An EXTREMELY Simple Guide to Mastodon
I think this is the way we should communicate, when presented with the question on how to get on Mastodon:
Copy paste from the link:
How do I use Mastodon?
- Download the Mastodon app from the Apple app store or Play store.
- Create an account (just like Twitter or any other social media)
- Follow people, and get posting.
Why do tech journalists say it’s too confusing to catch on?
I have no fucking idea.
EDIT for clarification, don't take this too seriously:
This “guide” is a bit of a joke made out of frustration. If you actually want to know more, including why I feel it has potential to free us from the dystopian hellscape that is modern social media, here is the “real” guide to Mastodon. It still uses simple language (and has lots of pictures!):
Please share widely
A Simple Guide to Mastodon (And the Fediverse)
Written for humans by a human. Lots of pictures!Justin (Stay Grounded)
Senate unexpectedly passes the 'No Tax on Tips Act' in a unanimous vote
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., called up the bipartisan bill for immediate passage, and no senator objected. The measure now goes to the House.
In a surprise move, the Republican-led Senate quickly passed the "No Tax on Tips Act" on Tuesday, giving its official stamp of approval to an idea that has gained traction since Donald Trump campaigned on it last year.
The legislation would create a tax deduction worth up to $25,000 for tips, limited to cash tips that workers report to employers for withholding purposes on payroll taxes. The tax break would also be restricted to employees who earn $160,000 or less in 2025, an amount that will rise with inflation in coming years.
Senate unexpectedly passes the 'No Tax on Tips Act' in a unanimous vote
The Republican-led Senate quickly passed the "No Tax On Tips Act," giving its official stamp of approval to an idea that has gained traction since Trump campaigned on it.Sahil Kapur (NBC News)
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Tips are part of the standard income stream in the US, so yes. I don't see why you wouldn't.
Most people probably under-report their cash tips anyway.
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For gifts specifically, the giver is supposed to pay the tax.
Everything else you listed is taxed as income (with different rules depending on the source) just like you said. You could also add inheritance (unless special loopholes are used) and proceeds from the sale of illegal narcotics.
You do not have to declare tips as income. They are by law not taxable (there are exceptions but I won't go into too much German tax law details now), as long as the tip has been given to the employee by an customer in relation to a service they provided. Which is no longer the case when you pay by card, because then the tip has been given to the employer not employee and as such it no longer satisfies the paragraph. But there are more details to that.
gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__… there look for number 51.
Tipping is a huge part of US American culture. Some restaurants reduce hourly income of waiters below minimum wage so the tips hit that mark.
How is tipping culture in Germany?
Basically not really a thing, you get them here and there depending on the location and the kind of service. Most often ppl. Who pay with cash would round up to the next 5 or 10 or full euro depending on the relative size of the purchase. You would round up 49,41 € to 50 € and 9,48€ to 10 but 2,30€ probably to 2,50€ at most 3€.
I have rounded up like that at a hairstylist or at a restaurant. When paying in cash. When you round up like that I while paying with card the laws about the tips change. Then they no longer fall under §3 Nr. 51 EStG.
So tipping is complicated in the US. There's a strong argument to be made that tipping culture in the US has its roots in racism as tips were seen as a way to discriminate against black people in a way that couldn't be easily proven. The overwhelming majority of wait staff in the US receive non-livable wages with the expectation that the majority of their income will come from tips. As such for many people tips represent a significant percentage of their income. For many tips are not "extra" for doing a great job but instead represent part of their salary that they count on but which can be arbitrarily withheld for any nebulous reason.
This is why not tipping a waiter in the US is not just a statement that they didn't do a great job, but is an active statement that they did a terrible job. In other countries it's the equivalent of complaining to a manager about the service, but in the US this can be done in a much more direct far more impactful way without actually having to articulate why you're upset with the service or even interacting with anyone directly.
To be clear, I am not claiming any of this is good. Tipping culture in the US is terrible and many, perhaps even a majority of Americans would be happy to see it gone, but it's something of a systemic problem now and doing away with it would require a strong unified approach that in the current political climate seems unlikely.
there is a problem and it is covered up by things like this
a law to require living wages be paid by employers and a fair tax law for all is needed
I have never understood why some things that seem money related start in the Senate when I think they should start in the house.
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~~They are equal. Either chamber can start and sign a bill first and then send to the other for consideration.~~
I just read this: “only the House can initiate tax and revenue-related legislation”. So I’m not sure why the Senate initiated a tax legislation.
So this just further entrenches the frankly slave-like practice of not paying your employees because they earn tips 🙄.
Good job, US...
So glad I'm not American jfc.
That's how it's done in places with appropriate minimum wage laws.
Tips are income so tax em, just make employers pay people properly!
Using them as a way to avoid paying a living wage sucks.
Yep, this basically is a government subsidy to the service industry, which then removes funds from essential government programs, like health and education.
Another step towards an illibertarian hellscape. :(
Yikes man do you not hear yourself? In Germany they dont declare tips as income, and they also dont require workers to survive off tipped wages. So what the hell is your point? "In Germany we pay workers to do a job" great for you guys.
In america we have systematic wage slavery and tip based service models are the lowest class of wage slaves. They dont even get paid a minimum wage which, in america, is below poverty. They exclusively make money from gratuities that paying customers "willingly" give them for their service and the company they work for "pays" them $2/hr. Tips paid on taxes already basically didn't exist because most servers don't declare their tips as income. (My entire family was raised by waitresses.)
This legislation legalizes people who arent service workers declaring any income as tips and thus avoid paying taxes on it. It's a bad idea and fundamentally misunderstands the economic pressures making a policy called "no tax on tips" generally popular.
Kitchen staff get tip outs too, some places servers get 60% rest get 40% of the tip. It’s also why people hide their tips, so they can be selfish and stiff the busboys who tidy up.
The whole thing is just fucking stupid. Pay a living wage.
Kitchen staff aren't typically tipped employees. That's more the exception than the rule
employers can require tip pooling among employees who regularly receive tips, but not for non-tipped staff unless the employer pays the full minimum wage directly.
The bill is horrible enough on it's face. Tipping culture is a cancer. This just cements it in place. Why should two people with identical earnings pay different amounts of tax just because one got it in tips always? This is bullshit based on yet another Trump brain fart on stage.
It's also perfect for running adds against anyone who votes against it, so I have no doubt it will pass.
...limited to cash tips...
EDIT: This is great news for exotic dancers though.
This is, essentially, a subsidy for the restaurant and other service industries. Taxpayers are now subsidizing the labor costs of waiters and other jobs that get paid primarily in tips.
I’d love to see service workers get paid a comfortable living wage. This is not the way to get there.
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Eric Trump Breaks Ground on $1.5B Resort in Country Desperate for Tariff Relief From His Dad
In 3... 2... 1...
Vietnam is a great country, love their little straw hats so no tariffs for them. They're awesome people like me.
Eric Trump Breaks Ground on $1.5B Resort in Country Desperate for Tariff Relief From His Dad
President Donald Trump originally announced 46 percent tariff plans on Vietnam during his “Liberation Day” announcement.Ewan Palmer (The Daily Beast)
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Trump Spirals at Kennedy Center Dinner: “I’ll Shove It Up Their Ass”
Trump Spirals at Kennedy Center Dinner: “I’ll Shove It Up Their Ass”
The President of the United States, everyoneThe New Republic
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“If they would’ve left us alone, and wouldn’t have cheated on the election, and wouldn’t have rigged it, I would’ve been retired right now. I would’ve been happily doing something else, and instead they have me for four more years, can you believe that?” Trump continued.
Two things:
- He's right. If we would have known he'd be reelected, it would have been better in retrospect to just get it over with.
- He would have taken the heat from post-covid inflation.
- We would've been spared all the 2020 rigged election nonsense that undermined confidence in elections for half the country.
- We would've avoided Jan 6 and most importantly the lack of any material consequences for the perpetrators (Trump and several Congressional Republicans).
- They wouldn't have had four years to plan the destruction of America.
- His last remark, I think he really does mean it. He ran in 2024 out of pure spite. He's never actually liked the job. I think he knows any attempt to prolong his presidency beyond Jan 2029 won't work, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually looking forward to being done on his terms.
Edit: It's good to see nuance is alive and well on the Internet, lol
Why do you think prolonging 2029+ won't work?
And even if it doesn't work, the entire government has been gutted and we still have the entire GOP and right of center Dems to deal with.
Who would have expected such a tirade from a well-known demented rapist?
“The programming was out of control with rampant political propaganda, DEI, and inappropriate shows,” Trump said. “They had dance parties for quote ‘queer and trans youth.’ And I guess that’s all right for certain people.… But that wasn’t working out too well.”
Madison Cawthorn Exposed GOP With Orgy, Drug Claims: Ex-Senate Candidate
Trump ally Roger Stone has repeatedly claimed that the North Carolina Republican did not retract his comments as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said.Jason Lemon (Newsweek)
The full quote for context:
“And then they rigged the election, and then I said, ‘You know what I’ll do? I’ll run again and I’ll shove it up their ass,’” Trump told the audience.“If they would’ve left us alone, and wouldn’t have cheated on the election, and wouldn’t have rigged it, I would’ve been retired right now. I would’ve been happily doing something else, and instead they have me for four more years, can you believe that?” Trump continued.
Hey guys, he was forced to be president again.
Video of Joe Biden saying he had cancer in 2022 resurfaces
Video of Joe Biden Saying He Had Cancer in 2022 Resurfaces
A resurfaced video of Joe Biden appearing to say he had cancer three years ago has raised questions following his public diagnosis.Sophie Clark (Newsweek)
Fires drove record loss of world’s forests last year, ‘frightening’ data shows
Burning, worsened by global heating, overtook farming and logging as biggest cause of destruction of tropical forests
The destruction of the world’s forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, driven by a surge in fires caused by global heating, according to “frightening” new data.
From the Brazilian Amazon to the Siberian taiga, Earth’s forests disappeared at a record rate last year, losing an area the size of Italy to agriculture, fires, logging and mining, according to analysis from the University of Maryland hosted on Global Forest Watch.
In tropical regions, home to the most biodiverse and carbon-dense forests on the planet, fire became the leading driver of loss for the first time since global records began. However, fire is not a natural part of tropical ecosystems. Boreal forests in Canada and Siberia continued to burn last year.
Noem says Trump can deport who he wants, botches what 'habeas corpus' means
Noem says Trump can deport who he wants, botches what 'habeas corpus' means
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke after White House aide Stephen Miller floated suspending the writ of habeas corpus for migrants.Erin Doherty (CNBC)
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It's not that, it's that they don't care if they lie.
She knows what it means, she just said what Trump wants her to say. If he wanted to say the sky is green and the grass is blue, that's what she'd say.
It's 100% serious and thinking she legitimately doesn't know what habeus corpus means is just falling for their bullshit.
Don't just write them off as incompetent idiots, they're doing a shit ton of damage and just pretending it's due to incompetence
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Yeah, that's why these people seems to roleplayng all the time.
They got a too down structure, they do not represent people who voted them but only their agenda, their king.
This is not politics, this is a coup in action.
Hanlon’s razer went out the wazoo a long time ago
When she testified to Congress and just flat out ignored questions about the ms13 "tattoo". Wouldn't say it was clearly fake. But also wouldn't say that it was real, she'd just ramble about something else.
What they say doesn't matter, what they do does.
They got a top down structure
Up to a few months ago both parties had for decades...
It's not new, but at least we finally got a DNC chair who understands you can't build a pyramid upside down.
The base is the important part, and Martin has a long history of giving the base what they want, because he sees running a party as working for the base.
Like, it's felt like bizzaro world defending the DNC the last couple months, but most people seem completely unaware of the huge accomplishment we just made.
Even with trump in office on a decade plus timeline this is the most optimistic I've ever been about America's political future.
This is the closest we've been to getting an FDR style president since JFK. People forget the DNC faced a rebellion over Carter because the Dem voting base of the time considered Jimmy fucking Carter too rightwing.
The Dem party has been off the path for 50 years, and we just took the first step back on it.
Disclaimer:
The only ethical way to be an optimist is to have a backup plan for worst case scenario.
An FDR style president out of the 2028 election is predicated on there being an election in 2028.
The truly horrifying thing is all of these people are fucking idiots. Trump, Noem, Hegseth, Navarro, Musk, Bondi, etc. etc.
And I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Because despite how dumb they are, they continue to march on their merry way doing whatever the fuck they want.
The definition provided was the practical implementation. Precedent shows that Habeas Corpus is suspended at the discretion of the president.
Sen. Maggie Hassan fucked up by reminding Trump that eventually Lincoln went back to Congress to request the suspension.
"I'll pass this by Congress next year".
Why does everyone seem to think she got it wrong? This is what they want it to mean. And we should all know by now, that when they start stoking these little thoughts into their base, it becomes a reality for them.
Still, she is stupid as fuck though, and a soulless ghoul. Just don't mistake this "definition" for stupidity.
Hanlon's Razor States:
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Usually it's a good rule of thumb, but in the case of MAGA Nazi's, the opposite is OFTEN likely to apply. Stupidity does apply most of the time, but malice is also a very common component in nearly every issue. I've never seen people who are so enthusiastically, gleefully cruel.
I knew she was going to invoke Lincoln's name, they like to do that every chance they get, as if Lincoln wouldn't be HORRIFIED by them claiming him as one of theirs.
Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus because he was in a highly unusual situation, and even so, he was very uncomfortable ordering it. DC was the capital of the Union, and Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, and both cities were extremely close to each other. The streets of DC, and the surrounding states of Virginia (Confederate), and Maryland (Union), were filled with Confederate operatives and spies, attempting to interfere with military operations, and even plotting to assassinate the President.
The Constitution allows for the suspension of Habeus Corpus in:
Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, which specifies a suspension of the writ “when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.”
Lincoln was faced with an actual rebellion, America is not facing a "rebellion or invasion" of any kind, no matter how much HitlerPig wants to characterize the issue of undocumented immigrants.
Reminder: if habeas corpus is suspended for ANYBODY, it's suspended for EVERYBODY at the whim of Trump, ICE, feds, cops etc etc because all they have to do is falsely claim you're a migrant and you can be detained for ever, and the courts cannot intervene AT ALL, because you have been declared a migrant and you and every lawyer in the land have lost the right to have your case heard in court.
Americans, WAKE UP.
THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU.
Trump's big, oily bill | The anti-clean energy provisions in Trump's budget bill could raise household energy costs by as much as 7 percent.
Trump's big, oily bill
The anti-clean energy provisions in Trump's budget bill could raise household energy costs by as much as 7 percent.Emily Atkin (HEATED)
How do I identify predatory journals?
I'm been trying to expanding to my scientific literacy and that has involved looking at articles in scientific journals; i.e. the peer-reviewed literature. However, not all journals are trust-worthy. I would like to believe that academic search engines like Google Scholar would filter out "junk science" articles that I can't rely on that always happening. So how do I spot "predatory" or "pseudo-journals"?
Sometimes, it's quite obvious: "Answers Research Journal" makes it clear that they exist for creationist confirmation bias. This, however, isn't always the case.
I also can't always rely on a publication's reputation. In that oh-so famous example, Andrew Wakefield exploited The Lancet's venerable reputation to publish a fraudulent study with consequences that still reverberate to this day.
Thanks in advance.
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The US has $36 trillion in debt. What does that mean, and who owns it?
The US has $36 trillion in debt. What does that mean, and who owns it?
The US has the highest national debt in the world, a quarter of which is owned by other countries.Hanna Duggal (Al Jazeera)
.... and when I compare it credit card debt ... everyone usually jumps on me to say that you can't compare national debts to a person and his credit card.
I've always said it and I will continue saying it .... this like someone with a credit card applying for another credit card to pay off the first one ... and they keep doing that for 60 years.
When a person does that, they're called irresponsible .... when a country does it, it's called economics
Despite Backlash, Jake Tapper’s Book on Biden’s Decline Becomes a Bestseller Online
'Original Sin': Jake Tapper's Book on Biden Becomes Online Bestseller
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book on President Biden's declining health has garnered backlash, but it quickly shot up the bestseller charts.Jonathan Zavaleta (Rolling Stone)
Improving the Fediverse to allow it to actually take over the social media space.
Decentralization is obviously the big thing about the Fediverse but is it TOO decentralized to gain traction?
There is no reason why they have to be fully separate domains in the same branch. You can set up a system of fully independent moderation and extreme levels of customization while having them all on one site with a front page that allows everyone to see whats popular.
A front page wouldn't prevent individual subgroups from requiring approval to join, it wouldn't prevent subgroups from banning those it doesn't want. It doesn't prevent users from blocking subgroups that it doesn't want to see on the front page.
What would be most useful is that now someone could create an account on the Reddit, Twitter, Facebook(?) alternatives and give them access to every community, and then allow each community to set its own rules, and customize its own to be unique while having a unified product to "sell" and get people to move.
Hot take? Blue Sky should be worked with to join the Fediverse as the twitter alternative and Mastodon should work to be the Facebook alternative
TLDR: One front page and general site for Lemmy, Mastodon....and to sign up and see whats popular and then have fully independent subgroups.
Google Chat or whatever uses to be federated via XMPP, but then they slowly started making incompatibility changes. Due to it being such a dominant chatting service, the real federated versions died out.
Basically I'm saying it's not worth it. If you want to support Threads or Blue Sky as a central front page to the Fediverse then go for it, but they don't actually need your support.
Then make the "one true frontpage" for Lemmy or whatever (implement ActivityPub, maybe borrowing some code from the Lemmy codebase itself, or kindof making a fork of Lemmy), and if it's good, it'll be used. If not, it won't.
But then, it might well fall victim to this phenomenon:
Lemmy has lots of competing "front pages." How will one more change anything? A more generic domain name or something?
The top 25 posts in the least 24 hours would probably mostly show politics, news and tech memes, which aren't the most attractive content for potential new joiners.
I personally block this type of content, and I'm probably not alone.
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The people running it are only supposed to act if illegal activity is going on and they are contacted by authorities in the appropriate jurisdiction.
which is the "appropriate" jurisdiction?
what if it's legal in my country, but it is illegal in the country where the server is? I have no other choice of server, you're taking away our ability to join servers in our own countries
Including Germany, which has draconian laws against criticizing Israel's genocidal actions and fascist regime, as demonstrated by the recent drama over feddit.org?
Laws aren't identical across the EU. If you are aggregating content from a bunch of instances, there will be content aggregated that's illegal in one place and not another.
Still too problematic, as what is legal and not in the EU depends on the trendy neo-nazi party du jour. Check Germany, for one, where apparently showing any disapproval of Israel gets you Gestapo'd, or that's what Lemmy administrators in Europe seem to fear. Or Italy / Spain, where any attempt to liberate sports transmissions gets half the internet shut down.
Oh, did I even mention Turkiye?
Honestly, I've always been of the opinion that projects that are intended to be truly international need to build up to some sort of "all humanity" jurisdiction or international waters jurisdiction. Since it's not like the UN is going to provide any sort of aid here.
It won't get bad there it's the richest country and has direct democracy, CHF 5,430 post tax median salary. There's nothing for an authoritarian party to say to convince voters who are the wealthier people (actual citizens) of Switzerland
Also the average assets for adults is over $700K they're too rich to fall to power hungry parties
Hot take? Blue Sky should be worked with to join the Fediverse as the twitter alternative and Mastodon should work to be the Facebook alternative
??? Why should Mastodon become an entirely different kind of site when there's already Facebook alternatives for the fediverse?
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Why in Earth would you want it to take over the social media space?
So that the rest can be free with us.
But I don't like them and don't want them in my feed.
Mass-market slop troughs exist for a reason.
I, and a lot of other fedizens, don't want the type of people who use BlueSky and Facebook in my ActivityPub fediverse.
Fedi is cool because it's small, weird, and highly enriched with people I'm actually interested in communicating with. I don't need or want the pool to be diluted with an ocean of piss.
Godot Engine - Free and open source 2D and 3D game engine
Godot provides a huge set of common tools, so you can just focus on making your game without reinventing the wheel.Godot Engine
Trump unveils plans for $175B 'Golden Dome' missile defense shield
40 years later and we're back to Ronnie's Star Wars all over again.
Update:
$25B to design the system??? No AI?
cbsnews.com/news/trump-golden-…
Trump announces $25 billion and architectural design for "Golden Dome" missile defense system
President Trump wants a "Golden Dome" missile defense system like Israel's Iron Dome.Kathryn Watson (CBS News)
I haven’t heard of any details yet and wouldn’t be surprised if there are none
Most of us reading the comparison to Iron Dome will think of multiple interconnected layered weapons systems protecting the entire country, while having the intelligence to use cheap plentiful interceptors where possible. Not only is it ridiculous to expect that so cheaply, but we can’t even seem to account for Chinese “weather balloons” crossing our airspace.
It’s possible they will spend that money on the infrastructure to have more detailed live knowledge of the entire airspace, including low and slow drones, so that it’s possible to react. Not likely though, that’s not flashy enough.
That $175B is probably just meant to enrich military contractors, but in case there’s anything real to it …… $175B can buy several Patriot missile batteries (which I believe is one of the weapons systems integrated into Iron Dome) to be permanently installed near major cities. Done. Declare victory. Somehow tie it back to Joe Biden.
I had to scroll shockingly far through these comments to find a sex joke.
Is a “golden dome” not what happens when you try to suck off someone who gives zero shits about you before he pisses in your mouth? Because that’s exactly what it sounds like
I love seeing you say this in every post.
I hate that you have to say this in every post.
Elon Musk turns off Republicans’ cash gusher for midterms
Elon Musk says he has “done enough” to help MAGA Republicans win elections, signaling a shift in his kingmaker role as Donald Trump’s top campaign backer.
After months of watching his popularity plummet, the DOGE slasher-in-chief said he plans to cut back on funding political campaigns, a move that could dampen the Republicans’ efforts at next year’s midterm elections and in the lead up to the 2028 presidential election.
“I think, in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said, when asked at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday if he would continue spending as much as he has in the past.
Scorned Elon Turns Off Republicans’ Cash Gusher for Midterms
After months of watching his stocks plummet, the DOGE boss plans to cut back on funding MAGA campaignsFarrah Tomazin (The Daily Beast)
I call Bullshit.
While Elonazi has gained much in contracts/income from the current "government", in the process, the rankings of his various "businesses" has tanked.
Reality is: He'll take some time off, focus on attempting to restore any good will possible for his businesses, then be right back in the political fray shortly before the midterms.
Problem with that plan is he's in no position to regain any so-called "good will" as the Nazi bastard has quite publicly and blatantly revealed much too much about who he actually is.
Fuck. Elonazi.
🤡 🖕
But also, SHERMAN 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO LET'S GO BURN DOWN DESANTI'S AND ORANGE FUCKWITS HOUSES!
He will fund them through PACs in secret like his peers
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
Treating cold sores with anti-virals ‘may slash risk of developing Alzheimer’s’
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/29981554
cross-posted from: metawire.eu/post/105642
A study found that people who had suffered the herpes virus had an 80% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists ‘slash risk of Alzheimer’s’ with medicine used to treat cold sores
Researchers made a surprising connection between certain viral diseases and Alzheimer’sJane Kirby (The Independent)
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Such a strike would be a brazen break with President Donald Trump, US officials said. It could also risk tipping off a broader regional conflict in the Middle East — something the US has sought to avoid since the war in Gaza inflamed tensions beginning in 2023.
Um. That makes the somewhat-questionable assumption that the Trump administration has any problem with Iran being bombed.
Setting aside even all of the geopolitical stuff, Iran got caught by US counterintelligence trying to assassinate Trump twice in the past year, and the Biden administration already told them that very unpleasant things would have happened had they not caught them and had those efforts succeeded. My guess is that Trump, who has pretty much surpassed all precedent in being a vindictive son-of-a-bitch over even tiny disputes (not to mention the SecDef he selected with the Crusader and now fresh "kafir" tattoos) is probably even less-inclined than the Biden administration to take a dovish position.
Trump has publicly threatened military action against Iran if his administration’s efforts to negotiate a new nuclear deal to limit or eliminate Tehran’s nuclear program fail. But Trump also set a limit on how long the US would engage in diplomatic efforts.In a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in mid-March, Trump set a 60-day deadline for those efforts to succeed, according to a source familiar with the communication. It has now been more than 60 days since that letter was delivered, and 38 days since the first round of talks began.
Yeah.
The US is stepping up intelligence collection to be prepared to assist if Israeli leaders decide to strike, one senior US official told CNN.
Yeah.
China to give $648m to WHO in next 5 years, official says
China to give $648m to WHO in next 5 years, official says
The UN agency is seeking extra funding to offset the loss of its top donor, the United States. Read more at straitstimes.com.The Straits Times
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US loses business travellers with demand dampened by political turmoil
US loses business travellers with demand dampened by political turmoil
Many fear that policies from the Trump administration are hurting the US' soft power and dampening demand to visit the country.Euronews (Euronews.com)
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dampening demand to visit the country.
If you're not Straight, White, Right Kind of Christian, and preferably a Robber Baron...
You're simply risking your liberty (if not your life) choosing to visit the US.
Just stay away. Warning from a US'ian.
🤷♂️ 🤡 🖕
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I told my work that I will not be travelling to the US under any circumstances until there's no risk of me being detained in an ICE prison.
Realistically I will not be travelling there for any reason for years to decades at this point. America as a country needs to go fuck itself for a while so it can really learn the lesson of how productive that is.
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America as a country needs to go fuck itself for a while so it can really learn the lesson of how productive that is.
Currently fucking ourselves. Unfortunately, I think it's going to have to get a lot more painful before most of the people who need to learn from it actually do.
Unless folks are just flying elsewhere? then no, if they're are staying home, excellent news!
yesmagazine.org/issue/life-aft…
Hour for hour, there’s no better way to warm the planet than to fly in a plane.
How Far Can We Get Without Flying?
Explore a diverse range of articles in the YES! Media archive. From justice to sustainability, discover insightful perspectives on shaping a better world. #YESMediaPeter Kalmus (YES! Magazine)
The Tate brothers will be extradited to the UK. After the election, Andrew announced he was leaving Romania
Original Article in Romanian
The Tate brothers will be extradited to the UK after they are tried in Romania, the British government said, according to The Telegraph, which quotes Security Minister Dan Jarvis.The announcement comes after Andrew Tate gave a post, the day after the presidential elections, in which he said he was leaving Romania and hinted that he was doing it because of the fact that Nicusor Dan came out as president.
Frații Tate vor fi extrădați în Marea Britanie. După alegeri, Andrew a anunțat că părăsește România
Anunțul vine după ce Andrew Tate a dat o postare, a doua zi după alegerile prezidențiale, în care a spus că părăsește România și a dat de înțeles că o face din cauza faptului că Nicușor Dan a ieșit pr...euronews.ro: Știri de ultimă oră, breaking news, #AllViews
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Translated by Google:
The Tate brothers will be extradited to the UK after they are tried in Romania, the British government said, according to The Telegraph, which quotes Security Minister Dan Jarvis.
The announcement comes after Andrew Tate gave a post, the day after the presidential elections, in which he said he was leaving Romania and hinted that he was doing it because of the fact that Nicusor Dan came out as president. In fact, he even supported George Simion and even gave several posts in this regard.
In March 2024, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled that the two influencers could be sent to the UK, but decided to postpone it until the conclusion of the criminal trial in Romania. That's after the Bedfordshire police obtained an arrest warrant, in which they are charged with rape, human trafficking and setting up an organised crime group.
Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan, 36, deny all the charges.
The minister's confirmation marks a first when a British official says the Tate brothers arrive in the UK to compare to justice.
In a letter sent to McCue Jury & Partners, Minister Dan Jarvis "expressed his deepest sympathy for all the victims of these abominable crimes. We are absolutely firm in our commitment to combat sexual violence in all its forms and support survivors. These persons remain criminally investigated in Romania for human trafficking, rape, money laundering and the establishment of an organized criminal group. It is notorious that the Tate brothers were arrested at the request of the United Kingdom, which was accepted and processed by the Romanian courts, who agreed that the brothers would be handed over to the United Kingdom after the conclusion of the internal proceedings in Romania.
Matt Jury, a lawyer representing the four victims who sues Andrew Tate, said: "Finally, we have confirmation from the UK government that the Tate brothers will be handed over by Romania to be tried in the UK when their prosecution is over. But this can only happen if they are in Romania at the time. It is now essential that the Labour Party ensures that this will happen and that the victims of Andrew Tate will be done to justice. Brothers can't be allowed to slip through their fingers. While we welcome this important step, the Security Minister has not yet been able to explain why the United Kingdom did not call for the extradition of the United States or the United Arab Emirates when it had the chance.
Last month, there was talk of the possibility that the Tate brothers could be arrested and extradited from Florida days before the information that revealed she had assaulted her ex-girlfriend in Los Angeles. However, no request was made from the Ministry of the Interior.
The office of James Uthmeier, Florida's attorney general, said on March 7 that he was prepared to "go through" any official extradition request issued by British authorities.
Andrew Tate is accused of suffocating his ex-girlfriend Brianna Stern so loudly that he almost lost consciousness. It all happened at Beverly Hills Hotel on March 11. He denies the allegations.
She claims the assault took place at the time when Andrew and his brother Tristan left Romania for Florida on a private jet in February after a court order was lifted to them that restricted their travels.
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because of the fact that Nicusor Dan came out as president
That's one hell of a transition! Guys, I'm coming out as a hunky billionaire!
...
...
Shit. I guess it only works for people who are sincere about their identity and want others to treat them in the way that feels respectful to them.
This is definitely still about presidents /s
That wasn't an extradition.
Trump's State Dept asked Romania to allow them to be allowed to leave the country, Romania accepted.
I believe the charges were effectively suspended while they are out of Romania, but in theory the state prosecutor could restart prosecution at any time, these travel arrangements usually come with an agreement to "toll" (ie suspend) the expiration of the statute of limitations or requirement for speedy prosecution for some amount of time while they are out of country, so they can still be prosecuted at a later date.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolling_…
The defendant is not physically within a certain jurisdiction (for example, a state or country).
I’m so ashamed of the men that are giving these losers money. I blame society and shitty parents for raising boys so poorly. As men we need to talk to each other and teach each other how to be decent humans instead of succumbing to toxic, hypersexualized standards that society has groomed us for.
I’m gonna tell a straight tough guy that he looks cute tomorrow.
A lighter, a bottle of acceleratent, and a carton of salt. Won't kill him directly but between the pain and inevitable infection he will wish for death.
Pulled this one from my ancestor, though he just kicked that priest into a fire and then poured a bag of curing salt onto him but more or less the same method.
... Nicusor Dan came out as president.
Okay, that's it. I'm tired of hiding it. I'm going to come out as Prime Minister to my family.
'Trump says 'big bill' should only help GOP states: 'Don't want to benefit Dem governors'
Donald Trump argued that a GOP budget bill should help only Republican states instead of benefiting Democratic governors.
"We're going to make a couple of tweaks," Trump said of his "one big beautiful bill" during a Tuesday trip to Capitol Hill. "I mean, we don't want to benefit Democrat governors, although I would do that if it made it better, but they don't know what they're doing."
"We want to help all the states, but we have governors that are from the Democrat [sic] party, let's say New York, Illinois, big ones, and let's say Gavin 'Newscum,' who's done a horrible job in California."
'Trump says 'big bill' should only help GOP states: 'Don't want to benefit Dem governors'
President Donald Trump argued that a GOP budget bill should help only Republican states instead of benefiting Democratic governors.David Edwards (Raw Story)
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You want Boston to throw another tea party? They're game.
No taxation without representation motherfucker.
States by GDP:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o…
In 2024, states that voted for Harris generated 48% of the GDP, Trump states 52%.
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Let's look at Texas voting by county
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Uni…
Now let's look at the proportion of gdp by county
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:T…
Hmm I wonder where most of the money in red states comes from...
This seems to be a strategic engagement inducing comment but I'll bite.
One additional piece of obvious information will probably adjust initial impressions of the above comment. So Harris "won" 20 states and Trump 30... so using some napkin math and by using the logic that most people would assume by merely looking at that statement (I noticed you didn't actually make a claim one way or the other) that means.... Harris states, on average, generate roughly 30% more GDP, on average, than Trump states.
Edit: Punctuation
Uh...
Muskovite's primary residence is Boca Chica, Texas. (Much to my chagrin...) 🤷♂️
I'm just so fucking pissed that Trump keeps pulling his fucking punches. He's made so many missteps only to walk them back at the last minute. Still fucking horrible, still hurting people, but avoiding the vast majority of the actual impact and lethality of his decisions.
Tariffs being example A, B, C and D.
I do NOT want prices to skyrocket, I do not want people to suffer, I do not want a fucking civil war. But holy shit. You can't play stupid chicken as the president and continuously get away with saying "oops" sorry someone else ruined the sick flip I was going to do over and over.
If he'd been forced to commit, he'd likely already be dead or out of office.
I'm so fucking exhausted.
I agree with but every state has blue voters too
The red states don't have enough blue voters but they do have plenty
Mine pays for a huge number of them. California.
We're going to vote on whether we want to seriously pursue succeeding from the US in 2028. If this shit doesn't stop, I imagine things will slowly fall apart in this country.
California recently (this year, I believe) became the fourth largest GDP in the world, previously the fifth.
If there is a civil war, I'm sure the enemies of the US would rejoice. It's like that onion article that's like "al queda decides to sit back and watch US destroy itself".
But aside from that, I hope the conservatives lose. And I hope after they lose, we learn from history. Don't just let them come crawling back into power like after the first civil war. The ultra rich and their lackeys need to be removed from power, and kept out.
Then again, the 14th amendment should disqualify Trump and a bunch of the republicans, and that doesn't seem to matter.
California Independence Is One Vote Away - CALEXIT NOW!
CALEXIT is the term used to refer to California exiting the union and becoming an independent, self-governing nation. CALEXIT is not independence. Rather,Jayson Alipala (CALEXIT NOW!)
I love it. "Here's a petition to betray the country. Any separatists come forward and put your name on this list."
It will save sooooo much time.
(insert wendys meme here)
since you're too dumb to notice, trump already betrayed the country.
trump already betrayed the country.
That means it's time to separate the country from Trump.
Far past the time, actually, but it's never a bad time to get started.
Conservatives betrayed the country when they RE-ELECTED a felon rapist traitor to tank our economy, remove our rights, ignore our Constitution, and sow division amongst Americans.
Us blue states are just tired of giving our money to traitor fuck welfare queens.
Technically, it isn't a vote for secession, but rather a vote for dedicating resources towards researching the option. Which, honestly, would be better IMO. It gives California options, since we don't exactly know how things will look two-four years from now. We could have AOC sweeping out Trump in a special election, we could have Trump's parade murdering civilians who block the procession, we simply don't know.
So we should all prepare our blue states for the possibility of conflict, be it knowledge, resources, or institution. Hope for the best, expect the worst.
No, he hasn't really held back. The worst damage has its effects delayed, but will become apparent within two years: The elimination of food and drug standards, the death of NOAA's weather services, the destruction of our scientific institutions, cutting of federal workers of every category.
Our society has been hollowed into a house of cards, and will only require a breeze for everything to fall apart.
Personally, I think a United States that has eliminated the GOP, we would actually be able to reobtain Super Saiyan status among the nations of earth. Our greatest weakness, is that many parts of our governance are dated compared to the institutions of the European Union - we can't elect many good politicians, rife with corruption, a broken social identity where American cannot be defined, abusive corporations and employers, failing education, the failure of the social contract, crumbling infrastructure, ect. For the last 40ish or so years, American has been running on inertia and a big military stick, which masked the erosion of America.
Fix these things, and suddenly the US might become a genuine super power again.
Fix these things, and suddenly the US might become a genuine super power again.
It's going to take a helluva lot longer than "suddenly" for the rest of the world to trust the USA again.
You fuckwits knew what Trump was and you went and made the same stupid fucking mistake again 4 years later.
Even if you kick Trump and the MAGAts out, how can we trust that you won't simply let them seize power again in a couple of years?
It's going to take a generation of sane progressive leaders before anyone will start to forgive and forget.
It’ll be super fucked if we do. If it’s left vs right you’ll have most of the major cities besieged by rural folk. If it’s state on state, Red and blue states both will have to “secure” vast swaths of their populations or suffer constant sabotage.
This isn’t as easily cut and dry, north vs south, as the US civil war was. Modern civil war would be a hell of destroyed cities and slaughtered or starving innocents. Just look at all current conflicts. You may be tired now, but it’s nothing compared to the reality of what USCWII would be.
Closest analogous conflicts I could imagine would be when the us bombed eastern europe.
Weird to frame the breakup wars and ethnic conflict of Yugoslavia around the part that the US played in it. Assuming that was what you were talking about
Closest analogous conflicts I could imagine would be when the us bombed eastern europe. Urban areas would be bereft of food and incoming supplies, rural areas would be bereft of most foods and incoming supplies, and everyone devolves into roving gangs and desperate attempts to fortify an area of 'trusted' neighbors.
Reading the first hand accounts of what people went through is enough to make me horrified whenever anyone talks about the possibility of a civil war with glee. They don't have the imagination or the knowledge to comprehend what neighbor vs. neighbor really looks like.
Wrong perspective. Every time he says words, I wish HE were never born.
It's true, though, I can't watch any extended interview with him, my blood pressure can't take it, and there simply isn't enough liquor in the house to make it through a hour long interview.
He's a literal traitor.
Americans are just too stupid to see it in anything but hindsight.
Assuming the fascists don't win and rewrite history, he will be considered a traitor in the history books.
When I say "not my president", it's not me refusing to acknowledge Trump's authority/ being a sovereign citizen. It's me saying he is acting in a deliberately antagonist way. He sees us as the enemy. He isn't leading, in fact he's doing the opposite.
Here's what's supposed to be normal: even if you don't vote for someone in office, you are still their responsibility. JB Pritzker still has a responsibility to protect Republicans in Illinois. Greg Abbott still has the responsibility to protect democrats in Texas.
Walking back the tariffs was always part of the plan. The whole thing is the biggest market manipulation fraud in history. He puts the tariffs on for a few days, the market tanks, them he postpones the
tariffs, and the market bounces back.
He's only been in about 3 months, and he's already done it 3 or 4 times. It's all a scam, everything with these mobsters is a scam.
.Donuts
in reply to lgsp@feddit.it • • •I think that's too simplified and it will create expectations that aren't true, because It's more like this:
homoludens
in reply to .Donuts • • •.Donuts
in reply to homoludens • • •lgsp@feddit.it
in reply to .Donuts • • •I think your steps from 2 to 8 are summed up in
Meaning that those are not any different than what you need to do in Twitter or facebook. Actually the consents you need and the app permissions are much simpler in Mastodon case
cecilkorik
in reply to .Donuts • • •Most of those are all really simple, common things that are done when creating accounts on any service though. If Mastodon is literally the first service you've ever signed up for in your life maybe that's justified but most people have made an account somewhere before.
And that's the point OP is trying to make. It's a very familiar process, except for step 1, which you can literally just ignore and pick the big highlighted blue button and avoid that scary and confusing "Pick another server" button if you're not up to it.
LandedGentry
in reply to lgsp@feddit.it • • •asdfsafasdfdsf
:::
ikt
in reply to LandedGentry • • •Just use mastodon.social
If you feel like you want to join a more specific community then you can
LandedGentry
in reply to ikt • • •asdfsafasdfdsf
:::
lgsp@feddit.it
in reply to LandedGentry • • •But this doesn't happen. Mastodon.social is far from 90%, and the former CEO made the choice of letting control go to an entity that is no-profit, I think it's the right choice.
- The casual user joins mastodon.social (default highlighted choice). He can enjoy the Fediverse and discover its complexity with experience, not by understanding everything in advance.
- He can the move to another instance if he feels so, after undetstanding what this actually means
- The more advanced user probably already knows the instance thing, and maybe doesn't even use the offical app
manxu
in reply to LandedGentry • • •I think it's the "basically" part in basically right back where we started that makes the difference. Even if 100% of Fediverse users were on a single instance, once that instance starts pulling Musk moves, the users can move somewhere else.
Only if that instance defederates from everyone else do we get the Twitter situation again. Or, since that's actually what happened, Truth Social, which I think is just a slightly modified Mastodon instance with federation disabled/deactivated.
Randomgal
in reply to LandedGentry • • •Thanks for the honesty!
It used to blow my mind that the "omg how can the vote for Trump are they blind fanatics!n!?" would be the same "Omg how do you not see how easy this is!!?" people, but now I realize it's just people being loyal to their team, whatever it is.
Nima
in reply to LandedGentry • • •exactly. and trying to downplay potential users as stupid before they've even used a social media platform isn't going to exactly make them want to stay. or even try in the first place.
just makes mastodon look like a place where nerds reign free and normal folks won't be able to participate effectively.
if you want to make mastodon a destination and not a niche corner to be avoided, this is not the way.
i agree with you completely.
edit: I should clarify, the "guide" above is the thing insulting users. the guide is inaccurate.
LandedGentry
in reply to Nima • • •Nima
in reply to LandedGentry • • •wha? you didn't. i just was agreeing with you the whole time.
was just adding my own frustrations to your own, as yours are true.
Luffy
in reply to Nima • • •Because they are
When I was frickin‘ 14, I managed to grasp the Idea of an Instance and managed to find an instance I liked and register there
And if some 25 y o goddamn Tech Journalists is dumber than a dude in 7th grade with a phone, maybe you should start thinking about if we are really all Albert Einsteins prodogy or if the bar is just set way too low for considering whats „Normal Intelligence“
James R Kirk
in reply to LandedGentry • • •When using the official Mastodon app (as suggested in the "guide") "instances" are not a factor at all (unless the user specifically goes out of their way). A new user could have never even heard of the term "instance" and the above steps would work fine.
Actually with Mastodon this is literally how it works.
EDIT: I should say this is how it works now, it didn't always used to be this way. The official Mastodon app used to ask the user to pick an instance, but for a number of years now it defaults every new account to mastodon.social unless they opt out. There was a big brouhah about centralization but the Mastodon devs felt it made for easier on boarding.
klu9
in reply to lgsp@feddit.it • • •Well, I'm confused. And has it caught on?
Disclosure: I've tried it out on my computer, not the app. Is the app more user-friendly?
E.g. I only just realized now why I've been so confused by Mastodon; the web page shows you replies before showing you what's being replied to, without the UI making it obvious that's what it's doing and what's connected together. Does the app fix that, and is there a way to get a fix in a web browser?
lgsp@feddit.it
in reply to klu9 • • •I'm not sure, but i guess that it is replicating Twitter behaviour. I got used to that quickly.
But if you want a better experience you can easily find other front ends. I strongly suggest Phanpy that makes it really clear when a toot is part of a conversation/thread. It also does a lot of nice things like grouping boosts in horizontal carousels, collapsing long threads to avoid occpying the too many screens, and others, but it is still simple
Phanpy
phanpy.socialklu9
in reply to lgsp@feddit.it • • •Phanpy
First impression: "That's more like it!"
But then: "Wait... it's still not showing me the OP followed by replies." It shows me a reply, with some faded text above. I click on the faded text above, and still don't get the OP, eventually click on a group of microavatars with mouseover text "Go to top" and an up arrow, and at last see what the hell it is people are talking about, with replies below. I try going through settings, find no way to get it simply show me the OP in the first place.
I guess I'll have to keep trying out front-ends until I find one that works ~~in a way that is not obviously maddening~~ the way I need it to.
I'll try Ask Lemmy. lemmy.ca/post/44479417
(And wondering again if I should try Mbin or Piefed, and what the difference is.)
lgsp@feddit.it
in reply to klu9 • • •klu9
in reply to lgsp@feddit.it • • •Good idea. I wanted to search their Github Issues to see if they already have a request for this but then I realized I don't know the correct technical terms to describe this. "Show OP with replies below directly in timeline"? Or "feed"? Or "home page"? Whatever is the porper Mastodon term for what it shows me when I load the main page.
Issues · cheeaun/phanpy
GitHubKazuyaDarklight
in reply to klu9 • • •klu9
in reply to KazuyaDarklight • • •Unfortunately, it looks like Fedilab is a mobile app only.
Also, I've installed it on Android and the default does not show the OP above with replies grouped below.
Looking at its settings, maybe one might affect completely missing OPs, "Remote Conversations". I've enabled it and will see how it goes.
I can't find any setting to make it show replies grouped below the OP.
KazuyaDarklight
in reply to klu9 • • •Correct, it is mobile only. Unfortunately, I think I must be misunderstanding what you're saying about the OP stuff. This is my view, the way I think about it at least, these are all "OPs", ones with a plus sign next to the leftward arrow have comments.
And then if I tap, I get the op with its comments underneath it.
klu9
in reply to KazuyaDarklight • • •Thanks for explaining that, now I can eventually see the OP.
I want more like the second picture by default (although I wish the tap would take me direct to the OP instead of to the reply and then I have to scroll up).
I don't want to see a main feed full of replies I don't understand because there's no context and have to decide whether it's worth tapping and scrolling up dozens (hundreds?) of times a day to find out what it's about.
I want by default to see the OP with replies underneath (perhaps the replies collapsed or collapsible). Then I can decide based on the OP, not guess by the reply, if I want to read through that thread or scroll past to the next.
Maybe it's cuz I'm new and all the content is new. Once I'm in, perhaps I'll want to see unaccompanied replies. But for now, I want to see OPs first, then replies once I've read the OP.
Nima
in reply to klu9 • • •