The problem I have with taking away licenses from the elderly is NOT the the part where we take them away from dangerous drivers but what we do after. And by "what we do after" is absolutely nothing. We don't have any extra accommodations for transport given to them in place of taking their license away.

Now, that's dependent on the location. Cities will have Senior transport programs, etc. But they are never on par with actually owning a car in our infrastructure.

But if we are taking away a license from some rural living person that uses it to get groceries once a week but fails to parallel park. Yeah, it's not so clear cut on the damage it does to these peoples lives. So, they fight against it.

To be clear, I WANT to take away the license of every unsafe driver. Old, young, doesn't matter. I see you texting and driving in a world ruled by my laws it would be jail.

I'm exaggerating. But you get my point.

In conclusions, the reason these laws get reversed is because there are no means of transport alternatives in this car dependent hellscape we live in. So, rather than work on that problem, these objectively good laws (requiring retesting) get removed, instead of what really needs to happen; which is removal of car dependence for everyone with a priority starting with the elderly.

I don't have a lot of extra money. But back when ceasefire happened the first time I bought oil futures when they dropped. Made enough to handle some utilities. This time I bought more. Gambling on whether or not Israel will honor a ceasefire doesn't even feel like gambling anymore. Maybe I'll make enough for a rent payment this time.

Edit: this is not financial advice.

Ugh, I hate it when I have to agree with Israelis.

I try to explain to my partner that it's not about a form of self abuse to be knowledgeable of the evil being done in the world. It's only a form of self abuse if you are not acting to fight that evil. It is a form of doomerism that keeps the last part of you passively accepting it.

Instead, I think of it as accepting that you are a small part of the overwhelmingly potential for good. The fight is impossible if you fight it alone. If my brain won't let me look away; then I need to accept that and do my small part until it gets better. But I need to do something. I can't just watch it. That IS self abuse.

It's like a bunch of people looking at a car accident. We all freeze and look for some time. No one is doing anything. But suddenly everyone does something once that first person runs over alone.

The single person in this analogy is DSA, PSL, mutual aids, and countless groups fighting ICE or fighting Zionism. We are "running to the car" right now. We're trying to lift the car alone knowing we won't be able to. But the crowd of people are watching; realizing that they CAN do something besides just look.

Don't use articles like this as a reason to "check out". It won't go away. The reason bad news is so much right now is because so many people are frozen or not even looking. Go out and meet people that are working in their small way to fight back. Their is nothing better for mental health than surrounding yourself with other like minded people. You'll quickly realize that, in the real world, these groups aren't filled with doomers or people critizing you for "taking so long". On the contrary, you'll find the most positive and heartwarming people you've ever met.

My comment was a mix of general advice and personal experience. For me, my brain doesn't let me look away, or at least trying to "check out" doesn't help.

I'd say the general point is about not isolating yourself. Whether you're staying on top of news or not. The groups or social networks you find don't have to be directly helping other people that come from that "bad news". They can just be about helping yourself. Whether that's a mutual aid group or even just a group of people that go hiking together.

We're all at our own stage of life. Maybe that means you do gotta "check out" for some time to recover. But, that should only ever be a "step" in your personal journey. It should never be the destination. Isolating oneself is never a place to see as the solution.

It doesn't have to be "what you're about" either. It can be once a week, once a month, etc.

Also, you CAN break down. When you do, if you're in the right group for you, those people will understand. They will feel exactly as you do. You will be met with empathy not judgement.

I know, because I feel that same way. When you've been holding in sadness for so long, that even thinking about the smallest amount of empathy from someone else makes you lose it. That's ok. It's ok to show others how hard it is. We're all just trying to hold it in because we feel alone. We aren't.

"Tankie" does not have a meaningful definition. At least not anymore. It's a vague idea of what the reader defines as "authoritarian".

Caging or killing people for having another opinion isn't social justice. Re-education camps and gulags are not solidarity

This type of thing is an example of what I'm talking about. You're not "a leftist" if you're going to live in a world in which we never "win". To remain in a fascist controlled world but enjoy the moral arguments of superiority without having to actually make decisions in a post revolutionary society. We have Nazis in the US that want all trans people killed. What is your solution after the revolution, after "leftist" take power to do with these Nazis? To let them remain "free". To let them spread their lies and propaganda? If not "caging" if not "reeducation" if not "killing". What is your solution for this? It's fun to critize past societies when you only have judgement and not solutions.

Your criticism is not on the conditions, effectiveness, or any other material outcome of gulags or reeducation. It is on the "idea" of protecting "rights". It makes no material argument. It is defending an idea in your head that is destructive to the rights of others.

"Leftism" is not based on moral principles alone. That is liberalism. That is idealism. Leftist principles are based on dialectics and materialism. It is the difference between "defending human rights" by some idea of liberal principles and achievement of actual material freedoms of health, shelter, labor, etc.

For example, that "freedom of speech" is a fundamental idea that if followed, to absolute material outcome of that idea, then the moral outcomes will be fulfilled for all. This is what liberals believe. The "I may not agree with you but I'll fight to the death your right to say it".

When after a revolution the liberal thought is "very concerned with suppression of free speech". It is then that many people that call themselves "leftist" hold onto this liberal idealism and state that the post revolutionary society is "authoritarian".

I critize post revolutionary societies because I want current revolutionary societies to learn from their failures and improve upon them. Not to have some useless Idealist label "true leftist" or "tankie".

As Parenti said

And those who demand instant perfection the day after the revolution, they get up and say “Are there civil liberties for the fascists? Are they gonna be allowed their newspapers and their radio programs, are they gonna be able to keep all their farms? The passion that some of our liberals feel, the day after the revolution, the passion and concern they feel for the fascists, the civil rights and civil liberties of those fascists who are dumping and destroying and murdering people before. Now the revolution has gotta be perfect, it’s gotta be flawless.

I am starting to absolutely despise the term "leftist" because it has basically evolved to mean "my specific leftist values at this exact moment in time". And anyone that disagrees with me is a "tankie" or a "liberal".

It's such a useless term to begin with. But at least in the past it could be term to include anyone that had class consciousness and was anti capitalist. Now, it's just used to categorize the readers personal identity and protect them from any criticism of groups in the past or present that actually go out and organize in some capacity.

It's become a term to protect the feelings of online "leftist" that never leave their apartment. People that just want to be on "the left" because it makes them feel superior morally. Instead of actually working for material changes.

Open a window mate. You keep smelling your own farts all day. It's not good for you.

I really wish Hezbollah would close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait so when people on TV keep saying "straits" it can at least make sense to keep making it plural. It frustrates me more than it should. It's ONE strait that is being closed! The Strait of Hormuz. It's not the Straits of Hormuz!

Edit: Strait's closed is correct because it's a contraction of Straight is". I'm referring to when people say "the straits are closed again" like multiple straits are being closed.

Typical...

Another label to use ignore addressing the arguments I'm making. Enjoy making your "tankie" memes.

Thanks. Removed comment was just them calling me a psycho. Nothing of value after their Liberal ideas of the world get challenged.

Remember guys, it's a fee charged for passage through the strait. It's NOT a toll!

A toll refers to a fee paid for a service or privilege (like using a road or bridge).

See! Definitely NOT a toll!

https://www.humansfirst.com/july-18-datacenters

The actual group leading the protest. Because I was just hit with a paywall on mobile.

Chair is a former tea party leader. So, definitely conservatives. The people leading these groups can still be pieces of shit. But, the important thing to understand is that there is a real demand for stopping AI within the working class. So much so that even conservative politicians are realizing they have to do something to keep their jobs.

Pretty sure that was supposed to be every 401k account in the US. Which hasn't happened yet. 15 day waiting period hasn't happened for it to be put in any index fund that tracks the NASDAQ.

A lot of options holders must have decided to take their profits. Not worth the risk to a lot of them to wait any longer. It'll probably still get pump and dumped again.

Pumped by the retirement funds of average joes forced to include it. Then dumped by all the options holders that got it for pennies on the dollar before it was ever public.

There is no difference between "shit coins" (read all crypto) and the stock market these days.

He never denied it was a Nazi salute. He just described a Nazi salute without using the words Nazi Salute.

Unfortunately, the victims of these communities are the least likely to be able to do that.

You aren't seeing the opinions of the average American. The average American has no idea what is going on until they ask their coworker why the gas prices are so high. The average American has a coworker that is happy to inform them of the mainstream media narrative, basically telling them that all they can do is "vote". Occasionally getting a MAGA perspective depending on where they live.

But, they won't get pushed into organizing and, quite frankly, they don't have the time or money to even start.

The average American then thinks "hmmm, that doesn't sound right but I don't have time or energy to investigate that".

They move on with their day so long as they can stay above water by leveraging credit card debt and whatever amount of gig work they can fit in. On the rare days they have off work they will recover by either scrolling videos or going out with friends that are just as unknowledgeable about the world as they are. Maybe some of them get a short explanation of the gas prices from a video they watched.

The average American needs their working class conditions improved to give them time to educate themselves. "Wow, they pay for child care in New York City? Thats what socialism is?". This is our one last hope at educating the masses. I don't think electing 100 Mamdani's will change our system from within. But, it is however, the best way to educate and show the population what political power that favors the working class can do.

Either that or, the entire countries material conditions need to decline so drastically that the population is forced into action because they literally can't afford bread to eat. And that will result in higher degrees of fascism as the capitalist state defends itself; and "century of humiliation" levels of conditions will result in America after our empire lashes out to the rest of the world.

Well, when you use tokens you are using energy. The token doesn't have value in and of itself. But that basically becomes a conversation of "what value does currency have".

In a material sense. Tokens are just a reflection of compute cost. You could have a literal person sitting in a room doing math problems each time you spend a "token". You would be paying for the value of the "computer". That labor has value.

In this sense the tokens are being spent on an extremely inefficient computation to yield text on a screen that may or may not be helpful to the user. But, the cost of that text generation is in the labor to extract oil, to extract minerals and rare earth metals, water infrastructure, electric infrastructure. Even for the labor of the software developers that build the AI systems.

Paying for a token is just paying for that labor value. The token represents that in the same way currency does.

Now, we can all use currency to buy mud pies. Our current economy being built up on mud pies doesn't mean there is no value. Currently we value mud pies. The mud pies might not have actual material use or value. But, currently we are puting tons of labor and resources into building those mud pies. Those resources and labor have value. That's where the tokens cost is derived from; even if the tokens just give us mud pies in return.

It's interesting to see oil drop AND the markets drop leading up to this deal.

Oil dropping is expected but it's drop is so much in comparison to the peak. Prices have remained relatively low in comparison to the extreme risk this conflict has created. It's like every country is dumping it's reserves to keep the oil prices low and the markets rising. Only to have the market drop as oil drops.

It's impossible to predict. But with this deal likely to be meaningless and fail to result in any long term peace; and with the absolute scam that the SpaceX stock is right now with 401ks. It feels like the "dump" is starting.

We'll see. This irrational market could last years longer. But, even with half the market just being based on Trump tweets and insider trades, that can only last so long. At some point the spending of public resources to prop up markets and record profits runs dry. And at that point there are only two things to do. Change to a war economy and find someone to invade that you can bully (likely not Iran) while you place economic blame on already oppressed minorities within the US.

Shits gonna get worse before it gets better. We might be there now. Or we might keep up the charade a bit longer.