If you’re really into Catholic lore and mythology, then yes, the Pope’s word holds a lot of weight. They believe in papal infallibility, which means that when the Pope meets certain very specific criteria, he is literally speaking for God and is thus perfect and unquestionable.

Regular normie Catholics? They believe in the Pope the same way they believe in the Bible: it is the true word of God, but it’s too much of a bother to actually read it. They’re never reading papal edicts, they’re just reading news headlines about the pope like everyone else.

Suicidal thoughts in response to this news is really concerning. From what I understand, you aren’t being personally affected by this news. Go take care of yourself. Touch grass or do whatever you need to do.

I think it will help to have a broader perspective. The US spends over $1 trillion each year on violence. When the bombs stop, then profits drop, and this is not acceptable to the capitalist class. When we stopped spending $60bln in Afghanistan, we instantly started spending $60bln in Ukraine. Now Ukraine is winding down, we will spend it on Venezuela. After that, Panama? Greenland? Cuba? Mexico? This cycle will continue until the military industrial complex is dismantled. That is unlikely to happen in our lifetimes.

You are on the ethically correct side, and that matters. I find inspiration in the many generations of people who fought against slavery in the US. So many people, so many generations fought to end slavery, and most did not live to see the successful end. We must continue to fight, even if we do not see success in our lifetimes, we lay the groundwork for future generation’s success. We owe it to them.

And if you do choose to end yourself, I respect your bodily autonomy, but please make sure you are of sound mind when you make that very serious decision. And consider following in the holy footsteps of Saint Luigi of Baltimore.

We can agree that there will most likely not be a mass popular uprising for Maduro and Chavism.

I believe there will be a mass popular uprising against Trump and the puppet government of Machado.

Polls: 91% of Venezuelans Hold Unfavorable Views of Opposition Leader María Corina Machado

Only one?

Trump’s Approval Rating Drops to 36%, New Second-Term Low

President Trump Quips About Canceling 2028 Elections If U.S. Is At War

You’re really begging for downvotes with this comment, but I’m curious: how do you see this situation playing out? Do you think a couple steps ahead, or just react?

My guess is that is going to go like this:

1. Trump admin tries to install Machado as US puppet government in Venezuela.
2. Mass popular uprising from the Venezuelan people, significant violence, attempts at deposing or assassinating Machado.
3. US boots on the ground to prop up Machado regime. -or-
4. US abandons Venezuela project, leaving devastation and chaos behind.
5. Inevitable blowback, Americans killed.

MBFC

Do you have a less biased or more credible source for this fact check?

The Grayzone is worthy of valid criticism, but MBFC does not provide valid criticism, it is rightwing propaganda.

I think most billionaires are not paying either of those taxes in any significant amounts.

Most follow the buy borrow die method. Then their children just have to pay estate tax.

Advanced tax cheats like Bill Gates take it one step further by creating their own charities. You give all your money to the “charity” and give your kids full control of the “charity”. This way you can avoid paying estate tax, and you only need to give away a tiny percentage of your wealth to actual charities and PR firms to save face.

So you’re logically consistent, and in favor of banning the most dangerous drug - alcohol. Right?

Drug harms in the UK: A multi-criterion decision analysis

How do you know they will not comply with an order to land? No country has tried, despite their obligation to do so under the Rome Statute.

When Luigi killed that UHC oligarch, the company responded by lowering their claims denial rate by 1-2%. UHC processes hundreds of millions of claims every year.

Do the math- the slaying of Brian Thompson meant that millions of claims that would have otherwise been denied were approved.

By killing one oligarch, hundreds of lives were saved. Perhaps even thousands.

We know this because Investors Are Pressing UnitedHealth Group to Deny More Care

Right, you don’t “just shoot down” planes. You order them to land, as they are in violation of your sovereign airspace, and in violation of international law.

Russian planes violating European airspace are not shot down, they are ordered to land and they comply. Planes violating “US airspace” in Iraq and Afghanistan were not shot down, because they complied when ordered to land.

And maybe I’m being pedantic, but a leader overseeing an ongoing genocide is an immediate threat of the highest order.

There is currently widespread violence. It is the structural violence of poverty. Hundreds are being socially murdered everyday.

Killing an oligarch is a certainly a violent act, but it reduces the overall violence in the system.

Yes.

Scramble jets, have air traffic control instruct them to land, and if they do not follow instructions then shoot to kill.

This is literally how all restricted airspace works.

As a leftist I can assure you, yes the left is significantly weaker, and there is a deep imbalance.

The left, specifically in America, has suffered gravely over the past century. The Red Scare era made it functionally illegal to be a leftist. Many leftists were fired, some were killed, and leftist thought was purged from our education system.

The following Cold War era pumped our populace full of anti-socialist propaganda. The majority of people over 50 believe socialism is just as bad as fascism, and that socialists are the enemy.

The American left has yet to recover from these deep wounds.

When the meme is in a digital format, then yes you can cut and paste.

Memes live in many formats though. Everything you have ever said is a meme in an audio format. Every thought you’ve ever had is a meme in the “thought” format. I’m not sure how you might crispr those.

Any self-respecting “meme historian” would refer to themselves as a memeologist.

They would know the history of the word “meme” and that it is explicitly intended to be analogous with the word “gene”.

We don’t call them gene historians, we call them genealogists.

Oh so you aren’t discounting the hypothesis… You are denying a genocide.

That’s much worse. :(

Israeli propaganda is a disease, please get well soon.

I’ve reread it and I’ve come to the same conclusion: You are discounting the hypothesis that this mass murder was triggered by Israel’s ongoing genocide.

Israel is committing a genocide, and they claim to do it in the name of all Jews.

I have no idea what actually motivated these deplorable mass murderers in Australia, but the possible connection to Israel is an obvious hypothesis. Discounting this hypothesis without evidence only shows your bias.

Well there’s a good chance I’ll die in a Trump concentration camp, so might as well make the best of it.

Shoot to kill any intruders that invade your home without a warrant.

If ICE Gestapo thugs invade your home without a warrant, be a hero. Exercise your second amendment right.