balooga's recent activity
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Comment on Amazon’s promotion of ‘Melania’ has critics questioning its motives (Amazon has spent 35M on marketing on top of its 40M budget) in ~movies
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Comment on Amazon’s promotion of ‘Melania’ has critics questioning its motives (Amazon has spent 35M on marketing on top of its 40M budget) in ~movies
balooga LinkThe Rotten Tomatoes page ought to be a fun watch over the next few days 🍿The Rotten Tomatoes page ought to be a fun watch over the next few days 🍿
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 26 in ~society
balooga Link ParentThat picture at the top of the article, with the thug hiding his face behind a scarf with a skull on it…That picture at the top of the article, with the thug hiding his face behind a scarf with a skull on it…
Have you looked at our caps recently? Our caps? The badges on our caps, have you looked at them?
What? No. A bit.
They've got skulls on them.
Mm?
Have you noticed that our caps have actually got little pictures of skulls on them? …Are we the baddies?
Well, maybe they're the skulls of our enemies.
Maybe, but is that how it comes across? It doesn't say next to the skull, you know, "Yeah, we killed him but trust us, this guy was horrid."
Well, no, but I mean, what do skulls make you think of?
Death, cannibals, beheading, erm… pirates?
Pirates are fun.
I didn't say we weren't fun, but fun or not, pirates are still the baddies. I just can't think of anything good about a skull.
What about pure Aryan skull shape?
Even that is more usually depicted with the skin still on, whereas the allies—
You haven't been listening to ally propaganda. They're bound to say we're bad guys.
But they didn't get to design our uniforms and their symbols are all, you know, quite nice, stars, stripes, lions, sickles.
What's so good about a sickle?
Well, nothing.
And if there's one thing we've learnt in 1,000 miles of retreat, it's that Russian agriculture's in dire need of mechanization.
Tell me about it.
You've got to say it's better than a skull. I really can't think of anything worse as a symbol than a skull.
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Comment on FBI investigating MN Signal groups tracking US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Kash Patel says in ~society
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Comment on Minnesota proved MAGA wrong (gifted link) in ~society
balooga Link ParentI appreciate a cathartic victory lap as much as the next guy but yeah, this doesn’t change anything. I won’t be satisfied until justice is served, Nuremberg-style.I appreciate a cathartic victory lap as much as the next guy but yeah, this doesn’t change anything. I won’t be satisfied until justice is served, Nuremberg-style.
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Comment on Minnesota proved MAGA wrong (gifted link) in ~society
balooga Link ParentThis, too.The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.
No matter how many more armed men Trump sends to impose his will on the people of Minnesota, all he can do is accentuate their valor. No application of armed violence can make the men with guns as heroic as the people who choose to stand in their path with empty hands in defense of their neighbors. These agents, and the president who sent them, are no one’s heroes, no one’s saviors—just men with guns who have to hide their faces to shoot a mom in the face, and a nurse in the back.
This, too.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga Link ParentI've observed a similar effect with Pac-Man. My kiddo has described something like that with Minecraft but I can't vouch for that one.I've observed a similar effect with Pac-Man. My kiddo has described something like that with Minecraft but I can't vouch for that one.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga Link ParentThat seems extreme even for Trump. Not sure how MAD comes into play when a nuclear power detonates a warhead on its own people, but I’d like to think no one, however depraved, would ever authorize...That seems extreme even for Trump. Not sure how MAD comes into play when a nuclear power detonates a warhead on its own people, but I’d like to think no one, however depraved, would ever authorize that, and certainly that no personnel, having received such an order, would obey it.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga LinkWhile we were talking about Alex Pretti yesterday, a protest of CHILDREN erupted inside the Texas concentration camp where 5yo Liam Ramos is being held. Video from an attorney on-site captures the...While we were talking about Alex Pretti yesterday, a protest of CHILDREN erupted inside the Texas concentration camp where 5yo Liam Ramos is being held.
Video from an attorney on-site captures the shouts of the children from outside the walls. This article includes more detail and an aerial photograph.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga Link ParentThat’s a fair point. Still I wonder if Trump federalizing the National Guard to do the exact opposite of their objective under the governor would cause them to question their loyalties in any...That’s a fair point. Still I wonder if Trump federalizing the National Guard to do the exact opposite of their objective under the governor would cause them to question their loyalties in any meaningful way.
Honestly an actual civil war is feeling inevitable at this point. I’d much rather it begin with armed military factions drawing battle lines, than helpless civilians continuing to be fed into a meat grinder while the only people capable of defending them sit on their thumbs.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga LinkSo the National Guard has been activated by Gov. Walz. WTF? The governor has limited resources at his disposal to protect the people of Minnesota against this lawlessness, and the National Guard...So the National Guard has been activated by Gov. Walz.
Gov. Tim Walz and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office requested the guard members deploy to secure the site of the shooting and the Whipple Federal Building, a known immigration authority staging area that’s become a hotspot for protesters, according to the statement.
WTF? The governor has limited resources at his disposal to protect the people of Minnesota against this lawlessness, and the National Guard is the strongest tool legally available to him. We know he speaks out against Trump and his mercenaries. So why the fuck is he directing the guard to protect the goons? Whose side is he actually on?
The unaccountable thugs murdering nonviolent legal observers in the streets are NOT the ones who need protecting right now.
Who has the power to prevent the killing of the next Alex Pretti or Renee Good? Certainly not the phone-carrying bystanders. Innocent people are going to keep dying, because this rabid dog has no leash. SOMEONE INTERVENE. Governor Walz, that starts with you pointing your National Guard in the opposite direction.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga Link ParentYeah, holy shit, the title should be “Innocent man executed in street via macing, beating, and 10+ gunshots from U.S. immigration agents”. Anything less than that level of directness is complicity...Yeah, holy shit, the title should be “Innocent man executed in street via macing, beating, and 10+ gunshots from U.S. immigration agents”. Anything less than that level of directness is complicity with the DHS lies. There is no room for neutrality here, only factuality vs. propaganda.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga LinkThe thing that’s eating me up about all of this is that local law enforcement is ABSENT. Ordinary people should not have to face off against ICE. Police, real police, need to step up and serve and...The thing that’s eating me up about all of this is that local law enforcement is ABSENT. Ordinary people should not have to face off against ICE. Police, real police, need to step up and serve and protect their communities.
I get it, they don’t want to get in the way of feds. But I think they have a moral duty to do exactly that. Minneapolis PD could and should have sent their own SWAT team out to lawfully arrest these thugs. Let them stand trial in court, like we do in America.
Trump’s MO is “better to ask forgiveness than permission” (but let’s be honest, he never asks forgiveness either). Throw a legal and ethical hand grenade into a crowd and let the lawyers sort it out later. So it’s time for the local cops to grow a spine and do the same. Show up in greater numbers, lock up the miscreants, and let the justice system sort it out.
I don’t care if the justice system completely absolves the agents in court. Hell, we all know Trump will just pardon them anyway. That’s why they’re acting untouchable in the first place, because they literally have a get out of jail free card. But in the meantime, if innocent lives can be saved, they must. ICE is escalating violence, and an escalation of resistance is warranted in turn. And necessary, I’d argue, if only to get this situation to break through the noise and get regular people to give a damn about what’s happening.
It’s great that people are blowing whistles, recording, and shaming. They also need to be flooding 911 with reports of gang violence, breaking and entering, homicide, impersonating law enforcement officers, and so on. Demand police response.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
balooga LinkThe Minnesota Star Tribune has identified the victim as one Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident, ICU nurse, and U.S. citizen.The Minnesota Star Tribune has identified the victim as one Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident, ICU nurse, and U.S. citizen.
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Comment on US immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says in ~society
balooga Link ParentMight be a good time for potential targets to start MAGA-coding their homes. “This house protected by the 2nd Amendment” and “Trespassers will be shot” yard signs. Gadsden flags. Thin blue line...Might be a good time for potential targets to start MAGA-coding their homes. “This house protected by the 2nd Amendment” and “Trespassers will be shot” yard signs. Gadsden flags. Thin blue line stickers on the door. Maybe a Punisher skull or two for good measure.
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Comment on US immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says in ~society
balooga Link ParentNo kidding. The immediacy of their defamation of Renee Good reveals exactly how eager they are to find enemies to make examples of.No kidding. The immediacy of their defamation of Renee Good reveals exactly how eager they are to find enemies to make examples of.
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Comment on US immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says in ~society
balooga Link ParentThe other thing is “it’s legal when we do it.” They are constantly framing these raids as “law enforcement officers conducting legal law enforcement work”… as if any of this is orderly,...The other thing is “it’s legal when we do it.” They are constantly framing these raids as “law enforcement officers conducting legal law enforcement work”… as if any of this is orderly, constitutional, humane, precedented, ethical, justifiable, and in all other ways legitimate. Which it isn’t. That’s a big, beautiful LIE.
But that framing accomplishes several goals:
- Normalizes the gestapo presence and behavior in daily life
- Gaslights Americans who know this is an anti-American terroristic atrocity that bears little resemblance to actual law enforcement
- Creates a pretext for all opposition to be portrayed as “obstruction of justice”
- Emboldens the militant far right to categorize political violence and vigilantism as a patriotic duty
- Deflects responsibility for the damage ICE does onto the innocent people who oppose it
- Functions as a thought-terminating cliché (as all doublespeak is intended to do) since supporters are likely to equate state action with morality and not interrogate the idea any further
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Comment on Minnesota's general strike on Friday Jan 23rd, 2026 in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in ~society
balooga Link ParentOh, looks like Vance will be speaking at an anti-abortion march in D.C. instead. A better defender of children and the sanctity of families, you'll not find anywhere.Oh, looks like Vance will be speaking at an anti-abortion march in D.C. instead. A better defender of children and the sanctity of families, you'll not find anywhere.
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Comment on Minnesota's general strike on Friday Jan 23rd, 2026 in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in ~society
balooga LinkI know some folks who are traveling from out of state to march in this. With this winter storm, Minneapolis is looking at a high temperature of -9°F on Friday. Low of -21°F. JD Vance was in town...I know some folks who are traveling from out of state to march in this. With this winter storm, Minneapolis is looking at a high temperature of -9°F on Friday. Low of -21°F. JD Vance was in town Thursday, not sure if he's already left or will still be around when this happens.
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Comment on Minnesota physicians on Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in hospitals in ~society
balooga LinkEvent introduction begins at 3:26, everything before that is setup with mics muted. There are some odd glitches in the latter portions of the video but they all clear up after a few seconds....Event introduction begins at 3:26, everything before that is setup with mics muted. There are some odd glitches in the latter portions of the video but they all clear up after a few seconds.
Powerful, harrowing stuff. It's heartening to see so many credentialed professionals telling their stories and taking a stand like this. Absolutely worth watching to the end. Thanks so much for amplifying this. I wish everyone cheering on ICE right now, especially those who work in healthcare, could summon the attention span to just listen to the words of these physicians, and then allow themselves to wrestle with their own consciences for a while after. To just sit in a quiet room with no social media, no TV on... nothing but these plain, nonpartisan, desperate moral pleas and enough stillness to let them hang in the air before cognitive dissonance returns to shoo them away again.
And… the first review is up!
1 / 5 stars.