America & the World V: DOGE Business

[Hirst]

T

I blame that Bond film where the native women swooned over Connery's hairy chest

To be fair though, they could just adopt that totally convincing Japanese man disguise he did in the film and immediately assimilate into society.

[Neon Ignition]

It's amazing how uncomfortable that film can make the viewer

[Asura]

I blame that Bond film where the native women swooned over Connery's hairy chest

It's also specifically infamous for something else - the myth that sake is to be drank at an exact perfect temperature.

For those unaware, this is false. Sake comes in many varieties and can be drank in many different ways. It is often drank heated but there's no perfect temperature.

[Neon Ignition]

Embedded Tweet

Republicans go into civil war with each other as the far right of the party throws a hissy fit and successfully manages to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the first time in American history that this has been accomplished. By ousting one of their own America now enters a 45 day window before the Government enters financial shutdown unless a new Speaker can be appointed and overcome the hurdles that led to McCarthy's downfall. The act of self-sabotage has led to calls within the party for Gaetz, the one who started the motion, to be expelled from the party and a path that could cause deep damage to both the party and their voter base supporting them in the upcoming election.

A move that not even Trump can make sense of especially as McCarthy is a Trump supporter and the party is supposed to be closing in on Trump being their nominee again:

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[charlesr]

Politics in both UK and USA is hilarious right now

[Wools]

This isn't you btw Wools because the fact you even use the word "fantasise" means you understand that, on some level, this is a fantasy. But the number of people who don't know that, who you run into, is kinda frightening.

Japan, in reality, is a country of contradictions and you can't just map the western left/right wing model of political discourse onto Japanese life.

Not at all, knew it wasn't aimed at me. Well, I hoped!

Yeah, it's very much a fantasy. When lockdown happened, I started watching loads of travel videos on YouTube and got hooked on various Japanese focused YouTubers. I loved seeing the world when we were locked down and as Japan is so exotic to me, it felt like a window into another world.

And as you only ever hear about your own countries problems in a macro lens, it makes you think your own country is ****. But occasionally you see behind the looking glass and that promised land begins to look as ****ed as your own country, just in different ways. I continue to adore Japan but its problems are just as bad as the UK's and in some ways, it's very much less forward thinking than the UK.

[Asura]

I continue to adore Japan but its problems are just as bad as the UK's and in some ways, it's very much less forward thinking than the UK.

Japan's a great place, but racism is a huge problem there. It's just not seen as such because so few people in Japan are non-Japanese, and among those that are, the bulk of those people are Korean and Chinese.

But even during my time there, there was this awful racist periodical sold at the convenience stores that was filled with caricatures of westerners, blaming non-Japanese for all of Japan's crime. Suggesting things I feel dirty even typing; comparing men of colour to horny gorillas and with spy-photos of mixed-race couples in public, labeled "hey barbarian, keep your hands off of our women!". And this was circulated in normal shops, like the equivalent of WHSmiths.

Everywhere has problems.

[Neon Ignition]

X, formerly Twitter, strips headlines from news story links to improve their look | X (formerly known as Twitter) | The Guardian


More changes for X which continue despite...

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/elon-musks-x-is-black-hole-value-2023-10-03/

The social media platform having been bought for $44bn, having $15bn in debts and thanks to Musk is now valued somewhere in the region of $8bn and falling

[Asura]

The social media platform having been bought for $44bn, having $15bn in debts and thanks to Musk is now valued somewhere in the region of $8bn and falling

I saw a rumour his financial backers want to remove him from running Twitter.

[Colin]

It's mind boggling how people like Musk manage to build astronomical wealth yet they're clearly ****ing idiots.

[fishbowlhead]

X, formerly Twitter, strips headlines from news story links to improve their look | X (formerly known as Twitter) | The Guardian


More changes for X which continue despite...

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/elon-musks-x-is-black-hole-value-2023-10-03/

The social media platform having been bought for $44bn, having $15bn in debts and thanks to Musk is now valued somewhere in the region of $8bn and falling

Good, I’m glad it’s absolutely nonsense valuation has fallen through the floor, it’s probably not even worth anywhere near 8b either.

[Lebowski]

He paid too much for it in the first place which accounts for it dropping in value a bit but for it now to be worth 8 billion with debts of 14 billion is crazy.

like someone else said it dose feel now like it must be some sort of modern day Brewster's millions type game for him. hes won a bit to well as twitter is now worth minus 6 billion when you take its debts into account. hes paying interest payments of $300 million per quarter on that debt so hes loosing a **** ton of money on interest alone.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/05/elon-musk-investigation-securities-fraud-twitter-takeover

Musk is now under investigation for his purchase of Twitter

Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions committed while in office, lawyers argue | US crime | The Guardian
Trump's lawyers push for Trumps 2016-2020 crimes to be dismissed under immunity as President. The pursuit is a dangerous one for Republicans and right wing Senators though as backing him would mean granting full immunity to Biden and future Democrat Presidents also.

Trump given seven days to submit list of firms that will lose New York business licenses | Donald Trump | The Guardian
The Judge in Trump's current civil case has ruled that he has 7 days to submit the list of businesses that will lose their license to operate via New York. Trump himself will also lose his license severely limiting his ability to do business at all.

[MartyG]

Pretty sure attempting to overthrow the democratic process of electing a president isn't covered by the immunity of being president. I suspect that legal argument has as many legs as an ant being bullied by a school kid with a magnifying glass in the bright sunshine.

[Lebowski]

I am above the law and above question, is how a dictatorship is run.