For reading, digital. I can have access to a functionally unlimited number of books. They also tend to be less expensive. That makes a difference for media like manga where it racks up pretty quickly. And I can make adjustments to the text and lighting that help with readability.
I still like having some books around as decoration. They bring a room together nicely.
I wonder if this will still be true for Democrats when the shoe is on the other foot. They were held together by Pelosi's skilled hand for twelve years. I think the fundamentals are strong for the Democrats. They care a lot about good governance principles. Ultimately, I think that will keep everyone on the same page. I don't see any part of the party willing to rock the boat.
Where I am starting to get worried is with the national debt. The US, China, and many other governments are going to run into both debt issues and an aging population. That will force a reckoning at some point on entitlement spending, which is very popular.
That's going to have to be part of it, but it can't be all of it. There isn't enough money in the upper class to take care of all of the debt, and at a certain level of taxation they will just move. I will speak in favor of increasing taxes on around pretty much every individual making over 100k or couple making over 200k. For a single person working 40 hours a week in the US, that is the 77th percentile. My husband and I are in this position and I think starting the additional tax burden with us would be fair.
I don't see raising taxes much below us as being very productive, and those "flat tax" people can fuck right off. That group is already paying money into entitlements so the oft repeated statement that half of households pay no income tax is misleading. They're really struggling right now, so I just don't see an increase in taxes as productive.
But there are a whole lot of people who have decided to excuse everything Hamas does and cast everything Israel does in the worst light possible. That's what I personally have a problem with. Hamas and its sponsors are despicable excuses for human beings who put slaughter Israeli civilians and put Palestinian civilians in harm's way. That needs to be fully acknowledged. At the same time, I see a lot of people in the US who are ignorant of the failure of leadership in Israel. They place all blame on Palestinians without realizing that Israel's leadership has played a role in sabotaging peace talks.
That's not what I'm saying. I hold the Israeli government and Hamas to both be responsible in this conflict. I don't see judging who is more responsible as that productive of an exercise. More Palestinian civilians have died, but that's because Hamas actively put them in harm's way. What would you ask Israel to do, given that 1,400 of their citizens died on 10/7 and hundreds more remain hostages?
Israel's position previous to 10/7 was that they would just leave Gaza as an open air prison with Hamas in charge, though they would never like it framed that way. After 10/7, that changed. Hamas is clearly more of a threat than they envisioned and has to be exterminated.
Given that this is the general air inside of Israel, what should happen? I'm not sure they can really even back off at this point, given how far Hamas went. Unfortunately, smarter people than me don't have good answers. Part of the problem is a failure of leadership on both sides. Bibi apparently did his best back in the day to essentially legitimize Hamas while cutting the PLA out of the peace process, purposefully splitting the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Palestinian leadership is a mix of corrupt, weak, and uninspiring. Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve a new generation of better leaders, but I haven't heard of any.
Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation of the Russia-Germany pipeline, say people familiar with the planning.
Yeah, that was my intuition. The US has a lot of other levers to get its way, chiefly by diplomacy and leading the way in weapons donations. It would be devastating if the US was found out to have done this. A few people in Ukraine's military just makes more sense, particularly if they don't have any connection to high ranking leaders.
Based on what information? A bunch of people on Lemmy have tried to peg this on the US especially but with no evidence. Assumptions are apparently a sufficient stand-in when fingers are pointed at the US.
By the time this election rolled around, Moms for Liberty seemed to have already realized their brand had become poisonous. As the Daily Beast reported, “In 2021, Moms for Liberty claimed credit for 33 seats in Bucks County,” but in this election cycle, the group “endorsed only a single candidate in the county.” The...
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has beaten his Republican challenger. Beshear is a blue governor in a red state, and the race saw national politics as a primary issue.
And legislatures are far easier to rig than the governor's race. Just toss some gerrymandering in there and away you go. Governors are typical a single statewide election, so they cannot be gerrymandered.
Two members of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing activist group, have reported several Florida school librarians to law enforcement. They claimed they had evidence that librarians were distributing "pornography" to minors and requested that law enforcement officers be dispatched. This represents a serious escalation of the tactics...
Israel’s military has claimed it has encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two, as Gaza came under its third total communications outage since the start of the war....
That's the population of urban areas only. The population of Gaza Strip is a little over 2 million. Obviously that doesn't make the casualties any better, but I always like to work with accurate facts.
One issue the IDF has been working with for a while is the sheer amount of tunneling by Hamas. There is dense housing right on top of the tunnels. Destroying the tunnels can lead to the above buildings collapsing, as well as the damage caused by any explosives.
Will they annex and depopulate Gaza? I hope not. That's just going to create another generation of fighters itching for revenge. Grievances outlast Hamas, and they will likely find a form. That said, maybe a single state solution will be the best form of government, as long as Palestinians, Jewish Israelis, and other groups are guaranteed equal rights. The half-ass "two state" attempt right now isn't working.
"I could solve the Ukraine-Russia war! All I need to do is force Ukraine to cede any territory that Russia claims, even if Russia doesn't occupy it. Putin surely will not come back for more after that!"
A class at a university is peanuts to someone like Clinton. She's already written multiple books. The speaking circuit pays millions for keynote speeches from people like Clinton. This whole "the Clinton's are just after money" only feeds the right wing hate machine.
Do you prefer digital or physical books?
Meet Mr. Alan Roger from the Tolga Bat Hospital in Queensland, Australia. The sweater prevents him from licking a healing wound. (lemmy.world)
To learn more about the Tolga Bat Hospital, check out their site.
Johnson Needs Democrats to Avoid a Shutdown, Just Like McCarthy (nymag.com)
Hamas terrorists fire anti-tank missile at IDF troops from Gaza hospital entrance (www.ynetnews.com)
The Supreme Court says it is adopting a code of ethics for the first time (apnews.com)
Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack (www.washingtonpost.com)
Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation of the Russia-Germany pipeline, say people familiar with the planning.
"I'm so tired of these psychos": Parents in a Pennsylvania swing district toss out Moms for Liberty (www.salon.com)
By the time this election rolled around, Moms for Liberty seemed to have already realized their brand had become poisonous. As the Daily Beast reported, “In 2021, Moms for Liberty claimed credit for 33 seats in Bucks County,” but in this election cycle, the group “endorsed only a single candidate in the county.” The...
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has won reelection (www.npr.org)
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has beaten his Republican challenger. Beshear is a blue governor in a red state, and the race saw national politics as a primary issue.
Moms for Liberty members call the cops on Florida librarians (popular.info)
Two members of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing activist group, have reported several Florida school librarians to law enforcement. They claimed they had evidence that librarians were distributing "pornography" to minors and requested that law enforcement officers be dispatched. This represents a serious escalation of the tactics...
Israel’s military claims it has cut Gaza in half, surrounded Gaza City (www.aljazeera.com)
Israel’s military has claimed it has encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two, as Gaza came under its third total communications outage since the start of the war....
Trump: Millions Would Be Alive if 2020 Vote 'Wasn't Rigged' (www.mediaite.com)
Get on my mindset grindset, peasants. (sh.itjust.works)
Students walk out of Hillary Clinton’s class to protest Columbia ‘shaming’ pro-Palestinian demonstrators (www.theguardian.com)