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rusfairfax @lemmy.world
Posts 9
Comments 24
Donald Trump's allies are falling like dominoes
  • Let’s hope this is the case. As of today, Ellis is blaming more senior attorneys for misleading her and Powell is reverting to saying that she still believes the election was stolen. Don’t sound too convincing as strong witnesses. That leaves Chesebro who deployed fake electors. Perhaps his testimony is the one that can make the difference. 🤞

  • Donald Trump's allies are falling like dominoes
  • Everyone getting a plea deal is an attorney, which means that Trump can still use the defense that he was following advice of counsel. These deals will likely mean very little as far as convicting Trump.

  • Lost paintings: please help recover (reward)

    A friend in Charlotte is looking for these paintings. They were mistakenly given away late on Saturday night / early Sunday at Cook Out on S Tryon (near Woodlawn). They're offering >$1k if recovered.

    1
    Why are folks so anti-capitalist?
  • Good points. Yes I obviously agree that rules to keep capitalism less unfair could not be - almost by definition - implemented by neoliberals. Even Adam Smith declared that free and fair markets can only exist with the oversight of governments who keep the public interest as priority. BTW I’d push back on the idea though that new deal-type economies are completely dead as some countries especially those with strong labor movements still have aspects of fairness.

    But your bigger point relates to growth. And I agree that this is a massive problem, probably the most important problem for humanity to deal with. But growth is not a UNIQUE characteristic of capitalism. Socialist economies also concern themselves with growth. What’s unique to capitalism is that the rewards of growth accrue to the private owners of the engines of growth. In socialist economies, growth can still be an economic objective but the rewards of growth (are supposed to) accrue to workers or society at large. Growth is not uniquely capitalist.

    Anyway, this is getting a little bit off the OP’s original ask. From a definitional standpoint, I view the OP’s question about why lemmy users lean toward anti-capitalism as “why do lemmy users lean against private ownership of the means of production?” which makes sense coz we’re on a decentralized system, dislike centrally owned systems like Facebook, Reddit, etc. I don’t think s/he was asking why lemmy users are anti-growth. Although that’s an interesting issue to discuss too.

  • Why are folks so anti-capitalist?
  • Yes it’s true that the current system has lots of rules but just because there are lots of rules doesn’t mean they’re effective. They do a poor job of limiting capitalism’s negative effects. Which is what they’re supposed to do. Quantity but not quality.

  • Why are folks so anti-capitalist?
  • There is a difference between capitalism and capitalism-without-rules (which some might call libertarianism). Capitalism is meant to have rules to make it fair and prevent anarchy, just like, say, football has rules to make it fair and prevent anarchy. The rule makers are the government and the rule enforcers are/is the legal system (like in football, the FA makes the rules and the Referees and others enforce those rules). So while capitalism incentivizes business creation and innovation in the name of money-making, there are supposed to be checks and balances to make it fair and in the best interests of all citizens.

    Capitalism today especially in the United States is practiced more like capitalism-without-rules where the government is owned by capital owners and therefore does a poor job of making rules that are fair for all and a poor job of curtailing unbridled capitalism. It also appears that the highest level of the legal system in the US is also heavily influenced by capital owners.

    I suspect what the “hate” is about is the way capitalism is practiced today.

    If capitalism was being practiced responsibly with checks and balances by well-functioning governments and judiciaries, then there would be less hate. This will only happen if people hold governments accountable through protest. Voting is not enough because capital can “buy” all voting options/parties. Protest has brought many civilizing changes to capitalism, especially in the US in the 60s, but the pendulum has swung back to the public not being organized enough or not caring enough to force governments to do their jobs.

  • Evernote's future is uncertain, here are 4 great alternatives for productivity
  • I’d add Simplenote to the list. Text only although you can add images via markdown image URLs. It’s multi device and syncs well.

    I moved from Evernote to Simplenote many years ago and use it for reference info that I may want to search for later or for daily todos and priorities whenever my moleskine is not at hand and transfer later when it is.

  • Republicans are trying to thwart the president’s power to declare a climate emergency amid record-breaking heat

    www.levernews.com New GOP Bill Would Curb Biden’s Power to Fight Climate Change

    Republicans are trying to thwart the president’s power to declare a climate emergency amid record-breaking heat.

    New GOP Bill Would Curb Biden’s Power to Fight Climate Change

    From David Sirota’s The Lever

    69

    Texas power use hits record high as heatwave lingers

    lemmy.world Texas power use hits record high as heatwave lingers - Lemmy.world

    Texas power use hits record high as heatwave lingers::Demand for power in Texas hit a record high on Monday as homes and businesses kept air conditioners cranked up to escape a heatwave.

    Texas power use hits record high as heatwave lingers - Lemmy.world

    (Cross posted from https://lemmy.world/c/technology)

    Since Texas power sources are majority fossil fuel, this creates a fun death spiral.

    Extreme heat => more power use => more fossil fuel emissions => more extreme weather => more power use => more fossil fuel emissions => more extreme weather => 💀

    7
    Opinion | Why We Should Politicize the Weather
  • Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It’s about the shit we all do as humans - burning squeezed dinosaur juice and other fossil fuels - that is causing global warming and the extreme as fuck weather we’re now seeing, feeling, smelling and fleeing (until there’s nowhere left to flee to).

    And that most definitely is political, Florida man.

  • Top 5 global June temperature anomalies

    fediscience.org Zack Labe (@[email protected])

    Attached: 1 image Top 5 warmest June global temperatures since at least 1891 via the Japan Meteorological Agency (https://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/gwp/temp/jun_wld.html). Uh, 2023 is really something... 1. 2023 2. 2022, 2019, 2016 5. 2020

    Zack Labe (@ZLabe@fediscience.org)

    Really turned a corner in 1980.

    @[email protected] is highly recommended follow on Mastodon if you’re not following him already.

    0

    Visualization of 100 years of June land temperature anomalies

    fediscience.org Zack Labe (@[email protected])

    Attached: 1 image 100 years of June temperature anomalies over land through 2023. It will get even hotter. Data from https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/.

    Zack Labe (@ZLabe@fediscience.org)

    Keeps getting redder i.e. hotter. Like we didn’t know that already.

    3
    What are your favorite gambling sites?
  • Cool. Will check out Stake. I’ve been using Bovada and have generally been mid about it. Not super bad UI and decent set of props and in-game sports betting. That’s not a rave review by any means. Best of a bad bunch. But will def check out Stake as an alt.

  • What are some of the things you say / think to yourself when going through a hard time or dealing with uncertainty to help yourself along?
  • The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own. (Epictetus, Discourses 2.5.4–5).

    I always go back to this task: is this “bad” situation something that I can control? If not, let it go - it is neither good nor bad. If yes, then how? Do the “how”. The “how” may be specific actions or they may be about controlling how I perceive the situation. If I perceive the situation negatively, work out how to perceive the situation positively. eg. Losing a job may be viewed as bad because of money issues or career issues but could be viewed positively as an opportunity to pursue passions. Perceptions are controllable so bend them to positive constructive ends.

  • Masked San Francisco Car Break-in Vigilante Arrested, Unmasked
  • When I lived in SF, my car was broken into over 10 times. SF police arrested the thieves zero times. And yet SF police WERE able to arrest a citizen who was stopping thieves. I know that policing SF is a tough job but ffs cut this guy some slack and view his actions for what they are - frustration that SF police are failing to (a) stop and catch thieves and (b) engage effectively with the community to prevent crime. They should view this as an indication that the community wants to do more than they are being asked. If SF police took advantage of this desire effectively, their jobs would be much easier and our lives much better. But instead, we’ll just arrest the guy.

  • Creamsicles return to Tampa Bay

    Everything about the early Bucs was awful. Except the unis.

    3
    www.nytimes.com In Phoenix, Heat Becomes a Brutal Test of Endurance

    Arizona is used to scorching summers, but the region’s 11th straight day of 110-degree temperatures is straining patience and resources.

    I lived in the Phoenix area 15 years ago. After going through my first AZ summer, I concluded that humans were not meant to live there. I moved. I still cannot believe that it is one of the fastest growing regions in North America.

    3
    A's fan protest at the All-star Game
  • Yeah good point on the potentially skewed demographics. Hundreds of $$ per ticket are gonna price out most baseball fans. Also priced out many families. The HR Derby is a perfect event for kids but my guess is about 5% were kids. My boy was getting elbowed out of getting autographs by some thirty-somethings in Birkenstocks. Backing up your point.

  • A's fan protest at the All-star Game

    A group of A’s fans attempted to stage a protest at the ASG in Seattle. The goal was to get everyone to stand silently in the 5th inning and then chant “Sell the team”.

    It was a pretty lame response but probably not unexpected given that we’re not in Oakland. I didn’t see anyone stand, at least not for the protest. There was some chanting in the 5th and then again when Rooker was up in the 8th. Not enough to make a dent in anyone’s opinion I’d guess.

    What was surprising was the negativity from some Seattle fans. I heard from many locals something like “Oakland sucks, move to Vegas”. Surprising because you’d think Seattle sports fans would get the pain of losing a team given the ‘Sonics.

    I get the desire to try and get a national platform, but at this point, protesters really need to focus their efforts where it matters most, in Oakland. Otherwise, as on Tuesday, it looks like the baseball world is apathetic to the A’s plight.

    3
    2023 Home Run Derby watch thread
  • I went both days and the only things people were talking about on day 2 were JRod’s 41 (of course, it’s Seattle) and Adley’s switch hitting performance. Winning doesn’t seem to matter as much as showmanship and wow-factor. For the HR Derby, I’m good with that.

  • Google AR/VR software lead quits, heavily criticizes company on way out
  • So true. If a Google team cannot show a believable path to a $1 billion ARR business, your team’s project gets shut down. Unless it falls within strategic priorities which are pretty much just search and ads (eg. this is why Android continues to get support - because it represents mobile defense of Google’s lead in search and ads, not because the phone business on its own is worthwhile to Google).

    See https://killedbygoogle.com/

    FWIW I don’t think this is necessarily a bad way to run a company. Focus resources on your core competencies. But it really sucks as a user of their non-search-related products.