Notices by WesDym (wesdym@mastodon.social)

@hgbruenker It's SO much worse than that. Trump doesn't have 'policies'. Trump has exactly ONE priority: himself. That's it. He'd throw his own family under the bus to save himself. He's got about a 72 IQ, a barely functional adult, and a raft of mental problems, probably including dementia. He has no values, beliefs, philosophy, faith, or any other consistent guiding principles. He cares about what's good for HIM. That's it. Nothing else.

Just in case you might still be tempted to visit Florida: Independent police review boards are now banned by state law. Police corruption and misconduct are now regulated only by police themselves. So you'll need to decide how lucky you feel travelling there. Because if you get UNlucky, there's not a lot to protect you.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/01/11/civilian-police-oversight-florida-crumbles-after-new-law-kicks/

@arstechnica The original Butlerian Jihad. Herbert had to have known about this, and this must have been his inspiration.

@derek True, but you have to have such 'right' validated before you do it. Skipping that step is itself a violation. In sum, you need formal approval before you do ANYTHING in Connecticut involving wetlands or watercourses.

@shuttersparks @rastinza @RickiTarr All of that's true (for mammals, at least), but it's not relevant to gender identity, which is neurological and not dictated by physical traits such as genitals -- that's sex, not gender.

Our careless use of these terms as synonyms in human contexts is a huge source of confusion and conflict.

@bedast Who would have thought that the employees of a company run by a douchebag might act like douchebags?

@ekis Cynicism isn't cool; it's just adult whining. It's never solved any human problem, and never can, but I know it feels good while you're doing it.

Separately, lazy writing is evidence of a lazy intellect.

You are muted for 30 days.

It may be worth reminding people that Elon Musk grew up in a privileged white family in apartheid South Africa who benefited handsomely from that regime's shameless racist doctrines. There's no good reason to assume he doesn't still hold those values today. Indeed, there's good evidence to suggest the opposite.

Excited about Bluesky? That's mostly because it's 1) not Xitter, and 2) new. Though incorporated under Washington State's Social Purpose Corporation statute, Bluesky is a for-profit corporation not legally bound to the principles it espouses, and can dump them whenever it chooses to. Like Google's original "Don't be evil" motto, it has exactly as much force as their board decides it does today.

It will change. Enshittification is all but inevitable, for anyone who has share-holders to feed.

@elfkin

- There are safe places to be and go. You probably already know where they are. Consider moving to or near one of them.

- Unless you supply evidence, no one can PROVE you're queer. Denial can be painful, but it can also save your life.

- Watch out for fellow travellers, and be ready to help if you can. Often, that just means being friendly and acting like you know people who look like they may be in a risky situation. Most people instinctively fear numbers. Even just two people.

@elfkin Early Gen-X queer activist. I'm going to throw out random tips as they come to me.

- Know your legal rights or liabilities in every place you are or plan to be, even just driving through.

- This means there are safe zones, caution zones, and no-go zones. The latter includes Florida and Texas, and probably also Tennessee.

- If you must enter or cross red zones, do so quickly but LEGALLY: Don't give cops an excuse to pull you over.

- Keep your car clean and generic-looking.

@KeithDJohnson It's also ignorant. The term comes from a since-debunked notion about the social hierarchy of wolves. Debunked long enough ago that there's not much excuse for not knowing that by now. I mean, if you're going to call you're something, you should at least take a minute to look it up.

So guys who call themselves 'alpha males' are basically saying, "I'm either ignorant or lazy, take your pick."

@WarnerCrocker When I read these quotes in the press, I assume the people quoted are lying. It's not like I have to rely on some nameless chump from Wet Fart, Nowhere to tell me the price of eggs. I live in one of the costlier parts of the US, and I fucking KNOW what eggs cost. These claims HAVE to be lies, unless you're buying, I don't know, some kind of frou-frou boutique eggs or something.

@br00t4c When, if ever, will people learn that Joe Rogan is dumb as shit?

@br00t4c "Major Complaint: Like, EVERYTHING, apparently"

@_9CL7T9k8cjnD_ @DemocracyMattersALot It's not a paradox if you understand tolerance as a social contract instead of a doctrine. Tolerance, like respect, must be continually earned. If you breach it, then you surrender it.

In iterations of various strategies for the Prisoner's Dilemma, it was found that statistically, Trust But Betray Once if Betrayed was among the most successful strategies: Cooperation works better as a presumptive contract than as a doctrine. The same is true for tolerance.

@kaia History is filled with examples like this. Rich arseholes love rare stuff BECAUSE it's rare. I've had caviar. The 'good' stuff, too. There's nothing special about it. It's just exotic and costly, and that's all there is to it.

Black pepper was once treasured by rich arseholes, too, until it became common. It's never been about the thing itself. It's about feeling special because you're rich. It's the most childish, primitive motive.

@VisualStuart I always like the version of this that ends, "Yeah, yeah."

@micahflee You're free to keep linking from a horrible, anti-democratic, pro-fascist website that has clearly stated its hatred for media, at least until the instance stops you.

But I'm free to mute you for it, right now, for good.

Goddamn, how come journalists don't know better already?

@Gargron Reminds me of Cuil Theory.

http://cuiltheory.wikidot.com/what-is-cuil-theory