isolate Russia? Answer: Because the US president lied that he fixed India-Pakistan and India wouldnβt go along with the lie. (Seriously, thatβs the answer)
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
.. and by "lucked out" I mean we *apparently* don't see what a lot of voters see when they look at a candidate. They want a LEADER that looks like one to them. While us Dems are picking over statements and policy positions, and some of us (you?) nibble over whether this or that checks a box.
Alagai πΊπ²πΊπ¦ (@alagai.bsky.social) reply parent
.. while Trump, while showing deficits due to age, speaks confidently and holds himself in a confident way. That says "leader" to a lot of people. And if we Dems don't see that, we're handicapped in winning the presidency back. We lucked out with Obama - he has charisma, many GOP voted for him...