@StillIRise1963 They're worse than oligarchs. I would probably consider them kleptocrats because they're practically stealing people's content and monetizing it.
The U.S. government needs to leave Twitter and state that privately owned social media is unreliable, prone to corruption and full of misinformation. It should open its own instance in the Fediverse and tell citizens they can find reliable information there.
"The U.S. government... should open its own instance in the Fediverse and tell citizens they can find reliable information there."
FWIW @StillIRise1963 many of digital activists, myself included, lobbied for this back in 2008. neither the Obama admin nor Congress wanted to put money into it... and they had control of both the House and Senate.
@mmlvx@robertnorlyn@ablackcatstail@StillIRise1963
For about 2 1/2 years now I’ve enjoyed Comcast- free internet, tv, and phone service run as a city utility. It took about 2 years to roll it out once the votes were counted (I forget the margin but it was huge) and now neighboring towns are copying our model. It’s not perfect, but it’s not Comcast either.
/2
Florida is a place where Black and gay people are being erased and have no rights, schools from higher ed on down to kindergarten have been ruined, book bans are all the rage, your home can't be insured, guns are everywhere and murder is described as "standing your ground," malaria is on the rise and flesh eating bacteria can be found in the sargassum covering the beaches. It's a very interesting type of "freedom" called fascism.
@smit9186@StillIRise1963 The latest oddity to be heard from is the Lt. Gov. from NC, Mark Robinson. Coming to the defense of Moms for Liberty, he said we should take to quoting Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong. (Recently a Moms for Liberty chapter issued its first newsletter with a quote from A.H.) Hitler once said that n!ggers don't deserve college education. (Mein Kampf). Robinson should quote that. https://tinyl.io/8uDR
@StillIRise1963 White supremacy is a death cult. It's all deeply tied into Christian ideas that sold White people the idea that the good stuff all happens after you die (they had to make up a rule that if you killed yourself to get to the good stuff faster you'd forfeit the good stuff). And many White people are brought up with the idea that bad things only happen to other people, not "good" White people.
@estelle4565 I was talking about the fact that no one is paying attention to or doing anything about the creeping fascism. They are letting this happen to them and are not trying to save themselves which can only be done in a group.
"It involves preparing for something that, I confess, hadn’t even been on my conscious radar: helping safely smuggle American reporters and opinion writers — and their families — out of the US in the event of a sudden fascist takeover and press crackdown by a figure openly hostile to reporting like Trump or DeSantis."
What happens when America's reporters have to flee?
My sister's friend in FL wants to move to a state where she will be compensated fairly for teaching. She can't because of her home. It can't be insured.
@StillIRise1963 my friend volunteers to teach art in our small elementary school. She supplies ALL of the materials, her time, etc. and has been restricted in what she can do. Teachers are always underpaid, understated, and undermined.
In Texas, teachers are legally not allowed to unionize. They also have these messed up provisions that actually steal the money teachers have paid into Social Security, (Windfall Elimination Provision) or are receiving as a result of their spouse having died (Government Pension Offset).
" 'If the Republicans on the Supreme Court take the petitioners' side, they'd be handing a massive windfall to multinational corporations and could potentially lock in a right for billionaires to opt out of paying anything remotely close to a fair share in taxes,' the senator said."
World's 500 richest people added $852 billion to their wealth in first half of 2023
@StillIRise1963 I wish I had the means to remove the self-satisfied, obsequious, condescending smirk from that face. The face that says "I'm getting away with it, and there's nothing you can do about it". How can anyone be so soulless.
@nancyann@StillIRise1963 You can deactivate the account - but if you signed up with your existing Instagram account you can’t delete entirely.
I was lazy to make another Instagram account for this, not using mine that much anyway I have it bc of work.
(Sorry I simply don’t have time to write alt text- you can deactivate your profile, it will be hidden, delete your posts, change the visibility settings, but since the profile connected insta,to delete will del ac