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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 7m

BlueSky moment (the quotes, not the post)

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

yeah, i think a commitment to public health obligates you to get vaccinated and, when you are sick, do what you can to avoid spreading that to other people. the demand that one mask at all times in public spaces is, i think, unreasonable.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 31m

You are frankly neurotic (and muted).

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 38m

The Lovers by Rene Magritte, 1928

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 41m

I have a loving partner and kids. Do you?

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 45m

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Reposted by Yuriy Akopov

Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 1h

But, you can’t tell normal people that the Republicans have gone so insane that they literally fly swastika flags in their offices, cause then they will think you’re the crazy one (and not entirely unwarranted given the press hides all the evidence of the above)

Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 14h

It’s basically an open secret in DC that most of the GOP staffer class is literal unabashed Nazis - everyone knows it - but you tell the average Joe that and they think you’re a lunatic because they just have ~~~~no experience with what’s going on in DC. The press actively hides it.

Sam @samd.bsky.social · 21h

“many prominent young republicans are actual Nazis” is a self-censoring fact at this point

normie swing voters will literally refuse to believe it and the media refuses to report it because it would call everything else they’ve done into question

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 1h

"One day you may have a far right Prime Minister! That's right, I live in Italy where it cannot happen because it is in the EU!"

Do you hear yourself.

Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 1h

You keep moving the goalposts faster than I can catch up.

Also I personally voted against Brexit, so by your own logic it doesn't count.

Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 1h

No-no-no, the fact Britain has Farage and Banks is enough for your to start labeling it as a Russian trojan horse. You simply don't get to then immediately dismiss major Italian political figures who remain far closer to Russia as nothing because you personally don't like it.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 1h

You're really not bright, I'm afraid. Who the fuck are "Arron Banks" or "Carol Cadwallard". I mean I know who they are but if THIS is your basis for stating the UK as a country is in Russia's pocket while the actual policy is consistently ignored, there simply isn't a reason to continue engaging.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 1h

The fact is that Britain was the first large European country to offer Ukraine military and diplomatic support in the ongoing war, and that policy has survived 4 Prime Ministers already. Can you bet on the same if you have a change of government?

Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 1h

Farage is not the PM (yet), and if you look at the far right opposition in German in France (let alone in Hungary or Czechia) you'll find all of the above and more (often way more).

And if you're Italian, you're in a glass house really:

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 2h

If you weren't arguing for universal masking, then it is strange because this conversation is about universal masking.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 3h

So the bar between you will and won't mask is somewhere between N (flu) and 2*N (COVID). Let's say it's 1.5*N.

What if it's 1.5*N-1, would you still mask up?

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 3h

Did you mask before COVID to protect the vulnerable minority? Admirable if so, but if you didn't, then why? What has changed apart from COVID becoming politically polarised?

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 3h

Its suggested mitigation is, however, outsized. Universal masking is far more difficult and getting a fire extinguisher into every kitchen, and we don't even have a fire extinguisher in every kitchen.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 3h

They reduce that harm to the level we universally accept for many other diseases in particular and everyday threats in general. It is a new risk that didn't exist before 2020, but not an outsized in comparison to the risk of flu complications, car related injuries, kitchen fires and so on.

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Reposted by Yuriy Akopov

Patrick @patrick4872.bsky.social · 3h

Left wingers purging heretics and right wingers looking for converts, eternal dynamic.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 4h

By "ever" I mean my active life time (I'm 43 and can easily imagine it still being a toxic question 20 years later).

Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 4h

Pretty much. And frankly the EU needs to get their house in order too. Is joining National Rally's France and AfD's Germany still an attractive prospect?

Brexit was a bad decision with long and high costs, but actions have consequences and it is not easily (or ever?) reversible.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 4h

Look who's talking about superficial activism!

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 4h

The hard truth is that while Brexit is now deeply unpopular, the only party promising to reverse it is still polling at 15%, so I doubt there is an easy political win in just embracing it. It is unfortunately much more complex than just "they don't want to do it because they're stupid".

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 4h

Yes, exactly - and the only time I had a private surgery, it was carried out by a consultant who normally does those surgeries in the NHS. I could have received same exact treatment for free, just later.

But my point is that if (God forbid) the NHS is rolled back, private healthcare will expand.

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 4h

Plus there are Single Market / FOM arrangements that don't have limitations even in theory but bring all the major economic benefits. You won't get a vote in the EU but that is only important if you're invested in it as a political project (I think that'd be good but it's a much harder sell).

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Yuriy Akopov @yakopov.me · 5h

All 4 of Tory Europhiles?