I’ve said this elsewhere but I know somebody who used to work for a startup that would automatically reject any job applicant with Palantir in their resume. Wish it was standard practice.

I love how in only one of the thumbnails Alaska is part of the US.

I think there’s a few forces at work here on more personal levels.

1. A lot cops are veterans which means their background is focused on the use of force to rapidly end situations, which also means a lot of encounters are escalated quickly rather than de-escalated or prolonged via non-resolving techniques (i.e., conversation rather than just cuffing the person). Especially in countries that participated in the so-called GWOT they’re background is counter-insurgency so they’re trained to approach every environment being one that could immediately turn into a firefight and approach all situations like that.
2. A lot of cops are armed. Something about how if you have a hammer everything’s a nail…
3. They’re often true believers. Capital does deserve to be protected. Property deserves to be protected. Men with long hair are lazy hippies, and minorities (whoever that is in the context) are dehumanized outsiders. Cops are often personally reactionary: politically conservative, actively religious people who simply believe in the existing order.
4. Some just don’t give a shit and want the perks. Cops get their metaphorical dick sucked on a daily basis by basically everybody in politics and public life. They get sweet perks. They’re literally immune in same jurisdictions. That’s got to feel good.
5. Some of them are just bastards, but in a different way from points 3 or 4. Think of the Pinkertons shooting strikers: some were covered as true believers or like the other perks, but some just specifically like killing. How many Kyle Rittenhouses’s have become cops just to seek violence?

But fundamentally, they’re bastards even because if they aren’t true believers, it’s their job to blindly enforce laws. They’re literally paid to dissociate from any personal moral compass they may claim to have and just be an impersonal jackboot for the state. The job description of a cop is to follow orders, no questions asked. That’ll make anybody act the bastard.

This is literally the opening line of that one fucking poem, “First they came for the Communist”

Absolutely. I’m admittedly a bit of a clothes horse and it really used to be that, within reason, there were brand names that used to be a reasonable proxy for quality. But now I’m looking at shirts from the same place I bought them from years ago and the fabric is thin to the point where it’s actually sheer.

Probably will try to. Will also probably be stopped by the courts. We need to purge the judiciary (and I’ll vote for anybody in the presidential primary who promises to do that).

I’ve started throwing out socks I bought 4-5 months ago for developing holes. Same brand I’ve been buying for 15+ years and used to be able to go 18-24 months before needing replacements.

Contemporary fascism can’t even make the proverbial trains run on time.

Road wear is ~n^4 where n is vehicle weight. Of course it’s because of SUVs.

One Planck Length per Planck Second.