One place in the lemmyverse that’s been able to buck US-defaultism a bit is the news mega thread on Hexbear. That was done by seeking out and elevating news and voices that are explicitly not in the US (and the Global North, more broadly). But even then, you need both people who are actively seeking non-US perspectives AND people who have those perspectives and are willing to invest their time. I’m not sure how to replicate this more broadly in the lemmyverse, but it’s worth noting where it’s worked and what was done.
With reports that the witnesses in today’s murder by ICE were all detained (and their phones presumably confiscated), I’ve been thinking nonstop about if I were to record ICE or the cops doing something, how could I ensure that any videos I record are not able to be deleted, assuming my phone was confiscated? I’m talking...
My videos already sync to iCloud. My concern is if the cops were to get into my phone, they could just go to the Photos app and delete it from the device and my iCloud account.
OP’s photo is my favorite, so I will have to mention my second favorite (though calling it a “favorite” feels off).
This photo was taken in 2003 in Iraq. This man is comforting his son. They are being held in an American camp. IIRC to this day we don’t know what happened to these two.
I think if I had to explain the last 25 years to a time-traveler, this would be the one photo I would choose.
Donald Trump has a stranglehold over EU and UK energy supply as a result of Europe swapping its dependency on Russia for reliance on the US, analysis has shown....
The United States is attempting to corner the global fossil fuel market. The correct response here is the very thing that will mitigate the impact of climate change: pursue renewable energy.
People who are saying to just delete Facebook or don’t use it aren’t wrong of course (I say that myself, to be clear I hate FB); but as someone who tries to buy and sell things secondhand (I see it as being environmentally responsible), this is largely becoming impossible to do locally without Facebook Marketplace. I honestly have some grudging respect for Facebook’s ability to survive just when you think they might start to become irrelevant. Things were headed that way for them, then they bought Instagram. And then the last couple years, it was sort of common knowledge that the only people who use it anymore are old folks and Nazis… and then FB Marketplace kills Craigslist and becomes the only app people use for local buying/selling.
Idk maybe there’s some opportunity here for some local buy/sell federated service?
The old Top Gear with Clarkson, Hammond, and May. I feel weird watching it because Clarkson especially has become such an insufferable reactionary, and old shows really go hard on climate change skepticism. But when it's at it's best, I find watch three friends having a fun trip together to be very relaxing.
I think this is often the case with Trump. However, when this does happen, at some point along the way there’s usually hints dropped about what kind of “deal” could be made (like agreeing to buy a bunch of US military equipment). But with Greenland, there has been no indication at all that Trump is interested in budging from full ownership of the island.
All Cuba has ever wanted, for decades, is for the US leave it alone and be allowed to trade with the rest of the world. Cuba has no means to fight back, so of course Trump and Rubio will pick on them.
It really is a great little device. I believe there has to be a market out there for a Linux device similar to it, something just for music / radio / podcasts.
The source data shows that while active users are down, the number of posts and comments are near all-time highs. While you need new users to help counteract churn, I think the higher post/comments count points to what I think a lot of people feel here: that quality seems to keep getting better and better.
Regarding how to bring more people in, I personally like how different lemmy servers have slightly different characteristics but each seems to appeal to larger groups. I see a future where there’s probably a small-ish number of large servers that cover broad groups of people.
Because once the news broke of the Ellisons buying US TikTok (and their transparent reasons for doing so), it became clear to me that for the free and open internet, “winter is coming”.
Oct 7th and the global outpouring of support for Palestinians (and trashing of the reputation of Israel) was a huge wake-up call to the ruling classes. I think until then, they were largely content with controlling the narratives via traditional media spaces. The aftermath of Oct 7 taught them that social media and the internet cannot be ignored and in fact must controlled. It’s not like anyone under 65 is watching Fox News or CNN, and not many reading the NYT. All of the actions we have seen in the last 2 years - making sure Facebook / Google / Twitter / Reddit and now TikTok have tightly controlled messaging, requiring IDs and verification, etc - are pointing towards a future where free expression online is severely limited. I don’t want to be a part of that.
And I do believe that it’s important to get out there and discuss things that are important to me with others (Palestinian and indigenous liberation, communism, online privacy). I’m not happy to just retreat into my own bubble. That is ultimately the reason I joined (I was of course already included to using the fediverse as I’ve long appreciated FOSS and decentralized systems and non-commercialized things in general).
“We need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs sophistication,” Nadella wrote in a rambling post flagged by Windows Central, arguing that humanity needs to learn to accept AI as the “new equilibrium” of human nature.
I’m starting to notice a recent trend in tech CEOs. They seem to be saying “yes, we know you hate it but too bad get used to it”.
JD Vance on Thursday accused Denmark — a fellow NATO member — and the rest of Europe of failing to protect Greenland from the intentions of Russia and China....
They know just how bad it will look and how unpopular it will be if they just take Greenland by force. They’re trying to convince the Danes to sell it under duress to give it a veneer of legitimacy.
Whenever I see those crazy, deranged Israeli settlers in the West Bank, I can’t help but think about how the people who colonized North America were just as horrible. Cut from the exact same cloth.
Personally I think the US government wastes enough on nonsense so I'm not really bothered. Plus if you look at most wealthy people in the USA they got that way through scamming and crime. I wish I knew how to get money like that.
There was similar fraud uncovered in New York state I believe earlier this year, which was significantly larger in scope, and that story hasn’t even cracked the news. Pointing out the racism here, while correct, isn’t at the core of the issue IMO.
To actual Stormfront-posting capital W capital N White Nationalists, years ago they made the “issue” of Somali immigration into Minnesota and other places across the northern US stretching from the Cascades to the Great Lakes one of the causes they got the most worked up over. I have yet to see a White Nationalist envision a takeover of the entire USA. What they do advocate for, amongst themselves, is creating a white ethnostate in the Pacific Northwest, possibly reaching eastward across Minnesota and Wisconsin. The reason for this is, take a look at a map of counties in the US with >95% white concentration. If you do you will notice just how white that part of the country is (and how conservative it is, if you overlap it with a voting map). They see that area as “theirs” and the home of a future white homeland.
White Nationalists perceive the immigration of Somalis into Minnesota as the tip of the spear of their great replacement theory. They think Soros et al specifically target the whitest areas of the US and mark them for “replacement”. While this is all obviously ridiculous and gross, these people see it in terms of a life-or-death struggle.
Just like other issues that were only in the realm of furthest edges of the right have been mainstreamed into the GOP and conservative media ecosystem before, this topic and broken containment. It’s a deeply racist idea that no doubt has a ardent champion in Stephen Miller (who I am 100% is a White Nationalist based on pretty much every word out of his weasel mouth) and likely others in conservative leadership. That’s the real story behind this.
This year’s job market has been bleak, to say the least. Layoffs hit the highest level in 14 years; job openings are barely budging; and quits figures are plummeting. It’s no wonder people feel stuck and discouraged—especially as many candidates have been on the job hunt for a year....
The massive cuts to Medicaid that were in the Big Beautiful Bill passed by Trump and the GOP aren’t supposed to go into effect until after the 2026 midterms IIRC. When that does happen I think finding a job in the healthcare sector will be very difficult if not impossible.
I genuinely hate the aesthetics of it. I can’t stand Christmas music or Christmas movies. The “Christmas episodes” TV shows run are so incredibly corny. I find the decorations to be tacky and ugly. I feel like I’m suffocated by so much cheap plastic crap that will be thrown away after the holidays.
I suppose that all wouldn’t be so bad if the “Christmas season” didn’t stretch out for so long. It’s now well underway before Thanksgiving, and I’m being conservative with that. That means at least 10% of the year - so 10% of my life, too - is spent under the Christmas regime.
But on a deeper level, I think it points to a real sickness in society. Capitalism has so thoroughly destroyed our real social connections to each other. It breaks those human bonds and creates atomized individuals who are only supposed to care about themselves. But that’s not who we are as a species - we are social creatures who have a couple hundred thousand years of cooperation with each other in order to survive.
On some level, capital “knows” ripping us away from our social being is not only unnatural, but atomizing us so thoroughly harms social reproduction. Christmas has become a way of resolving this problem. BUT, it’s capitalism… so the solution can’t be something like “give workers the month of December off so people can spend real quality time with each other”.
So capitalism has created this artificial holiday structure where “family”, “giving back”, and “what really matters” is centered, but it’s all done in the most superficial way possible. It’s all kabuki. Capital creates an imitation of social connection and still manages to make it about accumulating more capital. Spend money on presents. Don’t like the commercialism around presents? That’s ok, spend money on airfare or gas to see your family. Use up your meager PTO at the end of the year when it’s slow and costs your boss less. But I think getting workers to spend money is still just the secondary objective of Christmas. It’s much more about getting people to forget how deeply separated we are from each other. To pretend for at least 10% of the year that everything is normal, capitalism is normal and being disconnected from each other is normal so long as you watch a couple movies once a year that are supposed to remind you that “what really matters is family” - the feeling though, not the reality.
That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
I genuinely hate the aesthetics of it. I can’t stand Christmas music or Christmas movies (the music especially is just so bad). The “Christmas episodes” TV shows run are so incredibly corny. I find the decorations to be tacky and ugly. I feel like I’m suffocated by so much cheap plastic crap that will be thrown away after the holidays.
I suppose that all wouldn’t be so bad if the “Christmas season” didn’t stretch out for so long. It’s now well underway before Thanksgiving, and I’m being conservative with that. That means at least 10% of the year - so 10% of my life, too - is spent under the Christmas regime.
But on a deeper level, I think it points to a real sickness in society. Capitalism has so thoroughly destroyed our real social connections to each other. It breaks those human bonds and creates atomized individuals who are only supposed to care about themselves. But that’s not who we are as a species - we are social creatures who have a couple hundred thousand years of cooperation with each other in order to survive.
On some level, capital “knows” ripping us away from our social being is not only unnatural, but atomizing us so thoroughly harms social reproduction. Christmas has become a way of resolving this problem. BUT, it’s capitalism… so the solution can’t be something like “give workers the month of December off so people can spend real quality time with each other”.
So capitalism has created this artificial holiday structure where “family”, “giving back”, and “what really matters” is centered, but it’s all done in the most superficial way possible. It’s all kabuki. Capital creates an imitation of social connection and still manages to make it about accumulating more capital. Spend money on presents. Don’t like the commercialism around presents? That’s ok, spend money on airfare or gas to see your family. Use up your meager PTO at the end of the year when it’s slow and costs your boss less. But I think getting workers to spend money is still just the secondary objective of Christmas. It’s much more about getting people to forget how deeply separated we are from each other. To pretend for at least 10% of the year that everything is normal, capitalism is normal and being disconnected from each other is normal so long as you watch a couple movies once a year that are supposed to remind you that “what really matters is family” - the feeling though, not the reality.
That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
(Copying what I said on the lemmy.ml cross post because I’ve been thinking about this for a while and want to get it out).
When my dad was a kid, my grandparents did absolutely nothing for Christmas - no decorations, no tree, etc - until Christmas Eve, then they went all out. Then they’d pack it all up the day after Christmas. I feel like if the Christmas “season” was only a few days, I’d hate it much less.
As a Christian, my worldview is inherently superior and correct in all instances
I know you are being facetious but there is something called presuppositionalism that is gaining steam in the evangelical / Christian nationalist community right now. For most Christians, they try and “prove” their faith through apologetics or their own (incorrect) interpretations of science and history. Some will skip that and say that whether or not Christianity is true is irrelevant, because there’s a “judeo-christian” foundation to our society, so our government should reflect that.
Presuppositionalism just says “assume Christianity is true”. Presuppositionalist feel no need to prove Christianity is true or even that governance should be democratic. To them, Christianity’s truth is a given that isn’t up for discussion, so the discussion starts around how to make laws that reflect Christianity i.e. a theocracy.
Take abortion for example. To a presuppositionalist Christian, they don’t have to provide any sort of secular justification as to why it should be outlawed. It is against God’s will, and our God is the true god, so it should be outlawed. If people vote to legalize it, then they shouldn’t be allowed to vote on it.
Presuppositionalism is also behind all those theobro fascists shouting “Christ is King!” That is a very specific, presuppositionalist statement. Christ is King over the earth to them; it is an assertion they are making and they don’t care about backing that up; they only care about implementing their King’s will on “His” earth.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California regulators are threatening to suspend Tesla’s license to sell its electric cars in the state early next year unless the automaker tones down its marketing tactics for its self-driving features after a judge concluded the Elon Musk-led company has been misleading consumers about the...
As someone who has followed the self-driving car news for nearly a decade, I can say that Tesla’s is dogshit. Even going back to 2017/18, people who understand these systems were saying that while Tesla was first out the gate, their system had inherent, unresolvable issues and they would eventually be surpassed by the legacy manufacturers who were taking a slower but more measured and thought-out approach to self-driving, with systems that would surpass Tesla in short order.
Fast forward to today. Ford and GM both have self-driving systems for highways that are truly remarkable. GM’s Super Cruise has 700 million miles recorded and no reported accidents, which is truly incredible. Now that we have such safe and reliable systems, Tesla has no business selling cars with Autopilot, IMO it should be banned.
GM, hands down. Ford is also very good. I would personally feel very safe in either one. I am hoping to buy an Equinox soon.
They both just have an entirely different philosophy from Tesla. Tesla, being from Musk, has these ideas of the car (trying) to be this cool piece of tech that does everything for you, but without putting in the real work to make that happen. Musk wants to take the human out of driving entirely and we’re just not there yet.
For GM and Ford (and really, everyone who isn’t Tesla), they see self-driving more as a way to assist you in driving on the highways, not some replacement. If you take your eyes for the road for more than a couple seconds it starts to warn you. Then it takes increasing measures to get to you to pay attention, eventually it will just pull itself over the to shoulder.
BYD doesn’t have that in the US at least (I don’t know about China) because you need to to have the US highways all mapped out in detail and keep it updated.
Honestly, I am hoping it really is just him whine bragging like he always does. He seems bothered that Americans don’t realize how “great” the economy is, so maybe he’s gonna try and talk about that. Anything that isn’t a declaration of war against Venezuela (or anyone else for that matter) I will be relieved by.
I'm liking the recent posts about switching to Linux. Some of my home machines run Linux, and I ran it on my main laptop for years (currently on Win10, preparing to return to Linux again)....
It’s remarkable how 5 years ago, I would not have been able to do my job just with web apps. Just recently I used my personal Linux laptop for 3 weeks while away from home. It worked perfectly for the job with two minor exceptions:
‘1. There’s a proprietary web app that requires you to upload a specifically-formatted .xlsx file, couldn’t get that to work.
‘2. MS Teams - unless you have the web page pulled up and are looking at it, it will show you as Away instead of Available. Workaround was to just leave Teams open on my phone and have the screen always on.
I think the user darkcalling, in commenting on this story in the current Hexbear news mega thread, had a spot on analysis of this:
Section 230 repeal is game over.
No more VPNs because they're liable for CSAM, terrorism, death threats, copyright abuse, etc. Even if they're off-shore and dare to thumb their noses at the US their domestic hosting partners will drop them out of liability concerns themselves. This is a terrifying unraveling of the internet as we knew it. Far more drastic than the death of blogs and forums and the rise of centralized social media. Far more drastic than even AI spam washing over everything and making real content hard to find.
There really are no alternatives waiting in the wings. You're not going to be able to torrent blurays over L2P or Tor. You're not going to be able to watch streaming videos with friends. For a while you'll be able to use Canadian servers, maybe Mexico (don't know what their laws are like) until they pass similar laws and tier one ISPs start throttling that type of traffic into/out of the US.
The boot is finally here, the death of the open internet will occur if that passes. Total narrative control. Social media companies seized by the throat by the US government, either cooperate in censoring what they want or they actually hold you accountable for everything your users do. Have good users? Here are some fed infiltrators and zionist intelligence companies who are going to spam you with illegal stuff and report it to us so you'll be done anyways.
The speed at which western governments have been moving recently to erode privacy, and thus a free internet, really has been staggering to me, and I’ve been following this stuff for a while. There’s been a total blitz against 3 pillars of freedom: 1.) destroy our ability to have private conversations (chat control), 2.) know exactly who everyone is online and identify all your online activity (age verification), and 3.) effectively destroy user generated content - at least content which is a threat to power (this attack on Section 230).
Personally, I think this recent all-out attack is due to 2 things. The first is the genocide in Gaza. The rich and powerful were caught off guard there. They had previously been operating under the assumption that their control of mainstream traditional media meant they can control whatever narrative they want. Social media was for kids and they’re not politically relevant, so who cares. But having a genocide live-streamed completely destroyed decades of hard work at crafting a pro-Zionist public in the west. They’re not going to let that happen again, so bye-bye TikTok (the other platforms like Instagram were already compromised, TikTok was the only one outside of their grasp).
The second factor though, despite all the bluster and bravado about how “great” the economy is from Trump and the media (and tbf, Biden and the dems before him), I think they know very well just how bad things are. More than that, they know things are gonna get a lot worse. Neoliberalism was the method by which capitalism was able to extend its life. The crises it faced in the late 60s and 70s were really just an extension of the Great Depression. The only way the capitalist world was able to pull itself out of that was through a global war that destroyed so much capital that they got an economic boom for 2-3 decades just from rebuilding the world order. But now neoliberalism has spent itself and they have no answers for what to do next. Thus, they are fully expecting the people to fight back. The internet is maybe the most powerful tool that people have for organizing themselves and fighting back, so that MUST be brought under lockdown by the capitalists before it’s too late.
EDIT: I also wanted to ask, since I’m fairly new to federation… how would repealing Section 230 affect the fediverse specifically?
The crisis was one of capitalist profitability - the rate of profit - moreso than one felt directly by workers (though they still felt its impacts. The late 70s in particular is where this was felt most acutely. The hatred most boomers feel towards Jimmy Carter is mainly due to the economic pressures they felt at the time). Of course that was still the time of boomers buying homes for relatively cheap so it looks good compared to now but not compared to the decades before it. The 1970s were known as the era of stagflation. Essentially, the capitalists were squeezed by higher prices (oil embargoes, labor unions, etc) and had to find a way to reverse this and restore profitability. Things like offshoring and financialization of the economy were the solution. And that worked for a while, but now there’s no more gains to be made there.
After many years of trying and failing, I finally convinced my friends to try a TTRPG (Dungeons & Dragons). This is my first time ever playing a TTRPG as it is for most of my friends. We are having an absolute blast. The general consensus is that we should have started doing this years ago (which I always pipe in with a “yeah, that’s why I first brought it up in like 2021”)
I have an N64 and a Sony PVM, so I play a lot of games on that. But there’s two I play much more regularly than all the others: Mario Golf and Mario Tennis. They both hold up incredibly well.
I personally like to minimize name changes as much as possible because usually, the current name Just Works and I don't really think it's worth it to break muscle memory or replace signage and stuff....
Worth noting that usually, the public pays for the stadium in whole or in a significant part, but the sports team owners are the ones who pocket the proceeds from the naming rights.
I am going to go against the grain of conventional advice and say you should just outline it like you did here. I have been in the position of hiring people before. I much prefer to know the real reason why someone left a company. Granted, if someone says “my boss was an asshole”, I would probably just see that as likely making excuses. But, if someone says “I left because I was subjected to verbal and emotional harassment by my boss, and if you want me to provide specific examples I can do so”, that’s actually information I would prefer to know. I think your situation falls into that later example for sure.
The idea that you should never speak ill of a former employer regardless of the circumstances IMO is bad advice.
Imagine a world where aliens like The Dominion in DS9 took over earth. They appoint one person as viceroy of the planet, where they will help them enforce whatever this viceroy wants.
Do you have any ideas on how to attract people from centralized platforms to such as lemmy?
niche community will work?...
Outside of politics, have you ever had a position on something that you have doubled down on and refused to move an inch on to the point of upsetting someone? Were you right?
How can I ensure any videos I record on my phone aren't deleted by the cops?
With reports that the witnesses in today’s murder by ICE were all detained (and their phones presumably confiscated), I’ve been thinking nonstop about if I were to record ICE or the cops doing something, how could I ensure that any videos I record are not able to be deleted, assuming my phone was confiscated? I’m talking...
Live: Man shot by federal agent in south Minneapolis this morning, witnesses say ( www.startribune.com )
Gift link, with URL shortener so that Lemmy doesn't remove the gift token...
You can play the Lord of the Rings TCG online for free! ( play.lotrtcgpc.net )
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42073553...
What's your favourite historical photo and why?
RFK Jr.'s proteinaceous food pyramid is a land hog and a climate killer ( www.motherjones.com )
Trump has growing stranglehold over EU and UK energy supply, study shows ( www.theguardian.com )
Donald Trump has a stranglehold over EU and UK energy supply as a result of Europe swapping its dependency on Russia for reliance on the US, analysis has shown....
Facebook is forcing new users to use facial recognition
I only want to use it for facebook marketplace, but jeez i didnt know they were taking it this far with this crap...
What show do you find relaxing even tho its weird it makes you feel that way?
Stuff like True Detective or Law and Order or Dexter lol
Denmark’s Army Chief Says He’s Ready to Defend Greenland | Danish forces are moving to the island to show NATO—and Trump—that they’re serious about security. ( www.theatlantic.com )
Trump tells Cuba to 'make a deal, before it is too late' ( www.bbc.com )
Donald Trump has urged Cuba to "make a deal" or face consequences, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money would now stop....
I have the absolute worst reason for dual booting Linux and Windows
I’m currently dual booting Linux Mint and Windows. Love Linux, hate Windows. So why I am dual booting?...
we need more users
I've been one of the people saying "we don't need more users. we need quality over quantity" and i was wrong....
Why did you decide to join Lemmy?
I'm just curious why some people come here; in my case, it's because it's not the same as on centralized platforms. I love these kinds of forums.
Microsoft CEO Begs Users to Stop Calling AI Content "Slop" ( futurism.com )
Greenland: Vance warns Europe to take Trump 'seriously' ( www.dw.com )
JD Vance on Thursday accused Denmark — a fellow NATO member — and the rest of Europe of failing to protect Greenland from the intentions of Russia and China....
More Than 20 Million Americans Are Set to Lose Health Care Coverage on January 1 ( truthout.org )
What's your opinion on the Somali daycare fraud story?
Personally I think the US government wastes enough on nonsense so I'm not really bothered. Plus if you look at most wealthy people in the USA they got that way through scamming and crime. I wish I knew how to get money like that.
The job market is so bad, people in their 40s are resorting to going back to school instead of looking for work ( fortune.com )
This year’s job market has been bleak, to say the least. Layoffs hit the highest level in 14 years; job openings are barely budging; and quits figures are plummeting. It’s no wonder people feel stuck and discouraged—especially as many candidates have been on the job hunt for a year....
Why do you personally hate Christmas?
cross-posted from:...
Why do you personally hate Christmas?
For those that can't stand this time of the year, my misery seeks company. What does it for you?...
Texas judge asks federal court to end marriage equality nationwide ( www.lgbtqnation.com )
She has been arguing that, as a Christian, she should not have to follow state rules about judicial impartiality....
What popular belief do you disagree with?
Erika Kirk endorses JD Vance for president in 2028 ( abcnews.go.com )
California threatens Tesla with 30-day suspension of sales license for deceptive self-driving claims ( apnews.com )
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California regulators are threatening to suspend Tesla’s license to sell its electric cars in the state early next year unless the automaker tones down its marketing tactics for its self-driving features after a judge concluded the Elon Musk-led company has been misleading consumers about the...
Trump says he'll deliver prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday ( www.cbsnews.com )
Linux is awesome at home, but aren't y'all forced to use Windows at work?
I'm liking the recent posts about switching to Linux. Some of my home machines run Linux, and I ran it on my main laptop for years (currently on Win10, preparing to return to Linux again)....
US Senator moves to file Section 230 repeal ( www.livemint.com )
What’s you obscure low key achievement this year?
What are you proud of this year? I don’t wanna hear i ran 3 marathons....
What's the oldest video game you still find yourself playing?
Modded skyrim is dangerous
What are your opinions on name changes in general?
I personally like to minimize name changes as much as possible because usually, the current name Just Works and I don't really think it's worth it to break muscle memory or replace signage and stuff....
How can I explain that my last workplace was in a cult without seeming unprofessional?
When I was working as an intern the company was into a group called PSI Seminars....
The cabal