Seems like we are at war.

Isn’t the point of joining the military is to surrender free will? That’s one of the many reasons I didn’t want to.

I drove in Austria and Germany for work a few times. After a day or two, you pick up enough words on signs to understand “Entrance” and “Exit” and “One way”, but between the symbols and the English on everything, it is probably much easier for us to drive there than for a non-English speaker to drive here. I bet most immigrants learn “No turn on red” faster than “No Parking Enforced on Alternating Wednesdays and Saturdays except on Holidays from 6:00 PM to 12:45 AM”.

In any case, speaking English is not required of citizens. Tests were offered in Spanish because of a need for it. It’s not that they cannot learn to read a few signs, it’s that the written portion of the test needs to be clearly communicated. The ADA requires that illiterate adults be provided with an audio test or interpreter, because it’s more important for people to understand the test than it is for the government to bully immigrants to score political points with bigots.

https://diyatvusa.com/kamala-harris-unveils-headquarters-67-to-mobilize-gen-z-through-a-new-digital-media-hub/

Is she trying to appeal to the 8 year old voters?

Only reason I could see bringing Toby back would be to kill him off and introduce live-action Miles. And then Surprise! It’s actually a secret crossover event for the Spiderverse, Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman, Venom, and any other loose ends they want to tie into a bow.

I finally got around to watching season 1, and now I’m feeling fairly hopeless about our political situation.

At this point, what can happen? Congress is under the same sticky thumb as Trump, and there aren’t enough voters who are engaged enough to even know about it. The firehose of bullshit did exactly what it was supposed to do, and now there’s no public will left to keep fighting for freedom and democracy.

I don’t care who is in the files. Investigate all of them. There’s no amount of “progressives” you can find in the files to make me think “Oh, well I guess it was both sides then.” Prosecute all of them. I don’t think everyone named in the files is a criminal, and sadly even fewer could be prosecuted based on the evidence, but humans, children, were trafficked and raped and murdered. Fucking do something before the mob mentality takes hold.

Combat always ages poorly, because anything happening in real time requires muscle memory. As developers develop new combat mechanisms, it is constantly getting incrementally better. It’s like trying to compare a modern performance car to a Model T, or an '89 honda accord. The 65 Shelby Cobra doesn’t have bluetooth or antilock brakes or passenger airbags, but there are many enthusiastic fans of the car today. The modern Shelby Mustang is essentially a remake with modern tech trying to capture the spirit of the original.

That’s what we want. We want Morrowind, but better. The classic is still the classic, so we don’t need that again. Modders can reskin the game with better graphics.

General strikes won’t work in the United States. The country is too heterogenous and fractured, and we’re devoid of actual leaders.

We really need a better term for DNC “leadership”.

Laws are a social contract, an agreement between the governed and the government that we will follow the laws as long as they provide justice. If the government turns to tyranny and fascism, they have broken the contract and their laws are no longer valid. Justice is a concept that can only exist where there is a balance of power. If one side has unchecked authority to violate any law, then the concept of justice has been nullified and the powerful simply take whatever they want. But the tyrant and the fascist always make the same mistake, because they always forget that they are not the powerful ones. They are dramatically outnumbered. An oligarchy can get away with a great many things as long as the people believe that justice exists. But once that illusion is shattered, they lose the protection of civility and the people invariably take back what belongs to them.

No justice, no peace.

Polymarket apocalypse futures are soaring right now.

I can understand the appeal of a piece of bread that’s been soaked or buttered or even just toasted and salted. I bet that’s delicious, if done right.

My question is, why the other two slices of bread? What’s the thinking there? Why not have three slices of delicious middle bread? If the bread is good enough on its own, why not eat it alone?

It’s like if you made a drink of tepid water by adding ice cubes to a glass of warmed water and then letting them completely melt until room temperature. Who is this recipe for? “Oh, but maybe the ice cubes are flavored” OK then why freeze them before melting them? “Maybe the hot water is flavored with herbs that rele-” Bitch, that’s tea.

I’m so confused, I’m getting mad at imaginary arguments I’m having with hypothetical morons about analogous situations that only exist in my head.

Plumbing would still be a job without capitalism. Actually, come to think about it, plumbing is just about the least capitalist job there is. Most plumbers are small businesses owned by the laborers. Plumbing products are all mass produced, but the actual plumber is valued for their skills, not because they have the capital to corner a market. Plumbers in areas where corporate conglomerates are common are usually protected by unions, too.

If you want a job that wouldn’t exist without capitalism, the answer is farmer. Sure, farmers are the backbone of any society, but farmers work the land, and the land has a lot of conditions. But you can buy avocados in Michigan in January, because someone realized that they can make money shipping avocados from warmer climates year round. It’s terrible for the land, terrible for the environment, and terrible for local farmers who cannot compete in the race to the bottom, but the capitalist cares not for these things. Only profit nourishes the soul of the corporation.

Don’t forget to take your medication today.

Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long.

I agree, but I can understand why BlueSky is doing better. A key component of the quality of the product is the number of users. I’m not active on either of them, but I do have a Mastodon account I barely use because it feels lonely.

Yep this is the only difference. Bluesky is promoted by the business owners, so it will have more activity and probably more consistent development and support. At the same time, it is a business and enshittification axioms still apply.

I did something similar with an old spare phone for a while when my actual phone screen stopped working. I carried both around, but I found 90% of my use cases didn’t involve phone calls or even texting.

I do find it convenient to have my phone connected to tailscale so I can access my home network from anywhere.

And I don’t necessarily trust public wifi.

But otherwise, I fully support this and think it’s entirely viable for most people.