All technology has this included for free

Because I set it up like 5 ywars ago as a pandemic project and that was the top option from my searches

There’s a commercial on the radio in GTA:VC. A baby is crying and the voiceover says, “This American baby is starving because you bought a cheaper, higher-quality Daihatsu!”

OpenVPN on a VPS from Njalla paid for in Monero

I’m not being silly (other than that I’m a freakin’ tinfoil hat compared to most people)

This is my actual setup.

definitely had a step-change in usability & user base about ~9 months ago(?)

same as she’s been doing for decades: two fingers, left-right wiggle

Important point.

“Posted by bot” is a whole different issue from “Posting Reddit/X/FB”

Both moral and social issues worthy of discussion… but that should be considered entirely separately.

everyone in those photos has done what you’re doing

oh great something new for OP to consider while just trying to nut 😆

There’s an interoperable alternate with more features and forums now. Try PieFed

Big props also to Beethoven’s Wig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb9sogbkXWA&list=OLAK5uy_ni9dKuJJ7a0WqiazeJLDmzzdP1Kt0AlGM

Giddyup buttercup giddyup buttercup Buttercup won’t get up and get go-ing!

Germany was openly hostile to Einstein; they finally chased him out in March 1933.

I legit wonder if there is an Einstein or a Newton somewhere among the Hispanics and Africans that are now being chased out of the USA.

properly addressed

I legit wish there was real civic discussion about influence ops/propaganda.

I wish political parties were fighting about the best ways to identify and combat it.

I wish private organizations, news outlets, media companies, NGOs etc were talking about it and even pretending to acknowledge it.

“We are in a race between education and oblivion.” -R B Fuller

Yeah I just did some digging and I call BS until there’s evidence.

Apparently there are currently 38 4-star Generals/Admirals. Perplexity gave me each one of their names and their Senate confirmation dates (original and most recent). Most were done en masse in a voice vote on Dec 19, 2023.

That said, of the 38, these were listed as “pending/unclear status”

• Kenneth S. Wilsbach
• Thomas M. Carden Jr.
• Richard A. Correll
• Christopher J. Mahoney

handing the reins of power over to madmen

What I hear over & over from on various podcasts from people who’ve left US public service in the last ~2 years is:

Everyone has their own personal line, where they decide it’s no longer worth it trying to stay & minimize the damage – better to exit the burning building.

It’s soo oddly reminiscent of Atlas Shrugged

Employers would never make it easy for workers to vote

This kinds of childish, tribalist, Other-hating does nobody any good.

For the record, I’ve had some bosses who are excited about civic duty and make a point of it. I’ve had others that begrudge it. Most seem to be totally neutral on the subject.

okay if you’re gonna play that card you have to tell us the moment you realized this was not just a replay of Trump I but literally – not hyperbolically – “destroy America in 4 years or less”

You can’t say “the moment he was elected” – at that point you can only claim a Trump I level of dread

“Don’t shoot! I’m American! I’m stupid and didn’t understand a word of what was said!”

what the fuck the situation was there

opioids and/or amphetamines, at a first guess

At the very start of COVID. When many of my online and IRL friend groups started internalizing what I now recognize as Russian/Chinese influence ops (which were being spread by unwitting Western Useful Idiots – Conservatives and Libertarians)

They started not just opposing lockdowns, but actively spreading virus: no mask, it’s just a flu, CDC is lying, Fauchi is an idiot, etc.

It felt like being in a burning building. I grabbed my family, ran for the exit by cutting ties with the Influenced, and left them to burn. Now many of them are utterly consumed by propaganda and no longer recognize reality. 😢

… and here’s the remaining 25%

(9x10^6 Scoville units; about 9x hotter than Ghost Pepper)