I'm far too aware that the level of action I'm willing to take and the level of action it would take for one individual to change the course of nations are too far apart for anything but for my mood to change with the winds of the times, despair or hope as massive demographics drive them. On some level, I think, I would prefer to be clueless to that.

But I can't be. Some fuckers taught me how to read and write and shit, and now I'm cursed with literacy and awareness. I fucking hate it.

Unfortunately, we're also fucked by this.

Of course, it's how one asserts dominance over the other player

Do they really have absolutely nothing to show?

They don't want to find out. The backers are coming into office in two months' time.

On the upside, my grocery bill is way down.

All of my interests relate back to political and philosophical thought in some way. Closing my eyes won't help. It's not the barrage of stupidity that's killing me, though that is aggravating. It's the hopelessness, and that returns as long as the matter is considered, whether there's news to go with it or not.

The point being that you don't even understand that the DoD doesn't pick its own targets? Fuck's sake.

I've lost 30 pounds since the start of this year. I should recommend stress as the hip new weight-loss diet.

Anger has kept one foot going in front of the other at many points in my life. It can't run on nothing. It can't burn infinitely.

Funny enough, the ascension of Augustus and the Empire replacing the Republic led to a temporary reversal of that concentration of wealth because of his reliance on professional soldiery, rather than the political support of the aristocracy, to maintain his position. Not that I expect anything so even incidentally fortuitous to happen in our current situation.

But yeah, you're right about all the rest.

Not even the mercy of knowing most of the country is against him. Most of the country that gives a shit supports him.

Anger is like fire. It burns hot, but it needs fuel, and leaves behind nothing but ash.

I've been angry for a long, long time. Now I feel tired and broken. Nothing left but the occasional ember in the cinders.

I'll recover, I'm sure. But not today. And probably not tomorrow. Probably not for a while.

Explanation: Octavianus, later known as Augustus, was the first Emperor of Rome. The position was not actual formalized as such - rather, Augustus, through a mixture of lawful and unlawful means, took all meaningful power into his own hands, ensuring the Roman people would never have to worry about having a legal avenue for government decision-making ever again.

This has no relevance to current events, and I don't currently feel like a burned-out husk ready to crumble into ash.

Average American political literacy.

It would be really awful if Trump voters were dragged and demonized in public.

“I just want you to think about what the alternative was,” said Abbas, referring to the current administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon. He added, “What did you expect from myself or many members of the community to do?”

"Think of what the alternative is" is exactly what we were saying.

People are stupid. And because of that, we'll suffer an incredible amount of harm that very easily could have been avoided.

IMPERIVM SINE FINE

Oh hey look, there's the ultraconservative Sulla, why does he have his entire army with him?

Doesn't matter, though. The US's leverage in restricting weapons is the relationship with Ukraine and continued supply of aid. With Trump in office, both are nonexistent; there's little reason for Ukraine to comply with any US restrictions going forward from that point.

People get paid for moderating?