I don’t see this as the USA turning into China. China has many problematic aspects, and being an immigrant or an LGBTQ+ person in China is probably not fun, but China at this point is less stupid and understands competitiveness. China would not defund all its science overnight, hamstring its technology and trash its whole economy with tariffs on goods it cannot produce domestically, withdraw vaccines in the face of new epidemics, and cancel sustainable energy projects and funding while denying climate science. The new US Government is just shooting the country in the foot again and again.

Which one to trust more is at least debatable. In the end, neither can be trusted.

The Democratic Party seems to suffer from the same problem. They’re unable to see what’s actually taking place here. It’s like all the people who thought they could persuade Mr. Hitler to see reason and act responsibly.

Ah, but those “intelligent” people cannot be very intelligent if they are not billionaires. After all, the AI companies know exactly how to assess intelligence:

Microsoft and OpenAI have a very specific, internal definition of artificial general intelligence (AGI) based on the startup’s profits, according to a new report from The Information. … The two companies reportedly signed an agreement last year stating OpenAI has only achieved AGI when it develops AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits. That’s far from the rigorous technical and philosophical definition of AGI many expect. (Source)

So for some reason the US Government considers enemies of fascism to be enemies of the US Government. Why could that be, I wonder?

How pathetic is it to respond to political difficulties by ramping up your persecution of trans people? I can’t think of a lower move, except perhaps supporting any politician who does this.

Don’t upvote the Daily Mail. It was a fascist paper in the 1930s and it has continued to spread bigotry, hatred and lies for decades.

Homan said several of those apprehended had been convicted of crimes including murder and sex crimes.

“Several” means nothing, and they’re just saying this to associate the arrestees with violent crime in people’s minds.

Then it’s potentially anyone who doesn’t go along with fascism.

It’s not stupidity when Nazis declare antifascists to be terrorists.

No. Those are very fine people.

Linux as your main OS with a Windows VM for work is a pretty decent arrangement. Windows works without activation so you don’t have to pay MS anything.

Trudeau has had many policies, just not necessarily as many as he promised or the ones you want. Poilievre has always just been a time waster, with only complaints and no ideas of his own. His trick is to be that guy who tells everyone else they’re doing things wrong, without ever explaining how he would do them right. Poilievre simply avoids doing serious politics.

They’ll build camps and “deport” immigrants, political opponents and anyone they don’t like (LGBTQ+ people are rightly worried) to the camps. We have to be aware that “deport” can very easily become a euphemism with fascists.

“The rich have got a choice,” he says. “They can lend the money to the government or they can buy the assets. I know what I’m doing.”

“OK, what’s that?” I ask, trepidatiously, knowing the answer.

“I’m buying the assets. Stocks, gold, commodities, property, everything. The rich have got a lot of money, they can buy everything. The government has got to compete with that. They can’t. They’re trying to play chess with no pieces.”

This doesn’t sound like the activity of a leftist. But it’s an interesting question, to what extent you can play the capitalist game while still claiming to be a leftist? When are you undermining from within and when have you just gone over to the other side, no matter how you conceive of yourself?

Trump doesn’t understand the notion of soft power. All he understands is grandstanding and conflict.

Erm, embarrassingly older.

I believe it’s called the “master race”.

Your taxes, straight into the pockets of Sam Altman and Larry Ellison.

CBC should not be as beholden to capital as commercial news is, which is why this is particularly disappointing and also why the Conservatives promise to destroy it.