CRA receiving soaring volumes of objections from taxpayers, data show
The growing technical complexity of the Income Tax Act, which makes it harder for taxpayers to understand the rules and for the agency to apply them correctly, is likely one reason behind the rise in objections, Mr. O’Riordan said.But the soaring number of objections could also signal that Ottawa has put increased emphasis on tax compliance in recent years without proportionally increasing resources to help taxpayers comply with the tax code and to review disputes, he said.
theglobeandmail.com/investing/…
CRA receiving soaring volumes of objections from taxpayers, data show
Agency says the amount of requests has outpaced its ability to process the disputes in a timely mannerErica Alini (The Globe and Mail)
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Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone
Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. ...Joe Rossignol (MacRumors.com)
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
In order to monitor encrypted communication, investigators will in future, according to the Senate draft and the Änderungen der Abgeordneten, not only be allowed to hack IT systems but also to secretly enter suspects' apartments.If remote installation of the spyware is technically not possible, paragraph 26 explicitly allows investigators to "secretly enter and search premises" in order to gain access to IT systems. In fact, Berlin is thus legalizing – as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did before – state intrusion into private apartments in order to physically install Trojans, for example via USB stick.
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
To collect data from IT systems, investigators in Berlin can secretly search suspects' rooms. This is in a Police Act amendment.Stefan Krempl (heise online)
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/54414754
In order to monitor encrypted communication, investigators will in future, according to the Senate draft and the Änderungen der Abgeordneten, not only be allowed to hack IT systems but also to secretly enter suspects' apartments.If remote installation of the spyware is technically not possible, paragraph 26 explicitly allows investigators to "secretly enter and search premises" in order to gain access to IT systems. In fact, Berlin is thus legalizing – as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did before – state intrusion into private apartments in order to physically install Trojans, for example via USB stick.
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
In order to monitor encrypted communication, investigators will in future, according to the Senate draft and the Änderungen der Abgeordneten, not only be allowed to hack IT systems but also to secretly enter suspects' apartments.If remote installation of the spyware is technically not possible, paragraph 26 explicitly allows investigators to "secretly enter and search premises" in order to gain access to IT systems. In fact, Berlin is thus legalizing – as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did before – state intrusion into private apartments in order to physically install Trojans, for example via USB stick.
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
To collect data from IT systems, investigators in Berlin can secretly search suspects' rooms. This is in a Police Act amendment.Stefan Krempl (heise online)
aggression with an expansionist agenda.
especially by a country and especially unprovoked.
Economically or militarily.
D-day wouldn't be included because the goal wasn't expansion. Though I would be very surprised if the usa and Europe hadn't perpetrated many acts that should be included during the full course of the war.
And of course you can get into the argument of cultural imperialism as well
For sure, but there are a few problems with that definition. The first is that it doesn't apply to the Russian intervention in Ukraine that started this conversation, which is neither unprovoked nor being done to expand Russian territory.
The second is that it only includes atate actions meant to take territory in an official capacity, while many imperialist actions have been carried out under the auspices of private companies like Haliburton, Dole, the United Fruit Company, and the Dutch East India Company.
The third is that we already have the term Expansionist, which is perfectly fine and general enough for both capitalist and non-capitalist actions, while Imperialism describes a specific dynamic that arises from specifically capitalist causes.
The second is that it only includes atate actions meant to take territory in an official capacity, while many imperialist actions have been carried out under the auspices of private companies like Haliburton, Dole, the United Fruit Company, and the Dutch East India Company.
For the record, my stated definition does not limit it. When "especially" is used in definitions, it's not stated as a limiter but rather to show it primarily applies to as such.
which is neither unprovoked nor being done to expand Russian territory
This is a fundamental disagreement. Especially in regards to saying it's not to expand their territory as a goal.
One interesting thing I find with lemmy. Is equating ownership existing with capitalism. Presumably because that's how it's portrayed in communist literature.
D-day wouldn’t be included because the goal wasn’t expansion.
Wasn't it? They intended to take German territory to expand France, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc.
Power corrupts.
A meaningless platitude; as baseless as saying that lightning never strikes the same place twice. Liberals just think it's true because they've created a system where people who were already corrupt gain power.
The only true answer is not play,
Yeah man, people should just "not play" real life. Fuck me, Western liberals really are the most privileged fuckers: all just a game to them.
You’ll notice that there are no real arguments that he isn’t a authoritarian/dictator.
???.
Other than the arguments people are making that he was democratically elected. Those are objectively arguments, regardless of your feelings on them.
Maduro absolutely is an authoritarian
Name one country that is oppositional to the West that you don't "consider" authoritarian.
The problem is thinking you can have fair elections under extreme duress from sanctions. The whole purpose of those sanctions is to destroy as much as possible the democratic aspect, as the US itself admits.
From the official Office of the Historian US Gvt website, a key document regarding the logic behind the embargo in Cuba:
The majority of Cubans support Castro (the lowest estimate I have seen is 50 percent). [...]Communist influence is pervading the Government and the body politic at an amazingly fast rate.
Militant opposition to Castro from without Cuba would only serve his and the communist cause.
The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship.
If the above are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.
The entire point of the blockade in Cuba, and by extension Venezuela, is that the people DO support their government, and the ONLY way to make them waver in their support is to make them literally starve.
Two things can be true at the same time. Maduro can be a dictator and the US can exerciser its military power illegally and attempt to intimidate and topple him.
Both can be true at the same time.
Both can be true at the same time.
They can also not be, brainiac. Despite what Redditors may think, vagueposting is not an argument.
As a latino....I am tired of USA citizens whitesplaining me shit.
Guy is a dictator.
Trump should still fuck off from latinoamerica but Maduro is a dictator.
Well that was aggressive. You seem very excited about this subject, maybe you should calm down.
There was nothing “vague” about my statement. Maduro is a dictator and the US is violating international law going after him.
It's not at all a grand statement to say "US bad, but enemy of US also bad." All this does is cede legitimacy to the US Empire against its enemies, manufacturing consent during their aggression. It doesn't matter if you finger wag the US, by legitimizing their claims against their enemies, you legitimize their assault.
This is even further compounded by your lack of explanation of how a democratically elected and popularly supported president is a dictator. This is the same playbook they used against Allende.
Once again both can be true at the same time.
Here are some articles on the subject if you wish to educate yourself. Of course if facts get in the way of your preconceived notions or political objectives you can always ignore them.
theguardian.com/world/article/…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuel…
You seem very excited about this subject, maybe you should calm down.
“You are an emotional soyjack and I am a rational chad.”
Redditors, man.
Two comments and not a single coherent argument besides name calling.
I can see redditors live rent free in your head. Is there some kind of trauma they inflicted which you can’t move past?
Well, the friends are right, because he is a dictator.
Which is still better than whatever USA has in store for Venezuela.
And which absolutely doesn't justify slaughtering Venezuelan civilians.
This is a vicious cycle of falling back to dictatorship to avoid imperialism, or some of it.
A) The country opens up and holds free elections, leading to an American puppet winning and the country turning into a vassal state at best, a glorified colony at worst.
B) The country turns into a dictatorship to limit foreign influence and fight back against imperialism, becoming a similarly terrible place to live, but at least without giving anything to the empire. Also note that as time passes, it's quite likely that the dictatorship will forget why it was even created, i.e. it will no longer be about rejecting imperialism.
There are often the only two realistic scenarios for countries targetted by the American Empire. Both are bad and I'm not sure I feel like analyzing which one is slightly less bad for the average person.
If you want to get banned just start insulting people like the op.
additionally feel free to let your fashy friends know that I'm on payroll for both Putin AND Xi for my sfw online posting activities. I also collect checks from George Soros for in-person work that upsets conservatives.
it's important to have multiple income streams 💅
Chavez in his first few months/year of being in office would be a good example of a non-authoritarian in that role.
My problem with Maduro and many of those in the post early days of Chavez taking over is that far too many seem to have a tremendous amount of money that they cannot explain how they came across legally. Executives at PVDSA, the state run petroleum company, seem to be extremely vulnerable to this corruption.
You can make the case that dictatorships/authoritarian structures are needed to protect a socialist revolution, which Im not sure I entirely agree with, without supporting the theft of state resources by people in the government.
Venezuela is not a nice place to live in.
Hmm, I wonder why? 🤔
democracynow.org/2019/4/26/hea…
Report: U.S. Sanctions Have Killed 40,000 in Venezuela Since 2017
More than 40,000 people have died in Venezuela since 2017 as a result of U.S. sanctions. That’s the conclusion of a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the economist Jeffrey Sachs. The report examines how U.S.Democracy Now!
The country went to shit before Chavez died as a result of many backing away from trade as a result of US demands as well as a slew of bad policy choices that turned them from a food exporting nation to one that imported food which collapsed the economy. Chavez and Maduro instituted price controls which have harmed the agricultural economy significantly which further harmed things.
That being said while their results were bad their intentions were good which is not going to be true of whatever puppet government the USA would install.
It's okay they think Maduro is a dictator. That's not a crazy idea, to be fair, but I believe it's a debatable idea, since parties in democracy may get overwhelming support, to the point, the leader of the State can accumulate enormous power. But I struggle to call it a dictatorship or an authoritarian regime, until they start changing laws so they can benefit from them directly without the stated support of the people by referendum. I honestly believe Maduro would have been out by now if it wasn't for the antagonism of the USA and their pets.
It's easier for me to call Bukele a dictator. He kind of bent the law, exercising his authoritarian faculties, so the authorities could "allow" him to have a license from his presidential duties in order to participate in presidential elections. How can anyone forget another symbolic fact? One time, in 2020, Bukele did enter the Legislative House guarded by soldiers and sat on the chair of the President of this power to make some speech. Dictators accommodate well enough to hegemonies since they will accept anything as long as they remain in power. They don't defend sovereignty, they just defend their position.
In the case of my country, we really can't be called a dictatorship, because reelection was banned by historical lessons. The USA plays a familiar game with us, they call it a narco state, instead. I wonder what's the third option in the CIA manual.
Notice these same people don't come out of the woodwork upon the mere utterance of "El Salvador" or "Bukele" like they do with "Venezuela" and "Maduro" even as Trump is deporting legal citizens to CECOT.
The words "dictatorship" and "authoritarianism" are clue words for followers of western publications to turn off their brains. They want to sort countries, parties, and leaders into neat little "good guys" and "bad guys" bins. These words allow them to do that with minimal effort, circumventing the need to understand the societies involved. Questioning that framing takes research effort and "sympathizing with authoritarians" so they never do it.
The fact is price controls are terrible policy and have never worked because we cannot predict the future needs of the market. Unless we magically get vastly better AI that runs the entire economy it is unlikely price controls will ever work so when Chavez instituted them it lead to a collapse of the agriculture sector leading to hunger issues.
Some of the economic problems were self created because many leftists have zero formal economic backgrounds and thus have trouble separating reasons for factual historical failures of specific leftist policies, like price controls or rent control being extremely problematic historically speaking, vs what is merely capitalist propaganda eg "capitalism is the only system that works" which isn't true historically speaking.
Some of the economic problems were self created because many leftists have zero formal economic backgrounds
That may well be, but at the same time, most economists in the world have a garbage education in neoclassical economics and carry neoliberal brain worms.
It isn't groundbreaking to say that people can be corrupt to different degrees. What you failed to do is provide any meaningful explanation for why you believe Maduro to be corrupt, authoritarian, a dictator, etc. We gave ample evidence pointing to his popular support, the robust system of democracy in Venezuela, the rising commune movement and participatory economy, etc, while you called us bad-faith.
To me, it looks like you think yourself above having to back up your claims and as outside of the conversation looking in, rather than actually communicating with us. This is compounded by your commenting both here and on the MWoG threads, a known cryptofash gathering spot. Is this behavior of yours "good faith" in your eyes?
The Russian RSFR, the Paris Commune, The Bavarian soviet Republic, The Rhine Soviet Republic, The Hungarian Socialist Republic, socialist Cuba, socialist Vietnam, socialist Laos...
Turns out you don't knwo what you're talking about! All of them were immediately invaded, their opposition showered in material support and sanctioned to hell and back.
It's disappointing that for years the up/downvote rhetoric has been for what really adds to the conversation and I find this reply more according to the reality from the PV of someone that is not Venezuelan but has roots and friends there but most importantly that we're not part of the meme, just average people that don't wish for anyone what means to live there as the average or below.
I do remember when I was a child and had the joy of go to Venezuela and to have fun on vacations, now I it's not joy but the feeling of accomplish humanitarian labor and donations to average and poor Venezuelans that at first supported the socialism that Chávez sold them and later Maduro, Cabello and others continue in a nonsense of left political system.
If someone downvote replies citing sources from the Venezuelan diaspora, let me remind you that that diaspora is not 100% from the people of this post meme but real Venezuelans that have left/lost almost everything because of really bad politics and actions of Chávez, Maduro and others that surprise: the last presidential election didn't got official acts published.
Rich people love dictators, as long as it's their chosen dictator.
I once worked with a guy from a wealthy family who had to escape Venezuela after Maduro took power. His family hated him, of course, because they'd become rich under the old system, but now they were in America, and he had to work a real job. He flat out told me that he felt like the best governmental system is when 5% of the population is wealthy, and 95% is dirt poor. Of course, he'd been one of the 5%.
had to escape Venezuela after Maduro took powerthey'd become rich under the old system
.... They didn't flee from Chavez? What's the timeline here?
Yeah, you're probably right, it was probably Chavez. I worked with this guy years ago, I'm not sure of the timeline off the top of my head.
The point is that the rich had it made under the old system, and had to leave when it changed.
I also had some elderly neighbors from Venezuela, and they had relatives that would have loved to visit them, but they were afraid to leave because they were afraid their houses and businesses would be confiscated by the government while they were gone. That happened to one relative when she went to visit family that was living in Paris, so she just stayed in Paris.
their houses and businesses
Of course they worry about wealth redistribution, they’re wealthy. That’s why the capitalist class will do literally anything in their vast power to crush socialism.
“Calling out Trump” is clearly a rhetorical tactic to distract from your incorrect assessment of Maduro. It should be noted that you’re aligned with Trump when you say that, and it should give you pause.
You don’t seem to remember your own comment. You used the most extreme straw man, adorned with sarcasm, to asses Maduro…there was no reality in your reply.
Meh, the fact that you think you’re talking to liberals is pretty amusing. Why defend an argument when you can attack the messenger, right?
I've started tagging every single one i see. I should write them all down lol
The insatiable fascist urge to make lists of leftists
I think most people are indeed agreeing that Venezuela is facing financial hardship, but not because of Maduro, but mainly due to the sanctions by western govts.
Venezuela is a small country and the US is a large and influential one. So such sanctions are going to hurt Venezuela.
Can I ask a question to get the idea across?
We have heard news that Palestinians have faced food shortages and there was even famine warning.
Do you see it as a failure of their leadership or that of Israel blocking food and aid to the place, while isolating and attacking them?
If it is the latter, then wouldn't Venezuela be in the same position but relatively more favorable?
I think that is the view that many in the thread have.
The system was created and developed by rich folks to ensure that rich folks continued to accumulate more and more wealth. Economists seem to me to be just working backwards from that point without ever mentioning it.
We had a middle class when taxes on the wealthy were 50-90 percent. Unless we bring that back, the ‘economy’ is bullshit.
Referring to the USA of course.
But Venezuela’s economy collapse was caused mainly by US foreign policy. It may have been exacerbated by Maduro’s or Chavez’s policy, but the US was the cause.
Palestine and Venezuela are not even remotely similar, while both have been screwed over by US stupidity, they are so vastly different in circumstance I personally find comparisons to be a little silly.
Venezuela is well known to have screwed up its own economy in previous leadership, while spurred from US sanctions and interference it was ultimately their own actions that caused their economic collapse. Maduro has not helped with these issues and has only helped expand these problems. Though not nearly as problematic as previous leaders.
And while I personally get the hate Venezuela has towards the US, Jesus they are playing with fire. The US is out for blood, and will likely flatten the country just because they can, its going to be quite bad, and very sad.
At the point that US starts flattening Venezuela, killing hundreds a day and planning to rebuild it, then that would be a more fair comparison.
We had a middle class when taxes on the wealthy were 50-90 percent. Unless we bring that back, the ‘economy’ is bullshit.
If you were white and male it was a good deal for one generation. That was an anomalous moment in world history that will never come again. The US was the only major power in the world that didn’t have its productive capacity blown to smithereens in WWII, unions were comparatively strong, and the USSR posed a serious ideological threat to capitalism which caused the bourgeoisie to give (temporary) concessions.
Projecting the actual ethnic cleansing done by the Ukranian coup government onto the Russians who stopped it
Many such cases!
Those being anarchists, not socialists. There have been shitloads of anarchist communes working perfectly, until some external force fucks them up or reclaims the land or whatever.
I asked specifically for socialist ones.
They were absolutely free, compared to the horrible brutality of prior systems and the vast expansions in democratization and social welfare.
As for the USSR, the 1930s famine was tragic, but was the last major famine outside of war time. After collectivization of agriculture, yields were greater and more stable, and the bourgeois kulak system was practically abolished. Adverse weather conditions, crop disease, and kulaks violently resisting collectivization were the causes of the famine, and replacing that system with a more effective one ended famine.
Venezuela has had US antagonistic covert ops operating in country since at least 2007. That's almost 2 decades of needing to find the US spies and their allies to prevent sabotage, coups, false flags, etc.
That's just the military aspect. They've also been under worsening sanctions for almost as long, which has been driven by the US strategy to starve the masses so that they revolt. This processes causes increased desperation among the people, which increases crime rates.
All of these things require the use of authority and as they get worse require more invasive and obvious uses of authority. It's hard enough to find spies, it's even harder to find spies and neutaize them without ripping the US off as to how you're finding them, going even further and finding spies without ever being wrong is nigh impossible.
Then it's not part of the definition? That's like saying the definition of "apple" is "a fruit from a tree, especially a fruit with simple uniform flesh and a thin skin" and then when I say this orange is not an apple you say "I said especially so it doesn't really count"
So your definition is now simply military invasion.
Yes, of course there was systemic racism and women couldn’t even have personal checking accounts without approval from a male….
I’m just saying that unless taxes go up to 90% on folks making over a couple million dollars a year then we’ll never get there again.
I wouldn’t want to “go back” to it. But we do know that the 90% tax on the wealthy is a viable plan to fund the social services and needs of the people. And we also know that it needs to happen.
Edit: I hope it’s clear I was not advocating for something or anything like a return to 1950’s values lol
The US Empire isn't committing genocide in Palestine and attacking Venezuela out of "stupidity." The US Empire is rational, and acting in its own self-interest. Israel is a US millitary base in west Asia, and Venezuela is daring to go against US imperialism and try to harness its own production and resources for their benefit. The US Empire's aggression is rational, not simply a matter of stupidity.
Venezuela under Chavez and Maduro has seen dramatic expansions in social welfare, democratization, and poverty alleviation. The opposition wishes to establish itself as a comprador class to sell out their people to the US Empire. Venezuelans have the choice between resisting the system that keeps them perpetually underdeveloped, US imperialism, or resist that and risk millitary confrontation. Venezuela has bravely chosen the latter, and going along with imperialist framing of Venezuelan leaders just cedes legitimacy to the narrative the US Empire is concocting to justify invasion.
Exclusive: ICC shuns US demands to drop Israel war crimes probe and amend treaty
The oversight body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has shunned US demands for the court to drop its investigation into Israeli war crimes and to amend its founding treaty to prevent the prosecution of nationals from countries that do not recognise the court’s jurisdiction, Middle East Eye can reveal.
In a statement issued on Wednesday after its annual meeting in The Hague earlier this week, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) vowed to uphold the integrity of the Rome Statute and said it was “gravely concerned” by threats and coercive measures targeting the court.
Diplomats speaking on the sidelines of the event told MEE that the Trump administration had tried to exert further pressure on the ICC in the leadup to the ASP meeting by calling on the court to drop its investigations into war crimes in Palestine and Afghanistan as a condition for lifting sanctions.
The US also called on member states to amend the Rome Statute to prohibit prosecutions of citizens of non-signatory states, a move that would have effectively granted immunity to American and Israeli nationals. An amendment of that nature would also end the Ukraine investigation into alleged war crimes by Russia, a non-member of the ICC.
Exclusive: ICC shuns US demands to drop Israel war crimes probe and amend treaty
The oversight body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has shunned US demands for the court to drop its investigation into Israeli war crimes and to amend its founding treaty to prevent the prosecution of nationals from countries that do not re…Sondos Asem (Middle East Eye)
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Hon Chan, B.C. Conservative MLA for Richmond Centre, expressed concerns about the broad definition of reckless driving.According to the bill, reckless driving could include late left turns in some cases, driving too closely behind another driver on the highway and driving behaviour that intentionally prevents another driver from passing.
I see the concern. Unsafe driving of those types is extremely common in Richmond. Those are driving decisions fully under the driver’s control, and illegal. If someone is intentionally doing something illegal under a government issued license, a temporary suspension while being investigated sounds entirely reasonable to me.
However, I can also see how easily it could be weaponized by an officer. Seems to me the suspension should be handled just like a speeding ticket — still disputable in court.
At least 11 killed in South Africa mass shooting
At least 11 killed in South Africa mass shooting
Gunmen stormed a hostel near Pretoria and opened fire, killing 11 people including a three-year-old.Jessica Rawnsley (BBC News)
illegal drinking establishments, where mass shootings are common?
police shut down 12,000 such premises outlets between April and September this year
Why is licensing bars so difficult, and why is there such "anger" over them? Sounds almost like 1930s US prohibition, where organized crime (police???) are intimidating for protection?
One of the very few businesses excluded from the municipal licence exemption.
Cannot start a watering hole without the municipality's blessings (some money needs to grease the wheels).
But basically led to a lot of underground drinking spots. They were a godsend during COVID lockdowns, any sale of alcohol was prohibited, there was some guy that was killed by the military when they found him drinking a beer in his own yard (which technically was legal).
But yeah some stupid alcohol rules here in SA, not all for example drinking and driving, but most
Sudo Clean Up My Workbench
Sudo Clean Up My Workbench
[Engineezy] might have been watching a 3D printer move when inspiration struck: Why not build a robot arm to clean up his workbench? Why not, indeed? Well, all you need is a 17-foot-long X-axis and…Hackaday
Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis – „Everything everywhere all at once“ (2022)
Ein Multiversum auf Speed – und Michelle Yeoh, die mit stoischer Ruhe durch alle Dimensionen stolpert. Ein Bagel verschluckt jede Existenz, eine Steuerbeamtin als Wrestling-Ikone des Behördenalltags, und die Daniels, Kwan und Scheinert, lassen die Genregrenzen so fröhlich explodieren, dass Hollywood alle traditionellen Regeln vergessen musste. Absurd, anarchisch, liebevoll und zutiefst menschlich zugleich, ich liebe einfach alles an diesem Film! (ARD, Wh.)
Zum Blog: nexxtpress.de/mediathekperlen/…
Ethical consumption, 1860
[orange character is smiling smugly, doing a finger gun, in front of the "1860 WEEKLY SLAVE MARKET" in which a crowd of people are browsing slaves, while some slaves ask "please help…"]
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism bro, everything is equally bad
I won't stop buying slaves until the state compels me not to, until then to each their own and let's agree to disagree and I'll have you know my family needs their labor
It's great that you can live without slaves though, keep being an anti-slavery activist it's awesome!
You're the best!
thebad.website/comic/no_ethica…
No ethical consumption | The Bad Website
No ethical consumption - A comic on The Bad WebsiteThe Bad Website
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I dont really know what to make of this mene, but this isnt really what 'no ethical consumption' is intended to communicate.
The challenge isn't to abstain from unethical practices directly like owning a slave yourself, the challenge is to avoid consumption that involves exploitative structures at all. It's a structural critique, not an individualized one - exploitation is so pervasive in capitalist production that it's nearly impossible to avoid entirely even if you're an activist with complete knowledge and can dedicate a large amount of energy perfecting ethical consumption
It bothers me how cynical this meme is, honestly.
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Sure, except a part of the critique is an acknowledgement that exploitation begets exploitation - most of the working class has only a limited amount of time, resources, or energy to participate in this level of market research before buying anything.
I find this satire to be similar to Milton Freedman libertarians who think consumers should simply know what theyre buying instead of having government consumer protections.
I'm not criticizing people who struggle to navigate exploitative systems.
Rather satirizing some bad faith individuals who use the excuse as a blank check to justify obviously unethical choices.
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I just dont think it's ever really that clear-cut.
Be kind to people, but be ruthless to systems.
Be kind to people, but be ruthless to systems
First I've heard this, really like it. Thanks.
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Michael Brooks and the Meaning of Socialist Internationalism
Michael Brooks’s ability to understand and analyze the similarities among authoritarians across the globe meant that he had little time for narratives that sought to portray non-Western culture as the source of barbarism and authoritarian rule.jacobin.com
This looks like a twist of what I call the "cat shit problem":
A cat shitting on your front yard is bad. But an elephant doing it is even worse. Both are shit and you want neither; but elephant shit is a considerably worse problem.
However, every bloody single time this subject pops up, you'll see two sets of muppets:
- "They're both shit, so there's no difference."
- "Elephant shit is worse, so cat shit is not shit."
So. The orange guy in your comic is in the first set.
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Sure, but the point of that idea is that capitalist exploitation can't be addressed through personal consumption choices to begin with.
I guess fine, that person is making a shitty choice. But moralizing over consumption habits is pretty counterproductive IMO.
Sure, but the point of that idea is that capitalist exploitation can't be addressed through personal consumption choices to begin with.
That's valid as long as it isn't used as an excuse to consume.
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people who interpret “no ethical consumption under capitalism” as a license to do whatever they want, because it’s all unethical.
Have you actually encountered someone who did this? Everyone I've ever known of who was in the 'do whatever they want' mindset, certainly wasn't because of how they interpreted that 'slogan', it was just because they don't give a shit to begin with—they almost certainly had never even heard it before.
I'm confused, didn't you answer your own question?
there are people who use that as an excuse to do whatever they like. they don't care
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I’m confused, didn’t you answer your own question?
No, there is a difference in motivation between doing whatever you want because you believe it's hopeless re 'consuming ethically', and doing whatever you want because you've never given a single thought to the matter of 'ethical consumption' at all.
My contention is simply that the vast majority of people who 'do whatever' are in the latter category, that's all.
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"liberation is when authoritarians operate via pieces of paper and text on a screen to purchase access to violence to exploit the workers"
— right-wing and adjacent "libertarians"
Now live in the 1850s US and try to buy a pair of underwear whose production didn't involve slavery at some point in the chain.
The problem is the same as it's ever been - supply chains are complicated.
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Yeah but this also works on a lot of vegan substitutes and staples.
Quinoa is a good example in that its popularity amongst american vegans and health food enjoyer's (myself included) caused damages to local food supplies in poorer countries. Forcing south american and I think African communities to consume shitty processed flour with little to know access to the same nutrients and proteins of quinoa.
TBH, I don't know how bad this still is, I haven't followed it for a while. But the point I think is that the industrial scale food production chain is always going to be questionable ethically.
And if you chose the local only route of going to farmers markets only you're probably limiting yourself to the point of risking malnutrition on a vegan diet (love my local FM, but they do not have beans in the quantity I eat them) and, based on my interactions with all the Kentucky Farmers I've met, you're probably financially supporting a fascism supporter.
The point of "No ethical consumption" I think has always been that things are very complicated supply chain wise and it will take a LOT of work to beat the system. I believe that was intended to make the people trying feel better when they can't possibly beat the system. But you're right, people take it to an extreme and justify not even trying.
There's a "The Good Place" moment where a guy gets sent to the Bad Place for buying flowers for his dying mom. The joke being that the flowers were harvested by slaves and flown on a plane causing un told pollution (I never actually watched the show, just saw the clip on a meme board at some point). But that's the consequences of "doing good" under capitalism. We just don't know how bad it is to do good all the time.
Using of KI Pictures with perchance.org.
Judge says referendum proposal on Alberta independence would be unconstitutional
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
The province's Bill 14, which was introduced Thursday, would end court action on the issue once it came into effect. The proposed bill would allow citizen initiatives to go ahead even if they might violate the Constitution.
Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby, who has listened to several days of arguments about the independence proposal, had sharp words for the government move to change the law.
"Legislating to pre-emptively end this court proceeding disrespects the administration of justice," he said in the Calgary Court of King's Bench on Friday.
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RaoulDuke85 likes this.
The Notwithstanding Clause doesn't contravene Treaty Rights or Section 35 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which recognizes Aboriginal and treaty rights, is generally considered immune to the Charter's notwithstanding clause (Section 33) because Section 35 falls outside the Charter itself, existing in Part II of the Constitution, meaning legislatures can't override these Indigenous rights with the clause
(AI summary, but accurate to my understanding)
So the Notwithstanding Clause is irrelevant, in terms of the government's obligations to meet Treaty Rights. Even moreso, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Treaty Rights supercede the Constitution since (roughly) they predate the Constitution.
I'm not a lawyer, but I assume that Treaty Rights would make separation legally complicated, at best, if not practically impossible under the current legal system.
Why Danielle Smith's government is not withstanding many court challenges
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
- The notwithstanding clause to thwart separate constitutional challenges by the Canadian Medical Association (1) and 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy groups (2) against Alberta’s ban on some transgender youth health care.
- Notwithstanding clause against those advocacy groups’ challenge against the school pronouns law (3).
- Notwithstanding clause against any potential challenges against the ban on transgender women in women’s sports (4).
- Notwithstanding clause against teachers’ potential challenge to the strike-ending and imposed contract (5).
- Bill 12’s provision to block public sector pensions from suing over the Alberta wealth management fund’s past trading losses (6).
And then the measure in this week’s Bill 14 designed to discontinue the court hearing about the constitutionality of a citizen’s initiative petition for Alberta separation from Canada (7).
One could argue there’s an eighth case the UCP government’s legislation would nullify if passed — one filed by the United Conservative Party itself. That would be the governing party’s lawsuit against two of its former MLAs who had applied with Elections Alberta to rebrand the Alberta Party as the Progressive Conservative Party.
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RaoulDuke85 likes this.
Arnold Schwarzenegger – „Running Man“ (1987)
Hätte ich damals geahnt, dass dieser Film einmal wie eine Gebrauchsanleitung für eine Gegenwart, die sich selbst als Reality-Show inszeniert, wirken würde. Dann hätte ich sicher besser aufgepasst. Damals konnte ich das aber nicht. Das grelle Neon, der Schaumstoffkitsch, die überzeichneten Muskelkörper. Die gesamte Oberfläche dieses Films hat mich Arthouse-Snob damals abgestoßen. Dabei lag darunter aber ein Film über ein Amerika, auf das wir damals einfach noch nicht vorbereitet waren. Ein Amerika, das seine Entertainment-Industrie zu einem Werkzeug politischer Machtausübung gemacht hat. Kaum 40 Jahre später sehe ich das komplett anders. (ARD, Wh.)
Zum Blog: nexxtpress.de/mediathekperlen/…
UltraPlot -- a succinct wrapper for matplotlib
Hi everyone,
I’m trying to raise awareness of UltraPlot — a succinct wrapper for Matplotlib. The project is aimed at scientists and researchers who need to create professional, publication-ready figures while keeping their code expressive and minimal.
UltraPlot provides tools that simplify many common but cumbersome plotting tasks, including:
- subplot sharing and layout management
- panel and grid organization
- automatic subplot tagging
- easy geo plotting and better GeoAxes handling
- and many other quality-of-life features for complex figures
If you regularly work with Matplotlib and want a cleaner, more structured plotting workflow, UltraPlot might be helpful.
Checkout our docs at ultraplot.readthedocs.io/
or star us on github: github.com/Ultraplot/UltraPlot…
GitHub - Ultraplot/UltraPlot: A succinct wrapper for matplotlib
A succinct wrapper for matplotlib. Contribute to Ultraplot/UltraPlot development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
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Auster likes this.
I came ready to hate with bias because I often don't like wrappers, but at least the .format seems like an objective improvement.
But I never understood why matplotlib insists on ax, fig and that's still in there...
Directly working with matplotlib classes tends to be more clear and concise than pyplot, makes things easier when working with multiple figures and axes, and is certainly more “pythonic”.
I disagree.
Looks like a solid project overall! Thanks for your effort!
Thanks for not burning us to the ground immediately😉!
Since we don't intend to replace matplotlib, we still inherent the quicks but intend to smooth those out. For example we provide a custom gridspec that allows for 2d slicing (or linear slicing); layouts by default are flexible and sharing where it makes sense.
I do wonder, what would the alternative look like for the standard `fig, ax‘ paradigm? I am aware of plotly's approach, but am willing to explore other options.
ML applications are much better supported in Python, but for anything statistics related I would rather use R.
Fooling IoT devices as if they have internet access is it possible? (Yeelight minas ceiling light goes unavailable after physical switch-off without internet.)
I have recently enforced a better privacy practice for my smart home devices, that includes creating a new access point for those devices and blocking them of internet access with VLAN.
Since then, my yeelight minas celiing lights goes unavailable whenever I physically switch them off and turn them on afterwards.
One really stupid thing is it needs internet access for using LAN control feature. it's really really dumb.
but at the same time, in this kind of age where everything wants to phone their home, i need to somehow mitigate this in every possible way such as by fooling the devices as if they have access to the internet.
Is this kind of things possible?
thanks!
A blog requires a platform designed for blogging. Staying within the realm of federated software, the three natural alternatives are:
1) WordPress, which, thanks to the plugin that makes it compatible with Activitypub, has achieved a level of perfect integration with the Fediverse.
2) Ghost, which, federated a few months ago, is not only a blogging platform but is also specifically designed for creating mailing lists based on the Substack model.
3) Writefreely, which, despite being natively federated, is extremely focused on distraction-free writing and therefore has some seriously limiting features.
Friendica
As for Friendica, I'm a huge fan of that software and manage the second-most active instance in the entire Fediverse. I can assure you that I know it well and appreciate all its most important features. But don't be fooled by the fact that some call it macro-blogging software. In fact, if you visit a Friendica account's profile, it's not possible to filter the Timeline of their posts from the Timeline of the posts they've reshared. So, you could virtually create a page like this:
But you could only do that if you don't share too much other content, otherwise the result would be like this:
which would be much more confusing 😅
However, Friendica is a very powerful software that allows you to republish your blog feed, as well as automatically reshare your federated blogs. Here I've listed some very interesting Friendica features for blogging:
poliverso.org/display/0477a01e…
So, to recap, if you want to use Friendica to create your blog, you can: you can create a new account. Remember to define it as a "page account," if possible, but also remember that when you reshare content you like, it will appear on your profile page.
However, if you don't need the full suite of tools that characterize a social media platform, you're better off using WordPress.
Sharkey
We're talking about software with a very nice interface, but it's still a social networking software. Being essentially a fork of Misskey, it also has a section for creating static pages that can be easily viewed from outside the Fediverse, but these pages can't be federated with Activitypub 😭.
Ultimately, it seems even less suitable for creating a blog.
If you absolutely must use a Fediverse social media platform, then you'd be better off going with Friendica!
Hubzilla
PS: There's also a software called Hubzilla, which is compatible with Activitypub, although it has developed its own communication protocol. I'm only mentioning it because it's a feature-rich and well-designed product, but its interface is quite complex and unfriendly, so although I've chosen to mention it, I can't recommend it as an alternative.
Ho già un blog: a cosa potrebbe servirmi Friendica?
Friendica è un social molto particolare che consente di scrivere post lunghi, formattati, con immagini in linea e dotati di un vero titolo; inoltre presenta alcune primitive funzionalità di pubblicazione programmata che ricordano quelle delle piattaforme di blogging più utilizzate.
Ecco perché chi usa Friendica è spesso un utente proveniente da Mastodon, un sistema che con le sue limitazioni permette una fruizione passiva del Fediverso piuttosto completa, ma una capacità di pubblicazione attiva decisamente limitata.
Oggi cerchiamo di capire perché Friendica potrebbe essere una soluzione utile anche per chi possiede già un blog e che quindi dispone già di sistemi di pubblicazione avanzati o, addirittura, sta utilizzando piattaforme già federate, come Writefreely o come Wordpress con il fantastico plugin Activitypub for Wordpress.1) Impostare il proprio account Friendica per fare in modo che ricondivida automaticamente i post pubblicati dal proprio blog
Per attivare questa funzionalità (che funzionerà solo se il blog dispone di un feed RSS o se è federato con il Fediverso), è sufficiente inserire l'indirizzo del blog nella casella di ricerca di Friendica e premere il pulsante "Cerca". A quel punto bisognerà seguire il blog, che comparirà come un qualsiasi altro contatto, e selezionare tra le opzioni del contatto "Duplica come miei messaggi" (per i blog non federati) o "Ricondivisione nativa" (per i blog federati).
2) Sopperire alle mancanze di un blog Writefreely.
Writefreely è infatti la piattaforma di pubblicazione federata più semplice ma, nel suo obiettivo "distrazioni zero", l'utente che pubblica un post su Writefreely, in caso di risposta da parte di un qualsiasi utente del Fediverso, non solo non riceverà alcuna notifica ma addirittura non potrà vedere le risposte a meno che non disponga di un'utenza social. Per questo motivo consigliamo a tutti coloro che abbiano un'utenza social di inserire in fondo al post a mo' di firma il proprio identificativo social nella forma @nomeutente@istanza: in tal modo, chi risponderà al post Writefreely, risponderà anche a quell'indirizzo del fediverso. Purtroppo però l'utente, nella propria risposta, potrebbe anche cancellare il secondo indirizzo, per cui non ci sarebbe più alcuna possibilità di venire allertati su quella risposta! Proprio qui ci viene in aiuto Friendica: infatti, utilizzando il sistema spiegato nel punto 1), ossia la ricondivisione automatica, Friendica ci farà avere anche una notifica ogni volta che qualcuno risponde al post che il sistema ha ricondiviso! Questa limitazione di Writefreely può essere estesa a tutti i blog federati che hanno deliberatamente disattivato le risposte degli utenti: in quei casi, le risposte ci saranno lo stesso e saranno visibili dal Fediverso, solo che non verranno "viste" dal blogger.
3) Creare o usare un gruppo Friendica tematico
Un gruppo Friendica tematico (una sorta a metà tra una lista di distribuzione e un gruppo Facebook) che possa essere "menzionato" da tutti i blog Wordpress federati (il blog dovrà "seguire" il gruppo Friendica, una funzionalità prevista nei plugin di Wordpress). In tal modo, quando un post menziona il gruppo Friendica, il gruppo Friendica ricondividerà il post a favore di tutti coloro che già seguono il gruppo.
PS: approfittiamo per far sapere a tutti i nostri follower che esistono due account dedicati a chi è interessato ai blog federati
1) Il primo è @Il blogverso italiano di Wordpress dedicato a tutti i blog italiani wordpress che si sono federati attraverso il fantastico plugin sviluppato da @Matthias Pfefferle
Chiunque sia interessato a essere aggiunto tra i blog ricondivisi o a segnalare un nuovo blog Wordpress federato, può farci sapere direttamente a questo account2) Il secondo è writefreely@poliverso.org dedicato ai blog italiani basati su Writefreely. L'account al momento non ricondivide i post degli account, ma rispecchia i loro feed RSS. Ah, l'account è anche un gruppo Friendica e quindi se volete segnalare nuovi blog Writefreely, potete farlo menzionando quell'account
På uppdrag av Jordbruksverket har WSP producerat en rapport om arbetsmiljön inom yrkefisket i Sverige. Flertalet av de intervjuade har varit insjöfiskare men även en del fiskare i det pelagiska och demersala fisket i havet har svarat.
fiske.zaramis.se/2025/12/06/ar…
Arbetsmiljön inom yrkesfisket - Svenssons Nyheter - Njord
Arbetsmiljön inom yrkesfisket. På uppdrag av Jordbruksverket har WSP producerat en rapport om arbetsmiljön inom yrkefisket i Sverige.Anders Svensson (Svenssons Nyheter - Njord)
T00l_shed
in reply to sbv • • •MajorMajormajormajor
in reply to T00l_shed • • •kent_eh
in reply to T00l_shed • • •Is that not already a plan that is in motion?
canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/ca…
Slow motion, admittedly, but still in some form of motion.
Offering and expanding automatic tax filing services - Canada.ca
www.canada.caT00l_shed
in reply to kent_eh • • •9488fcea02a9
in reply to T00l_shed • • •Wait... you want the gov't to do your taxes for you, instead of making it so confusing that you end up paying HR block or turbotax to help you figure it out?
that sounds like communism!!