• 11 Posts
  • 32 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • This was the intent of the inquiries.

    However, I think the title is a bit misleading. I wouldn’t say the research is “buckling”. It’s definitely been a headache, and sure there are some people who would rather not deal with the ever-increasing death threats, but that applies to many areas of research.

    The question is how they’re going to try and stop funding research into this. The research around this is especially important from a national security perspective, because it’s become easier than ever to slide propaganda into social media and news media. If you’ve got enough resources, you can likely sway elections even easier than before.





  • I think it’s largely about control, but on a couple of different levels.

    The people who fund the party, use it as a funnel to regress protections and restrictions so they can concentrate wealth and power and force people into situations that ensure that.

    The people who vote are left in constant fear that they don’t have control over their lives, their futures, and everything is being taken away from them (it’s not true, but it’s easy to manufacture that perspective).

    The politicians leverage this by targeting smaller groups of people, pushing them as a threat, and using it to mobilize votes for nonsensical policies that don’t solve any issues the voters actually face. But it feels like progress. Since 2016, there’s an additional side of this where it’s given some people the audacity to think they can treat people like shit, again because it gives them a sense of being able to control something in their lives, and this is really powerful as a motivator. It doesn’t matter that it works against their entire identity they’ve built up.









  • A few highlights:

    • He still faces felony charges
    • “The deliberations were rife with potential conflicts of interest. Paxton’s career includes six terms in the Texas House and two years in the Senate, serving in the seat that his wife now holds, so he knows many of its members. One was caught up in the articles of impeachment: Sen. Bryan Hughes ( R), accused of helping Paxton exploit his office to aid Paul, who in turn hired a woman with whom Paxton was having an affair. The woman, Laura Olson, later worked for Sen. Donna Campbell ( R).”