I don’t have time to search for the important stories and appreciate posters like you doing that work

Thanks. I enjoy going through 20 different forums, amalgamation forums and media each day and picking out stories that may have been missed (dyslexia =wide scope). I will return.

I just hope it won’t be permanent - OR the start of a trend!

BOTH YOU GUYS are loved, wanted, welcomed, and needed!

Rec

If I had any sense, I’d do likewise

For now we need you Americans to do what you do best: build things like a winning coalition.

We'll see you on the flipside

I imagine everyone needs a Break now and then.. especially the Prolific posters like you and bigtree.

Mahalo for your Well Wishes for the most Important Election in the Universe!

PS.. I agree with what you said about VP Kamala Harris!

See you on the other side

and I look forward to your return.

Aloha.

I always enjoy reading them, and will miss them in the coming weeks! Oh, Canada! 🍁

is ok if you change your mind.

I tend to limit my politics posts to issues of fact and logic, especially as major elections approach. Anyway, I can't really know or apply strategy and tactics in any meaningful way from a distance. When I lived in Silicon Valley, I did walk in to an Obama for President office, but they didn't need my help (no surprise in California). I did pick up a "Yes We Can!" Obama button that I treasure to this day.

We can always be varying degrees of basically supportive. I'll post encouraging messages occasionally such as "Get Out the Vote". I continue to post trashing RepubliCON shit moves and statements.

And there is always the Canada forum and international events, though to some extent that might be distracting to other DU members in this last month.

In summation, I don't think your posts would be particularly interfering in any way, but I understand and support your motivation.

and I don't feel comfy in an open forum for the next month. That's only me and my situation. Thanks for understanding.

Democrats are sparing no effort, the campaigns are spending immense resources, the only doubt is how all the foreign psy operations will play out on Facebook, X, currently aiming for confusion and discontent.

I leave this tidbit for any who doubt the above observation:

https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Are-Weapons-Psychological-American/dp/0393881512

Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind

One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 Politics/Current Events books of Spring 2024

A sharp and timely exploration of the dark art of manipulation through weaponized storytelling, from the best-selling author of Four Lost Cities.

In Stories Are Weapons, best-selling author Annalee Newitz traces the way disinformation, propaganda, and violent threats―the essential tool kit for psychological warfare―have evolved from military weapons deployed against foreign adversaries into tools in domestic culture wars. Newitz delves into America’s deep-rooted history with psychological operations, beginning with Benjamin Franklin’s Revolutionary War–era fake newspaper and nineteenth-century wars on Indigenous nations, and reaching its apotheosis with the Cold War and twenty-first-century influence campaigns online. America’s secret weapon has long been coercive storytelling. And there’s a reason for that: operatives who shaped modern psychological warfare drew on their experiences as science fiction writers and in the advertising industry.

Now, through a weapons-transfer program long unacknowledged, psyops have found their way into the hands of culture warriors, transforming democratic debates into toxic wars over American identity. Newitz zeroes in on conflicts over race and intelligence, school board fights over LGBT students, and campaigns against feminist viewpoints, revealing how, in each case, specific groups of Americans are singled out and treated as enemies of the state. Crucially, Newitz delivers a powerful counternarrative, speaking with the researchers and activists who are outlining a pathway to achieving psychological disarmament and cultural peace.

Incisive and essential, Stories are Weapons reveals how our minds have been turned into blood-soaked battlegrounds―and how we can put down our weapons to build something better.

You will be missed.

Seems a lot of folks are feeling this way and not just those from other countries.

I'm fried emotionally.

Take some time to engage in some good self-care. DU will be here when you are ready to come back.

And hopefully will continue to do once this madness comes to an end. I think the DU community will respect your decision as stated.

But all the best. Take care.

your good blessing here.

Hope with all my might you are RIGHT!

I understand, I too, have had DUers come after me for something so innocuous that it was ridiculous but he would not let up. I have only once put someone on ignore for a very short period of time but I can see that it may well be something I have to use more often.
It is really too bad, I have only been here 6 years but this has been the worse I have seen it, starting with the Israeli/Palestine war. It seems a lot of nerves are getting frayed.

I have a good friend who was born in Germany n her husband is British..both US citizens and proud democrats but they come to their conclusions from a different angle and yet we 100% agree..most of the time. The issue of guns is a good example. Our upbringings were all different as were our educational experiences but we learn from each other n the conversations, no matter the subject, are always a learning experience for me. Interesting to hear how we, in the US, are perceived by other likeminded but culturally diverse people. Thirty days isn’t that long so we’ll see you soon 💙

on Earth has the right to express their opinion on the felon and the election. I've long found your thoughts to be of value on this forum. While I wish that you would continue speaking here, I respect whatever choice you make.

I've met magas from all over the world, including Canadians. Something terribly wrong with our species. But come on down to florida in January! See y'all then!

Do what cha gotta do.

But I can understand taking a break for mental health. I need to do that too.

Last edited Sun Oct 6, 2024, 02:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Why does being Canadian mean you're interfering? I don't think it does. But that's okay. You don't owe me an explanation. I've enjoyed your posts! Hope you reconsider because DU needs you!