The devices were for Putin’s personal use, not for the people.

Really good article, thanks for posting.

the A/C comment is in reference to the USA in general.

But what we are all saying is that it doesn’t apply to the USA in general, it’s different in different parts.

It’s 93 here today and I’m not using the AC, haven’t turned it on for several weeks. That’s because it’s autumn and the hot days are fewer and further between now, and the lows are getting down into the 50’s so in the house it’s only 78 right now (which is comfortable for me, that’s what I keep my AC set on during the summer). If it was 93 but August instead of October, you can bet I’d be using the AC. The overnight lows at that time of year don’t go below the 70’s and the house would never cool off to 78 without it.

Point is, the US is a very large country with lots of different climates, which the people who live in them are acclimated to. Northerners are acclimated to the cold so the 70’s feel very warm to them, while they feel perfect to me where I live. In even hotter areas 70 may feel cool. Of course that all depends on the humidity as well.

I lived in western Montana (cold and dry climate) back in the 80’s. I don’t know how it is there now with climate change, but most people didn’t even have air conditioners at all back then. There was no need. Even in the hottest part of the summer it got chilly or even cold at night. The house would hardly have time to heat up, you could regulate your inside temp with strategic opening and closing of windows at different times.

No, boomers invented forums (and the internet itself). Millenials invented Web 2.0 (as they called it), the corporate takeover of the internet.

In many of the responses I can tell which part of the US they visited by the things they list as weird. It’s funny that they think the entire country is like some particular city or area.

The climate is different in different parts of the world, you see. But if you want to live through a Texas summer without A/C, go for it and enjoy.

The ACA was mostly designed by a republican (Mitt Romney). So it’s designed to let companies keep making big profits on health care which should be never be for profit. Then some of the important stuff that would have made it more affordable got kicked out by the courts, such as letting states (including mine) choose not to expand medicaid which left many people unable to get either medicaid or ACA. Still even with all the problems, it’s a hell of a lot better than things were before the ACA when millions of people with pre-existing conditions couldn’t even get insurance at all. But like you say there is still a lot of corrupt shit going on in health care that needs fixed, such as “pharmacy benefit managers” jacking up drug prices and lining their own pockets 😠

Unfortunately, many people do think that, at least about the president. I often see posts on Lemmy complaining that Biden hasn’t done various things that he doesn’t have the power to do. They don’t teach civics/government in schools any more.

That’s what Michael Bloomberg thought and he was wrong, too.

I wonder how they would go about all this. Medical records will have to be divulged to the State so it can track who is pregnant. They’ll have to outlaw home pregnancy tests, including buying them through the mail. Otherwise women could privately find out they’re pregnant and go out of state for an abortion without the State knowing. They’ll also have to monitor phone and email communications for everyone, not just the pregnant person, to make sure any attempt to contact out of state health providers is intercepted. Or maybe they’ll just slap an ankle bracelet on pregnant women.

They’ll probably also enact laws like the abortion travel ban that Amarillo, TX has on the ballot this November:

The ordinance, first proposed by anti-abortion activists, aims to forbid the use of the city’s roads and highways to seek an abortion out of the state. It would punish anyone aiding a woman seeking the procedure, including by providing funds or transportation, and be enforced through private lawsuits, similar to a 2021 state law that prohibited abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Ending the electoral college and changing to popular vote for the presidency is a very important goal and young people should commit to make it your life’s work, because that’s how long it will take to get a constitutional amendment done, and only if a sustained effort is made.

In the meantime we can also work toward other goals than can help:

1. Expand the size of the House of Representatives. The population is now way too big for the number of representatives we have, each representing 1/2 to 3/4 of a million people or more, when the founders envisioned a ratio of 1 per 30,000. Obviously we can’t achieve that ratio, but there are several good proposals out there to make it more fair.

2. Statehood for Washington, DC and Puerto Rico (they deserve representation! and it would add 4 more senate seats).

Then there’s our representation in the Senate. Our population is distributed very unevenly among the states which get two senators each. Each Wyoming senator represents less than 300 thousand people; Each California senator represents about 20 Million people (2017 figures). By 2040, 2/3 of Americans will be represented by 30 percent of the Senate, and only 9 states will be home to half the country’s population [1]

What can be done about this? What about splitting the most densely populated states into 2 or 3 states? Highly unlikely to ever happen, but it’s an idea. Then there’s the idea of population redistribution. This is happening all the time anyway, but people could consciously choose to move into lower population states where their vote would count more (and cost of living is lower). With remote work much more acceptable these days, it should be easier for people with certain kinds of jobs to do, but it would also need investors choosing to start businesses in those states instead of always flocking to the high density states. There is a little bit of that happening but not much. Otherwise I don’t know how this problem can be solved.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/28/by-2040-two-thirds-of-americans-will-be-represented-by-30-percent-of-the-senate/

People are asking.

Nyet, no one is asking, don’t be silly. 🙃

Foghorn Leghorn sure loves to get attention by acting like an ass.

I keep a list of states I won’t set foot in.

One thing to consider is Graphene and Calyx both say they are designed to work on Google Pixel phones. If you have a different kind of phone you should search on your phone model and see if anyone has installed those on it and how it went for them.

Other than that, they are basically just de-googled Android so I would expect the things you mentioned to work. You can get many apps from Fdroid or use the Aurora client to get them anonymously from the Google store, though I don’t know for sure if that works in all circumstances. My brother uses Calyx and I know he has been able to install at least one proprietary app (for his car) and I think one from an insurance company or something like that.

edit: update, I just checked the CalyxOS site and it says they also support Motorola moto and the Fairphone.

Let me just fix that headline: “Head of insanely wealthy organization that has sexually abused children for hundreds of years feels justified in calling someone evil.”

edit 2: for whoever downvoted, I would love to hear why.

Probably because you told/showed them what they don’t want to hear.

It is almost half. There’s a spectrum on the right (as there is on the left of course). The hardcore maga cultists are a little over a third – like you say, 35-37%. But then there are the conservatives who aren’t extremists like them but are still very conservative, so yes, it’s almost half the population. Trump has 42-45% who are definitely going to vote for him no matter what–the rest beyond the maga contingent are the conservatives such as the one-issue anti-abortion segment and the rich who want his tax and deregulation policies; they don’t care about his character flaws or even preserving democracy for that matter.

There are also some conservatives, not many, who previously voted for him and would again, but have come to recognize that trump is so extreme and dangerous that they either won’t vote for him or will hold their nose and vote for a Dem this time, hopefully enough to tip the election in her favor.

Seriously, how the f*** is this guy still in the race?

It’s depressing as hell that this is where we are.