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Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey Is Secretly Funding Trump's Meme Machine (thedailybeast.com)
The founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, has backed a pro-Trump political organization called Nimble America that is dedicated to "shitposting" and spreading inflammatory memes about Hillary Clinton. In 2014, Luckey's virtual-reality company, Oculus, was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion. Forbes estimates his current net worth to be $700 million. The Daily Beast reports: "The 24-year-old told The Daily Beast that he had used the pseudonym "NimbleRichMan" on Reddit with a password given to him by the organization's founders. Nimble America says it's dedicated to providing that "shitposting is powerful and meme magic is real," according to the company's introductory statement, and has taken credit for a billboard its founders say was posted outside of Pittsburgh with a cartoonishly large image of Clinton's face alongside the words "Too Big to Jail." "We conquered Reddit and drive narrative on social media, conquered the [mainstream media], now it's time to get our most delicious memes in front of Americans whether they like it or not," a representative for the group wrote in an introductory post on Reddit. Potential donors from Donald Trump's biggest online community -- Reddit's r/The_Donald, where one of the rules is "no dissenters" -- turned on the organization this weekend, refusing to believe "NimbleRichMan" was the anonymous "near-billionaire" he claimed to be and causing a rift on one of the alt-right's most powerful organizational tools. Luckey insists he's just the group's money man -- a wealthy booster who thought the meddlesome idea was funny. But he is also listed as the vice-president of the group on its website. In another post written under Luckey's Reddit pseudonym, Luckey echoes Peter Thiel, the tech billionaire who used his wealth to secretly bankroll Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker. The Daily Beast adds: "'The American Revolution was funded by wealthy individuals," NimbleRichMan wrote on Saturday. Luckey confirmed to The Daily Beast he penned the posts under his Reddit pseudonym. 'The same has been true of many movements for freedom in history. You can't fight the American elite without serious firepower. They will outspend you and destroy you by any and all means.'"
We complain about lobbyists... but this is so much worse
There are a LOT of good reasons to be against Hillary without being for Trump.
A big one is this - after what she and the DNC did to Sanders, you all plan to reward her by voting for Hillary? Do you think the DNC will become more, or less corrupt if Hillary wins.
In the end it will not make that vast a difference in Trump or Clinton wins, two arms springing from the same body politic. So don't vote to destroy whatever shred of goodness was left of the DNC by rewarding corruption and massive corporate backroom deals which will be rewarded lavishly during her time in office (just as they were while she was secretary of state).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Glad I gave up on Oculus the second Facebook bought them.
He's proven himself to be a duplicitous piece of shit since the acquisition. This is not shocking.
Hillary is also a piece of shit, but not one that would immediately alienate 90% of the rest of the planet, and likely plunge us into thermonuclear war within 6 months of taking office.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
Trump may be the president America deserves.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
We complain about lobbyists... but this is so much worse
I'm curious why you think this is.
We've just had an article about lobbyists that prevent Tesla from selling in Michigan without going through dealerships (which are universally hated), another recent article where lobbyists caused a town to lose it's working gigibit fibre internet.
For contrast, note that the democrats put up a billboard of Trump kissing Cruz, and naked statues of Trump in several cities.
Question 1: Why is this worse than what Democrats do, and
Question 2: Why is this worse than lobbyists who actually screw us over and make our lives miserable?
Really. I honestly want to know. Why should this be of any concern to anyone?
The American Revolution was funded by wealthy individuals
On the one hand, the American Revolution was also lead by philosophers, scientists, judges, generals, etc. These guys had some ideas about how to create a better system than what they inherited.
On the other hand, you have Donald Trump. His philosophical concept of government is that "Only I can fix it" and "All you need to know is that I'll take care of it. Don't worry about." "There's going to be so much winning." etc. Luckey and Thiel should be so proud.
Play Command HQ online
I heard once that this is the classic dilemma in politics: do you vote for the knave, or vote for the fool?
The answer: vote for the knave, because the knave is competent. But watch the knave like a hawk.
I'll leave it to the reader to decide which is which in this discussion.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Chelsea Clinton is on the board of directors of their parent company. Go look.
Slashdot, do better. Put a disclaimer in next time.
When posts on /. were intelligent and the users replied with equal intelligence. Now it's no better than comment sections on any other website on the internet.
Everyone who claims what Trump would do as a president is lying. Including Trump.
Well then it should never have been allowed to get that way and disentanglement should be the order of the day.
Are you serious? Trump has stated 1) he wouldn't necessarily honor NATO commitments and 2) he is a "big fan" of the leader of the country NATO was created to resist. You better believe the rest of the world is acutely interested in the results of this election.
Besides, it sounds like you are an American - and the typical American who makes broad assumptions about the rest of the world without actually ENGAGING with it. Pretty much every non-American friend I have is interested - sometimes literally fascinated - with what's going on right now in American politics.
by giving power to Trump. Words fail me.
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
I agree that people have to be all that to be ardent Trump supporters. But as a foreigner that have seem what Hillary has been doing to Americans and to the world, as well as her threats against both Iran and Russia, I'll say you are partially wrong (on the anti-Americanism growth).
If Trump wins we will shitpost on how stupid Americans are, both because many of you are, and to shame you for having him as president.
But we'll be glad if you elect someone that doesn't finance terrorists and start proxy wars with Russia.
He is really embarrassing, but most people I know down here in Brazil think that if Trump wins it will be mostly on the "lesser of two evils" concept. We (the people I talk to) think most Americans voting on him are in a desperate attempt of doing something for your country, but don't really believe on his white supremacy speeches. Specially after the support that Sanders got and the way that the Democrats pushed Clinton. There are plenty of polls that show that most Americans (rightfully in my opinion) dislike both your candidates.
Foreigners opinions are based on discourse only right in the very beginning. Trump's speeches are not inspiring, but we won't become anti-Americans because of that (at least not for long), we'll be more anti-Americans next time you finance armed "rebels" or start a war. Just like we became more pro-Americans when you elected the constitutional lawyer against surveillance and pro-healthcare, but only for a very short time, as we quickly realized it was just another lie (and that he would spy on our entire populations in spite of international agreements and the notion that men are created equal).
Anyway, if you care about anti-Americanism, vote for who you think will actually murder less, it is in direct relation to that, not on how bigoted your presidents are.
Tell that to Georgia and Ukraine. You are delusional if you really think that.
But really what did the DNC do do Sanders (who was not a Democrat prior to trying to run for President as one)?
They said mean things in private? They stacked the deck for her prior to Bernie running? And you think it is worth fucking-over America (the globe even!) so that she is not "rewarded"?
Early this year, when Bernie raised $60 million and Clinton had raised only $20, the DNC moved $60 million in funds earmarked for local campaigns directly into Clinton's account.
Bernie and Clinton won popular votes by roughly the ratio of their campaign spending, so the extra $60 million made a huge difference.
Bernie had momentum at the time, and would have outspent Clinton 3-to-1 in political ads. The extra advertizing would have very likely won him many of the early state primaries, and would have likely won him the national primary as a result.
Moving the money as they did is almost certainly a violation of federal election law, likely a violation of money-laundering law, and goes completely against any sense of neutrality in the DNC towards candidates. (Additionally, they short-sheeted all the local campaigns, giving republicans an edge in many areas.)
Effectively, they took all the campaign contributions people gave to Bernie and wasted them.
And you think it is worth fucking-over America (the globe even!) so that she is not "rewarded"?
It's worth standing up and saying "no" to corruption.
The people who gave support to Bernie Sanders should not have had their efforts wasted due to cheating.
I think most US citizens are going to get fucking upset when they suddenly find most of the items they use on a day to day basis become unavailable or cost 10 times more. I always find it amusing the ignorance of the people that push the protectionist or disentanglement view, when the reality of that view kicks in and they realise it means a lower standard of living for themselves they quickly change their mind. The people of the U.K. are only just now starting to realise the consequences of brexit and are pretty upset, many voted thinking it would just be about supporting their own economy and controlling their borders and would not listen to the people explaining what they would have to give up with imports, exports, visas, travel etc etc. now the reality is being explained to them they are pissed.
I too work daily with an international crew. And you know what the weirdest thing is? Almost every one of them thinks Trump is utterly dangerous to the US and the rest of the world and doesn't understand how he got to where he is when there were a half dozen actually qualified Republicans running.
Sorry. Guess there's an echo in here today. ;-)
The non-echo part: My Russian colleagues don't seem to like Putin much, either, but they are very cagey about it when it comes to saying so online--even the ones who don't actually live in Russia. They're much less reticent about it in person. Gee, I wonder why.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Trump and his supporters are white supremacists.
Oh boy, here we fucking go again. More buzzwords, more fear, zero evidence.
They clearly think that "mexicans", i.e. anyone who is poor and speaks Spanish, doesn't belong in the US no matter where they were born.
Citation needed. He has ONLY expressed that he doesn't want ILLEGAL immigrants here. You know, people who break the law?
They think that all Muslims are terrorists.
Citation needed again. He has never said this.
And if you don't or won't acknowledge that reality then you are just as much of a racists scum as Trump himself.
"Agree with me or I'll call you names like racist!"
This is why so many people are getting sick of the left. Too many buzzwords, everything is an -ism of some kind, which only helps to divide the country further. It's an endless game of the oppression Olympics.
Not that the right is any better, I'm getting sick of both sides lying through they teeth, it's just a matter of which bullshit annoys me more.
"Start proxy wars with Russia"? How about Russia not starting proxy wars with the West? Russia invades and seizes part of Ukraine just when they decide they want to be more pro EU. It even currently enjoys a "civil war" that wouldnt have lasted a week without Russian arms and soldiers. They control a tiny portion of the country but somehow are capable of withstanding the rest of the country's army not to mention performing large offensive pushed early in the war? Clearly all of those photos of Russian military equipment Ukraine never owned from within Ukraine show something is going on, right?
Or maybe Syria is the "proxy war" you speak of? Was all of the Arab spring started by the US or just the Syria part? Is our extensive campaign against ISIS, where ever they may be, a secret move against Russia?
Or maybe the proxy war was those evil Georgians that got invaded by Russia right when entering into NATO might have been a possibility?
Please. Tell me. What are these terrible evils the US visits on Russia?
I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
If Trump wins it will be confirmation that democracy is failing in the English speaking world. Brexit happened because the UK has post-factual politics, and it's looking like the US is the same.
The internet and social media were supposed to improve democracy, but they seem to have reduced it to the level of memes and feelings counting more than facts and ability.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
By attacking the person and not the message you are just being stupid, but since you implied that the current state of my country of origin makes me less qualified to talk about the subject, I'll answer.
Your government meddles with ours. Your country implanted a dictatorship some time ago when we were getting better, huge setback, but we got out. We had a pretty good run for 14 years (just go check anywhere), even between two world economic crises. But when our president complained (2013) that your country was violating our constitution and our human rights, your president appointed a coup specialist as ambassador. Three years later, our president was taken out of office in the same way Paraguay's one was taken when this American coup organizer was working there (through a flaw in the law that permitted legally removing the president as long as enough congressmen lied together).
So yeah, we were fixing our government but America keeps fucking us. So don't complain when people talk about it, and don't blame us for everything that happens here, we are pretty shit alone, but you help a lot. As you should know, fixing broken governments is really hard, I'm working on it too.
But if you read my previous post, that's not even the reason I care the most about your politics, personally I really dislike murder, as most people I know (including several Americans). Considering your poor options as candidates, something I relate to, I wrote "who you think", as not to give an absolute opinion on the person you should vote to, but on one issue I think you should consider to be top priority (not that employment doesn't matter). To make it clear I wasn't telling on who to vote, I also gave a very conditional advice:
If you care about anti-Americanism, vote for who you think will actually murder less
I babbled a lot in my comment, but in the end the advice that I gave was that one. Do you think it is a bad advice? Do you think the US will become a banana republic if voters think about that? If so, isn't it worth becoming one? And in the end it was a conditional advice, so if you don't care about anti-Americanism, or about murdering less, it's ok, you can do whatever you want. But I will not restrain from speaking.
That might be because Trump is unapologetic in his avocation for prioritizing American interests over those of the world at large - in foreign trade, in overseas military action and in diplomacy. Naturally this will annoy denizens of European nations that've drastically under-spent on their armed forces for decades, preferring to freeload off the guaranteed protection of US/UK forces. Even former defense secretary Robert Gates - who's gotten snippy with Trump's foreign policy statements - himself said that NATO was becoming a "two-tier" alliance of fighters and freeloaders. It's taken repeated and persistent Russian aggression to finally reverse that trend, and it might already be too little, too late. Someone rattling Europe's cage to stimulate defense spending is exactly what they've needed - a little more rattling can only produce more spending.
Some Americans have a strange fascination with the opinions of foreigners on our politics - the American left wing holds them in particularly high regard - for reasons I cannot fathom. Said people often cite said opinions as if they're significant to our internal discourse as American citizens.
When these foreigners pay taxes to the American government, then I'll care about their opinion. Until then, they can take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.
Problem: The idiots are voting because they think they DO know that.
No, the real issue is this:
The vast majority of people are idiots. The problem is they're too stupid to realize it.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
There was a joke doing the rounds after the Brexit referendum...
USA and UK are competing to be the most stupid country. UK have just taken the lead but USA still have a trump card to play.
You make some accurate and yet irrelevant rhetorical criticism while missing (or ignoring) the point. Consider responding directly to your interlocutor's arguments with a less patronizing, more emotive style, I think you'll find people are less likely to mistake you for an asshat.
You really want to pay more for your groceries, for your deliveries, for your repairs, for ... well, pretty much anything?
Aside from the moral issue of uprooting established illegals that have made a life for themselves over the last 10 year, to answer your question economically, YES YES and YES! When you import cheap labor, not only are you leaving Americans without an opportunity to earn a living, you now drive wages into the ground and force all those effected into taking more government assistance. That assistance is payed for by the tax payer. And who shoulders the cost? The broad numbers of the middle-class. As such, the disparity between the rich and poo/middle class is growing exponentially!
Pay now, or pay dearly later, but we all WILL PAY in the end.
Life is not for the lazy.
The original poster is correct. We shouldn't be using illegal labor to justify low prices. I don't have a problem with immigrants. I have a problem with illegal immigrants not paying their fare share in taxes. Most of the money they make gets sent back to Mexico anyhow.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard