TomSwirly

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@PatrickoftheG @msquebanh Next: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(food)

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@trantion @pvonhellermannn Starmer is simply Tory-lite.

More, the economic outlook for Britain is catastrophic. The Tories are simply going to step aside, allow Labour to be the fall guys, and then step back in.

Yes, British people are that stupid. (I was British for 60 years, but now I'm a European again.)

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke You are proposing exactly the same strategy that environmentalists have been doing for the last 60 years, a strategy that has utterly and completely failed.

Civil disobedience has generations of success - it got women the vote, and got civil rights for people of color.

I don't think it's too much, I think it's not enough.

1/

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke

Imagine this was an action movie, where a tiny number of psychopaths were systematically destroying the Earth, not even for good and services, but simply to win a meaningless numerical game called The Money. These psychopaths control pretty well everything, so anyone opposing them gets crushed in horrible ways.

Is "starting an information portal on the web" really going to be what defeats these incredibly powerful villains?

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke
A majority, 61% of Americans and 93% of Europeans, already believe climate change is real: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/09/what-the-data-says-about-americans-views-of-climate-change/

https://climate.ec.europa.eu/citizens/citizen-support-climate-action_en

Exxon has known about this crisis since 1977.

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

Again, you are proposing to repeat exactly the same strategy that has completely and utterly failed for sixty years.

Why do you think this will work now?

1/

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke

I wish I could show you for just one minute what the world of 100 years from now will look like.

We've begged our lords and masters for three generations now, just like you are suggesting: "Please, do not destroy our biosphere! We live here!"

We've provided scientific evidence. And things have only gotten worse.

Why do you think continuing this strategy that has failed completely will work? What's your reasoning? You don't say.

2/

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke "We might have devastated the biosphere, killed a million species, and rendered great swaths of the planet uninhabitable for human life, but at least we didn't get our hands dirty" is not going to play well with our descendants.

But don't worry! It's almost certain that nothing will fundamentally change. Governments will escalate their brutal punishments for even minor attempts to resist the doom of our ecosystem.

3/

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke

I'm almost certain that a century from now, people will still be trying this failed strategy. "Now that the destruction has reached catastrophic levels, perhaps if we plead extra hard they will do something, or at least let us into their domes."

It simply breaks my fucking heart, is all.

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @lienrag @simon_brooke Simply saying "You're wrong" with no other details is not useful.

What do you think is going to happen, exactly? The fossil fuel companies have concrete plans to burn all the fossil fuels until none are left, and no one is standing in their way.

What will the world look like at +3Cº and higher?

The last time CO2 levels were as high as today, water levels were 30 feet greater: https://mashable.com/article/carbon-dioxide-earth-co2

And each year the CO2 levels keep rising.

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@SpaceJellyfish @simon_brooke

> it helps the bias the right wing has

60 years of polite discourse hasn't convinced them. And they are far more unreasonable today than before.

If you observe these people, can you explain why you believe articles in Nature will convince people who believe that COVID is a hoax and Biden a child rapist?

If we depend on convincing them with reason to survive, then WE WILL DIE.

They are a minority. Why should we let a minority of humans destroy the planet?

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@tshirtman @simon_brooke @lienrag @pgcd > which is the result of alarmist communication

Say.... what?!

We've known about the possibility of the greenhouse effect for two hundred years. We've known it's an immediate issue for over 50 years. We still continue to do nothing, and during this key period, the world is moving toward right wing Fascist leaders like Trump.

/1

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@tshirtman @simon_brooke @lienrag @pgcd

Why do you believe that the world will come together, everyone give up most of their standards of living, and fix this, when there is absolutely no indication at all that this will happen?

Once the climate catastrophe really hits, you think the US, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, Australia and China will give up pumping and mining, just when they need the energy the most?

TomSwirly, 1 day ago

@tshirtman @simon_brooke @lienrag @pgcd Yeah, about that: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/29/biden-spending-highways-public-transport-climate-crisis

TomSwirly, 21 hours ago

@tshirtman @simon_brooke @lienrag @pgcd I did make a coherent argument, you could address that!

The summary is that we have always had solutions, but we don't use them; and as things get worse, societies are less likely to sacrifice their standards of living to help people in the future, not more.

Yes, this is a grim viewpoint, but to claim that the reason people have this is "misinformation" would need to be justified somehow.

TomSwirly, 21 hours ago

@simon_brooke @tshirtman @lienrag @pgcd The stakes are such that we have to try, no matter what the odds.

It's my claim that believing that simple solutions exist and will be used in the future prevents us from using the nastier and more dramatic solutions that are really necessary right now. Only once we realize the enormity of the issue and that negotiation is simply a delaying tactic will be be free to act.

TomSwirly, 2 days ago

@elite @OGjester

That's not what's happening:

"However, the new law permits private jet owners to request anonymity,"

The jets will still be tracked - the public simply won't be able to be able to directly look up whose jet it is.

It's still bullshit.

Private jets are one of the many obscenely wasteful and self-indulgent practices that are incompatible with a future for our ecosystem.

The government protecting the sociopaths who fly them is indefensible.

TomSwirly, 4 days ago

@clive typo: t's Norman Mailer... :-)

very entertaining!

TomSwirly, 7 days ago

@xyhhx @skry @GossiTheDog @evacide

> browsers' password managers are totally insecure.

For the skeptical (which should be everyone! 😀 ), here are some not-so-technical citations as to why they are insecure:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/stop-using-your-browsers-built-in-password-manager/
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/how-to-store-passwords-securely/48784/

TomSwirly, 10 days ago

@GreenFire @Huntn00

I first heard the idea that you weren't allowed to criticize the Democratic candidate in the Reagan Administration.

After two generations, when exactly will be a good time? Will your grandchildren see it?

If you don't tell your lords and masters what you want, you are certain not to get it, which is why the US has moved so far to the right in that time.

Logically, the DNC feels no need to offer anything to progressives, and instead courts moderate Republicans.

TomSwirly, 10 days ago

@GreenFire @Huntn00

> Obviously you don't give a damn about our climate crisis, gay rights, racial justice, gun violence, etc

Your reasoning is defective.

> your support for Republicans

If insults are all you have, you have nothing.

America doesn't have the most basic things that other developed countries have, like socialized medicine, or leaders and law enforcement officials who are subject to the rule of law.

1/

TomSwirly, 10 days ago

@GreenFire @Huntn00

After generations of this, it's perfectly reasonable to ask what happened. Each election Americans are told to shut up their criticisms and vote D or the sky will fall, but then the Ds deliver only marginal change over generations, so overall Americans lose and lose and lose.

Now the sky really will fall, but the slogan "We are not the Republicans and that's all you get" has worn remarkably thin.

/2

TomSwirly, 10 days ago

@GreenFire @Huntn00

America and the world would be devastated by another Trump administration - this would be the time for Democrats to actually offer something life-changing for the poorest 50% of Americans: socialized medicine, public transportation instead of the car subsidies that dominate the Inflation Reduction Act, federal enforcement on lawless police officers, stern limits on Israeli weapons.

It's horrifying to see their lackluster performance and natural to crave better.

TomSwirly, 11 days ago

@jeffjarvis If you hate the Times, don't give them the clicks.

https://archive.is/FEkdG is a mirror.

TomSwirly, 17 days ago

@junesim63 Keep him indoors, for his health, and the health of the environment: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds/

TomSwirly, 24 days ago

@lauren That was a hard one. Public flogging is more fun, jailing is more effective.