Notices by Gary Houston (ghouston@mamot.fr)

@inthehands Most of the world is dominated by the US in one way or the other. Politicians and business people in other countries wouldn't want to pay the price of resistance, especially economic. The US can tariff their exports and sanction their companies and high-profile individuals, and who knows what else (even short of bombing and invading.)

@inthehands The best thing they can do is probably increase cooperation with other countries to replace whatever they get from the US now, try to disentangle from US-dominated systems. In some cases, like mobile phones, which are now basic infrastructure, it's not easy.

@inthehands They are scared, see how mild many of the responses are:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/world-reacts-to-us-strikes-on-venezuela/ar-AA1TvNwV

@hellomiakoda @Hex Ha, true. I gave up owning cars in 1990, partly because I didn't think I was entirely safe on the roads and I didn't want to kill anybody, and partly because repairing old cars was taking too much of my spare time.

@hellomiakoda @Hex Yeah, my state just approved a stadium after years of arguments despite not being able to afford it. Cars are just obnoxious, especially when its people who think it's fun to do burnouts, clouds of toxic dust, why not, it's fun.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-04/tas-parliament-vote-approves-afl-stadium-for-tasmania/106103886

@hellomiakoda @Hex There are things that are not exactly normal, like the stereotypical nerd things of being able to understand maths and science. You notice at an early at at school that most people are different.

This kind of difference may lead to taking more interest in these kinds of things, at the expense of interest in the kinds of things that other kids obsess over, potentially leading to a degree of social ostracism.

Being good at something, not a disability but having consequences.

@libreleah It's not just being uncouth, it's a real health risk and causes cancer and other diseases. Things would be different if these diseases could be cured before causing much discomfort. Some people may also just find smoke unpleasant, or aggravating to their lungs.

You should be free to do as you like, but within limits, such as not causing pollution that affects others.

@libreleah I guess you can still smoke indoors in your own house, although rental contracts usually forbid it, where I live.

@libreleah I can live with silence. That illustration looks more like it would go well on a mansplaining article, and he may even be infodumping.

But how great is it that we got rid of smoking indoors, and is Trump going to bring it back?

@libreleah I think there's a kind of conversation which is neither small talk (containing nothing of substance) nor infodumping, as the meme describes. I can't imagine an entire dinner conversation being nothing but small talk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_talk

@botvolution @Linux They are strongly encouraged to resign at least. Perhaps it's more brutal in Australia.

@Linux Also in the UK and Australia, at least, if a Prime Minister becomes unpopular or is involved in some kind of scandal, their party quickly replaces them.

@hakan_geijer tell me more about these mountains, are there any hermit caves still unoccupied?

Edit: I didn't see this. Take away my delusions already :( https://kolektiva.social/@hakan_geijer/114725087112995494

@roadriverrail @stacey_campbell it wasn't so long ago that the US allied with the UK and others to invade Iraq.

@jwildeboer how much does it cost to be inaugurated anyway?

@jwildeboer it reminds me of a Dutch family I know of, where a woman married a Jew and her husband and one of their children were taken away and murdered, while her brother married a German and apparently became a pound Nazi. Family gatherings must have been tense.

@jwildeboer interesting, but somewhat inconvenient.

@jwildeboer there's not really much that people do that I find weird these days, but DIY bureaucracy as a hobby? Is this something popular in Germany, and are there clubs for it?

@jwildeboer Syria didn't sign up to the ICC for some reason.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/17/qa-syria-and-international-criminal-court

@jschwart @jwildeboer in principle, I can register in Den Haag. I had the impression that it requires a current passport. Well, it says "een geldig Nederlands paspoort" or "een geldige Nederlandse identiteitskaart". And then you have to print off some form and post it(!)

https://www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/stemmen-buitenland/registreren