Same, I couldn’t even tell you what she’s promoting right now
3 Likes
I live right outside of DC and work a few blocks from the White House. Apparently, Trump has now put DC police under federal control and is deploying the National Guard to crack down on crime. In general, I find this city pretty safe, at least in comparison to how it’s always been. But I do know that being ruled by the federal government before home rule won in the 1970s was not to the resident’s benefits. Our local govt has plenty of problems but when you’re an afterthought to people too busy preening in front of cameras for votes to legislate, that is to no one’s benefit. I really, really hope this is not a sign of things to come.
4 Likes
I was just there a couple months ago and it seemed perfectly safe to me.
At this point, I just can’t fucking stand it anymore. Republicans hate America and just want to burn it all down to line their own fucking pockets, but also hurt as many people as possible along the way.
4 Likes
I think the US is past signs at this point.
3 Likes
Honestly, I may be a fool. The US has gone through periods where laws and norms have been superseded. We have seen portions of the Constitution get ignored. The 1st amendment basically didn’t exist for the first 100 years or so of American history. Dirty elections have been around for years. Killing political leaders has always been around. I know things are bad and legal norms are getting upended and there’s a feeling of collapse. But I don’t think things are worse now. But again, maybe I’m a blind fool. I hope not.
I’ll keep working on my little area, hoping that bringing unions back is step in the right direction.
6 Likes
I don’t disagree for the most part, and while I think some of this is rooted in pervasive white supremacy, greed and latent fascism that has always existed in the US so we are seeing a resurfacing of some of the countries worst problems, I think it’s impossible to ignore the fact you have an openly fascist government led by a president who fancies himself a king and who has openly eschewed the principal of law. Has the US come close before? Certainly, but I think an unprecedented line has been crossed and if there is a way back it will take decades to undo.
7 Likes
3 Likes
Just a shower thought I need to get out of my brain:
Before DT I did not know this word and now I will never be able to not read it “unpresidented” because there were bad former presidents in the US, but oh boy do they look good in comparison now. It should become a real word.
On a more serious note, what shocks me more than what DT and his government do is how many citizens have waited for their chance to help build a fascist country. There’s the teacher eager to have their students deported, the co-worker eager to have people let go because of DEI, the baker eager not to sell to LGBTQ+ people, people applying to ICE and people clapping and cheering when the army patrols the streets. I was told that’s why the Nazis in Germany could do what they did, and I always found it hard to understand how that played out: how there was so little resistance, how neighbours turned into informers and even murderers, and how people became willing cogs in a deadly machine. It scares me to see that playing out live in the US, and I know we have these people in Germany too, waiting in their normal lives for that chance.
I thought humanity would be beyond that, that reasonable people would be the majority and prevent it from happening, but I was wrong, and I am scared. In America it is happening “on the big stage”, but it is happening in other countries too, just not as loud and illuminated.
5 Likes
Well, the 21st century has had its share of rising racism in Europe with Italy and Hungary as two prime examples. But right now the US and UK are competing for first place in the fascism race in the (north) west, as both attempt to squash human rights (especially trans rights) and muffle political dissent declaring political protest “terrorism”. I link to UK examples because I think the US examples are highly visible to most people, but I think some people are not aware that this is also happening across the pond from the US. And I agree, people in other countries are biding their time until they have a government in place that supports populist and fascist ideologies so they too can feel free to spread hate. It’s not the only dire time in history, but it feels particularly disheartening right now.
5 Likes
idk how many us headlines make it out of the us but it does look like gay marriage is going back to the supreme court and may be overturned.
4 Likes
Didn’t he do that so he has an easy way to kick all the homeless out of DC? Forget actually helping them, of course.
I am really, really stunned with what the current Labor government here in the UK have been doing. It’s like the Tories never left. This whole age verification thing and the crack downs on protest are just disgusting.
At least back home in Australia it appears that the Government still has balls by taking amazing steps forward with online safety for young people and giving big tech (YouTube in this case) a huge two fingered salute.
4 Likes
Brought to you by a woman who went to jail for not issuing marriage licenses to gay couples when it became legal, and also had four different marriages with three different men, and cheated on all of them while they all helped her raise the other husband‘s babies.
I feel it’s almost guaranteed that gay marriage will become illegal again - the only thing that might interfere is Clarence Thomas talking about overturning other landmark civil rights rulings, which could bite him in the ass and put his interracial marriage on the chopping block soon as well. Because surely that’s part of the agenda.
5 Likes
I don’t think it’s making huge headlines because almost everything I’ve read says that it’s very unlikely the Supreme Court will hear this appeal. This lady does seem like quite a peach. She looks exactly like I thought she would look too.
3 Likes
The Australian Productivity Commission has given the OK for tech companies to use copyrighted material to train their AI. To say I’m incredibly disgusted by this is an understatement, but there are people fighting back.
For decades Australia has prized itself on having artistic voices unlike those anywhere else in the world. From First People’s voices to bush poetry to more modern Australian voices dealing with living in a country that is so isolated from the rest of the world, Australia has quite a unique artistic and creative voice.
Now, the government has basically said that all of that cultural identity and voice is only worth what Big Tech will pay for it. It’s the monopolisation of literally 50,000 years of art and stories. I really thought that given the big middle finger Australia has shown to Big Tech in the past that something like this would never happen.
4 Likes
In Europe if you buy an empty CD, or paper or video tape, an SSD/HDD etc. you will pay additional tax because it is priced in that these things could potentially be used to store or print pirated media on it. So they can’t hinder the piracy and therefore declare every customer a pirate and ask them for money.
If the thief is a multinational multbillion company thiefery is free, because reasons.
Du Moulin said it’s unclear how an artist can go about opting out of their work being shared with AI companies.
“This whole conversation is putting the cart before the horse. You don’t know how to opt out, but your work is already being used,” he said.
2 Likes
That…is incredibly stupid. So because I bought a USB drive to store high rez scans of my own artwork I have to pay a higher cost?
Someone is definitely getting a kickback there.
3 Likes
You can’t have them pesky thieves get away with piracy. That could harm billionairs who would never steal but just rob artists aquire necessary data for AI which is the future of mankind (not) and makes them even richer, you know?
That…is incredibly stupid.
Ja. Of course the law could assume AI only works by stealing (which is a fact and not even disputed by AI owning businesses, while you only stored your own work and not everyone sails the seas at least I haven’t for a long time) and tax AI the same… hahahahahahahahahahaha!
All those millions spent on lobbying the EU politicians are well spent money. It is sad that Australia seems to struggle to keep consumer rights up - EU and Australia are often the only ones who even try, their failures hurt always the most.
3 Likes
Canada has a levy on CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, but no other storage media. However, it’s kind of pointless now because manufacturing of recordable optical media is essentially winding down. Conversely we have much more reasonable anti-piracy laws than most countries and a lot more legal right to make copies of media we have purchased than say somewhere like the US or Europe. Canada also has a piracy warning system which allows companies to warn Canadians against piracy after an incident is discovered, but companies cannot demand payment in retribution. Compare this to the the US where ever single file a person downloads is considered a separate chargeable offence per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
3 Likes
3 Likes
I mean it is definitely time for Trump to get the Nobel price for mathematics for outstanding use of completely made up numbers. I mean a made up price would fit the theme. 
Not sure if this timeline makes me cry or laugh or both.
6 Likes