pupbiru

totally agree! change the system! go! do that! but while you have the system you have, face reality: you vote D or you get R. is it a shit reality? absofuckinglutely it is… but deal with it or we all - including those of us who can’t vote in US elections - lose badly

absolutely true… we’re completely captured by the US that’s for sure

cool… and your plan is? because if its anything but keep voting for dems until you change the system then i’ve got cheeto shaped news for ya bud: that’s how ya fucking got this mess

australia has pretty big uranium reserves; we just don’t really mine it because we are pretty anti-nuclear… our uranium is mined (10% of global supply) as a byproduct of other mining. if there were a deal made, we’d probably step up

also jam in there protections for AI training so they don’t have to deal with those pesky rent-seeking “authors”

i’m currently in the US supporting a queer minority group with services to provide access to an event to a global audience… i’ve done it every year, and this year i’m here only because i’d promised and it seems awful to that group to walk away

next year is going to be really hard: my presence here adds value to the economy and in some small way takes away from the boycott, helps to reinforce american centrism and gives advantage to US citizens (they can attend far easier, etc), not to mention im literally taking a risk that i could be detained for weeks and then banned from coming back

… but on the other hand, if i don’t come am i abandoning the community? am i abandoning a vulnerable group that needs support, and to be shown they’re not alone now more than ever? that globally, queer is normal, fine, valued - that they’re wanted and what’s happening is not normal

i hate that im having to make these choices, and i hate that i feel bad even for feeling conflicted when im not even living through it

the fucking plastic boxes salads and soggy burgers on ornate silver trays is just sooooooooooooo… i don’t even have the words

completely different species than we have here

pretty sure despite appearances floridians are in fact the same species

free doesn’t mean no or low value though… just like expensive doesn’t mean high value. services are valued by utility; not cost. i’m not sure i see the disrespectful angle

similar thing with airport lounges: you pay in some way for lounge access, but get practically unlimited food and drink at no cost… id say that constitutes free: you pay no more or less based on your use or non-use

idk about elsewhere but at least a portion of roads here (australia) are paid through vehicle registration which is why they wouldn’t be considered free, we don’t have pensions like elsewhere; we have super funds which i guess are more like 401ks - it’s your money, and most people would consider the public school system free education

we also have free public transport in some places, and that’s explicitly labelled as free

everyone is well aware taxes pay for it; there’s no need to label it as a paid service

we call cultural events put on by the government free events, so i think it’s fair to say that if you go to hospital, get surgery, and leave without paying anything that’s considered free… it costs no more to you to use the healthcare system than not, thus free in many more senses of the word than the narrow definition of paid for in taxes

it requires a very large investment to run a node, but the fact that it’s possible means it’s open by necessity, which means we can bridge to mastodon etc

this means that it will be a lot easier for people to migrate, since they don’t have to give up their entire social network

imo it’s a good jumping off point: people clearly have problems with the mastodon “on ramp” and are having no issues with bsky, so imo it’s a step in the right direction and we can’t let perfect be the enemy of better