Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

@Background Pony #0847
No, it’s real. Check out the Unification Church.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Myung_Moon

@NitroFury
Between this and both Italy and Sweden electing fascists I beginning to think Europe will be more of a shithole continent than Africa and Asia in the next decade or two. And this coming from a yank surrounded by hillbilly trash in a shithole country.

@Violet Rose in The Rain
That this happened as anti-communist Italy ensured gay marriage remains illegal for the next few years by putting fascists in government is cathartic for leftists.

@SleepySteve
I imagine, by the end of this decade, New Zealand and Chile will be the last remaining democracies.

Also, to me, the entire straight white male demographic is experiencing a collective loss aversion.

Kazakhstan is saying it won’t recognize the Eastern Ukraine referendums on whether they are Ukraine or Russia.

Their stance is basically that Ukraine is Ukraine.

I wouldn’t be so sure. Boric could collapse if he isn’t able to get constitutional reform through and New Zealand is taking an anti-immigrant turn even under its center-left government.

@Dustcan
That’s basically the stance of pretty much every CIS/CSTO member along with non-West backing governments in Asia (save North Korea and Syria which are explicitly backing Russia on the issue), Africa and Latin America. Say Ukraine is still Ukraine while not explicitly taking a stance and remaining neutral. ‘Cause it’s not like they have anything of interest in white man’s land (yes most of them voted in the UN to call Russia to end of the war, but that does not translate to support for Ukraine unless you believe in George W. Bush thought of foreign policy).

AZ Senate candidate Blake Masters tweeted a Rosh Hashanah message (Masters isn’t Jewish) and his supporters are attacking it and tweeting Nazi/white supremacist memes. That alone should make him reflect.

@Dustcan
Kazakhstan knows they’re high on the list of places Russia would suddenly find an “oppressed ethnic Rusian minority” that needs saving (and is very coincidentally right on top of a wealth of natural resources or similar strategic economic asset).

@The Smiling Pony
Russia fighting a war on two fronts would not go well for them

@neutralgrey
Oh, they wouldn’t try it now. But had they succeeded as planned with Ukraine, you could bet your lunch money suddenly there’d be news stories about “oppressed russians” in the Baltics, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and hell why not, even Alaska.

@The Smiling Pony
At the rate they’re losing men and not being able to mobilize enough for another assault, they may be incapable of launching another conflict for years if not decades to come. Might as well follow Japan’s example and convert the army into a “defense force” while letting India or Iran take over from there.

A blockbuster poll from Oklahoma shows a tight race between incumbent GOP governor Kevin Stitt and Democrat Joy Hofmeister, with Stitt leading only 47% to 44%.

The fact that the Georgia governor’s race doesn’t look that close despite being a more diverse state speaks to how bad Abrams is as a candidate. You know you’re fucked when you have to resort to mailing cringe Star Trek parody flyers.

@NitroFury
That blatant swastika makes people question whether FSB had something to do with it. It’s possible that Russia has simply created an opportunity to blame “nazi” Ukrainians.

@Background Pony #1D40
I wouldn’t be so sure. Even though Nazi insignia is illegal to display in Russia, Russian Nazis are a thing (even if said ideology hates them) and have carried out terrorism there before displaying such symbols.

@SleepySteve
Of course it’s also possible that it was an actual nazi attack. But you have to admit that it’s a suspicious coincidence regarding the timing and the anti-Ukrainian “ukronazi” rhetoric.

In other news, Melitopol residents are reportedly being forced to vote in the “referendum” on behalf of absent people.

Source: https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1574414223693828096

The referendum in Cuba to legalize gay marriage yesterday had 74% turnout. How embarrassing it must be for Italy that a communist state looked more democratic than an actual democracy.

I noticed gas prices are going up again.

@NitroFury
Powell being Powell. UK committing economic hara-kiri doesn’t help.

Won’t last. Those price jumps are from baked in purchases from late early September when oil prices jumped suddenly on the suspicion of an OPEC supply reduction, hitting as high as a 105 per barrel.

But since then oil has slid spectacularly. As of right now it’s sitting around 83.4 per barrel.

Hillary Clinton had this to say about newly-elected fascist Italian PM earlier this month: “The election of the first woman prime minister in a country always represents a break with the past, and that is certainly a good thing.”

I dunno about that. But then again this is what corporate feminism leads to.

Russia has granted Edward Snowden, who set off the global debate over mass surveillance and privacy rights by exposing the NSA’s surveillance program, Russian citizenship, just ‘cause. I guess since the draft isn’t going so well they’re going to try to draft him instead?

Here’s a scathing indictment of the new UK budget.

Well considering Russia doesn’t have a 2nd amendment you have to wonder how he got a gun also.

@lonewolf
Gun control has actually gotten quite lax since the fall of the Soviet Union, especially over the past decade. There were talks of passing new laws to tighten it back last year after another school shooting occured, but I’m not sure if those went anywhere.

Long arms are readily available for members of the “hunting clubs”. Manually operated shotguns after background and psychiatric check, semi-automatic and rifled long arms after being a member in good standing for 5 years. Fees are cheapish. A lot of guys in those clubs are recreational shooters - an activity that is referred to as “hunting wild cans and bottles”.

Because there are more than enough shooters even people not in those clubs often know where they can borrow, steal, or illegaly buy a long arm.

@lonewolf
Not having 2A doesn’t mean guns are completely banned. In most countries there are legal ways to own a gun. Of course, there are also illegal ways to buy, steal or build a gun. And the third possibility is that he was given a gun.

I said before that Florida residents should be angry with DeSantis for spending $12300 per migrant More than you make in a year on minimum wage by the way. Even before taxes! on a publicity stunt that backfired instead of on the state.

Well, with Hurricane Ian growing more and more in size they now have even more reason as there’s now a lot of residents who would be very grateful for a trip out of state in the next couple days…