Principles and Execution of Beyond Visual Range Air Combat
Principles and Execution of Beyond Visual Range Air Combat
While it may not be as visually dramatic as close in dogfighting, Beyond visual range combat remain one of the most if not the most important aspect of air combat now a day, so let dive in and expl…Aircraft 101
Anyone familiar with LoRa Meshtastic stuff?
Been looking into some different hardware options, but don't quite know what the usability is like between different standalone devices versus using an app via bluetooth, etc. Some basic description of user experience might be useful.
Seems like some potentially useful tech to get experience with asap.
fjc1029.vivaldi.net/2026/01/22…
Alright, y'all were right, fuck Proton. This was the last straw for me.
For context, in my password manager I had tried formatting some of my entrees so that it would contain the usual username and password, but instead of creating whole new entrees for the security questions for the same account, I just added additional fields in the same entree in order to keep things a little more tidy.
I was not expecting that doing so would result in later being shaken down by Proton to pay even more money just to access the same few bytes of fucking text I had trusted them with. This is sleazy as fuck and I am dropping these idiots entirely.
like this
The TikTok deal is done - TikTok is now under new ownership in the US
The TikTok deal is done, finally
The Trump admin deal transferring TikTok in the US to a new joint venture with Silver Lake, Oracle, and MGX as managing investors is done.Richard Lawler (The Verge)
thisisbutaname likes this.
Daily bunny no.3192 is tampering with the past
Bunnies are at the location of the time portal in "City At the Edge of Forever" (the Star Trek episode.) It is a donut-shaped glowing rock, with ruined columns strewn around it. One bunny has just run through the portal, head-first, as two other bunnies try to stop them.
Source: Bluesky
*Day 1093*: the Trekkies have finally accepted me as one of their own. 'tis a glorious day to die!
How to turn off Gemini in Gmail — and why you should | Proton
- In your Gmail app, go to Settings.
- Select your Gmail address.
- Clear the Smart features checkbox.
- Go to Google Workspace smart features.
- Clear the checkboxes for: Smart features in Google Workspace, Smart features in other Google products
- If you have more Gmail accounts, repeat these steps for each one.
- Turning off Gemini in Gmail also disables basic, long-standing features like spellchecking, which predate AI assistants. This design choice discourages opting out and shows how valuable your AI-processed data is for Google.
This has finally gotten me to take steps to deGoogle my email, Fastmail trial underway.
How to turn off Gemini in Gmail — and why you should
New AI features are making their way to your Gmail inbox. Here's how to turn off Gemini in Gmail and why you should.Kate Menzies (Proton)
Quebec puts the brakes on emissions targets
* archive.today
* ghostarchive.org
Quebec puts the brakes on emissions targets, citing threats to jobs and economy
Province extends the deadline to meet its emission-cuts deadline from 2030 to 2035Maura Forrest (The Globe and Mail)
Epic and Google have a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal
Epic and Google have a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal
Antitrust settlement talks have revealed a deal between Epic and Google over the Unreal Engine and unspecified services, which could impact the judge’s decision.Adi Robertson (The Verge)
Microsoft Outlook Outage Leaves Users Without Email; Tech Company Working On Resolving Issue
Microsoft Outlook Outage Leaves Users Without Email; Tech Company Working On Resolving Issue
Microsoft has found what caused an outage that crippled its services like Outlook and Teams. Thousands of users swarmed to social media to find out what was ...Armando Tinoco and Dade Hayes (Yahoo Tech)
Engineer at Elon Musk's xAI Departs After Spilling the Beans in Podcast Interview
So what exactly did Ghori reveal on Relentless? Well, he seemed to tip off the possibility that xAI has been skirting regulations and getting dubious permits when building data centers—specifically, its prized Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee. “The lease for the land itself was actually technically temporary. It was the fastest way to get the permitting through and actually start building things,” he said. “I assume that it’ll be permanent at some point, but it’s a very short-term lease at the moment, technically, for all the data centers. It’s the fastest way to get things done.”
When asked how xAI has gone about getting those temporary leases, Ghori explained that they worked with local and state governments to get permits that allow companies to “modify this ground temporarily,” and said they are typically for things like carnivals.
Colossus was not without controversy already. The data center, which xAI brags only took 122 days to build, was powered by at least 35 methane gas turbines that the company reportedly didn’t have the permits to operate. Even the Donald Trump-staffed Environmental Protection Agency declared the turbines to be illegal. Those turbines, which were operating without permission, contributed to the significant amount of air pollution experienced by surrounding communities.
In addition to the indication of other potential legal end-arounds committed by xAI, Ghori also revealed some of the company’s internal operations, including relying significantly on AI agents to complete work. “Right now, we’re doing a big rebuild of our core production APIs. It’s being done by one person with like 20 agents,” he said. “And they’re very good, and they’re capable of doing it, and it’s working well,” though he later stated that the reliance on agents can lead to confusion. “Multiple times I’ve gotten a ping saying, ‘Hey, this guy on the org chart reports to you. Is he not in today or something?’ And it’s an AI. It’s a virtual employee.”
4 Black Eggs Surfaced From the Dark Heart of the Ocean—With 'Alien' Creatures Inside
4 Black Eggs Surfaced From the Dark Heart of the Ocean—With Alien Creatures Inside
These spheres from the abyss conceal creatures with startling biology.Darren Orf (Popular Mechanics)
Man uses 99 phones to trick Google Maps into thinking there’s a traffic jam to prove a big point
Man uses 99 phones to trick Google Maps into thinking there’s a traffic jam to prove a big point
An artist from Berlin decided to use 99 phones in a little red wagon to trick Google Maps into thinking there's a traffic jam to prove a big pointDaisy Edwards (Supercar Blondie)
Cuban-born immigrant died of homicide at ICE facility in Texas, autopsy finds
cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/53885900
A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down and he stopped breathing, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide.Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 following an altercation with guards. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) originally said the 55-year-old father of four was attempting suicide and the staff tried to save him.
But a witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was handcuffed as at least five guards held him down and one put an arm around his neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.
At least 30 people died in ICE custody last year, the highest level in two decades, agency figures show. In the first 10 days of 2026, four immigrants, including Lunas Campos, died while in federal immigration custody.
Army reservist says he's spent weeks trying to free his wife from immigration detention
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/41943605
U.S. Army Reserve Black Hawk pilot Chris Busby, 28, and Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez, 25, went to an Austin courthouse to get their marriage certificate on Dec. 3.Roughly 48 hours later, Velasquez entered a Houston Immigration and Customs Enforcement office for a routine check-in and never emerged, Busby said. ...
...
Velasquez came to the United States in 2021 hoping to start a new life far from the violence and political instability of her native Venezuela. She does not have a criminal record and presented herself to immigration officials in Miami when she arrived in the country.
Archived at web.archive.org/web/2026012112…
RFK Jr.'s proteinaceous food pyramid is a land hog and a climate killer
RFK Jr.’s proteinaceous food pyramid is a land hog and a climate killer
A 25 percent uptick in meat and dairy consumption would eat up another 100 million acres and boost emissions.Mother Jones
Chicago Jury Acquits Immigrant Accused in Bovino Murder-for-Hire Trial
Prosecutors said a Chicago carpenter had offered a bounty for killing Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official. Defense lawyers said he was just sharing a social media post.
Gregory Bovino, a senior tactical commander for the Border Patrol, has been the swaggering public face of President Trump’s chaotic round of immigration raids across the country. In the wake of an immigration sweep in Chicago last fall that ignited protests all over the city, federal officials accused a local Latino man of offering a bounty on Mr. Bovino’s life.
At the time, Mr. Bovino cited the case as evidence that the situation in American cities was out of control — “something out of a third world country,” he told Fox News. “It’s a war zone out there.”
But on Thursday, a Chicago jury acquitted the man accused of making the threats, the latest setback for the Justice Department, which has faltered in a number of attempts to prosecute cases related to Mr. Trump’s immigration policy.
New York Times - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check
LEFT-CENTER BIAS These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal cau…Media Bias Fact Check
US Energy Dept. Says It Is Canceling $30 Billion in Clean Energy Loans
Many of the cancellations had been known for months, but the announcement underscored the drastic change in the energy landscape under President Trump.
Even if one were to completely set aside all environmental considerations, this is not going to benefit the US in terms of economic development, productivity or competitive advantage in the long term.
It's like betting on steam at exactly the wrong time.
If it weren't obvious yet... The entire Republican party are treasonous criminals beholden to either foreign enemies/oligarchs &/or billionaires, with Russia at the top. The main difference appears to be that the corrupt who make up the Dem majority are beholden to American billionaires and corporations first.
But as they say, a few bad apples spoil the bunch. The absolute corruption was always a certainty once domestic-first corruption was normalised.
Newly Disclosed Records Show Trump Administration’s Unlawful Actions Related to Secretly Formed “Climate Working Group”
Newly Disclosed Records Show Trump Administration’s Unlawful Actions Related to Secretly Formed “Climate Working Group”
The records are part of more than 68,000 pages of records obtained by EDF and the Union of Concerned Scientists as as the result of a lawsuit.Environmental Defense Fund
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The above article is best summed up as:
The records show that CWG members recognized their objective was to “call into question” the basis for EPA’s long-standing determination that greenhouse gas pollution endangers public health and welfare.
A very similar attack on renewables was talked about on Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's youtube channel. Department of Interior dropped a stop work order on the then 80% complete offshore wind farm by "Revolution Wind" near New England, when litigations were already underway by DOJ which appeared dead in the water, leading the new lawsuit to be a near instant loss with no appeal.
THEN, 30 days later they repeated the same stop work order, claiming new national security information has appeared. If it fails to present those allegations, which the courts must agree is cause enough for the stop, it will be fraud on the court and a sanctionable offense.
It seems the Trump admins strategy across the board is "create evidence that everything we say is true, regardless of facts." Some real 1984 bullshit.
Are American tax dollars a fraud?
Recently heard someone trying to tell me that the government doesnt need a penny of our taxes, they just print the money they need and all tax is a complete scam. He is 100% in belief of this.
I hate taxes too (when they go towards wars), but is this actually true? He mostly gets his ideas from Facebook and x. So yeah.
"Every time there's "leftists" glorifying a mass murderer it's that guy"
You can hit the block button on my username and glorify them in peace.
“Se Anche tu hai Perso la Voglia di Giocare ai Videogiochi…”
Con gran fortuna, così da rompere questo terrificante silenzio di 3 settimane che si è per qualche ragione formato sul fritto misto (…ops, scusate se sono così terribile…) è uscito fuori questo video del davidone vics, che può sicuramente fungere da buon spunto di riflessione… Filmino che, a differenza di molti suoi altri che invece […]
octospacc.altervista.org/2026/…
“Se Anche tu hai Perso la Voglia di Giocare ai Videogiochi…”
youtube.com/watch?v=Ge3at300IO…Con gran fortuna, così da rompere questo terrificante silenzio di 3 settimane che si è per qualche ragione formato sul fritto misto (…ops, scusate se sono così terribile…) è uscito fuori questo video del davidone vics, che può sicuramente fungere da buon spunto di riflessione… Filmino che, a differenza di molti suoi altri che invece fanno ridere, fa infatti riflettere, sullo strambo fenomeno che ci accade, e che mi accade, per cui in certi periodi, la voglia di giocare ai videogiochi — altrimenti mezzi di intrattenimento e non di consumaggio, bensì di sfruttaggio del tempo, così benedetti e magici — semplicemente svanisce, nel vuoto, risucchiata, poof… 😐
Di questo inspiegabile fenomeno di sparizione — che a me ha recentemente ricolpito, e dalla fine del dicembre passato ad ancora adesso me la porto avanti, tant’è che è letteralmente da quasi un mese che non videogioco assolutamente a niente, inclusi giochini sul telefono, sorprendentemente — ne ho parlato qualche volta a livello personale, ultimamente, con notine sparse su Squaloctti, perché me ne sono accorta molto a ‘sto giro… chissà se perché stavolta questo “burnout” ha inspiegabilmente seguito un periodo di gaming intenso, facendomi passare in maniera quasi netta da tanto gaming a letteralmente zero gaming, o se perché in generale con le notine sto ultimamente facendo molta introspezione… ma, comunque sia: è assolutamente reale. 🤯
Davide qui nel video in realtà individua delle possibili cause per lui che non si allineano perfettamente a me, ma sono valide… e, in ogni caso, al di là delle differenze personali, la questione sembra essere abbastanza diffusa, e questo la rende ironicamente ancora più un mistero: Perché mai il fottuto gaming, che dovrebbe essere l’assoluto piacere (…vabbè, un passatempo divertente, ora manco a far finta che sia chissà che attività mistica), in certi momenti semplicemente non va? Al di là del semplice non avere tempo perché si lavora, o perché si ha voglia di spendere il tempo in attività diverse, come per me può essere programmare, perché mai in certi momenti c’è la voglia di fare qualcosa, si pensa al gaming come opzione… e però poi si arriva alla conclusione che, per il gaming, la voglia non c’è? 😨
La spiegazione che posso trovare per me, tanto banale quanto efficace, è quella delle iperfissazioni autistiche… magari per qualche settimana mi infogno pesantemente nel gaming, e poi no perché mi infogno di più in qualcos’altro, per poi tornare al gaming dopo altro tempo, e boh… e, nel mio caso, questo sarebbe coerente con altre mie attività, come appunto la programmazione, o anche la lettura (…è da tipo 2 mesi che non leggo, a proposito… e se questo mese neanche ho giocato… allora che cazzo sto facendo nelle mie giornate???)… però è evidente che c’è dell’altro sotto, altrimenti sicuramente questo non sarebbe un problema anche per gli allistici. Vix invece, dalla sua, mette il peso sulla confusione e sullo stress che causa lo stare appresso a tanti giochi insieme, a seguire il mercato, e al peso del backlog… tutti colpevoli plausibili, ma, anche qui, il quadro sembra incompleto. 🦷
La risposta a questo ennesimo mistero della natura umana, purtroppo, non la si avrà né con questo video, né con questo articolino, e probabilmente neanche i nostri posteri arriveranno ad una risposta… però, qualche consiglio per evitare questa cosa che io chiamo burnout, per quanto ridere faccia visto il contesto, ma a questo punto non lo so, dal signorotto ci arriva, e io condivido. Sicuramente, infatti, una trappola in cui si cade, a maggior ragione se si è creatori di contenuti o se si dà grande peso all’etichetta di gamer nella propria identità, è quella di dover seguire ogni cosa, di provare tutti i giochi, e di finirli, e di farlo velocemente… anche se magari si prova noia, anche se si vorrebbe andare più lentamente… e beh, la risposta a questo dilemma nel dilemma è semplice: è una trappola mentale che porta solo a giocare di meno nonostante i propri desideri, quindi va riconosciuta ed evitata… ed è una cosa che io già faccio, per dire… eppure il mistero rimane. Però dai: se non altro, almeno, con questa storia abbiamo capito che noi gamer seccati, marciscenti, non siamo soli. 😩
#burnout #davidevix #gaming #videogiochi
- 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.www.youtube.com
Greenland: A "Northern Front" of Inter-Imperialist Rivalry
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2200…
By Nikos Mottas
The developments surrounding Greenland should not be treated as a diplomatic anomaly or as the product of individual political choices.
They are a concentrated expression of the contemporary phase of imperialism, in which the sharpening competition among capitalist powers drags strategic regions and smaller peoples into conflicts not of their own making.
The pressure exerted by the United States on Greenland and on Denmark — through political coercion, economic threats, and intensified military planning — is not a deviation from a supposedly “rules-based order” (aka “International Law”) but a manifestation of its real content. When strategic interests are at stake, imperialist diplomacy rapidly sheds legalistic language and reverts to open power relations. The Arctic, long considered marginal, is being transformed into a central field of competition as melting ice opens new transport routes and access to critical resources.
Greenland’s importance is therefore not social or humanitarian. It is geopolitical and economic. It is treated as a platform: for military infrastructure, surveillance systems, missile defence, control of Arctic sea lanes, and future exploitation of raw materials. In this framework, the needs and will of the population are secondary. What matters is position within the broader architecture of imperialist planning.
The ideological cover for these developments is the familiar invocation of “security threats,” usually linked to the activities of other major imperialist centers, namelyRussia and China. Such narratives are not neutral assessments of danger. They function as political tools that legitimise militarisation and strategic expansion. The Arctic is not being militarised because it is unsafe; it is presented as unsafe because it is being militarised.
At the core of the Greenland issue lies a mechanism analysed with particular precision by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. In Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, he emphasised that once the world is fully divided among the major powers, imperialist conflict no longer concerns the seizure of “empty” spaces, but the struggle for redivision: “The characteristic feature of the period under review is the final partition of the globe — final, not in the sense that a re-partition is impossible; on the contrary, re-partitions are possible and inevitable — but in the sense that the colonial policy of the capitalist countries has completed the seizure of the unoccupied territories of our planet.”
This insight is decisive for understanding why pressure intensifies even among allies, why bargaining turns into coercion, and why Greenland becomes a focal point. It is not an ownerless territory entering history, but a claimed space whose strategic value grows under new conditions, provoking efforts to revise existing balances.
For this reason, the confrontation cannot be reduced to unilateral US actions or to frictions within NATO. It must be understood within the framework of inter-imperialist rivalry. The United States, the European Union, Russia, and China all pursue their own interests in the Arctic, shaped by the needs of monopolies, energy strategies, transport corridors, and military doctrines. Their antagonisms do not represent different “civilisations” or alternative paths of development; they are competing expressions of the same capitalist system.
This reality exposes the falseness of multipolar illusions. The emergence of multiple centres of power does not restrain imperialism; it sharpens its contradictions. Competition becomes more intense, alliances more fragile, and pressure on smaller territories more direct. Greenland is not threatened because imperialism is weakening, but because it is being reorganised through harsher rivalry over already divided space.
The reaction of European states confirms this. Denmark’s insistence on sovereignty, supported by the European Union, reflects the defence of a specific imperialist role within the transatlantic framework, not a principled defence of peoples’ rights. Institutions such as NATO do not transcend these contradictions; they manage them temporarily. As Lenin pointed out in his analysis of imperialist alliances:
“Peaceful alliances prepare the ground for wars and in their turn grow out of wars; the one conditions the other, producing alternating forms of peaceful and non-peaceful struggle on one and the same basis of imperialist connections and relations.”
Alliances, therefore, do not abolish rivalry. They regulate it until conditions change and conflicts sharpen again. Smaller peoples are not protected by such arrangements; they are integrated into them as variables within strategic calculations.
Greenland’s formal autonomy highlights another fundamental contradiction of imperialism. Legal self-government coexists with decisive external control over military presence, economic orientation, and long-term development. This gap between political form and material reality is not accidental. Under capitalism, sovereignty is often hollowed out while being formally preserved, allowing domination to operate behind institutional façades.
Climate change further intensifies these processes. The environmental destruction produced by capitalist development becomes a driver of new rivalries. Melting ice is treated not as a warning but as an opportunity: new routes, resources, and investment possibilities are incorporated into imperialist planning, while ecological and social costs are shifted onto peoples and future generations.
The Greenland standoff therefore offers lessons that extend far beyond the Arctic. It demonstrates how the language of “security” conceals class interests; how alliances among capitalist states are inherently unstable; how smaller peoples are subordinated to strategic competition; and how no imperialist centre can offer a path toward peace or genuine self-determination. The choice presented to peoples — alignment with one bloc or another — is a false one.
For communists, the task is not to interpret such developments through geopolitical sympathies, but to expose their system logic. Greenland shows with particular clarity that inter-imperialist competition is not an exception but the normal mode of operation of imperialism today. As long as capitalism prevails, strategic territories will be contested, militarisation will advance, and peoples’ interests will be subordinated to the needs of capital.
This understanding does not lead to calls for a “fairer” balance of power or a reformed alliance system. It leads to a sharper conclusion: the struggle against imperialist confrontations is inseparable from the struggle against the system that generates them. Only by breaking with the logic of capitalist competition can peoples secure real sovereignty, peace, and social development.
* Nikos Mottas is the Editor-in-Chief of In Defense of Communism.
From In Defense of Communism via This RSS Feed.
In Defense of Communism
By Nikos Mottas The developments surrounding Greenland should not be treated as a diplomatic anomaly or as the product of individual political choicwww.idcommunism.com
Wind & Solar Surpassed Fossil Fuels In EU In 2025 - CleanTechnica
Wind & Solar Surpassed Fossil Fuels In EU In 2025 - CleanTechnica
The latest report from Ember shows solar and wind outperformed fossil fuel generation in the EU in 2025 for the first time ever.Steve Hanley (CleanTechnica)
Yes, although very slowly.
A mere 15% of new EU sold cars are BEVs, the average age of the fleet is 12 years, and electric heavy vehicles are still almost non-existent.
Meanwhile, central & southern Europe are still running on Fossil Gas despite heatpumps being around for ~50 years by now. The key issue is that the price of electricity has been far too high, and getting even higher in recent years.
Tibet was a feudal slave society backed by the CIA. The PLA liberated Tibet.
Two excerpts from Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth:
Drepung monastery was one of the biggest landowners in the world, with its 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. The wealth of the monasteries rested in the hands of small numbers of high-ranking lamas. Most ordinary monks lived modestly and had no direct access to great wealth. The Dalai Lama himself “lived richly in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace.”[12]Secular leaders also did well. A notable example was the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army, a member of the Dalai Lama’s lay Cabinet, who owned 4,000 square kilometers of land and 3,500 serfs. [13] Old Tibet has been misrepresented by some Western admirers as “a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma.” [14] In fact it had a professional army, albeit a small one, that served mainly as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs.
Young Tibetan boys were regularly taken from their peasant families and brought into the monasteries to be trained as monks. Once there, they were bonded for life. Tashì-Tsering, a monk, reports that it was common for peasant children to be sexually mistreated in the monasteries. He himself was a victim of repeatedremoved, beginning at age nine. [15] The monastic estates also conscripted children for lifelong servitude as domestics, dance performers, and soldiers.
In old Tibet there were small numbers of farmers who subsisted as a kind of free peasantry, and perhaps an additional 10,000 people who composed the “middle-class” families of merchants, shopkeepers, and small traders. Thousands of others were beggars. There also were slaves, usually domestic servants, who owned nothing. Their offspring were born into slavery. [16] The majority of the rural population were serfs. Treated little better than slaves, the serfs went without schooling or medical care. They were under a lifetime bond to work the lord’s land — or the monastery’s land — without pay, to repair the lord’s houses, transport his crops, and collect his firewood. They were also expected to provide carrying animals and transportation on demand. [17] Their masters told them what crops to grow and what animals to raise. They could not get married without the consent of their lord or lama. And they might easily be separated from their families should their owners lease them out to work in a distant location.
[18]As in a free labor system and unlike slavery, the overlords had no responsibility for the serf’s maintenance and no direct interest in his or her survival as an expensive piece of property. The serfs had to support themselves. Yet as in a slave system, they were bound to their masters, guaranteeing a fixed and permanent workforce that could neither organize nor strike nor freely depart as might laborers in a market context. The overlords had the best of both worlds.
One 22-year old woman, herself a runaway serf, reports: “Pretty serf girls were usually taken by the owner as house servants and used as he wished”; they “were just slaves without rights.” [19] Serfs needed permission to go anywhere. Landowners had legal authority to capture those who tried to flee. One 24-year old runaway welcomed the Chinese intervention as a “liberation.” He testified that under serfdom he was subjected to incessant toil, hunger, and cold. After his third failed escape, he was merciless beaten by the landlord’s men until blood poured from his nose and mouth. They then poured alcohol and caustic soda on his wounds to increase the pain, he claimed.
[20]The serfs were taxed upon getting married, taxed for the birth of each child and for every death in the family. They were taxed for planting a tree in their yard and for keeping animals. They were taxed for religious festivals and for public dancing and drumming, for being sent to prison and upon being released. Those who could not find work were taxed for being unemployed, and if they traveled to another village in search of work, they paid a passage tax. When people could not pay, the monasteries lent them money at 20 to 50 percent interest. Some debts were handed down from father to son to grandson. Debtors who could not meet their obligations risked being cast into slavery.
[21]The theocracy’s religious teachings buttressed its class order. The poor and afflicted were taught that they had brought their troubles upon themselves because of their wicked ways in previous lives. Hence they had to accept the misery of their present existence as a karmic atonement and in anticipation that their lot would improve in their next lifetime. The rich and powerful treated their good fortune as a reward for, and tangible evidence of, virtue in past and present lives.
Selection two, shorter: (CW sexual violence and mutilation)
The Tibetan serfs were something more than superstitious victims, blind to their own oppression. As we have seen, some ran away; others openly resisted, sometimes suffering dire consequences. In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation — including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation — were favored punishments inflicted upon thieves, and runaway or resistant serfs.[22]Journeying through Tibet in the 1960s, Stuart and Roma Gelder interviewed a former serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who had stolen two sheep belonging to a monastery. For this he had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated beyond use. He explains that he no longer is a Buddhist: “When a holy lama told them to blind me I thought there was no good in religion.” [23] Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then “left to God” in the freezing night to die. “The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet.
[24]In 1959, Anna Louise Strong visited an exhibition of torture equipment that had been used by the Tibetan overlords. There were handcuffs of all sizes, including small ones for children, and instruments for cutting off noses and ears, gouging out eyes, breaking off hands, and hamstringing legs. There were hot brands, whips, and special implements for disemboweling. The exhibition presented photographs and testimonies of victims who had been blinded or crippled or suffered amputations for thievery. There was the shepherd whose master owed him a reimbursement in yuan and wheat but refused to pay. So he took one of the master’s cows; for this he had his hands severed. Another herdsman, who opposed having his wife taken from him by his lord, had his hands broken off. There were pictures of Communist activists with noses and upper lips cut off, and a woman who wasremovedd and then had her nose sliced away.
[25]Earlier visitors to Tibet commented on the theocratic despotism. In 1895, an Englishman, Dr. A. L. Waddell, wrote that the populace was under the “intolerable tyranny of monks” and the devil superstitions they had fashioned to terrorize the people. In 1904 Perceval Landon described the Dalai Lama’s rule as “an engine of oppression.” At about that time, another English traveler, Captain W. F. T. O’Connor, observed that “the great landowners and the priests… exercise each in their own dominion a despotic power from which there is no appeal,” while the people are “oppressed by the most monstrous growth of monasticism and priest-craft.” Tibetan rulers “invented degrading legends and stimulated a spirit of superstition” among the common people. In 1937, another visitor, Spencer Chapman, wrote, “The Lamaist monk does not spend his time in ministering to the people or educating them. […] The beggar beside the road is nothing to the monk. Knowledge is the jealously guarded prerogative of the monasteries and is used to increase their influence and wealth.” [26] As much as we might wish otherwise, feudal theocratic Tibet was a far cry from the romanticized Shangri-La so enthusiastically nurtured by Buddhism’s western proselytes.
-Dr. Michael Parenti
Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth
Along with the blood drenched landscape of religious conflict there is the experience of inner peace and solace that every religion promises, none more so than Buddhism.redsails.org
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‘It’s like they’re hunting’: US citizens and legal residents report increase in racial profiling by ICE
‘It’s like they’re hunting’: US citizens and legal residents report increase in racial profiling by ICE
Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has led some people to take drastic measures to ensure their safetyMelissa Hellmann (The Guardian)
Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
Following a meeting last month with Netanyahu, Trump apparently gave the all-clear to begin reconstruction in Rafah, regardless of the negotiations progress. The U.S. and Israel will now move to reconstruction without the Israel Defense Forces withdrawing or the International Stabilization Force being formed, building on the directives announced by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, back in late October.
Reconstruction would only be allowed in parts of Gaza behind the Yellow Line, which is under IDF control, while barring reconstruction in parts of Gaza still under the control of Hamas. For months, virtually no reconstruction materials have entered the Gaza Strip, and Gazan territory behind the Yellow Line continues to be demolished under the guise of dismantling “Hamas infrastructure.” Witkoff, who was previously a New York real estate developer, and Kushner, a real estate investor, were not taking the helm of these matters because of their supposed political expertise.
Importantly, the slides obtained by the Journal contain the rather large caveat that the plan is “contingent on comprehensive compliance by Hamas to demilitarize and decommission all weapons and tunnels.” According to Defense Minister Israel Katz, demolishing “underground terrorist infrastructure” necessitates the destruction of “all the buildings above them” as well.
Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
Phase two of the ceasefire deal includes a “smart city” with green spaces, AI grids, and no real future for Palestinians.Séamus Malekafzali (The Intercept)
Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
Following a meeting last month with Netanyahu, Trump apparently gave the all-clear to begin reconstruction in Rafah, regardless of the negotiations progress. The U.S. and Israel will now move to reconstruction without the Israel Defense Forces withdrawing or the International Stabilization Force being formed, building on the directives announced by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, back in late October.
Reconstruction would only be allowed in parts of Gaza behind the Yellow Line, which is under IDF control, while barring reconstruction in parts of Gaza still under the control of Hamas. For months, virtually no reconstruction materials have entered the Gaza Strip, and Gazan territory behind the Yellow Line continues to be demolished under the guise of dismantling “Hamas infrastructure.” Witkoff, who was previously a New York real estate developer, and Kushner, a real estate investor, were not taking the helm of these matters because of their supposed political expertise.
Importantly, the slides obtained by the Journal contain the rather large caveat that the plan is “contingent on comprehensive compliance by Hamas to demilitarize and decommission all weapons and tunnels.” According to Defense Minister Israel Katz, demolishing “underground terrorist infrastructure” necessitates the destruction of “all the buildings above them” as well.
Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
Phase two of the ceasefire deal includes a “smart city” with green spaces, AI grids, and no real future for Palestinians.Séamus Malekafzali (The Intercept)
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They've been conditioned to not care or even desire it. Smartphones had Siri and Google Assistant as a selling point, which led to ever more intrusive tech that was marketed as a convenience. Facebook took it a step further and had you label people in pictures uploaded to them and you sign away your privacy in their terms and conditions. Advanced marketing techniques were irresistible to social media companies and so consumer profiles of everyone they could get became a thing.
Jokes about seeing ads that smartphones can overhear made the intrusive spying all the more accepted as just a part of life. Android marks your calendar and reminds you of appointments made using your Gmail account when you never asked it to. Ring doorbell cameras quietly sell their video feeds to the highest bidder, often to law enforcement as a convenient means to circumvent the 4th amendment. And now the latest trend is to have your car do everything your phone already does but take it a step further by monitoring your driving habits so insurance companies can justify raising your premiums.
The average person isn't tech savvy enough to understand they're being sold as a product even after paying for their own surveillance gear. They just want modern conveniences without thinking the price they pay beyond the original sale.
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Bored
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Oh. My. Fucking. God.
This is the 100% truth behind the name. Jesus fucking Christ.
Australia proves that solar can be easy and widely adopted
What's the real story with Australian rooftop solar?
Saul Griffith joins me to debunk the myths surrounding Australia's massive influx of solar energy.David Roberts (Volts)
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And best of all, none of the fears associated with wide spread solar have materialized into real world problems.
What were/are these fears?
In Sweden, people – wealthy home owners – have gotten a lot of public financial assistance for mounting solar panels that would either way have paid for themselves in a matter of years, lowering electrical bills and raising house prices for the owners.
Overall that is a good thing, the pros of increased solar adoption outweigh the glaring inequity, but all the same it's hard to feel that it's a part of the general fuckery of governments competing on who can pamper the upper middle class the most. Sweden also subsidizes mortgage interest and has essentially abolished (hard-capped at a low.level) the property tax on private homes. And Sweden has in recent years given financial relief to households based on their electrical consumption, I.e. very little (or nothing if electric is added to the rent) to renters and most of the money going to people with big houses and year-round heated pools.
The discussion on equity needs to enter the debate on things like incentives for solar panels on private homes or grants for energy saving insulation. These are good things, but the money can't just stack up on top of other political favors to the wealthy. Less useful subsidies need to go. They need to replace other benefits.
Switch from American tech companies !?
Here you can find reviewed, impressive and comprehensive European alternatives for digital products and apps if you wanna break from American (big) tech companies.
Have a look, you'll be impressed...
European Alternatives
We help you find European alternatives for digital service and products, like cloud services and SaaS products.European Alternatives
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afk_strats
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •Jo Miran
in reply to afk_strats • • •afk_strats
in reply to Jo Miran • • •Jo Miran
in reply to afk_strats • • •Eh. I am very happy with thwir service, but I didn't opt for the free tier. It has replaced my old VPN service provider, 1Password, google's 2FA, Google Drive, and the office suite is useful.
Since i was paying for other services that offered no privacy, switching to a single paid service with privacy ended up saving me money, so no complaints.
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grillgamesh
in reply to Jo Miran • • •i migrated from Firefox password manager, google mail, Cisco duo (kill it with fire please for the love of Turing and Tesla), and several other services. the only thing they don't have that I really want at the moment is collaborative document editing but I'm pretty sure that's on the docket of "things to add".
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mrnobody
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •Dude, jfc calm down. You pay a little money to get premium services, instead of them monetizing user data. This is the way the world works with paid software, except they're not making money on your data and you, just you.
Maybe some context in what exactly you pay for would help too. I'm assuming you pay for a base tier of mail, bc I use their password manager too but pay for the full suite, and don't have this issue.
Maybe also a chat with support might find this to be an unexpected bug, but instead you're coming to Lemmy to the echo chamber of hate on proton which won't help.
fauxerious
in reply to mrnobody • • •like this
ZoDoneRightNow e TVA like this.
ttyybb
in reply to mrnobody • • •like this
ZoDoneRightNow e TVA like this.
panda_abyss
in reply to mrnobody • • •It is a shakedown to accept your data for free then charge you to access it later.
What the fuck else would you call that?
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ExcessShiv
in reply to panda_abyss • • •iByteABit
in reply to mrnobody • • •You call it an echo chamber, others call it having some standards on how much your software should be taking advantage of you instead of the other way around.
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mrnobody
in reply to iByteABit • • •You have to admit, there are plenty of people either on Reddit (especially) or Lemmy, that seem to crack on/bash on certain companies or views on topics as a heard mentality. I'm guilty of it in the past bc I wanted to trust the heard, but after doing my own research have found whatever it was to not be so bad.
I've not been here long, but man, the amount of hate I've seen towards proton so far is crazy.
AnimalsDream
in reply to mrnobody • • •You sound like the kind of person who, in the 90s, would have defended Microsoft against GNU and Linux and the FOSS movement as a whole, "This is the way the world works." No. I was using Keepass prior to Proton Pass. Proton proved to be a downgrade in every way. As a company they are in the same bracket as Ubuntu - trojan horse style grifters who wave juuust enough open-source around to lull users into dependency on a service that overall does not support user freedoms. They are grifters. It's the same playbook as Google.
Software needs to be free on every level. It's fine to sell free software, but if any part of it is proprietary, it's as the FSF says - it's a tool of unjust power over you.
And I don't need that. Better alternatives already exist. Proton was straight up a downgrade.
blitzen
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •like this
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halcyoncmdr
in reply to blitzen • • •Creat
in reply to blitzen • • •like this
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tiny
in reply to Creat • • •Opisek
in reply to tiny • • •like this
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Serinus
in reply to tiny • • •blitzen
in reply to Creat • • •I’m with you, but the hosted subscription is miles more secure than I can make my installation, and at $10 per year probably cheaper than the electricity to self host. Plus it supports the devs.
But I do make regular backups in case I need to migrate.
teuniac_
in reply to blitzen • • •I think their prices have increased, but it's still a good deal
bitwarden.com/pricing/
Squizzy
in reply to teuniac_ • • •eli
in reply to Squizzy • • •uninvitedguest
in reply to Squizzy • • •moopet
in reply to uninvitedguest • • •CoyoteFacts
in reply to teuniac_ • • •JPAKx4
in reply to CoyoteFacts • • •FauxLiving
in reply to CoyoteFacts • • •If you want a nice way to elevate the usability of your setup use Tailscale (or self-host Headscale) and run your devices on a VPN.
My devices are never not on my "LAN", they maintain a VPN connection and access my local services as if they're wired in. Remote pihole, multimedia streaming, password management etc are all covered by this one solution without needing to deal with reverse proxies and certificates.
ExcessShiv
in reply to blitzen • • •impersonator
in reply to ExcessShiv • • •like this
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ExcessShiv
in reply to impersonator • • •Where? I can't seem to find that option anywhere in my bitwarden app
Edit: NVM found it, it's just hidden by several clicks before it's an option.
favoredponcho
in reply to ExcessShiv • • •AnimalsDream
in reply to blitzen • • •artyom
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •What are you paying for currently?
AnimalsDream
in reply to artyom • • •I had to look into it, because their pricing plans seem to have changed now. Evidently I have something called Proton Plus, $4.99 per month. It looks like that plans benefits do not extend to additional Proton Pass features.
I'm going to be transferring accounts away from Proton and then closing my accounts entirely. Already moved all my passwords back to Keepass. My main email address has been on posteo(.de), which has been great. Super reliable service from a company who appears to actually get the ethos of FOSS. I only pay, I think $12 per year for their service.
gerowen
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •like this
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AlmightyDoorman
in reply to gerowen • • •vatlark
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •AnimalsDream
in reply to vatlark • • •vatlark
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •atropa
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •like this
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0xtero
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •Obviously you're free to do as you please and its not an airport, you don't have to announce your departure.
But there's no such thing as free service. Posting angry tirades seems counter productive.
I'd recommend self-hosting. Then you don't have to worry about privacy, getting data hijacked or getting ripped off by sudden cost increases.
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ViatorOmnium
in reply to 0xtero • • •like this
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AnimalsDream
in reply to 0xtero • • •photonic_sorcerer
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •KeepassXC + Syncthing has worked fine for me for a few years. Sure, it's a bit of a hassle and not exactly perfect, but nothing is. I have control over my data and I don't have to pay anyone anything, that's enough for me.
Also, tasty entrees 🤤
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Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ
in reply to photonic_sorcerer • • •photonic_sorcerer
in reply to Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ • • •eli
in reply to photonic_sorcerer • • •Hassle? What hassle? Adding a new device to the syncthing swarm and adding the folder where your database is stored?
I also have been using KeepassXC and syncthing for years. Best thing I have ever done!
AnimalsDream
in reply to photonic_sorcerer • • •This is the route I'm taking. Keepass has always been tried and true. I switched from Keepass to Proton Pass for a while, and in more ways than this one complaint it has been very much a downgrade.
Proton does not know how to make quality software.
Catfish [she/her]
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •Otiz
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •AnimalsDream
in reply to Otiz • • •mlg
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •I tried protonmail not for the privacy purpose but just to have a normal web email client.
After wasting an hour before finding out you can't disable the "sent from protonmail" footer without manually deleting it in each draft you make, I said screw it and deployed my own email server with stalwart lol.
It's receive only because outgoing SMTP is a pain to make reliable these days and my ISP blocks outgoing SMTP anyway, but for everything else I now use Thunderbird.
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Dave
in reply to mlg • • •It might have changed but there is a setting for it now.
Pretty annoying that I'm just learning setting no signature did nothing since they added a second signature option for when sending from mobile and enabled it by default.
Squizzy
in reply to Dave • • •I have always hated this, the signature settings need to be unified. Why would I ever want a different signature to alert people that I am on my phome. Gmail allows ios to match their web signature but not android.
Sent from my fucking phone.
Jack_Burton
in reply to mlg • • •like this
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dan1101
in reply to Jack_Burton • • •eli
in reply to dan1101 • • •Yeah I'm on free tier(evaluating proton as a whole) and I don't see this option in my mobile app. I'll have to look at the web to see if it's there...but I doubt it
*Edit, checked the web client. Found the option, but it's a mail plus feature, so I can't disable it as a free user.
Jack_Burton
in reply to eli • • •Jack_Burton
in reply to dan1101 • • •dan1101
in reply to Jack_Burton • • •harmbugler
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •hector
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •I know someone that signed up for an account with them, they froze it immediately for suspicious activity. He does nothing with that IP address, reads, social media, that's it. No way to get off the shit list without giving up personal information like a phone number and or alternate email and no guarentee that would fix it.
Their IP was on a blacklist from some shady company for some strange reason. But other companies let you write the company and plead your case, proton does not.
They further suspended a bunch of accounts based on some half baked unproven accusations by the government(s) if I recall.
They aren't trustworthy, they will give you up at the first sign of friction it appears.
whyNotSquirrel
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •For the password and passkeys manager I went with a selfhosted solution: AliasVault on an VPS and it's really great! If you have a domain name you can have unlimited aliases with it's built in email server (with a subdomain and for receiving email only so you don't have to worry about being blacklisted)
The installation script is making everything for you, even fetching the TLS certificate from "let's encrypt"
There's Android and iOs support as well as add-ons for most browsers
AliasVault - Privacy-First Password & Email Alias Manager
AliasVaultAnimalsDream
in reply to whyNotSquirrel • • •☂️-
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •AnimalsDream
in reply to ☂️- • • •Xorg_Broke_Again
in reply to ☂️- • • •tomenzgg
in reply to Xorg_Broke_Again • • •It's more that he's comfortable associating with fascists than one outright (I don't know that we know enough about his own political stances).
Shortly after Trump was elected a second time, he tweeted, "10 years ago, Republicans were the party of big business and Dems stood for the little guys, but today the tables have completely turned," (archive.ph/iKaz3). Which, like…the first time Trump won, I might see; the second time – though –, Trump's made clear his desire to threaten and harm everyone within reach. The further along we go in his second term, the more he's followed through on what he'd been promising the entire campaign.
While I, likewise, disagree with the tech. inclinations of certain camps of the Democrats, that by and far wouldn't convince me to throw my support behind the fascist leader who's spent 8 years, now, harming and indicating he'll harm huge swaths of communities and populations.
As far as I know, that's usually what people are referring to and the precariousness of trusting an individual who'd make decisions like this.
bridgeenjoyer
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •Answer for all
"yourmom"
termaxima
in reply to AnimalsDream • • •nek0d3r
in reply to termaxima • • •