Why?

The internet at large is still a cesspool.

The only difference is who is in control of it.

Thank you.

Missed the half-dozen boilerplate SEO sites that scraped the most generic and unhelpful information possible that feature links to whatever barely tangential software or product they might be selling.

Sure, some did. But in those novels the same individuals were actually pretty smart.

That’s the difference.

We’re not mining anything in space anytime soon. The climate crisis will end that possibility long before we can develop automated systems sufficient to get the mechanics in place and ore safely back to wherever it’s needed on Earth.

Right now spaceflight is just another profit vehicle for billionaires. The don’t get paid because of the work the companies do, they get paid because the stocks they have from those companies keep going up.

Have you visited Threads? It’s pretty horrific.

Try listening to the Behind The Bastards podcast about this guy if you can spare the time.

He is messed up far more than you think.

Removing outside sources of information? There are a few countries that already do this, and they’re not great places to live.

Been using facebook groups for a long time. It’s generally better than many online groups because people often use their real accounts, business accounts, or other identifiable information that helps keep bad behavior to a minimum. Also the groups I participate in tend to be heavily moderated so bad behavior and spam are near zero.

With a couple firefox plugins and some vicious “x”-ing of every ad FB puts in front of me, FB is pretty enjoyable and useful. Always the caveat - my use and participation is the product, it isn’t “free”, and I’m always aware of that.

Comic book villains are charismatic and have a plan. They can often be related to.

The villains being placed in positions of power are one dimensional, inept, and destructive for the sake of being destructive.

They’re like the villain’s stupid henchmen that constantly plot for their own selfish reasons while trying to not to catch too much attention from their leader.

In the deepest of ironies, the Allies set Germany up post-war to do a far better job with their governing and constitution (yes, yes, nothing is perfect!) than the US can do with it’s own. Especially with the critical and analytical eye on its own history.

The US just keeps sweeping everything under the rug called “When America Was Great” while ignoring the parts that were racist, colonialist, etc.

A doomsday cult set up as a religion so they can dodge taxes.

“This bloated liberal socialist program is inefficient and doesn’t work. Because it’s liberal and socialist. So we’re going to get rid of it. We’re planing to plan a replacement plan, but we haven’t planned on when to plan it. But we’ll blame the libs for that too, even though we have essentially captured all branches of the government at this point.”

Some inside perspective:

You are talking to staff or an intern. You might be the hundredth call for the day. They’ve heard all kinds of shit, from long-winded conspiracy crazies to the most courteous and intelligent calls ever. Yelling at them or being a jerk will get you nowhere. Be prepared to state your case clearly and concisely. Your concern will indeed be noted and logged.

Do not call a congressperson that isn’t your own. They are not required to listen to you, you are not their constituent. Do not write a congressperson that is not your own. The letter is almost guaranteed to go straight into the trash.

The best letters go on the intern break room fridge to be enjoyed by all.

Even so, unfortunately the congressperson may not act in a way consistent with the majority of people’s calls and letters. Thank money and power plays in politics for that.

Threads is the same or worse. I just deleted my account.

Good luck.

A lot of people here want their hands held all the way to the ballot box.

Being unenthusiastic and unimpressed with the Democratic party is apparently a completely valid reason to not vote, allow a trump win, and then blame the Democrats.

Could it not be both?

Well yes. Everyone knew trump was going to be worse for the Palestinians. Except for the people who wanted you to hate the democrats more and not vote and wanted you to ignore that.

I deleted Threads five days ago.

It was a cesspool of (Russian? Troll Farm?) propaganda attacking Harris for not having any accomplishments for the last four years, complaining about housing, grocery, egg, and gas prices, “fixing” America, a crapton of pro-jesus stuff, pro-Elon comments and reposts, government money going to “illegals” instead of hurricane victims, and a ton of made up lies. …

All of which were as transparent as fuck why they were wrong. VP’s don’t make policy, so what accomplishments should she have? Housing has been going up for a decade+, it’s not new, egg prices were normal while the pics were of organic egg prices and expensive grocery carts had hidden high cost items or just straight up lied about the cost, gas prices are the lowest they’ve been for years. Jesus stuff praised trump, America, tons of AI generated “holy” trump pics, bashed atheists, posted Elon’s BS pseudo-wisdom, Ignored the $20Bn spent on hurricane relief in favor of a few hundred million housing the undocumented workers living in the affected area…

It was infuriating. Because they were so obviously wrong…blatantly, in-your-face, completely fucking wrong. It was a constant flood of lies. Eight out of nine posts were BS.

But as soon as the election swung in Trump’s favor…poof…it went quiet. Hardly a peep. Gone.

And I realize that Threads was captured completely by troll farm bots spewing right-wing propaganda. And it was a waste of time. So my account will be deleted.

Musk is probably more popular inside and outside the administration.

No way trump can handle being in anyone’s shadow.