Real quick tangent about this:

I'm firmly of the belief that the reason AI art prospers (and why "modern art" is hated) is simply a profound lack of understanding of art as a means of communication and expression. If your perception of art is simply "mmm look good," without any care for what's being expressed, you're going to be fine with something that can replicate the appearance of art, but not its intent.

When we talk about media literacy, we're not just talking about books. Being able to examine deeper themes and expression is something that can be applied to *any* art form. A culture that is not willing to examine art in any depth is a culture that will make endless apologies for slop. Thinking critically about art is more important now than ever.

As said in the comments, it's also worth mentioning that the reduction of art into is aesthetic (and, by extension, into commodity) is a natural result of capitalism's nature of subsuming, repackaging and marketing any genuinely authentic statement. Spending time with art in a way that privileges deep thought and reflection reduces one's rate of consumption, which reduces sales and profit.

More game bundles for political fundraising:

https://itch.io/b/3484/no-ice-in-minnesota

Based?

This discourse seems to be making the rounds today in various chats so here we go:

It's REALLY easy to fantasize about violent heroism. And it feels REALLY good. However, a lot of you are really starting to fall into this spiral of "killing fascists will end fascism. They deserve to die, they are irredeemable and killing them will prevent further harm."

The obvious issue of fedposting aside (don't be a fucking moron!) most of this is just a revenge fantasy, and violently removing one fascist from a position of power *will not end fascism.* Removing two won't. Removing five won't. Removing ten won't.

I'm not going to say that we shouldn't say these things because "they give fascists a reason to crack down on leftists even harder" because that's not true and they're already doing it. It's risky as a matter of security AND ultimately an unnuanced approach to what's really happening.

Yes - most of the change that has happened in society has been because of violence and not peaceful protests. However, it is absolutely paramount to look at what *kind* of violence was committed. It's not about removing the idols and figureheads, it's about interrupting the flow of resources. It's about damaging property. It's about the means of production. It's about disruption. It's about sabotage.

Fascism is a system and a system is not powered by ten people alone, even if those ten people are calling the shots. It's the Master/slave dialectic - the power of the master is created by and directly relies on the power of the slave. Fascism does not rely on flashy personalities to survive, it uses flashy personalities to recruit. And yes, removing these people from that role would be helpful - if it weren't for the fact that fascism is perfectly happy to drop a failed spokesperson (see: Alex Jones) and have a new face take its place.

I've said this for a while, but I don't take people who are calling for ultra-violent, romanticized revolution seriously. It doesn't matter if this will happen or not, it is not what we actually *need* right now. I do not value you as a leftist if all you're doing is espousing the need for a full reset, instead of focusing on the immediate needs of your friends, family, and community.

Going forward, resiliency is going to be just as important as making fascist's lives difficult. We are already seeing it in many amazing ways with people defending each other from ICE, but it's not just about the ability to violently defend ourselves. It's about the ability to feed each other, the ability to care for each other, and the ability to rely on each other. This isn't just about fascism - this is also about climate change. How much more will your community be fragmented by a really bad storm, and there isn't any federal agency coming to your aid?

I FUCKIN HATE JOB APPS AAAAHHHH

I WANT TO SCREAM AAAHHHH

There is no torture more profound than making an unmedicated ADHD person complete a job app

President Trump says there will be voter ID for the midterm elections whether or not it’s approved by Congress in new Truth Social post

Usually, "Voter ID" means you show your driver's license or government photo ID at the polls. But the new GOP SAVE America Act requires that ID to show that you are a US citizen.

What photo ID also proves that you are a citizen? There are only two options.
1) US Passport
2) "Enhanced" driver's licenses, which are only offered by 5 states: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington State

If you only have a regular driver's license (same thing as Real ID) then the new GOP SAVE Act requires you to also bring your birth certificate or other documents proving US citizenship to the polls in order to vote.

SUMMARY of the new GOP SAVE America Act:

Acceptable Election Day voter ID:

✅U.S. Passport
✅Enhanced driver's license from MI, MN, NY, VT, WA

-OR-

Driver's license / government photo ID + birth certificate...

The SAVE Act would require voter ID to match your birth certificate.

Almost 80% of married women take their spouses name and would be ineligible to vote.

SAVE America Act facts:

🚨 Rural Americans could be forced to drive hours just to vote
🚨 94% of Americans use voter registration methods the bill would block
🚨 140 million Americans don’t have a passport
🚨 69 million married women don't have an updated birth certificate

cops can handle one large protest but not many small protests