Are you getting inundated with JFK was anti Israel posits and hot takes? Because I sure aren't.

I think it's because these are people with the power to do more than thoughts and prayers. But they just stick with that while also taking health care off veterans and giving tax breaks to the rich.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 11 points 2 months ago

The American fear of a proper ID system is puzzling to me. It's constant fear mongering of overreach by the man and not enough appreciation of the benefits. The first one is a self-updating voter registry that eliminates the process of registering or having to check on your registration to make sure you didn't get knocked off for no good reason. All people need to update their home addresses when they move. Another benefit is - if implemented well of course - that everybody could have a 2FA-quality chip in their pocket to allow for many services to be done reasonably safely online. The dreaded lines of the DMV come to mind. Another benefit is you could prove very quickly who you are, especially if fingerprints are on the chip, to counter mistaken identity arrests that may or may not have been instigated by a so-called AI.

So the government knows everything about you, sure. But it's not a one-sided deal. And frankly, even if the government did not have this information on you before it turned tyrannical, it would ID you as a possible malcontent in no time. Your data is already available for sale on various data broker sites.

I realize that me preaching the benefits of a proper ID system to the Americans in times of 47 and ICE raids is a bit wonky. I am not going to speculate if the self-updating voter registry could've prevented 47. And ICE under 47 might find its job "easier." But from what I've read and heard they haven't exactly been detail-oriented public servants. When the rule of law breaks down everybody gets effed. And so-called illegal immigrants also have phones and use the internet so their information was also available for sale before stable genius returned to the orange office.

Of course there are dangers that need to be addressed. Access to the database needs to be tighter than a sphincter and every query needs to be logged. Every system will be abused. Checks and balances need to be there, ideally with a right to find out who looked you up and for what reason for everyone. I'd prefer a system embedded in law over internet data brokers.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 2 months ago

I think the stereotype is douchebag because people don't think about all the possible legit reasons. I wear them when I have a migraine, often even at home. You could also wear them because they're prescription and you forgot the other pair at home. Or you simply forgot you have them on in the first place. We shouldn't judge but people like to judge. And they mostly judge douchebag because maybe more people wear shades indoors as an effort to build a personality around their empty shell of a self.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 2 months ago

If we needed everyone we want to name anything after was required to be a saint, we wouldn't have anybody to name stuff after.

Churchill - the man who rose to lead his country through WW2 - was a big colonial killer in India before. Both the reformator Luther and the philosopher Kant were raging antisemites. A non-insignificant number of US founding fathers held slaves. Bill Clinton balanced the budget while molesting an intern (and allegedly worse). It's rare that we already know the president is a sexual predator before he gets elected. Yet, there will be a probably very small library named after 47 if there isn't one already. It's probably the best library in the world!

History goes through many hands before it gets whittled to a generally agreed upon narrative. Churchill was lucky in real life. Daystromn was lucky in canon. And while sympathies may change over time, I'm not expecting a name change in trek Okinawa.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 2 months ago

Just by origin of the word polyglot means you have many tongues. Tongues is of course well established as a stand-in for languages. If you can speak more than one, you fall under the definition.

I think people have attached more to the term than just that though. I'm thinking of well traveled and culturally sensitive as well. Somebody who would be alright no matter where you dropped them.

How many languages can your better half say good morning in? She might just be trying to pay you a compliment and you with your humilis gloriatio are not having it. In any case, I wouldn't recommend going back to her with arguments obtained from a random group of internet users to settle your interpersonal disagreement.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 2 months ago

Whether you like it or not, they probably already know who you are too. They're collecting shadow profiles of people who haven't signed up through various means.

If others have posted pictures of you on a meta service, there is a good chance it already knows what you look like and they know it's you even if you're not tagged.

People who allow them access are just less work for them. And now they have info to train their so-called AI models. Now it's a question about what are they going to with them. The application is wide. Create fake pictures, create fake profiles, etc. And at some point we will find out about a massive data leak that happened because the company is run by unapologetic sociopaths.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 11 points 2 months ago

Most media outlets prefer you come to their website or distribution service. That's where they get most value out of possible ads. It's where they collect their own first-person data on their users. As such I don't find it surprising they bury this license somewhere. I'm surprised they have this policy at all. I don't think it reflects their lack of pride in their work.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 4 months ago

Trump's tremendous social media platform truth dot barf runs on Activity Pub, they just don't federate with anyone by default. It's like they don't want dissenting views on there. Weird.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 9 points 4 months ago

He sort of did. Beverly shot a hole into his belly.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 4 months ago

Don't shoot me, for I'm only a messenger As a rule in life, if you can blame everything on everyone around you it's time to look inwards for change. I'm just saying, maybe it's not all of us, maybe it's you? My first reaction to reading your post was to suggest a therapist. And I'm saying that as somebody who isn't great at social interactions either.

We lionize medical professionals as these infallible gods in lab coats. They're only human too, although they would not admit that. It's good to keep that in mind; alter your perception to work with them on you rather than you being fully serviced by them.

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 10 points 4 months ago

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

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

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FriendOfDeSoto

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