FriendOfDeSoto

If you have a general practitioner that you go to for your normal illnesses, start there. If the ER doc didn’t tell you to make an appointment with a specialist, maybe start smaller.

Stop googling. You didn’t study this stuff. And my guess is it won’t help with anxiety either.

They’re trying to say you bought a phone with bad software. You may want to contact the company to see if they can help you. I’m saying that because my guess is not many people have your phone and will read this and can then help you.

There are countries in Europe that use a broadcast system and not SMS to send emergency alerts. Depends on your location. I’m guessing that with growing environmental catastrophes and the military threat from the East a lot more will be done with these kinds of alerts in the future.

One of them doesn’t listen at all. He’s also dead so I’m willing to overlook his blatant lack of enthusiasm.

“In the long run” does a lot of the heavy lifting there. We’ve gone from indiscriminately giving our data away 25 years ago, to having a sizable chunk of people like you and me who are aware of the data siphoning and take steps to curb the flow today. In another 25 years, I think users’ mindsets will have changed enough for my prediction to have a chance in hell of becoming true. I hope to see the day.

This question is nonsensical. Let’s say Amazon leaves the EU. What does that have to do with the Fediverse? If all US social media companies left, people will find other forums to engage in. This could be the Fediverse, could be something else that hasn’t been created yet.

In the long run, I think we will all end up on a version of federated social media. The corporate silos will lose their appeal, regardless of where they’re based. Whether this future federated service will be based on Activity Pub or AT or whatever protocol no one knows right now.

There don’t have to be any protest songs. The message could be carried by another medium.

I also think right now that there is a period of uncertainty and intimidation going on. No industry wants to step into the limelight speaking up against the magas for fear of direct reprisals from the government or from those who really like it or having their attorneys targeted. So maybe the big kahunas of the music industry are less inclined to publish protest songs when they know an orange sh!tstorm will come their way when they do.

It may also be too early for any protest song to be written, recorded, and to have gained enough traction for anyone to notice.

My comment is referring to the imminent inflation in Trump’s terrific tariff economy. During inflation, the value of money decreases. If it’s hyperinflation - which is possible if he appoints one of his children to run the fed - a million won’t cover your weekly grocery bill.

I appreciate your effort to keep senseless loss of lives in mind here. I don’t think it will work. They don’t want to be US citizens. And the way the Trump economy is going to shape out, 1 million dollars may not be worth that much soon.

DOB

Favorite = read receipt, boost = like. It’s not an absolute rule but it’s in the ballpark.

You’re right, you used to be able to do that but it’s been a while since it stopped.

https://www.lifewire.com/view-instagram-without-account-5271416

Just as an aside and in addition to the other comments here:

There is a phenomenon called regulatory capture. It can take many different forms but the short version is that agencies and policies get perverted to only benefit one group. When the intention should be society at large.

There is a process where the big players, say OpenAI, call for regulation of their industry, not because they feel it needs regulating but because the regulatory hurdles will keep competitors at bay. Meta pulled a stunt like that as well with social networks. So big hype company calling for regulation in their field is a red flag, accompanied by a loud alarm bell.

A good faith argument kind of presupposes that all people constantly objectively question their convictions. And I don’t think we humans do that. We’re very happy with the way we think. And very capable of holding opposing viewpoints at the same time.

It is easy to be caught up in jingoistic fervor. It’s easy not to register all the incremental changes that go against your ideals. It’s easy to overlook atrocities that are committed “by your team, for the cause.” It only takes mental gymnastics we’re perfectly capable of as a species.

You’re trying to apply conventional logic to this. Stop. They only want more power and money and they would say anything to get it.

Obama benefited from being barely in office in 2009 when he got the prize. I imagine the committee in Oslo regretted their decision later.

I would say the powerfulness of the narrative remains strong. The big corporations find ways to the cheapest way of doing business like most rivers find the sea. It doesn’t have to be switching from a developed country with socialist tax code going to a developing country where labor is cheap. You can see it in the microcosm of the EU. The Republic of Ireland has favorable taxes and a less harsh data security watchdog so big tech companies headquarter there. Amazon sits in Luxembourg for similar reasons. Wages are cheaper in the East so manufacturing jobs tend to move there (or, sadly, the workforce moves west and gets paid cents on the Euro working in Central and Western Europe). If a government increases labor costs by demanding more benefits for workers, you reach a tipping point where companies pack up and move. Not all at once but after a while the creek becomes a river. That’s the spectre haunting Europe these days. It’s not just about a billionaire wealth tax, it’s also about the levies in employment, etc. They all need to be similar in the tax codes for the equal playing field the EU apparatus idealizes. When they’re not you move the mountain range out of the way for the river to find the sea more directly.

Trump’s terrific tariffs are supposed to create a pull effect, making the US attractive to manufacturing jobs. I think he will fail because be will drive up the cost of living so much that market demand will not rise along with his expectations, making investing in factories in the US ultimately not enticing enough. Never mind the fact that corporations fear uncertainty more than the Beelzebub.

If my glib comparison is what you jump onto here, then have at it and virtue signal to your heart’s content.

You know who has the government’s ear? Ultra rich people. And they feed the legislators the horror scenario that higher taxes would mean they take their money and all their business and all the jobs attached to those to somewhere with lower taxes. And then they won’t get more in tax revenue while at the same time increasing benefits spending. It’s the billionaires’ lose/lose scenario. It’s a powerful narrative. The only way to fix this is to have all countries adopt similar tax codes. And that is about as likely as Putin getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

No. The label horror story, sadly, applies to all. I suppose I could have worded it differently, had I expected the least generous interpretation being applied to what I wrote.

If you want to know where it is going in the short-term, have a look at Orban’s Hungary. Rightwing populist voted in and then got to work at dismantling the state. Control judges appointments, curb the power of the judicial branch, silence critical media, pick a group to scapegoat, buddy of Putin. The list goes on. Democracy only works if people defend it and from my outside POV there aren’t enough people doing that just yet. It’s worse in Trump 2.0 because this time he came prepared.

There are already horror stories about people being caught up wrongly in the deportation efforts. That’s using very mild language for very traumatic events here. It’s come to a point where erstwhile allies of the US are advising their citizens not to travel to the US. Because they have lost faith in the rule of law there. Take a minute to let that sink in.

If you’re a US citizen, resist. The free state is under threat. If you’re an immigrant, be careful.