Albania appoints AI bot as minister to tackle corruption
https://www.reuters.com/technology/albania-appoints-ai-bot-minister-tackle-corruption-2025-09-11/
'My wife died giving birth after Trump cut funding to our clinic'
For decades, America has been the largest donor to Afghanistan, and in 2024, US funds made up a staggering 43% of all aid coming into the country.The Trump administration has justified withdrawing it, saying there were "credible and longstanding concerns that funding was benefiting terrorist groups, including... the Taliban", who govern the country. The US government further added that they had reports stating that at least $11m were "being siphoned or enriching the Taliban".
The report that the US State Department referenced was made by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). It said that $10.9m of US taxpayer money had been paid to the Taliban-controlled government by partners of USAID in "taxes, fees, duties, or utilities".
The Taliban government denies that aid money was going into their hands.
BBC investigates Afghan maternal deaths after US aid cuts
The BBC hears devastating accounts of Afghan mothers and babies dying after US-backed clinics shut.Yogita Limaye (BBC News)
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What happened in Afghanistan when/after the Americans pulled out is a fucking disaster that was talked about for way too short a time.
Add to that the more recent USAID cuts.
The worst thing is that all these cuts together are still peanuts compared to government bailouts, funding OpenAI, military, losses in tax revenue because multibillionaires etc.
Like, killing people is bad, but killing them just because you're cheap. Or greedy. Trump and his posse will juice the lemon called USA until it's completely dry, taking parts of the world with them.
Um, why did USA pay anything to Afghanistan after they forcibly ejected everyone from the country? That happened in 2020-2021, and the payments just continuned?
So you actually needed Donald Trump to end that waste? What in the fuck?
It seems this asshole cares more about dollars he'll never be paid than the lives of mothers and children he'll never have to face.
The reason we didn't have much European terrorism after WW2 is because we invested in and rebuilt those countries after the war. Jesus Christ, you so-called fiscal conservatives never learn shit from history.
You know what's even dumber? That money you care so much about being "saved?" You'll never see a penny of it. That's all going to the ultrawealthy ruling class. They're going to steal all of it for themselves. "Steal!?" you object. Yes steal. Oh yes, they might remember to make it legal, probably by executive order or some shit.
That money would be better spent helping babies and mothers in Afghanistan survive childbirth than going to the already filthy rich. Frankly I'd rather have them get it than the likes of even you.
Let me guess, you think you're the next Charlie Kirk so we should have a "debate" now.
Japan again makes no mention of Koreans' forced labor at Sado memorial event - The Korea Times
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/48702462
The Sado Mines, once famous as a gold mine in the 17th and 19th centuries, was mainly used to produce war supplies for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. More than 1,500 Koreans are reported to have been forced into labor at the mines from 1940-45.
Japan again makes no mention of Koreans' forced labor at Sado memorial event
Japan again made no mention of Koreans' forced labor during a ceremony Saturday commemorating victims of a World War II mine complex in the country...Yonhap (The Korea Times)
Farewell to the fediverse
Farewell to the fediverse
In December 2023, this blog joined the fediverse (pt_BR). Thanks to a WordPress plugin — the publishing platform used by Manual do Usuário — it became possible to follow updates here without leaving…Manual do Usuário
This does remind me that I wish that Fediverse clients would have RSS reader functionality built in by default. I have a sneaking suspicion some do and I just don't know how to use the feature. Effectively allowing people to "boost" aka repost with backlink RSS updates on a Fediverse client would enable most of what a blogger would want from the Fediverse, with the exception of receiving all the comments on the posts they share.
Bridgy does that, but then it is essentially just a mirror so it does have the server inefficiency of redundant hosting built in.
That you might say is the fundamental design decision of Activity pub, shifting the hosting burden from a single host to a distributed network of server instances. This enables a more robust network, with instances holding content the users have interacted with regardless of if the original host instance goes down. It also reduces time to load for content after it has beed federated to a user's local instance, assuming it is closer in proximity and capable enough. At the same time, this makes content ownership and control a challenge.
Functionally the Fediverse is a public commons with content ownership practically distributed across the network of instances, whether copyright says so or not. Attempts to impose universal author controls on this framework face a lot of dissonance because it is fundamentally at odds with the underlying concept of federation as distributed hosting. The minute a host begins hosting content over which they have no control (such as encrypted posts) the potential for abuse skyrockets.
Since the popularization of the Distributed Social Network concept I have wondered whether pre-existing content distribution infrastructure like RSS might not be more advantageous as a backbone for social networking, with the development load entirely shifted to the client side and away from protocols. The IndieWeb project is playing with some of these ideas, and I have seen some prototypes online of RSS based social networks, so my question is, what is the fundamental advantage of ActivityPub over the combination of these other existing protocols with longer histories and broader existing implementation? RSS, email, XMPP, etc. Is lower latency really a good enough justification for widely redundant data distribution?
This question becomes increasingly relevant when it comes to multimedia, and the minute that you offload multimedia to central servers by link embedding instead of hosting within the instance, boom you are back to the old centralized architecture and why are you federating?
So I am going to pose this question to the Fediverse myself, what is the reason that federated content distribution should be adopted for general use rather than distributed aggregation? That is to say of a client performed with the same features as a Fediverse front end, but all of the content was self-hosted and listed via RSS or Atom with comments handled via Webmention, direct messages via email or XMPP, and moderation handled at the level of aggregation via instances (meaning a user "joins" or "subscribes" to an instance, and that instance provides a ban list, list of feeds subscribed to by its users for discovery, provides a user directory) what would be the features that this type of system would lack that ActivityPub based systems have in place?
There are three advantages I see, and I'm not completely sure they justify mass adoption vs. the cost of broad redundancy of content and authorship issues.:
- Choosing local instance for faster loading, but this only is an advantage after content is brought in for the first time, in which case it actually is slower as first the instance has to pull the cintent and then serve it to the user.
- "all" content in the protocol is of the same type, allowing for easier interoperability between clients and services. I'm thinking this is the root of what most people will say is the big advantage of ActivityPub vs. older protocols, but I'd like to hear more about why this is enough of a reason to overcome the inertia of existing mass adoption and support of the alternatives.
- It isn't based in XML, and modern devs don't want to use XML. As I'm not a coder, I cant say how big an influence this has, but from what I have seen it seems to be a substantial factor. Can anyone explain why?
Some interesting thoughts - and questions - here. Seems you posted them in the wrong place, given the paltry response. Or possibly at the wrong time (i.e. 6 hours after the herd had moved on, a perennial problem with social media).
It isn’t based in XML, and modern devs don’t want to use XML. As I’m not a coder, I cant say how big an influence this has, but from what I have seen it seems to be a substantial factor. Can anyone explain why?
XML is space-inefficient with lots of redundancy, and therefore considered to be ugly. Coders tend to have tidy minds so these things take on an importance that they don't really merit. It's also just fashion: markup, like XML and HTML, is a thing of the 90s, so using them is the coder equivalent of wearing MC Hammer pants.
Thanks for clarifying, I figured fashion had at least something to do with it given the number of actively used protocols and services that still use it, XMPP being the one I use the most myself.
Even on XMPP I have seen several projects to "translate" the protocol into other languages (specifically Rust in one).
Efficiency makes sense, but then also the number of devs proficient in a language due to shifts in the emphasis of training and education is just as strong a force.
Blogs are already “social” by nature (comments)
Most Blogs require you to create an account and login to your specific blog. I ain't doin that. But if it appears in my feed on my account that I control, I might throw in my $0.02, which will improve engagement on your blog.
In practice, ActivityPub’s distributive nature replicates content across a multitude of servers (every server where someone follows the blog), which, while not catastrophic here, is at least inefficient.
I mean, that's kinda the point though, also. Any federated product will do the same.
Given that — and the fact that few people follow and almost nobody interacts via ActivityPub — I’ve been considering removing Manual from the fediverse for several months.
I mean, that's fair, but also, what is it costing you to keep it? You're greatly improving visibility of your blog.
Oscar-winning Palestinian director Basel Adra says his home in West Bank raided by Israeli soldiers
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian Oscar-winning director Basel Adra said Israeli soldiers conducted a raid at his home in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, searching for him and going through his wife’s phone.
Israeli settlers attacked his village, injuring two of his brothers and one cousin, Adra told The Associated Press. He accompanied them to the hospital. While there, he said that he heard from family in the village that nine Israeli soldiers had stormed his home.
The soldiers asked his wife, Suha, for his whereabouts and went through her phone while his 9-month-old daughter was home. They also briefly detained one of his uncles, he said.
Adra spent the night outside the village, unable to get home and check on his family because soldiers were blocking the village entrance and he was scared of being detained, he said.
Israel’s military said soldiers were in the village after Palestinians had thrown rocks, injuring two Israeli civilians. It said its forces were still in the village, searching the area and questioning people.
Adra said settlers attacked the Palestinians on their land and denied throwing rocks or seeing anyone from the village do so.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-west-bank-basel-adra-home-raided-4241522d2aed9fd95b28eba361e45c38
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I think everyone should watch No Other Land.
It gets a little tough in spots (nothing NSFW) but it's important.
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Been avoiding it because I don't want to just cry. I literally cried during Superman when the little kid was raising the flag. Trying to stay quiet in the theater. It just reminded me of so much.
I know everything that's in it. I've started 5/7 days of every week, for the last two years, listening to Amy Goodman (Democracy now) tell me what awful things happened the nights before.
I just avoid visuals now. After the call of the 9 year old in the car I don't think anything beyond that is anything useful to "make me understand". I don't think it does anything but disable me for some time. The story of the pregnant women dead from an attack as the doctors tried to save her child. My wife was 7 months pregnant then.
I'm a stay at home parent with a kid right now. Lost my job at Microsoft because I spoke up about it's support of genocide. I can get to a protest or picket line every couple weeks when my wife can watch our kid.
I just think for some of us that more witness of suffering is just disabling and no longer effective. Maybe I'll watch it with my daughter someday. Gaza has defined a lot of my love and appreciation for her.
Rupert Murdoch's real-life 'Succession' battle just ended in a multibillion-dollar deal that keeps Fox News, Wall Street Journal conservative | Fortune
Rupert Murdoch’s real-life ‘Succession’ battle just ended in a multibillion-dollar deal that keeps Fox News, Wall Street Journal conservative
The future of Fox News and The Wall Street Journal were at stake.Nick Lichtenberg (Fortune)
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Yeah I feel this should be bigger news.
Trumps die, News Corp continues.
I think a more interesting question is why there aren't major US TV news sources between Fox News and the center, occupying the area that the three-more-liberal-kids wanted to take Fox News.
To the right of Fox News, you have upstarts One America News Network and Newsmax.
During the 2020 United States presidential election, President Trump began to promote Newsmax over its rival, Fox News.[80][81][82][83] Trump's preference for Newsmax over Fox News became clearer after the latter became the first news outlet to call Arizona for Democratic challenger Joe Biden.[42] Newsmax has made their more conservative leanings a selling point to disaffected Fox News viewers, as well as employing Fox News alumni to join their lineup on Newsmax TV, such as Rob Schmitt and Greg Kelly.[42][84][43] Emily VanDerWerff of Vox reported that the outlet "spent lots of time arguing that other media outlets jumped the gun in calling the election for Biden and that Trump still has a path to win this thing", and that it was one of the only networks that didn't call the election for Biden, citing the Trump campaign's legal challenges. However, she did write that "Newsmax doesn't go full arch-conservative" and "doesn't give airtime to QAnon paranoiacs".[46]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Amer…
OAN saw growth in its audience as a result of its election coverage. It was boosted in particular by Donald Trump, who expressed disapproval of Fox News' reporting on the presidential election and encouraged his supporters to instead watch OAN or Newsmax TV, another conservative channel promoting election falsehoods.[150][151][152]
In the US, there there are a pretty broad range of media outlets on the left. On the right, things are considerably more concentrated. There's a bunch of data out there on this, but just to dig up a quick recent Pew survey:
pewresearch.org/journalism/202…
You'd think that there'd be space for a center-right TV channel to the left of Fox News.
Nouvelle communauté: Logiciel Libre
publication croisée depuis : jlai.lu/post/26113975
>>> !libre@jlai.lu
Equatorial Guinea enforces yearlong internet outage for island that protested construction company
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — When residents of Equatorial Guinea’s Annobón island wrote to the government in Malabo in July last year complaining about the dynamite explosions by a Moroccan construction company, they didn’t expect the swift end to their internet access.
Dozens of the signatories and residents were imprisoned for nearly a year, while internet access to the small island has been cut off since then, according to several residents and rights groups.
Local residents interviewed by The Associated Press left the island in the past months, citing fear for their lives and the difficulty of life without internet.
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Located in the Atlantic Ocean about 315 miles (507 kilometers) from Equatorial Guinea’s coast, Annobón is one of the country’s poorest islands and one often at conflict with the central government. With a population of around 5,000 people, the island has been seeking independence from the country for years as it accuses the government of disregarding its residents.
Wow that island is beautiful. I say we get a gofundme going to help them achieve independence. And if they want to also let me immigrate there from the U.S. afterwards, I’m not going to say no.
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I think I went on a rabbit hole reading about this island online awhile back. IIRC they speak creole Portuguese, while EG speaks Spanish, and have been punished by the government for wanting independence for years. This Internet shutdown is just a drastic and recent punishment.
It does seem like a nice life there. But very different than what we in the west are accustomed to. They lack many basic necessities, there's shortages of everything that's imported.
It would be important to not be a burden to the community. Starlink isn't available there, so I'm not sure of another way to work remotely from there. And unless you have a skill they would benefit from, you might be a strain on a community already stretching it's resources. But I do see the appeal of an island like annobón.
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UK PM Starmer says people have a right to 'peaceful protest' after anti-migrant march
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said people have a right to peaceful protest after more than 100,000 demonstrators joined an anti-immigration march through London on Saturday, but he condemned assaults on police and said Britain was built on tolerance and diversity.
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson organised a march attended by around 110,000 people on Saturday. Police said 26 officers were injured, while it made an initial 25 arrests with more expected to follow.
"People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country's values," Starmer said on X on Sunday.
"But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin."
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you are free to protest as long as it's in agreement with the government.
Protesting climate change, or a genocide is a different story
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Oh yeah a 'peaceful protest' where dozens of police are injured including broken bones and missing teeth.
But somone sprsying paint on a plane is terrorism.
Pot breaks as Nigerian chef attempts to cook largest jollof rice dish
The giant pot in which Nigerian chef and former Guinness World Record holder Hilda Baci attempted to make the world's largest dish of jollof rice has broken as it was being hoisted on a crane to be weighed.
Thousands of people gathered in Lagos to watch the latest world record bid from the well-known food influencer, who in 2023 held the title for the longest cooking marathon.
Her recipe for jollof, a popular West African dish, included 4,000kg (8,800lb) of rice, 500 cartons of tomato paste and 600kg of onions - all poured into a custom-made pot that can hold 23,000 litres.
Hilda Baci: Pot breaks as Nigerian chef attempts to cook largest jollof rice dish
Hilda Baci and a team of assistants took nine hours to complete the popular West African dish.Yang Tian (BBC News)
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The event was trending on social media and videos show that as the huge red pan was being lifted, one side buckled and the supporting legs gave way, however the food did not spill.
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Manufacturing the giant steel vessel to hold her dish took a team of 300 people two months to make
WTF? That pot is not complicated enough to require that much labor, especially when they still managed to fuck it up. In a country of 250+ million people, surely it shouldn't have been that hard to find a competent engineer and metalworker to help them with it, right?
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Even if you only had incompetent people involved, and involved twice as many incompetent people as necessary in every step, I still don't see how you get over 150 people
did they forge the metal from ore they mined? lol
Here's the Livestream, the pot bends as they try to lift it up, it never leaves the floor
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I think I see a bit of steam escaping from the pan, so I think they tried to weigh it after cooking
Which makes sense, there's going to be some weight change after you cook it because of evaporation and such... hence the steam
Before cooking you couldn't really call it Jollof Rice, it would just be a big pot of the raw ingredients for Jollof Rice
And they know the weight of the ingredients going in already, they're quoted in the article, so that's just simple addition to figure out.
In every article on records about of food preparation, they never say how much of it is eaten and how much of it is thrown away.
I would necessitate that all or a large percentage of it needs to be eaten for the record to count.
Afterwards the giant dish of jollof rice, which also included 168kg of goat meat, was divided into individual portions and distributed to the huge crowds.
“A piece of cloth in the bathroom, I can’t complain... what did we do wrong?” Detained workers say 'human rights violation'
“화장실엔 천 조각 하나, 항의도 못 해…우리가 뭘 잘못했나”
허리와 손이 한데 묶여 물을 마시려면 고개를 숙여 핥아야 했다. 가림막 없는 화장실에는 하체를 가릴 천 하나가 놓여 있을 뿐이었다. 주먹만 한 구멍 틈새로 햇볕은 거의 들지 않았고, 단 두시간 조그만 마당에 나가는 것만 허용됐다. 여드레를 미국 이민 당국에 구금당한 노한겨레
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international law
Oh that thing that's only enforced by half of the world but they never follow it themselves?
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::: spoiler Machine translation
"Only a Piece of Cloth in the Bathroom, Couldn't Even Protest...What Did We Do Wrong?"
'Human Rights Violations' as Told by Detained Workers
By Cho Hae-young, Jang Jong-woo, Seo Young-ji, Lee Seung-wook
Modified 2025-09-14 22:16, Published 2025-09-14 18:39
With their waists and hands bound together, they had to bow their heads and lap up water to drink. In the bathroom without partitions, there was only a single piece of cloth to cover their lower body. Barely any sunlight came through the fist-sized holes, and they were only allowed to go out to a small yard for just two hours. The workers and their families, who were detained by U.S. immigration authorities for eight days, expressed shock as they recounted unimaginable human rights violations and absurdities they never could have imagined experiencing as ordinary Korean citizens in 2025.
As 330 workers who had been detained during an illegal immigration crackdown at the Hyundai-LG Energy Solution joint battery factory in Georgia returned on the 12th, accounts of human rights violations experienced during detention have been emerging one after another. According to their testimonies on the 14th, the detention facilities completely failed to meet the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) in areas including hygiene, external communication, the right to appeal, and situation explanations.
The arrest process itself was absurd. Without even basic explanations such as reading Miranda rights, no one could properly understand the situation. Mr. Seo, a 40-something employee of an LG Energy Solution partner company, said, "I didn't even know I was being arrested. I thought it was just an identity verification procedure, but then they told me to sign some documents." The family of another partner company employee, Mr. G (48), said, "They noticed the word 'arrest' on the documents and whispered that they probably shouldn't sign it, but since the agents were carrying guns, they ended up signing anyway." Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents collected personal items like cell phones in "onion net" bags, then bound the workers' arms and legs with chains, and when those ran out, they used cable ties to restrain the workers.
Workers were initially packed into temporary facilities housing 72 people per room. According to a worker's detention diary reported by Yonhap News that day, bunk beds were lined up, and the mattresses were moldy. Basic items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, and blankets were only provided on the second day of detention. Workers wrapped themselves in towels to ward off the cold. The water had an odor, so many workers only moistened their lips with it, and throughout the detention period, they were only provided with canned beans and toast as food.
On the 3rd to 4th day of detention, workers were gradually assigned to two-person cells. These were about 4.96 square meters (1.5 pyeong) in size with bunk beds and a metal desk. The biggest problem was the bathroom. In the shared space, the toilet was "open" with only a single piece of cloth to cover the lower body. Partner company worker Cho Young-hee (44) said, "Human rights were particularly not guaranteed when it came to bodily functions. It was impossible to use the open bathroom." For the workers, going out to the "yard" for two hours a day was the only time they could see sunlight. The yard was a narrow courtyard about half the size of a basketball court.
Mr. G conveyed his feelings at the time to Hankyoreh through his family, expressing that the sense of helplessness was overwhelming - being unable to even protest against incomprehensible treatment. Mr. G's family said, "He said that in a situation where he couldn't understand what he had done so wrong to deserve such inhumane imprisonment, the reality that no one apologized deeply affected him." Even when South Korean consular officials visited the detainees, workers' complaints continued: "What did we do wrong? Shouldn't this be thoroughly investigated to the end?" The unexpected situation they encountered at a construction site they had gone to build at the request of U.S. investment only heightened their fear.
Lee Seong-hoon, Vice President of the Korean Human Rights Association (adjunct professor at Sungkonghoe University's Graduate School of Civic Peace), said, "Looking at the testimonies so far regarding the arrest process, forcibly confining dozens of people in one room, and providing poor bathroom facilities and food, there appear to be several aspects that don't meet international standards for the treatment of detainees. While the U.S. tends not to pay much attention to such matters, from our perspective, it's possible to raise issues from a human rights dimension."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "From the early stages of the incident, the government has continuously expressed regret to the U.S. side and raised the point that our citizens' rights and interests should not be unfairly violated during the law enforcement process. While some of our requests were accepted and improved, such as limited external phone calls and health checks by medical staff stationed at detention facilities, we will closely examine together with the relevant companies whether there were any inadequate aspects, and whether there were any unfair violations of our citizens' human rights or other interests, and take necessary measures."
Cho Hae-young Reporter hycho@hani.co.kr, Jang Jong-woo Reporter whddn3871@hani.co.kr, Lee Seung-wook Reporter eugwookl@hani.co.kr, Seo Young-ji Reporter yj@hani.co.kr
:::
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The Netherlands will withdraw from 2026 Eurovision if Israel is allowed to compete
Netherlands will boycott 2026 Eurovision if Israel participates, says broadcaster
Dutch broadcast company AVROTROS has announced that the Netherlands will boycott the 2026 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to compete.NL Times
You mean the same Jerry Seinfeld who was "dating" a 17-year-old high school student when he was 39? The one who was on TV a quarter of a century ago?
Because that dude can fuck himself.
This is what solidarity looks like
This is what solidarity looks like
Part 2 of "Decentralization" and Erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphereJon (The Nexus Of Privacy)
Is Blacksky a racially self-segregated competitor to Bluesky?
I read the article and watch one of the videos linked in it and that's the impression I got, but I'm hoping someone can confirm/explain.
I'm not on either network, so I think I'm woefully ignorant on this. I apologize if it's a silly question.
It's a platform using AT Proto (the protocol Bluesky uses), independent but still connected (think about Lemmy instances). That way they can apply their own moderation policies and don't have to follow Bluesky censorship.
More details here: blacksky.community/profile/did…
There is another one coming up: northskysocial.com/posts/about
Rudy wants revolution. (@rude1.blacksky.team)
I've disabled invite codes for signing up or migrating to the blacksky.app Personal Data Server (PDS). The invite codes were necessary to prevent en masse bot signups. We've since turned on captchas and added rate limiting to the server.Blacksky Community
independent but still connected (think about Lemmy instances)
It's not really connected in the same sense two Lemmy instances are connected. They're able to pull in the same data as Bluesky as it's all public and PDSs don't really have the ability to block a relay from crawling them.
At the app level (blacksky.community / bsky.app on the web) it's more like TweetDeck/Twitter: different client interfaces to the same underlying network. That's not a perfect analogy though because Blacksky makes different moderation decisions than Bluesky.
But also, people using either of these apps can store their data in arbitrary PDSs, so when people migrate their accounts to the Blacksky PDS they can use either of the apps. So there it's more like Piefed/Lemmy -- different implementations of the same protocol. Again though it's not a perfect analogy because the AT Protocol architecture lets you migrate all your data between PDSs seamlessly, and so far only a few niche ActivityPub implementations support that (Hubzilla et al with nomadic identity, ActivityPods using Solid Pods).
Oh, I thought blacksky.comnunity used Blacksky's relay. If it uses Bluesky's then yeah, disregard what I said.
That's not a perfect analogy though because Blacksky makes different moderation decisions than Bluesky.
I'd hope so given how abysmal Bluesky's moderation is. The discovery feed is filled with transphobia, but you can't say Charlie Kirk should rest in piss.
Again though it's not a perfect analogy because the AT Protocol architecture lets you migrate all your data between PDSs seamlessly, and so far only a few niche ActivityPub implementations support that (Hubzilla et al with nomadic identity, ActivityPods using Solid Pods).
I don't believe Hubzilla's nomatic identity works with APub though, irrc it uses something called Zot.
I've been thinking about how to add nomatic identity to Lemmy quite a bit and it's something I'd like to work on after 1.0 is out, but it's hard a problem for sure.
Yeah, Bluesky's moderation really is abysmal. Somebody I know got suspended for 24 hours for saying something about Charlie Kirk and when they came back immediately moved their account to Blacksky ... and who can blame them!
Right now blacksky.community is an app that uses Bluesky's AppView, which in turn uses Bluesky's Relay. They're working on their own AppView (which will have the equivalent of local-only posts) and that will use their Relay. I didn't mean to undercut your point though, they often talk about PDSs as analogous to web pages, so your "different search engines" analogy is very accurate, it's just not quite there yet.
And good point about Hubzilla ... if I recall correctly either in (((streams))) or Forte (or maybe both) MIke implemented the nomadic identity over ActivityPub as well. It's really frustrating that AP development in general hasn't paid more attention to his ideas! If you're thinking about this kind of stuff for Lemmy, it's also worth looking at socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/…
FEP-ef61: Portable Objects
Hello! This is a discussion thread for the proposed FEP-ef61: Portable Objects. Please use this thread to discuss the proposed FEP and any potential problems or improvements that can be addressed.SocialHub
Right now blacksky.community is an app that uses Bluesky’s AppView, which in turn uses Bluesky’s Relay. They’re working on their own AppView (which will have the equivalent of local-only posts) and that will use their Relay.
Interesting, from what I understand of ATProto, this would be hard to do on protocol, it'll be fascinating to see how they do it. Maybe something off protocol like the recent bookmark feature Bluesky got.
I didn’t mean to undercut your point though, they often talk about PDSs as analogous to web pages, so your “different search engines” analogy is very accurate, it’s just not quite there yet.
I'd love to take credit for this, but the ATProto docs themselves make this comparison which is where I'm getting this from.
if I recall correctly either in (((streams))) or Forte (or maybe both) MIke implemented the nomadic identity over ActivityPub as well
This sent me down a bit a of a rabbit hole. It seems (streams) used an updated version of Zot, Zot/11 but was renamed to just Nomad. I can't find anything about this, the (streams) repo only contains the spec for Zot/6, so I'm not sure about it's APub compatibility. Apparently, Nomad had been discontinued in Forte in favour of pure APub, anyway.
If you’re thinking about this kind of stuff for Lemmy, it’s also worth looking at socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/…
Oh, I know about Silverpill's work, it's really interesting! I even mentioned it recently. I'm glad we have someone smart like them working on this stuff.
I do think some kind of separation of user data from servers, like what AT Proto does, is actually quite desirable. I just don't like that PDSes can have their data harvested by whoever, I think data sharing with a server should be opt-in.
Glossary of terms - AT Protocol
A collection of terminology used in the AT Protocol and their definitions.AT Protocol
I do think some kind of separation of user data from servers, like what AT Proto does, is actually quite desirable.
Curious as well to see how Blacksky develops, having that split would be useful.
I just don’t like that PDSes can have their data harvested by whoever, I think data sharing with a server should be opt-in.
Same
Also agreed that sharing should be opt-in (and here on fedi as well).
In terms of Blacksky's approach to private data, Rudy shared this earlier today blog.smokesignal.events/posts/… ... the working group on private data is having its first meeting this week, and there are a couple of other proposals as well, so it'll be interesting to see how things converge. Bluesky has said they're going to add it to the protocol but the timeframe isn't clear. My guess is people will go ahead with off-protocil implementations initally and plan to adapt once it's standardized (famous last words).
ATProtocol Record Hydration: Building Privacy-Aware Views
ATProtocol Record Hydration: Building Privacy-Aware Views posted by @smokesignal.events on 2025-08-01 18:00 UTCNick Gerakines (Smoke Signal)
U.S. Deputy State Secretary Landau expresses regrets over detention of S. Koreans | Yonhap News Agency
According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, Landau conveyed his deep regrets over the detention of hundreds of South Korean workers in an immigration crackdown earlier this month at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site for a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County, Georgia.
A total of 316 South Korean workers returned home Friday, after being held in a detention center for a week.
U.S. Deputy State Secretary Landau expresses regrets over detention of S. Koreans
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- A senior U.S. state department official on Sunday ex...Yoo Jee-ho (Yonhap News Agency)
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Oh, of course not.
But these are skilled workers and, whoopsie!, we kinda need them.
You will never see them come back again. This is gonna cost billions for the us.
I will have popcorn and laugh.
silly liberal, those aren't people /s
But seriously no, and no one of relevance ever will. We live in the bad place.
Another source: dutchnews.nl/2025/09/protest-a…
Their upcoming concert at 013 (Tilburg, this Tuesday) has been cancelled over this: nos.nl/artikel/2582452-poppodi…
Edit: Their upcoming concert at Doornroosje (Nijmegen, this Monday) has not (yet?) been cancelled.
Poppodium 013 schrapt show Bob Vylan na gewelddadige uitspraken in Paradiso
Tijdens een optreden in Amsterdam riep het Britse duo zaterdag leuzen als "dood aan de IDF". Ook noemden ze de deze week vermoorde radicaal-rechtse Amerikaan Charlie Kirk "een stuk stront".NOS Nieuws
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Racists are just tools of the super rich using them, religious, the ignorant disaffected, etc.
After they consolidate power they will be relegated with the rest of the population. They are being used because they are ill-informed, but they are not the ones pulling the strings, not the ones calling and running the plays here. It is moneyed interests doing that
what? this is my first time hearing China is MAGA. that seems patently absurd to me.
i'm just saying MAGA policies have a strong pattern of reinforcing the white supremacist systems of oppression
American MAGAs also don't really want American greatness if it involves immigrants, minorities, or liberals having a good life there. Their love of America and goals for its greatness are VERY selective, all the way to founding values like freedom of speech, separation of powers, and separation of church and state.
It's really just fascism. And fascism, for all its claims to be country-first, is an international reactionary effort.
The performance was held at the Paradiso Grote Zaal. The venue released a statement on Sunday saying it “believed in the power of artistic freedom”.“Music – and especially punk – is an art form that traditionally magnifies anger, discontent, and injustice without a filter,” it said.
“In a world on fire, artists sometimes choose language that sounds confrontational or violent.”
Addressing the singer’s calls for the death of IDF troops, the venue said it shared “the outrage and concern surrounding the genocidal violence taking place in Gaza” and that “Bob Vylan’s raising his voice against this is legitimate and necessary”.
Punk has always been anti-fascist because fascists and punks compete for the same follower base, and overlap is unavoidable unless one side draws a very hard line about what's acceptable.
The fascists want to be able to say whatever they want under 1st amendment, but have always lost their shit when people say the same shit about fascists the fascists say about innumerable target demographics.
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"death death to the idf" =/= "death to idf troops"
and i'm tired of outlets reporting on it like it is. the man was saying the idf is a criminal organization that needs to be resisted and disbanded. yeah, that's gonna result in some fighting because the idf are a violent and vile organization of oppressors, but in the context, "death death to the idf" is the only reasonable stance…
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, usually applied to attacks on Jews.
I never seen this word before. I'm going to post it here just in case you haven't either.
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DONT MOCK TOO HARD OR YOURE CENSORED
Anyways, only good nazi is feeding sunflowers.
Mine was “death death to the IDF,” the slogan Bob Vylan (ya know, the group mentioned in the OP article) was most in the news for recently.
Fucking delete it again and ban me, I ain’t gonna stop chanting it. Just cause it’s a theme song don’t make it not true
Enjoyer of political violence falls victim to political violence. Oh no! /s
If these guys were themselves pacifists who prided themselves on giving every idea a fair hearing, I guess I would have a problem with any assassinations. As it is, there's just one side trying to unilaterally manifest a certain level of civility. One that unfortunately doesn't seem to exist.
Edit: I believe this complies with rule 6. Lack of concern about violence isn't the same thing as advocacy.
Well, the Right is trying to make Kirk into a new Horst Wessel figure, so I'm registering this is as a based attempt to keep the Overton Window at its current position.
Free speech, bitches.
There absolutely is justification for violence, political or otherwise.
Blessed are they who praise peace, for they shall bury the peacemakers.
the post I had commented this on was deleted so I'm going to put it here for no reason.
I hold the following opinions:
- political violence is probably a bad idea. this is for multiple reasons, one of which being that it usually doesn't create the intended effects.
- charlie kirk might have been the worst piece of shit commentator of that era. i'm glad he shut the fuck up.
- there are a lot of political commentators like him. the benefit of having one less of them is overshadowed by the detriment of the reaction to a political assassination.
- his family is the absolute least of my concerns. i don't think about them at all.
Action to be taken against 'foreigners who glorify violence' - [US] undersecretary of state
The US Undersecretary of State, Christopher Landau, says "appropriate action" will be taken against "foreigners who glorify violence".In a post on X, Landau says he has been "disgusted" to see comments on social media "praising, rationalising or making light" of the killing of Charlie Kirk and those who "glorify violence and hatred" are "not welcome visitors" to the country.
He says he has directed consular officials to "undertake appropriate action" and tells his followers "to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the State Department can protect the American people".
In a response to a tweet, Landau then says he will direct consular officials to monitor the comments to his post.
Charlie Kirk's widow gives tearful address after shooting: 'I will never let your legacy die'
Erika Kirk thanks first responders and President Donald Trump for his support, after her husband's death.BBC News
Doesn't the US have a constitutional amendment for this (maybe even the first one)?
I'd think the "originalists" would be all for this.
#contraapecdabandidagem #anistiaéocaralho
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.youtube.com
Brazil braces for potential new U.S. sanctions after Bolsonaro's conviction angers Trump
Brazil braced Friday for possible new U.S. sanctions linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction on coup charges, after the administration of President Donald Trump warned it would respond “accordingly.”
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called Rubio’s comments an inappropriate threat that would not intimidate the government, adding that the country’s judiciary is independent and that Bolsonaro was granted due process.
“Threats like the one made today by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and compelling evidence in the case files, will not intimidate our democracy,” Brazil’s foreign office said on X.
Brazil braces for potential new U.S. sanctions after Bolsonaro's conviction angers Trump
Bolsonaro was convicted Thursday by a Supreme Court panel of an attempted coup aimed at keeping him in power following his October 2022 election defeat to Lula. Trump said he was “very unhappy” with the conviction.PBS News
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Yeah this isn't how presidents and their cabinets work.
But for some reason the Republicans ignore their crybaby leader and his DEI hires since they all helped him get into office.
I would argue that this is exactly how the US government has worked in the past, the difference was they knew how to keep their fucking mouths shut about it.
For instance the Iran Contra scandal, Cuba for the last 70 years, how many governments have we overthrown because they did something some American didn’t like?
Brazil imports a LOT of shit from USA and doesn't charge tariffs - USA has a superavit of ~410 billion dollars from the last 15 years of trade with Brazil- which means a good portion of our economy is effectively colonized by uncle Sam. I hope most of those things can be replaced with European or Chinese equivalents.
Meanwhile, the biggest losers on the green-yellow side are coffee (Brazil is responsible for roughly 30% of all the coffee USA imports) and orange juice (~64% of all OJ)
10% Tariff Threatens Brazilian Orange Juice Exports to the U.S. - DatamarNews
A glass of orange juice (OJ) is a staple of the American breakfast table, with the average U.S. consumer drinking about 9 liters per year — compared to just 0.4 liters in Brazil. Remarkably, overDatamar
"You guys are so unfair to my buddy... I did the exact same thing right here and nothing happened"
This is one thing I hate Biden and the dems for... Orange fuckface should have been ineligible to any official position, and thrown in jail to rot.
Supreme Court Grants Trump, Future Presidents a Blank Check to Break the Law
By granting Donald Trump immunity for a wide range of criminal conduct committed while in office, the Supreme Court has set a dangerous precedent that presidents are above the law.David Cole (American Civil Liberties Union)
Following the Jan 6 Insurrection, as well as their confirmed collaboration with Russia, Biden would have been well within his legal rights and responsibilities to declare Trump and his henchmen to be National Security Threats, and arrested within minutes of his Inauguration.
And while they were being extensively interrogated at Guantanamo Bay regarding their nefarious dealings, the MAGA Nazis would have lost their minds, and tried to get violent, giving Biden the excuse to ruthlessly crush them.
And then the Stolen Documents scheme would have come to light, and we would finally understand how deep their treason went, giving the Biden administration the authority to finally end MAGA once and for all, declare it a treasonous terrorist hate group, and prohibit it's existence. In addition, the Conservative Propaganda Machine would be dismantled, starting with the prohibition of Fox News.
But they did none of that, and instead of having a legacy as a strong president who saved America from MAGA, Biden will forever be the weak president who surrendered America to MAGA. The deaths that will occur in taking America back from MAGA, are all on Biden.
What a fool he, and his entire administration, was.
I think they completely fucked up by going after the rioters. In my opinion, every one of them has an ironclad defense. Imagine for a second that, instead of living in a fox News fantasy world where up is down and the sky is orange, they just lived under a rock for 4 years and lean right:
The president they voted for told them the election was stolen. They're just pions. He has access to intel that they do not. Who are they to question his claim? He's the fuckin president! The left must be stealing the election!
In the fantasy where that is true, storming the capitol kind of is the correct move. They cut off the wrong end of the snake.
EVERYBODY in America heard the same nonsense from him for years, and yet somehow most managed to avoid belief. Even among those that chose to believe, most didn't go to the Capitol to commit treason.
The Jan 6 Insurrectionists were the worst behaved, out of the dumbest people in America. That isn't a defense, it's why they should be locked up. They don't respond to reason.
Some weird bad luck...
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Communick: social media and messaging hosting that respects you and your privacy
Communick, open communications and social media hosting servicescommunick.com
Presumably USD ? Not being an ass but NZ, Australia Canada amongst others use the "dollar" and this is an international forum.
But thanks for this, it's really interesting !
The group behind it or others similar. When you are on a small self hosted instance. You are at the mercy of a hobby admins time and skill. Which is no dig at them. Sometimes it just becomes too much.
I have had a number of Mastodon accounts since 2017 with the groups Mastodon servers. They run themselves as a serious organization. Providing services of a quality absolutely worth paying for. All with donations.
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Always check terms and privacy policy before signing up, but these seem like they will be here to stay:
- lemmy.cafe
- sopuli.xyz
- slrpnk.net
- lemmy.dbzer0.com
- anarchist.nexus
- scribe.disroot.org
Those are all Lemmy and PieFed, and I'm not so familiar with Mastodon and others. Maybe look at mas.to ?
Ok, others users should stay away from lemny.zip.it.niw has the kiss of death ;)
DIY for suriety I guess ? Or stick with .world?
With new investment pact, India moves to bind its economy to Israel
Azad Essa
14 September 2025 09:12 BST
Earlier this week, India signed a historic investment pact with Israel.The deal, known as the Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), is meant to bolster investor confidence and provide smoother business transactions between the two countries.
At the signing ceremony in Delhi on 8 September, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the pact would "open new doors for both Israeli and Indian investors, strengthen Israeli exports, and provide businesses on both sides with certainty and tools to develop in the world's fastest-growing markets".
"India is a growing economic power, and cooperation is a tremendous opportunity for Israel."
With new investment pact, India moves to bind its economy to Israel
Already complicit in Israel's genocide through weapons production and political support, India now deepens its alignment with a new trade dealMiddle East Eye
With new investment pact, India moves to bind its economy to Israel
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/36140967
Azad Essa
14 September 2025 09:12 BST
Earlier this week, India signed a historic investment pact with Israel.The deal, known as the Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), is meant to bolster investor confidence and provide smoother business transactions between the two countries.
At the signing ceremony in Delhi on 8 September, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the pact would "open new doors for both Israeli and Indian investors, strengthen Israeli exports, and provide businesses on both sides with certainty and tools to develop in the world's fastest-growing markets".
"India is a growing economic power, and cooperation is a tremendous opportunity for Israel."
With new investment pact, India moves to bind its economy to Israel
Azad Essa
14 September 2025 09:12 BSTEarlier this week, India signed a historic investment pact with Israel.The deal, known as the Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), is meant to bolster investor confidence and provide smoother business transactions between the two countries.
At the signing ceremony in Delhi on 8 September, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the pact would "open new doors for both Israeli and Indian investors, strengthen Israeli exports, and provide businesses on both sides with certainty and tools to develop in the world's fastest-growing markets".
"India is a growing economic power, and cooperation is a tremendous opportunity for Israel."
With new investment pact, India moves to bind its economy to Israel
Already complicit in Israel's genocide through weapons production and political support, India now deepens its alignment with a new trade dealMiddle East Eye
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100 percent chance modi is running pegasus and like nso type spyware.
That was likely part of the deal, for expanded or continuing surveillance powers.
Pegasus and the like were likely the flame virus tweaked and repurposed, that infected iranian centrifuges and computers some 20 years back. Described as the most malicious virus to date back then, it listened and watched and logged and shared everything on iranian computers secretly even when off, and ruined centrifuges by mis tweaking their spin rates.
Any targets of bjp should ditch all smart phones.
The fuck is India looking to buy from Israel other than Pegasus and other spy software?
Maybe it's also meant as a middle finger to muslim countries
What would stop you from switching to a flip phone (or dumbphone) in 2025?
I’ve been using a flip phone as my daily driver for a while now. The smartphone is still around, but it mostly sits in a drawer until bureaucracy or banking apps force me to use it.
For me, the benefits are clear: less distraction, more focus, better sleep.
But I know for many people it’s not so easy. Essential apps, social pressure, work requirements… these are real blockers.
I’d like to start a discussion (almost like an informal poll):
- If you thought about switching, what’s the single biggest thing that holds you back?
- Is it banking? Messaging? Maps? Something else?
I’m genuinely curious because if we can identify the main pain points, maybe it’s possible to work on solutions or even start a small project around it.
So: what would need to change for you to actually give a flip phone a try?
Surviving Modern Life with a Flip Phone (Barely)
Mama was right: Smartphones are frying our brains. App locks, screentime reminders, digital detoxes: we’ve tried them all. Nothing sticks because honestly? We’rTim Kicker
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Not having a private OS and messaging.
The best option as of now is the Punkt phone
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2FA app. 2FA via SMS is incredibly insecure.
Map and translation apps a close second.
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Yeah, I can't speak a lick of Spanish although I'm starting to understand it a little. Translation apps are a life saver.
edit: oh, wait: VAMOS A LA CANTINA!
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Stuff I use the phone for in rough order of importance:
- maps and GPS
- messaging (signal)
- emulators and other quality games (none of that candy crush slop)
- ebook reading
- Wikipedia / quick research
- Lemmy
I could drop lemmy from mobile because it's just a time waster and news source.
Wikipedia is important because too often people are interminably arguing something that can be settled with a 30 second search. Like, you don't need to spend 5 minutes arguing about the population of NJ just look it up.
Games are nice. I don't want to go back to carrying around a second device for games like it's 2001. I could bring a steam deck everywhere but that doesn't fit in my pocket.
I don't have any notifications turned on except like direct messages, so I don't find it much of a distraction.
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Literally just having a hotspot built in is keeping me on android. The lappy goes where I go, and that means as long as I have internet access I'm as connected as I could ever want to be.
Basically everyone has wifi, usually available after. I might just go out and get an unlocked dumbphone this week honestly.
Edit: yes I know about the mp02, its on the wishlist. I haven't had a job in over a year so I won't be getting it yet.
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Þere are oþer reasons to want a dumber phone. I miss charging my phone once a week, vs 1-2 times per day. I have a bendy-screen flip phone now, but before þese became available, it was hard to get a reasonably sized phone; þe trend was (and still is) phablets. I miss having þe expectation þat my phone would last for years, and not need upgrading because þe screen broke, or because þe OS stopped being updated, or because OS upgrades got more and more bloated and made þe phone slower and unusable over time. I miss þe time before an upgrade would completely fuck established muscle memory patterns because some dumb-shit decided to completely rearrange gestures - requiring an internet search to uncover þe byzantine, cryptic configuration combination to restore þe old behavior.
It's much more þan distractions.
OTOH, I need Jami to communicate wiþ my peer group, because SMS is insecure and incredibly basic. Navigation in your hand is incredibly useful, even þough it's been shown to ruin users' geospatial skills. And smarter address books are better þan old dumb-phone name+phone number address books.
But if I could get a decent, small e-ink phone, wiþ good battery, Jami, an address book, and hell, just a simple browseable map (even w/o navigation), I'd be golden. Jami is þe sticking point, because it introduces a dependency on Android, and þat's where þe fuckery starts.
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I wholeheartedly agree with this perspective.
I started on a privacy journey because I didn't like that I'm being tracked (by basically everybody) and feel that the technology that I pay for should be service to me, not me as a service to it (and its related parties).
Anyways, along the way I did a few things.
Namely, I turned off mail notifications (this was an inadvertent feature since my mail service couldn't send notifications without google services that I removed). I also removed my sim and use data only via a hotspot, to which I don't always have on.
These sound like crazy things, and admittedly they aren't for everyone, but the resulting mental shifts are exactly to this point.
Just because I have a device that let's me be available to anybody in any place at any time, doesn't mean I should be, or even need to be, available unless I want to be.
Now I protect my time, and the mental clarity that comes with it. I never was a doom scroller, but even now that concept is even more reduced. The phone is my tool, and I use when needed.
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I know someone that has been trying out all of the mp3 players and has yet to find something that works as well as an iPod classic.
But then why would I need one? It’s all on my phone.
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I can't get these people to use Signal instead of SMS.
But nothing internet dependent will turn a phone into a radio. We are in places where even 4G doesn't reach sometimes and if there was a Motorola repeater onsite it'd be great. I've got our company trying it out and the SL300 has been a game changer for our communication on site.
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My first cell phone was a flip phone, and I'm not gonna lie, I've considered revisiting my teenage days again and getting one. But I feel like, right now, my smartphone use is very light.
I avoid Meta apps, I don't play mobile games, my biggest vice was reddit which has now become a shithole of bots and censorship so I don't go on there anymore. I read the news on here, chat a little on Discord, check my birdfeeder and that's pretty much it besides occasional use of google maps as needed.
On top of that, this phone is from 2018 so its battery life these days is not great. I think that helps too.
Maybe for those hesitating to get a dumb phone, perhaps start with an older smartphone to whittle your time down?
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As someone who always had some kind of PDA (CASIO digital diary, Palm, Compaq iPaq) and switched onto the smartphone bandwagon pretty early (SonyEricsson P800/P910i, Qtek 9000, various Androids and various iPhones) ... I don't think I could enjoy the experience with a dumb phone. I love modern technology too much.
I once had a colleague that religiously only used a Nokia 3210 (the newer 3G/4G model). Which meant 160 character messages only. No emojis, no photos (as MMS were expensive). He was also the kind of person to use paper maps when driving - incl. stopping to look for alternative routes if some road was blocked or jammed. That's definitely not for me.
The only way this could work for me would be to have some small PDA that can connect to the phone to use the Internet. And I appreciate that both devices have been merged into smartphones at some point.
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"our society has pushed smart phones down our throats"
smartphones evolved from older methods of just getting through the day. taking notes, listening to music, calandars, date books, libraries, files, methods of communication.
you make the assumption that everyone is a slave to their device just because it's a smart device.
some of us were alive before smart phones existed. and we'd prefer not to go back in tech. and would instead prefer the devices we have now.
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I second this.
No one forced me. Even when work tried to force me to use smartphone 2FA it was easy enough to say "I'm not putting any f-ing micrsoft crap on my phone", they found a workaround - magically they could just use the basic telephone network to do the 2FA.
I chose to get one because it's more convenient than having phone, walkman, camera, book, torch , map, compass etc.
I still carry many of those things from time to time when I want them, or when I want extra resilience.
But I's choose the phone most times because it is a cheap, lightweight, small, convenient alternative that makes so many things just a bit easier.
Bloody hell just faffing around with walkman batteries and recording compilation tapes was annoying enough.
It's also very easy to just leave your phone behind and use the alternatives, they pretty much all still exist in some form. I mean that happens to me regularly whenever I lose my phone of when I forget to charge it or (partly) when I'm just out of range of the celluar network. I don't remember either dying or having any police jump on me and force me to buy a new one or charge it up immediately.
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I dint do calls often at all, so a flip/dumb phone doesn't appeal to me much. However, i have been very tempted to upgrade my existing smart watch to one with LTE connectivity and skip the smart phone completely.
The Apple watch, for instance, with LTE can do maps/directions, calls, texts, etc., without needing a smartphone near by. It would be much less to carry, less distractions, and way more convenient.
The big thing it can't currently do, however, is MFA for my job. It can do Authy and many others, but the one we require doesn't work, I've tried many times, so I'm stuck carrying a smartphone around if I want to remain employed.
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I’m mostly using my phone as an all in one multimedia device I can fit in my pocket.
I don’t see the flip phone as a good replacement for this kind of use. It wasn’t back in those days either. We used dedicated MP3 players or portable radio for music listening for example.
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you couldn't pay me to go backwards in time, sorry!
see I was around before the age of the smartphone. growing up, I thought my cassette Walkman was the most revolutionary thing ever. and when PDAs were new, I would dreaammm about everything being on one electronic device.
smart phones have given me a freedom that younger me never had.
i no longer need to carry a notebook/memobook around, because I have powerful software on my phone that not only let's me note-take, but index and SEARCH my own notes. from my pocket.
i don't need to carry the 3 novels im reading at the moment because they're on the ereader app in my pocket.
contacts, games, all my news sources, photos, videos, all my media.
to me, this is still revolutionary tech and it has only improved my life
i think we are seeing a rise now of adults who were raised as iPad kids who never had to carry all their shit around the way us older individuals have. so they naturally would want to get away from it because they've known no different and they never had to live another way before that point.
its an understandable mentality from that one standpoint. but no, I will never give up my smart phone. i understand the reasons for those that do, but some of us don't really want to go backwards.
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If it's at that point:
- Set up a password manager on your desktop
- Change your account passwords to something too long to remember, and keep them in the password manager
I have a Pixel phone with Graphene for offline maps, Wi-Fi, emergency calls, etc.
Camera is probably the first obstacle. I've got a kid, and I really want to have good documentation of her growing up. If there were a dumbphone with a legit camera, that'd be a big deal for me.
After that, probably maps is the next most important thing that I want an actual smart phone for. I remember getting my first smart phone, and probably the main thing I was excited about was always being able to navigate directly to where I wanted to go.
Almost everything else is tertiary to my needs.
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But then I start to feel like
this guy, with the "real" camera and the phone camera, but the phone camera is the one I've most consistently got on me, because I can't lug a whole additional piece of hardware around in a camera bag, meanwhile the phone camera pictures are grainy and shitty, and I'd just as soon have a Pixel in my pocket at all times that can take fairly good pictures at all times.
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Without the lens, exactly.
Realistically, cameras can be put into two categories - they either effortlessly fit in your pocket, or don't, and any that don't tend to get left home unless you intend to specifically go take photos. Doesn't really matter how much bigger it is at that point.
And if you have a high end smartphone, you probably can't get a camera that fits in your pocket that would be significantly better.
As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you.
this won't fit into a pocket though.
maybe you can reasonably throw into a handbag. but it quickly became a logistical nightmare, with how you're essentially stuck with cheap/kit lens (to make it small enough) and humidity is also a deal breaker.
also, would you want to abuse a not-cheap APS-C camera that way? I wouldn't lol
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RandomStickman e giantpaper like this.
Pretty much nothing i use my phone for can be done on a flip phone.
Smartphone is no distraction for me - I just use it when I need it to do something for me.
maps - occasionally GPS.
mp3 player
mp4s watching on long train / bus rides or when camping.
large sd card (500gb)
memrise/ language learning app.
occasionally guitar tuner
occasionally internet is useful for checking events, buying tickets, checking for hotels and stuff.
occasionally checking emails.
occasionally playing mindustry (when i want my battery to die).
I don't carry a laptop most of the time that i'd need for most of that stuff above.
TBH - I can't use many other apps anyway because I don't want GPS or microG installed - so I'm mostly just f-droid apps.
Edit - i'd also prefer something like simpleX to SMS, but I don't actually know anyone else who uses it - so not an issue really. I just have to SMS.
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No decent (local) music player, no DSP, no music streaming with newpipe, decent video player to watch series in bed, screen too small to read books, no e2ee messaging, no web browser, useless camera, operating system without security updates.
I honestly couldn't care less about calls and SMS, I only use that like few times a year.
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Banking, messages, email, calendars, discord, messenger, maps, browser, Voyager (Lemmy), YouTube, music, shattered pixel dungeon, Wikipedia, notes, swipe keyboard, duolingo, WhatsApp, desmos, reminders, camera, photos, home automation….
I use my iPhone for a ton of different things. I pretty much never use it to make calls and hate talking on the phone (which is what flip phones are optimized for).
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No way. Life is way better with smart phones. Tap to pay, maps, always having a camera, always having my notes, working as a mobile hotspot, controlling my home security system. 25 other things.
This stuff used to be so much harder. I’m not going back.
I will freely admit there are some dangerous addictive and invasive aspects to it also. I’m ruthless about what apps I will grant permissions to. And I don’t browse the App Store getting tempted by their promises.
I think the appeal of our phones not having to be a computer and not needing all the same rigor and paranoia and extra steps of a computer was really exciting. But it hasn’t turned out to be true. So now I treat it like a computer and approach everything with that level of skepticism. And also treat it like the gateway to capitalism that it is and I am skeptical of anything that’s trying to take my data or money. I think with the right attitude it’s a net positive device in my life
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treating your phone like a computer definitely is the way to go. because it is!
my Vivo X100s Pro is a magnitude more powerful than the first hands-me-down laptop I have.
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Speaking as someone who never has carried a smartphone, there are a bunch of tradeoffs. I do my banking in person, for instance, and that can be mildly inconvenient. I don't take a lot of photographs (when I do, I use an old-style single-purpose camera). "Portable media" is a CD player, and I carry a paperback book if I think I might have to wait somewhere for more than ten minutes or so. And so on. Just continuing to live the same way as I did a quarter-century ago.
I expect, however, that it's a lot easier not to miss what you never had in the first place.
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All of that, plus the benefits of having a good pocket camera to carry around - spontaneous photography is my thing and having a good camera phone solves that equation nicely.
And before anyone says "get a real camera", I have real cameras and there's no way they can be carried in my pocket the same way a smartphone does lol. That and the smaller they get, the further image quality worsens to the point where you might just use a (good camera) phone instead.
I grew up with dumb phones, and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to using them - they suck!
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I’ve lived through the cell phone invention, to flip phones, to smartphones. They were terrible back then and I doubt that’s changed now.
Now, I do understand the reason why you moved back to one. For me, I just got aggressive about notifications and turned off most of them. I stopped social media tied to friends and family and am selective about what I’m on and for how long. Takes more personal willpower (or whatever) but you do get used to it in the long run and feel better.
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Not at all. It's really hard to live without the practical features of a smartphone, like web browsing and maps. What I need is privacy, not to throw it all away for a dumbphone.
I believe a lot of the benefits you claim dumbphones provide are all caused by abandoning social media. There's nothing wrong with technology, it's just social media. You don't need to use a dumbphone just to escape social media.
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dhhyfddehhfyy4673 e giantpaper like this.
Same. My "smartphone" usage is about 10% phone, 10% SMS service, 10% camera, 5% flashlight, 10% GPS + Map tool, 15% e-mail, and 40% web browser... I carried a pretty capable flip phone from 2006-2013, the things I liked best about it were its longevity and its long battery life (up to a week on standby, 3-4 days even with normal usage.) However, even upgraded with GPS capability, the small screen would have made for a poor map experience, and e-mail and web browser were just out of its practical reach.
Stop browsing social media, maybe install Tor if you want that level of privacy - Smartphones can do that...
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I simply wouldn't. A dumbphone does mostly the things I don't use a phone for.
And I don't mean fortnite and tickytocks, I've grown up through (most) of the history of mobile phones, I started with my mothers old Nokia 2110 back in like... 1998? I remember how awesome it was to finally have a phone, then to be able to get the bus schedules with the painfully slow WAP connection so I didn't have to call home, then to have navigation, replace the mp3 player, camera, and eventually even mostly my laptop.
I want to have a datapad with access to all the devices and information in my pocket at all times. If I need it to do something, I know there's an app for it probably. It's awesome.
I'd really prefer that the datapad wouldn't then leech all of my information in return, though.
Oh, and bring back physical keyboards. I'd give my left nut for an HTC Desire Z with 2025 hardware.
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Yes, I had to delete lemmy, reddit, twitter, mastodon, all games etc.
But I see 0 harm in:
- 2FA authenticator apps (google authenticator, app for government ID, bank, ...)
- DHL (unlocks packing station / parcel distributing machine here)
- calendar (with voice assistant)
- Pixel, iPhone, Samsung and some others are a fantastic camera! 10 years ago, it'd be a great deal just for that one feature. I used to pay USD/EUR 250 - 500 for a hobby-level camera that was worse
- read my mobile CO2 sensor
- not crucial, but occasionally show someone something in a video call
- send injured animal photo / video right to the wildlife rescue station for advice (~ 2x per year)
- plain old mp3 player
- some might read eBooks, which is a good use of it, but I still prefer a hardcopy
So yes, on my 2nd smartphone only (first in 2021), but I find that it's worth it these days.
Enshittification intensifies, but a Linux phone might become very viable in a few years, especially when LLM adapters become easier to use. Self-hosted alternatives to google/apple photos are already very advanced.
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The benefits of having a full-featured computer in my pocket are just too many for me to ditch it permanently if I have a choice. While it's certainly able to distract me if I let it, I don't think I've ever had it disrupt my sleep (aside from late night phone calls).
I think it's better for most (and potentially easier) to keep to the smartphone and just better control the applications that are on it and the notifications that they raise to make sure it isn't overly distracting you. This may require disabling certain pre-installed apps (e.g. Facebook is one I always disable and just interact with via browser when I want to). Another pattern to follow is adding barriers to the things that distract you most so it takes a little more effort to interact with your distractions. Hank Green's Focus Friend app that got popular recently is an example of that -- placing an emotional barrier on getting distracted when you need to focus.
But ultimately, we all need to do what's best for ourselves. Everyone's suceptibility to distraction is different and if a dumbphone is what works best for you, then by all means, go with that for as long as it's useful.
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My "smart" phone is rarely used as a telephone. It's set to silent, all notifications turned off, blocks unknown numbers, transcribes voicemail and spends most of the day as a window to the world.
I'm not sure what, if anything, a "dumb" phone would add to my life, except more interruption, more administration to keep contacts up to date, and yet another device to charge and maintain.
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presumably having a dumb phone that only does calls and maybe texts can help you stay in contact / reachable but without the possible distractions of the phone itself.
For me, my watch does this job if I need that.
Headphone jack. I just can't say this enough, despite the fact I have apple's wireless earbuds (of some clique name) in my pocket at this very second. Headphone jack.
Don't ask for it for yourself. Ask for it for the d-bag sharing music of some guy grunting over a drum track on the bus. We need to save him from the damage to his reputation when his friends remind him they knew he listened to such trash later when he needs to deny it.
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I am more curious about this section:
bureaucracy or banking apps force me to use it
Does it actually happen? How so? I never had any bank or anything else force me to use a phone, so I am having hard time imagining that. So I am genuinely curious about this portion of your message.
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2 factor authentication via app/texting I'd imagine.
An authenticator app is better than basically anything but a physical token / key generator, but the apps are more universally supported. No one is probably going to spoof your phone number to get into your accounts.... But doesn't hurt to me more secure about it anyway.
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I see. Thank you.
I am using a YubiKey for those (with a desktop authenticator app). Oddly enough, I do that because I do not trust Android/iPhone to stay secure. I actually trust them even less than a plain old SMS-based auth.
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I tried a lot of things to keep my phone/screen usage down.l, including a dump phone. One day I got this brilliant idea to shut my phone off.
That was way more efficient than any of the tricks I tried. When I need it for something I turn it on. I've since removed most fun apps from the thing.
I still have one game that I play, Lemmy, RSS and web browsers. Apart from those it's mostly a bureaucracy machine with messaging, email, banking, MFA, work stuff, maps, lots of apps for managing tickets (it's actually ridiculous), life trackers for some board games. Music, audiobooks and podcasts.
The smart phone is a convenient device that makes my life easier. I don't whis to handicap myself when I can just turn the phone off instead. I also like to leave the phone at home if for instance I'm going to a party at a well known location.
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A flip phone/dumbphone would sort of be mutually exclusive with my use case. I use my smartphone nearly exclusively as a lightweight mobile computer for web browsing, SSHing into my server, and messaging over internet (not SMS). I rarely use the "phone" features of my phone, i.e. phone calls and SMS. So I'd be losing out over the features I do use, in favour of features I don't use.
If you're being distracted by your phone and a dumbphone works for you, good on you. I think most people are like me and use their phones as a small mobile computer rather than a phone though, in which case distractions are best handled with one of the many apps/browser add-ons/etc that block websites or apps.
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Google maps navigation, web browsing, YouTube, music streaming, WhatsApp, email, social media apps for entertainment, news apps, notes app, to do app, public transit app, ebook and audiobook apps, utility apps, good camera, good screen, good speakers.
If I consider all this there is just no way to go back to the old school flip phones or the candy bar phones with the T9 keypad for me, best thing I can do is hide all the apps I don't want to be distracted by, put app locks on the addictive ones and just be mindful of the time I spend on my phone and figure out other ways to spend my time like dedicated ebook readers or paper books and other activities
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I think so too, there are so many useful tools on a phone, nobody has to use social media and apps that have a bad influence instead of just being practical and useful.
I have a minimalistic home screen with essential apps and all else is in folders for ex.
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what would need to change for you to actually give a flip phone a try?
For me to start using my phone as the main way of my computing needs and entertainment needs. Which I don't. I only use it to send messages and read when my laptop is not in my hands. So I essentially have a not-so-smartphone, not-so-dumbphone.
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My understanding is that flip phones only do calls and sms ?
So I never call or text.. Only thing I use is an XMPP client, web browser, youtube music (until I replace that with selfhosted) and would use maps (but right now I broke the GPS on my phone so not that ...)
So I don't think I could use a flip phone, mostly because none of these applications except maybe music work on a flip phone ? Webbrowser needs a full sized screen...
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Web browser. SMS and calling are completely useless. I need a phone so I can access the internet outside. I dont want a dumb 20 year old phone I want a modern phone without the pointless bullshit.
My ideal phone would have a small screen, replaceable battery, shit camera, shit speakers, 5G, two USB C slots and be able to run android apps and be cheap
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Same minus Android apps, like late old Nokia ones. Nokia stuff was perfect. Also UX is always treated today as if those tasks were impossible to combine with a good UX, and thus modern typical UX is just how you can do it.
Except late Nokia before MS acquisition disproves that by its existence. Its UX was better than any of that shit, with all the necessary things possible to do.
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Really only a handful of things:
1) navigation while traveling - don't need it much, if at all at home, but I travel often enough for work that losing that capability would be painful.
2) MFA - authenticator apps are the most convenient way to do MFA. SMS/email are terrible options for this and should only be used if there is absolutely no other option.
3) Access to the internet while away from home, both while traveling and while out and about
4) Music playback in the car
5) Communication - most of my friends don't use SMS/voice to talk, instead preferring Discord or Signal
Basically everything else I do on my phone could be done from a more proper computer with minimal inconvenience.
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All I really need is calls, sms, a solid browser and some more robost messaging apps like signal and matrix/element - I'm a prime candidate for PostmarketOS if we ever get a stable piece of hardware. I have an old oneplus 6 that I've played with it on, its so close. If a flip phone could master that today, sure
I do use tap to pay, but meh I dont think I would miss it and android auto in my car could easily just be a bluetooth audio connection
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I hadn't even thought of it from this angle. That's a hard stop for me right there.
Any flip phone you can basically hook up to bitpim or a cellebrite or whatever and copy its entire contents in a matter of seconds. There's no challenge. There's no security whatsoever.
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Once upon a time, I set up my phone so I didn't need to look at it: it was basically e-ink and audiobooks.
Then I started adding games and learning apps back (I don't remember why), and now I feel like I'm not going back until e-ink reaches parity with smartphones (refresh rate, cell coverage, near-current OS).
well, I work in IT. So I am required to use apps like Teams for mobile and DUO 2FA in order to authenticate my laptop sessions.
Now, could I use only SMS/email 2FA? Technically yes. And I could just have Teams on my work laptop and have that nearby all the time, but it would be extremely inconvenient. Navigation would also be a big problem. Due to the nature of my job, I frequently have to visit a large number of different sites around my area. Having to open my laptop each time I need to go somewhere, open up a map site like OSM or Google maps to get the directions, print them off or write them down, then follow them manually hoping that I don't encounter random slowdowns or closures in an area I am not familiar with is basically a non-starter for me.
As for personal use, navigation rears its ugly head again. I often will be traveling with friends or family and we decide on a whim to change our destination for dinner or hangouts after based on times, appetites, budgets, closures, etc. Having a map app on my phone makes that easy to do. It would be impossible to do that without it, unless I had a near exhaustive knowledge of my whole city and surrounding suburbs.
Honestly navigation is the #1 thing. Random other stuff comes up, like my mobile password manager Bitwarden, or my various apps like my City's bus/metro app, and my city's parking app. Both of which again, I could make do without, but it would be extremely tough and inconvenient.
I've decided that the happy medium for me is to use as much FOSS phone tech as possible. That way at least the tracking and data harvesting is minimized and I am generally not supporting megacorps.
I use GrapheneOS, with mostly FOSS apps. The proprietary apps I do use are isolated with GOS's special sauce. I use Magic Earth for my navigation, which while not open source, the data sets they use are, and they are not google, and based in the EU, so far better privacy than Google's trash.
I wish I could switch to a flip phone, I've seriously considered it many times over the last several years. But for my lifestyle, it's just not feasible. The best balance for me is to compute ethically on my mobile. I have thought about going for the weekend with just a dumb phone, that might be possible, but I'll have to see.
I used a flip/dumbphone for most of my teenage and high school years.
It's like asking what would make me go back to having a DOS computer and playing Wolf3D after being in full body virtual reality with Half Life Alyx.
I don't use a smartphone enough to worry about it. If I am using my phone, most of the time it's either Anki, Google Maps, or, like you mention, banking/government stuff.
Texting via SMS (or whatever it is these days) isn't really a thing in Japan, either, which makes things more difficult especially as I despise talking on the phone. If, for example, I'm at the supermarket and wife remembers something she needs, getting that message is good
I might switch to a flip phone if it had gps and maps.
That's simply the killer app for smart phones, at this point it's a necessary part of my life. Without it I need a separate device just for that, and that device is actually less useful.
Edit: now that I'm reading other responses I have to agree, secure messaging and 2fa are really important too.
I could live without everything else, but to be honest, I don't use much else. A few games, Lemmy, music apps, audiobook apps. Of those, Lemmy is the app most likely to leave me feeling upset, or like I want to doomscroll.
I think limiting the apps I use is the biggest thing I can do to not make the phone a negative influence for me. But to be clear, if that starts happening, Lemmy is the first to go, I already don't use any other social media.
Eh, I see no reason to switch to a dumb phone, because I don't think I'm that bad with my current phone. My main User profile on GrapheneOS is pretty minimal when it comes to apps, it's mostly messaging, banking, navigation, workout and music (I should probably move Lemmy and Pixelfed to a different profile, but they both have pretty little potential for scrolling for too long since the new content is naturally limited).
The only game on this profile is the one I'm developing as a hobby project lol
All the annoying Apps (Secondary Email, Amazon, Aliexpress, Linkedin, Smartlife, Grocery store coupon apps etc) are banished to a secondary profile that has no permission to run in the background or send any notifications.
I would not give up the smartphone for a dumb phone, primarily for the superior security and privacy smartphones provide that dumb phones just do not have technology for.
This conversation has a tone of settling for inferior technology to do the work a well-designed smartphone experience should.
The smartphone can be made pretty "dumb" - the user experience has more to do with the software (apps) added to it than the hardware (the smartphone) itself.
Aside from the apps the platform bundles, I only have Signal (for text and voice), email, a browser, calendar, a note taking app and a FOSS music player. I have disabled all sound and visual notifications and removed all apps off the main screen.
Of late, I've moved the SIM-card onto a secondary phone that resides in my bag, which is only switched-on for navigation or if I need WiFi in a snap.
It has not always been this way for me and I am sure my setup will continue to evolve as my needs change.
I know exactly what I need my phone for: music, maps, banking, messaging, books and sometimes traveling. Anything else I have is a distraction that I'm addicted to have.
You know what keeps me from binning it? The FOMO, and not being able to hold conversations with friends and coworkers because I'm would not be tuned to the latest trends and happenings, and that sucks.
The best setup in my eyes would be :
Dumb phone to take with you for calls / text messages and a non Sim card smartphone that would have apps on it but be hotspot over using the dumb phones data. Basically wifi only
That way if I were just doing errands on the weekend, just take the dumb phone. And then take the smartphone for onsite job trips and whatnot.
Smartphone would be degoogled.
Remember, 2fa authentication doesn't need mobile data to work, its time based
Honestly, for me, it's the one-two-three punch of easy notes taken anywhere + podcasts + camera.
- notes : before smartphones I carried a notebook in my pocket. And sometimes I still do; writing longhand is still pleasant for me, and being able to sketch and doodle with my notes is still clunky with a touchscreen, amazingly. But the experience of losing my notebook, or not having the right one with me when I need it, is disproportionately frustrating to me.
- podcasts : this is one of the few ways my ADHD brain truly focuses. Listening to a podcast while walking, biking, running, driving, doing dishes, cleaning a room, mowing the lawn, etc. is almost foolproof in getting me to pay attention to the content. I have to be in the right mood to read, and videos are background noise to me after having the Discovery Channel or Scifi Channel on 24/7 in my apartment in college. Before smartphones I had a trusty RCA Lyra that went everywhere with me; and while the form factor and experience were fantastic, I now have a backlog of over 800 podcast episodes that would not fit on that device's 512MB internal storage. (Also, I just got a pair of noise canceling earbuds, and I have to admit I really like them)
- camera : I've chosen my last four smartphones based on the camera quality. I've got kids, and being able to take adorable pictures of them at the drop of a hat is very useful to me. I don't need all the computational nonsense, but I do need it to be good enough and ever-present. Before smartphones, I would occasionally bring a digital camera around with me, but I can't afford one that would give me the quality I want, and it wouldn't fit in my pocket anyway.
Messaging, fitness tracking, and work stuff is also easier, though not in a way that I don't think I could backfill with other things if needed.
Nostalgia aside, the experience of these big three use cases is indisputably better with a smartphone than it was in 2005. Could I live without them? Yes! Absolutely. But I'd prefer not to, and since I shook my social media addiction I don't really feel the need to.
Well I had the displeasure of having to use a candybar style phone my mother was using cause it was 'easier' for her.
- Ages to write a message
- Very difficult to navigate through very similar SMSs (automated ones like electronic prescriptions) and pick the correct one based on date. Or even get an accurate broader picture of how many SMSs you received and when.
- Did not setup email but I believe it would also be horrendous
But in my case, I disagree with the base premise of this post. The biggest anxiety and distraction caused by my phone is via phone calls. Asynchronous communications like sms and email are much better for me.
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Whatsapp. That's the only fucking reason I'm not using a dumbphone. In Brazil, everyone uses it. Need to talk to a company? Whatsapp. Friends and family? Wpp. Book a medical checkup? Wpp.
There's also the problem of cell phone fees being abusive when calling/messaging people from a different company.
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Exclusively Internet calls and texts. Most of my communication is split between regular and texting and discord or Whatsapp.
Doesn't have to be those apps but something I can make a call with internationally
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Pretty much because my smartphone is basically my digital Swiss army knife. Like even if I got a separate digital camera and MP3 Player, I also use it for navigation and to communicate with my parents and friends over signal, and like hell I am gonna give up signal. Add to that it's also my portable wifi hotspot when I'm out, my train tickets, and how I pay for things when I'm sans-purse, I don't know if I can give up my smartphone.
Would it be good for me to get off social media and to stop doomscrolling the news? Yes, but I can do that by going out and touching grass.
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I don't make phone calls and rarely use SMS. All the features I need/want from a phone would be missing.
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I genuinely love my phone. It makes my life better.
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Being forced to use a stock google android or iOS would be what drives me to use a dumb phone.
As long as I can install a custom ROM like LineageOS or GrapheneOS, I'm good.
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The main blocker is MFA. I can technically work around Google Authenticator (I use Aegis currently) because I can run it on my laptop, but I also need Okta verify (work VPN), Symantec VIP (bank), and the Steam app.
And some other very nice to haves:
- Signal messenger
- SSH client
- Libby app
- Organic Maps
I can find workaround for the rest.
That said, wouldn't it just be easier to uninstall the apps that cause distractions?
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Have a good day!
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CoMaps
I haven't. I looked into it, and that's quite the drama. I like the name of CoMaps better, so I'll check it out. I see shared commits, but they seem to go to Organic Maps first and then I guess get cherry-picked onto CoMaps?
I'm closer to carrying around a cyberdeck than a dumbphone.
I don't like either sms or phonecalls.
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Precisely. I'd be more likely to switch to one of those pocket "hot spot" devices. Just a thing in my pocket that gives devices I control internet access and maybe has a shitty web interface I can log into for basic SMS when absolutely necessary. No microphone, no camera, no GPS, no access to my actual computing environment. Only 2 downsides are maintaining battery charge in multiple devices and the fact that those hotspots are generally hot garbage, and so unreliable.
Maybe, a flip phone if one existed that was 1) a full-time good quality internet hotspot (i.e., good battery), and 2) lacked a GPS and camera, and hardware disconnected the microphone when closed. Now that I think about it, that would be a fantastic device... if it existed.
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This notion that healthy adults need mental herding is very pervasive
Need is a strong word, but it is very true that the environment you put people in will influence their behavior. Grocery stores filled with attractively packaged highly processed foods will drive more highly processed food consumption than if you had to show proof of age ID and sign a disclosure before being allowed into the back room to buy those same foods in plain brown wrapper containers blazoned with all the health warnings that apply to them.
Handheld screen tech delivers dopamine release as powerful as most recreational drugs / experiences. People are definitely "herded" by how that tech is delivered, default settings that most of them never take the time to learn how to change, other settings that annoyingly constantly reset themselves to undesired PAY ATTENTION TO ME configurations, etc.
So, yeah, mindfulness of how your devices are shaping your behavior is a "higher level of awareness" that we as a society should be collectively trying to attain.
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Creating “windows” with no phone at all works better for me.
You may as well ask me to throw away me phone entirely. I don't carry a smartphone to make phone calls. I hate phone calls.
95% of that is spam. And an old dumbphone won't even have auto spam detection.
I use my phone to take pictures, send those pictures, look for restaurants, navigate to those restaurants, listen to music, etc.
So what you're asking for is to make the part I hate about phones worse, while removing all the functions I actually use my phone for.
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I was gonna buy one of those Lite phones, but it was expensive so I just deleted time-wasting apps and now my smartphone respects my time.
Hardest part was getting people to just text me instead of various social media messenger apps. In the end, I deleted my accounts and now everyone from school thinks I'm dead, but those close to me can reach me easily.
Sometimes I still binge YouTube via Firefox on my phone though, so I installed "Unhook" which blocks recommended videos, so I can only see what I search for.
I guess just remember that your smartphone can be dumb too. And still a lot more convenient than a flip phone.
My job. I have to answer emails in the field, I need GPS to get to job sites (they don't sell ADC map books at 7-11 anymore). I need to take pictures and respond to texts. I don't need these things but as a business owner I'd rather have the one smart box in my pocket than have to carry around the individual tools for reasons. Also, I carry a flip phone. It just happens to be an extremely smart flip phone (Razr)
Oh, and ParkMobile. I can pay for parking nationwide with my phone. And Audiobooks. and... well shit, I guess it doesn't end really. Sudoku while I poo for example.
Oh, oh, and also... why would I want to get rid of my smart phone? You meantion getting sleep. I don't use my phone in bed. Bed is for sleeping and sexy times. I don't do social media (unless you include this which is really just the modern version of channel surfing with chat attachment.) Maybe it's my age. I didn't grow up with screens like kids these days so to me it's just another tool. I'm responding to this on my PC not my phone.
i don't want my phone to be dumb, I want it to be open source, front to back! The issue of smartphones isn't that its "too smart", instead we should talk about why the control of our phones aren't within our grasp, but on the palm of corpos and govs.
you want to use your smartphone while keeping it simple? Install less apps and disable ALL telemetry (this is where being open source comes in).
Aside from the Rotary Un-Phone, there are pretty much no dumb phones anymore. Those that market themselves as dumb are just reskinned full-fat platforms.
Even almost all flip phones are smart phones with a dumb skin, as they run either Android or KaiOS.
The main reason why I would switch is for device security - a true dumb phone OS that operates purely out of the ROM and has no ability to install anything that could survive a reboot.
And for something that primitive, it would be a flip phone on par with the Motorola StarTac. Simple black-on-green screen, low-res display, with a calendar and address book as the only non-phone, non-SMS functionality.
Well, I can buy a GPS map device.
Cash payments are not much of a problem until the Govt. starts adding that extra tax on cash withdrawal from ATMs.
I will need to wait for companies to grow a brain and stop using WhatsApp for work.
For all else, I use my computer anyway.
Buying train tickets, buying concert tickets, checking schedules for work or school or train times, communicating with people over something that isn't SMS or calls, taking nice photos on the go, listening to music.
Of course many of these would be solvable with a different device (handheld camera, mp3 player) or by buying tickets and checking schedules in advance, but the trade off isn't worth it for me
I would buy a feature phone today, preferably something eink, if it was painless to switch my SIM between it and my smart phone. Having to take the SIM out of one, put it in the other, then turn on the phone is not painless and they do not design the little draws to support thousands of open/closes against the contacts to read the SIM.
There are times I want the smart phone to have the SIM because I will want or need the extra functionality and if you just make the feature phone do everything then its just morphed into a smart phone with extra steps. I want the feature phone to be basic as I can get away with.
That said, I really want google wallet or similar that I can share between the two phones for my passes and tickets, audio streaming support, and maps. Something like a Hisense A9 would fit the bill but the temptation to add more apps than the basics would be too great, plus I still need a way to switch SIMs between the phones.
I cannot replace my smart phone, rather than supplement, with any feature phone because I use it for such a wide range of things. I can ssh from it to my home devices, I can manage my bank accounts, it tracks my health, it provides video and audio streaming on and offline, I can read and write documents/spreadsheets, plus anything you can do via a web browser.
I’m currently in Asia and – in this country at least – you are basically required to have a smart phone to do anything. Credit cards don’t exist. And they use QR payments for most things. So that implies a camera and a banking app (for your bank). Many places don’t accept cash anymore (!) - I don’t really get how they can do that because not everyone has a smart phone (poor people (obviously) & tourists (not even allowed to get bank accounts here) come immediately to mind — of which there are millions of both). I think so far it’s not a big deal because these people just spend their money elsewhere, but I worry this will become entrenched.
Anyway, I tried “dumb phoning” my iPhone and there’s just way too many things I rely on daily that require a smart phone: paying by QR code, banking, international banking, translating, navigation, ride booking, accommodation booking, messaging on iMessage, Line, Messenger (almost everyone in this country uses the last 2). When travelling in a foreign country, these things aren’t really optional. If I can’t pay for a bus ticket or food, I could be really screwed.
Now you might say some of things in my list are doable without apps; like accommodation booking… sure. But even if you find a place old skool style, how do you contact them? Most don’t have web pages, they use Facebook pages. And the contact info is usually a Line or Messenger id. Even if somehow you managed to find a phone number, they are unlikely to speak English. I’m old enough to remember travelling before the internet and honestly it was great and worked well, but that was because everyone was on the same footing. We’ve lost that and I actually think it’s much more difficult now.
I’ve gotten rid of most social media (except fediverse) which has helped my screen time a lot, but I think going back to a feature phone is, unfortunately, impossible here. I do hope that they see how economically unfair requiring a smart phone is though and at least pass some laws that require shops to take cash payments (last I heard these laws did exist in the West).
Tens of thousands join far-right rally in London where Charlie Kirk was mourned
“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die," Elon Musk told the large crowds at Saturday's “Unite the Kingdom” rally.
More than 100,000 people descended on Britain’s capital on Saturday for one of the country’s largest far-right rallies in decades.
The “Unite the Kingdom” rally was organized by Tommy Robinson, a convicted fraudster with a violent criminal record, and attended by billionaire Elon Musk via video link. Amid a sea of flag-waving and soccer-style chanting from large crowds that exceeded expectations, violent clashes with police led to dozens of arrests.
It came amid a surge of nationalism in the U.K., with a far-right party topping the polls, and the murder of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk — an assassination Robinson used to mobilize support in the run-up to the event.
Tens of thousands join far-right rally in London where Charlie Kirk is being mourned
Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Britain’s capital on Saturday for the largest far-right rally in decades, organized by anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson.Freddie Clayton (NBC News)
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Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you.
From the even further right as it turned out.
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Wait, I chose no violence, but it will still come my way?
Now they're just saying the quiet part out loud.
Again.
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here in the states younger patrons coming in the shop have said they related to him and are in mourning
fucking nuts just yesterday a younger couple came in and was the first thing mentioned and was like what about his views on keeping women in their place or his other extreme owner class ideals and woman with him stayed very quiet and busied herself with petting the shop cat
nothing but praise for the guy came from them or any other of most of the younger patrons and even the older crowd seems to be for him but the media is toxic and controlled as is all narratives even with education
United States was never the United States for all of us here but feels like getting worse but want to keep being hopeful just challenging
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You're entitled to an opinion. You're not entitled to be respected for it.
Opinions precede action.
Actually, opinions are the foundation of democracy and therefore must be respected always. You might not agree with someone's opinion but I'm not here to convince you otherwise. You are clearly here because your extremist voice and flagrant disrespect of anyone you disagree with stands in your own personal development. People like you are the reason the right wingers become more extreme. Proof of the matter is obvious everywhere in Europe. Politicians don't respect the wishes of the people who elected them. The EU has had an immigration problem for at least a decade , they are now electing extremist and populist politicians out of desperation that their voice isn't heard. Populist parties rise to power out of general unhappiness of the electorate, not the other way around.
You might not like them, hell I certainly don't but you cant change the society in a few years, it takes decades, even hundreds of years. Feel free to drown yourself in the sorrows of your utopia when right wing nutters are being elected all around Europe.
Opinions are the foundation of all ideologies. Hitler's opinions on undesirables for example.
The reason right wingers become more extreme is because of allowing their opinion on violence go unchecked lets them begin to actually start practicing it. Even the Charlie Kirk killer was a Trumpist who thought Kirk was too much to the left.
The issue in humanity has always been that the left has always only fought back once things become dire. They've only ever functioned as a check to a society's collapse rather than a deterrent to it's downward decline. If the left actually adhered to the paradox of intolerance, then society and humankind would progress much faster, because those who are a factual detriment to society - the greedy, the power hungry, the psychopathic - wouldn't be allowed to gain power, either permanently or through meaningful consequences.
The issue is the left is inherently peaceful to a fault. They don't actually go out and start punching let alone killing until it's too late and they've literally been forced into it.
It's also why rarely does violence actually permanently fix things - because those willing to do it usually want power rather than justice, and even if that is the case, it does not remain permanent policy.
But then, being reactionary rather than preventative to threats has always been the greatest fault of humanity, but especially the left. Not being aggressive with aggressors early on, not dealing with climate change until it's kinda too late, etc.
And democracy is an ideology that we are supposed to follow. That ideology comes mostly in the form of representative democracy where you elect someone that is supposed to represent your group.
You don't know if Tyler Robinson is left or right , that is all media speculation at this stage. As someone that lived behind the iron curtain, the concept that left is inherently peaceful is complete nonsense. Neither left or right is inherently violent or peaceful. Violence of the far left and far right is always a result of someone who thinks their ideology is superior, disregards all moral grounds, and forces their will and/or dogma on somebody else. Leninist-Marxist, PLO, Earth Liberation Front, too many examples to list. I do agree that the left is generally less violent today.
As someone who lived behind the iron curtain, you may not realize this, but people lie.
Something or someone calling itself leftist does not mean it is. The USSR pretending to have been socialist is about as authentic as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea being a democracy.
Earth Liberation Front is about the most violent actual leftists example you listed, and even they pale in comparison to what the right wing does, and is again an appropriate response mechanism for permanently altering the climate of the entire planet in a devastating way for the fictional concept of money we have collectively decided to value. If anything, again proving my point of too little too late when you consider the consequences, and considering they formed back when there was acid rain literally happenings due to pollution.
The right is inherently violent because it's an ideology of power and authority, not union and equality. Belief in power and authority is inherently violent, because subjection of humans goes against the inherent will of personhood, and will inevitably lead to conflict. The pursuit of power is also inherently violent, because it requires therefore forceful subjection. That's why all authoritarian governments are right wing.
I can think of only one example in recent human history that broke that mold - only one dictator that, as far as I know, sought power solely for the purpose of improving their country and the lives of people while eliminating corruption, that being Lee Kwan Yu. They were the closet I've seen to an actual violent leftist ideology, and their governmental system remains an outlier in that it's a democratic competitive authoritarian system.
Thanks for proving all my points. In one paragraph you justify left wing violence as long as the cause is honourable, and in another paragraph, you claim the eastern block socialists as not really left wing.
I've got some news for you. They were as left wing and as forceful as they come. You didn't own property , everything was state owned, society was very progressive (abortions were legal - ex USSR , socialised medicine, free schooling all the way to getting a job, gender equality, LGBT rights were a lot further than in the west).
Conservatism/right-wing is not inherently violent, that's fodder. Some societies are more conservative than others. There are even right wing libertarians. It becomes evil when it seeks to impose its will over minorities or majorities, and in effect invalidate their voice. There are many examples of this from the left and the right (more right for sure).
If you are not a centrist, you are a dogmatic
Everything being state owned isn't leftist, at all. That's straight up authoritarian. Putin has almost everything owned by the state too - are you seriously going to call him a leftists??? Sprinkling in some civil rights so the state machine runs better does not a leftist state make. And actual libertarianism is solidly center neutral. Right wing libertarianism is an oxymoron.
But, there's no point in discussing the situation further with someone who still has past traumas from an authoritarian regime.
State ownership of means of production is the very definition of state socialism, thus removing power from the capitalists, which is strictly an implementation of the leftist ideology. I have no trauma, I just don't live in a lala land. I'm sure you spend a great amount of time thinking about what society could be, instead of accepting what it is and dealing with it. Libertarianism, centrist? Oh please. Its very foundation is rooted in anarchist concepts, distinctively left wing ideology.
I agree there is no point discussing things any further. Just keep dreaming of your utopia, eventually you will grow up.
State ownership of means of production is the very definition of state socialism
Except there's also state capitalism. The bloc may have been started with the intention of state socialism (doubtful, since we're talking about Stalin here), but it was definitely run as a state capitalist system, as most authoritarian governments do - including modern Russia.
Libertarianism, centrist? Oh please. Its very foundation is rooted in anarchist concepts
Just because something is rooted in concepts that might be left (or right) wing, doesn't mean the thing itself is at the same level (much like Stalinism).
Libertarianism itself is strongly center.
It's offshoots, like Libertarian Socialism, are what's left or right wing ideology.
Again, you don't actually know your politics, instead shaping your perception on things based off experience, not what they really are.
This is not a chicken and egg problem. Extremists are a result of society's ailments, not the other way around. . I'll give you a few examples from the 20th century.
- Hitler - became leader of Germany because of the impact WW1 had on German society
- Al Queda/ISIS - got into position of power due to the suppression of moderate leaders by authoritarian regimes ie. Taliban.
- IRA - the discrimination of Irish Catholics by the British-protestant colonialist.
- Khmer Rouge - got into power due to Vietnam war bombing of Cambodia.
- Kokutai - the perceived betrayal by the west after WW1 (yes Japan fought against Germany in WW1), lead to the rise of extremist ideologies which supplanted Japan's desire to fight against the West.
Sure, but the ailment of our time is not immigrants. It's wealth inequality, it's 1% enriching themselves at the expense of everyone else, it's unchecked self-destructive capitalism.
Rich people are the problem, not immigrants. And it's lie and propaganda that drove people to believe otherwise.
got into position of power due to the suppression of moderate leaders by authoritarian regimes ie. Taliban
The Taliban came long after Al-Qaida and had very similar ideology. They were organised and funded by the Pakistani security service, the IIS. The original Taliban groups were Pakistani seminary students harassing the less backward elements of Pakistani society. The movement was later spread to Afghanistan. And the Taliban were allied with Al-Qaida, never attempted to suppress them. Some other Middle Eastern governments tried to suppress them (Saddam's Iraq, successfully; Egypt's corrupt military junta, far less so). The Taliban hosted Al-Qaida fighters and training camps, and elements of the Pakistani military provided Bin Laden with safe haven on a military base.
Al-Qaida started as a Wahhabi-based xenophobic movement to purge Saudi Arabia of Western influence. The Wahhabi movement itself was a fanatical Sunni movement founded over 200 years ago with the intent to exterminate non-Sunni Muslims and non-Muslims. The Saudi and Qatari royal families are Wahhabi. The former from a more virulent faction than the latter.
Anyway, that's just one of your bullet points dismantled. In general, the idea that every group of extremists was somehow inevitably caused by some kind of social upheaval or injustice is simplistic and has no predictive value.
Sorry the inclusion of Taliban was a mistake, was typing too quickly. What I meant to say was the Afghan Marxist government .
Studying the history of al-Qaeda is a key to understanding the ideology and even the mentality of the movement as a whole. It began in Afghanistan in 1979 in response to the introduction of Soviet troops into the country, which caused an influx of foreign fighters from all over the Islamic world. > (Vasiliev & Zherlitsyna, 2023)
Why did the Soviets invade Afghanistan?
In April 1978 Afghanistan’s centrist government, headed by Pres. Mohammad Daud Khan, was overthrown by left-wing military officers led by Nur Mohammad Taraki. Power was thereafter shared by two Marxist-Leninist political groups, the People’s (Khalq) Party and the Banner (Parcham) Party—which had earlier emerged from a single organization, the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan—and had reunited in an uneasy coalition shortly before the coup. The new government, which had little popular support, forged close ties with the Soviet Union, launched ruthless purges of all domestic opposition, and began extensive land and social reforms that were bitterly resented by the devoutly Muslim and largely anti-communist population. > (Encyclopaedia Britannica , 2025)The aim of the Soviet operation was to prop up their new but faltering client state
There you go.
Furthermore, while not every extremist group formed because of society ailments it is** a well known factor recognised by scholars*.
There is robust evidence that radicalisation is a social process and that identity is a key
factor in why individuals become involved in violent movements. In conflicts involving violent extremism (as opposed to
terrorism directed against the West), socio-economic discrimination and
marginalisation do help to explain why extremist groups are able to
recruit support in large numbers (Allan, Glazzard, et Al. 2015)
Right wingers in Europe are becoming more and more radicalised
I'm not sure about more radicalised, but they're more evidently centrally organised, well-funded, emboldened and numerous. Like a plague of fucking locusts. There's serious money coming in from other countries to fan these flames. Don't pretend this is a spontaneous expression of anything, it's a fucking rent-a-crowd. I've seen the ones in my city in England. They were all bussed in.
EU has itself to blame due to its failed immigration policy particularly from Africa and middle East.
You make it sound as if those hooligans are voicing legitimate grievances. That's no more the case than saying the same about Krstallnacht. The arseholes in London were marching in favour of burning women and children in refugee hostels.
Britain must stand united
Where almost half the flags are not Union Jack but the English flag. 🤣🤣🤣
Such a bunch of morons.
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Here are some inventions by some really racist people:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego…
It’s a mistake to underestimate the intelligence of fascists just because they subscribe to fundamentally dumb ideas. There are a lot of smart and sinister people serving those ideals.
Project 2025 isn’t the work of unintelligent people, the success of the extreme right isn’t a ”happy” coincidence resulting from ineptitude, and so forth.
They say knowingly dumb things because only idiots will take them seriously. It weeds out the skeptics while pissing off the intelligent, who often get dismissive, which lets them continue growing their party.
It’s like the Nigerian Prince scams, where bad spelling and grammar weeds out the people who wouldn’t fall for it anyway, but with the added bonus of pissing off opponents in the process.
Absolute fucking morons.
Every single one of those people is going to end up in poverty as a direct result of who they want to elect.
What you have to understand about these people is that they already feel they are down on their luck and are to weak to do anything about it.
The best they can hope for to feel better about themselves is that other people are even worse off, which is why they are so full of hate and want immigrants to be punished.
Live for humanity, that's the opposite of all this drama. They profit from your life and use you for their fights. They don't let you have real faith in yourself or humanity because they need you to have faith in them and so they can continue to use you.
Become fearless, have faith in self and genuine humanity, and become able to see through all this.
It's time to detach from these 1st world social lifestyles that are marketed towards us to make us easier to control.
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People want validations and to believe what they are doing is the right thing. When one side calls them evil, far-right, and racists, naturally they will flock to the other side who are telling them they are heroes who are protecting the country from immigrants.
You can watch street interviews of the protesters and you'll see what I mean.
I am really, really happy that Britain left the EU.
Sorry to any sane Brits, but the "ever more nuttier" European country not having any voting power in the EU, much less a veto, is a great thing.
Mind you, lots of countries over here might end up like that, but Britain seems to be a decade ahead of the rest in that specific kind of shit show and it and the US might very well serve as a warning for the locals on this side of the Channel not to go down that route (just like the example of Brexit itself crushed any ideas about Leave Referendums in the rest of the EU).
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I mean it's pretty easy when you think about it. Like if the "far right" idea is a virus, the English language is it's vector of infection, making it easier for ideas or memes to cross pollinate cultural between the US and UK. Some of the other EU countries have their own main language after all other than English so such spread is slower.
In his eyes, the greatest symbiotic parasite Men has ever known isn't microbial, it's linguistics. Words are what keeps civilization, our world alive. Save the world not by taking Men's lives but by taking their tongue.
A wise philosopher once said, "it is no nation that we inhabit. Nay! Our native tongue is our true fatherland!"
And yet the Republic Of Ireland isn't at all aligned with Britain in this.
Not that I disagree with you, more that I think that there's more than just that.
I lived in a couple of places in Europe, Southern, Northern and also over a decade in Britain.
IMHO, Britain has is very own cultural twists that make a certain kind of posh authoritarianism much more likely there: an incredibly entrenched dynastic elite (Britain has, I believe, the lowest social mobility in Europe) with a ton of structures to make sure it will always be so (the "public" schools -> Oxbridge -> daddy's friend's company "internship" path that makes sure the scions of the elites remain in that class, the Judiciary being almost entirelly in the hands of "public" school graduates even though they're only 11% of population which gets reflected in quite different legal outcomes depending on one's class, the The "Honors" System, the Lords with its inherited positions, and more).
This elite has its own sub-culture (even including its own accent) which amongst other things is big on fakeness and very anti-empathy (I've personally known a handful of people from that section of society) and meanwhile the other end of society is also quirky as fuck, in a different way (amongst other things more violent and prejudiced than in other countries I lived in, hence things like the Hooliganism phenomenon).
Then there are weird cultural postures than transverse society such as how people's approach to their position in the social ladder is to focus on keeping those below them where the are, rather than try and climb it themselves, plus there is a general tendency to worry too much (IMHO) about keeping up appearences (to "look right" rather than "be good") though it's worse the higher up the social ladder one is (working class are the most genuine, middle class tend to be pretty fake, upper class live their entire lives behind a façade - hence the whole "posh" thing).
Mind you, in my experience this mostly applies to the English and those from other nations are less like that, especially the Scotts.
(I fully support the idea of an Independent Scotland in the EU)
Anyways, my point is that Britain has it's own set of wierd quirks, which mixed with the shit imported from the US (IMHO, Brits seem to in the last couple of decades somehow have combined the worst of both cultures rather than the best) yields this "Rocketship to Posh Fascism" effect.
We are so fucked. There is no escaping this global rush of extremism.
I am originally from the states, but was lucky enough to move to Australia 11 years ago.
I thought I escaped the growing right wing crazy, and watched from afar as Trump was elected the first time, and my country descended into fascism.
Then here in Australia there was a white supremacist rally. Then another.
Then in my city there was a "March for Australia" organised by known white supremacists, but claiming not to be racist.
"They just don't want all this immigration".
Their website also said they wanted remigration.
Remigration is an originally European far-right proposal for ethnic cleansing via the mass deportation of non-white immigrants and their descendants, sometimes including those born in Europe, to their place of racial ancestry.
Sounds pretty racist to me.
This march was planned for the final day of the state multicultural festival. Its planned start and end point was the park where the festival was being held.
My family and I decided we would go. I haven't been to a protest since I was a teenager, but I felt it was our duty to show that not everyone agrees with this.
The day before the march our best friend said their friends were afraid to go out to lunch with them that day, because their parents were verbally assaulted in a grocery store on Friday for being immigrants.
They later said people came to their parents house and were beating on the door and yelling about them being immigrants.
My husband stood there in his suit, I stood in my pretty dress with flowers, our daughters held signs that said things like "so bad even the introverts are here".
The March was not peaceful and was definitely racist. We started off to the side, sitting with flags my daughters and I made with hundreds of countries on them, and eventually we were swarmed as the crowd veered to come right past us.
They screamed obscenities at us, pushed into me, pushed my husband, tried to rip the sign from his hands. They ripped down the flags we made. Blew an air horn in our faces.
Many claimed they were not racist but my husband got called a f-ing Jew multiple times??? Maybe it was the beard and the hat, I don't know.
Seemed pretty racist to me.
Eventually police came and stood in front of us while we packed our things and left. We would do it again, in a heartbeat.
Before the rowdy crowd came looking for trouble we had immigrants come up and thank us, hug us, and we want them to know that not everyone agrees with this march.
Not wanting immigration is not what this march was about. This march was about fear and racism.
I urge all of you, show up, make signs, show that not everyone agrees.
There is no escaping this global rush of extremism.
You can't escape it, you have to defeat it.
I stood up for what was right, as did my husband and daughters, I'm really proud of them.
We are only one family, but we would do it again.
At some point climate change is going to cause more migrants than any 'developed' nation can support. Net migtration into the UK is currently coming in at around 700k a year. This is London a decade for a country that is pretty close to as population dense as the area around New York - I think they call it the tri-state area. Imagine nearly a New York a decade into the tri-state area. That is what the UK is currently doing and has been doing for decades now.
With the best will in the world it simply isn't sustainable. The UK is not food secure and is not energy secure now. Are we supposed to rely on a belligerently corporatist EU for food, and then Russia, for energy? (edit - I haven't looked at our current energy situation, I am not interested in media stories about UK energy. I have looked into it enough to know a lot of it is bollocks.) It actually isn't possible now for the UK to have the immigration we have.
The door is going to be closed and at least many millions of the poorest globally, who haven't caused climate change, are going to lose their lives unnecessarily. I don't like it at all, but this IS going to happen. So when do we close the door? The poorest in the UK are already having food taken out of their mouths, and that working poor is growing due to many decades of neo-liberal capitalist policy. Same dynamic as the US expressing itself in a slightly different way.
I spent the second decade of this century is a small city of about 250k people that experienced about 30k immigration in the last two decades. It is a poor city anyway, with cheap available housing due to previous government decisions forcing many of the people born there to leave. They dumped a load of people into communities that cannot support them. It is not racist to say that this isn't doable. When 'liberal' media people say it is racist to complain the people I grew up with (who I don't particularly like, but will defend from outsiders) will just say 'well fuck you, if I'm racist I['ll vote for the racist party'.
I don't like any of this. I am just describing the reality. You either face up to reality or you will see fascism as a result.
The issue isn't that they don't want immigrants, or want immigration reform.
The issue is that they literally want remigration (ethnic cleansing of all non whites) and were threatening and ugly.
They chose to hold a protest on a day when families were out enjoying different cultures.
They were violent towards me and my children and husband, and spouted bullshit American rhetoric while doing it.
Claiming that they like immigrants, they just don't want illegal immigrants.
Australia is an island! We lock up the immigrants who come by boat on an island! We don't have illegal immigrants!
Perhaps we are talking about two slightly different things. I was describing the situation in the UK and across 'developed' nations (i.e. the rise of fascism) that is leading to the same public sentiment you experienced. We had a neo-nazi march in the UK over the weekend too. You are describing what happened to you. I am explaining why,.
Maybe you were the downvoter. You can't downvote away reality. It is foolish to try.
We lock up the immigrants who come by boat on an island! We don’t have illegal immigrants!
In a shop window in northern California, I recently saw a sign saying "nobody is illegal on stolen land."
I see DarkAri has deleted their comment, but I think it's important that everyone can see what was written.
This is the kind of unhinged nonsense we are up against. Accusations and ramblings that aren't even relevant to my comment.
The mass immigration has been by far the strongest
reason that right wing politics became so popular. Dont
delude yourself. The left fucked up. It's not right to force
half the country to tolerate mass immigration just
because you think you are smarter then them. That is the
shit that ruined democracy. Most democratic things are
not about what is right or wrong. If another citizen
doesn't want to have a million Indians or muslims living
in his hometown thats none of your business. It is his
right to have a state that represents him so long as he
isn't advocating to take away anyone's rights. You are
lucky the Republicans are incredibly corrupt and stupid
and are doing all the other things that the right hates,like
censorship, taking away freedom, stuff like this. Your
pathetic state is so desperate to micromanage
everyone's lives and monitor them that they just cannot
help themselves to not ruin their own position again. The
racism is strong, but half of the reason people voted for
the right is because they perceived the left as being the
side of censorship and mass surveillance and fascism,
but they are getting a wakeup call now. Lucky for you
their politicians are incredibly stupid and also many
people who are actually right wing do have some decent
values and character and will reject the Republican
politics completely for this bullshit they are trying to pull.
Don't ever sell out your fellow citizens to the state and
corporations again. We do not need them telling us what
we can watch and read, and what we can vote on, we
don't need them or you policing our speech. We are free
people just like you, not subjects and not slaves. If the
leftists can actually learn to take responsibility for their
shitty tactics they might actually get power again. The
day they stop trying to ignore half the country is the day
they will start getting popularity again. After the 2016
election with Hilary it's pretty obvious how extremely
corrupt they were, but now people are seeing how much
more corrupt the right is. We got lucky this time but if the
left doesn't wise up they are going to lose everything for
a few decades until right wing politics become lame
again.
they were even doing it this past weekend here in Toronto, Canada. People marching and holding up posters of Kirk. was insane.
Funny thing was seeing a bunch of POC among them and I'm thinking "you moronic motherfuckers, if the cops weren't here they'd turn on you without a moments hesitation."
Which translates to “even though I hate most people who look like you, I am surprised to find that you have a redeeming quality”
I’m mixed race and I usually get asked which side I more like. Or a mind boggled “What ARE you?” - if I answer “Canadian” it makes them have to squirm around and say “no, not in that way”
Exactly, please don’t think I was l excusing or defending this attitude.
Must be infuriating. Doesn’t get ask of white people.
U.K. fires ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson after publication of supportive emails to Jeffrey Epstein
In a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said the decision came in the wake of the publication this week of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein in the 2000s, in which he gave his support to the disgraced financier even when he was facing jail for sex offenses.
Doughty said the emails showed that the “depth and extent” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different” from what was known when he was appointed ambassador to Washington last year after the Labour Party’s election victory.
U.K. fires ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson after publication of supportive emails to Jeffrey Epstein
On Wednesday, The Sun newspaper published emails that it said showed Mandelson telling Epstein to "fight for early release" shortly before Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison.PBS News
Mandelson had corruption problems back in the Blair/Brown days too. He's a slimy middleman who thought it his job to keep Labour aligned with corporate interests. It was unfortunate that Starmer thought it a good idea to give him a job.
Hopefully this time he'll fuck off and keep his head down.
Uproar as EU Parliament declines to hold minute of silence for Charlie Kirk
Right-wing lawmakers pushed for a tribute to the U.S. conservative influencer who was shot dead.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Thursday rejected a bid by right-wing factions to hold a minute of silence for slain U.S. conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
The initiative was first proposed by Charlie Weimers, an MEP from the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), as a symbolic measure “to declare that our right to freedom of speech cannot be extinguished,” according to an email chain with dozens of MEPs that was seen by POLITICO.
I went ahead and did the calculation; I think I'm getting about 4 weeks (extrapolating from the last year, 20k dead kids -> 2 weeks of silence. Doubled for the two years.).
Lower than I expected. I'm guessing I haven't internalized that gaza is still a fairly small area, thus with a small population? Or was the first year substantially more deadly than the last (which really would surprise me)?
Yes, but imagine a solemn minute for each named individual that lasts 5 weeks non-stop.
\
Not counting mutilated, orphaned, and (basically all of them, so 700k-ish) homeless. And with zero prospect of it ever getting better until they are alive.
I went with this figure, but same diff:
In August 2025, UNICEF estimated that more than 50,000 children had been killed or injured in Gaza.
wiki/Effect_of_the_Gaza_war_on_children_in_the_Gaza_Strip
\
bbc.com/c4gmk2yj5e9o
The reason for the high number of children deaths even assuming indiscriminate killing (ie not targeting specifically children, which at least proven for snipers, isn't the case): Gaza/Palestinians are being severely oppressed for decades (since 48, or 67 more directly), they have artificially limited water access, electricity, medicine, etc so they die young & in Gaza like 40% of the population are children.
Gaza Strip has a ×2.6 higher density of population than New York City (5,967.5/km2 vs 2,309.2/km2), but less than a quarter of population.
\
Bcs oppression.
General wiki info:
The Gaza Strip is 41 kilometres (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, and has a total area of 365 km2 (141 sq mi). As of 2010, the Strip's population mostly comprised Palestinians and refugees. It has a high proportion of youth, with 43.5% being children 14 or younger and 50% under age of 18. Sunni Islam is almost ubiquitous, with a Palestinian Christian minority. Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 1.99% (2023 est.), the 39th-highest in the world. Gaza's unemployment rate is among the highest in the world, with an overall unemployment rate of 46% and a youth unemployment rate of 70%. Despite this, the area's 97% literacy rate is higher than that of nearby Egypt, while youth literacy is 88%. Gaza has throughout the years been seen as a source of Palestinian nationalism and resistance.
Til - despite all the hardship they have higher literacy than USA with 86% (normal countries are ofc 98+).
MPs call on government to bring sick and injured Gaza children to UK
Unicef has estimated that 50,000 children have been killed or injured since the conflict in Gaza began two years ago.Ruth Comerford (BBC News)
Trump wants the oil business that India is giving to Russia. War talk is pretence
Trump wants the oil business that India is giving to Russia. War talk is pretence
Trump039s India envoy pick Sergio Gor said the US wanted India to open its market to exports of American oil and petroleum products It suggests that Trump means business and only businessAbhishek De (India Today)
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Russian crude is effectively free for India as only a few countries really want to deal with US sanctions over it and Russia has to keep the oil flowing or their derricks in the permafrost will freeze over.
US has to meet effectively free, which probably isn't happening - even Ukraine's whittling down of Russia's refining capability doesn't stop the trade to India as they're fine with crude.
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For the First Time in 40 Years, Panama’s Ocean Lifeline Has Vanished
Panama’s seasonal upwelling collapsed in 2025, linked to reduced winds. The event signals risks for fisheries and climate-sensitive ocean processes.
The annual phenomenon of upwelling in the Gulf of Panama failed to occur in 2025 for the first time on record. A team of scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) linked the disruption to weakened trade winds.
The finding underscores how changes in climate can directly affect essential ocean processes and the coastal populations that depend on them.
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Modernization of the British nuclear forces and the threat of a new arms race
Against the background of relations between Russia and the West and the expiration of the START III (February 2026), issues of strategic stability are becoming more urgent. Although France and the United Kingdom are not parties to the treaty, they are actively modernizing their nuclear arsenals.
In July 2024, Paris and London agreed to establish a joint nuclear management group, strengthening coordination. Russia has stated that it will take into account the potential of these countries when assessing threats and negotiating strategic stability. The Russian Federation insists on the inclusion of London and Paris in the negotiation process.
Britain plans to spend 15 billion pounds on modernization. However, the Russian side points to the real risks of radiation incidents at the Clyde base in Scotland.
The world is entering a new nuclear race: all nuclear powers are modernizing their arsenals. The United States and Russia are discussing new arrangements, including the involvement of China. Experts note that although Britain and France are modernizing, they do not have a large-scale build-up.
In recent years, the arms control system has seriously weakened — the INF Treaty and the DON Treaty have been severed, which makes dialogue in an expanded format especially important to prevent escalation.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-growing-dangers-of-the-new-nuclear-arms-race
Newport drug dealer caught after WhatsApp chat
Newport drug dealer caught after WhatsApp chat
Messages between two organised crime bosses led to the downfall of a multi-million pound drugs gang.Kayley Thomas (BBC News)
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That man just found out that your secure communication channel is as secure as the weakest node.
That's also why, if you want to deGoogle your life, you've already lost if any of the people you email has a Gmail account: however careful you are not to provide Google any data yourself, the data is leaked to Google by the other party.
Well, Whatsapp and Facebook are their own honeypots. There's heaps to say about why nobody should use them for any reasons.
But in this case, the man was found out because his accomplice had compromising messages on his cellphone. Be they Whatsapp message, SMS messages, emails... doesn't matter here. It's not a story of how communication channels operated by Big Data are not really secure and only designed to lure you in for your data, but a story of how one person's carelessness did another person in.
Is coke seriously £100/gram in the UK as the article claims?
Also props to that guy for financial responsibility, I guess
Netanyahu is only obstacle to bringing hostages home, families say - BBC News
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum: Bring Them Home Now wrote on social media that Israel's strike on Qatar last week shows "every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it".
The group's comments come after Israel carried out a strike on senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha, which Hamas said killed five of it members and a Qatari security official.
On Saturday, Netanyahu said getting rid of Hamas leaders in Qatar "would rid the main obstacle" to releasing the hostages and ending the war.
He also accused Hamas of blocking all ceasefire attempts in order to drag out the war in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to Israel on Saturday and is due to meet with Netanyahu as Israel faces global condemnation for the attack.
However, families of the hostages described the Israeli PM's response as "the latest excuse for failing to bring home" their loved ones.
"The targeted operation in Qatar proved beyond any doubt that there is one obstacle to returning the 48 hostages and ending the war: Prime Minister Netanyahu," they said.
"The time has come to end the excuses designed to buy time so he can cling to power."
The group added that Netanyahu's "stalling" had cost "the lives of 42 hostages and threatens the lives of additional hostages who are barely surviving".
Before his departure, Rubio said US President Donald Trump was not happy with the strike on Qatar, but stressed that the US-Israeli relationship was "very strong"
Netanyahu is only obstacle to bringing hostages home, families say
Their intervention comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Israel to meet the Israeli PM.Yang Tian (BBC News)
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China running out of rubbish to burn as waste power goes into overdrive
The country now has more than 1,000 waste-incinerating power stations, representing more than half the world’s waste power capacity, according to the Global Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council.
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It is possible to burn waste and manage the pollution in at least somewhat safe manner. Finland and Sweden do it reasonably well with high temperature furnaces and filtering the exhaust gases either with mechanical filter or trough water. That also (at least as far as I know) requires that you sort out the waste and don't burn stuff like electronics, metals and some other crap which can be effectively recycled and manage whatever remains properly.
So, it's possible, but I have absolutely no idea if China does that properly.
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Finland and Sweden do it reasonably well with high temperature furnaces and filtering the exhaust gases ... with water
That's just a fancy bubbler (bong) 😂
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EU to fast-track review of 2035 fuel engine phase-out
You know what jeopardizes competitiveness? Ivan the Tariffle, and charging so damn much for the electric models.
Do the right thing, grandma.
ICE itself could stay provided the legislation banned sales of new vehicles using Carbon based fuels.
Diesel engines can be run on Hydrogen with the exhaust being 99.x% water vapour (and some burned lubricants)
Netanyahu gambled by targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar. It appears to have backfired
JERUSALEM (AP) — When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered this week’s attempted assassination of Hamas leaders in Qatar, he took a major gamble in his campaign to pound the group into submission.
With signs growing that the mission failed, that gamble appears to have backfired.
Netanyahu had hoped to kill Hamas’ senior exiled leaders to get closer toward his vision of “total victory” against the militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and pressure it into surrendering after nearly two years of war in the Gaza Strip.
Instead, Hamas claims its leaders survived, and Netanyahu’s global standing, already badly damaged by the scenes of destruction and humanitarian disaster in Gaza, took another hit.
The airstrike Tuesday has enraged Qatar, an influential U.S. ally that has been a key mediator throughout the war, and drawn heavy criticism across the Arab world. It also has strained relations with the White House and thrown hopes of reaching a ceasefire into disarray, potentially endangering the 20 hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza.
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Global standing? Lol
The world order has never been so clearly run by corrupt psychopaths. It's all a farce. There are no rules for them. Only for us.
Nepal currently being run via Discord after Gen Z uprising
The next time someone tells you the youth aren’t engaged enough in politics, just point them to Nepal.
According to multiple reports, the youth of the South Asian nation managed to oust the existing government following an attempted ban of major social media platforms and took to Discord to hold an impromptu convention to elect an interim prime minister.
The organizing appears to have worked. On Friday, the military accepted the recommendation of the protest group and named Karki the interim prime minister. Karki, who accepted the role, is expected to pick a new cabinet and eventually hold elections. According to the Times, that is expected to happen within the next six months or so.
Nepal Currently Being Run Via Discord After Gen Z Uprising
They went from banning social media to being run by it.AJ Dellinger (Gizmodo)
just look at this. this is such a fascinating image.
it's so surreal. how did we get here?
You are asking the wrong question.
Its not, "how did we get here" its
"How do we get there"
🏴☠️
Smaller countries are easier to get new governments in. The bigger it is the harder it is to oust a leader, let alone get better leadership in after.
I think these south asians are on to something with their methods of protesting here, idk if I can say this on here but targeting the homes of lawmakers garnered by corrupt means, and government buildings, seems to be a good strategy.
Sri lanka, indonesia, and nepal all did this recently and I think I am missing some even.
smaller countries have an easier time getting better government because in smaller countries, things are closer by, and it's easier to just walk up to your prime minister's house and set it on fire if he misbehaves. in the US, which is a thousand kilometers across, you can't just walk there.
I'm actually in favor of bringing political responsibility back to the local level. That means, communities largely organize themselves, with only few interactions with the federal government.
The federal government has become the monster it was checked and balanced not to.
We celebrate the feds ursurping authority because slavery, and then civil rights, but the feds are only authorized domestically to regulate interstate commerce, and forbidden from placing restrictions on movement of goods and people in the country.
We would have support across the country forcing the feds to back off getting into everybody's business.
Here we are with feds bringing military troops into cities to occupy the hoods the country has made, a clear violation of their authority. This is just getting warmed up, we should pass a constitutional smmendment forbidding the feds from income taxes beyond soc. sec., medicare, medicaid, etc really.
It could pass by referendums in 30 dome states, would just need a handful more.
It sounds extreme but is the only way to stop the executive branch long term.
It's absolutely possible to have a strong federal government without getting into the shit show we have today. The problem is when federal authority gets distilled into a handful of people and detached from popular representation or recall.
"Getting the feds to back off" has been the laughable fig leaf that the right has used to dismantle the normal operation of our government for 200+ years. Now you're buying into balkanization when they've enacted their coup?
We don't need more limits on the only structure that can mitigate/navigate climate collapse; the only thread that historically has opposed the oppression of the deep south; the only speedbump that could even moderately oppose the hegemony of the ultra wealthy.
The US constitution was designed to entrench the power of the white landowner class, and that has remained true in spite of the consistent creep of federal authority. It's just not possible to mount any opposition to the massive weight of their capital in any other way.
So no, don't restrict the Fed's authority to do any of that. Just give us the tools to get real, fair representation and hold our representatives accountable. Every other needed reform and restructuring could be done with no problem once we have that.
Just give us the tools to get real, fair representation
that won't solve the problem. people just have very different views of how the path should continue forwards. you're not going to unite that. if you represent fairly, you might end up with a federal government that is 50% democrat and 50% republican, but that just means that everybody only gets half of what they want.
No, i don't think you get what i meant, let me explain again:
If the democratic areas want taxes to be at 50% for the rich and the republicans want them to be at 0%, then a middle way would be to set them at 25%. But this way, everyone is discontent.
A better system would be to set them to 50% in the democrat areas and to 0% in the republican areas. For which you would have to have two distinct legal regions.
edit: tax rate was a bad example. i should have chosen something else.
Then the rich live in their little personal feifdoms and continue to extract the surplus labor of the workers.
The right way is to tax the rich at 90-99% and tax the ones who choose to fuck around at 100%.
There is no good reason to let the rich control our political system.
They imposed term limits on comfortable politicians.
It's one of the best things you can do to combat corruption.
Idk the term limits will help or hurt here. Being limited our lawmakers would sell out all the harder to set themselves up in their last term. It makes sense for executive positions because they can cement themselves in power.
I believe the answer is to organize and find and groom our own candidates that can win. Ones that will acknowledge and address the actual sources of our problems, which would be massively popular with voters you better believe it.
Our lawmakers are near all sociopathic nhilists that believe in nothing outside of self interest. The only check on their behavior is re election, remove that they will be worse their last term.
Lawmakers that have been in there forever and Corruption and misrepresentation of their constituents may seem correlated but it is not a causation.
It is not lawmakers being in there forever that has caused our lawmakers to suck. It is a very purposeful half-century long campaign by big business, from 1972 in the business Round Table that made a plan to corrupt and ultimately kill the Republic.
The system certainly needs a table flip at this point.
How about something like the following.
Each person only ever gets a single term. They earn a salary while in office. When the next election comes around, you get to elect their replacement, but you also get to vote on if the person in office, should earn a pension for the rest of their life. They need 50% to earn the pension.
No, no it wouldn't. The issues are systemic, not the result of the federal government's existence. Did Britain become less corrupt after leaving the EU? No, because Britain's problems are systemic to their own politics.
It might make the fight more local, but that's already the case. You can already campaign for change in your state, but people don't do that. The average American doesn't know their local representatives, and don't engage in local poltics. You have to change that attitude, and convince people in the concept of a civil society, in which they are actively participating members.
None of this relates to what I was saying. The UK already had its own sovereign government, otherwise it wouldn’t have been able to leave so easily.
I’m just saying the feds didn’t have so much power people wouldn’t pay so much attention to them and would pay more attention to their local stuff. Which would be good for democracy.
I’d like to see government focused on the neighborhood level whenever possible. Only move up to the next one if there is an unsolvable issue.
This is not the only change that’s needed so it won’t fix everything on its own but it would allow people to make much more effective decisions about their own lives instead of people in Kansas deciding things about local DC law enforcement like we do now. That’s bonkers.
The organizing appears to have worked. On Friday, the military accepted the recommendation of the protest group and named Karki the interim prime minister.
If only this is how it could go down in the US. Sigh…
Under current law, you would need to kill 22 people before replacements can be appointed. Possibly less if some of them are not constitutionally eligible to be president; but if it ever got to that point, I suspect we would ignore that provision.
Pulling this off is made even more difficult by both the heightened security given to everyone in the line of succession; and the fact that under our continuity of government plans, those people are deliberately never all in the same place at the same time.
Anything that could accomplish a full decapitation strike would likely require marshall law anyway, and would likely make the conditions for an election difficult.
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
The No Kings protests demonstrated, if literally nothing else, that record-breaking groups of people across the country can remain mostly peaceful with extremely high underlying emotions churning.
This administration will be the downfall of the system and people will barely have to lift a finger. When the US economy inevitably crashes, people's comfort will be in jeopardy - mass bloodshed will not restore that. This isn't the 1800s, we literally are too numerous and our systems are too fragile to support and sustain a massive, drawn-out civil war.
At this point, I can only say one thing fairly confidently:
We're certainly living in a timeline
On one hand, fuck social media.
The recommender AIs that run it are only supposed to optimise engagement, thus optimising ad revenue.
But they are far more powerful than that.
They can influence public opinion as a whole.
Totally out-of-band from the sovereignty of any nation.
It is foolish to think that Google, Youtube, Facebook, Netflix, and Twitter aren't abusing this power.
Every responsible nation that wants to defend its sovereignty against recommender AIs must ban social media immediately, along with every other source of such recommendations.
On the other hand, everything else that happened in Nepal.
I'm just glad the actual decisions happened on Discord, the least terrible of the platforms.
At least Discord doesn't have these sinister recommender AIs.
"HAVE YOU GUYS EVER CONSIDERED A FOSS ALTERNATIVE LIKE MATRIX?"
This is fascinating, I expected Karki to be a GenZ or Millenial guy, she is a 73 year old woman.
I still have this tab open from 5 days ago: Wife of Ex-Nepali PM Burned Alive, Gen Z Revolt Engulfs Country: Live Updates
I go back to it every day to check whether it's still there because it feels so surreal that i think it's somehow just a dream and i'm going to wake up every moment now and the news story will have disappeared.
Banksy could be unmasked as police probe 'criminal damage' over Royal Courts of Justice artwork
Banksy could be unmasked as police probe 'criminal damage' over Royal Courts of Justice artwork
Police have launched an investigation into a new Banksy artwork depicting a judge attacking a protestor with a gavel.Frankie Elliott (LBC)
Fuck me that guy looks just like me.
I never met him myself, but I know a few people who have done way back. Site crew in Bristol mostly. Rip useless Paul who had one of his rats on the side of his trailer.
etuomaala
in reply to etuomaala • • •This happened 5 days ago.
I was shocked to find nothing about it in this community.
I am really questioning the ability of this community to find and post the most relevant international news.
We need to do better.
EDIT: This was the result of a technical failure—not a community failure. Still, something is wrong.
betterdeadthanreddit
in reply to etuomaala • • •I am also shocked you found nothing about it in this community.
lemmy.world/post/35703988
lemmy.world/post/35710113
lemmy.world/post/35809590
lemmy.world/post/35821542
etuomaala
in reply to betterdeadthanreddit • • •Honestly, I am relieved.
How did you find these?
etuomaala
in reply to etuomaala • • •I eventually figured it out.
I was searching in world@lemmy.ml—not world@lemmy.world.
And the first time, I was looking in world@lemmy.world under 'Top Week', but didn't quite scroll down far enough lol.
It was just out of range of the first page.
If I had hit 'More Results' or whatever, it would have been the very first one.
Whoopsiedoodle lol
Anyway, it would be better if the ml vs. world mistake were more difficult to make, but yeah, human error.
prole
in reply to etuomaala • • •Doesn't hurt to put it up again in case there are people who haven't seen it.
There is so much shit going on that it seems like people aren't giving the event the weight it deserves. Same with Israel blowing shit up in Qatar.
Otter
in reply to etuomaala • • •A few other notes
Phoenixz
in reply to Otter • • •Agreed (second paragraph)
Trump says a LOT of things. Most of what he says are outright lies, fantasies and make believe. A lot of it is plainly insulting. Way too much of it is unhinged blurps of words that makes little sense, even grammatically. Most of what he says leads to nothing at all.
Very little of what trump says is actually news worthy. Now what he does, on the other hand....
Lumidaub
in reply to etuomaala • • •PicardFacepalm.png
BarneyPiccolo
in reply to etuomaala • • •