[The Weeping Angel]

[Oboogie]

Why are Americans so bloody stupid is a mystery I'm sure we've all pondered. Well here's an Australian with some answers - only some of which were previously known to me. Informative and entertaining, I thoroughly recommend.

From the description:
"The world constantly looks at the United States and asks one question: "How did they get so dumb?" But the truth is much darker. Americans aren't naturally stupid - their system was meticulously engineered over 200 years to destroy critical thinking.

Today, we’re looking at the "engineered ignorance" of the American public. From importing a 19th-century Prussian military school model specifically to mass-produce obedient factory workers, to the 1950s Red Scare that literally labelled "critical thinking" as Communist propaganda. And the wildest part? America is actively exporting this hyper-narcissistic, tribal dysfunction - from the prosperity gospel to toxic internet culture wars - straight to the rest of the world. If you thought failing test scores were the only issue, you haven’t met their media machine."

[Boiler]

The video seems to have been removed, but it's here.

(and with my professional hat on, just stop the fucking zooming in and out - it looks shit and distracts from the message.)

[Yug]

Local democracy: Freedumb edition.

Some Americans who oppose data centers being built in their communities have learned you can fight city hall — but the battle will wind up in court.

Three cities in Kansas filed lawsuits against their own residents over petitions seeking to ban the controversial Big Tech facilities, according to recent reports...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 42167.html

One defendant, Kimberly Twente of Edgerton, Kansas — which sits about 35 miles southwest of Kansas City, with a population of about 1,924 — called her local government’s move a “scare tactic,” especially the legal demand for “costs, interest and other charges allowable by law.” They were some of the people who signed a petition calling for the centers to be banned and for the entire city to vote on an ordinance.

However, city officials filed suit to stop the measure from appearing on a ballot.

“I don't think anyone was expecting citizens to personally be held liable to a civil lawsuit, which is the bullying and retaliation,” Twente told The Topeka Capital-Journal.

The larger cities of El Dorado and Emporia — both located between Topeka and Wichita, with populations of about 12,780 and 24,137, respectively — also sued their residents for filing petitions under terms of a state law that requires cities to pass ordinances demanded by the signers or let local voters decide.

Spokespersons for all three cities didn't directly respond to inquiries from The Independent about suing their citizens, but an Edgerton government spokesperson said a hearing in the case was set for Thursday....

That country is so fucked up it's unbelievable.