Thinkers who are unafraid to say the unorthodox like Slavoj Zizek are correct. People wanted drastic change away from neoliberal politics, and they got exactly what they wanted, but they don’t like the results. Although to be fair, the Democrats has been blocking progressives from being a viable and effective alternative against fascists. The Democratic party would rather lose democracy than lose their economic privileges. I don’t really look up to Noam Chomsky anymore but he said along the lines that the American institution was explicitly founded to protect the capital and keep the ordinary people as far away as possible from actual decision making. I didn’t consider that position until we got to where we are now. Both parties’ first and foremost priority is to protect the wealthy and powerful. Yes, I know the Democrats are still the lesser evil, but they act as good cop pig while the Republicans act as bad cop pig. And we all know what we say about cops, they are there to protect the capital first, not the people, no matter if they are good or bad.

I’m not a fan of Marxist Leninists, but executing scammers like her is something that I gleefully relish.

It’s the experience everywhere. I’m surprised that even in more religious, Muslim-majority Malaysia and Brunei, half of young adults are single. It’s the growth of a well-educated middle class in the rest of the world who know better, as well, than to follow the old tradition of being married for the sake of being married and having kids. And being more well educated means more people are also likely to think twice about marrying. Female empowerment is also one of the contributing factors in birth rate decline. These are all compounding factors not just one.

Literally what happened to our grandparents and parents after World War 2. And then the subsequent generation will grow up in abundant wealth, developing a greedy attitude and cause corruption, resulting in social angst which will be exploited by demagogues. Then a new system emerges which promises a better life, but that system breeds yet another spoiled generation that will cause corruption which yet again causes social upheaval that will be exploited by ambitious individuals.

Rinse and repeat.

Netflix movies are pretty crap for doing these because we ourselves are to blame. I admit I have done this couple of times while watching movie or TV at home.

Or think beyond the next quarter or a year. I think this is a social problem, particularly in the West, of immediacy and instant gratification. Politicians only think of policies that would keep them in power for the next election cycle but not create decades long improvement. Even when I raised the issue of Ireland’s overreliance on US multinationals when I was on Reddit, what I’ve gotten is the usual Irish attitude of “ah be grand” because Trump’s presidency is only four years. That may be the case, but the lasting legacy is what matters. Even as we speak, Ireland hosts one of the GDPR ombudsman, and guess who is the ombudsman, a former Meta employee. Talk about conflict of interest and Ireland not being compromised by American tech bros. We are indeed closest to Boston than to Berlin, which is a shame.

Reality

The Empire Strikes Back is definitely not a kid’s movie in my opinion. The Return of the Jedi is more kiddie because of Ewoks.

Even as a child when I first saw Phantom Menace, I thought it was off. Maybe I would have rated the film lower if it weren’t for the fun pod racing segment and the fight with Darth Maul. I think the Star War prequel trilogy excel more on the editing and choreography of action scenes than actual story telling and drama.

Unpopular opinion for the cinephiles, it would be Stalker by Andrey Tarkovsky for me. It’s overrated and it’s just a bunch of guys talking. I wouldn’t have mind the philosophical talks if it weren’t for the pointless long shots that spanned for minutes. And it is not even clear if there is actually supernatural, or scifi or none of those.

I don’t know, part of believing in religion is doublethink. Many religious will say “just don’t think about it” when presented with contradicting information. That’s why religion encourages suppression of free thinking.

Chinese base is in Philippines with Philippine governments permission!

Really? I thought The Handmaiden’s Tale is inspired from when the theocrats took over Iran and suppressed women’s rights? And depending who you ask, Iranians are not white.

That explains about my work laptop. I swear that I clicked shutdown before I went on two week Christmas holidays!

Okay, this is actually the most unhinged LinkedIn post I have read.

MAGA: Isn’t my citizenship obvious? points at white skin

For every Mandela who won the peace prize, there is Obama, Kissinger, Machado, Amed and even Teddy Roosevelt…

Indian people will tell you that the “Indian dishes” which are popular in the West are not actually Indian. Tikka masala is British-originated for example. Curry is also a specific dish but the word became a catch all term for any Indian food with curry sauce.

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Are you from that part of the world? Are your fishermen being driven away by Chinese navy despite having centuries long friendly relations with Chinese fishermen? Did Philippines allow China to set up base within their maritime shores? Did you guys actually ask Vietnamese and Filipinos apart reading pre-prepared script?