Notices by Rod Hilton (rodhilton@mastodon.social)

@thomasfuchs Yeah. I've really wanted to make Mastodon work, it's easily the place I've had the largest number of following connections...

...but fundamentally I think the biggest problem might actually be the community itself. The HOA brigade is very real, I've noticed my replies on Mastodon are far and away the lowest quality replies I get anywhere. It doesn't exactly invite one to engage.

ICE being given an additional $45 billion to subject anyone they decide is illegal to endless suffering.

There is a 0% chance illegal immigrants being here costs us more than $45b.

There's simply no way to ever recoup these costs by following the official "mission", so that's not what it's for.

I honestly think James Gunn's Superman movie is going to "hit" at just the right time. A hopeful, inspirational, sincere, totally unironic take on a character just as things are going to absolute shit.

I predict the most common thing you'll read in reviews is that it made people cry.

https://www.thewrap.com/superman-trailer-teaser/

@drahardja I hadn't really considered the prison slavery loophole but you're right, that's exactly what's going to happen.

It's clear these industries are built on having access to a labor force that is not paid properly.

Okay obviously mass deportation is awful and racist but if I'm being honest I'm increasingly uncomfortable with taking the position that deporting immigrants is bad solely b/c we have industries that rely on being able to exploit their illegal status to pay them below what our laws dictate is our definition of a living wage.

Maybe if farming and construction can't survive without exploiting people with no access to labor protections, they should not survive.

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/23/g-s1-35465/trump-deportation-migrants-immigrants-texas-construction-industry-border-security

Absolutely fucking hilarious.

Apparently the people Musk is paying to doorknock, because they are paid rather than motivated by liking Trump, don't give a shit about actually doing it.

And from what I have heard, the software they are using fails to properly mark houses as previously visited, so they're knocking on the same doors multiple times over the week.

https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-ground-game-donald-trump-backfiring-pennsylvania-arizona-nevada-1971789

Genuinely don't understand how people stay on X. I just logged in out of curiosity to see what things were like over there and my "For You" explore page has:

- A post by Tim Pool
- A post by Libs of TikTok
- An anti-trans post by a name I don't recognize
- A bunch of sports stuff

There were indeed mixed with stuff that seems to reflect my interest like movie news, comic books, and so on, but I've never engaged with any of the conservative shit in my life.

2016: "the polls said Hillary would win, guess you can't trust the polls!"
2022: "the polls said there would be a red wave, guess you can't trust the polls!"
2024: "the polls say Trump will win and I trust them!!"

Everyone calm the fuck down and vote, we got this.

Proposal: make it illegal to solicit anyone's voting preference and record it prior to them casting a ballot. Publicly announcing/endorsing of your own volition is fine but nobody can ask you and then write it down. Maybe an exception for anyone affiliated with an active campaign, but they cannot disclose results prior to election day.

We'd be better off without any of the polling. It doesn't help anything, it's used dishonestly, and it interferes with a fair and free election.

Kamala got the same stupid-ass "say something nice about Trump" question at her Univision town hall that Hillary got in 2016. Except this time she was asked to say THREE nice things.

And she was just like nah. I love her.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP888THrC/

What an absolute fucking loser.

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-knock-doors-donald-trump-pennsylvania-2024-10

Oh who would have thought, the price for not prosecuting the people responsible for a coup attempt is, lo and behold, a second coup attempt.

https://newrepublic.com/post/187088/roger-stone-donald-trump-coup-november-video

Hey Republicans you guys realize that "being in politics is the one way to avoid being prosecuted for committing crimes" is just going to attract an endless stream of criminals to the profession right?

Like this goes both ways, all of the liberals you hate are ALSO going to eventually be criminals because that's where criminals should go if they want to commit crimes.

So while US power hangs in the balance, there's little choice but to get through the election before enacting any kind of policy change. Anything else risks the election itself which puts MORE Palestinian lives at risk, because Trump has made it clear that Bibi will have no restrictions.

She honestly can't even *say* she's going to change the policy, because that too puts Palestinian lives at greater risk due to an election loss.

Can Kamala, or even Joe Biden, just flat out stop supplying them with weapons until there is a ceasefire?

Well let's walk through what happens.

We announce no more weapons for Israel. Israel is attacked by Hamas or Hezbollah a short time later. The blame for weakening Israel falls to Biden/Harris for their lack of support. A large enough number of Israel supporters drop their support for her, and she loses the election.

Trump wins, weapons flow back, Bibi allowed to do whatever he wants.

Maybe she doesn't want that. Maybe reading between the lines is over-interpreting. But there is at least a *chance* of what you want happening with her as president.

There is NO chance of it with Trump. None.

Protest-voting Jill Stein to deny MI to Kamala (the explicit goal of the Stein movement, at this point) will do nothing to further any goals that actually value life.

The smartest move, if you actually care about ending the war in the Middle East, is to read between the lines of what Kamala is saying. She cares about *HOW* Israel defends itself. She wants a ceasefire. These are the things that tell you that she agrees with you and wants this to stop.

If you're smart, you'll recognize the situation she's in and put your trust in her that, once she secures the power of the office, she will use that power to negotiate a ceasefire.

I want to take these never-Bideners through a situation.

Imagine you're Kamala Harris right now. And take, as a temporary assumption, that she is absolutely committed to stopping the war in the Middle East. And absolutely committed to stopping any more weapons from going to Israel until there is a ceasefire. That there is nothing more important to you than stopping Israel's ongoing aggression.

Just imagine that's the case for a moment, and lets walk through what you do in this situation.

“As a Palestinian American,” she said in the video, “the current administration’s handling of this genocide has been beyond enraging and demoralizing, but the reality is that it can get worse.”

Sounds like we're finally getting realistic here, hope all you "line I'll never cross" folks start to question yourselves a bit if you're out there and real and not bots.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4922430-uncommitted-group-back-harris/

How do you convince an entire group of people that think they're doing the right thing that they're about to do the one thing that a future version of themselves would go back in a time machine and change immediately?