Notices by Bill Hunt (krusynth@mastodon.publicinterest.town)

@tek @christa I've already been down that path, lived it for years, and abandoned it.

@christa I literally have given up six times in the last two years trying to get Ruby to run. Let DHH have his empire of shit, I want nothing to do with it.

@christa Update: seventh try to get two versions of jekyll running on the same box and after 3 hours finally got it working. Kind of.

It is easy to point fingers at the hubris of the Dems. The DNC's nepotistic hegemony is certainly to blame for the failings this morning.

But if we want change, voting will NEVER be enough. We must use systems thinking to break apart the machines that hold us hostage. We have to control the flow of capital, and the flow of information, to choke off those in power. We must starve them of their resources. And we must take deliberate steps to protect the most vulnerable among us.

The biggest failing of Dems has been to eat a load of shit handed to us by the DNC. The current mainstream Dem party has the same goals as the Rs, amass wealth for corporate interests. They cannot be trusted.

Liberals spend too much of our time fighting amongst ourselves over definitions rather than coming together cohesively as the Rs have done since the Tea Party. We need a new, aggressively liberal policy plank focusing on equity and decolonization, and to refuse to accept ANY candidate that does not adopt it - new or incumbent. The Rs did this and won, over and over.

We also need to get used to paying for our news, and getting that news from smaller, independent offerors. Control of the media is one of the greatest benefits that the folks in control have today.

Every single liberal needs to examine their comfort and start making changes. It sounds cliché, but we MUST stop giving money to corporate interests that work behind closed doors to disempower us. Every WaPo or Times subscription cancelled reduces the reach of that misinformation. Every cancelled Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta account reduces their power to buy politicians.

And for fuck's sake STOP WORKING FOR THESE COMPANIES. Don't build weapons for your oppressors.

As an aside, if you're a person that produces sperm, I STRONGLY recommend you schedule a vasectomy as soon as humanly possible. It's very likely that soon the reproductive rights of women will be taken away, so it will be up to men to be more responsible. It's a painless procedure and typically is covered almost entirely by insurance. I didn't pay a dollar for mine. They're generally reversible. Recovery takes about a week. Let's make this the norm, friends.

Tech is not going to save us. Mastodon is not going to save us. We cannot science our way out of these problems. No one else is coming to help.

We can only change our habits and retake what power we can. We must choose empathy, kindness, and love in the face of hate.

My unpopular belief is that popularized cynicism got us here.

Decades of irony, darker and grittier reboots of franchises, edgy comedy, the bad guy winning in the end. This paved the way in the media to accept the absurd, to numb us to horror, to make us harder and crueler and less tolerant.

More and more people began to *embrace* cynicism as a norm, and we forgot how to dream of a better world.

A better future requires hope. :blue_lantern: #hopepunk

The Supreme Court has just voted to allow the governor of Virginia (my current state) to purge voters from the rolls based on arbitrary suspicions. This is a travesty of justice.

Just a reminder that EVERY VOTE COUNTS.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/30/politics/supreme-court-virginia-noncitizen-voting-purge/index.html

I am pleased to inform you that Deadpool 3 is the best Marvel movie of all time and hits levels of fanservice I did not know were possible. There are a few minor stumbles but it takes itself more seriously than the previous films, but to great and hilarious effect. Go see it.

@clacke @RussSharek @docpop @wcbdata @vkc Looks sharp! 💙

It remains fucking absurd that the U.S. sold off most of its rail lines, so Amtrak has to *pull over* and let freight trains pass, as those are the companies who bought them. I’m sitting here stuck outside of town for the last 30 minutes because of this fuckery.

@waldoj Yeah, a few of our colleagues were talking about doing this at a notable govtech event, about two years ago? I was horrified.

Everyone is talking about fast fashion, but no one is talking about the plague of fast furniture. It’s impossible to find true durable pieces that can last for generations anymore, even the so-called “Amish made” pieces are typically cheap stuff being bulk produced in one of a dozen massive factories.

I can’t even find a solid wood panel bed at any of the vintage or resale shops anymore. Particleboard is the only choice we’re being given. It’s tragic.

I saw a post the other day saying that #gardening is #punk rock - you can save seeds and grow an infinite number of plants from them effectively for free/cheap.

I’ve been growing veggies in 5 gallon buckets for the last year and it’s super easy even with not a lot of space. And then magically they make food!

I saved enough seeds last year that I have way too many plants this year, so I’ve spent the afternoon giving them to the neighbors!

Working on a new t-shirt design. What do y'all think?

On April 9, 1865, the Confederate army surrendered to the Union.

During their retreat, the Confederates burned down their own capital, the city of Richmond, VA - my current home. They burned 90% of the business district, all the warehouses and goods. The citizens were left destitute and homeless.

I need you to remember this when you're fighting white supremacy: these people will turn on everyone else to save themselves. They're cowards who believe in nothing but their own self interests.