Photuris

Yep, I missed it.

Look, there’s a lot helluva going on in the world right now, and I’m only one person, with a full time career and a family to take care of. I don’t - and can’t - know everything.

Most of what I know comes from my reading stuff and bullshitting around on the internet (and getting valuable feedback) in those few precious moments of quiet time, which are few and far between. I steal a moment here and there when I can.

As you get older (unless your job requires you to be a newshound), you’ll find yourself growing less and less informed, because there are greater and greater demands on your time, attention, and energy.

I do what I can with what I’ve got.

I have found the quickest way to learn stuff is just to spout off something on the internet, and await feedback. It’s kinda like trolling in a way, but designed to satisfy my own curiosity rather than to incense others, if that makes sense.

They should say this publicly, instead of behind closed doors.

Cowards. We won’t forget.

I 100% agree with you.

Wow I had no idea!

Lol nah, I didn’t know that Lemmy instances had deeply entrenched and divisive political cultures when I signed up for it. I was told to “pick an instance,” so I did.

Anyway, I didn’t know Rednote banned a lot of exodus people, but I am aware that it pushes a ton of propaganda. It’s so blatantly transparent, though.

I just happen to think that Larry Ellison (and the rest of the American Tech Oligarchs, Yarvin acolytes and the like) is a more direct, imminent, immediate threat to American liberty than the Chinese government or mainland Chinese companies right now. It’s not a “China good, America bad” tankie take. Of course if I lived in China or Taiwan I’d have a different take I’m sure.

Ellison taking Tik Tok is chilling. Yarvinite ultra-MAGA plans for America are terrifying. Chinese propagandists just want to tell us all how good China is. They can’t enact or enforce laws here.

No, it’s in physical form as well.

Time to get our friends back on Red Note / 小红书.

Yes, the Communist Party of China might have access to some of your data. But we don’t live in China, so who gives a shit if they know I always stop scrolling and watch that lumberjack guy, because I think his posts are dope? Yeah, I also love those “people in China in natural settings doing old school traditional stuff” posts.

I’d honestly rather the CPC, for all their flaws and awful authoritarianism, have some of my browsing data than those creepy fucks Zuck or Ellison have it at this point, because what Ellison wants to do affects us directly here at home in the “Land of the Free.” “Privacy is dead” Ellison has long dreamt of an overbearing eyes-everywhere authoritarian state that could put China’s to shame by comparison, if he gets his way.

China, for all her flaws and terrible human rights violations, at the very least does manage to keep her billionaires in check, and that’s a good thing. We should figure out how do the same (but leveraging democracy and without the authoritarianism and ethnic cleansing - I’m still a naïve idealist despite the horrors of the past nine years I guess).

Sometimes I think I should spend a few minutes each day reading the sports headlines, just so I know what’s going on enough to banter with people about the latest goings-on.

But, ain’t got time or energy for all that.

And they freak out when Gov. Newsom emulates his behavior in jest. “That’s not dignified!!” Well, yeah, it ain’t, that’s the point.

She has a weird laugh!

The mask is off

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They bent the knee (ABC, Kimmel).

They’re not just censoring people for celebrating Kirk’s death.

They’re censoring people who, while in no way celebrating Kirk’s death, are stating literal facts about Kirk’s publicly stated opinions.

Nuance is not allowed.

To over-simplify:

Republicans == evil

Democrats == complicit

Two things can be true at the same time.

It was also a long time ago

Well, I’m just a lurker here, and an ignorant one at that, and I don’t have a strong political label for myself. It depends on what context we’re talking about. I do know that I move further left the older I get (I was told the opposite would happen, but here we are).

I can’t speak for others, but for me, I have a strong distaste for conflict and for getting myself involved in other people’s business. I don’t actually want to be politically involved at all.

Really, what I want from politics is the right and privilege to be left alone, and I want that right and privilege for all others as well. That’s my utopia.

Sadly, the world is full of people who want to exploit others, coerce others, and extract wealth from others by any means necessary (not to mention dump filth into our air and rivers without restraint). And there are also control freaks with weird religious agenda and so on who want to exert control over other people’s private lifestyle decisions.

My politics isn’t about making people do something. It’s about making people stop doing something, basically.

I don’t know if I’m a socialist or not. My desire to curtail corporate power, and state power, comes from the desire to curtail exploitation and control-freakery, period.

What don’t want to do is to replace a Fascist dictator (who wants me at a factory stamping widgets for private profit) with a Communist dictator (who wants me stamping widgets for the state or whatever).

So, I don’t know. I have learned a lot from you guys though. Thanks for letting me lurk.

Yes. I only want to go out to quieter places, where you can hear yourself think and talk: parks (nature in general), libraries, museums, coffee shops, bookstores, quirky mom and pop shops, tiny restaurants, etc.

Otherwise, I’d much rather stay at home.

My old high school friends were all extroverts who loved going out to bars and clubs, drinking heavily (and smoking), and skirt-chasing. That’s what hanging out meant. One day, in my mid-twenties, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I realized “I’m not having any fun with these people at all.” So I ghosted all of them. I feel guilty about it at times, but I had to.

The party of small government at work.