every protocol you rely on was argued about on a mailing list by people who will never be thanked

Money entering the system exclusively through a UBI and hierarchical structures converted to cooperatives would go a long way toward this.

Money is permission.

That we must ask permission from the wealthiest and, therefore, most corrupt and perverse among us is the biggest flaw in the system.

Fix that, and you start fixing just about everything else.

#GeneralStrike #PermanentStrike

Assuming we keep this style of government or one similar to it, the most important thing we need to reform is federal funding.

Or, at least, the need for it.

That one administration can come in and completely upend years of federally funded work by turning off the money spigots is a **MASSIVE** security hole.

We need to figure out how to fund things in a way politicians can;t just come in and eliminate on a whim.

#GeneralStrike #PermanentStrike

TIL there is an Otter Pop flavor named "Major Mango".

With whom are the otters going to war?

There once was a man
from Cork, who got limericks
and #haiku confused

Got the kegerator up and running.

Connected an 18 year old sealed keg from the last time I brewed beer - right before my son was born. I called it "Baby Beer" because I brew it in anticipated celebration.

It's... not bad, surprisingly. It's an extract beer, and it still has that "extract twang" that makes it taste different than an all grain.

It's not great... but it's not bad either.

Aged 18 years with absolutely no care put into it.

Not bad!

It's critically important to teach your kids a sport. It will come in handy one day.

#ParisProtest #France #StudentProtesters #StateViolence #PoliceOppression

✊

#protest

Print Shop banners from an ImageWriter circa 1985 were an aesthetic.

Peak digital design.

I have never - not once - listened to a podcast on an iPod.

Nor have I listened to a podcast whilst in a pod.

Nor have I listened to a podcast whilst eating peas.

When I first got into college, I met these two dudes who introduced themselves to me like: "Hi, we're [name and name]. We went to Lowell High!"

"Cool... what's Lowell High?"

They looked at me in shock. "You've never heard of it? It's only the best high school in San Francisco!"

"Oh, neat!" I replied. "I went to Tustin High - it's, like, the third best high school in Tustin.

"And, hey, we all ended up here at UC Berkeley!"

They stopped hanging out with me after that.

They're sinking the United States next year.

Literally.

https://apnews.com/article/ss-united-states-25c8c8e9329ffb9b21acfc69879c624e

The beer is "baby beer". It was the last thing I made before my son was born. I stopped brewing because priorities shifted.

But he's 18 now. And beer brings me joy, both in the drinking and in the brewing.

And I really need to rediscover joy in my life.

Can't wait to teach him how to brew.

My wife is all in on the local Buy Nothing group. She's been getting rid of a ton of old things that way, which is huge.

A few weeks back, someone had a kegerator on there. So I picked it up.

This thing is in great condition. It's filthy, but cleaning it is no big thing.

So that's my day so far - cleaning a free kegerator so I can connect some homebrew I've been "aging" for about 18 years.

Hope it's good. If not... I'll just have to brew fresh.

This is directed to members of BOTH parties, by the way.

Why is it normalized to run on a ticket promising to marginalize and murder people, but not to provide free housing, food, and healthcare to everyone?

Why is death and destruction OK to vote for, but not community support and aid?

(Of course the answer is "perverts who care more about money and power than people".

But why do people keep voting for them?)

So, yeah... keep telling me it's unreasonable to ensure everyone is housed, fed, and healthy while you support pedophiles and murderers.

@robz

I'm extraordinarily fortunate and have a six figure USD income.

My federal, state, and local taxes (including FICA taxes and property taxes) take 32% of my income. My annual family health insurance premiums and copays hit 18% of my income last year.

I didn't fudge the numbers. If you consider that in most other countries my healthcare costs would be taxes, I am *already* paying 50%.

And my kids are borrowing unholy fortunes to pay for college.

And even with my income, I am not saving enough to be able to retire.

All of this is in response to this article:

"Why We Never Hear About the Countries Where Socialism Works"

https://amieboakye.substack.com/p/why-we-never-hear-about-the-countries

I think Nordic "socialism" should go further - replace hierarchical companies with worker owned cooperatives; free housing for all.

But it's still a model worth building off of.

The other intellectually dishonest argument has to do with taxes.

"Europeans pay as much as 50% of their income to taxes," I hear both from Americans and Europeans who complain about their system.

If those taxes are paying for "free" healthcare, education, worker protections, housing, infrastructure, etc., that's an ***AMAZING*** bargain.

Yeah, it's harder to acquire wealth there.

Another way of saying it: It's more difficult to become a money hoarder.

Money hoarders are perverts.

The most intellectually dishonest argument against universal / socialized healthcare is "wait times".

Dude, I pay $2k/mo for healthcare and am lucky if I can get a video appointment in the same week, much less an actual, physical appointment.

Our ERs and urgent care centers are chock full because folks can't get easy, inexpensive appointments, so they let things go until they become an emergency.

There's no way universal healthcare makes that worse.