Crystal Ballin

Crystal Ballin

@lebaum.bsky.social

Hobartian. Raptors and Roos. Maggie whippet Contributing to the totally constructive discourse

273 followers854 following170 posts

Crystal Ballin reposted

THIS IS FOR THE GRINGOS WHO FOLLOW HERE (I love you) Peter Thiel bought the biggest TV presenter here to try to overturn the elections. Mark Zuckerberg and Meta actively sabotaged the left wing president. Trump and Marco Rubio not only threatened the country, they also actively with proof-

Crystal Ballin reposted

between serbia, brazil, and hopefully november 3, a good reminder: voting works it’s not the end, there’s always work to be done after the vote, but if you want to beat the motherfuckers and keep them out of power: vote your asses off

Crystal Ballin reposted

#BREAKING 🚨 Incumbent left-wing Brazilian president Lula has come from behind to be re-elected over Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro Lula trailed in the first round of voting earlier this month, but has now won by a margin of around 2%

Crystal Ballin reposted

Replying to @andycraig.bsky.social

Muddling through is not good enough. It's kicking the can down the road for the next would-be autocrat to try again and try harder. It can be repudiated as a fundamental discontinuity in legitimacy and its perpetrators punished accordingly or else the democratic death spiral doesn't stop with him.

Crystal Ballin reposted

driving my tesla roadster, i ask grok to schedule a dentist appointment. it generates a gothic anime version of the dentist’s receptionist with huge tits that asks me if i want a cleaning. i get so hard my neuralink activates the tesla’s thrusters and i slam 90 mph into a wall killing me instantly

Crystal Ballin reposted

Metaphor Watch: My wife and I almost ran into a bald eagle sitting directly in the road on the way to work this morning. The bald eagle picked up a rat and flew away—in the middle of Baltimore.

Crystal Ballin reposted

Abdul El-Sayed: “I’ll take this one… Do you love your dad?” Man, I love this guy, he’s on a different level, we need so many more of him 💙💙💙

Crystal Ballin reposted

Replying to @pixelatedboat.bsky.social

My understanding is that her injuries from the initial blast were survivable but when Musk parachuted in to save his CSAM motherboard he landed on her head and it popped like a cherry tomato (because he is fat)

Crystal Ballin reposted

#Resolve Vic (state) ALP 25 L-NP 28 ON 23 Grn 15 IND 4 other 5 My 2PP estimate 51.9-48.1 to L-NP. That would be probably some kind of hung parliament, it's not even clear Labor would lose on that. #springst

Crystal Ballin reposted

Albanese weighs his post-political career opportunities at fossil fuel corps against 13-year-old Melelusi Sokotia's lament that she and her friends dream of “becoming teachers, doctors, builders” but spend their lives "wondering if their island would survive into their adult lives"

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Crystal Ballin reposted

Strong opening

Senator David Shoebridge@davidshoebridge.bsky.social

Excited to be chosen as Leader of the @greens.org.au, together with @stephhodgins-may.bsky.social as Deputy Leader. Now is the time to build the Greens as the home for all who want climate action, a fair return on our resources, a secure home and income, and to not sell out to the US or the 1%.

Crystal Ballin reposted

quitting while he was a head

6 News Australia@6newsau.bsky.social

#BREAKING 🚨 Greg Hansford, One Nation's lead candidate for the Eastern Victoria Region at the November state election, has withdrawn for health reasons The party has told the Gippsland Times that he has a "serious health matter that requires ongoing treatment"

Crystal Ballin reposted

A phenomenal moment in the Senate. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta. Smith denies it. Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury. Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland. WATCH IN FULL, UNINTERRUPTED

Crystal Ballin reposted

There's no real point in arguing with his mouth noises, particularly not when preaching to the Bluesky choir, but this is *noteworthy* nonsense. If the revenue were real (it's not), then it would be revenue *of the United States government,* equally available to a Democratic Congress to spend.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits. It's one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and Senate, $5,000 to every adult. We can do it and the Democrats can't, because the Democrats don't have any income."

Crystal Ballin reposted

Is “a short ferry ride from Argentina” a euphemism or just history rhyming?

Jenny Cohn@jennycohn.bsky.social

A Thiel-Altman-&-Andreessen backed “network state” called Praxis is planning a tech colony in Uruguay & has a nonbinding deal w/ a development led by a former advisor to Javier Milei. Located a short ferry ride from Argentina, the move aligns w/ the “Tech Bros”’ increasing interest in the region. 1/

Crystal Ballin reposted

We started a trade war with these people because the president, who has some sort of degenerative brain disease with visible bruises on his hand's injection site that the press doesn't talk about, was bored.

Mark Carney@mark-carney.bsky.social

On 9/11, the people of Gander stepped up. They showed the very best of Canada.

Crystal Ballin reposted

Replying to @grammyrulz.bsky.social

He was in floor 104 or 105 when it hit. He went down 30 flights, put a woman on his back, and carried her down another 20 more. He then went back UP, administered first aid, helped with the fire. He was found in the lobby. 18 ppl said he saved them. He had an almost complete NYFD app in his home.

Crystal Ballin reposted

This (from a Prof. of Genetics) is a ripper few hundred words.

Adam Rutherford@adamrutherford.bsky.social

I've been revisiting my 2021 book How to Argue With a Racist, in light of the Cofnas situation - i didn't name him or the scientifically illiterati with who he breaks bread. But I thought these sections from the end might be of interest.

Crystal Ballin reposted

Britain - and frankly every other nation - needs to build homegrown social media platforms to free ourselves from American toxin and domination. US platforms are quite simply evil. We're surrendering billions and political control to the world's most dangerous men In @heraldscotland.bsky.social

heraldscotland.comBritain should create its own Facebook and Instagram, not depend on US firmsSocial media is a toxic horror yet these US firms hold huge sway over life in the UK. It's time to shake off foreign control and build our own…

Crystal Ballin reposted

Evergreen

Amanda Marcotte@amandamarcotte.bsky.social

I know they're all gaslighting liars, but it's remarkable how thoroughly the "cancel culture" myth redefined "censorship" to mean "someone using their free speech to criticize me." Meanwhile, actual censorship is just fine for all these people.

Crystal Ballin reposted

Lots of headlines noting Wong is "outraged" after Israel cleared itself over murder of Aussie aid worker Zomi Frankcom. Wong also said "outraged" in an April 2024 interview with ABC when Zomi was killed. Not outraged enough to expel Israeli ambassador or stop exporting F35 parts that kill people