I really don't like how everything about being human has to be commercialised nowadays. A good example are the holidays - for many, they've stopped being about togetherness and are about buying mountains of useless shit, for lack of a better word. This Christmas, make your own gifts - don't buy them

History Rhymes: Comparing Today's US and Historical Dictatorships:
Let's start with scapegoats. Every good dictator needs a minority they can blame for all their country's problems to distract from actual problems - Idi Amin had Ugandan Indians, Gaddafi had Americans, Trump has immigrants.

🧵/1

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

How could anyone, anyone with a functioning brain find this acceptable at any level? Russia and their accomplices in 🇨🇳 and 🇰🇵 aren't just waging a war against Ukraine, they're waging it against common human values, rights and dignity.

Donald Trump just called the dictator of Belarus, who regularly imprisons his political opponents and falsifies elections 'highly respected'. Just goes to show that one dictator recognises another.

I've just been thinking that there aren't nearly enough LGBTQ+ villains or general evil-doers in fiction, be it books or film. I would very much like some representation in this character archetype, thank you very much.

I find it so perfectly ironic that an ad for an AI music generator plays right in the middle of Verdi's 'Nabucco', arguably one of the greatest works of music in human history. The absolute nerve to come out and say: 'Nah, a robot can do better.'

I can't recommend Lana Estemirova's book "Please Live: The Chechen Wars, My Mother and Me" enough. An, at times, harrowing account of the Chechen wars, which have been sadly forgotten by most in the West.
Also highly recommend the associated audio version on BBC Radio 4, it's on BBC Sounds.

As someone who enjoys the Olympics, the one thing that's keeping me up at night about #LA2028 is that they'll have Trump (possibly one of his lackeys if he drops dead beforehand) opening them - a person who goes against everything the Olympics stands for.

With just an hour and 30 minutes left until Trump is POTUS - may God help us all in these next 4 years. Let's make sure we learn from the mistakes we're about to see and never repeat them.

What a beautiful sight: churches blanketed in snow ❄️

Did you wake up to snowy weather this morning?

[📸: St Mary's Church, Bures]

President Carter saw what was happening to America and died of cringe.

In all seriousness, may he rest in peace, we thank him for his influential work across every field where he dipped his toes.

This is what's happening over on r/conservative, image from u/shartpants187

Trump would be such a good guy if he used his powers for good, he's the ultimate Loki or Thanos. The man is a master of marketing, could sell radiators in the middle of the Gobi desert, but he uses those skills to fuck around, diplomatically suck off Putin and to (for some reason) invade Greenland.

Politics right now is an absolute disgrace, how is it allowed in so many countries of the world for billionaires, FOREIGN billionaires to influence elections? Mr Musk looks awfully close to funding Reform UK and the German AfD, while being a citizen of neither the UK nor Germany.

We're finally witnessing the end of Assad's rule in Syria, a very nice blow to Russia and to dictators everywhere.

All the big people and companies are jumping ship from Twitter, looks like the old proverb about the captain staying on the sinking ship is coming true - soon Mr Musk will be the only one on Twitter, at this rate.