America is falling into fascism, and American tech companies are working hard to cause this.
If you are not a US citizen and don't want your country to become fascist, then stop doing business with American tech companies as much as possible. None of them can be trusted.
In this video I discuss how several countries in europe are switching various public services (EMS, county records, etc) to use free and open source software...
@Su_G Funny how I was branded “extreme” for clearly stating that they’re the enemy a decade ago.
I guess it didn’t help that nearly everyone in tech either had (has) “good friends who work there” and/or wanted (wants) to work there and/or were (are) employed by and/or were (are) bottom-feeders – consultant(cies), “influencers”, etc. – that depend on the scraps thrown at them by Big Tech.
“It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair
I've been having a crisis of conscience. Were open source and fair use destined to metastasize into the current "A" "I" hype? Please keep explaining how it's OK to be critical of both "artificial" "intellicence" and "intellectual" "property". I need encouragement in times like these.
open source is for the people, and there are practices of enforcing licenses which defend the openness and ensure that it is used fairly, and that contributors are credited, it builds careers, it teaches people.
LLMs and other generative AI isn't open source, it isn't a defense of knowledge or labor, and it's built on ripping off the works of humans without ever paying the toll or agreeing to any licenses -- it actively harms careers, and makes largely makes us stupid
the actors in the medical system and legislators that gatekeep adhd medication will never be held responsible for lung cancer from smoking and lead poisoning from vapes but that doesn't mean they are not willing participants in a system that gives people no alternative but self medication
The percentile ranking of your income -or- the percentile ranking of your net worth -whichever is higher- is your income tax rate -or- your wealth tax rate -whichever the case may be-
Idly pondering (but too lazy to actually do the math) whether that would work as tax brackets.
The portion of [wealth/income] in the 99th percentile gets taxed at 99%. The portion in the 98th percentile (but not the 99th percentile) gets taxed at 98% etc. etc.
I'm not entirely unironic in this position, but largely so. In theory, the richest person in America (or other tax jurisdiction of your choice) should be left with NOTHING. If their income is even faintly representative of their contributions to society, they would have nothing to worry about, as people would value their contributions and would shower them with gifts, probably millions of dollars worth in the aggregate.
Some advocates of progressive taxation point out that top US income tax bracket was something like 90% in the Eisenhower era, although in practice almost everyone in that tax bracket exploited various loopholes. I could see 0.9 times percentile ranking for all incomes above the "poverty line." The 99.99th percentile would still have millions after tax. That would admittedly be somewhat hard on the mere 1%, as the 99th percentile itself is basically the doctor/lawyer tier.
Most likely a tax-the-rich schema would include income or wealth taxes (ideally both) that only apply to people well above even upper middle class. That being said, I think the professional-managerial elites need some education in how wide the chasm between them and the median (let alone the precariat) has become. University educated people in general are my allies on social issues, so I'm not looking to soak them, but a little propaganda oriented toward UMC liberal guilt might be salutary.
This Sunday at 9pm Eastern (1am Monday UTC) once again it's #MONSTERDON the weekly monster movie watch party! Come join the rest of the fediverse as we watch a cheesy movie!
This week we've got a classic monster movie -- CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)! The final work of Ray Harryhausen and some of his finest, the monsters in this movie are among the best ever put to film :D
http://www.hbomax.com Academy Award winners Sir Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith star with Harry Hamlin in this story based on Greek mythology. When Zeus' (...
If one were of a mind to begin voting with your wallet and your patronage, one could do worse than look at the guest list for Bezos' wedding and cease to engage with any brand or product associated with any attendee.
The official White House account is literally just a Trump thirst account because what do you mean they made a Trump fan edit to Hey Daddy by Usher and captioned it “Daddy’s Home” and are embracing the term “daddy” for the president of the United fucking States
This is the most cursed timeline ever. Personal politics aside i genuinely don’t understand how the most “patriotic” Trump supporter isn’t embarrassed as fuck by this.
This is reminiscent of the domination of a male head of household over everyone else in their family, particularly highlighted in Roman law -- which is somewhat around still, in which the patriarch could do whatever they wanted with their property (which included people according to these laws). This evil form expands to all other aspects of their (our) society so to justify similar forms of domination.
Trump's Efforts To Create An Autocracy Have Been Severely Hampered This Week #trump #autocracy #americanpoliticsWhat’s been happening with Trump’s push for a...
I'm starting to worry that cell carriers are using their 3G turnoff as an excuse to arbitrarily narrow the range of devices that can be used on their networks.
With the result that a *lot* of people are going to be forced to replace perfectly functional devices, so they can use cell calling. Creating a huge pile of totally avoidable e-waste, and an equally huge opportunity for carriers to sell panicking customers a new device locked to their network.
To rule that out, I'd need more information about how 4G calling works, and where the problem is with the devices they claim are "unsupported". Is it in the cell modem hardware (unfixable), or somewhere in the software (potentially fixable)?
Hopefully someone at the CDC is recording a journal of RFK Jr decisions so they can all be reversed in bulk after he’s gone. mastodon.social/@arstechnica/1…
RFK Jr.’s CDC panel ditches some flu shots based on anti-vaccine junk data Flu shots with thimerosal abandoned, despite decades of data showing they're safe. arstechnica.com/health/2025/06…
"Liberals think Republicans are violent because we own guns."
No we think you're violent because: 1. Your sign at CPAC said "We are all domestic terrorists" 2. 71% of extremist violence since 2008 has been explicitly right wing compared to 3% left wing 3. You staged a violent insurrection on Jan 6 which killed people 4. You tried to assassinate Kamala Harris not once but three separate times during her presidential run 5. You broke into the home of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and beat her husband in the head with a hammer 6. You broke into the home of Representative Melissa Hortman and assassinated her, murdered her husband, and shot their dog 7. You broke into the home of Senator John Hoffman and shot him and his wife 8. Your president just bombed Iran for no fucking reason 9. You are currently in the middle of enacting a mass genocide of brown people
And... I'm going to hold you by the hand when I say this - WE OWN GUNS TOO. We're just not psychotic mass murderers like you are.
I was thinking about this the other day, in the context of Turtlehead's comments to "get over it" re: people losing health care, and...
you know, I personally want Mitch McConnell to lose his healthcare, choke on a pretzel, then die because the lyft he had to take to get to the hospital couldn't keep him alive and he was unable to take an ambulance, because, you know, no healthcare
but I don't think we should build a system where my intense hatred of that asshole is a fundamental part of the system. I don't think we should just allow people to be denied healthcare because they're "wrong" or "bad" or "not valuable enough". When I say healthcare for all, I really mean it. No matter how much I wish that rotten slab of ham would fuck off and die in an extremely appropriate fashion, I still think people deserve healthcare But also, critically, my reason for wanting him to just fucking die already is because he is responsible for killing a lot of people already and REALLY needs to just fuck off already. Whereas he just thinks I should die because I'm gay.
I’m a lefty lib who can put 30 rounds in a row through an 8” plate from 200m from standing position over iron sights using someone else’s (properly maintained) 7.62mm rifle.
I have zero interest in using that skill on people - even if they’re fascists - but it’s a good skill to have if it’s ever needed.
@jeffzugale I can hit center of mass at 50 yards consistently with my .357 or my horse bow and I'm working on my sling skills. Just like you it's a set of skills, not an obsession and I'm very much opposed to war or violence. I would appreciate it if these militant assholes just stayed home personally! #NazisRaus
"Indian court rules #transWomen are #women and ‘legally entitled to recognition’"
'In a landmark ruling for the country, after rejecting claims that womanhood was preserved only for those who can bear children, the High Court of #AndhraPradesh ruled that #trans women were “legally entitled” to recognition as women.
...tying the definition of women to pregnancy was “legally unsustainable” and contradicted #India’s constitution'
once again the UK is far behind countries that it repressed, exploited and abused until they declared independence. Starmer no better than Balfour or Priti Patel!
The luxury space communism thing still appeals to me for some reason. Optimism that technology still has a future, perhaps. The idea that technological advancement is the driver of abundance is more palatable to me than the idea that economic growth is its main driver, as the latter can be used to justify trickle down economics.
@lori One of the most appealing things about Banks’ Culture was that the Minds thought humans were amusing not-exactly-pets. Technocracy, really, but with a real affection for silly dance parties.
@marick absolutely. silly dance parties, abundant housing, amazing education, free health care should exist as options, but there should be no compulsion. except for kids, some compulsion, it’s the juvenile condition under any system. people who don’t identify as queer or commie are great and always welcome! (i think all the humans are queer and ‘commie’ is just a free-floating epithet to reappropriate. i’d describe myself as a social democrat, but if they wanna call us that why not embrace it!)
I'm tactically a social democrat, but my dream for humanity is cooperation overtaking competition quite decisively. Almost certain not to happen during my lifetime, but I simply have to believe it can eventually happen, as that belief keeps me going.
@lori @marick i’m for cooperative competition, a la good sportsmanship. if you win the competition, you get a trophy and some real honor, but we all retire to the pub together, celebrate and lament, all eat well. competition as a mutual spur to excellence, not an existential struggle.
@lori Something that anthropology of gift economies (judging from Graeber) points out is that gift economies are all about maintaining social relationships.
In contrast to transactions (like buying a candy bar from a clerk), where the transaction is an end to the relationship, gifts work to spur continued relationships.
Re: commies. In his /An Anthropological Theory of Value/, Graeber claimed societies are a blend of three economic systems: transactional, gift, and <adjective> communism. <Adjective> communism’s exemplar is the family, where it really is “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
I’ve thought that’s a nice spin: communism as the extension of the family to larger in-groups.
I forget what <adjective> was. It was a softening term.
Maybe hot take: I think "amazing education" should be compulsory for every person at least until they are educated enough to see where allowing bad education leads.
I always thought "democrats" sounds a bit like those insane claims on products that they don't contain something that clearly should not be in there. You know, in the way "if the one party is the democrats, are the others not democratic?", just like "oh hey these cookies are asbestos free, are other cookies with asbestos?".
Well, hm, by what i hear my joke has been overtaken by reality and reps want to lift asbestos bans, right?
Zohran Mamdami offered NYC Democratic voters hope in this era of fascism when the party establishment is mostly only offering timidity.
If Mamdami wins in November, he will have to work and negotiate with the City Council and the New York State Government, but at least he will aim high.
there was recently a thread about how Linux when it comes to accessibility still isn't that great. There are various things built for Linux that improve it, but I feel like it's one of those things but if it's not built in , and fully integrated into the system... It won't be that could have an experience
I set up github.com/ideasman42/nerd-dic… on my laptop (running Ubuntu). It was pretty easy, as far as programs that you install by running a series of scripts under an "Install" heading in GitHub can be. I didn't need to download a new model, the default worked fine. Then, as suggested in the project, I configured my desktop environment to add keyboard shortcuts to start and stop.
I agree with others that the exact usage matters. I mostly turn this on for a paragraph or so at a time.
Every day, I wish I had a phone that could call whatever sociopathic eldritch horror passes for a God in this morally vapid universe, so I could bombard it with calls demanding answers as to what conceivable divine use to which it might be putting the suffering it allows to happen.
allows? *dictates*. whenever god's chosen people on earth behave in a manner so far beyond moral bounds that it defies rationalisation, religious apologists console us with assurances that the horror perpetrated was in fact, part of god's plan.
It's a play on words. When the US invades/bombs a country that did not pose an imminent threat or any threat, that's now a defensive move. Like Korea, Vietnam, Libya, Lebanon, Russia, Panama, Iraq, Iran, Somalia...
I'm getting a little sick of newspaper headlines about how Trump's Bold New Direction Might Be Too Epically Rock-and-roll For Stodgy Losers in UN, Congress, World
"How can we make this headline sound like the article is about something it's not" is also called propaganda and if you're not getting paid for it that doesn't change the definition, just signifies your poor business sense.
When we’re at the brink of fascism ascendant, if not World War III, isn’t it comforting to know we’ll get all the journalist skills that Kristen Welker and Alex Witt can bring to bear?
Go to http://greenchef.com/50thetake use code 50THETAKE to get fifty percent off your first month, then twenty percent off for two months with free shipping!...
@bornach mmmn I watched the Titan doco on the weekend. The whole thing is fractally stupid. And that gaggle of tech-CEO (reserve) Colonels. I bet they don’t have more than three secret herbs between the lot of ‘em!
US ambassador in a speech at the UN accidentally says that Israel has spread 'chaos, terror and suffering' throughout the Middle East (she meant to say Iran)
Major right-wing funders gave nearly $222 million to 69 organizations that filed amicus briefs supporting Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s fight against disclosing major donors to California regulators.
1984 Akira Brazil Children of Men District 9 Escape From New York Fahrenheit 451 Gattaca Hunger Games In Time Judge Dredd Kingdom of Planet of The Apes Logan's Run Metropolis Night of The Comet Omega Man Purge Quiet Earth Robocop Soylent Green They Live Ultraviolet Videodrome Waterworld X-Men: Days of Future Past Young Ones Zardoz
@KateOfMind You can imagine the challenge of the letters that had dozens of options and the letters that seemed to have none. It was more work than I had anticipated (like everything, LOL) but I think it was worth it.
A Scanner, Darkly Battle Royale Children of the Corn Dark Star Dr. Strangelove The Dead Zone Get Out Invasion of the Body Snatchers Night Of the Demon The Omen Rosemary's Baby Scanners Starship Troopers The Stepford Wives The Boys From Brazil Watchmen
Quite a few horror films there, but they fit with the theme, I think. In that vein, an honourable mention to Under the Skin. Oh, and The Thing!
I'm glad NPR adds "Meta is a sponsor of NPR" at the end of this segment on "Whatever Happened to the Metaverse" because I never would guessed from the gushing tone of this hyperbolic puff piece. npr.org/2025/06/19/nx-s1-53973…
If Trump goes ahead with his threat to send ice into democratic cities (or no kings cities) and the threat we had heard from secretary dog killer, to specifically target democratic cities to invade states like California in order to achieve regime change, I am hoping people are trying to figure out how we are going to handle that.
The reports of individuals using glitter to tag ICE agents is quite novel.
I truly wish it was practical to be able to clothe ourselves in a way that mocks ICE.
Which is to say that people protecting migrants dress themselves in glasses and face mask and hats and flannel shirts and jeans in other words to look like the same way that the agency dresses itself, but clearly do so to muddle up and confuse the Migra
The chief problem is how do the victims of fascism tell the difference. I think it’s a great idea in the sense that people can dress them up in just as anonymous ways and then tell the IE agents to get lost because hey this is our territory. There’s a mistake. Get the fuck out of here you’re not gonna take our quota.
Or just sort of you know kind of walk in the way. It’s all extremely problematic and dangerous when you really think it through. But maybe it has to be done.
That's where exploiting esoteric symbolism comes in. Spread around a tell that victims can use to discern friend from foe aggressively at the same time.
Right, but I think it’s fair to say that somebody who is a immigrant anyone who is targeted by all this.. who the hell would want to be in that circumstance of having to recognize that.
I mean they're already in the position of having to dodge authorities. It's no different from the psychosocial position I've been in for nearly half of my life as a gender non-conforming person in very conservative jurisdictions. We create and use symbols to survive. The survivors already have this figured out and will immediately understand when you say "look for this sign". You just have to decide which side you're collaborating with.
Legitimately, one of the most frustrating things to communicate especially to upper and middle class liberals is that they don't have to coddle us. The reality is they clutch their pearls far more over trifling first world shit and framing us as poor widdle victims to feel virtuous about protecting (with what??? a strongly worded letter???) doesn't help.
In fact, that kind of infantilization is a crisis in queer circles, and why you see so much hopeless rhetoric on-line. While the gritty queer liberation circles basically don't even go on-line mostly because of it, working on support systems and alternative infrastructure quietly.
Point is, this shit's serious. Nobody asks to be in a position like this, and white knight mentality is what perpetuates the pattern of representation without enfranchisement and tokenization as well.
People under the gun don't want to be seen as helpless snowflakes. They want to hear "out the back, I'll cover you". That's what they really need.
Whatever happened to climate change? During the last Canadian election?—Off the agenda. At the G7?—Nary a mention. And at the annual COP climate meetings?—Virtually torpedoed by Big Oil. Even Greta is off doing other things. Yet the scientific reports keep piling up, atmospheric CO2 levels have breached 430 ppm and are accelerating, oceans are heating up at an alarming rate. What will it take to return climate change to front and centre on the world’s agenda? #ClimateChange
Thought leaders have done their bit - it's stalling at the grassroots level.
Heating engineers do not feel motivated to reschool themselves to know how to install heatpumps, so they keep fitting fossil fuel furnaces. Doug Ford stopped the mass installation of charging stations, so Ontarians are afraid to get an EV.
No one has yet made a film that makes a teenage boy on an ebike sexy, the way dozens of films have done for jalopies or motorcycles.
Lori Petty should have won an Academy Award for that performance.
Captain Superlative
in reply to Ben Royce 🇺🇦 • • •Ben Royce 🇺🇦
in reply to Captain Superlative • • •@CptSuperlative
It's like we get a notice declaring that we are to be sent to a concentration camp
And some of us laugh at it and point out the poor punctuation and grammar in the notice
And that somehow addresses the issue
Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)
in reply to Ben Royce 🇺🇦 • • •Su_G
in reply to Ben Royce 🇺🇦 • • •It's beyond time for this:
"Judge them on their intent
...
Begin to think about how we fight what is coming
Stop laughing. Start fighting."
😐
Aral Balkan reshared this.
Aral Balkan
in reply to Su_G • • •@Su_G Funny how I was branded “extreme” for clearly stating that they’re the enemy a decade ago.
I guess it didn’t help that nearly everyone in tech either had (has) “good friends who work there” and/or wanted (wants) to work there and/or were (are) employed by and/or were (are) bottom-feeders – consultant(cies), “influencers”, etc. – that depend on the scraps thrown at them by Big Tech.
“It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair
alec timmerman 🇪🇺
in reply to Ben Royce 🇺🇦 • • •Jay Stephens
in reply to alec timmerman 🇪🇺 • • •And the Stasi from the 1970s at the same time
alec timmerman 🇪🇺
in reply to Jay Stephens • • •Vassil Nikolov
in reply to Jay Stephens • • •> the Stasi from the 1970s
Indeed.
I think it is not a redundant reminder that it was a _very_ _dark_ regime.
@jaystephens @altim @benroyce @aral
Vassil Nikolov
in reply to Ben Royce 🇺🇦 • • •> Start fighting
Right.
History teaches that effective fighting needs an organization to lead it.
@benroyce